Archive for November, 2008
SIRIUS still sucks
Back in March, I wrote a blog posting titled SIRIUS sucks where I laid bare my gripes about the SIRIUS satellite radio service, which are many, and still quite applicable.
This morning, I heard by e-mail from DJ JC Simon, one of the mixshow jocks whose work aired on SIRIUS. I happened to notice JC’s e-mail before the one I received from SIRIUS announcing a new channel line-up, and his e-mail prompted me to go investigate what had changed.
The bottom line is that SIRIUS, following their recent merger with XM, finally got around to realigning their programming and eliminating a lot of duplication. Fair enough; it’s precisely this sort of consolidation that delivers value (in theory) to stockholders in a merger situation. Several XM channels have been eliminated and replaced by existing programming from SIRIUS, and some SIRIUS channels were cut in favor of programming originating from XM.
Of note to JC is what’s happened with dance. The Beat, SIRIUS’ primary mainstream dance channel, got the axe, being replaced with (what I feel to be the superior) BPM, a channel originating out of XM. Frankly, I’m not shedding any tears about The Beat’s elimination. While the mixshow content was good, the day-to-day radio programming was never satisfactory to me, and as I noted in my last posting, hosts like Mr. Seth made as much sense being a radio personality, as Tabasco sauce makes sense being used as frosting for a lemon cake.
While I feel badly for DJ JC Simon, and I sure don’t like opportunities for fellow DJs being eliminated, frankly, I was “over” SIRIUS a year ago, and nothing about the new channel line-up is likely to change my mind. While I’m apt to give a listen to BPM in the office at my day job, to see if it’s as good as I remember from listening to it on the net, chances are excellent I won’t bother for long.
What I think is the real next wave here is streaming Internet radio. Sure, Internet radio has been around for years. First, it was a free-for-all, with thousands of kids in their basement playing whatever they wanted to whoever would listen. Then came the onerous royalty requirements from SoundExchange, and things are still in an uproar. Internet radio may not yet have a financial model that makes sense in most cases, but I have tremendous faith that it’ll all be sorted out, and that Internet radio is really the Next Big Thing (even as it seems old hat to many of us).
But who wants to be tethered to their PCs? You don’t have to be. I listen to streaming Internet radio on my BlackBerry every day. In my car. At the office. At home. At the gym. Sure, unlike SIRIUS I can’t listen to streams on my BlackBerry while tooling down I-70 in the middle of Kansas, but I have an iPod for that. iPhone users have the same capability, and the software to do it is free. That’s why we’re emphasizing this mode of listening at iDanceRadio.fm, the fledgling online radio station I’m a part of.
Honestly, I think THAT is where the future is headed. In another couple of years, G3 (or G4 or WiMax or whatever) mobile broadband is going to be so widespread that I probably will be able to listen to iDanceRadio.fm in the middle of Kansas.
So who really needs SIRIUS anyway? Not me, and frankly, I don’t want it.
Chart updated: 11/10/08 (and some other music news)
I was struck this evening by the fact that while I’m a dance DJ, and I love dance music, the truth is, I just love music, dance or otherwise. But before I get into that, and perhaps some of the surprises that go with it, I’ll briefly talk about the chart update.
This past week, Britney Spears ended-up at #1 with Womanizer. Say what you will about the woman, but her producers (and the various remixers on the project) sure know how to turn out good material. There are several terrific mixes floating around, and apparently I’m not the only one who’s digging them.
At #2 is my friend Jacinta, with her latest, Electric Universe, which I blogged about recently. The more I hear this song, the more I like it, and the more I’m enjoying some of ther mixes other than the Robert G. mix I initially fell for.
You can view the chart here for the rest, but one other notable is mid-chart… Milk & Sugar Presents MS2, with Stay Around. There’s a superb mix from Germany’s Spencer & Hill that I always play, and really, really enjoy. The production’s great, and I love the soulful vocal. A friend of mine commented, “Someone should buy that girl some more lyrics,” and yeah, I would agree it’s a bit redundant. But it’s nonetheless enjoyable to my ears.
OK, back to the music surprises.
I was listening to some DJ promos online tonight, and some of the promos are pop, alternative, country, etc. Normally I limit myself to dance (obviously), but I decided to preview some of the other tracks, including a new single from LeAnn Rimes, and it suddenly struck me… Yes, I love dance music, but as I said at the beginning of this post, I also just love music, period. No, I don’t spend much time listening to country. But what’s not to appreciate when you have a talent like LeAnn Rimes?
Two tracks really stood out that are deserving of mention.
First, Keane’s new single, The Lovers are Losing. Their notable hit single from a couple of years ago, Is it Any Wonder? was my ringtone for months, and Lovers has the same incredible hit potential. Great songwriting, great lyrics, and an incredible performance make this an almost surefire hit. For dance lovers like me, there were some great remixes of Wonder, and I hope that some might be made available soon for Lovers. In the meantime, this one’s finding a home on my iPod.
Second, Canadian Idol‘s most recent winner, Theo Tams, offers-up Sing. As near as I can determine, this track is unavailable in the U.S., which is a shame. While Sing is the “winner’s song” written and selected for him by the show’s producers, it is nonetheless a pleasant, enjoyable, ballad with a nice piano foundation, and with great hit potential as well since it’s likely to crossover well between AC, AAA and other mainstream radio formats. Typical of the Idol franchise, anyone from the teen fans of Tams to someone like my mother could enjoy this track.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this brief break. Back to the dance music. 
Wes
Mixshow playlist for 11/7/08
Night before last (I’m a bit late in getting to this), I wrapped my third DJ Wesley Friday Night House Party mixshow on iDanceRadio.fm. (I didn’t do a show on Halloween.) As we work to fine-tune programming and formalize our scheduling, we decided to limit my show to two hours. Within the next few weeks, we’ll be adding more DJs to the mixshow line-up, and most or all of those will be one hour programs.
In any case, here’s the playlist from last Friday’s show:
BWO (Bodies Without Organs) – Sunshine In The Rain (Soul Seekerz Club Mix)
Brandy – Right Here (Departed) (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Mix)
Uniting Nations feat. Lucia Horn – Pressure Us (Extended Mix)
Jacinta – Electric Universe (Robert G Club Mix)
Dave Audé feat. Sisely Treasure – Grass Is Greener (Original Club Mix)
Kimberley Locke – Fall (Bimbo Jones Extended Mix [XMIX Edit by Ryan Foley])
Bananarama – Look on the Floor (Solasso Remix)
Katy Perry – Hot N Cold (Jason Nevins Club Mix)
Lisa Law – Wicked Ways (Soul Seekerz Remix)
Milk & Sugar Presents MS2 – Stay Around (Spencer & Hill Club Mix)
Jenny Bliss – All About Me (Extended Mix)
Manian feat. Aila – Turn The Tide (2-4 Grooves Club Mix)
Luvndreams feat. Elisa Rodriguez – Heaven Can Wait (Funky Junction & Antony Reale Extended Mix)
Janice Grace – Wanna Be Beautiful (Twisted Dee Club Mix)
Fragma – Memory (Club Mix)
Elle Scott – Take a Trip (DJ Manolo Club Mix)
Pink – So What (Bimbo Jones Remix)
Girls Aloud – The Promise (Dave Audé Club Mix)
Britney Spears – Womanizer (Lenny B Mixshow Edit [Str8 Bassline])
Verona – Stay With Me (Groove Mike Club Mix)
Kristy Kay – I Will Wait (Klubjumpers Club Mix)
Shaun Baker feat. Maloy – V.I.P. ’08 (2-4 Grooves Club Mix)
See you next Friday!
Wes
