KEXP, KXT, and KUTX are my favorites.
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Favorite AAA stations?
- Thread starter sox fan matt
- Start date
What is 'CCM' and 'SOS' short for???
My favorites are:
SiriusXM - The Spectrum
102.3 BXR Columbia, MO
105.5 Triple M Madison, WI
97.3 KBCO Boulder, CO
88.5 The Sound Los Angeles
Highway 1 Radio San Francisco
KINK FM Portland, OR
94.7 The Moose Bozeman, MT
94.9 The River Boise
On Sundays, I tend to find myself gravitating more to WTAR Norfolk, VA, WBFO HD2 Buffalo, WQKL Ann Arbor, and Brain Rock radio when my favorites tend to be in special programming.
Like a couple of others, I've never been able to get into The Current from Minneapolis. Cities 97 used to be one of my favorites to stream, but it has since shifted to a mostly Hot AC approach. WXPN, WRLT, and KUTX are a few more well-respected AAA's that just don't seem to be my cup-of-tea. I used to like Austin City Limits Radio and its predecessor KGSR a lot, but its approach has also worn thin on me as time has gone on. Can't quite put my finger on it. Not sure if it was a matter of the music mix changing too much or if it was just a case of some of the other stations I like doing better and crowding it out of my preferences.
SiriusXM - The Spectrum
102.3 BXR Columbia, MO
105.5 Triple M Madison, WI
97.3 KBCO Boulder, CO
88.5 The Sound Los Angeles
Highway 1 Radio San Francisco
KINK FM Portland, OR
94.7 The Moose Bozeman, MT
94.9 The River Boise
On Sundays, I tend to find myself gravitating more to WTAR Norfolk, VA, WBFO HD2 Buffalo, WQKL Ann Arbor, and Brain Rock radio when my favorites tend to be in special programming.
Like a couple of others, I've never been able to get into The Current from Minneapolis. Cities 97 used to be one of my favorites to stream, but it has since shifted to a mostly Hot AC approach. WXPN, WRLT, and KUTX are a few more well-respected AAA's that just don't seem to be my cup-of-tea. I used to like Austin City Limits Radio and its predecessor KGSR a lot, but its approach has also worn thin on me as time has gone on. Can't quite put my finger on it. Not sure if it was a matter of the music mix changing too much or if it was just a case of some of the other stations I like doing better and crowding it out of my preferences.
Tried as I might to like Kansas City's "The Bridge" (KTBG), I just can't do it. There are good people there and the intent is aligned with what a AAA format should be but, aside from specialty shows, its appeal to me runs out pretty quickly. It's a mystery.
I go hot and cold on Denver's "Indie 102.3" from Colorado Public Radio. Lately they've been cranking up the pledge drives due to CPR's budget shortfalls, so that's part of it. Some of it is an obsession with diversity - definitely diversity is a positive thing but CPR hammers its listeners over the head with its efforts in that regard. I mean, leave the preaching to the Christian broadcasters already. I prefer "The Colorado Sound" (KJAC) out of the northern Front Range, but some of that may be "enjoy it while you can" because there are two LPFM applications for 105.5 in Denver and Aurora (mutually exclusive) that will clutter the dial further and probably trash my reception of KJAC once those applications are sorted out. It'll probably drive me back to streaming.
WMMM's my hometown AAA station and my default station in the car, so definitely one of my favorites. I could do without some of the oldies / classic rock they like to play (Elton John, Steely Dan...), but I do enjoy the music overall, and appreciate the short commercial breaks. I also really enjoy Triple M's morning show, Jonathan and Kitty.
I sometimes like to stream some other stations for a change of pace. Favorite AAA stations that aren't WMMM:
WXRT (Chicago) - I used to live in Chicago, so it's like the radio equivalent of comfort food to hear some of those XRT DJs -- though there are fewer left from my time in Chicago now. I love XRT's Saturday Morning Flashback show - it's so well done the way they weave in recaps of music, news, culture and concerts from each year, not just play the songs from that year. I always tune in for XRT's Cubs opening day broadcast, and I'm still sad about the loss of Lin Brehmer.
WXRV (Boston) - I'm definitely more a fan of the 'commercial' version of the AAA format than the non-comm version, and WXRV is another of my favorite of the commercial AAA stations. I really enjoy stations like WXRV that have what seems to me like a fairly large song library, so you don't hear a lot of repeats, but they do it without playing a ton of obscure stuff. It's pretty much 40+ years of 'hits' or new music. It's nice hearing more than a couple songs you know, y'know?
WXRY (Columbia, SC) - more of an alt leaning AAA, which is probably why I like them so much (Alt and AAA are my two favorite formats). They also play the hits (and new music), and they're a non-comm, so no commercials.
For a few non WXR(x) stations...
"The Point" (WNCS, northern Vermont), WTTS (Indianapolis), WLGE (Door County, WI) - like WXRV and WXRT, commercial AAA stations with a music mix I enjoy and without the lengthy commercial breaks of some other AAA stations.
WNRN (Charlottesville) - a non-comm AAA, and while they play more obscure stuff than the commercial AAA stations I've listed so far, I guess I like their obscure stuff better than some of the other non-comm AAA stations I've sampled (like some others on here, KEXP and the Current aren't my favorite). They still throw in some music I know and I've discovered some great music listening to WNRN, too. I've been a supporting member (though am a bit sheepish to admit I haven't renewed in a bit ... I should do that!)
Mark just mentioned the Bridge (KTBG) ... I used to *love* that station, and was also a supporting member, but at some point after KCPT bought them, they shifted from a hybrid of the commercial and non-comm AAA formats (like the best of both, and with top-of-the-hour NPR news, too!) to the more eclectic end of the non-comm AAA format, and I got out of the habit of listening to them.
I sometimes like to stream some other stations for a change of pace. Favorite AAA stations that aren't WMMM:
WXRT (Chicago) - I used to live in Chicago, so it's like the radio equivalent of comfort food to hear some of those XRT DJs -- though there are fewer left from my time in Chicago now. I love XRT's Saturday Morning Flashback show - it's so well done the way they weave in recaps of music, news, culture and concerts from each year, not just play the songs from that year. I always tune in for XRT's Cubs opening day broadcast, and I'm still sad about the loss of Lin Brehmer.
WXRV (Boston) - I'm definitely more a fan of the 'commercial' version of the AAA format than the non-comm version, and WXRV is another of my favorite of the commercial AAA stations. I really enjoy stations like WXRV that have what seems to me like a fairly large song library, so you don't hear a lot of repeats, but they do it without playing a ton of obscure stuff. It's pretty much 40+ years of 'hits' or new music. It's nice hearing more than a couple songs you know, y'know?
WXRY (Columbia, SC) - more of an alt leaning AAA, which is probably why I like them so much (Alt and AAA are my two favorite formats). They also play the hits (and new music), and they're a non-comm, so no commercials.
For a few non WXR(x) stations...
"The Point" (WNCS, northern Vermont), WTTS (Indianapolis), WLGE (Door County, WI) - like WXRV and WXRT, commercial AAA stations with a music mix I enjoy and without the lengthy commercial breaks of some other AAA stations.
WNRN (Charlottesville) - a non-comm AAA, and while they play more obscure stuff than the commercial AAA stations I've listed so far, I guess I like their obscure stuff better than some of the other non-comm AAA stations I've sampled (like some others on here, KEXP and the Current aren't my favorite). They still throw in some music I know and I've discovered some great music listening to WNRN, too. I've been a supporting member (though am a bit sheepish to admit I haven't renewed in a bit ... I should do that!)
Mark just mentioned the Bridge (KTBG) ... I used to *love* that station, and was also a supporting member, but at some point after KCPT bought them, they shifted from a hybrid of the commercial and non-comm AAA formats (like the best of both, and with top-of-the-hour NPR news, too!) to the more eclectic end of the non-comm AAA format, and I got out of the habit of listening to them.
Definitely a vote for CBC2. Being in the northernmost county of Western WA, CBC2 is on a Class C out of Vancouver and is everything Theater says it is. I am super fortunate to live in a county where I can receive OTA CBC1-Vancouver, CBC1-Victoria, CBC 2, CBC French (not that I really know what they are talking about, but the music is interesting.) I also have 3 local NPR translators to choose from and they each do a different twist. News out of KUOW Seattle, news/jazz out of KNKX Tacoma and NWPR News out of WSU in faraway Pullman WA.
This is a good list and I am going to look at all of these. I am familiar with WXRV and WXRT. I am the opposite of you in terms that I like the non comm version of AAA stations. I really enjoy:WMMM's my hometown AAA station and my default station in the car, so definitely one of my favorites. I could do without some of the oldies / classic rock they like to play (Elton John, Steely Dan...), but I do enjoy the music overall, and appreciate the short commercial breaks. I also really enjoy Triple M's morning show, Jonathan and Kitty.
I sometimes like to stream some other stations for a change of pace. Favorite AAA stations that aren't WMMM:
WXRT (Chicago) - I used to live in Chicago, so it's like the radio equivalent of comfort food to hear some of those XRT DJs -- though there are fewer left from my time in Chicago now. I love XRT's Saturday Morning Flashback show - it's so well done the way they weave in recaps of music, news, culture and concerts from each year, not just play the songs from that year. I always tune in for XRT's Cubs opening day broadcast, and I'm still sad about the loss of Lin Brehmer.
WXRV (Boston) - I'm definitely more a fan of the 'commercial' version of the AAA format than the non-comm version, and WXRV is another of my favorite of the commercial AAA stations. I really enjoy stations like WXRV that have what seems to me like a fairly large song library, so you don't hear a lot of repeats, but they do it without playing a ton of obscure stuff. It's pretty much 40+ years of 'hits' or new music. It's nice hearing more than a couple songs you know, y'know?
WXRY (Columbia, SC) - more of an alt leaning AAA, which is probably why I like them so much (Alt and AAA are my two favorite formats). They also play the hits (and new music), and they're a non-comm, so no commercials.
For a few non WXR(x) stations...
"The Point" (WNCS, northern Vermont), WTTS (Indianapolis), WLGE (Door County, WI) - like WXRV and WXRT, commercial AAA stations with a music mix I enjoy and without the lengthy commercial breaks of some other AAA stations.
WNRN (Charlottesville) - a non-comm AAA, and while they play more obscure stuff than the commercial AAA stations I've listed so far, I guess I like their obscure stuff better than some of the other non-comm AAA stations I've sampled (like some others on here, KEXP and the Current aren't my favorite). They still throw in some music I know and I've discovered some great music listening to WNRN, too. I've been a supporting member (though am a bit sheepish to admit I haven't renewed in a bit ... I should do that!)
Mark just mentioned the Bridge (KTBG) ... I used to *love* that station, and was also a supporting member, but at some point after KCPT bought them, they shifted from a hybrid of the commercial and non-comm AAA formats (like the best of both, and with top-of-the-hour NPR news, too!) to the more eclectic end of the non-comm AAA format, and I got out of the habit of listening to them.
KEXP: I really like the fact that they rarely repeat during the daytime hours and you hear all kinds of stuff. The other day John Richards started his show off with a Frank Sinatra song and then segued it into a classical music piece. It was fantastic.
Inhailer Radio: This is out of Cincinnati. It is the spiritual successor to WOXY and WNKU. They play a lot of indie music with volunteer DJs and have restarted the Modern Rock 500 which starts another round on Monday.
Radio Paradise: Slowly becoming my favorite station to listen to. It has three mixes: the main mix, which is probably it's best one, the mellow mix, and the rock mix. The main mix is hand picked all day by the staff and you hear all kinds of genres and songs and it's a musical journey from morning until night. The mellow mix is great for background music while you are working. The rock mix is what I wish commercial rock stations were.
WXPN: This station is what got me into the AAA format. You hear a wide variety of songs from about 60+ years to now. I feel like you don't know what is coming next most of the time. They also have some great shows/programming including: Friday Morning Mixtape which is usually a set of songs around a certain theme, Funky Friday from 4-7 pm Friday afternoons, Sleepy Hollow on weekend mornings, and The Blues Show on Saturday nights.
Other stations I like but don't listen to as much: The SoCal Sound in LA (www.thesocalsound.org), just a fantastic station that has great DJs. KUTX is also great. That Station out of Raleigh, NC (www.thatstation.net). The Gamut out of DC and you hear such a large playlist of music.
I really enjoy the interaction with DJs, probably one of the few who still enjoy that, and love the way they can pick the music compared to most commercial stations.
