New Radio Station - The Peak 95.3

[Regular_John]

Given that x92.9 & CJay have become pretty much indistinguishable, I'm not sure why you'd bother adding a 3rd "alt-rock" station into the market. But maybe the competition will force one of the three to differentiate itself and actually offer an alternative to the current crop of "Hey!" folksy rock.

Heck one of them could do well by teaming up with the Sled Island folks and start playing some decent indie/alternative bands.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Given that x92.9 & CJay have become pretty much indistinguishable, I'm not sure why you'd bother adding a 3rd "alt-rock" station into the market. But maybe the competition will force one of the three to differentiate itself and actually offer an alternative to the current crop of "Hey!" folksy rock.

Heck one of them could do well by teaming up with the Sled Island folks and start playing some decent indie/alternative bands.

CJSW does that pretty well, but they have other mandates too. Seems to me satellite, streaming and internet radio will kill the terrestrial beast with steely knives.

http://cjsw.com/

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by troutman

CJSW does that pretty well, but they have other mandates too. Seems to me satellite, streaming and internet radio will kill the terrestrial beast with steely knives.

CJSW has some great programming at times, but I find them to be inconsistent. But as you said, they've got a different mandate than a commercial station.

But I agree, terrestrial radio is dying, which is why this "new" station announcement surprises me, seems like x92.9 has been struggling for the past 24 months, not sure why anyone would enter that market.

[Jimmy Stang]

They're launching right now. As long as they keep the same format as the Vancouver station, I'll be relatively happy. I don't even bother with X92 anymore as they're just too repetitive - I think that they would have been better off if they didn't fall into that trap.

[bradster57]

Listening to it online. So far it sounds like the exact same playlist as x92.9.

[Deelow]

Lacking a lot of that great 90s stuff I thought I'd hear. I suspected they might be going for the older end of the Alt Rock demographic. I guess not.

[djsFlames]

So another x92.9

Can't complain. Alt rock is better than roughly 95% of the rest of what's played on Calgary radio stations these days.

X really needs to take some tracks/groups off its playist that are borderline unlistenable (namely some of these canadian indie bands that are just no good), but the other half of the time, it's actually good music. Hopefully being able to bounce between these stations will allow for a decent stretch bearable radio.

Edit: more 90s stuff would be preferable. hopefully they separate themselves somehow with their music choices.

[nik-]

This seems exactly like x929.

Calgary needs a hip hop station ... and not two at the same time again so they kill each other.

[MRCboicgy]

Originally Posted by saillias

So a second X for when X isn't playing a band you like or when Fraser and Carly start to talk?

I turned off X after a week with Carly joining Frasier.
Every time she opened her mouth on air, I remembered why I am gay.

As for the new station, yeah some 90's alt would be good to mix in - and something beyond Nirvana's top hits

The best alternative station in the world is 91X in San Diego www.91x.com They do a perfect blend of old-school to the latest hits.

[calgarygeologist]

Out of curiosity I hopped on the website just now and they were playing Ellie Goulding - Burn. Definitely not a song I would have expected on a "world class rock" station.

[BOSSY]

Originally Posted by mrcboicgy

i turned off x after a week with carly joining frasier.
every time she opened her mouth on air, i remembered why i am gay.

as for the new station, yeah some 90's alt would be good to mix in - and something beyond nirvana's top hits

the best alternative station in the world is 91x in san diego www.91x.com they do a perfect blend of old-school to the latest hits.

...hilarious!

[Jimmy Stang]

I assumed that it would sound more like the Peak in Vancouver, but it is sounding more similar to X92. I'll give them some time, but I'm a little disappointed thus far.

Obviously there will be some overlap between what two alt rock stations play, but I thought it would be less than... well... almost all of it.

[mac_82]

Already much better than x929. I've heard several songs I've never heard before, several songs I haven't heard in years, and haven't heard the same song twice. Hopefully they keep it up.

Ever since The Peak applied for a license here (1.5 years ago?) x929 has been slowly shifting towards cjay92. More Nirvana, Offspring, Pearl Jam, etc, and less of what made them good in the beginning. Add that to the fact they have the worst announcers in the city, and you don't have a recipe for success.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

As for the new station, yeah some 90's alt would be good to mix in - and something beyond Nirvana's top hits

The best alternative station in the world is 91X in San Diego www.91x.com They do a perfect blend of old-school to the latest hits.

For 80s and 90s alternative music, I have been enjoying The Rift on iradiophilly:

http://www.iradiophilly.com/

Recent playlist:

Beru Revue I Got A Job
The Ramones I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
The Plimsouls Oldest Story in the World
The Sugarcubes Birthday
Aztec Camera The Crying Scene
Camper Van Beethoven Wasted
The Pogues Bottle Of Smoke
The Smiths There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
The Damned Stranger On The Town
Big Star When My Baby's Beside Me
The The Perfect
The Cramps Goo Goo Muck
Giant Sand Black Venetian Blind
Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's Dead
Talking Heads Crosseyed and Painless
Echo & The Bunnymen Bring On the Dancing Horses (Extended Mix)
Siouxsie & The Banshees Cities in Dust
Costello, Elvis Allison
Big Dipper She's Fetching

Favorite mix of old and new:

http://www.thecurrent.org/listen

All-Canadian indie:

http://music.cbc.ca/#/radio3

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I'll throw it on the old preset. It seems X929 is moving closer and closer to Vibe and Virgin with each passing day (They often have 9 or 10 songs on their playlist page that are also played by those two pop stations), so this will hopefully be more like X929 was 4 or 5 years ago.

X had to do something as it is languishing down around the AMP 90.3 level of listenership. AMP burned money for no good reason, while X has been changing its playlist to try and draw more listeners. That said, I listen to the station a lot less since they went from being "Calgary's New Rock Alternative" to "Calgary's Alternative".

So, sufficed to say, I'll give the new station a chance. I would really like it if it became a blend of what X929 was at the start and what Fuel 90.3 was.

[Resolute 14]

Incidentally, this is the station that had all of those billboards about a year ago asking people to support their license bid, is it not? Guess they were successful. (Thanks, captain obvious)

[East Coast Flame]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

X really needs to take some tracks/groups off its playist that are borderline unlistenable (namely some of these canadian indie bands that are just no good), but the other half of the time, it's actually good music. Hopefully being able to bounce between these stations will allow for a decent stretch bearable radio.

.

Haven't heard Mother Mother yet today? Just turn on X and wait 20 minutes!

[bradster57]

Originally Posted by East Coast Flame

Haven't heard Mother Mother yet today? Just turn on X and wait 20 minutes!

Mother Mother is the worst. I flip the station the second they play their songs. I usually will dial into The End from Seattle or X91 from San Diego to avoid them.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by East Coast Flame

Haven't heard Mother Mother yet today? Just turn on X and wait 20 minutes!

They've made up for it with 3 or 4 from Arcade Fire, Metric, Sam Roberts, and Tegan & Sara. I like all of those, but they can still get their Can Con in with a little more variety.

Just scanning the Peak Vancouver's playlist, and in the last couple of hours they've played : Stars, Said the Whale, Arkells, Hey Ocean, Dan Mangan, Chromeo, Dudes, New Pornographers, Hannah Georgas, etc. and only about 1 from Metric, Arcade Fire, Sam Roberts, etc. in that span.

Mix it up! I love Canadian music, but there's a reason people get sick of it.

Edit: And the very next song is by Hey Ocean... OK - I'll stop whining and give them some time.

[East Coast Flame]

Hey Ocean is getting radio play these days? That's awesome! Those guys are great. Great to see Chromeo getting some play too. One of my favourite bands.