To recap, for the opening round I pitted some of the coolest small market stations against others that don't quite have that rep. So far, however the bouts have been really competitive and one station in Reno took down KSLG, one of my faves. Today it's CJLC, a station out of Kingston Ont. against WCYY, the alternative station for Portland Maine. Ten songs that the stations actually played at about the same time -
CJLC wastes no time and goes with WE USED TO WAIT -- ARCADE FIRE. WCYY counters with HELP IS ON THE WAY -- RISE AGAINST Nothing against Rise Against, but CJLC wins the first round.
DRINKING IN LA -- BRAD VAN 3000 VS HESITATE -- STONE SOUR Wow. Just about forgot about that 90's one hit wonder. Just for remembering that song, CJLC gets the edge.
HIGH AND DRY -- RADIOHEAD VS. BLIND -- KORN If this was the moveies it would be Citizen Kane vs. Plan Nine From Outer Space
THE CAVE -- Mumford and Sons vs. DIAMOND EYES -- SHINEDOWN or It's A Wonderful Life vs. Heavens Gate
NEW MOON RISING -- WOLFMOTHER VS. IM SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON -- DROPKICK MURPHYS CJLC finally lets its guard down and WCYY finally gets on the board.
YOUR TIME HAS COME -- AUDIOSLAVE VS. CLOSER TO THE EDGE -- 30 SECONDS TO MARS WCYY has no hope winning this round by playing the Kansas of alternative rock.
THEM KIDS -- SAM ROBERTS VS. I WAS WRONG -- SOCIAL DISTORTION One of Sam Roberts' weaker tracks is no match for social distortion. Advantage WCYY
HATE TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO -- THE HIVES VS. THE ANIMAL -- DISTURBED.
We're done here -- and thank goodness WCYY had Seether ready to go for the next round. CJLC is the clear winner. It goes up against the mighty CFNY in the East Regional.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March Madness KSLG vs. KRZQ
Two more small market stations duke it out This time it's KSLG from Humboldt County California vs. KRZQ of Reno, Nevada. This is the play in for the West Regional.
KSLG goes first with HOW SOON IS NOW? -- THE SMITHS to which KRZQ counters with TRAIN IN VAIN -- THE CLASH KSLG gets the early lead
NEW DIVIDE -- LINKIN PARK vs. SELLING THE DRAMA -- LIVE KRZQ ties it up.
TELL ME BABY -- RHCP vs. SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT Advantage KSLG
HOWLIN FOR YOU -- BLACK KEYS VS. LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY 3-1 KSLG
KNIGHTS OF CYDONIA -- MUSE VS. PYRO -- KINGS OF LEON Ooooh Pulling out Muse instead of going for the kill. Is KSLG getting overconfident? KRZQ.
SAIL -- AWOL NATION VS. ANIMAL -- NEON TREES At least the Neon Trees tune is catchy. KRZQ ties it up again.
COUSINS -- VAMPIRE WEEKEND VS. OTHERSIDE -- CHILI PEPPERS KSLG retakes the lead.
THE WAY WE GET BY -- SPOON VS. NEED YOU TONIGHT -- INXS I'll call this a draw.
CAMERAS -- MATT & KIM VS. PANIC SWITCH -- SILVERSUN PICKUPS Gotta go with KRZQ on this one.
LET'S PUSH THINGS FORWARD -- THE STREETS VS. ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS Cockney hip hop? I don't think so. KRZQ knocks off KSLG! Didn't see that one coming!
KRZQ next meets the formidable KROQ.
The last play in willbe CKLC of Kingston Ontario vs. WCCY of Portland Me.
KSLG goes first with HOW SOON IS NOW? -- THE SMITHS to which KRZQ counters with TRAIN IN VAIN -- THE CLASH KSLG gets the early lead
NEW DIVIDE -- LINKIN PARK vs. SELLING THE DRAMA -- LIVE KRZQ ties it up.
TELL ME BABY -- RHCP vs. SHAKE ME DOWN -- CAGE THE ELEPHANT Advantage KSLG
HOWLIN FOR YOU -- BLACK KEYS VS. LONGVIEW -- GREEN DAY 3-1 KSLG
KNIGHTS OF CYDONIA -- MUSE VS. PYRO -- KINGS OF LEON Ooooh Pulling out Muse instead of going for the kill. Is KSLG getting overconfident? KRZQ.
SAIL -- AWOL NATION VS. ANIMAL -- NEON TREES At least the Neon Trees tune is catchy. KRZQ ties it up again.
COUSINS -- VAMPIRE WEEKEND VS. OTHERSIDE -- CHILI PEPPERS KSLG retakes the lead.
THE WAY WE GET BY -- SPOON VS. NEED YOU TONIGHT -- INXS I'll call this a draw.
CAMERAS -- MATT & KIM VS. PANIC SWITCH -- SILVERSUN PICKUPS Gotta go with KRZQ on this one.
LET'S PUSH THINGS FORWARD -- THE STREETS VS. ROPE -- FOO FIGHTERS Cockney hip hop? I don't think so. KRZQ knocks off KSLG! Didn't see that one coming!
KRZQ next meets the formidable KROQ.
The last play in willbe CKLC of Kingston Ontario vs. WCCY of Portland Me.
Alternative Radio March Madness -- KRXF vs. WNNX
two stations -- ten songs each -- winner gets the #16 slot in the Midwest Divsionals
The stations KRXF -- a feisty little indie station from Bend Oregon
vs. Baton Rogue's WNXX/KNXX
KRXF gores first whipping out "Rock & Roll Radio" by the Ramones while WNXX counters with Self Esteem by Offspring -- Ouch they had to go with a Phil Spector produced track. I gotta five this one to WNXX.
Bullet the Blue Sky -- U2 vs. The Cave -- Mumford & Sons KRXF gets the edge this time.
There is No Other Way -- Blur vs. Photograph -- Nickelback In a very controversial call, the judges prefer the only decent song Nickelback wrote to Blur's weakest single WNXX wins!
Some Crappy Filter Song I Couldn't Bother to Find Out the Title to vs. My Body -- Young the Giant Advantage WNXX -- upset in the works?
Long Time -- Cake vs. Animal -- Neon Trees Haven't got into the new Cake single yet. Gotta give the edge to WNXX this time
Mr. Brightside -- The Killers vs. Add it Up -- Violent Femmes. Gotta give WNNX credit for playing a Violent Femmes song that isn't "Blister In the Sun"
Gotta Get Away -- Offspring vs. Louder Than Ever -- Cold War Kids. KRXF gets the edge here.
Idioteque -- Radiohead vs. Bulls on Parade -- Rage Against the Machine. Never thought I'd vote against a Rage song, but I got to give the win to the station that dares to pllay a Kid A track.
Walking On the Moon -- Police vs. Are You Gonna Be My Girl -- Jet Points for reaching back to an early Police track.
Redemption Song -- Bob Marley & The Wailers vs. Undercover of Darkness Ilove the new Strokes single but we're talking BOB MARLEY here.
Hey -- It looks like we got us a tie 5-5. That means OVERTIME! Best of 3!
KRXF lays down Will Do by TV on the Radio, April 29, 1992 -- Sublime and Wake Up by the Arcade Fire. KNNX is playing the Dr. Drew show -- that's almost enough to get them disqualified, but we'll go back to the last 3 songs they played before going syndicated. Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne, Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons and DOA by the Foo Fighters. Wow it's close but it's KRXF by a hair. They go onto meet Houston's Clear Channel horror KTBZ.
The stations KRXF -- a feisty little indie station from Bend Oregon
vs. Baton Rogue's WNXX/KNXX
KRXF gores first whipping out "Rock & Roll Radio" by the Ramones while WNXX counters with Self Esteem by Offspring -- Ouch they had to go with a Phil Spector produced track. I gotta five this one to WNXX.
Bullet the Blue Sky -- U2 vs. The Cave -- Mumford & Sons KRXF gets the edge this time.
There is No Other Way -- Blur vs. Photograph -- Nickelback In a very controversial call, the judges prefer the only decent song Nickelback wrote to Blur's weakest single WNXX wins!
Some Crappy Filter Song I Couldn't Bother to Find Out the Title to vs. My Body -- Young the Giant Advantage WNXX -- upset in the works?
Long Time -- Cake vs. Animal -- Neon Trees Haven't got into the new Cake single yet. Gotta give the edge to WNXX this time
Mr. Brightside -- The Killers vs. Add it Up -- Violent Femmes. Gotta give WNNX credit for playing a Violent Femmes song that isn't "Blister In the Sun"
Gotta Get Away -- Offspring vs. Louder Than Ever -- Cold War Kids. KRXF gets the edge here.
Idioteque -- Radiohead vs. Bulls on Parade -- Rage Against the Machine. Never thought I'd vote against a Rage song, but I got to give the win to the station that dares to pllay a Kid A track.
Walking On the Moon -- Police vs. Are You Gonna Be My Girl -- Jet Points for reaching back to an early Police track.
Redemption Song -- Bob Marley & The Wailers vs. Undercover of Darkness Ilove the new Strokes single but we're talking BOB MARLEY here.
Hey -- It looks like we got us a tie 5-5. That means OVERTIME! Best of 3!
KRXF lays down Will Do by TV on the Radio, April 29, 1992 -- Sublime and Wake Up by the Arcade Fire. KNNX is playing the Dr. Drew show -- that's almost enough to get them disqualified, but we'll go back to the last 3 songs they played before going syndicated. Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne, Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons and DOA by the Foo Fighters. Wow it's close but it's KRXF by a hair. They go onto meet Houston's Clear Channel horror KTBZ.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Alternative Radio March Madness!!! WIIS v. WARQ
So a new game to amuse me and anyone who happens to stumble upon this humble site.
68 alternative stations -- seeded by cume for the top markets and by ratings plus market size. 8 of them are pitted against each other in an opening round. Just like the NCAAs the stations are grouped into four regionals. I tried to keep the stations geographically similar. Each station gets a set of 10 songs randomly picked from their logs that the stations played more or less at the same time. The opening round is not quite a fair fight -- four scrappy small market indies against four fairly generic alt stations from small markets -- but you never know, upsets happen.
The first game pits WIIS, from Key West Florida, which just got its website up and running again after an absence of several years against WARQ of Columbia SC
WIIS -- Never is Enough -- Barenaked Ladies
WARQ -- What I've Done -- Linkin Park
Instead of going for the kill WIIS feints with a deep cut from an underrated band. Advantage WIIS
Ready to Start-- Arcade Fire vs. Rope -- Foo Fighters. Gotta call this one a draw.
The Reeling -- Passion Pit vs. Ride to California -- Paper Tongues A closer call than you may think, but WIIS wins again.
Clocks -- Coldplay vs. Lost in You -- Three Days Grace. WIIS again. No contest.
Hands -- The Ting Tings vs. The Red -- Chevelle. WARQ finnally gets on the board.
Old White Lincoln -- Gaslight Anthem vs. Simple Math -- Manchester Orchestra An excellent deep track against a brillant, beautiful new track OHHH I CANT CHOOSE.
Barricade -- Interpol vs. Even Flow -- Pearl Jam Hard not to pick Interpol, but even harder to vote against Pearl Jam. WARQ edge
Hang On -- Weezer vs. Diamond Eyes -- Shinedown RU kidding me? WIIS all the way.
Rhinestone Eyes -- Gorillaz vs. All Mixed Up -- 311 311's song is more memorable. WARQ wins. This is closer than I thought it would be.
Serve the Servants -- Nirvana vs. Shake Me Down -- Cage the Elephant You gotta give WIIS points for playing the more obscure and abrasive Nirvana songs. WIIS edges out WARQ and goes on to meet the #1 seed in the South
That would be KYSR -- LA's Clear Channel outlet in LA.
Next up: Bend, Oregon's KRXF vs. Baton Rouge's WNXX/KNXX for the # 16 seed in the Midwest regional (yeah, I know, that's a mighty big midwest)
68 alternative stations -- seeded by cume for the top markets and by ratings plus market size. 8 of them are pitted against each other in an opening round. Just like the NCAAs the stations are grouped into four regionals. I tried to keep the stations geographically similar. Each station gets a set of 10 songs randomly picked from their logs that the stations played more or less at the same time. The opening round is not quite a fair fight -- four scrappy small market indies against four fairly generic alt stations from small markets -- but you never know, upsets happen.
The first game pits WIIS, from Key West Florida, which just got its website up and running again after an absence of several years against WARQ of Columbia SC
WIIS -- Never is Enough -- Barenaked Ladies
WARQ -- What I've Done -- Linkin Park
Instead of going for the kill WIIS feints with a deep cut from an underrated band. Advantage WIIS
Ready to Start-- Arcade Fire vs. Rope -- Foo Fighters. Gotta call this one a draw.
The Reeling -- Passion Pit vs. Ride to California -- Paper Tongues A closer call than you may think, but WIIS wins again.
Clocks -- Coldplay vs. Lost in You -- Three Days Grace. WIIS again. No contest.
Hands -- The Ting Tings vs. The Red -- Chevelle. WARQ finnally gets on the board.
Old White Lincoln -- Gaslight Anthem vs. Simple Math -- Manchester Orchestra An excellent deep track against a brillant, beautiful new track OHHH I CANT CHOOSE.
Barricade -- Interpol vs. Even Flow -- Pearl Jam Hard not to pick Interpol, but even harder to vote against Pearl Jam. WARQ edge
Hang On -- Weezer vs. Diamond Eyes -- Shinedown RU kidding me? WIIS all the way.
Rhinestone Eyes -- Gorillaz vs. All Mixed Up -- 311 311's song is more memorable. WARQ wins. This is closer than I thought it would be.
Serve the Servants -- Nirvana vs. Shake Me Down -- Cage the Elephant You gotta give WIIS points for playing the more obscure and abrasive Nirvana songs. WIIS edges out WARQ and goes on to meet the #1 seed in the South
That would be KYSR -- LA's Clear Channel outlet in LA.
Next up: Bend, Oregon's KRXF vs. Baton Rouge's WNXX/KNXX for the # 16 seed in the Midwest regional (yeah, I know, that's a mighty big midwest)
The Essential 11 -- March 2011
Yes. I skipped February -- as is typical, the month is short and the pickings are slim. But things are picking up now--
1) Rope -- Foo Fighters Some really tricky time signatures here. I'm really hearing a Led Zep influence on this song without the Foos becoming a Soundgarden-like soundalike.
2) Undercover of Darkness -- The Strokes This one sounds like it could've come off their debut album, had they eschewed the heavily processed vocals. But even if the band felt out of sorts when they recorded it, as reported -- it doesn't show up here, and you wonder what they're capable of when the chemistry is working.
3) Lotus Flower -- Radiohead Sweet and deeply unsettling at the same time. The song skitters about like a cat looking to pounce on something -- anything.
4) Changing -- Airborne Toxic Event A relatively straightforward pop song for them, and a pretty good one at that.
5) This Is Why We Fight -- The Decembrists The most folkrocky song off their new album, it's threatening to become the anthem of the decade.
6) Take Me Out -- Atomic Tom I came a bit late to this song through their rather awesome video, in which they rock their I pads convincingly in a New York subway. Like "My Body" this is a BIG song.
7) The Roller -- Beady Eye I listened to it and liked it and thought immediately that it reminded me of Oasis back when. Then I learned they WERE Oasis minus Noel.
8) OMFG -- Deluka Can't get enough of those female led rock bands.
9) Windows Are Rolled Down -- Amos Lee My new favorite folkie almost rocks out on this one. Off of the excellent Mission Bell album.
10) The Stand -- Mother Mother I'll probably toss this in the pile of novelty songs that got old quick with "That's Not My Name" and "If I Had a Million Dollars" in a year or so, but for now this one tickles me just fine.
11) Will Do -- TV on the Radio They've reacted to the unexpected airplay on AAA by going softer, if no less odd on this track, but this band always rewards richly on repeated listens.
All in all, alternative and AAA stations no longer have an excuse to play Shinedown or Colbie Callait respectively. Even if they're owned by Clear Cahnnel.
1) Rope -- Foo Fighters Some really tricky time signatures here. I'm really hearing a Led Zep influence on this song without the Foos becoming a Soundgarden-like soundalike.
2) Undercover of Darkness -- The Strokes This one sounds like it could've come off their debut album, had they eschewed the heavily processed vocals. But even if the band felt out of sorts when they recorded it, as reported -- it doesn't show up here, and you wonder what they're capable of when the chemistry is working.
3) Lotus Flower -- Radiohead Sweet and deeply unsettling at the same time. The song skitters about like a cat looking to pounce on something -- anything.
4) Changing -- Airborne Toxic Event A relatively straightforward pop song for them, and a pretty good one at that.
5) This Is Why We Fight -- The Decembrists The most folkrocky song off their new album, it's threatening to become the anthem of the decade.
6) Take Me Out -- Atomic Tom I came a bit late to this song through their rather awesome video, in which they rock their I pads convincingly in a New York subway. Like "My Body" this is a BIG song.
7) The Roller -- Beady Eye I listened to it and liked it and thought immediately that it reminded me of Oasis back when. Then I learned they WERE Oasis minus Noel.
8) OMFG -- Deluka Can't get enough of those female led rock bands.
9) Windows Are Rolled Down -- Amos Lee My new favorite folkie almost rocks out on this one. Off of the excellent Mission Bell album.
10) The Stand -- Mother Mother I'll probably toss this in the pile of novelty songs that got old quick with "That's Not My Name" and "If I Had a Million Dollars" in a year or so, but for now this one tickles me just fine.
11) Will Do -- TV on the Radio They've reacted to the unexpected airplay on AAA by going softer, if no less odd on this track, but this band always rewards richly on repeated listens.
All in all, alternative and AAA stations no longer have an excuse to play Shinedown or Colbie Callait respectively. Even if they're owned by Clear Cahnnel.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
What Kind of AAA Station do you have? Part IV
Next to correct for distortions due to size of playlists. The first is the ratio of songs appearing on the alternative chart to the songs appearing exclusively on the AAA charts. 40 percent and above is an alt leaner, 20 to 39 a neutral and below 20 is a soft alternative station. Let's see how they did on this one.
Alt leaning
WRNR 40
WXRT 40.9
CKPK 84.6
WRXP 100 (that means they played NO AAA exclusive songs!
WLCE 50
WYEP 57.1
WDVI 60
WCNR 49
WNNF 40
Neutral
KMMT 34.8
WTTS 34.8
WRLT 29.6
WMMM 37.3
WXPK 24.2
KINK 22.7
KFOG 33.3
WXPN 29.2
WAPS 34.3
KPRI 35.3
KRSH 27.7
CIDR 33.3
KHJK 30
WXRV 25
WDST 27.2
KGSR 34
WFIV 36
KTHX 20
KTCZ 27.3
Alt Hatin'
KMMS 18.6
KRVB 8.3
WTMD 11.1
KLRR 9.5
KPND 16
KBCO 18.5
KPLL 4.2
WEHM 18.2
Alt leaning
WRNR 40
WXRT 40.9
CKPK 84.6
WRXP 100 (that means they played NO AAA exclusive songs!
WLCE 50
WYEP 57.1
WDVI 60
WCNR 49
WNNF 40
Neutral
KMMT 34.8
WTTS 34.8
WRLT 29.6
WMMM 37.3
WXPK 24.2
KINK 22.7
KFOG 33.3
WXPN 29.2
WAPS 34.3
KPRI 35.3
KRSH 27.7
CIDR 33.3
KHJK 30
WXRV 25
WDST 27.2
KGSR 34
WFIV 36
KTHX 20
KTCZ 27.3
Alt Hatin'
KMMS 18.6
KRVB 8.3
WTMD 11.1
KLRR 9.5
KPND 16
KBCO 18.5
KPLL 4.2
WEHM 18.2
Sunday, February 13, 2011
What Kind of AAA Station Do You Have? Pt III
The raw numbers tended to give high alt scores for stations that had large playlists so the next category I did was percentage of number of songs on the alternative charts as against the current songs on the station's playlist. 30 percent and over indicates an alt leaner 10-29 a neutral and less than 10 indicates a station that is not alt-friendly.
alt leaning
KMTT 30.8
WTTS 30.1
CKPK 36.7
WRXP 72.2
WLCE 40.9
Neutrals
WRNR 21.3
WXRT 20
WRLT 22.2
WMMM 29.9
WXPK 18.9
KMMS 10
KINK 15.6
KFOG 20
WXPN 10.4
WAPS 17.6
KPRI 21.4
WDVI 27.2
KRSH 14.2
WNWV 11.4
WCNR 22.2
WRNX 20.6
CIDR 25
KHJK 25
WNNF 16
WXRV 16.2
KBCO 10.6
KGSR 23.7
KTCZ 13.6
Alt hatin'
WYEP 8.8
KRVB 6
KFPK 4
WTMD 3.1
KLRR 7.4
KPND 8.5
WFUV 8
KPLL 4
WDST 8
WEHM 5.7
WFIV 9.8
KTHX 9.8
Note: The scores of Public radio stations and WRNR may be somewhat depressed by the presence of indy rock tunes that do not make the commercial alternative charts
alt leaning
KMTT 30.8
WTTS 30.1
CKPK 36.7
WRXP 72.2
WLCE 40.9
Neutrals
WRNR 21.3
WXRT 20
WRLT 22.2
WMMM 29.9
WXPK 18.9
KMMS 10
KINK 15.6
KFOG 20
WXPN 10.4
WAPS 17.6
KPRI 21.4
WDVI 27.2
KRSH 14.2
WNWV 11.4
WCNR 22.2
WRNX 20.6
CIDR 25
KHJK 25
WNNF 16
WXRV 16.2
KBCO 10.6
KGSR 23.7
KTCZ 13.6
Alt hatin'
WYEP 8.8
KRVB 6
KFPK 4
WTMD 3.1
KLRR 7.4
KPND 8.5
WFUV 8
KPLL 4
WDST 8
WEHM 5.7
WFIV 9.8
KTHX 9.8
Note: The scores of Public radio stations and WRNR may be somewhat depressed by the presence of indy rock tunes that do not make the commercial alternative charts
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