this is how it's done - Riff2/Detroit

[Saladressing]

Tired of the top 40 alternadrivel that pervades the country? Or the gold-based lean that even some of the best modern rock stations seem to have? Then check out WRIF-HD2/Detroit. This HD2 subchannel, the modern rock station called "Riff2" has a lot going for it musically: From techno to new wave, female artists to punk rock, this is the sound that got so many inerested in the format in the first place. Also some Detroit local music and a little metal too - hey why not, it's an HD2. But the music doesn't stop there. Its descriptions online say it's all Detroit music but if that was once the case it has changed. For example, tonight, heard M.I.A. featuring Jay Z, Prodigy, a recorded live track by some local band playing a rockin' blues song, Pennywise, New Order, a bunch of cool music I had never heard before, Nirvana, the new Jimmy Eat World, Snoop Dogg featuring Dr. Dre, and .......The Pixies!....but you really need to hear it for yourself. It has the right balance of being not too inaccessible while being not overly accessible.

Check it out, I give it my highest recommendation!

http://www.wrif.com/riff2

 

[dtuba]

Wow...black artists on an alternative station?
(bout freakin time)

 

[hubcity]

Wow...black artists on an alternative station?
(bout freakin time)

TV On The Radio, Kele, Noisettes, Santigold, Janelle Monae, O. Children, Bad Brains, Fishbone...oh, yeah, they're not the right kind of "alternative" for most alternative stations...

 

[dtuba]

These are good examples, but when was the last time you heard Bad Brains on your local commercial alternative station? Like, never? Ditto for Fishbone (outside of a "flashback" show). I guess the thing that bugs me is that alt rock stations will play hip-hop influenced white artists like Beastie Boys, Gorillaz, Beck, et al. but won't touch the real thing. and I'm not talking about crunk or party hip hop, I'm talking about Mos Def/Black Star, Tribe Called Quest, Visionaries, etc. etc. There is no room for "alternative" or underground hip hop on any existing commercial radio format.

 

[Saladressing]

After overdosing on Riff2 and thanks to their stream being reminded about REV105 (a station that like Riff2 had no problems playing Iron Maiden and Public Enemy) and what Real Alternative Rock Radio is supposed to be all about, I have come to the sobering conclusion that every single one of the commercial alternative rock stations in the United States are for the birds. Each and every one - from the most "diverse" to the most "safe" of them - are all way too conservative, way too whiteBOY, way too conformist and are an affront to the very name of their format, ALTERNATIVE! The prior comments in this thread about non-white artists can also be applied to female artists, a genre that has been largely dropped by the format since two decades ago.

 

[hubcity]

These are good examples, but when was the last time you heard Bad Brains on your local commercial alternative station? Like, never? Ditto for Fishbone (outside of a "flashback" show). I guess the thing that bugs me is that alt rock stations will play hip-hop influenced white artists like Beastie Boys, Gorillaz, Beck, et al. but won't touch the real thing. and I'm not talking about crunk or party hip hop, I'm talking about Mos Def/Black Star, Tribe Called Quest, Visionaries, etc. etc. There is no room for "alternative" or underground hip hop on any existing commercial radio format.

I played Bad Brains at my local commercial alternative station. Long ago (pre-1992), yes, but not "never". Also played A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and actually, George Clinton (with and without Parliament/Funkadelic, and/or Thomas Dolby.) Almost forgot Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Kid Creole And The Coconuts and Sly & Robbie...

Now that I run Altrok 90.5 HD2, I get to play 'em again, without having to ruffle any pesky advertiser feathers...