Goodnight to the K-Rock era

I’m tired tonight, but I just wanted to relay this link that confirms my suspicions about K-Rock. Come next January K-Rock becomes part of that “FREE FM” format that promises non-conformity in it’s most natural of states: prepackaged and uniform across the country.

I don’t really know why I’ve been so interested in this; K-Rock ceased being interesting years ago and Stern really isn’t my cup of tea (however, to be fair, I can’t stand morning radio in any form I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve already issued as much respect as I could for Stern in a previous post). Hell, I can’t even pick up K-Rock unless I’m driving down toward NYC (which rarely happens, if ever). I just think that this marks a true sea change in the radio industry on several levels. Of course, the departure of the biggest personality in broadcast radio to satellite radio should boost subscriptions for a while (that’s withough getting into the quality of the product, something I can only speak of from brief encounters with XM radio and not from owning it and spending any significant time with it). However, the loss of the only station playing “new rock” in the largest market indicates several things. Most importantly, it means that the people who are buying rock records are not listening to the radio (and when I use “rock,” “new rock,” or “modern rock” right now, I mean Nickelback and the like . I’m talking about stuff that’s a bit more mainstream, perhaps drawing the line somewhere around Death Cab for Cutie and Bloc Party – the kind of things that you could hear on K-Rock for the next 2 months). To my surprise, that article claims that “modern rock sales” (I don’t really know what “modern rock” means here, whether it means “non-classic rock” or if it’s Trapt and Taking Back Sunday and that crap. Either way, it doesn’t really matter.) increased each of the last seven years (curiously enough, I think that puts us right around Napster’s advent). However, if Infinity is going to change all of these stations, then I assume that fewer people listen to these station.

If we do the math then we arrive at the answer you probably knew all along – people aren’t learning about music from the radio anymore. At least not the people who buy rock music. This means that more and more people are learning about music on the internet. I know where I read about music online, but I’m very interested in where the average person (I recognize that I spend much more time reading reviews/articles/blogs than the normal person should) finds out about the new Disturbed record (which debuted at #1). Myspace? Rolling Stone? Pop radio?

I’ll end with a thought I’ve had for a while and that this Stern/Infinity stuff confirms for me: Right now, mainstream hip hop is more interesting, creative, and successful than mainstream rock. My reasoning? Much better singles.

fresh socks

The White Sox just swept the Astros, getting the winning run off of Brad Lidge again. For the record I fell asleep last night around the 13th inning (130ish?) and had to channel surf to find someone who had the final score on their ticker this morning.

Congrats to the White Sox, who followed their Red counterparts in erasing 80+ years in four games. Even though the series was a sweep, all four games were very close (6 run difference I think is what I heard) and very exciting. It’s been fun watching these two teams in the post season – from Chicago’s amazing luck and superb pitching to Houston’s extra innings exploits.

For those of you who have never seen it, Plunk Biggio is one of the most amusing blogs out there. For example, they stated today that Sox closer Bobby Jenks had the highest BMI of any pitcher to hit a batter in the World Series. That’s something to engrave on a trophy.

BW

Let’s give this a shot

Alright, if you’re reading this for the first time, scroll down to the previous posting for the explanation. If you saw that already, welcome!

I read today that at the recent Broken Social Scene show in Northampton that Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascias (who’s from that area) came out and played guitar on “Almost Crimes.” I can imagine that this was absolutely insane judging from J’s insane chops and BSS’s ferocious live shows. I was lucky enough to see them at the CMJ Music Marathon in 2003 and even without knowing the record I was completely blown away by their live show. If anyone finds MP3s of the Northampton show (freesofree.net is my best guess for where it might surface first) I will be forever grateful.

The new self-titled Broken Social Scene album is quite excellent as well. There’s a few tracks that are phenomenal – especially “7/4 (Shoreline)” – and a few near the end that I could do without. I’m not entirely sure if I like it more or less than You Forgot it in People but I would certainly recommend it to anyone who liked that album! I’ll have more to say about it after digesting it a bit more.

As I’m writing this The Astros have runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the 9th of Game 3. I understand that the White Sox and Astros might not be the most marquee ready teams in MLB but the 3 games so far have been so exciting so far. However, I’m not too surprised that the ratings for the first two games have been so low. It’s a shame because everyone is missing a hell of a series!

I think I’m more interested in this series because I’m on the outside of the dominant rivalry in baseball. Unlike most people in the Northeast, I’m glad that the Yankees and Red Sox weren’t really in the mix because it’s something different. (update: 2 outs, bases loaded with Morgan Ensberg up after Berkman was walked). I’m having a hard time picking between the two teams because 1) I don’t really have any strong feelings in either direction for either team and 2) there’s things I like about both of them. I think that Ozzie Guillen is a very good manager and an excellent fit for his team. I like how both teams play (utilizing speed, emphasis on quality pitching, using the bunt yet still with a bit of power at the plate). So I guess I’m rooting for an exciting series but if I had to pick I’ll say White Sox.

El Duque struck out Ensberg. Extra innings. I have to say it is quite hard to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver and try to type at the same time. They are so annoying that I can’t even block them out.

I always start to miss baseball at this time of the year even though the playoffs are still here. It’s due in part to my beloved Mets folding like a beach chair in September (although I will go on the record and say that overall I am proud with how they did this year, even though they probably could have done better if they didn’t have those several awful stretches). Mostly, it’s because between April and the end of September there is always baseball on – even if it’s just Baseball Tonight hilights I can still get a fix every day. Sure, I don’t watch games every day (I’m lucky if I watch even part of a game every couple days) I still like to follow the whole league. Couple this with the weather getting colder and you might understand why I don’t really like fall.

Finally – I should say something about the K-Rock thing I mentioned in the previous post. I read this article about Infinity naming their plan(s) for filling Howard Stern’s time slot earlier today and several things jump out at me. First, their replacements are awful. Adam Carolla will probably be amusing but in the Northeast, we’re getting David Lee Roth. When you process this, remember that this is not the youthful, mid-air split executing DLR but the stringy haired, horribly aged DLR that looks worse every time he’s on TV. I guess being an EMT in Brooklyn didn’t work out for the original Van Halen vocalist/jackass.

The other non-personality plans are even worse. One is the “Jack” format where the stations advertise “more variety without DJs.” What this means is that there’s nobody to tell you what song you just heard (so good luck trying to find it later!) and no set genre. Sure, variety is nice but that is why we have different radio stations. The executives compare this format to “being like an iPod put on shuffle.” This raises one question – why not just listen to your iPod then? At least that way you can skip a song you aren’t in the mood for. I fear that this is just one step closer to an FM spectrum dominated by generic corporate stations that all play the same Goo Goo Dolls and James Taylor songs.

Yes, while K-Rock has been crappy since they changed from “new rock” to “all rock” and started concentrating on a playlist that sounds like a mix of classic rock and modern rock circa 2002. Still, Infinity will change K-Rock to their new “FREE FM” format described as “an eclectic mix of personalities whose distinct creativity, perspective, sense of humor, intellect and unpredictability do not fall under the guiding principles of any particular narrowcast theme or ideology.” What remains to be seen is if the FREE FM format is a talk genre or still maintains music. The Infinity website continues to say that these stations are “personified by their conviction, passion, originality, fearlessness and innovation, which are not heard anywhere else on the radio.” Once again, how original or innovative can a station be if it follows a nationwide format?

So for New York, who already lost oldies station WCBS to the Jack(ass) format and perhaps might lose it’s biggest rock station, it truly could be the end of the Rock & Roll era for FM radio. This just reinforces several conclusions: college radio and other smaller stations are the last remaining places to find a non-homogenized playlist. Furthermore, this makes satellite radio look even more appealing; XM and Sirius offer what Infinity/Clear Channel/et all are taking away from FM radio: a broad range of channels that offer distinct and diverse programming where you won’t necessarily hear the same playlist every day. I’m convinced now more than before that Stern’s departure to satellite will mark a true sea change in the radio industry. I would certainly not call myself a fan of his show (although I prefer it to the local idiots who do the morning show on New Haven’s WPLR, a station that I loathe more and more each day) I enjoy how he knows how to push buttons. To be fair, let’s not make him out to be something that he isn’t; he’s not a martyr, and I wouldn’t even call him a “champion of the First Amendment,” but he’s kept the industry on it’s toes. With his exodus, it appears that Stern’s enemies are getting what they want – a bland broadcast spectrum that might be devoid of indecent but also lacks anything exciting, new, or different.

BW

PS – Middle of 11th. still tied. I’m not going to bed until it’s over and I know I’ll probably regret that tomorrow morning. Also, I don’t know if this is reason to root for or against the Astros. I’m leaning more towards “against.” Drive Slow, homey.

Good Morning / Mission Statement

Well, here it is. Another blog. This is at least my 4th new blog and who knows what number rededicate this is to committing time and effort into this endeavor. Let me answer the questions you probably have right now-

Why am I starting a new blog? It’s because I had too many blogs. Before you think too hard about that I will explain – I had too many different avenues for writing and none of them really appeal to me right now. Newslang was a great idea but is too formal for what I want to do now. The stuff I wrote for that blog took me way too long to write (sometimes as much as 2 hours due to constant mid-flight revisions) and was too formal for my liking. I also decided to quarantine my thoughts on music to that blog, basically stripping my “regular” blog of anything interesting that I had to say. I still like the idea I have for Left of the Dial and I’m keeping the door open on writing more formal things for newslang still, but I think I need something less static right now.

So what does that mean for this blog? It’s going to be a “real” blog – which means I’m going to use it for different things. Sometimes I’ll use it to rant/rave about music. Sometimes I’ll use it to talk about things I’m interested in other than music (mostly books, sports, and occasionally TV or movies). Sometimes I’ll use it to talk about my personal life or tell an amusing story.

The title? No, I don’t think that the RnR era is over but I really like the phrase. It’s from Pavement’s “Fillmore Jive” from the album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain which you really need to own. It came into my head today as I read that New York’s K-Rock might be switching formats to some kind of talk radio bullshit. For the record, K-Rock stopped being interesting the same time that “Modern Rock” stopped being interesting.

And finally – why now? Well, I’m a few months into my “extended summer vacation” between graduating from college in May until I (hopefully) get back to school in September ‘06. This is one way that I’m trying to keep my brain from completely melting.

So that’s it for explaining myself. Feel free to throw in your two cents by leaving comments or whatever. If you say something interesting, good for you.

BW