Brisbanes Best Mix 97.3fm

This one came up in the 80's genre again, and I have to admit that I choose it based upon a little twinge of nostalgia for the the 2 months I spent in the Queensland city of Brisbane.

The first time I listened to this station was a bit like listening to a 'Best of the 80's soft rock' compilation, and I loved every minute of it. The Australians to seem to like a bit of the rock and this station delivers it. Over time there is a bit more of a balance in the tracks but still heavily 80's orientated. The closest to current music I heard was an interview with James Blunt, based on the fact he was touring out there. I'd add one small note on this station, much as I liked it, there's only so much classic 80's a person can take. I can't see this station being one for day after day listening, there's GOT to be a lot of repeats (I've not heard it yet, but they've got to play Khe Sanh at least once a day surely...)

97.3fm is a local commercial radio station and as such has all the normal features such as news, DJ's, traffic etc. This in itself is quite an oddity, as I was getting ready for my commute to work I was listening to problems on the roads in Brisbane... One thing I haven't noticed is the adverts, maybe I'm just not tuned in to them like the UK ones, but if they're there they blend into the general DJ chatter. Again it could be the change from the norm, but I quite liked the Australian accent to the voices and the list of unusual place names.

The stream is pretty low quality, but one advantage to this is very few drops in the connection,in fact I can't recall one pause while it rebuffers the stream.

The 97.3fm website is a fairly typical commercial station site but really focuses on the lifestyle of it's listener rather than its choosen music. The site doesn't really add anything to the listening experience, unlike something like the UK's XFM station which realy trys to dig behind the music. But there are plenty of links to listen to the station, request songs and access podcasts /mp3's of the stations popular shows, all paid for by a number of banner adverts across the site.

A hard one to rate, I really enjoy the music they play but I can see it getting tired all too quickly (like a great song overplayed until it becomes irritating). All the same, I give this a TUNE-IN rating.

Houndogradio.com

This stations a bit of an oddity in that in ONLY seems to be available on wifi radio's. Searching for the station on google or going straight to the station name, houndogradio.com takes you to a placeholder site. No links to the station, no links to much at all...

But what about the station on wifi radio? It came up under the genre 'Bluegrass', but to my untrained ears, it definitely has a heavy country influence in it's playlists. I better start off by saying that country and western music isn't my normal genre, I don't especially dislike it, but other than the odd Johnny Cash CD I'm not a big listener. Having said that I really enjoyed the music on this station, I really enjoyed the mix of tracks played. The songs were interesting and that little bit different from my normal tastes while being accessible enough not to put me off. I didn't recognise even one artist or track, alhough that's probably no bad thing given my main knowledge of C&W finished at Shania Twain and that fella who had an achy breaky heart. Overall the music was a nice gentle introduction to a new genre.

Connection to the station via wifi radio was simple and relatively problem free. The station dropped every now and then, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Station jingles were relatively short and well intergrated with the music really not interrupting the flow of the station.


All this leaves us it the mystery of the missing website, a shame really as the station should be one to try out, but without a front end on the web I feel they're really missing out on most of their audience.

The disappointing lack of a front end website is just outweighed by the excellent blend of music to give houndogradio.com a TURN-ON rating.

0180's Lost Dance Treasures

This one popped up on my 'You might like this' list on Reciva, the site that supplies all the listings to my wifi radio. I'm not a huge fan of the site, it's exceptionally slow and really doesn't make finding a good online radio station that much easier, but I thought I'd give there recomendations a go.

0180s.com has a collection of channels, each with a slight different 80's theme from Dancefloor to Power Rock Ballards they cover a range of styles and tastes. As I was recommended Lost Dance Treasures, it was here I started.


I'll come straight out with it, I'm not a fan, neither was anyone within listening distance, in some cases, the lost need to stay lost... The music,as you'd expect from the station logo, is heavily 80's orientated, so at times there was a pleasant tingle of nostalgia. Unfortunately the tracks chosen more often led to a shudder of the 'I'd forgotten how bad that was' variety. I'm also not 100% sure they've got their themes right, from some soft rock to the Petshop Boys to Aciiiiiid to The B52's Rock Lobster. The consistency / flow of the music didn't really get going.

This leads me to possibly the biggest problem, in between EVERY track there's a 10-20 second pause. No station ID, just dead air. I guess it could be just scarily regular connection problems but it makes hard listening to whatever the reason.

0180s.com's website is very simple, it provides access to it's stations, it's sister sites (like 0170s.com, 01Jazz.com & 01Urban.com to name a few) and copious amounts of advertising. The nearest we get to some kind of extended service is a link to buy tracks heard on the radio.


Overall Lost Dance Treasures gets a DROP-IT rating for poor music, poor connections and a poor website. I originally gave this the next rating up, on the grounds that 80's music is popular, but I can't believe there's not a better 80's station out there, possibly one of 0180s.com's other channels...

Beach House Radio

Beach House Radio or BHR as they call themselves, promises to bring you "the best Chillout, Funky House and acoustic summer music to help you relax & de-stress no matter what time of the year", which to a large degree fits its music perfectly.

Another internet only, 100% music, no DJ's, no ads station, Beach House Radio relies on donations to buy it's bandwidth. It does also offer branded merchandise where I assume part of the profit would support the station. They even have a "Funds raised this month" caption to inspire people to donate

BHR delivers pretty heavily on the chillout, in fact I wasn't sure for a track or 2 whether I'd accidentally switched my wifi radio on to stream from a Ministry of Sound chillout cd. The tracks seem to be pretty mainstream when I've tuned in, but they do publish a schedule showing slightly differing music mixes, so there maybe newer unknown track played at other times. This all sounds good, but it felt a little too comfortable, there was no surpise at liking a track you've never heard before. I guess that's the trade off, known chillout favourites makes for few turn off moments, but few exciting moments too. They do include some station ID jingles every couple of tracks, but more strangely they also seem to just pause for 20-30 seconds between the occasional tracks. I've not worked out why yet, but it seems to well placed to be a connection dropping

Connecting through the wifi radio can take a few tries to get a solid connection with an occasional pause to re-buffer the music. I faired less well on their website with it all seeming to load, but no music on a number of occasions. That's a shame as the player gives you some interesting options, it shows a couple of tracks either side of the current one and allows you not only to click on them to see more details but also to buy them

The supporting website is basic, but fit for purpose (if you'll forgive a redirection to the parents companies url). Basic details about the type of music are included, some attempt to give background or news about the artist and a new forum for people to talk to the station producers.


I've yet to make up my mind on this one, I've a feeling it could be one of those things that grows on you. But if, as they say on their home page, they continue to struggle to get donations they may close before they get a chance.

I give them a tentative TURN-ON rating for the connectivity issues

Xfm

Now a series of stations, Xfm started out in London playing new alternative music. Over the years, to my ears the station has either played more mainstream music or that their style of music has become the mainstream. I'd sum up their music as alternative or indie. There's no pop, although you'll find plenty of their playlist in the charts. Looking at the playlist as I write this I see the likes of Biffy Clyro and Hard-Fi as well as some classic indie from the likes of REM.

Their online provision comes with its own player if your using your PC and a hi and low bandwidth version if you're using a wifi radio. This is a standard radio station with DJ's, news reports, the weather and most importantly ad breaks. This has a couple of effects, firstly it really eats into the music time and secondly as they are a commercial station they need to please their sponsors. To my mind this does lead them at times to a fairly repetitive playlist, often playing the latest popular alternative songs on a daily frequency. Having said that they do make a better effort than most with a number of features seeking out new music makers. They also sponsor a series of gigs showing their commitment to live music.

Strangely enough for a major station (compared to some of the internet only ones) I do have problems with connections to Xfm. Generally it's just a refusal to connect rather than the station dropping, but with all the choice out there I don't give a station a second chance in that sitting.

Their site is pretty detailed with a decent tracklisting showing what's been played, a schedule informing you about the next DJ and their features and a host of information about current music news.

Xfm have recently introduced mi-xfm a personalised radio station. Similar in essence to Last.fm, it allows you to pick an Xfm sub genre and then start to rate tracks allowing it to learn your taste. A great idea for the PC (although not as wide a choice as last.fm) the concept doesn't click at all with wifi radios.

Let down overall by it's unavoidably repetitive nature Xfm still scores a TURN-ON rating and is my favourite in-car station.

Lounge-Radio.com

It must be my favourite type of music at the moment (either that or I didn't want my second review to be about a 'normal' radio station), as Lounge-Radio.com also plays a fair selection of swing and gentle jazzy tunes. They describe themselves as offering "light summer-plate consisting of downtempo and fresh beats of nujazz - dipped into the warmth of brazil electro and finely served with a breath of ambient". Like overblown dishes on a pub menu where goujons of cod with hand made pommes-frite disguises a perfectly acceptable helping of fish and chips, I'm not sure these trendified lables for the radio stations actually help people understand what the station will be playing.


I'm happy to report that Lounge-Radio.com plays a good mix of swing, chillout music, often with a slight latin beat. All good stuff if rarely recognisable as a classic reading through the playlist on their site confirms that they stay away from "mainstream" artists, but in this case it's no bad thing. This is definitely not floor filler high energy stuff, but it's good music for the tale end of a party or a chilled out BBQ.

Lounge-Radio.com is another listener sponsored station, so is low on adverts. I've also not heard a plea for cash during the broadcst, but there is an occasional "you're listening too.." in the now standard deep voiced american accent. I've not noticed any gaps in the service and have no problem getting a connection or the connection dropping.

The site is nicely laid out with easy access to the current playlist, it even tells you what's coming next. There's a forum discussing the music and station and links for musicians and DJ's to send in their work.

My current favourite station for everyday listening, Lounge-Radio.com gets a TUNE-IN rating.

First post, first station - Soma Illinois Street Lounge

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It could be a lack of googling skills, but I can't seem to track down a site detailing or reviewing any of the 10 thousand radio stations available via Reciva on my Wifi radio. I switch it on and there's just TOO MUCH choice. So this is my attempt to fill the gap. I'd love to hear other peoples opinions on the stations I review or stations they know and love. So add comments or drop me a line if you want to post a review.

Soma Illinois Street Lounge. One of the ever changing cluster of SOMA radio stations Illinois Street Lounge offers "Classic bachelor pad, playful exotica and vintage music of tomorrow" acording to the onsite blurb. I wanted to like it, and occasionally I do, there's a little bit of swing, some old crooners and even the odd recognisable golden oldie. Can you tell there's a but coming?

On the downside, the vast majority of playlist seems to be synthesised updates from that era, I guess that's the "music of tomorow" element. Unfortunately this ends up feeling like the hold music from a particularly boring telephone system.


On the technical side, the connections always good, the music seems to go 24:7 with no real DJ interruptions and only the smallest hint of advertising. I say advertising, but really it's a request to support the station with paypal donations I've listened for hours and could only really say I've heard it 2 or 3 times.

Overall I give this station a TURN-ON rating