An Update Before April Fools'...

Here's a few clues for your reading enjoyment regarding the care and upkeep of Altrok Radio...

• Yes, it appears as though the looming timesink I was worried about, that threatens to pull away a lot of the time I generally spend making Altrok Radio a reality, will actually happen. It could also evaporate just as quickly, but I'll continue to do everything I can to keep Altrok Radio pumping through your computer speakers as much as I can.

• A note on numbers: Altrok's G-Aid, our mainstream alternative rock station, has been growing fairly steadily. It's 30-day listenership is now in the 1300-hour area; remember, it needs to stay above 3000 hours to become a regularly-updated reality.

• On a bit of a tangent here: dear reader, do you like cocktails, conceptually speaking? I've been obsessing over making esoteric drinks from previous centuries, and wonder if it's the sort of thing that might pique your interest...

So that's what's been happening - there's new music in the Altrok Radio mix this week, by the way, so do tune in, 'cause there'll at least be that in it for you.

Melody Reunion Replay: Third Time's The Charm...

"This time, definitely!"

(The 2009 Melody Reunion Replay will be up at 3pm, by hook or by crook, repeating at 9pm. And Matt's still on his way.)

Melody Replay: D'oh!...Make That 2PM Eastern

Schedule change! The Melody Bar Reunion Replay will now air at 2PM and 8PM Eastern.

(My scheduler didn't fire off - operator error, sorry - so I pushed everything back an hour.)

For Fans Of Both Game Theory/The Loud Family and Ernie Kovacs...

...which is a set with, I suspect, one element: me. But whatever, it's my blog, so here (with a hat tip to The Ernie Kovacs Blog) is The Loud Family's 1996 video for "Don't Respond, She Can Tell"

The 2009 Melody Bar Reunion Replay - TODAY!

Okay, here it comes - this years Melody Bar Reunion Replay will start at 1pm, with a repeat at 7pm. Enjoy!

Coupla Things...

For the moment, I've run out of the time necessary to host the Daily Retro, so you'll have to fend for yourselves for a while. This is kind of to be expected; the whole station is pretty much a luxury for me (and, by and large, a freebie for you) that, either financially and psychologically, I may or may not be able to afford depending on how heavily I'm needed elsewhere and how much support I'm getting here. In the near future, I may be very busy elsewhere, with my day job - yes, I have one - pulling me in directions I may not anticipate, so this is kind of a heads-up. (Reality has a way of doing that sort of thing to you.)

So, while it's not likely I'll suddenly go Top 40 (as has been the trend of late) it's always possible that, with little notice, I'll just go away. I've let you know about the things that help support the station before, so I won't bother you with those details, but I can understand why that sort of thing isn't happening very often these days - there's just more important things you've got to do with your time, I'd bet. It's been going around.

Altrok Radio Music Update #228

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...well, you *do* know about our daily retro feature, right? No? Well...

ALTROK'S DAILY RETRO

WEEKDAYS, 11:30a-1:30p EASTERN

...hosted by Sean Carolan (often referred to hereabouts as "me".)

Now then, we've got songs to let you know about.

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

- The Gay Blades
- White Lies
- The Maccabees
- Franz Ferdinand
- The Thermals
- Hot Chip

Plus we've got newly-added music:

- Bat For Lashes - Daniel
- Depeche Mode - Wrong
- Peter Doherty - New Love Grows On Trees
- Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone
- The Heavenly States - Lost In The Light
- Maximo Park - Wraithlike
- Morrissey - All You Need Is Me
- Phoenix - 1901
- Pomegranates - Coriander
- Sad Day For Puppets - Hush
- Sky Larkin - Beeline
- Those Dancing Days - Those Dancing Days
- The Veils - Killed By The Boom
- We Have Band - Hear It In The Cans
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dragon Queen

Our Newly-Added Classics:

- The Charlatans UK - The Only One I Know
- The Clash - Lost In The Supermarket
- Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth
- The Cure - A Forest (Tree Mix)
- The Fall - Theme From Sparta F.C. #2
- Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Grey Cell Green
- New Order - Ceremony
- The Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion

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.)

For those who didn't forget about the Melody Bar Reunion (or even if you did) we'll air all the music that played on Satruday, March 21, all day long. Do I really need to say more about that, hm?

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

Will An Impromptu WRXP Feature Stick?

Here's the best modern rock set I've heard on New York City commercial radio ever:

Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
U2 - The Fly
Blur - Song 2
Dramarama - Anything Anything
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
MGMT - Time To Pretend
Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
The Von Bondies - Come On Come On
Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
The Killers - Mr. Brightside
White Lies - To Lose My Life
New Order - Blue Monday

It aired 9-10am Friday on Matt Pinfield's show at 101.9 WRXP, and midway through, they decided to call it The Spin Field. (Okay, I've known Matt since 1981 and I can't believe he hasn't hit on that pun before...)

I'd say if you want to keep hearing stuff like that, you can do one of two things: write a note to WRXP and ask 'em for more...or tune in to Altrok Radio, though I realize you can't get Altrok in the car (yet.)

Don Dixon: Lyrics, Bound

Don Dixon has a book! He provides the details:

My lyric book, "Songs 101 - The Lyrics of Don Dixon" will ship in a few weeks...it contains one hundred & one songs that have been selected by me & organized to be read rather than sung...published by VanZeno Press, it will be available in all your better online bookstores but if you want to order an advance copy, please send check or money order for $22.50 ($20 for the book + $2.50 s/h) to:

Songs 101
Don Dixon
PO Box 8744
Canton, OH 44711

My coffee table will have one. Will yours?

Melody Reunion Replay - Rescheduled To March 21

Well, put simply, yours truly's been involved in a bit of a mission of late, and that's crunched down the time I have available to do things like make the Melody Bar Reunion Replay ready for playback. The process is, admittedly, a bit tedious, and I hope to have a little more time for tedium soon.

So, just to be safe, I've pushed The Melody Bar Reunion Replay to Saturday, March 21, which'll give me the time to do all the wacky things one must do to put it on the air. (It is, to put it punnily, a splitting headache, but worth it, of course.)

Brookdale Public Radio Shelves Long Pledge Drives

Indeed, this is a good thing. But you've got to keep up your end of the bargain, dear listener...the press release follows...

Brookdale, NJ: ? Brookdale Public Radio -- 90.5 The NIGHT ? is forgoing
its regular 7-day pledge drive this Spring. Instead, the station is going to try to meet its pledge drive goal with just a single day of on-air fundraising.

1-Day Tuesday is scheduled from 6a to 7p on April 7th. The goal, according to Station Manager Tom Brennan, is 600 contributions.

?A 1-Day pledge drive doesn?t mean our goal is smaller, it just means we want to meet the goal faster,? said Brennan. ?That way Brookdale Public Radio has the money it needs to stay on the air and listeners hear more music with less fundraising.?

The station is holding the 1-Day pledge in response to listener feedback about fundraising interruptions. According to Brennan even the most loyal listeners lose their patience with pledge appeals that go on for days.

?It?s somewhat of a risk,? said Brennan. ?But it?s also a big idea that everyone, staff, listeners, and donors, can rally around. We think fans of The NIGHT will come through in a big way on 1-Day Tuesday.?

Listeners don?t have to wait to give. The station is accepting on-line contributions now at 90.5TheNIGHT.org.

Let's hope good things come in small (duration) packages. Central Jersey deserves good radio, and 90.5's one of the few places you can hear it anymore - and by helping, you can guarantee that their commitment continues.