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Monday, September 29, 2008

Altrok Radio Music Update #212

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And in the interest of keeping you interested...we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- The Futureheads
- CSS
- Black Ghosts
- Bloc Party
- Cut Off Your Hands
- Mystery Jets

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- The Airborne Toxic Event - Gasoline - The Airborne Toxic Event
- CityLights - Mashed On Fashion - A Sketch For Summer
- Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me - Loyalty To Loyalty To Loyalty
- The Cure - The Perfect Boy - The Perfect Boy CDS
- Golden Silvers - Arrows Of Eros - 7'' Single
- Juliana Hatfield - Shining On - How To Walk Away
- Johnny Foreigner - Salt, Pepper And Spinderella - Waited Up Til It Was Light
- The Killers - Human - Day & Age
- Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire - Only By The Night
- Noah And The Whale - 5 Years Time - Noah And The Whale
- Oasis - The Shock Of The Lightning - The Shock Of The Lightning
- OrtzRoka - Love Will Tear Us Apart - Downloadable Single
- TV On The Radio - Dancing Choose - Dear Science
- Vampire Weekend - Ottoman - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist [OST]

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- Adam and the Ants - Dog Eat Dog - Kings Of The Wild Frontier
- B-Movie - Remembrance Day - 7'' Single
- The Buggles - I Am A Camera - Adventures In Modern Recording
- The Chameleons - Tears - Strange Times
- The Dickies - Nights In White Satin - Dawn Of The Dickies
- The Fiery Furnaces - Tropical Iceland [Single Version] - CD Single
- Hindu Love Gods - Raspberry Beret - Hindu Love Gods
- Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up - Deep
- The Walkmen - The Rat - Bows & Arrows
- The Wonder Stuff - Circlesquare - 12'' Single

And don't forget the R/SYN Underground night, every Saturday at the Corner Tavern in New Brunswick, where Drew and IronMike keep you dancing with the most advanced playlist this side of the Atlantic (and where, occasionally, yours truly might show up and spin a coupla tracks...ya never know.)

- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

Monday, September 15, 2008

Altrok Radio Music Update #210

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

And when you do listen, you'll hear the outstanding Altrok Radio music mix that got us an Editor's Pick nod at Live365 and at About.com...

...and this week, here's what we figured was important to add to that mix.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- Dega Breaks
- The Contrast
- The Jesus And Mary Chain
- Violent Femmes
- Natalie Walker
- Wire

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- Attic Lights - Bring You Down
- Black Kids - Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)
- The Charlatans UK - Mis-takes
- Charlotte Sometimes - How I Could Just Kill A Man
- Crisis - Consequences
- CSS - Left Behind
- Cut Off Your Hands - Expectations
- The Faint - The Geeks Were Right
- Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool
- The Futureheads - Walking Backwards
- The Kills - Last Day of Magic
- Ladytron - They Gave You A Heart, They Gave You A Name
- Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
- Pull Tiger Tail - Mary Jane
- Tokyo Police Club - Graves
- YILA - Astronaut (feat. Scroobius Pip)

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- The Boomtown Rats - Lookin' After No. 1
- Buzzcocks - What Do I Get
- The Clash - I'm Not Down
- The Jam - Going Underground
- New Model Army - Better Than Them
- The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make
- tv21 - Snakes And Ladders
- UNKLE - Lonely Soul (Feat. Richard Ashcroft)
- The Vapors - Turning Japanese


- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

Friday, September 12, 2008

Tonight On Altrok Radio's FM Showcase

You'll have to get out your FM radios for tonight's Altrok Radio FM Showcase, and tune it in at 90.5 (or over the net at 90.5 The Night.) What's in store?

There's some new Ida Maria and Futureheads (in a one-two punch with some classic Clash) plus UNKLE's cinematic collaboration with Richard Ashcroft. And there's Buzzcocks, too.

And Jessie Poland's alter ego Charlotte Sometimes, which Jeff Raspe picks this week (and which we'd like to hear more of.)

It's at 10pm Eastern on your radio at 90.5 FM in central NJ (or anywhere in the world via the Web at 90.5 The Night...why not link up now so you can get the pieces together and hear their superior low bandwidth/high quality AAC stream?)

Oh, and: tomorrow night? New Brunswick? Corner Tavern? Drew and Mike hold court once again - go there.

Monday, September 08, 2008

New Book Excerpt: The Clash Begins

A hat-tip to Fark for the link to this concise excerpt from a new book written autobiographically by all four members of The Clash (and, I suppose, their ghostwriters - does anyone actually write an autobiography these days?)

There's something compelling about this bit about the beginnings of each member, and of their eventual collaboration. Especially about connecting up through the dole queue - it makes what they were writing about that much more authentic.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Altrok Radio Music Update #208

Firstly, the important stuff:

Altrok Radio is at http://www.altrokradio.com

Please remember to tune in whenever you can - every hour you listen turns into more visibility for the station; we show up higher in search listings, and such like that. And if you'd like to help us keep the stream running, check out the advertisers if they appeal to you; your interest actually helps fund us.

Now then, in addition to the outstanding Altrok Radio music mix that got us an Editor's Pick nod at Live365 and at About.com, we've added features we know you'll like...

Mondays at 11:30am Eastern (with a preview at 0730 GMT) you get to hear Sean Carolan (often referred to in these dispatches as "me") showcase the new music we've added this week on the Altrok Radio FM Showcase. New stuff, classic stuff, and Jeff Raspe with his Altrok Radio Underground Pick Of The Week...

But for now - we've got songs to let you know about.

This week, our Grinders (the stuff we play heavily) include music from:

- Santogold
- Ladytron
- Black Francis
- Crystal Stilts
- Lykke Li
- Thailand

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- A Place To Bury Strangers - Ocean
- Beck - Gamma Ray
- Black Ghosts - Repetition Kills You
- Bloc Party - Mercury
- Collapsing Cities - So I Said Last Weekend
- Dirty Pretty Things - Tired Of England (Album Version)
- Earlimart - Song For
- Fight Like Apes - Lend Me Your Face
- Fox Cubs - Beasts of England
- The Jesus And Mary Chain - All Things Must Pass
- MGMT - Electric Feel
- Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud
- The Presets - Talk Like That
- Wire - One Of Us
- Your Twenties - Caught Wheel

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- ABC - Show Me
- Camper Van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling
- The Chemical Brothers - The Boxer (Feat. Tim Burgess)
- Devo - Uncontrollable Urge
- The Icicle Works - In The Cauldron Of Love
- The Inmates - Dirty Water
- The Pressure Boys - Where The Cowboys Went
- The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums
- Yazoo - Bad Connection


- Sean Carolan
Altrok Radio
On your computer now at http://www.altrokradio.com
On the radio Fridays at 10pm, at 90.5 The Night

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

More Melody Bar On The Horizon...And Something New...

Firstly: the Mel-O-Drama 2.1 All-Eras Melody Bar Reunion this past Sunday at the Court Tavern was a smashing success, as measured by both the crowd (mighty healthy) and my grin (from ear to ear.) Drew, IronMike, Ed, Rusty, Pat Pierson, DJ TM5 and myself had ourselves a great time, and it looked like the folks on both dance floors were doing the same. Nick Celeste made it as well (on Pat's recommendation) and I managed to make him believe it was still safe to play The dB's in a club...many thanks to Bobby at the Court for letting it happen - he printed up the T-Shirts for us, too, so those who came got a bit of a collectible as well.

So, what's on the horizon? Stiffy Biceptz has machinations machinating even as we speak, and so we have two dates for you to save...
  • November 8: something new that Stiffy's got up his sleeve...I'll let him wax poetic about it in this space before long...
  • February 21, 2009: The next Old School Melody Bar Reunion.
Both events will be at the New Brunswick Elks' Lodge...more details as they appear.

But between you and me - we've added new tracks to the web radio station as of today, so tune in and get caught up. It's been a long summer, and it's time to jump back into the fray...
 
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Welcome to Altrok.com, also available at AltrokRadio.com and AltrockRadio.com. Here's where the remaining listeners of several fine radio stations have retreated, regrouped, and built a replacement strong enough to stand on its own. It builds on the independent legacy of New Jersey's FM106.3, New York's WPIX and WLIR, Oklahoma's 105.3 The Spy, the pre-buyout mindset of KROQ, WBCN and WHFS and of every other alternative station that was destroyed at a moment's notice - not because they weren't making money, but because there was bigger money to be found elsewhere.
 
We've stood by as truly independent alternative rock radio died. Sure, something called "alternative" took its place, but we know for sure that anything that "tests well" with soccer moms just ain't alternative. (Even if some of us happen to be soccer moms.) So we've taken matters into our own hands.
 
This really is independent alternative rock radio, visible here at Altrok.com and audible at our web radio station. It has the classic music that fired our passions back in the day - or that we maybe only heard about from our elders - but it's mostly made of the new music that does precisely the same for us now. We're paying attention to scenes all over the world, watching the energy build, and waiting to see what it creates. Wherever it happens, we'll make sure you can hear about it here. We've been slowly building all this since 2001, and now that you've noticed us, we're glad you're here.
 
Of course, it's only here because you want it to be here, and it can only stay if you help it along - especially by checking out our advertisers (they support us) and by listening (the more that listen, the more visible we are.) Please use the "feedback" link above to let us know whether it works for you, and what you want it to be as the future unfolds. (And if you need help hearing it, let us know that, too.)