Pureplay of the Day

On April 30, 2012, Rick O’Dell was fed up. WLFM in Chicago switched away from the Smooth Jazz format (to Alt Rock), leaving the city’s terrestrial listeners without a station for that shiny genre. It had happened before, in 2009, when Clear Channel’s WNUA abandoned Smooth Jazz for Spanish-language programming. O’Dell saw an opportunity, and started a localized Smooth Jazz Internet-only station. Continue Reading →

After hearing sad news of Johnny Winter’s death, we used Michael Robertson’s Radio Search Engine, and the artist-search feature in RadioTuna, to find poureplay stations pivoting quickly on the news with memorial programming. We found Rock Radio 1 placing Johnny Winter blocks into its stream of metal and blues-rock, surrounded by tribute songs by other bands. Continue Reading →

Jazz lovers can be hardcore fans, with specialty interests in historical eras, legendary performers, and certain instruments. The genre lends itself to more specialized coverage than what is normally found in the universal music services. For the lean-back jazz aficionado, two services — JazzRadio and AccuJazz — provide seemingly endless great listening tailored to mood and sub-genre. Continue Reading →

Don’t let the 1996-era, stoner-vibe website (www.waxtraxradio.com) put you off. Allow the retro design to put you in the classic rock spirit. Waxtrax’s excellent deep-cut playlist shouldn’t be missed by classic genre fans. This Arizona-based Internet station is an ad-free, privately funded indie station. You won’t find a purer pureplay anywhere. Continue Reading →

All live jazz concerts. Don’t let the 1996-style website put you off. The listening is outstanding, and the site dishes out valuable information about the artists. Inside jazz is a great Internet radio station, with the sort of off-the-beaten-path programming dedication that justifies the entire indie-radio category. Every jazz lover needs to know about Inside Jazz. Continue Reading →

“Redefining classical radio” is how Spacesfm (www.spacesfm.com) markets its Internet-only station. It’s a whopping redefinition, but one that many non-classical listeners relate to. It is possible (even advisable) to spend long amounts of time on Spacesfm. We plan to. Continue Reading →

Spotify, Pandora, and some other big players in streaming music cannot make a profit, partly because of the high cost of music licensing. Solution? Just play bird songs. Brazilian Birds Radio does just that, although this station is a small sideshow in the sprawling 1.FM array of Internet radio stations. Continue Reading →

This installation of our POTD series could be re-titled Not-Quite-Pureplay of the Day. Global Breakfast Radio assembles a constantly changing selection of broadcast web streams at local dawn time. The result is an Internet-only station, built on a novel idea and with fascinating results. Continue Reading →

MistyRadio (www.mistyradio.com) is slow and sentimental jazz (mostly) for relaxed listening. We thought it might be excessively soupy at first, but it depends on when you hit the stream. The MistyRadio is really about memory-infused songs, mostly traditional jazz, or jazzy in feel. Continue Reading →

The quest for great blues finds another watering hole in Aardvark Blues. This Internet-only station had us at Ana Popovic, the Serbian blues-rocker. If you tire of the blues, the same no-nonsense programming is available from the same Aardvark outfit on the rock side, at Aardvark Rock. Continue Reading →

Today’s Pureplay of the Day takes you off the beaten path — way off. The entire Pigpen Radio experience is an exercise in purity, from the all-indie playlist to the beautifully simple website, and the ease of its built-in player. Pigpen Radio disregards genre classifications — you’ll whip across genre boundaries in an exhilarating sonic experience. Continue Reading →