Soma - Secret Agent

The Soma series of radio stations were really responsible for my interest in internet radio. A friend had their Christmas station playing and I loved the idea of a channel popping up for a season then disappearing once the holidays are done. So yes, expect me to review their Xmas stations as soon as they're up!

But on to one of their permanent channels, Secret Agent. Soma describe it as "The soundtrack for your stylish, mysterious, dangerous life. For Spies and PIs too!" Does that help you any? Me neither, but I can understand why they haven't tried to pigeon hole it into a genre, it doesn't really fit neatly into any category. Bizarrely Reciva classifies it as Easy and Talk? I'm not certain how they come to these conclusions sometimes...

The music mix is at times sublime, blending from an upbeat modern rock number to some laid back 60's lounge via a Sean Connery soundbite. Similar to many Soma channels Secret Agent plays a LOT of instrumental music, but unlike with Illinois Street Lounge here I don't feel it limiting the mix at all. After all this is supposed to the soundtrack of the film, IE music to support the onscreen action of your life... Most of the tracks hover on the edge of recognition, but most of them draw me in and provide interest in the music.

Soma's stations are ad and DJ free, but you do get the very occasional plea for donations, but even these are quick and unobtrusive. Connections either via the PC or Wi-Fi radio is rock solid and other than the occasional rebuffer on the Wi-Fi, trouble free.

Having looked at a number of stations now, I have to say that the front end to Soma.FM's web presence is simple, bordering on the plain. They give you the music and little else. No forum, no music background, no hints about schedules. Their enhanced content in Windows Media Player is good though with links from the 'now playing' tracks and performers to Amazon.

Overall? I love it... It's just listenable too, put it on, leave it on, loud and out there, or quiet and in the background it does the job. The lack of an obvious genre makes it hard to recommend to people, but I say, give it a go if you've ever put on a Dinner Jacket (or tuxedo) and looked in the mirror at yourself with 1 eyebrow raised... Secret Agent gets a very deserved TUNE-IN rating for good music from a good theme.

Whole Wheat Radio

Whole Wheat Radio, or WWR for short is a bit different to other stations reviewed so far, with only a few stations under my reviewers belt it's a little too soon to say it's a unique proposition, but its pretty rare

So what is it? Take a look at the URL linked to above for a bit of a clue, the page it links to is a wiki, a user built website. In a nutshell, that's what WWR is, a user built radio station. The site is built by it's community of listeners, tracks and even shows are requested by the listeners, it's so Web2.0 it's even won a web2.0 award...

Ok, so background to one side, what are you actually getting, music wise? It's a little hard to quantify all in all and the closest their website comes to specifying their genre is to say "We tend to appeal to grownups who don't take life too seriously". As weird as it sounds I'd say they're probably spot on, the eclectic mix provided does appeal to someone with a broader appreciation of a number of musical tastes. As I listened, the music swung from light rock to light blues to a bit of country finishing with a samba. Always fairly light and low on the more challenging aspects of these genres, but in no way a bad bit of music. There seems to be little chance of a mainstream bit of music appearing on the playlists as they cover around 3000 independent artists which the seek out via their wiki.

On the technical side, the radio came through clear and strong both via the PC and Wifi radio, I guess that their 6 years of operation from the town of Talkeetna in Alaska has ironed out any of the teething problems newer stations might suffer with. Again a 24 / 365 station with no DJ's and minimal advertising, the station really allows you to get the most music per hour.

The website is HUGELY informative as only a Wiki can be, the Nth detail about artists, songs and even their listeners are available. They even want their listeners to add to their station logo gallery (I did like the one with the moose though..). Standard features such as a chat room and upcoming events are of course available as well as oportunities to buy the independent music you are listening too.

Sometimes I know the overall rating for a station before I start the review, but this one has rather crept up on me as I stepped through the stations features for you. WWR was going to get 1 rating lower, as the music can tend to lack professional polish and end up a little cheezy / lounge singer for constant listening, BUT I love the fact that they're sticking 2 fingers up at mainstream music. So for their musical credentials, their community based content and no issues delivery WWR gets a TURN-ON rating.