Two weeks ago, I probably wouldn't have had time to sit and blog. Life has certainly slowed down a bit since moving to Victoria. Days in Ontario spent juggling work, family engagements, committee responsibilities, live concerts and social events have dissipated into life in Victoria which at the moment is mostly comprised of getting settled in at the new job, exploring the city, tying up loose ends in London (a bit of a pain in the butt from the other side of the country), a toned down social life, and lots and lots of online music.
My favourite online radio station
A collegue from King's turned me onto SOMA FM about four years ago and it has continued to be my favourite online radio station ever since. "What's not to love about 14 unique channels of listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative radio broadcasting from San Francisco." If memory serves me correctly, he was a fan of their Drone Zone and Groove Salad channels (two of their most popular offerings). I myself LOVE their Indy Pop Rocks channel. Up until recently, Indy Pop Rocks was the best source of new Canadian music. The broadcast served as my introduction to many of the Canadian bands currently in heavy rotation on my iPod including Great Lakes Swimmers, City and Colour and Mother Mother. By the way, I noticed SOMA is also offering two Christmas channels at the moment. If you work in a environment that necessitates the playing of Christmas music at this time of year, I'd say this would be the way to go. They are also in the midst of a fundraising drive. I've already sent in my cheque.
My new second favourite online radio station
CBC Radio 3, you're a solid number 2 in my books! A friend invited me to an Ontario chapter Audio Engineering Society event a few months back given by Peter Cook, Recording Engineer/Producer for CBC Radio 2 who was put in charge of the restructuring of the station along with the launch of CBC Radio 3. Having heard all the complaints about the changes from friends in the midst of getting their music degrees it was interesting to hear him speak about the situation that lead to such a drastic upheaval of their old practices (namely the lack of new listnership amongst younger age groups). What I appreciate most about the process they went through was that they put an old audiophile of the analogue persuation in charge. Nice! The quality of their recorded concerts cannot be beat and their broadcast sounds equally at home playing over my high quality stereo speakers as it does through my laptop speakers. The station turned me onto Chad VanGaalen and Holy Fuck. My only complaint is that it's a bit overdone. I love the web 2.0 functionality when I'm in the mood for it, but sometimes I just want to listen to music - but not always to the same kind of music. Give me choices!
My new record collection
With all our stuff still back in Ontario I experienced a bit of a panic when the flash drive containing all my music was accidentally erased this week. Thankfully a colleague turned me onto favtape.com. The site touts itself as being the easiest way to play music online, and when it works, I'd say they're probably right. More straightforward than predecessors Pandora (which is still not available in Canada) and the now defunct Muxtape, it's as simple as typing an artist into the search and pressing enter. The audio files are pulled from YouTube so the quality is a bit uneven and there are some amature covers thrown into most search results, but all in all it's a pretty enjoyable experience.
Whatever station or service I listen to, each with their own benefits and limitations, I'm these days pretty pleased with the quality of the musical talent that's out there. I spend more money than I ever have on music. Thank GOD the internnet saved the music industry from the glossy, overproduced and talentless corporate controlled purgatory it was sinking into.
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