A very kind reader from the great State of Minnesota sent in a suggestion that I add one of his favorite local radio stations to my Radio page.  This station had already been in my browser’s bookmarks for several years but I had previously rejected it for inclusion here on KoHoSo.us.  After giving it another extensive listen over the past day or so, I decided that it did very much deserve to be listed.  Before I say a few things about the station, let me give the reason that I had previously rejected it.

While taking a look at the program schedule for almost every English-speaking radio station in the world with a “variety” format, I quickly began to notice a pattern for the plethora of them located in the United States of America and Canada.  For my liking, far too many of these non-commercial outlets seemed to be relying upon syndicated programming in order to fill their schedules — mot notably, the far left-wing news programs Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News, both coming from Pacifica Radio.  This created a great quandary for me.  Many of these stations were indeed good and unique a large portion of the time.  Yet, I wanted to try very hard to stick with stations that played their own original programming as much as possible and have them sticking to music as much as possible instead of politics.

My thinking on this was especially true for the many stations that now run Democracy Now! twice a day with the rerun coming so much later in the day that the news reported on it is often already out of date.  In addition, it also came along with my own personal bias that has turned against Democracy Now! and much of Pacifica Radio as a whole.  Especially since becoming simulcast on television, I have often seen the “reporting” on Democracy Now! become just as one-sided as something one might see on the Fox News Channel.  While some would call that “balance,” I see it under the old adage of, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”  As for Pacifica as a whole…well, I have become very disenchanted with that organization.  This is especially after having closely observed the battles over the programming direction of one of the stations they own directly, KPFK in Los Angeles, where many good show hosts and volunteers left or were ousted because they did not fit the new stance of complete “political correctness.”

Yes, my Radio page already includes several stations that run these programs and even some directly owned by Pacifica.  As I said before about my list, exceptions were made for stations with other exemplary programming.  Thanks to one of my kind readers, I now see that there should be another one of these exceptions for KFAI, an independent “community/variety” radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In a sense, KFAI is a very typical station of its type for a large city.  It carries the usual assortment of music programs that cover genres not played by commercial stations.  What struck me while again giving KFAI an extended listen is how high quality all of these shows seem to be.  Yet, aside from that, something that makes KFAI special is its wide variety of specific “world music” shows that run every Sunday.  One would be very hard-pressed to find another station — especially a non-commercial FM one — that features entire blocks of programming dedicated to the music of Cambodia, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Philippines, and for several other countries and groups.

So…despite my general rule to mostly avoid stations that use syndicated programming, KFAI is highly deserving of a place on my Radio page and I hope those of my readers with eclectic musical tastes will give it a listen.  In addition to it now being permanently listed on my Radio page, clicking on the KFAI logo below will open up its website in a new browser tab or window.

NOTE: KFAI will be rearranging its programming schedule effective as of 12:00 AM CDT, 5:00 AM GMT/UTC on Wednesday, June 30, 2010.  The new program guide is already available through a link mentioning this change on KFAI’s home page.

My radio station links project is finally complete…well, as complete as any Web page can ever be finished especially one dedicated to the extremely volatile world of North American radio.  The final number of stations came in at 156…not that there aren’t more elsewhere around the world but that’s what I came up with that fit the standards I set for this project.  But, basically…yeah, there are only about 156 good radio stations left.

That number might sound like a lot and seem even larger if one goes through the table I created without narrowing it down or organizing it in some manner.  On the other hand, consider how many cities and towns there are just in the English-speaking parts of North America, each one deserving of its own voice and sound.  Then consider that even the smallest radio markets have five or ten frequencies allocated to them and…well, suddenly, 156 doesn’t seem like a lot.

However, let’s say there are another 156 good radio stations out there that do not have a website or a stream, have a poor-sounding stream I rejected, or that I simply missed even though I tried as hard as possible to be extremely thorough especially once I realized that I was only going to end up with stations in the United States of America and Canada.  That’s still only 312 good radio stations.  Fill up the frequencies allocated to the greater New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago markets with those good stations and there would pretty much be none left for anybody else.  Thus, even 312 would not be a lot of “good” radio stations in the grand scheme of things in countries as large and diverse as the United States and Canada.

Now, don’t misunderstand me about what I mean by “good” even though I did avoid formats that I do not care for such as hip-hop, adult contemporary, and some others.  “Good” is as much independence of some sort as it is the music that is being played.  Yeah, I like “classic rock” (for one example) but it’s not really “good” if they have a limited playlist and, most importantly, don’t interact and reflect the local community in any significant manner.  So, while I might listen to and generally tolerate K-TURD while driving through Bumfuck, Arizona, it’s not necessarily “good” and certainly not worth going out of one’s way to listen to over the Internet when there are so many other choices including Shoutcast, Pandora, and one’s own mp3 collection.  This is especially true if the fictional K-TURD is being programmed from some far away city or even pumping in its music from afar and using voice-tracking instead of having somebody in the actual station itself selecting and playing it.

Of course, no station is perfect and never has been no matter how much many of us might pine for the old days of the favorite radio frequencies of our youth.  There are some that made my list that are controlled by big corporations, use automation at night (even non-commercial stations), and run programming from sources outside of the station.  Still, each one on my list had something special enough about it to warrant inclusion — maybe a station special only to me such as a couple I listed in the Sacramento market where I went to junior high and high school or just something to offer a little variety in a certain format in case the first one somebody chooses is not to their liking.

Whatever the real number of “good” radio stations remaining in North America truly is, they are a relative precious few and always under constant pressure to sell out in one way or another.  This is true of even the college stations that are more and more becoming corrupted by the influence of record companies that want to create a buzz on campuses all over the country for whatever fabricated “alternative” group they have decided to push down everybody’s throats.

So…enjoy the list and all of these stations while they last.  It will change over time.  Stations will be added as I discover them and others will be dropped when they change formats or begin to suck.  This number of 156 is by no means set in concrete anywhere other than within this particular entry because it is the starting point…not to mention that 156 is not even fully correct as seven of them are currently Internet-only stations.

Just about everything else one might need to know about the list (with a little general information thrown in for those outside of North America) is up at the beginning of the Radio page which will always be linked at the top anywhere within this site as well as in my general radio links section in the right-hand navigation bar.

http://www.kohoso.us/radio/

Unlike a lot of people taking up space on the World Wide Web, I like to think that I am always open to changing my opinion or at least reassessing if a previously-stated opinion was correct.  In light of my previous entry here where I said that the City of Los Angeles’ boycott of the State of Arizona over its new “Papers, please” law was worse than the law itself, some recent events have made me wonder if my stand was right.

This all started because I approach my road trips very similarly to the way a jazz artist or a rock band like the Grateful Dead approach a song.  They all know the basic structure of the melody and the places where it absolutely has to turn but, between those points, things are open for at least a little exploration if not a sudden turn down a road for which there is no map.  Thus, I sketch out the places where I need to hit the first verse (an intersection), the bridge (that one works both ways, doesn’t it?), take in what the other band members are doing (good restaurants and gasoline stations), and a place to take a break between songs (rest areas).  In between those points — some of which can be passed over if not desired such as the Dead deciding they don’t want to go on and do the second verse of Dark Star — it is completely up to my feelings and motivation.

The problem in my mind arose as those points I was marking out on my route began to become like certain songs.  As with any band that is around for a while and has amassed a decent-sized catalog of music, they have to leave behind certain tunes.  Mostly that is because a concert can go on for only so long just like any stretch of a road trip.  However, there are other reasons as well…the song doesn’t mean what it used to…they get tired of playing it…the performances become stale and predictable…or, as Jerry Garcia said several times to crowds about St. Stephen, “We had to stop playing that song because you all liked it too much.” XD

In my case with planning this latest trip as I hope to finally and forever escape the heat and despair of the Inland Empire of California, the “songs” I wanted to avoid were ones that often contained, shall we say, sour notes.  The things I would find “off key” and no fun to “play” would be cities and towns known for having speed traps, poorly maintained infrastructure, uncontrolled pollution, and — the key to all of this — the tendency to elect people to political office with whom I vehemently disagree or allow a police department to run amok.

It did not take long before I recognized how I could easily be accused of some serious hypocrisy for boycotting certain cities along almost the entire length of Interstate 5 after having just written a big steaming pile of words stating that a certain other boycott was bad.  I felt I had to be serious about this as I thought it might be a good possibility that I would have to think about revising my position on the stupid prick-waving dick fight going on here in the American Southwest between Los Angeles and Arizona.

However, after some serious thought, I have concluded that it is not hypocritical to be against boycotts between governments within the United States of America but still be for my own boycott of certain cities for being festering holes of inequality and downright hate.

The difference is that a government is supposed to represent all of the people over which it rules.  Within the United States, our various local governments wield quite a lot of power despite how portions of it have been taken over by Washington, DC (for better or for worse).  As I stated before, this is not a matter of local governments deciding to divest themselves of holdings in truly heinous countries like Myanmar (Burma), Iran, and Red China.  This is going on within our own borders in a country where we stand under the motto of E pluribus unum (out of many, one) and we have a constitution that allows for local governments to rule themselves within the proper framework and well-defined system within which to challenge those laws that some feel are unconstitutional.

In my view, the City of Los Angeles has made this a personal battle for all of its citizens whether they agree with the City Council’s position or not.  Thus, everybody gets thrown into the same basket as, at the moment, Los Angeles and Arizona hurl virtual rocks at each other…and, as I said in my previous entry, putting us all on that slippery slope toward the breakdown of our American bonds.

A boycott of Arizona and its terrible “Papers, please” law should indeed be vigorous but not engaged in by any government other than in Washington, DC as it is their responsibility through the Justice Department to review controversial state laws that might be unconstitutional and send them to the federal court system for review.  It is private citizens and corporations that should be doing the work of organizing such boycotts, not local governments that already have too much on their plates being ignored in the first place.

These “private” boycotts are actually going on right now as thousands if not more completely legal US citizens of foreign descent have already moved away from Arizona and deprived it of their imagination, innovation, manpower, and — most importantly — tax money.  Outside of the state, corporations of all sizes are choosing on their own to avoid Arizona both on personal moral grounds and in the name of good business sense to not be seen supporting this poorly thought-out law and be boycotted themselves.  As for individuals, we may never know how many people decided to not visit or move to Arizona over the past few weeks and instead spend their money elsewhere.  In a state that features one of the greatest natural wonders anywhere in the world, the Grand Canyon, this will hurt them far more than any one city or state government ever could…and, without all of the hassle, and horrible implications for the future that I spelled out the last time I was in here typing my sticky fingers to the bone.

Again, what I am saying is that governments within the United States should not be standing off against one another.  No matter how bad one might hate Arizona’s new law, it is not another local government’s business to speak for 100% of its citizens in such a manner.  Of course, local elected government officials should feel free to speak out on this if they wish and encourage others to boycott with them as individuals.  It just shouldn’t be mandated because that is when things get serious as far as our long-term survival as a viable republic is concerned.

I hope that clears things up for any time that I might come in here and say that Entity X should be boycotted.  As I have thought this through, I will also be able to continue my own boycotts with a clear conscience because I am not forcing anybody into the consequences of such boycotts…well, unless somebody will miss whatever goes out of business or changes dramatically because I and enough other people stopped giving it money.

Hey, that’s the free market system, right?  If one doesn’t like something, don’t support it.  I can only imagine what would happen if everybody that said they don’t like Wal-Mart actually stopped shopping there.  If they did, then there would be one more instance where local governments would not have to get involved when Wal-Mart wants to come into a new town and it raises the inevitable years-long, money and time-wasting shit-storm that we have seen repeated all across this nation for years now…because, if people showed some willpower on their own, Wal-Mart would either be a much better corporate citizen or be just as dead by now as Sam Walton.

Remember, folks…boycott what you want on your own.  Let government do the things it is supposed to do like take care of schools, water, roads, safety, and so on.  If we let them start deciding our boycotts for us, it is just another avenue for the old tactic of divide and conquer…and one that, in this case, could end up being more divisive than any of us would really care to imagine.  Keeping the power of boycott completely for yourselves as individuals is yet another one of the ultimate ways that you can stick it to the man. >:-)