AOL Radio

Typically, Wednesday is the day for a lost and found video, but I am feeling kind of tired and uninspired with regard to tracking something down, and so I will write about AOL Radio. Another obscure video should be making an appearance either tomorrow or Friday.

While there is an increasing amount of great music available on the infomercial superhighway, my #1 recommendation for online listening is The '80s Underground radio show, streaming live on Wednesday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. P.S.T. Podcasts are available via streaming audio or MP3 by clicking here.

But since Jeff is not able to broadcast 24 hours a day, AOL Radio Featuring XM is another good option. It was the XM part of it that led me to further explore this service, hoping against hope that the Fred Channel I've heard so much about might just be available; alas, it is not. There are a lot of interesting offerings, though, including the following channels: '80s Alternative, Adult Alternative, Alternative Mix (described as new and old alternative meeting in a blender), Brit Pop, Classic Punk, Gothic, and New Wave, just to name a few.

I sampled the '80s Alternative channel for around an hour, and here's what I heard:

New Order - Love Vigilantes
U2 - Gloria
The Church - Under the Milky Way
Depeche Mode - A Question of Time
10,000 Maniacs - Like the Weather
Berlin - Sex
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
Faith No More - We Care a Lot
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
R.E.M. - The One I Love
Devo - Whip It
The Jam - Town Called Malice
The Psychedelic Furs - Until She Comes

Not a lot of surprises or deep cuts, but a decent listening experience.

Here's an hour worth of the New Wave Channel:
The Fixx - One Thing Leads to Another
The Human League - Human
A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
Split Enz - Six Months in a Leaky Boat
Howard Jones - What is Love
David Bowie - Blue Jean
Gary Numan - Cars
Romeo Void - Girl in Trouble
New Order - Thieves Like Us
Depeche Mode - Strange Love
Naked Eyes - Promises Promises
Duran Duran - Is there Anyone Out There
The Smiths - This Charming Man

I was a little surprised by this one -- was expecting it to be more consistently mainstream.

Just a few other details -- this is a beta version (has worked fine at all times I have listened), and is an application that needs to be downloaded (available for Mac users, too). If you already have an AOL IM screen name/password, there is no need to register to use it. There are commercials, but they seem to be few and far-between. There is also a pop-out panel on the application window that I assume is meant to display ads, but so far, I have only seen an AOL logo.

Hopefully this info will come in handy. Happy listening!