Category Archives: Music

From The Isle of Music returns August 6, 2023!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Tilford, who shares the following announcement:

From The Isle of Music, the best cuban music program produced outside of Cuba, returns as a monthly Sunday, August 6 on WBCQ The Planet, 7490 kHz from 6pm-7pm EDT (2200-2300 UTC). It will air the first Sunday of each month, sharing the day/time with Julio Cesar Pereira’s Ginga Brasil!, which will air the second and fourth weeks, and Uncle BIll’s Melting Pot, which will air the third week. When there is a fifth Sunday in a month, that will feature Doug Feldmann’s Comedy Favorites.
This return episode of From The Isle of Music will feature selections from new recordings recognized in Cubadisco 2023.

William “Bill” Tilford, Owner/Producer
Tilford Productions, LLC
809 S. 20th ST
Lafayette, IN 47905-1551
email: [email protected]
phone: 773.267.6548
website: www.tilfordproductions.com

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Radio Carpathia and RNEI to fill in void left by TIAMS

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rose, who shares the following announcement:

The beloved ThisIsAMusicShow has ceased broadcasting for the foreseeable future, but you can rest assured, as the broadcast slot that was used by TIAMS (Thursdays between 0200-0300 UTC on WRMI 5850 kHz) is now in good hands.

In the first 30 minutes, starting at 0200 UTC, you will hear a monthly episode of Radio Carpathia, presented by Luca, featuring the best music from Eastern Europe and sometimes beyond, as well as some digital text and sometimes an image in MFSK64. New shows air on the Thursday that follows the third Sunday of every month (it’s not always the same), and will be repeated throughout the month.

In the other half of the hour, you will get to hear a special program from Radio Northern Europe International (whose normal program airs at 0100 UTC on the same day and frequency), called RNEIxtra, which introduces listeners to new genres, presenters, and music outside of the normal RNEI remit. Previous RNEIxtra shows have been DJ mixes, video game jazz, data experiments, and my personal favorite: Japanese music specials! We love getting new presenters on air on RNEIxtra so look out for exciting new shows and contact us if you want to give shortwave a try! New shows come out on the Thursday that follows the second Sunday of every month.

Reception reports for Radio Carpathia can be sent to radiocarpathia[at]gmail[dot]com, or by post to:
Luca Trifan
O.P. 6, C.P. 615
400810 Cluj-Napoca
ROMANIA
and will be answered with a physical QSL card, regardless of how they are sent.

RNEI welcomes reception reports to qsl[at]rnei[dot]org.

More information, as well as previous on-demand shows, are available at https://radiocarpathia.org and https://rnei.org respectively.

Both Luca and I are looking forward to receiving your feedback and reception reports, and we hope you will enjoy this new, albeit quite different programming.

Click here for more information.

Thank you for sharing this news, Rose. TIAMS was an excellent program. I certainly hope we haven’t seen the last of it. Very pleased your stations have both stepped up to fill in the gap!

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DnB mix on shortwave via RNEI!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Rose with RNEI, who writes:

Hei Thomas,

This week we’re showcasing a new show as we like to do from time to time and this time it’s DK Radio. It’ll be on the WRMI broadcasts of RNEI for this week only (that’s 01UTC Thursday on 5850, 13UTC Thursday on 15770 and 01UTC Sunday on 5010.)

It might be noteworthy due to it being a full DJ’ed DnB mix on shortwave which isn’t all that common!

Wishing you well,
Rose
Radio Northern Europe International
https://rnei.org

Thanks so much for the tip, Rose! I look forward to tuning in!

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Alan Roe’s A23 season guide to music on shortwave (version 4.0)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his A-23 (version 4.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download:

Click here to download Music on Shortwave A-23 v4 (PDF)

As always, thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan!

This dedicated page will always have the latest version of Alan’s guide available for download.

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Returning to Shortwave: From the Isle of Music, Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot and Ginga Brasil!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Tilford, who shares the following announcement:

From the Isle of Music, Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot and Ginga Brasil! Return To Shortwave

On August 6, From the Isle of Music, Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot and Ginga Brasil! return to shortwave on WBCQ The Planet, 7490 kHz. These programs will share the hour of Sundays 6pm-7pm Eastern US Time (currently 2200-2300 UTC) as follows:

1st Sunday – From the Isle of Music
2nd Sunday – Ginga Brasil!
3rd Sunday – Uncle BIll’s Melting Pot
4th Sunday – Ginga Brasil!
5th Sunday – varies

From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot are both produced and hosted by “Uncle Bill” Tilford in the United States. Ginga Brasil! (pronounced “Zheenga”) is produced and hosted by Julio Cesar Pereira in Brazil. These stellar international music programs will immediately follow one of WBCQ’s flagship programs, Marion’s Attic, which airs Sundays 5-6pm Eastern Time (currently 2100-2200 UTC); they also precede Harry Shearer’s Le Show for a solid three hour block of quality entertainment.

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Op Ed: “OK, but why shortwave?”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and host of Underground Sounds, Kelsie, who writes:

Why Shortwave?

by Kelsie

A question I’m regularly asked when talking about our radio show, and radio in general, is why choose independent radio rather than publishing a podcast or streaming playlist?
The answer is not a simple one, but I feel that it’s a powerful one.

Streaming services have made it far easier for new and independent artists to publish music, but publishing is only the first step in exposing new music to a potential audience. The age old problem faced by artists and publishers since the commercialization of music, remains – how does an artist or label get their new music heard?

The sad truth is that the vast majority of artists publishing their music on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal, etc., will not get what they’re really looking for, and that’s exposure.

Streaming services present content to their users based on a limited form of mathematical artificial intelligence known as an algorithm. Algorithms work by correlating searches by users with the content of their saved playlists. If users do not know that those new songs exist and have not searched specifically for them, the streaming algorithms will not have enough data on the new releases to suggest them to a wider audience who might like them. As a result of this, people who use streaming services are not exposed to a variety of musical styles and genres, unlike those of us who grew up when terrestrial radio was the dominant format.

While terrestrial radio may still be unencumbered by algorithm-generated playlists, commercial FM and satellite radio have effectively homogenized them over the years, resulting in a similar impact to musical variety. There was a time when radio stations used to allocate time slots for shows hosted by DJ’s that played different genres and styles of music on the same frequency. Since about 2010, the DJ format has become practically extinct.

Most radio stations today play a limited selection of songs and artists based on agreements with the traditional recording industry, resulting in very little variation from station to station at any given time of day. Both frequent listeners of FM or satellite radio can attest that the same songs and artists are played daily, even if they’re played in a different order, and even switching from one station to another during a song will oftentimes result in the listener hearing a different song by the same artist on the other station. This is only getting worse now that the majority of radio stations within the United States are owned by only two major corporations.

 

The lack of musical variety listeners are exposed to on commercial radio and streaming services lead me to the first part of my answer:

Independent radio is not subject to the homogeneity of commercial radio or streaming services.

This is largely due to the fact that instead of playlists or algorithms, independent stations are usually focused on the communities they serve, and tend to still produce individual shows tailored to different genres and interests. Tuning in at different times of the day exposes listeners to music they just wouldn’t have heard on other formats. Not everyone will like the same songs or artists, but there is usually something for everyone and a priceless opportunity to expand one’s musical horizons.

An explanation of this usually leads to the question, “OK, but why shortwave?”, or, “Isn’t shortwave dead?”

Here is where answer is is a little more complicated.

I’m sure, at least for myself, part of the decision to utilize shortwave broadcasting is based in the nostalgia of listening to broadcasts from all around the world as a child at the peak of the Cold War in Europe, hearing songs in languages I did not understand, often in keys and rhythms unfamiliar to a Western ear, and my particularly fond memories of listening to relays of Casey Kasem’s weekly Top 40 show from back home. As a former musician myself, and an avid shortwave listener who likes to restore vintage radio receivers, I still have almost that same level of excitement when I hear musical styles that I haven’t been exposed to before, and I want to share that with anyone in the world with an ear to listen.

This being said, the most important component of my answer comes down to accessibility.

Shortwave broadcasting is accessible. While independent radio may provide the only remaining viable format for exposing listeners to music from outside the corporate mainstream, independent shortwave radio potentially allows listeners from anywhere in the world to listen to music that they might be actively prevented from hearing in their own countries through various means, such as internet censorship or national broadcasters who only play what their governments mandate or allow.

As Geddy Lee from the band Rush used to sing, “One likes to believe in the freedom of music”.

I know that we certainly do, and I’m sure our opinion is shared by many of the fine music broadcasters on shortwave radio right now. From some of the more notable national broadcasters who pepper their broadcasts with music from their countries, to independent broadcasters such as Over The Horizon Radio, Alt Universe Top 40, VORW, Cruisin’ The Decades, Memphis Weirdos, Pop Shop Radio, Laser Hot Hits, This Is A Music Show, Texas Radio Shortwave, and many, many more who play music that terrestrial or satellite radio won’t play.

While shortwave radio is also going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, in large part due to the current dire situation in Eastern Europe, I think it’s more than that. I feel that large part of it is boredom and apathy with mainstream radio and the coldness of streaming services.

Whatever the reason, what better time than now to listen to shortwave stations from around the world, or even to become a part of the music broadcast resurgence yourselves?

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Underground Sounds Worldwide: A New Shortwave Music Program Broadcasting on WRMI

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kelsie, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

We have just launched a new bi-weekly music show on WRMI. Underground Sounds will be playing the freshest tracks by new and established independent artists from all around the world, together with the latest music news, exclusive performances, and interviews. The first show went out on June 25th, with the next due to go out on Sunday July 9th, with new shows occurring every other Sunday at 2100 UTC on 15770 kHz.

Thanks

DJ KEL / Underground Sounds Worldwide
https://undergroundsoundsworldwide.com
15770 kHz WRMI Radio Miami International

Thank you, Kelsie! We look forward to tuning in Underground Sounds! I’m putting you in my listening schedule.

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