Quirkiest radio ever: WFMU

New York’s WFMU wakes me up. Literally. I’ve programmed my computer so that, among other things, it functions as a clock radio. At 6:45 a.m. on weekdays, it powers up and tunes in, considerately fading in gradually.

The WFMU DJs follow their own muses. I would apply the following adjectives from the thesaurus, if not to each song played, then certainly to the station as a whole:

aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, beat, bent, bizarre, capricious, case, character, cockeyed, crazy, curious, droll, erratic, far out, flaky, fly ball, freak, freakish, freaky, funky, funny, geeky, goony, idiosyncratic, irregular, kooky, nutty, odd, oddball, off-center, offbeat, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, quizzical, screwy, singular, strange, uncommon, unconventional, unnatural, unusual, way out, weird, weirdo, whacko, whacky, whimsical, wild, yo-yo

but I’d also say:

ace, attractive, best ever, cat’s pajamas, choice, commendable, cool, copacetic, crack, crackerjack, daisy, deadly, deserving, dilly, doozie, dream, estimable, excellent, exquisite, fine, gnarly, good, great, greatest, groovy, heavy, hunky dory, keen, laudable, mean, meritable, meritorious, neat, peachy, praiseworthy, rare, smashing, solid, spiffy, super, super-duper, superior, unreal, valuable, wicked, wonderful, worthy

WFMU is just the kind of station that makes Internet radio worth saving.

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National Geographic music podcasts and more

I want to spread the word about a few great music podcasts. They just give you a tiny taste - they’re both less than 15 minutes per episode - but they can really broaden and deepen your musical horizons.

Afropop Worldwide

World Music Profiles

and a video podcast -

World Music Spotlight

You usually get a short interview with the artist(s) as well as a taste of the music. Amadou & Mariam got two episodes: an interview and a fragment of a live concert.

I also enjoy Coverville and Morning Becomes Eclectic.

I recommend all these podcasts highly! And if you’re new to podcasts, you don’t need an iPod; you can play them on your computer. They’re just audio tracks.

By the way, my favorite non-musical podcasts are Ask Dr. Dawn, This American Life, Mac Geek Gab and Grammar Girl.

All can be found in the iTunes podcast directory.

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Rediscovering Buffy Sainte-Marie

Several albums of Buffy Sainte-Marie recently came my way, and I realized I’d forgotten her several years ago after getting rid of all my lps (no space) and that I’d simply forgotten about her. How very, very sad that I’ve been deprived all this time.

Now I’m reexperiencing how fiercely inspiring so many of her songs are. In fact, her life as a whole, as an activist, artist, educator and mother, is inspiring as well.

For the uninitiated, I actually suggest starting with her last album to date, Coincidence and Likely Stories. I also highly recommend It’s My Way, Little Wheel Spin and Spin, and Illuminations.

The other albums I’ve heard don’t appeal to me much. She recorded a few country albums with what I consider cheesy arrangements.

Go read up on her Web site, http://www.creative-native.com/. I guarantee you’ll be impressed and uplifted.

I think we could all use some inspiration these days. I like to believe, as Buffy sings, that we’re only getting started.

p.s. Follow-up: I just rented the video Up Where We Belong and loved it. Great powwow singers backing her up. And if you want to know why I love this woman’s outlook so much, just listen to her intro to Starwalker.

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