wfmu
Latest
Left of the dial: Independent radio in the digital age
"This room is, to a certain extent, a trophy room," Jason Bentley admits, his morning DJ voice rendered even smoother than usual following an in-studio set by local downtempo electro-soul group Rhye. The host of Morning Becomes Eclectic is seated slightly uncomfortably on a stepladder in KCRW's cramped music library, as staff members clear out electric candles from the performance space (the band and station arrived at the alternative lighting in order to maintain Rhye's relative anonymity, while still giving viewers of the video stream something to look at). The space is exactly what you'd want in a radio station library: high, cramped shelving units that are somehow impossibly messy and immaculately organized all at once. Between the CDs and vinyl stacked on shelves and tucked into hidden drawers, there's a vast catalog of music in this room, but it's clear in the five seconds it takes to walk from door to door that this space couldn't possibly house all the songs required to maintain a 24-hour schedule as diverse as KCRW's. "We have moved to digital, mostly," the DJ / music director continues. "But this is really the spiritual center and the heart of the radio station." The setting is in stark contrast to Jersey City's WFMU, where the concept of a music library is still very much a living, breathing thing. In spite of the station's ties to the claustrophobia of the greater New York City metropolitan area, WFMU's set is far more spacious, housing more music than could ever be enjoyed in a single lifetime. At the beloved freeform station, physical media is still a primary tool of the DJ's arsenal, albeit one augmented by a 250,000-song digital music library. But for all the care devoted to its library, WFMU's charm lies within a structure seemingly held together by duct tape and love -- and walls decorated with glittered LP covers created by listeners at its annual record fair.
Solar-powered broadcast on WFMU New York Monday night may just change your life
If you're on the planet tomorrow night, you may just want to check out Engadget's own podcast producer, Trent Wolbe, on his WFMU radio show. Sure, Trent can be found assaulting the airwaves there every single Monday, but this coming one (March 30th), the show will be live from the Solar One facility on the East River in NYC, and the broadcast will be entirely solar-powered. Oh, there's going to be live performances by some great 8 bit / handheld, artists too. We love that. Hit up WFMU.ORG for all the details, or to listen to the show live tomorrow night, from 8-10 PM EST. Should be awesome, friends.[Via Solar One]
