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I nearly swerved off the road yesterday when I heard Phish's "Heavy Things" being played on the radio. Phish. A jam band. On local LA radio.
I'm too cheap to purchase satellite radio, and I've been lazy about replacing the CDs in my car. So I spend my driving time listening to NPR or local traffic reports on the AM stations. LA radio has been dead to me for a long time.
I'm out of the age range for KIIS-FM's demographic (thank God); 104.3 is just the new Star 98.7; the reformatted 98.7 is a KROQ-lite; and other than Kevin and Bean, I don't like too much KROQ music either. I like some of the stuff that 103.1 plays -- but the signal's so weak I can only get it on smog-free LA days.
But then I heard The Sound 100.3 -- the station that replaced the Beat aka V100 -- in late March. It harkens back to the days of the mid to late-90s when there were a few stations dedicated to "adult alternative." I know some music snobs out there might be scoffing at my Phish reference (I can hear you now: "There's a reason you never hear Phish on the radio."). But I can't help like what I like. But even if you're not a Phish or Grateful Dead fan, just look at some of the other songs from their playlist yesterday:
8:16am - Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard And Marketa Irglova
8:44am - Right Place Wrong Time by Dr John
9:03am - Shut Your Eyes by Snow Patrol
9:06am - 27 Jennifers by Mike Doughty
12:22pm - Please Read The Letter by Robert Plant, Allison Krauss
1:07pm - My Moon My Man by Feist
1:48pm - Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley
5:42pm - Put The Message In The Box by World Party
Yes they do play lame old songs, too (Genesis with Phil Collins came up a little too often for my taste). And like the other "world class rock" stations that went off the air in the '90s, The Sound might not stick around either. But for now, it gives me a little hope that at least I can finally listen to music on the radio while stuck on the Golden State Freeway.
Photo by ~db~ via LAist's flickr pool.
