A New Look for a Great Resource

I've been meaning to write about KEXP for a while now, and looking over their new web site redesign reminds me to just do it.

We in Seattle are fortunate to have this great listener supported radio station in our midst, but everyone else can listen too, in multiple streaming formats and bit rates - including a 1.4 mb/second uncompressed full CD-quality stream, if you've got the pipe to handle it.

It's not that I necessarily like everything I hear on KEXP, but rather the fact that the DJs are all wonderful fans of the music they play and they each have the latitude to explore the music they love. Today I heard a story on NPR that noted that there are something like 30,000 albums released each year - I increasingly am relying on the experts to help me sift through that, and that means paying attention to folks like Amanda Wilde, Michele Myers, and specialty folks like Jon Kertzer (African music), Don Slack (Country twang), and my all time favorite DJ anywhere, John Gilbreath (new jazz and associated explorations).

The station keeps a two week running archive of all of its shows, plus archived playlists so you can see who played what when, as well as streaming archives of live broadcasts it does.

I'm more likely to discover new exciting music here than anywhere. KEXP's slogan is "Where the Music Matters"...and it's true.