(Not So) Good Day to Be a Music Fan

Both North Mississippi All Stars and the Drive-By-Truckers have new albums out. Those are very good things.

But speaking of other music matters, I'm still trying to adjust to the cruddy music stations around these parts. While I'm told there's a decent station up in Champaign, I'm rarely up that way. And most of the stations around here are either country or crap.

While EIU has its own college radio station, it's an odd duck. They call themselves "Hit Mix" (groan), and they tout that they play "all hits" from all decades. It's not uncommon to be driving in town and hear this type of lineup of tunes in succession: a George Jones song, a Lionel Ritchie hit from the early 80s, some classic rock, and a recent song from a pseudo-alternative band.

I will say that the station keeps a listener guessing, which can be interesting at times, but I pine for my days in T-Town ('98-'02) when I would hear on Alabama's college radio station this type of lineup of tunes in succession: the wonderful country version of Dr. Dre's "Gin and Juice," a live recording of Widespread Panic's "Makes Sense to Me," a Rage Against the Machine sonic diatribe, and "Banana Pudding" by Southern Culture on the Skids.

And I also miss the community radio station in St. Louis, KDHX.

Media consolidation has killed our chances of hearing good radio stations. Bastards.