Back up again

Hi folk,

TUN3R is mainly operational - sans audio audio samples. You can still find and listen to your favourite stations, but the audio browsing will not be operational for another day or two more.

We again apologize for this.

Stay TUN3D.

Sorry for the Interruptions: Will be back in 1-2 days

Hi folks - we're experiencing some hardware issues with our drives. So this has been why the site has been going up and down like a yo-yo for the past couple days. We expect to have this resolved in one or two days.

Basically, we had a catastrophic drive failure, and are recovering from back-ups. Consider it a 'rite of passage' for TUN3R.

If you feel like venting, just e-mail me at: neil@tun3r.com

Stay TUN3D.

Music + Movies = Awesome Radio Format

A couple posts back, my friend and guest blogger blogged about the difference between passive versus active listening (this blog was inspired by a comment made by Kevin Hiscock aka RadioGnome). I just discovered - and promptly added to The Dial - a station which takes a different approach to active versus passive listening. Namely, I'm referring to mplusm.fm. (Dial Spot: H47).

The station's format is so simple, yet so effective. I had one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments. Namely, just intersperse great music, with great film dialog - and boom kapow - you've got a kick-ass format that draws you in, but is also very relaxing. Namely, mplusm.fm (which originally began airing from Monaco) plays an eclectic mix of mainly downtempo beats and hip easy listening. When not playing music, they intersperse dialog from English or French films. They even invite you to send in submissions of dialog (samples must be of a high quality).

Since I'm a huge film buff, I absolutely adore this. Furthermore, I've got a tremendous respect for French New Way cinema, so hearing the French dialog reminds me of the great French New Wave directors like Godard, Truffat, Resnais, Clouzot. Not to digress, but if you've never heard of the French New Wave movement, you should check out some films like "The Four hundred Blows" by Truffaut, and "Week End", by Godard. The major innovations that came out of the French New Wave movement was a return to a "grass roots" approach to film making utilizing hand-held cameras, and amateur actors, and the directors typically would also write the screenplay. The director referred to himself as an "auteur", which for me is the most critical aspect of the movement, as it represented being about one person holding to a singular artistic vision and truly taking ownership of the medium. Contrast this with big budget Hollywood films which tend to be more like major construction projects, with the director acting as more of a project manager, than an artist. Today this movement has been resurrected by the Danish Dogme95 movement, whose most famous director is the gifted Lars Von Trier, but even mainstream Hollywood still borrows much from French New Wave (The Bourne Ultimatum comes to mind).

Which brings me back to mplusm.fm - there is undoubtedly artistry to not only this approach, but also the way in which it is executed. Auteurs, they are indeed.

One last thing - I implore you to check out their web site. They have a fine collection of photos of high-end vintage hifi audio gear. Sweet!

Stay TUN3D.

Alternative Music - it doesn't exist

Hi folks, I have another fine post from guest blogger Kevin Hiscock (aka Radio Gnome who is behind Radio Hidebound, Dial Spot: H9)

I also wanted to mention that we've made a few changes to The Dial. Namely, we've improved the horizontal scrolling, so now it's pretty easy to get to the far right without having to spend $3000 on a high-end monitor.
Secondly, we've added two extra Bands. Although there is room on the Main Band, most new stations will be placed on the Overflow Band. Last, but not least, we've forced the entire Dial to be black-and-white. Previously, there were a few spots that defied this rule. We've fixed that so it's all in B&W. Basically the reason for making the Dial B&W is so that we can overlay colour to convey more information, such as search results and Bookmarks/Presets.

Now, onto Kevin's post:

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Alternative Music - it doesn't exist
(or, how pompous can Americans really be?)

It's a pet peeve of mine. In general, I don't particularly like "labeling" music. Like songs are people working in Dilbert and the simple-minded must create cubicles for the songs to work in. But "Alternative Music" as a "genre" of music simply pisses me off.

Alternative Music - what the fuck is that? Ooooh, it's a bunch of greasy long-hairs from Seattle (disclaimer: I'm a greasy long hair from D.C.). What about Toure Kunda? Or Geoffrey Oryema? Or C Cat Trance? Or nowdays, fucking Tchaikovsky. Any kind of music will ALWAYS have an alternative.

The word "alternative", for those who give a shit, was coined because "the labelers" figured out "college radio" wasn't really a label for music, but a FORMAT for a radio station. For a radio station, the word "alternative" makes sense since the majority of radio stations are sheep. Before the Internet, "alternative" meant something for a radio station. Now, not so much. Thank Goddess. But this "Alternative Music" label crap has GOT TO GO.