CJLX Top 91 of 2011

Happy New Year!! CJLX is the college station of Loyalist College in Kingston, Ontario.

1 Pumped Up Kicks Foster the People
2 Sail Awolnation
3 Rope Foo Fighters
4 Howlin' for You The Black Keys
5 Shake Me Down Cage the Elephant
6 You are a Tourist Death Cab for Cutie
7 Country Song Seether
8 The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie Red Hot Chili Peppers
9 Adolescents Incubus
10 New Low Middle Class Rut
11 Unkind Sloan
12 Help is on the Way Rise Against
13 Long Time Cake
14 Changing Airborne Toxic Event
15 Up All Night Blink 182
16 Old Man Redlight King
17 Young Blood The Naked & Famous
18 Sing My Chemical Romance
19 Panic! Sublime with Rome
20 The Sound of Winter Bush
21 My Body Young the Giant
22 Every Teardrop is a Water Fall Coldplay
23 Walk Foo Fighters
24 Make Some Noise Beastie Boys
25 Sunset in July 311
26 The Cave Mumford & Sons
27 Iredescent Linkin Park
28 Die Trying Art of Dying
29 Lies of the Beautiful People SIXX:AM
30 Ready to Start The Arcade Fire
31 Irresistible Forces Jane's Addiction
32 Fragile Bird City & Colour
33 Around My Head Cage the Elephant
34 Whirring Joy Formidable
35 Darkhorses Switchfoot
36 Face to the Floor Chevelle

37 Busy Bein' Born Middle Class Rut
38 Paradise Coldplay
29 Machine Gun Blues Social Distortion
40 You Would've Liked It Bleeker Ridge
41 Got to Lose Hollerado
42 Under Cover of Darkness The Strokes
43 In A Place of Lesser Men Matthew Good
44 I Feel You Sam Roberts
45 Pyro Kings of Leon
46 Burn Papa Roach
47 Hope and Ruin The Trews
48 Move Your Body My Darkest Days
49 Lazy Susan Sweet Thing
50 Helena Beat Foster the People
51 Cough Syrup Young the Giant
52 The Strand Mother Mother
53 World Sick Broken Social Scene
54 A Warrior's Call Volbeat
55 1983 Neon Trees
56 Down by the Water The Decemberists
57 Not Again Staind
58 Fix Me 10 Years
59 These Days Foo Fighters
60 After Midnight Blink 182
61 Baby Don't Dance Mother Mother
62 Lonely Boy The Black Keys
63 Monarchy of Roses Red Hot Chili Peppers
64 So Far Away Avenged Sevenfold
65 Sick Adelitas Way
66 Far from Home Five Finger Death Punch
67 Tonight Seether
68 Make It Stop (September's Children) Rise Against
69 Ghosts of Days Gone By Alter Bridge
70 Coffee and Cigarettes Jimmy Eat World
71 April Fool Manchester Orchestra
72 Colours Grouplove
73 Get Up Korn featuring Skrillex
74 The Suburbs The Arcade Fire
75 What You Know Two Door Cinema Club
76 Yo Hello, Hooray (Everyday) U.S.S.
77 Punching in a Dream The Naked & Famous
78 Not Your Fault Awolnation
79 Last Night Good Charlotte
80 Creaming Bloody Murder Sum 41
81 Lowlife Theory of a Deadman
82 Two Against One Danger Mouse featuring Jack White
83 Pieces Fit Finger Eleven
84 Miss America Saving Abel
85 Whistle Blower The Arkells
86 Junk of the Heart The Kooks
87 Bulletproof Heart My Chemical Romance
88 Albatross Big Wreck
89 Holding on to Black Metal My Morning Jacket
90 Monster Paramore
91 Faith (When I Let You Down) Taking Back Sunday

WCNR Top 107 of 2011

"The Corner" is a AAA station out of Charlottesville, Va. It leans a bit pop, and they throw in a really hip tune here and there. Come to think of that, WLIR had a pretty solid run with that strategy in the 80's.



1. ADELE ROLLING IN THE DEEP
2. PARACHUTE SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN (JEREMIAH)
3. FOSTER THE PEOPLE PUMPED UP KICKS
4. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE DOG DAYS ARE OVER
5. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE YOU ARE A TOURIST
6. NEON TREES ANIMAL
7. FITZ & THE TANTRUMS MONEYGRABBER
8. MATT NATHANSON FASTER
9. ADELE RUMOUR HAS IT
10. COLDPLAY EVERY TEARDROP IS A WATERFALL
11. THE SCRIPT NOTHING
12. CEE-LO GREEN FORGET YOU (radio clean version)
13. IRON & WINE TREE BY THE RIVER
14. COLBIE CAILLAT I DO
15. LIFEHOUSE ALL IN
16. SCARS ON 45 GIVE ME SOMETHING
17. BLACK KEYS HOWLIN' FOR YOU
18. THE SCRIPT FOR THE FIRST TIME
19. DECEMBERISTS DOWN BY THE WATER
20. MUMFORD & SONS LITTLE LION MAN (CLEAN)
21. GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS PARIS (OOH LA LA)
22. ELIZA DOOLITTLE SKINNY GENES
23. ARCADE FIRE READY TO START
24. MUMFORD & SONS THE CAVE
25. ADELE SOMEONE LIKE YOU
26. BON IVER CALGARY
27. COLBIE CAILLAT BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN
28. R.E.M. DISCOVERER
29. ELLIE GOULDING LIGHTS
30. THE HEAD & THE HEART LOST IN MY MIND
31. XIMENA SARINARA (Hi-MEN-a Sa-rin-YAH-na) DIFFERENT
32. BRETT DENNEN SYDNEY (I'LL COME RUNNING)
33. SARA BAREILLES UNCHARTED
34. THE CIVIL WARS BARTON HOLLOW
35. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE YOU'VE GOT THE LOVE
36. TRAIN MARRY ME ("FIRST DANCE" MIX)
37. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE SING (radio edit)
38. O.A.R. HEAVEN
39. SUPERHEAVY MIRACLE WORKER
40. ARCADE FIRE MODERN MAN
41. R.E.M. MINE SMELL LIKE HONEY
42. LINKIN PARK WAITING FOR THE END
43. PARACHUTE KISS ME SLOWLY
44. LENNY KRAVITZ STAND
45. RAY LAMONTAGNE & THE PARIAH DOGS FOR THE SUMMER
46. RYAN ADAMS LUCKY NOW
47. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS THE ADVENTURES OF RAIN DANCE MAGGIE (UK Edit)
48. PAUL SIMON THE AFTERLIFE
49. MUMFORD & SONS ROLL AWAY YOUR STONE
50. WILCO I MIGHT
51. MAT KEARNEY HEY MAMA
52. JACK JOHNSON FROM THE CLOUDS
53. THE CARS SAD SONG
54. RAY LAMONTAGNE & THE PARIAH DOGS REPO MAN (radio edit)
55. GOMEZ OPTIONS
56. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE SHAKE IT OUT
57. MY MORNING JACKET HOLDIN' ON TO BLACK METAL
58. FITZ & THE TANTRUMS DON'T GOTTA WORK IT OUT
59. MIKE DOUGHTY NA NA NOTHING
60. ATOMIC TOM TAKE ME OUT
61. COLDPLAY PARADISE
62. LIFEHOUSE FALLING IN
63. JAYHAWKS SHE WALKS IN SO MANY WAYS
64. BROOKE FRASER SOMETHING IN THE WATER
65. INGRID MICHAELSON PARACHUTE
66. MAYER HAWTHORNE THE WALK (clean)
67. SAM ROBERTS BAND THE LAST CRUSADE
68. DIEGO GARCIA YOU WERE NEVER THERE
69. SCARS ON 45 HEART ON FIRE
70. FLEET FOXES GROWN OCEAN
71. SARA BAREILLES GONNA GET OVER YOU
72. BLACK KEYS LONELY BOY
73. THE CIVIL WARS POISON & WINE
74. AMOS LEE WINDOWS ARE ROLLED DOWN
75. CHRISTINA PERRI JAR OF HEARTS
76. NEEDTOBREATHE DRIVE ALL NIGHT
77. INCUBUS PROMISES, PROMISES
78. KATIE COSTELLO CASSETTE TAPE
79. SNOW PATROL CALLED OUT IN THE DARK
80. GOO GOO DOLLS ALL THAT YOU ARE
81. ZEE AVI THE BOOK OF MORRIS JOHNSON
82. SARAH JAFFE CLEMENTINE
83. THE FRAY HEARTBEAT
84. MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD I'LL BE WAITING
85. EDDIE VEDDER LONGING TO BELONG
86. IMELDA MAY MAYHEM
88. SICK PUPPIES MAYBE
89. BRETT DENNEN COMEBACK KID (THAT'S MY DOG)
90. LAURA MARLING SOPHIA
91. BOB SCHNEIDER LET THE LIGHT IN
92. JAMES BLUNT STAY THE NIGHT
93. WOOD BROTHERS SHOOFLY PIE
94. NICOLE ATKINS CRY CRY CRY
95. CHRIS ISAAK LIVE IT UP
96. G. LOVE (f. SETH & SCOTT AVETT) FIXIN' TO DIE
97. DAPHNE WILLIS I WILL BE WAITING
98. JACKSON BROWNE YOU KNOW THE NIGHT (radio edit)
99. DECEMBERISTS THIS IS WHY WE FIGHT
100. KATHLEEN EDWARDS CHANGE THE SHEETS
101. JAMES BLAKE LIMIT TO YOUR LOVE (radio edit)
102. DAWES TIME SPENT IN LOS ANGELES
103. BEADY EYE THE ROLLER
104. ROBBIE ROBERTSON f. CLAPTON & WINWOOD FEAR OF FALLING
105. FEIST HOW COME YOU NEVER GO THERE?
106. SOCIAL DISTORTION CALIFORNIA (HUSTLE & FLOW)

KJEE TOP 92 Songs of 2011

KJEE is a commercial alternative rock station out of Santa Barbara Califormia. As with many small markets, the chains have passed this city by, which usually makes for a more interesting station. In this case, a station where both Adele and Korn peacefully co-exist.

1. "Pumped Up Kicks" Foster The People

2. "Walk" Foo Fighters

3. "Help is On The Way" Rise Against

4. "Rope" Foo Fighters

5. "You Are A Tourist" Death Cab For Cutie

6. "The Sound Of Winter" Bush

7. "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie" Red Hot Chili Peppers

8. "Adolescents" Incubus

9. "Panic" Sublime W/ Rome

10. "Young Blood" The Naked & Famous

11. "Whirring" The Joy Formidable

12. "Make It Stop" Rise Against

13. "Up All Night" Blink 182

14. "Cough Syrup" Young The Giant

15. "Changing" Airborne Toxic Event

16. "Roll Away Your Stone" Mumford And Sons

17. "My Body" Young The Giant

18. "Sunset In July" 311

19. "Sail" Awolnation

20. "Paradise" Coldplay

21. "If I Had A Gun" Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

22. "Turn Around" Iration

23. "Promises, Promises" Incubus

24. "Long Time" Cake

25. "Lonely Boy" The Black Keys

26. "After Midnight" Blink 182

27. "It's Not All About You" Face To Face

28. "Iridescent" Linkin Park

29. "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" Coldplay

30. "Monarchy Of Roses" Red Hot Chili Peppers

31. "Irresistible Force" Jane's Addiction

32. "Make Some Noise" Beastie Boys

33. "Helena Beat" Foster The People

34. "Shake It Out" Florence & The Machine

35. "New Low" Middle Class Rut

36. "Under Cover Of Darkness" The Strokes

37. "Two Against One" Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi

38. "Take The World" She Wants Revenge

39. "Bulletproof Heart" My Chemical Romance

40. "Country Song" Seether

41. "We Used To Wait" Arcade Fire

42. "Dark Horses" Switchfoot

43. "Pyro" Kings Of Leon

44. "Take It Or Leave It" Sublime W/ Rome

45. "Old Man" Redlight King

46. "Get Some" Lykke Li

47. "Colours" Grouplove

48. "Monster" Paramore

49. "So Far Away" Avenged Sevenfold

50. "Punching In A Dream" The Naked & Famous

51. "Count Me In" 311

52. "Face To The Floor" Chevelle

53. "These Days" Foo Fighters

54. "This Is Why We Fight" The Decemberists

55. "Stay Young Go Dancing" Death Cab For Cutie

56. "Rolling In The Deep" Adele

57. "Aberdeen" Cage The Elephant

58. "California (Hustle & Flow)" Social Distortion

59. "The Balad Of Mona Lisa" Panic! At The Disco

60. "Mustache Man" Cake

61. "Closer" Anberlin

62. "End Of The Lies" Jane's Addiction

63. "Don't Stop" Foster The People

64. "Starships And Apocalypse" Unwritten Law

65. "Taken For A Fool" The Strokes

66. "All I Ever Wanted" Airborne Toxic Event

67. "Don't Shut 'Em Down" Flogging Molly

68. "April Fool" Manchester Orchestra

69. "Lotus Flower" Radiohead

70. "Second Chance" Peter Bjorn & John

71. "People Say" Portugal The Man

72. "Gimme The Sweet And Lowdown" Social Distortion

73. "Immigrant Song" Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Feat. Karen O

74. "Underground" Jane's Addiction

75. "Welcome To The Family" Avenged Sevenfold

76. "Believe" The Dirty Heads

77. "Junk Of The Heart" The Kooks

78. "Not Again" Staind

79. "Around My Head" Cage The Elephant

80. "Surrender" Angels & Airwaves

81. "Tongue Tied" Grouplove

82. "Curl Of The Burl" Mastodon

83. "Narcissistic Cannibal" Korn

84. "Blood Pressure" Mutemath

85. "Tonight" Seether

86. "A Heavy Abacus" The Joy Formidable

87. "Longing To Belong" Eddie Vedder

88. "What The Water Gave Me" Florence & The Machine

89. "Midnight City" M83

90. "Are You Ready?" Richard Ashcroft

91. "Dignity" New Politics

92. "Run Right Back" The Black Keys

WCYY Top 50 Songs of 2011

WCYY is the commerical alternative station of Portland Me. It leans a bit active rock, as evidenced by this countdown

1. FOSTER THE PEOPLE - PUMPED UP KICKS
2. FOO FIGHTERS - ROPE
3. CAGE THE ELEPHANT - SHAKE ME DOWN
4. FOO FIGHTERS – WALK
5. SICK PUPPIES - RIPTIDE
6. RISE AGAINST - HELP IS ON THE WAY
7. AWOLNATION - SAIL
8. SEETHER - COUNTRY SONG
9. MUMFORD & SONS - THE CAVE
10. CHILI PEPPERS - THE ADVENTURES OF...
11. STAIND - NOT AGAIN
12. BLACK KEYS - HOWLIN' FOR YOU
13. LINKIN PARK - WAITING FOR THE END
14. YOUNG THE GIANT - MY BODY
15. AVENGED SEVENFOLD - WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
16. 311 - SUNSET IN JULY
17. MIDDLE CLASS RUT - NEW LOW
18. BUSH - THE SOUND OF WINTER
19. AVENGED SEVENFOLD - SO FAR AWAY
20. SUBLIME WITH ROME - PANIC
21. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - UNDER AND OVER IT
22. SEETHER - TONIGHT
23. INCUBUS - ADOLESCENTS
24. RISE AGAINST - MAKE IT STOP
25. AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – CHANGING
26. BLINK 182 - UP ALL NIGHT
27. BREAKING BENJAMIN - BLOW ME AWAY
28. DISTURBED - THE ANIMAL
29. PARANOID SOCIAL CLUB - COUNT ON ME
30. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - YOU ARE A TOURIST
31. MY DARKEST DAYS - PORN STAR DANCING
32. SHINEDOWN - DIAMOND EYES
33. MUSE - UNDISCLOSED DESIRES
34. 10 YEARS - FIX ME
35. JANE'S ADDICTION - IRRESISTABLE FORCE
36. SKILLET - AWAKE & ALIVE
37. BEASTIE BOYS - MAKE SOME NOISE
38. CHEVELLE - FACE TO THE FLOOR
39. PAPA ROACH - BURN
40. DEAD SEASON - ZOMBIE MAN
41. JOY FORMIDABLE - WHIRRING
42. KORN feat. SKRILLEX - GET UP
43. YOUNG THE GIANT - COUGH SYRUP
44. BLACK KEYS - LONELY BOY
45. 30 SECONDS TO MARS - CLOSER TO THE EDGE
46. MUMFORD & SONS - ROLL AWAY YOUR STONE
47. FOSTER THE PEOPLE - HELENA BEAT
48. A DAY TO REMEMBER - ALL I WANT
49. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - SING
50. CAKE - LONG TIME

KXTE Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011

KXTE is a modern rock station out of Las Vegas a.k.a "X-105". The station targets young men, as evidenced by their daily web feature "Mahoney's mammaries" This is the first yearly countdown they did that I'm aware of.

1. Bush, Sound of Winter
2. Foo Fighters, Walk
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
4. Blink 182, Up All Night
5. Rise Against, Make It Stop
6. Foster The People, Pumped Up Kicks
7. Awolnation, Sail
8. Jane’s Addiction, Irresistible Force
9. 311, Dark Horses
10. The Joy Formidable, Whirring
11. Sublime with Rome, Panic
12. The Airborne Toxic Event, Changing
13. Seether,Tonight
14. Naked and Famous,Young Blood
15. Coldplay, Every Tear Drop is a Waterfall
16. Cage The Elephant, Shake Me Down
17. Incubus,Promises Promises
18. Sleeper Agent, Get It Daddy
19. Foo Fighters, Rope
20. Mumford and Sons, Little Lion Man
21. Death Cab For Cutie, You Are A Tourist
22. Young the Giant, My Body
23. Incubus, Adolescents
24. Neon Trees, Animal
25. Middle Class Rut, New Low
26. A Day To Remember, All I Want
27. Phoenix, 1901
28. Young The Giant, Cough Syrup
29. The Black Keys, Howlin’ For You
30. Foster The People, Helena Beat
31. Mumford and Sons, The Cave
32. Three Days Grace, Lost IN You
33. The Black Keys, Tighten Up
34. Rise Against, Help Is On The Way
35. Anberlin, Feel Good Drag
36. MUSE, Resistance
37. Seether, Country Song
38. Cage The Elephant, Ain’t No Rest for The Wicked
39. A Day To Remember, All Signs Point to Lauderdale
40. Coldplay, Paradise
41. Linkin Park, Waiting for the End
42. Weezer, I want You To
43. Phoenix, Lisztomania
44. Cage The Elephant, Back Against The Wall
45. MUSE, Undisclosed Desires
46. Chevelle, Face To The Floor
47. Black Keys, Lonely Boy
48. Switchfoot, The Sound
49. Rise Against, Savior
50. The Naked and Famous,Punching in a Dream

CJZN ("The Zone") Top 91 of 2011

After a year off, Victoris, B.C.'s alt rocker retuns this year with their 2011 countdown. Check out this list -- after looking at it you may want to check out their internet stream because they're one of the best commerical rock stations you never heard of.

1) Foo Fighters - Rope
2) Foo Fighters - Walk
3) Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
4) The Black Keys - Lonely Boy
5) AWOLNATION - Sail
6) City and Colour - Fragile Bird
7) The Naked and Famous - Young Blood
8) The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
9) Young the Giant - My Body
10) Mother Mother - The Stand
11) Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
12) Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know
13) Foster the People - Helena Beat
14) Coldplay - Paradise
15) Acres of Lions - Reaction
16) Fitz and The Tantrums - Money Grabber
17) The Black Keys - Next Girl
18) USS - N/A OK
19) Sum 41 - Baby, You Don't Wanna Know
20) Rise Against - Help is on the Way
21) Sublime with Rome - Panic
22) Mother Mother - Baby Don't Dance
23) Redlight King - Old Man
24) Sam Roberts - I Feel You
25) Viva Brother - Darling Buds of May
26) Switchfoot - Dark Horses
27) The Airborne Toxic Event - Changing
28) AWOLNATION - Guilty Filthy Soul
29) Bush - The Sound of Winter
30) The Joy Formidable - Whirring
31) The Arkells - Whistleblower
32) Vince Vaccaro - The Dove
33) Tokyo Police Club - Favorite Colour
34) Matthew Good - Zero Orchestra
35) Matthew Good - In a Place of Lesser Men
36) Kasabian - Days Are Forgotten
37) Lykke Li - Get Some
38) Biffy Clyro - Many of Horror
39) Danger Mouse & Jack White - Two Against One
40) Adele - Rolling in the Deep
41) Hollerado - Good Day at the Races
42) k-os - Holy Cow
43) The Sheep Dogs - I Don't Know
44) Snow Patrol - Called Out in the Dark
45) Jane's Addiction - Irresistible Force
46) Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
47) Band of Skulls - The Devil Takes Care of His Own
48) Sloan - Unkind
49) Current Swell - Too Cold
50) Death Cab for Cutie - You Are A Tourist
51) 311 - Sunset In July
52) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
53) The Stanfields - Ship to Shore
54) The Pack A.D. - Sirens
55) Chevelle - Face to the Floor
56) AWOLNATION - Not Your Fault
57) The Airborne Toxic Event - All I Ever Wanted
58) Foo Fighters - These Days
59) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Monarchy of Roses
60) The Strokes - Taken for a Fool
61) Sam Roberts - Without a Map
62) Cage the Elephant - Aberdeen
63) Fitz and The Tantrums - Don’t Gotta Work It Out
64) City and Colour - Weightless
65) Hey Rosetta! - Welcome
66) Mastodon - Curl The Burl
67) Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder
68) Quoia - Let Me Know
69) Middle Class Rut - Busy Bein' Born
70) The Midway State - Fire!
71) Redlight King - Bullet in My Hand
72) Big Wreck - Albatross
73) Rise Against - Make it Stop (September's Children)
74) Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
75) Finger Eleven - Pieces Fit
76) Bedouin Soundclash - Elongo
77) Kyprios - How the West Was One
78) Sublime with Rome - Take It Leave It
79) Cake - Long Time
80) Arctic Monkeys - Don't Sit Down 'Cause I Moved Your Chair
81) Group Love - Colours
82) Kings of Leon - Back Down South
83) The Kooks - Junk of the Heart
84) Florence + the Machine - What the Water Gave Me
85) Mother Mother - Simply Simple
86) TV on the Radio - Will Do
87) Fun. - We Are Young (featuring Janelle Monáe)
88) Hollerado - Got to Lose
89) Rebel Emergency - Lion in a Cage (featuring KO)
90) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
91) The Decemberists - This is Why We Fight

CKIC TOP 40 OF 2011

It's that time of year again -- alternative rock and AAA stations are getting set to post their year end countdowns. There is a website called Rocklists that compiled these lists from 1980 to 2007. I thought I'd continue that work on my blog. I got a complete set of 2010 countdowns posted.

As usual the first to post their countdown is a college station CKIC in Winnepeg. As is usual for a college radio countdown the list is rather idiosyncratic. It is also very Canadian, and especially Manitoban (designated by the appellation "Mancon"

ManCon 1. Mas Headspace-- The Everyman
2. Black Keys-- Next Girl
ManCon 3. The Details-- The Original Mark
4. Band of Horses-- Dilly
5. Black Mountain-- The Hair Song
ManCon 6. The Perms-- High School High
7. Everything Everything-- Photoshop Handsome
8. Black Keys-- Howlin' for You
ManCon 9. Mas Headspace-- The First Five
10. Phoenix Foundation-- Buffalo
11. Foster the People-- Pumped Up Kicks
ManCon 12. The Weakerthans-- Our Retired Explorer
13. Arctic Monkeys-- Don't Sit Down Because I Moved the Chair
ManCon 14. The Details-- Surface Breaks
ManCon 15. Quinzy-- Self Defense
16. Beastie Boys-- Make Some Noise
17. Fleet Foxes-- Battery Kinzie
ManCon 18. The Weakerthans-- Wellington's Wednesdays
19. Broken Social Scene-- All to All
ManCon 20. Katie Murphy-- Oooo! (She's Got a Lot Goin' On)
21. Fleet Foxes-- Grown Ocean
ManCon 22. Abstract Artform-- Winnipeg
23. Arctic Monkeys-- The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
24. My Morning Jacket-- Holdin' On to Black Metal
ManCon 25. Jicah-- Give Me Something I Can Feel
26. The Strokes-- Taken For a Fool
ManCon 27. Mise en Scene-- Red Lips and Ray Bans
28. Hawksley Workman-- Tokyo Bicycle
29. The Go! Team-- Buy Nothing Day
30. The Vaccines-- All in White
31. The Rescue-- Televised
ManCon 32. Equal Loudness Curve-- I Like It
33. The Rapture-- How Deep Is Your Love?
34. Memphis-- I Want the Lights on After Dark
ManCon 35. Nicole Byblow-- Things That I Learned When I Worked at the Hospital
36. Death Cab for Cutie-- You Are a Tourist
ManCon 37. Jicah-- It's Getting Better
ManCon 38. Len Bowen-- Big Dreamer
39. Sufjan Stevens-- I Walked
40. Crystal Castles-- Not in Love

When will they learn?

Sorry to seem like a broken record, but it needs to be pointed out -- all these flips from rock to talk (alt stations aren't the only ones to feel the brunt of this)have been a total disaster. The Merlin stations in Chicago and New York City are both struggling to get above ratings above 0.5. WKRK has slid to about 1/3 of its prior audience and in Buffalo WLKK has slid to -- wait for this 0.0! This from a station that was getting over 2.0 on a signal that barely came into the city.

BRING BACK ALTERNATIVE ROCK RADIO!

Forgotten 90's -- 1990

Have you noticed that on the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, the newest hottest bands and acts -- Foster the People, Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, the Black Keys, Young the Giant, The Naked and Famous even Cage the Elephant -- have almost nothing to do with grunge. As a result alt radio is sounding more and more schizophrenic. I'm not suggesting completely doing away with Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam -- I love those bands too. I would suggest, however, that it may be time to tweak the recurrents a bit -- cause there are songs from the 90's that I believe would fit right in between those songs -- and they're all pretty damn good.
This is -- Forgotten 90's. This time some songs from 1990. The chart positions are from the year end charts

CUTS YOU UP -- PETER MURPHY (#23 KROQ, #12 91X, #36 Live 105, #19 CFNY, Screetch of the Week WDRE Coldplay albums are getting lusher and lusher in sound. So why not play this cinematic track from 1990 as well? Former Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy came up with this soaring, tuneful and soulful song at the tail end of the synth pop era -- easily the best of his career.

NEVER ENOUGH -- THE CURE (#28 KROQ, #2 91X, #70 Live 105, #8 CFNY Screetch of the Week WDRE) Gets overlooked because it didn't appear on one of their studio albums. One of the Cure's rockingest tunes. The lyrics distill the Robert Smith's gloom to its simplistic essence.

HEAD ON -- JESUS & MARY CHAIN (#21 KROQ, #67 91X, #37 Live 105, #73 CFNY) The Pixies covered this song! So why can't it get played on the radio anymore?

POLICY OF TRUTH -- DEPECHE MODE (#4 91X, #63 Live 105, #2 CFNY) Synth pop is making a comeback, but it's harder edged than the 80's stuff -- this is one of the harder edged songs from that period, and it hasn't been played very often lately.

BIRDHOUSE IN MY SOUL -- THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (#35 KROQ, #71 CFNY, Shreek of the Week WDRE) Just Because.

WAY DOWN NOW -- WORLD PARTY (#88 KROQ, #44 91X, #77 Live 105, #40 CFNY) A jaunty ditty about depression. Hasn't aged a bit.

NOVEMBER SPAWNED A MONSTER -- MORRISEY (#78 KROQ, # 34 91X, #32 CFNY, Shreek of the Week WDRE) Possibly the worst video ever, but a great song, probably the most compassionate lyric Morrisey ever wrote. I nearly Picked "Ouija Board, Ouija Board" which is possibly the funniest lyric he ever wrote. Morrisey solo material is criminally neglected by the radio.

DREAMTIME -- HEART THROBS (#100 KROQ, #87 Live 105) Female led groups are hot now and this is one of the better forgotten ones.

PURE -- LIGHTNING SEEDS(#17 KROQ, #46 91x, #13 CFNY) Great melody from Liverpudilian popmeister Broudie. It's actually a 1989 song, but it became a hit in 1990.

I DON'T KNOW WHY I LOVE YOU -- HOUSE OF LOVE (#32 KROQ, #91 91x, #78 Live 105, # 89 CFNY) Why is such a great tune never played? Possibly because they never wrote another one this catchy.

METROPOLIS -- THE CHURCH (#69 KROQ, #63 91X, #33 Live 105)The Church were the Coldplay of the 80's. Finely crafted adult rock, if a bit placid. Still, why won't some AAA station give this a spin?

KOOL THING -- SONIC YOUTH (#102 KROQ, #30 91X, #31 Live 105, #41 CFNY) Finally, CFNY played this recently (TWICE!) during an all-request weekend,and it sure sounded awesome. That this band can't get airplay while posers like Stone Temple Pilots stay in heavy rotation is a major crime.

HELLO HELLO HELLO (PETROL)-- SOMETHING HAPPENS (#100 LIVE 105, SHREEK OF THE WEEK WDRE) A jaunty, tuneful rocker, from another one hit wonder. Held Together With God;s Glue was a great set of tunes. Too bad they didn't have more in them as the follow ups stiffed.

KVGS Changes formats to Adult HIts

Not exactly a shocker, as Las Vegas' KVGS struggled with its identity and with making headway in the ratings with competitor KXTE, and now a new "Jelli" formatted station, whatever that is. Hope that's the last for a while -- most of the weaker alt stations have been culled from the herd. Hope someone comes to their senses and compares the ratings for the Merlin owned news stations compared to WRXP and Q101's prior ratings and gives alt a chance in New York and Chicago.

Essential 11 -- Sept/Oct 2011

Got a little down there for awhile. Alternative stations were dropping like flies last month, including a rather good one in Reno. Things seem to be stabilizing and I'm taking grim pleasure in seeing the main culprit -- Merlin Media facing ratings for their ill conceived and ill executed all news stations that are 1/3-1/6 of what Q101 and RXP were getting.

So back into the fray, with some tunes that I like hearing and I would like to hear more of on alternative radio.

1) Helena Beat -- Foster the People I know I slagged on their giant Top 40 hit. but this one is catchy good. Falsesetto vocals and depressive lyrics, and really sick, twisted video.

2)Face to the Floor -- Chevelle The best hard rock on the planet because they're the least flashy -- and really put thought into their lyrics.

3)How Come You Never Go There -- Feist Who apparently is feeling a little bit feisty. This is far liviler stuff that what appeared on the last album.

4)Blood Pressure -- Mutemath They used to make tons of songs like this in the 60's --strutty little tunes with unison harmony. I'm smelling breakthrough hit here.

5)Cruel -- St. Vincent No one else is doing this -- even when she approximates rock, as she does here -- she seems to be singing pop from another planet. Really twisted video that hammers home the lyrics about domestic disquiet.

6) Tragedy's a Coming -- Primus Yes, they're back, and taking funk to dark places that even George Clinton fears to tread.

7) Colours --Grouplove Usually hate this neo-hippie stuff. I'm old enough to have caught the tail end bands like Rusted Root and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros sound too second hand. Maybe because that's not all they got up their sleeve --they've got 80's roots as well. Maybe because they rock the folk rock.

8) Get It Daddy -- Sleeper Agent Punk energy without the anger and angst.

9) Up All Night -- Blink 182 Jimmy Page called. Wants to know if he could borrow that killer riff.

10) I Might -- Wilco Nice little rocker from Wilco. Got a soft spot in my heart for any song featuring organ.

11) Paradise -- Coldplay In full lush mode. Lovely anyway.

Not the Essential 11

I promise to do an Essential 11 for September in a couple of days. August was a slow month for alt rock/adult alternative. Here's the proof...the songs on alternative and AAA radio that make me search for another station.

Pumped Up Kicks -- Foster the People. The alt rock single of the summer and boy was it catchy. But so is the flu.

Stay Young, Go Dancing -- Death Cab For Cutie If you're inviting someone to go dancing it helps if you come up with a good beat. A fox trot would be livilier.

Panic -- Sublime feat. Rome If I want white ska I'll go buy a Specials album.

Sail -- AWOL Nation It's songs like this that gave synth pop a bad name in the 80's.

I Feel You -- Sam Roberts Band Got a lot of airplay in Canada. Usually love this band, but this sort of bad blues rock would've got you booed off stage in the 70's.

Holding Onto Black Metal -- My Morning Jacket Proving that Evil Urges was a fluke, My Morning Jacket goes back to being the most overrated alt rock band.

Monster -- Paramore I really hate to say it (since they chose to be total douches when they left the band) but I miss the Farro brothers

Staind -- Not Again They wrote the review for me. How thoughtful.

Incubus -- Promises Promises Careful, guys. Releasing songs like this is what trapped the Goo Goo Dolls in adult contemporary hell.

The Sheepdogs -- I Don't Know Canadian radio pushed this song so the band would win a contest to get on the cover of Rolling Stone. They made it. So why are they still playing this listless repetitive crap?

The Kooks -- Junk of the Heart (Happy) Trying hard to remmeber why I used to like this band.

2011 ARR March? Madness

This has been dragging on long enough so I'll post another. In the South Regional we have #15 seed WTBZ of Sarasota, Florida, who beat #2 seed KDGE of Dallas facing off against #10 seed KVGS of Las Vegas who managed a mild upset over #7 seed KROX of Austin.

The rules 10 songs from their actual playlists played at about the same time picked at random. First one to reach 6 victories wins, or 5 if there's a tie.

WTBZ opens with Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden. KVGS counters with Savior by Rise Against. In the battle of the overplayed, the Clear Channel station from Florida takes the first heat.

The rest: WTBZ on the left

33 -- Smashing Pumpkins vs. Take Me Out -- Franz Ferdinand. Mellon Collie had too many songs on it and this is one of them. Tied up.
Audience of One -- Rise Against vs. Talk -- Coldplay. I don't hate Rise Against. Honest. 2-1 KVGS
Unglued -- Stone Temple Pilots vs. Shake Me Down -- Cage the Elephant. Yeah, I sorta hate Stone Temple Pilots. 3-1 KVGS.
You Are A Tourist -- Death Cab for Cutie vs. Longview -- Green Day Defintely one of the lesser songs from Dookie. 3-2 KVGS
All Mixed Up -- 311 vs. Maybe -- Sick Puppies That particular Sick Puppies track got old really quick. 3-3 tied up
1901-- Phoenix vs. Sell Out -- Reel Big Fish. Never really got white ska bands. 4-3 WTBZ
When I Come Around -- Green Day vs. Roxanne -- Police I like stations that reach back to the 80's but some 90's songs are hard to beat. 5-3 WTBZ
Waiting for the End -- Linkin Park vs. Rope -- Foo Fighters No contest. 5-4 WTBZ. Can KVGS force overtime?
Blister in the Sun -- Violent Femmes vs. Date Rape -- Sublime. Nope. WTBZ goes to the Quarterfinals.

Next time WQRX rises from the grave!

WHAT IS CBS RADIO THINKING!?!

CBS Radio is blowing up a perfectly succesful alternative station WKRK -FM to start an FM sports station

Let me count the ways this is an incredibly stupid idea.

1) The current station is jockless, so it doesn't cost a fortune to run
2)I've looked at the Top 50 radio markets and all sports stations are a hit in only 2 markets -- San Francisco and New York.
3) Neither one of these stations are an FM
4) Where the markets have an alternative and a sports station going head to head the alternative station wins in nearly all markets, whether you're measuring ratings points and cum. For example, KROQ and KYSR are both beating KWKW in Los Angeles, KDGE is beading KTCK AM and KEJN FM in Dallas KTBZ is beating KILT in Houston
WRFF is beating WYSP-FM in Philadelphia abd WWDC is beating both WTEM and WJFK in D,C.
5)In markets were a sports AM and a sports FM, the Sports AM generally wins the fight.
6)Cleveland already has an all sports station.
7) WKRK just overtook the all sports atation in the last rating period.

So what happens now? Does the format go HD2? Will WMMS add more alternative to their playlist to pick up KRK's audience? Will WNWV go a little harder to pick up their anemic ratings? What will become of the station when the new format crashes and burns?

Alternative Rock Radio March Madness -- WEQX v. WRZX

The final Second Round matchup in the East pits #15 seed WEQX of the little ski town of Machester Vt. (but also serving Albany NY) pitted against #7 seed Clear Channel behemoth WRZX of Indianapolis. WEQX beat another Clear Channel station WRFF which pioneered the steering of Clear Channel alternative stations from the lockerooms of active rock. WRZX beat out WMRQ, which used to be a Clear Channel station and is now just a plain vanilla alterntive. 10 songs from the playlist head to head.

WEQX starts strong with Hashpipe -- Weezer to which WRZX counters with Maybe -- Sick Puppies. WEQX by a country mile.

WEQX is on the left.

Pumped Up Kicks -- Foster the People vs. Vasoline -- Stone Temple Pilots If a station can't take out Foster the People you know they're in for a rough day WEQX 2-0
3 Libras -- A perfect Circle vs. Memorial Day -- Dropkick Murphys Irish-punk fusion bands are sorta like punk ska bands. You're too often reminded of their more talented forebears. WEQX 3-0
Block After Block -- Matt & Kim vs. Beautiful Day -- U2 Now Irish rock, that's a different matter. WEQX 3-1.
Girls and Boys -- Blur vs. One Thing -- Finger 11. When Blur missed, they missed big. WEQX 3-2
Moneygrabber -- Fitz and the Tantrums vs. My Hero -- Foo Fighters. Like Fitz and the Tamtrums -- they're really good live. But one of my two favorite Foo Fighters songs -- Gotta give this one to WRZX..IT'S NOW A 3-3 TIE.
Spanish Sahara -- The Foals vs. So Far Away -- Avenged Sevenfold. The Avenged Sevenfold song is surprisingly listenable, but the Foals song is a beautiful melody that builds to a slow burn and the song rewards repeated listens. 4-3 EQX
Let it Die -- Foo Fighters vs. Last Resort -- Papa Roach Not my favorite song out of the FF canon, but it's enough to beat Papa Roach. 5-3 EQX
You Are A Tourist -- Death Cab for Cutie vs. Jane Says -- Jane's Addiction. EQX WINS!

Alt Radio "March" Madness -- KRZQ vs. KFMA

Closing in on the end of the second round -- five more to go. West Regional. Best of 10 head to head from their playlists. #16 seed KRZQ of Reno beat KSLG of Humboldt Co., California and the legendary KROQ of Los Angeles. Pretty impressive. #9 seed KFMA beat KCXX of the San Bernadino area of California. Not so impressive.

KRZQ starts with LISZTOMANIA -- PHOENIX. KFMA counters with TWO AGAINST ONE -- DANGER MOUSE. As much as I hate giving credit for playing an overplayed song, sometimes songs are overplayed for a reason KRZQ wins.

THE REST; KRZQ on the left.

ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS VS. LITHIUM -- NIRVANA A close call, but the Incubus song needs my love more. KRZQ 2-0
SABATOGE -- BEASTIE BOYS VS. RIPTIDE -- SICK PUPPIES The Beastie Boys tune is the ultimate marriage of punk and hip hop. How can it not win KRZQ 3-0
SOMEBODY TOLD ME -- THE KILLERS VS. LYING FROM YOU -- LINKIN PARK Not the most overplayed Linkin Park song, but that's not enough to beat one the the Killers stronger songs. KRZQ 4-0
THEM BONES -- ALICE IN CHAINS VS. ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS. Time to throw KFMA a bone. KRZQ 4-1.
TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. DRAGULA -- ROB ZOMBIE. No contest here. KRZQ is set up for the win.
CLOSE TO ME -- THE CURE VS. LAY ME DOWN -- DIRTY HEADS Don't get me wrong, I like "Lay Me Down" -- but we're talking about the Cure here! KRZQ wipes the floor with KFMA and goes to the quarterfinals with 3 impressive wins under its belt,

Simulcasting AM: Still a Dumb Idea

While WLKK was not a station to my tastes. I probably would have been tuning it out a lot even in the mid 70's when the bulk of the stuff they played was popular and like all virtually jockless stations it was faceless. But it played enough good stuff that I had it on my presets. So when the station went to simulcasting the right wing blather on WBEN. The theory is that AM is a dying spectrum and putting talk radio on the FM will help them grow their audience and they will no longer have to pay staff to run two radio stations.

How's that working? WLKK's ratings have tanked -- they have lost nearly half the audience. When you add the two stations ratings together they have roughly the same ratings they had this time last year. Combined the two stations lost two ratings points and one revenue stream all in order to save the salaries of the Lake's skeleton staff -- oh wait, they're still on HD-2, (the signal of which doesn't quite make it to me) does that mean someone's still getting paid to run that operation?

Now if you'll excuse me I'm setting up my lawn chair so I can watch WRXP (whose ratings had been slowly but steadily improving prior to the Merlin takeover and switch to female-oriented news/talk) crash and burn.

Alt Rock Radio March Madness KRXF vs. KENZ

It's Round 2 of the Midwest Regionals. #16 seed KRXF of Bend, Oregon beat KTBZ of Houston, Tx. # 9 Seed KENZ of Salt Lake City previously beat KRBZ of Kansas City. Since it's been a while a recap of the rules -- I grabbed a playlist of each at the same approximate time and picked 10 songs and placed them head to head. I pick which song I prefer. The station with the most songs picked wins. Playing Marilyn Manson is an automatic disqualification. Sorry, just no excuse for that in this day and age. Let's go

KRXF starts with This Charming Man by the Smiths. KENZ counters with Yellow by Coldplay. RXF gets the edge by reaching back to the 80's (that move doesn't work however if they do it to play Howard Jones).

The rest: KRXF is on the left, KENZ on the right.

Them Belly Full But We Hungry -- Bob Marley & The Wailers vs. Dog Days Are Over -- Florence and the Machine. Wow. Not only Bob Marley, but a deep cut by Bob Marley. RXF again.
End to the Lies -- Janes Addiction vs. Mirror in the Bathroom -- The Specials Turnabout is fair play and this time the End comes up with the cool deep 80's track RXF 2-1.
Soul to Squeeze -- Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Forget You -- Cee Lo Green. Cee Lo Green's potty mouth ties it up 2-2
Man in the Suitcase -- Police vs. Crossfire -- Brandon Flowers Playing the Police is a risky move but it pays off because KENZ plays Brandon Flowers solo.
Am I Demon -- Danzig vs. Better Man -- Pearl Jam. There are limits to playing the deep cut card and KRXF has bumped up against one. Danzig? Really? Stations are tied at 3-3.
Born Too Slow -- Crystal Method vs. Little Lion Man -- Mumford & Sons. Crystal Method is a cult band, a cult of which I am not a member. KENZ takes the lead 4-3
Middle of Nowhere -- Hot Hot Heat vs. Float On -- Modest Mouse Two slightly left of center songs, both really good. the Hot Hot Heat song has got a catchier melody. It's tied up again.
Bullet the Blue Sky -- U2 vs. Our House -- Madness Wow a rare all 80's matchup. The U2 track has more fire, so I'll go with that one 5-4 KRXF.
Monday -- Wilco vs. Troublemaker -- Weezer. Nothing against Weezer, but that song is played an awful lot and you have to give KRXF for daring to play Wilco.

WRXF wins! They are a force to be reckoned with as KENZ put forward a very strong playlist.

Time to Get Your HD2 radios!

Or go streaming -- the much anticipated Emmis massacre is upon us! Q101 and WRXP are both biting the dust. RXP is going female oriented news talk despite the fact that two prior attempts to bring talk to New York City FM were miserable flops. Not sure what Q101 is going to become. Not sure I care, as I wasn't a big fan of what that station had become -- I prefer WXRT myself -- I had a lot less trouble finding a cool song on that station. Both will continue streaming if that's any consolation and there may be two competing alternative on HD radio in Chicago. The new owner of Q101 is continuing the format on another HD2 frequency, at the same time selling the Q101 name to another entity. Nevertheless two big holes opened up in terrestial radio

Essential 11 for July 2011

Skipping June to go into July.

1) Death of Communicaton --Company of Thieves They're obviously looking to pack the stadiums, their style has gone sprawling, the vocals soariing.

2) Up Up Up -- The Givers They sorta sound like Arcade Fire with a sense of humor.

3) Unkind -- Sloan Power pop at its finest.

4) Every Teardrop is a Waterfall -- Coldplay. With a downbeat title like that you wouldn't expect music that seems to dance on air.

5) Fragile Bird -- The City and the Colour The City and the Color/Alexis on Fire = Stone Sour/Slipknot. I read somewhere it's about the lead singer's wife, which just goes to show you that you should never marry a songwriter. Love that guitar hook.

6) Losers -- Belle Brigade A folk-rock anti anthem about renouncing being the coolest kid on the block as a life goal, with a video about freeing dogs from a pound, which ironically makes this duo the coolest kids on the block.

7) Cough Syrup -- Young the Giant The Coldplay influence is a ltttle more blatant on this track, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Strong lyrics and a good grasp of melody and a willingness to experiment around the edges of a pop song is never a bad thing.

8) What You Know -- Two Door Cinema Club Just a stunning pop song with a haunting guitar line and a subtle African influence, plus a killer video with perfectly coordinated dancing by some lovely women -- one of those videos that hook you into the song even more.

9) Bulletproof Heart -- My Chemical Romance This band is always ambitious, but they're at their best when they keep it simple, like they do here.

10) You've Got the Love -- Florence and the Machine More proof that alternative rock radio is getting woman friendly again.

11) Favorite Colour -- Tokyo Police Club Don't ask me what the lyrics mean, but sorta like the Stokes they always get by with attitude and killer hooks.

Belated Essential 11 May 2011

I'm back! Computer problems have kept me away. I've been busy backing up my music to a cloud service so if the computer goes for good I'll still have it. I had over 300 MP3s from Amazon and I tunes. Wow. Anyway, Let's catch up with the songs your station should have been playing last month.

1) Paul Simon -- The Afterlife
This one is stictly a AAA pick. Rymin' Simon was never one to play it safe -- very clever in combining genres and is not afraid to use humor to make his points, a skill that is all to rare nowadays.
2) Mumford and Sons -- Roll Away Your Stone
This is the 3rd single off their debut and it looks like I'm going to buy the album cause I've liked everything I heard.
3) Brother -- Darling Buds of May
Every once in a while an English band will come around with a dynamite catchy song and they turn into a one hit wonder -- James, the Fratellis and Travis take a bow. This is a dynamite catchy song and time will tell if this is one of those bands.
4) Arctic Monkeys -- Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved the Chair
If there's any justice, this isn't one of those bands.
5) Foo Fighters -- Walk
Starts off sorta slow and melodic and packs the punch of a tornado towards the end.
6) Adele -- Rumour Has It
Has a #1 smash that isn't dancefloor pop and for that alone I'm enternally grateful. This is more of her gospel flavored good stuff.
7) The Smithereens -- Sorry
Yeah, the kings of power pop are back, and even more than the Cars, they're picking up where they left off.
8) The Civil Wars -- Barton Hollow
Just plain purty country flavored folk.
9) Cage the Elephant -- Around My Heart
This shambling rowdy rock band sounds like it's channelling the Fixies this time out. Not a bad band to channel.
10) Bell X1 -- Velcro
I like this band cause they sorta remind me of the Talking Heads. God I miss them.
11) The Strokes -- Taken For a Fool
Why? C'mon, they're the Strokes!

ARR March Madness -- KYSR v. WXXJ

OK let's resume a feature I started last March. Round 2 of the South Regional #1 Seed KYSR of Los Angeles (who upset WIIS of Key West) meets # 8 Seed WXXJ of Jacksonville (who beat WROX of Norfolk/Virginia Beach.

KYSR leads off with YOU GOTTA FIGHT -- Beastie Boys WXXJ counters with WHAT IT'S LIKE -- EVERLAST It wasn't easy, but how can you deny the Beastie Boys party anthem?

Here's the rest. As always, best of 10

PUMPED UP KICKS -- FOSTER THE PEOPLE VS. COUGHT SYRUP -- YOUNG THE GIANT. How can you vote against a band that uses synchonized swimmers in their video? Tied 1-1
PERFECT SITUATION -- WEEZER V.ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL -- KORN There was a time when covering Pink Floyd badly would have resulted in mockery and derision on alternative radio. KYSR leads 2-1
UPRISING -- MUSE VS. CARELESS WHISPER -- SEETHER. There was a time when covering George Michael badly would have resulted in derision and mockery. Then Limp Biskit got away with it. Sorta. 3-1 KYSR.
BLISTER IN THE SUN -- VIOLENT FEMMES vs. WISH YOU WERE HERE -- INCUBUS. Not a bad Incubus song, but BLISTER IN THE SUN is a classic.4-1 KYSR.
YOUR'RE GONNA GO FAR KID -- OFFSPRING vs. SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER -- SUM 41 Offsping has just aged better. 5-1 KYSR
PLUSH -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. I WRITE SINS NOT TRAGEDIES -- PANIC AT THE DISCO. Please don't make me choose which song I hate less. Make it a tie, which means

KYSR in a landslide.

ARR March Madness -- CFNY vs. WFNX

Back to round 2 action in hte East Regional. #1 Seed CFNY ("The Edge") beat CFLC of Kingston Ontario. #6 Seed WFNX beat Providence's WBRU. This is another tough bout for WFNX. Usual rules. 10 songs from a recent playlist. Head to head, winner take all. May the best station win. CFNY on the left WFNX on the right.

WE USED TO WAIT -- ARCADE FIRE VS. HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE BLACK KEYS. Wow. Tough choice. But I'll give to to the Edge.
OTHERSIDE -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS VS. PORK AND BEANS -- WEEZER Again the Edge by a hair.
WAIT UP (BOOTS OF DANGER)-- TOKYO POLICE CLUB VS. WHIRRING -- THE JOY FORMIDABLE Normally this would be 3-0 FNX, but as of now it's 3-0 the other way. The Edge is on quite a roll.
Oops! Both stations played KIDS by MGMT. Next.
CAPABLE -- K.O. VS. PUMPED UP KICKS -- FOSTER THE PEOPLE I don't get much kicks from Foster the People. 4-0 Edge
UNDERCOVER OF DARKNESS -- THE STROKES VS. THERE THERE -- RADIOHEAD FNX finally breaks the streak by breaking out a deep track from Radiohead. Always a good idea.
ENTER SANDMAN -- METALLICA VS. GOLD, GUNS GIRLS -- METRIC Another close call, this time for WFNX. 4-2 CFNY
END TO THE LIES -- JANE'S ADDICTION VS. WHAT YOU KNOW -- TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB Never cared for Jane's Addiction the first time around 4-3 CFNY
THE GOOD IN EVERYONE -- SLOAN VS. ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS The Sloan song is catchy and I love the music, but the words are sort of not there. Gotta go with the Foo Fighters here. Tied up. It'll come down to the 10th song....
RADIOACTIVE -- KINGS OF LEON VS. THE FUNERAL -- BAND OF HORSES. Wow. All along it's been a game of inches. Not one of the songs either station played were really bad, and only one or two mediocre. It's a shame either station has to go down. But it's WFNX going to the Sweet 16, by the slimmest of margins.

Alternative Rock Radio March Madness -- KNRK v. KNDD

The battle for the West Coast is on! #3 seed KNDD, the legendary Seattle alt rock station bear KRXP of Colorado Springs. A not very good Clear Channel station KRAB nearly pulled an upset of KNRK of Portland. This should be interesting... KNRK will be on the left KNDD on the left. Best of 10, playlists ready, set, go!

POST BREAK UP SEX -- THE VACCINES VS. HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE BAACK KEYS Interesting play by 94-7 (KNRK) but The Black Keys is too big and bad to overcome.
CLOSER -- NINE INCH NAILS VS. WHAT IT'S LIKE -- EVERLAST Both good songs. NIN gets the edge with sheer intensity. Tie score.
WHIRRING -- THE JOY FORMIDABLE VS. WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG -- THE KILLERS The Joy Formidable wins by not sounding like anyone else. 2-1 KNRK
I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK -- DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE VS. SEX ON FIRE -- KINGS OF LEON I'll choose sex over death, wouldn't you? The End ties it up.
FLAGPOLE SITTA -- HARVEY DANGER VS. PLUSH -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS The Harvey Danger song is goofy bordering on the insipid, but the STP song is just derivitive and bad. KRK leads 3-2
ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS VS. LOST IN MY MIND -- THE HEAD AND THE HEART aDOLESCENTS IS JUST TOO DAMN GOOD. 4-2 knrk
APRIL 29, 1992 -- BUBLIME VS. SEVEN NATION ARMY --THE WHITE STRIPES Are you kidding me? 4-3 KNRK
SAIL -- AWOL NATION VS. COME OUT AND PLAY -- OFFSPRING The End ties it up again.
SEVEN NATION ARMY -- THE WHITE SRIPES VS. GOLD GUNS GIRLS -- METRIC The White Stripes by a hair. 5-4 KNRK
THE CAVE -- MUMPORD & SONS VS. PLATEAY -- NIRVANA KNRK GOES ONTO THE SWEET 16!

Alternative Rock Radio March Madness -- WKRK vs. KQRA

It's the Midwest Regional #6 seed WKRK of Cleveland beat KMYZ of Tulsa. #14 Seed KQRA of Springfield Mo. beat CIMX of Windsor Ontario/Detroit. Now they meet. Ten songs from their playlist head to head winner take all.

WKRK leads off with WELCOME TO PARADISE -- GREEN DAY KQRA leads off with PORN STAR DANCING -- MY DARKEST DAYS FEAT. ZACK WILDE. Good Lord, no.

Let's get this over with. WKRK is on the left.

LONG TIME -- CAKE VS. EPIC -- FAITH NO MORE. After KRK plays a relatively weak Cake single. KQRA seizes the moment and counters with Faith No More. Well played.
TODAY -- SMASHING PUMPKINS VS. FACES --ONE LESS REASON. 2-1 krk
ALL APOLOGIES -- NIRVANA VS. SWEET DREAMS -- MARILYN MANSON DISQUALIFICATION!!! NO STATION THAT PLAYS MARILYN MANSON DESERVES TO ADVANCE!

WKRK is in the Sweet 16.

ARR March Madness KRBZ vs, WWDC

# 6 Seed KRBZ beat KUCD Honalulu in Round One. #3 seed WWDC beat WTZR from Johnson City. Ten songs from their playlists head to head winner take all yadiyaya

KRBZ starts with DON'T STOP -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. WWDC counters with BULLET SOUL -- SWITCHFOOT WWDC takes the early lead. Upset in the making?

KRBZ will continue to be on the left hand side

THE CAVE -- MUMFORD & SONS VS. PERSONAL JESUS -- DEPECHE MODE Not the biggest Depeche Mode fan. Tied up.
DAUGHTER -- PEARL JAM VS. SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT 2-1 KPBZ
MR. BRIGHTSIDE -- THE KILLERS VS. DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS -- DISTURBED No. Upset not in the making. 3-1 KPBZ
YOUNGBLOOD -- THE NAKED AND THE FAMOUS VS. DRIVE -- INCUBUS 3-2 KPBZ
LAKE OF FIRE -- NIRVANA VS. LISZTOMANIA -- PHOENIX Tied up.
WHEN I COME AROUND -- GREEN DAY VS. OUTSIDE -- STAIND I'll opt for Green Day. 4-3 KPBZ
LOTUS FLOWER -- RADIOHEAD VS. LOST IN YOU -- 3 DAYS GRACE KPBZ WINS.

ARR March Madness -- WBOS v. WRXL

We resume 2nd round action in the East Regional. #3 Seed WBOS defeated WRRV of Middletown/Peekskill NY. # 11 Seed WRXL of Richmond beat WEND of Charlotte. As usual, thier playlists go head to head best of 10

WBOS leads off with EVEN FLOW--PEARL JAM. WRXL counters with THE RED -- CHEVELLE. When all things are equal I'm going with the song that hasn't been played to death. That would be Chevelle. WRXL 1-0

Here's the rest WBOS on the left

MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT VS. SANTA MONICA (WATCH THE WORLD DIE) -- EVERCLEAR. The same rule applies here, which ties the score.
SOUL TO SQUEEZE -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS VS. WAITING FOR THE END -- LINKIN PARK One of my least favorite Chili Peppers tracks, mostly because it sounds like four other Chili Peppers tracks. 2-1 RXL
HEART SHAPED BOX -- NIRVANA VS. STELLAR -- INCUBUS I had to look up this deep Incubus track on You Tube. Glad I did. 3-1 RXL.
ENTER SANDMAN -- METALLICA VS. LOST IN YOU -- 3 DAYS GRACE The hot streak is broken 3-2 RXL
HANGING BY A MOMENT -- LIFEHOUSE VS. THE DISTANCE -- CAKE. I said when all things are equal. Lifehouse does not equal Cake, not by a long shot. 4-2 RXL
FEEL GOOD, INC. -- GORILLAZ VS. RIPTIDE -- SICK PUPPIES. Never really got Damon Albarn's cartoon band. Sick Puppies 5-2 RXL.
COULD YOU BE LOVED -- BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS VS. OUTSIDE -- STAIND Sorry, Even minor Wailers beats the best Staind 5-3 RXL.
THE CAVE -- MUMFORD & SONS VS. ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS I gotta call this a tie. That means WRXL goes on to the Sweet 16!

The April 2011 Esssential Eleven

It's that time again when I play amateur music critic and list some songs that ought to be getting more airplay on Alternative and/or AAA radio (or if they're already getting a lot deserve it) -- its the essentila 11!

1. ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS -- GUSTER Why is this haunting, beautiful song struggling so much getting airplay while the inspid "Do You Love Me" is getting played to death.
2. OPTIONS -- GOMEZ A song that's slowly growing on me. Gomez's music is usaully deceptively simple, always more going on than you hear the first couple of times through.
3. ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS Probably the most critically underrated rock band. They consistently deliver on music that ts both challenging and tuneful. As unconventional in time signature as your average Radiohead song, and the melody goes into many unexpected places, but still very listenable.
4. WHIRRING -- THE JOY FORMIDABLE The song title says it all. A whorling dervish of a song that slowly builds to a frenzy.
5. BUTTERCUP -- LUCINDA WILLIAMS Veteran country rocker really pulls out all the stops on her latest album, with a smoking backup band, even on this relatively laid back track. (they really tear it up on "Seeing Black" especially the guitarists).
6. MAKE SOME NOISE -- BEASTIE BOYS They are so old school that they reach back to the 70's for their backing track, including a guest appearence by the cowbell.
7. FUTURE STARTS SLOW -- THE KILLS Allison Mosshart's original duo has a new album out and if this song is any indication, it's killer. Dead Weather fans won't be disappointed by this blusey stomp.
8. YOU ARE A TOURIST -- DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Another deceptively sunny song from Death Cab.This is more uptempo than a lot of their recent music, with a memorable guitar riff anchoring the whole it.
9. APRIL FOOLS -- MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA I'm a bit puzzled, I'll admit. This is the song the modren rock stations are playing a more or less straight ahead rcoker on hte other hand ,,,
10. SIMPLE MATH -- MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA This is the song they made their first video off their new album, a dense, slowly building brooder that been growing on me slowly. Guess I'll put them both on.
11. GOT TO LOSE -- HOLLERADO The lyrics are rather silly, but this song rocks mightily and tunefully, like Weezer on a good day. Can't get this song outta my head.

ARR March Madness -- CHDI vs. CJZN

In the West Regional #4 Seed CHDI of Edmonton meets #12 seed CJZN of Victoria BC for bragging rights of Western Canada. CHDI (Sonic 102.9) beat KTEG of Albequeque. CJZN (The Zone) beat KNRK of Salt Lake City (no pushover)Best of 10 head to head from their actual playlists.

CHDI plays SPIDERWEBS -- NO DOUBT CJZN plays LITHIUM -- NIRVANA Even factoring in how overplayed this song is how can I vote against Nirvana?

The rest CHDI on the left

DANI CALIFORNIA -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS VS. SCARED -- TRAGICALLY HIP The Hip's creepiest ballad from Day for Night almost upsets the Chili Peppers classic. Almost. 1-1 Tie.
BLEAK DECADES -- CYGNETS VS. LITTLE LION MAN -- MUMFORD & SONS The Cygnets are a local band and the title of the song just about sums it up. 2-1 Zone
BACK AGAINST THE WALL -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT VS. MONEYGRABBER -- FITZ & THE TANTRUMS Usually not down with reconstructed white sou, but this is special -- 3-1 Zone
COURAGE -- TRAGICALLY HIP VS. MOUNTAIN TOP -- BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH I'll give the nod to the Hip on this one. 3-2 Zone
MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT VS. COME DOWN -- BUSH. Bush is a real comedown. 3-3 Tie.
BELIEVE -- THE BRAVERY VS. STILL IN LOVE SONG -- THE STILLS My favorite Bravery song edges out a good song by the Stills 4-3 Sonic lead.
WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN -- BLINK 182 VS. THE STAND -- MOTHER MOTHER 4-4 TIE.
LIVING IN A DREAM -- FINGER 11 VS. APRIL FOOLS -- MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA 5-4 Zone.
NICE TO KNOW YOU -- INCUBUS VS. END TO THE LIES -- JANE'S ADDICTION The new Jane's Addiction is interesting but a good song will beat an interesting one. TIE SCORE! OVERTIME!!!

Each station throws down the next three songs on their playlists

CHDI did N/A OK by USS, LIKE A STONE by AUDIOSLAVE and UNDERCOVER OF DARKNESS -- THE STROKES CJZN counters with IN PLACE OF A LESSER MAN -- STEADY AS SHE GOES -- THE RACONTEURS and SO FAR SO GOOD -- THORNLEY. Ooh that wasn't that good on either station's part. Let's try DOUBLE OVERTIME!!!

CDHI plays HARD SUN -- EDDIE VEDDER, HIGH AND DRY -- RADIOHEAD AND AMERICANARAMA -- HOLLERADO. Much better. But wait CJZN counters with THE FIXER -- PEARL JAM,, AMERICAN IDIOT -- GREEN DAY AND IF IT FEELS GOOD DO IT -- SLOAN

Both really good sets. But I must say I liked SONIC's set a bit better. CHDI wins!

ARR March Madness-- WTFX vs, WWCD

Second round action in the Midwest Regional. #13 seed WTFX of Louisville ("The Fox") beat KTCL of Denver. # 12 seed WWCD (CD101) which beat CFEX of Calgary. Best of 10 head to head; songs from their playlists played at approximately the same time.
WTFX leads off with BEST OF YOU -- FOO FIGHTERS. CD101 plays 40 DAY DREAM BY EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS. The Fox picks up the early lead.

WTFX is on the left.

SAVIOR -- RISE AGAINST VS. OMFG -- DELUKA Because Some songs are obscure because they're challenging. Some songs are obscure because they don't fit readily into genre preconceptions. Some songs are obscure because they;re really not that great. OMFG is the latter. The Fox pulls into a shocking 2-0 lead.
AROUND THE WORLD -- RHCP VS. WALKING WITH A GHOST -- TEGAN & SARA One of the Chili Peppers weaker songs go against Tegan & Sarah who I cant remember them having a bad songs. The Fox leads 2-1.
DUMB -- NIRVANA VS. ROPE --FOO FIGHTERS Good Nirvana song, but there's something special going on in hte New Foo Fighters album. Tied 2-2.
LITTLE LION MAN -- MUMFORD & SONS VS. GET SOME -- LYKKE LI Not buying the hype on LYKke Li. The Fox leads it 3-2
BIG EMPTY -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. APRIL FOOLS -- MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA It seems like "Ive Got Friends" was no fluke. Tied at 3-3
WHEN I'M GONE -- 3 DOORS DOWN VS. GOLD, GUNS, GIRLS -- METRIC cd101 finally takes the lead.
UNDISCLOSED DESIRE == MUSE VS. BEAUTIFUL WORLD -- DEVO Dredging up Devo deserves a window characger, 5-3 CD 101
LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY VS. SUGARFOOT -- BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS Good songs, but Joe Louis knocks out the competition.

WWCD is in the sweet 16!

ARR March Madness XETRA v. WSUN

Second round action in the South regional. #4 seed XETRA (Mexican call letters in case you're wondering) better known as 91x, which decisively beat WRKN of New Orleans faces #5 seed WSUN of Tampa, which beat KNXA of Fayetteville Akansas.
10 Songs off their playlist head to head. I pick the winners.

91X leads off with NICE TO KNOW YOU -- INCUBUS, WSUN leads off with HELP IS ON THE WAY -- RISE AGAINST. 91X wins the first round.

91x will continue to be on the left side.

BLACK HOLE SUN -- SOUNDGARDEN VS. LOSER -- BECK Both good, both overplayed, like Beck a hair better. 1-1 tie.
ALL YOU NEED IS NOW -- DURAN DURAN (!) VS., THE BALLAD OF MONA LISA -- PANIC AT THE DISCO. They're both -- uh -- sorta interesting. Can't choose tie.
DEAD MAN'S PARTY -- OINGO BOINGO VS. DON'T TREAD ON ME -- 311 Nice of 91x to dredge up Oingo Boingo from the neather reaches of the 80's, but "Don't Tread On Me" is also a track that doesn't get played enough and I like it a lot better. 1-2 WSUN
MAKE SOME NOISE -- BEASTIE BOYS VS. AIN'T NO REST FOR THE WICKED -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT Another really tough call. Love the retro 70s sound on the new Beasties, and I also love the pseudo blues of Cage the Elephant's strongest track. Draw.
1901 -- PHOENIX VS. SOMEBODY TOLD ME -- THE KILLERS Both catchy as hell, 1901 is just more original. 2-2 tie
ENJOY THE SILENCE -- DEPECHE MODE VS. OWN STEP CLOSER -- LINKIN PARK. This is probably going to be a controvesial call in many circles, but I actually prefer Linkin Park. 3-2 WSUN
SAY IT AIN'T SO -- WEEZER VS. THE GOOD LIFE -- THREE DAYS GRACE WSUN Should have gone for the kill. Instead they lay a fat pitch right down the middle and 91x hits it out of the park. 3-3 tie again.
STAY TOO LONG -- PLAN B VS. MY HERO -- FOO FIGHTERS My Hero is a staple of Alternative Rock radio for a reason. 4-3 WSUN.
WE USED TO WAIT -- ARCADE FIRE VS. ALL I WANT -- A DAY TO REMEMBER. All I Want is a pretty good punk-metal song, but this is Arcade Fire we're talking about. So this means -- this puppy's in overtime!

It comes down to which station plays the better 3 songs from the next three songs immediately following the 10 foregoing 10 songs.

91x plays SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT, THE CAVE -- MUMFORD & SONS AND ALL YOU NEED IS NOW -- DURAN DURAN (AGAIN!)
WSUN plyas CARELESS WHISPER -- SEETHER (Yuck) LIGHTNING CRASHES -- LIVE and MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT.

AND THE WINNER IS -- XETRA! Our second station reaching the Sweet 16.

ARR March Madness --- WXDX v. WPBZ

Time at last for round two action. In the East Regional #4 Seed WXDX of Pittsburgh meets #12 seed WPBZ of West Palm Beach. WXDX defeated Dayton's WXEG with no problem. WPBZ took out St. Louis' KPNT. As always this is best of 10 head to head from actual playlists in real time judged by yours truly. You're perfectly welcome to do your own judging and post your results in the comments section.
Let's get on with it.

WXDX leads off with WHAT IT'S LIKE -- EVERLAST. WPBZ counters with COMEDOWN -- BUSH. Yuck! WXDX wins this heat.
The rest of the WXDX songs on the left WPBZ on the right.

POLLY -- NIRVANA VS. HELP IS ON THE WAY -- RISE AGAINST. One of hte more disturbing Nirvana songs wins.
THE SWEATER SONG -- WEEZER VS. DO WHAT YOU DO -- MUDVANYE. You may be suprised that that I'm calling this one a tie. I hate that Weezer song that much.
PUMPED UP KICKS -- FOSTER THE PEOPLE VS. LIVE AND LET DIE -- GUNS AND ROSES A metal cover of a Wings song. Is this the best the Buzz can do. WXDX leads 3-0
COUNTNG BLUE CARS -- DISHWALLA VS. LAY ME DOWN -- DIRTY HEADS The Buzz finally gets on the board and cuts the lead to 3-1
ALL I WANT -- A DAY TO REMEMBER VS. MONEYTALKS -- AC/DC Not a bad AC/DC song but I like the Day to Rembmber song better. WXDX leads 4-1
STELLAR -- INCUBUS vs. HAR ME NOW -- HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD. Never trust a band in masks or makeup. WXDX wins 5 rounds and has one tie so that means that WXDX wins round two and is the first station to reach the Sweet 16.

Alternative Rock Radio March Madness -- Round 1 recap

Some observations before going onto round two.

Some stations with fairly good reputatiosn fell in round one. A couple lost because they faced tough compettion (WBRU and WRFF had to face WFNX and WEQX in the first round). Some just stunk up the joint (WLUM, KROX, KRBZ) and one station that I thought was final four material (KNRK) sturggled to win over a weak Clear Channel Station (KRAB)

Speaking of which Clear Channel did all right -- advancing 6 stations to the 2nd round.

Any stations you think should have advanced? You're welcome to comment.

ARR March Madness KROQ v. KRZQ

The last first round bout is between alt-rock giant KROQ of Los Angeles (#1 seed in the West Regional) and KRZQ (#16 Reno) who beat KSLG to get here. Should be interesting. As always head to head best of 10, songs from their playlest taken at a random time, but as close in time as pssible.

KROQ starts with SAVIOR --- RISE AGAINST. KRZQ counters with Pumped Up Kicks, a song that sounds like it belongs on a much hearder rcoking arrangement. KROQ 1-0

The rest, with KROQ on the left

LITTLE LION MAN -- MUMFORD & SONS vs. MAN IN THE BOX -- ALICE IN CHAINS. I'll pick British bluegrass over junkie grunge. KROQ is out frong 2-0
CARESS ME DOWN -- SUBLIME VS. OLD MAN - REDLIGHT KING I'm a sucker for Neil Young. KRZQ wins round.
WISH YOU WERE HERE -- INCUBUS VS. SONG 2 -- BLUR How can you resist the whoo-hoo? Tie score.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE -- GUNS & ROSES VS. TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS. Welcome to the Jungle is the one indisputable classic from Guns & Roses 3-2 ROQ.
I'M NOT OVER -- CAROLINA LIAR VS. JANE SAYS -- JANE'S ADDICTION. The Carolina Liar song is OK, but Jane's Addiction stumbled into a classic here. 3-3 tie
WAITING FOR THE END -- LINKIN PARK VS. EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD -- TEARS FOR FEARS. Cmon confess, you love Tears for Fears too! 4-3 KRZQ.
SEX AND CANDY -- MARCY PLAYGROUND VS. DESIRE -- U2 Desire beats out One Hit Blunder Marcy Playground. 5-3 KRZQ
ALL I WANT -- A DAY TO REMEMBER VS. BLUE MONDAY -- NEW ORDER I like A Day to Remember I really do. But Blue Monday is huge. KRZQ wins!

Alterantive Rock Radio March Madness KTBZ vs. KRXF

Now the final first round matchup in the Midwest regional. no.1 seed KTBZ is an old-school Clear Channel modern rock station from Houston. Loud and stupid. KRXF (The Buzz)is a alt rocker from the Bend, Oregon area, which won a hard fought battle against KNXX/WNXX out of Baton Rouge.

The Buzz starts off with UNDISCLOSED DESIRES -- MUSE. KRXF counters with SPACE ODDITY -- DAVID BOWIE. KRXF wins round 1.

Best of 10 head to head the Buzz on the left

SO FAR AWAY -- AVENGED SEVENFOLD VS. 1901 -- PHOENIX. RU Kidding me? KRXF 2-0
TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. FAR BEHIND -- CANDLEBOX The Buzz finally wins one.
NEW LOW -- MIDDLE CLASS RUT VS. DONT LOOK BACK IN ANGER -- OASIS Not my favorite Oasis track. The Buzz ties it up.
AWAKE AND ALIVE -- SKILLET VS. MACHINE GUN BLUES -- SOCIAL DISTORTION I find Skillet interesting but not not interesting enough to compete against Social Distortion RXF leads 3-2.
COUNTRY SONG -- SEETHER VS. ALIEN -- PENNYWISE. I have a feeling that "Country Song" won't age well. RXF 4-2
UNDERCOVER OF DARKNESS -- THE STROKES VS. ROCK LOBSTER -- The B52'S.How can "Rock Lobster not win a head to head? RXF 5-2
SAY YOU'LL HAUNT ME -- STONE SOUR VS. THE DEVIL IN STICHES -- BAD RELIGION Bad Relition clinches it for KRXF, and if that wasn't enough WRXF had "Ever Fallen In Love With Someone" By the Buzzcocks.

Next the legendary KROQ takes on KRZQ.

ARR March Madness -- KYSR v. WIIS

The last first round matchup in the South Regional -- 1st seed KYSR of Los Angeles (yet another Clear Channel station) meets #16 seed WIIS who boasts that it located in the smallest market of any alternative rock station. They beat WARQ of Columbia, SC.

Best of 10, songs from their playlist, head to head

Both stations open with year songs KSRY with 1979 -- SMASHING PUMPKINS, WIIS with 1983 -- NEON TREES. 1989 never gets old. KSRY jumps out to an early lead.

Here's the rest -- KYSR on the left WIIS on the right

I WANT YOU TO -- WEEZER VS. BARRICADE -- INTERPOL One of my favorite Weezer songs, but extra credit to WIIS for playing Interpol. I'll give this to WIIS.
IF I HAD EYES -- JACK JOHSNON VS. ERECTION -- THE FAINT Gave The Faint a chance. Wasn't impressed. KYSR leads 2-1
RING OF FIRE -- SOCIAL DISTORTION vs. RECKONER -- RADIOHEAD. One of those Radiohead songs that gets airplay for a while and drops off the face of the earth. Definitely did not deserve it and I was happy to hear it on the radio again. Tie score
DOG DAYS ARE OVER -- FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE VS. YOU GOT ME -- CRASH KINGS KYSR regains the lead.
INTERSTATE LOVE SONG -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. GREATEST COMEBACK SINCE LAZARUS-- THE HOURS. One of life's great mysteries: why does STP still get airplay and the Replacements get none? Tied again.
EVERLONG -- FOO FIGHTERS VS. STYLO -- GORILLAZ. Gorillaz -- a cute idea that's outlived its usefulness KYSR leads 4-3
UNDERCOVER OF DARKNESS -- THE STROKES VS. DIGNITY -- NEW POLITICS No problem picking the Strokes. KYSR leads 5-3.
WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NO NAME -- U2 vs. FALLING AWAY -- Hugh Wilson (? -- Not certain) Unfortunately, they don't announce song titles in the Internet stream and there's no place on the website to look it up, so I'm making an educated guess at what WIIS was playing, No matter KYSR upsets WIIS and goes on to Round 2

More craptastic simulcast news!

Buffalo's WLKK was never a true AAA station. More like a classic rock station for middle aged people who liked to complain that local radio stunk. Unfortunately these people enjoy kvetching more than actually listening to good radio when it comes along.

For myself I tuned in every now and then for a break from CFNY, sometimes admiring their daring at playing a deep cut, sometimes wishing they were a better station. Today I tuned it in only to hear right wing talk radio. Yes WBEN is now simulcasting.

"The Lake" is now on HD2 and of course the internet and may be heard here. As for WBEN -- may their ratings tank -- on both their frequencies.

Alternative Rock Radio March Madness -- CFNY vs. CFLC

We're finally closing in on the end of first round action. In the East Regional #1 seed CFNY of Toronto "The Edge" (my home team so to speak, being in its listening range) meets CFLC "The Drive" of Kingston Ontario which beat WCCY of Portland Me. in the opening round. Just a reminder -- the seeds are based upon ratings & market size, cum when available, so that a low seed is not at all at a disadvantage, in fact the lack of ratings pressure may actually be an aid. Best of 10 head to head from their actual playlists taken at about the same time.

CFNY leads off with LOTUSFLOWER -- RADIOHEAD Apparently going for the kill early CFLC counters with BEVERLY HILLS -- WEEZER a song that gets unfairly slagged, but still it's up against Radiohead!

CFNY on the left CFLC on the right

LOST IN YOU -- 3 DAYS GRACE VS. MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT, The Edge lets down its guard and tHE Drive lands a haymaker. Tie score.
ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS VS. THE MIDDLE -- JIMMY EAT WORLD Love "The Middle" but "Rope" is in a different class. 2-1 CFNY
SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER -- SUM 41 VS. NO CARS GO -- ARCADE FIRE. Advantage CFLC.
I FEEL YOU -- SAM ROBERTS BAND VS. PUMPED UP KICKS -- FOSTER THE PEOPLE. The new Sam Roberts single still hasn't grown on me. The Drive takes the lead 3-2.
ABOUT A GIRL -- NIRVANA VS. GET LOOSE -- THE SALADS Nice little pop punk tune there, Salads, but not quite on Nirvana's level.
THE UNFORGIVEN -- METALLICA VS. ONE STEP CLOSER -- LINKIN PARK CFNY now leads 4-3.
HOME FOR A REST -- SPIRIT OF THE WEST VS. GOT TO LOSE -- HOLLERADO Never been much for Gaelic punk, even from the Pogues. Give this one to CFLC.
THE HAND THAT FEEDS -- NINE INCH NAILS VS. ULYSSES -- FRANZ FERDINAND. One of NIN's best vs. a flawed but meaty track from Franz Ferdinand. CFNY wins this one by a hair.
CRABUCKET -- K-OS VS. HEADSTONG -- TRAPT. Trapt? Really? Golliath slays David and CFNY advances to face -- OMG -- WFNX in Round 2.

ARR -- KITS v. KQLZ

#2 seed KITS I'm sure you're familar with #15 seed KQLZ used to be called "The Viris" and is Boise, Idaho's alt rock station. Best of 10 head to head from their playlists.

KITS starts off with BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS -- GREEN DAY. The station formerly known as the Virus counters with DOWN --311. KITS wins round 1.

Here's the rest KITS on the left

TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. LOUDER THAN EVER -- COLD WAR KIDS -- Wrong Cold War Kids song KITS 2-0
i WILL BUY YOU A NEW LIFE -- EVERCLEAR VS.IN THE END -- LINKIN PARKD Everclear got real about poverty Linkin Park gets self righteous. KITS 3-0
THE CAVE -- MUMFORD & SONS VS. INSANE IN THE BRAIN -- CYPRESS HILL Love them both. Can't choose.
NEVER THERE- CAKE VS. BACK AGAINST THE WALL -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT LIVE 105 leads 4-0
MY HERO -- FOO FIGHTERS VS.SONG 2 -- BLUR Nothing really wrong with what KQLX is playing -- it's just that KITS is playing a monster set.
LAST NITE -- THE STROKES VS. BLURRY -- PUDDLE OF MUDD Live 105 secures a spot in the second round in the West semifinal

NEXT: CFNY vs CFLC

ARR March Madness -- WQRX vs. WZNE

#2 Seed Q101 from Chicago meets #15 seed Rochester NY's Zone in First Round Midwest Regional action. Someone has to win this. This is potentially a race to the bottom.

Q101 leads off with MACHINE GUN BLUES -- SOCIAL DISTORTION. The Zone counters with THE CAVE -- MUMFORD & SONS. They both lead off strong and it's a draw.

From here on out WQRX is on the left

SOBER -- TOOL VS. BREATHE -- PRODIGY Q101 is finally in the lead.
YOUR SURRENDER -- NEON TREES VS. COUNTRY SONG -- SEETHER They even seethe on their country song. Neon Trees gives WQRX a 2-0 lead.
WAITING FOR THE END -- LINKIN PARK VS. JUDITH -- A PERFECT CIRCLE. A Perfect Circle> Now that's a band that doesn't get a lot of airplay. 2-1 Q101.
BRASS MONKEY -- BEASTIE BOYS VS. BLOW UP THE OUTSIDE WORLD -- SOUNDGARDEN. "Blow Up" blows away Beasties. 2-2 tie.
NEW LOW -- MIDDLE CLASS RUT VS. ROLLING IN THE DEEP -- ADELE It's a tight one, but "New Low" gets the slight edge 3-2 Q101.
CHERUB ROCK -- SMASHING PUMPKINS VS. COUNTRY BOY -- AARON LEWIS That makes it 4-2 Q101.
ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS VS. NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN -- BEASTIE BOYS. Incubus keeps getting better. They do tricky time signatures so well you have to listen closely to realize how far from ordinary they've come. Sublety was not on the Beastie Boy's agenda on their first album. 5-2 Q101 and that means they've clinched a berth in round 2.

ARR March Madness -- KDGE vs. WTZB

#2 Seed KDGE (Clear Channel -- Dallas) meets #15 Seed WTZB (Clear Channel - Sarasota. First round South Regional. Might as well get it over with. Best of 10 from their actual playlists. Head to Head. KDGE on the left.

I COME FROM THE WATER -- TOADIES VS. I WILL NOT BOW -- BREAKING BENJAMIN The Edge is out to an early lead.
INTO THE OCEAN -- BLUE OCTOBER VS. SPOONMAN -- SOUNDGARDEN. WTBZ ties it up.
TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE -- MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE The Edge has the edge 2-1
CREEP -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. 1901 -- PHOENIX. Oops, wrong "Creep" Tied 2-2.
CLINT EASTWOOD -- GORILLAZ VS. LITHIUM -- NIRVANA. Nirvana edges out Gorillaz. WTZB leads 3-2
SHE -- GREEN DAY VS. NICE TO KNOW YOU -- INCUBUS. Another close call goes to WTZB -- 4-2 now.
WAITING FOR THE END -- LINKIN PARK VS. MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT not so close call for WTBZ 5-2.
JUST A GIRL -- NO DOUBT VS. BREAKING THE GIRL -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. WTZB prevails with a solid, but rather uninspired set.

NEXT: An even more dire matchup: WQRX vs. WZNE

Alt Rock Radio March Madness WRFF vs. WEQX

This is big WRFF is the pioneer of Clear Channel's newfound turn away from hard rock domination of their alternative stations. WEQX is often

WRFF leads off with THE FEEL GOOD DRAG -- ANBERLIN. EQX counters with SANTA MONICA --EVERCLEAR. WEQX wins the first heat

WRFF is on the left from here on out.

LAZY EYE -- SILVERSUN PICKUPS VS. THE REELING -- PASSION PIT Never got into "The Reeling". Don't knowy why. Tie score.
EVERYTHING ZEN -- BUSH VS. LIFE ON A CHAIN -- WRFF tosses away the lead.
MISERY BUSINESS -- PARAMORE VS. UNITED NATIONS OF SOUND -- RICHARD ASHCROFT Sometimes cult artists only have a cult for a reason.
NEW LOW -- MIDDLE CLASS RUT VS. LYLA -- OASIS Not Oasis' best, and I'm not a huge Oasis fan. WRFF leads 3-2
EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH -- COUNTING CROWS VS. SOLITARY GUN -- BAND OF HORSES. Not counting on the crows. 3-3 tie
YOU WILL LEAVE A MARK -- THE POSTAL SERVICE VS. LOTUS FLOWER -- RADIOHEAD WEQX retakes the lead 4-3
SEVEN NATION ARMY -- THE WHITE STRIPES VS. SNOW (HEY OH) -- RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS The battle of the overplayed. White Stripes wins it. Tied again.
MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT VS. SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT Just never warmed up to the new Cage the Elephant. WRFF pulls ahead.
STACKED ACTORS -- FOO FIGHTERS VS. INCINERATE -- SONIC YOUTH Well played, EQX, well played. That means OVERTIME!

WRFF plays THE BOYS OF SUMMER -- THE ATARIS, HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE WHITE STRIPES and GOOD -- BETTER THAN EZRA ; WEQX plays ROLLING IN THE DEEP -- ADELE, GIRLS AND BOYS --BLUR, AND THE DISTANCE -- CAKE. Hmm each has an awesome current, and a very good recurrent. WRRF played a lame punkish cover of a Don Henley song WEQX played Blur's lame first single. No clear winner here so it's

DOUBLE OVERTIME !!!

WRFF plays ISLANDS IN THE SUN -- WEEZER, THE BALLAD OF MONA LISA -- PANIC AT THE DISCO and ITS BEEN A WHILE -- STAIND; WEQX plays GIMME SYMPATHY -- MUSE, THE WIDOW --MARS VOLTA and UNDONE (THE SWEATER SONG) -- WEEZER

Pulling out Mars Volta tips the balance -- the winner is -- WEQX!

ARR March Madness -- CIMX v. KQRA

Oops before we get to the battle royale between WRFF and WEQX, I forgot to do the Midwest regional matchup between Windsor/Detroit's CIMX (seeded third) and KQRA of Springfield Mo. (seeded 14th) They're both active rock leaners, but CIMX does it without the pictures of the half-naked ladies, so you gotta respect that, especially since KQRA's daily feature goes by the subtle name "The Daily Nail". Best of 10 head to head from their actual playlists. CIMX will be on your left.

CIMX leads off with HEAR ME NOW -- HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD (This is going to be painful). KQRA counters with LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY (At least this station is trying), KQRA goes out to an early lead.

The rest...

FALLS APART -- THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH vs. I DISAPPEAR -- METALLICA Actually the Thousand Foot Krutch song wasn't bad, but Metallica is Metallica KQRA 2-0
BRASS MONKEY -- BEASTIE BOYS VS. DIAMOND EYES -- SHINEDOWN. The Beastie Boys gave Shinedown a beatdown.
CLOSER -- ANBERLIN vs. TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS KQRA 3-1
BAT COUNTRY -- AVENGED SEVENFOLD VS. BLACK -- PEARL JAM The winners here are so obvious I can't think of anything interestng to say KQRA 4-1
BLEED IT OUT -- LINKIN PARK (Easily their worst song) vs. PARDON ME -- INCUBUS
DIAMOND EYES -- SHINEDOWN (Again? Ick!) vs. TOO BAD -- NICKELBACK That's it. I'm calling it for KQRA. Couldn't even come up with something better than Nickelback!

ARR March Madness -- KNDD VS. KRXP

This is a matchup in the West Regional. KNDD is the #3 seed and has quite the pedigree, but the #14 seed KRXP is no pushover, it's a feisty little station serving Colorado Springs. Best of 10, head to head from their actual playlists. Let's see how they do.

The End leads off with Howlin for You -- the Black Keys KRXP counters with Savior by Rise Against. Score one for The End

KNDD remains on the left

HUNGER STRIKE -- TEMPLE OF THE DOG VS. WHEN I COME AROUND -- GREEN DAY Wow. Not an easy choice, but "Hunger Strike" 2-0 for The End
HANDLEBARS -- FLOBOTS VS. DONT YOU FORGET ABOUT ME -- SIMPLE MINDS Ahh Simple Minds, one of the most overrated 80's bands, and this is one of the better songs -- and they didn't even write it! Their fans cried sellout, but when your prior output is a droning river of tedium with lyrics like "burning bridge and ecstasy, crashing beats and fantasy" then it's time to call the song doctor. 3-0 KNDD.
LOST IN MY HEAD -- THE HEAD AND THE HEART VS. YOUNG BLOOD -- NAKED AND THE FAMOUS Battle of the indies. They're pretty even but I'll throw a bone to KRXP.
LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY VS. I ALONE -- LIVE Snotty beats overwrought any time. 4-1 KNND
UPRISING -- MUSE VS. THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER -- HOWARD JONES Speaking of overwrought, KNND follows up with Muse. But Howard Jones? Yuck. 5-1 KNND
BIG EMPTY -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE BLACK KEYS. "BIG EMPTY" is a fairly good description of STP. 5-2 KNDD.
MY BODY -- YOUNG THE GIANT VS. THE HIGH ROAD -- BROKEN BELLS I'll give the edge to Young the Giant and the win to The legendary End.

Next: East Regional action -- a real barnburner WRFF v. WEQX

ARR March Madness WWDC v. WTZR

#3 Seed in the South DC's WWDC, meets a feisty challenger from the Great Smokies WTZR Johnson City Tennesee Best of 10 head to head. actual playlists blah blah blah

WWDC starts with SO COLD -- BREAKING BENJAMIN WTZR counters with NEW DIVIDE -- LINKIN PARK Hmm. I's slightly less indiffrent to Linkin Park so WTZR wins the first round.

Here's the rest WWDC on the left

THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE -- RISE AGAINST VS. GOT ME WRONG -- ALICE IN CHAINS i'll go with punk with a social conscience on this one. Tie score.
THE CAVE -- MUNFORD & SONS VS. HELP IS ON THE WAY -- RISE AGAINST But not this time WWDC leads 2-1
TIGHTEN UP -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. KNOCKING ON HEAVENS DOOR -- GUNS & ROSES. Not even close. WWDC 3-1
IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT -- R.E.M. VS. HOLD ON -- ALL THAT REMAINS Kudos to WWDC for playing REM, a band that's largely been abandoned to AAA.
NEW LOW -- MIDDLE CLASS RUT VS. RENEGADES OF FUNK -- RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Even the weakest Rage songs make a mighty progressive din. WTZR by a hair.
EPIC -- FAITH NO MORE VS. FEED THE MACHINE -- RED How can you vote against a Prog Metal milestone? WWDC up by 5-2. One more victory clinches it.
DEAD AND BLOATED -- STONE TEMPLE PILOTS VS. MONKEY WRENCH -- FOO FIGHTERS FF over STP of course 5-3 WWDC
LISZTOMANIA -- PHOENIX VS. BURN -- PAPA ROACH WWDC wins 6-3!

MRR March Madness WBOS vs. WRRV

The first round continues, but getting closer to a conclusion with another East Regional matchup between #3 seed WBOS of Boston, a jockless station that eats WFNX for lunch -- sorry to say. WRRV is a station out of Middletown/Pughkeepsie NY. rocking the Catskill foothills

Best of 10 head to head, I chose the winner.

WBOS leads off with SOMEBODY TOLD ME -- THE KILLERS. WRRV can only manage Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars. WBOS gets off to the early lead.

Here's the rest. WBOS on the left.

LIKE A STONE -- AUDIOSLAVE VS. OLD MAN -- MIDNIGHT KING Not a huge fan of Chris Cornell Against the Machine, so I'll go with the Neil Young sampling hip hop joint. Tie 1-1
CRASH INTO ME -- DAVE MATTHEWS BAND VS. ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS. Dave Matthews managed to do a tender, sweet sex song, not an easy task. Advantage BOS
DOIN' TIME -- SUBLIME VS. YOU ARE A TOURIST -- DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Tied again.
HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE BLACK KEYS VS. COUNTRY SONG -- SEETHER Black Keys blues are more genuine than Seether's country 3-2 WBOS
I WANNA BE SEDATED -- RAMONES VS. ADOLESCENTS -- INCUBUS. Are you kidding me? Gotta vote Ramones! 4-2 BOS
SHE TALKS TO ANGELS -- THE BLACK CROWES VS. SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT BOS is ready to wrap things up now.
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD -- NIRVANA VS. COLD -- CROSSFADE WRRV is not even trying now. WBOS advances.

Next : WWDC from the Nation's capitol vs. WTZR from Hillbilly Country!

MRR March Madness CHDI v. KTEG

#4 Seed CHDI is Edmonton, Alberta's Modern Rock station and a pretty good one too. # 13 seed KTEG is your standard issue Clear Channel station from Albequeque, only with lower ratings than such a station usually gets. So -- usual rules if you've been following head to head best of ten songs pulled off their actual playlists at about the same time. Let's see how this plays out.

CHDI srarts off with GRACE TOO -- TRAGICALLY HIP Not the best track by them, but KTEG will have to make more than a token play here -- WHERE ITS AT -- BECK. KTEG is starting off strong here.

CHDI's songs will remain on the left ...

KIDS --MGMT VS.WELCOME TO THE FAMLY -- AVENGED SEVENFOLD MGMT's best track so far owerwhelms KTEG's entry
I FEEL YOU -- SAM ROBERTS BAND VS. EVERLONG -- FOO FIGHTERS Just can;t vote against teh Foos best song. KTEG 2-1
LAST RESORT -- PAPA ROACH VS. UNDISCLOSED DESIRE -- MUSE. Meh. I refuse to pick a winner. It's a draw.
ONE MORE ASTRONAUT -- I MOTHER EARTH VS. RIPTIDE -- SICK PUPPIES. Score one for Canadian content. Tied 2-2
ALL APOLOGIES -- NIRVANA VS. LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY One of Kurt Cobain's more personal songs has aged better than Green Day's bratty potty mouthed "Longview"
STADIUM LOVE -- METRIC VS. ANIMAL -- NEON TREES. It's a close one but Neon Trees wins this one for KTEG Tied Again.
STILL WAITING -- SUM 41 VS. KRYPTONITE -- 3 DOORS DOWN. Not as dire as 3 DAYS GRACE. Just boring. SUM 41's metallic pop punk rules here. CHDI 4-3
CHANGING -- AIBORNE TOXIC EVENT vs. WAITING FOR THE END -- LINKIN PARK. CHDI clinches a second round berth with a solid win in the late going.

First round action continues with WBOS MEETING up with WRRV.

AAR March Madness -- KTCL V. WTFX

Back to the Midwest Regional, where Denver's KTCL, a #4 seed meets Louisville's WTFX a number 13 seed. WTFX recently transitioned from active to alternative. Head to head best of 10 you know the rest.

KTCL leas off with HERE IT GOES AGAIN -- OK GO, TO WHICH WTFX Counters with CLOSER -- NINE INCH NAILS. Here It Goes Again is a lot more fun. KTCL breaks out into an early lead.

Here's the rest KTCL on the left.

THE CAVE -- MUMFORD AND SONS VS. CLOSER TO THE EDGE -- 30 SECONDS TO MARS. I'd probalby lime 30 Seonds to Mars better if I was 13. KTCL makes it 2-0
FLAGPOLE SITTA -- HARVEY DANGER VS. LYING THROUGH YOU -- LINKIN PARK, Havey Danger and their big dumb song. 3-0 KTCL
EX-GIRLFRIEND -- NO DOUBT VS. ALL OVER YOU -- LIVE "The Fox" finally get on the board.
BLEED IT OUT -- LINKIN PARK V. LAY ME DOWN -- DIRTY HEADS. No competition. The lead is narrowed to 3-2.
CREEP -- RADIOHEAD VS. JEREMY -- PEARL JAM About equal.
THE BALLAD OF MONA LISA -- PANIC AT THE DISCO VS. GONE AWAY -- OFFSPRING. the Offsping tie it up.
BADFISH -- SUBLIME VS. HOWLIN FOR YOU -- THE BLACK KEYS No competition. The Fox now as a 4-3 lead.
ANIMAL -- NEON TREES VS. COME AS YOU ARE -- NIRVANA. Even with a n overplayed song like "Come As You Are" Nirvana wins! The Fox is triumphant. So is the Fox
Next: CHDI vs. KTEG in the West Regional.
Both statios

ARR March Madness XETRA v. WRKN

# 4 seed XETRA is a station licensed to Tijuana, Mexico, but with studios in San Diego. Mexican stations have call letters that start with X, hence "Heard it on the X". This station is better known as 91x, one of the longest, most sucessful alt rock stations in the nation. #13 seed WRKN is relatively new -- serving the New Orleans area. As always songs picked from their playlists go head to head, best of 10.

Let's see how this one plays out.

91x leads off with CREEP- RADIOHEAD. RKN counters with DIAMOND EYES -- NOT DEFTONES yes the lame one with (Boom Sha Laka hi li hi lili hi lo) or something like that in the title. 91x goes out to an early lead with a laugher.

Not looking good for the remaining Louisiana station. Let's see how it plays out, with 91 x on the left.

HELP IS ON THE WAY -- RISE AGAINST VS. RIPTIDE -- SICK PUPPIES A closer call, but 91x wins again
DON'R STAND SO CLOSE TO ME -- POLICE VS. EVERLONG -- FOO FIGHTERS. One of the better Police songs and gets points for reaching back to the late 70's, but we're talking about Everlong, a work of sheer genius. Nobedy writes melodies of the complexity and beauty of Dave Grohl, no one outside of classical music anyway -- and this is his best. WRKN averts a shutout.
BREAKING THE HABIT -- LINKIN PARK VS. THIS IS WAR -- 30 SECONDS TO MARS I'm not a huge fan, but Linkin Park has its virtutes, while 30 Seconds to Mars has none. 91-x leads 3-1
BABY WE'VE GOT A DANCE -- BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS VS. FAR FROM HOME -- FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Not familiar with that song, and usually I would check it out, but the worst Wailers song I ever heard was a lot better than the best Five Finger Death Punch song. 4-1 91x.
WE USED TO WAIT -- ARCADE FIRE vs. BREAK -- 3 DAYS GRACE This is getting ridiculous. 5-1 91x.
EX-GIRLFRIEND -- NO DOUBT VS. LAY ME DOWN -- DIRTY HEADS. Still can't get that Dirty Heads song out of my head from last summer 5-2 91x.
H- TOOL VS. SELF ESTEEM -- OFFSPING. Tough choice, but I'll give the edge to Tool.