WTD 2008 Week 4 - Sirius XMU

[Aaron]

This is North America's indie rock station. The channel offers those with adventurous taste in music an accessible yet interesting mix of new and established indie artists. It is always ahead of the curve whether it's playing groundbreaking new music first or being the first station in the country to turn the airwaves over on a daily basis to the web's most influential MP3 bloggers.

Artists You'll Hear: Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Shins, Strokes, White Stripes, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Decemberists

Channel 43 on XM, 26 on Sirius

* Please indicate how much you like this channel by assigning it a rating. Simply use the thread rating system found at the top of the thread and give it a vote.

 

[hexagram]

I've been listening to it for about an hour and a half and I think it's alright. Some of the songs on there I just can't stand (mostly the songs with the screaming and shouting of random words), but there are some good ones on there as well.

It makes the preset list and gets 3 1/2 stars (but since I can't do half-stars on the forum, it will have to be 3).

I won't be listening to this one all the time but as the description says, I will when I'm feeling 'adventurous'.

 

[bigdaddyII]

I like it in a sense that it is different. I will agree with what h3xagram says about most songs being okay but others are almost unbearable to listen to. I am sure this channel will not make it to my presets but will be visited when I am looking to listen to something out of the ordinary.

 

[TacoKid]

Left of Center was my favorite music station.

Since the "change" to SiriusXM U, the playlist has expanded but not to the point that I can no longer "recognize" LOC.

The one thing I do wish was either moved to a different time or shortened or even moved to a different channel is Blog Radio.

I don't dislike Blog Radio but I feel that the playlist on these shows sometimes is too far out there that it takes time away from the music I look to listen to when I am listening to SXMU.

 

[Argji]

LoC/SiriusXM U is one of the reasons I first subscribed to satellite in 2005 and is one of the stations I listen to the most. I simply cannot get this type of music on terrestrial where I live. I think they do a very good job of introducing me to the “hits” and the up and coming artists of the indie scene.

Blog Radio is a good idea and I’ve been trying to get into it more lately, but I agree that it is given too much face-time during the day. 2hrs a day, 6 days a week, with a nightly encore is a lot. But it does free up listening time for the other channels I enjoy.

 

[awax]

There's some cool records being spun on this channel. It won't make a preset, but I'll sure tune it in on occassion. 4 stars!

 

[MadisonRadio1]

I like it. I had it presetted but this was my first chance to listen since the music channel merger. I was a XMU fan now Sirius XMU. I like to listen after dark. Whereas the Coffeehouse is a daytime listening channel, XMU is a nighttime listening channel. 4 stars.

 

[Aaron]

I'm out of my element with this channel. I don't know the bands or the songs. Yet if I was looking for newer music to get into, I'd listen to this one before I'd listen to Hits One. A pretty good channel, but I won't be returning to Sirius XMU.

 

[down4six]

I have listened to it for 1-2 hours twice this week, just can't get into it. Just not my cup of tea I guess.....

 

[goreds2]

I have listened to it for 1-2 hours twice this week, just can't get into it. Just not my cup of tea I guess.....

Same here.

That is what makes satellite radio great though. It has multiple channels for different music tastes.

I like this WALK THE DOG forum because it prompts me to at least give a channel a try as I may discover one to my liking.

 

[semipenguin]

I used to have LoC as a preset. Never listened to XMU. I only listened to LoC maybe once a week. Good channel, but was never my favorite.

Now that the two channels have merged, I must say, this is the best channel I've heard on satellite radio. The music selection is great. I've heard songs from bands I have & have not heard from. A lot of progressive & some techno...

The only one problem I have with this channel is the repitition. I listened all day this past Tuesday & heard some songs a few times. If they would just expand the playlist a little. That's the only thing keeping me from giving this channel 5 stars...:shock:

I will be listening a lot more. 4 out of 5 Stars...

 

[squigy0]

Sounds: Indie rock, emo, and electronic.

Positives: A genre that's hard to find on the radio (it's there with SOME college stations, but few and far between). I really enjoyed the really upbeat rock and electronic tracks

Negatives: I don't know if there's a such thing as indie emo but there were a fair bit of songs that were too slow and whiney for my taste. The DJs were just IDIOTS, not having any information to give about the artists or songs, making bad non-sensical jokes, and making pop culture references that have no business being on an indie station.

Blastability: Medium to High depending on the track that's on and if the DJs are STFUing

Overall: I've had a love/hate relationship with XMU on XM since I first subscribed in Jan 2002. The channel had an incredible energetic lineup of DJs that hung in a very Student Loungeish way and talked a lot about the artists. At the time though they were running features every night at 3am XULU time (guess they thought they were being so clever) and the timing of the last song to those features was poor with the padding annoying "stand by" loop lasting for as much as 5 mins sometimes and the features repeating too much. Then as they started getting rid of talent on the channel, they went to eastern time and scaled back the features and the timing but the channel started losing its personality and education about the artists. Billy Zero (with the help of Tobi who was there from the beginning) really started resurrecting the channel when they were both unceremoniously dumped due to the merger.

 

[Grüpsaar]

26 has been a preset of mine since I discovered it a few weeks after getting Sirius.

Since the channel merge, SiriusXMU is still number 3 on my presets. Mostly for Blog Radio lately. I like tuning in during this show and knowing it will be something different. But the regular playlist has continued to please. In honor of walk of the dog, I spent all morning listening to this channel to see how different it is since the merge, since I havent spent as much time with it as I used to aside from blog radio. I like the varied playlist more, but there is some room for improvement yet.

Still, I'll be keeping this on my presets, and recommend it to anyone who likes different rock and alt music.

 

[Road Hog]

First off, I hate the name of this channel. Left of Center was a bad name too, but it was probably better than XM U. They should have come up with a new name.

And it doesn't seem like Matt Pinfield's bi-weekly show made the cut with the merger. That's a shame, because he always had a good mix of songs.

Of the three channels playing current modern rock (along with Alt Nation and Octane), this one is my favorite. They do a good job, given what they have to work with. Unfortunately, rock music is kind of at a low point right now. I don't see much of today's songs having staying power. Compare this music to the alternative sounds of the 90s on Lithium or the alternative sounds of the 80s on First Wave. Not much today stands up.

 

[Wolf]

I have tried out Left of Center before and tried out Sirius XMU, still not a fan of that channel.

 

[JoeTan]

God dam that Animal Collective is the nuts! good stuff! Channel is the best today.

 

[budm0318]

Love it. New music, new artists. I miss The Minister, though. Loss of 1 star for letting him go.