Mar 06 2005
Mud Radio Has Fans (Not Just Me)
Playing in the Mud with Phillip:
My usual destination is Whole Wheat Radio, but I knew that another regular listener, Phillip, had been toying with his own broadcast recently, so I decided to tune into Mud Radio and see what was happening.
When Phillip noticed that a couple of people are listening, he would come on and say hello. There didn’t really seem to be any real concern to make the listeners happy, though there was no impetus — there aren’t yet any interactive features at Mud like the chat or requests at WWR. Who knows if there ever will be. It’s just a guy sitting at his computer in an apartment in Canada.
To me though, it worked as a nice compliment to WWR as an evening alternative where somebody else makes all of the content decisions, and I didn’t feel guilty for not jumping on the chat page and interacting.
So Phillip, thanks for coming over to my place, bringing your guitar, and hanging out for a while. Keep up the good work. I don’t know where you are headed with this, but whether you are looking to keep it small and intimate, create a moderate community as Jim has, or amass a following, you are on the right track.
When Phillip noticed that a couple of people are listening, he would come on and say hello. There didn’t really seem to be any real concern to make the listeners happy, though there was no impetus — there aren’t yet any interactive features at Mud like the chat or requests at WWR. Who knows if there ever will be. It’s just a guy sitting at his computer in an apartment in Canada.
To me though, it worked as a nice compliment to WWR as an evening alternative where somebody else makes all of the content decisions, and I didn’t feel guilty for not jumping on the chat page and interacting.
So Phillip, thanks for coming over to my place, bringing your guitar, and hanging out for a while. Keep up the good work. I don’t know where you are headed with this, but whether you are looking to keep it small and intimate, create a moderate community as Jim has, or amass a following, you are on the right track.
An amusing account of what it’s like listening to Phillip’s new hobby: Mud Radio. I’m flattered and I have little to do with it!
[SCROLL DOWN FOR LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT.]
I was reading this entry from Jim’s WWR blog when I noticed Sol had left a comment. So I clicked the “Sol” link and stumble upon his blog entry about Mud Radio. I had a great time reading it, not just because it’s about me — it is a well-written and well-told story. I recommend it just for that. It’s a good read. Well done, Sol. And thanks.
P.S., I love the design of your blog. Looks great.
Mud Radio - March 8: After the WWR rant, I’ll be playing random tracks from all the new (and old) Greg Brown, David Francey, and Danny Schmidt in my library. As usual, I’ll probably get behind the mic sometime after supper or before I go to bed.
7:10pm — I swear to god, I accidentally played the beginning of the Jeffrey Foucault “best of” sample file (vol. 1) from WWR, and although I could stop it and start playing something else, my girlfriend Jenny is using our main PC right now (I’m on the laptop) and I don’t want to get in the way of her work. So I’m just letting the Jeff Foucault play, and if Jim doesn’t like that idea, well, I guess I’ll find out. I haven’t checked my stats, but I’m guessing I only have listener at the moment now, anyway, probably Sol… The other thing is, Jenny’s doing some online research, visiting sites that might play funny sounds — and she writes using the MS Word paperclip help buddy who makes all kinds of bells and whistle noises and stuff. So…. if anyone is listening, you might hear some of those sounds bleed into the webcast.
Another thing: I think Mud Radio may be heading down the drain, by which I mean, unless I get a LOT more music in my library, there won’t be much point in continuing to webcast. (Allowing listeners to request songs may be essnetial, too, but I have NO CLUE how to implement something like that.) Anyway, I may ask for MP3 donations… thinking about that one.
7:25pm — While Jenny was away from the computer for a few minutes, I jumped in and added “part 2″ of Jeff Foucault to the playlist. It’ll play right after part 1.
8:52pm — The show’s over, and it was a good show. Sorry I can’t get behind the mic, but Jenny’s working pretty intensely on the computer, and I don’t want to interrupt her. I went in for a second when I noticed (from my laptop) that the concert was playing again, and I started up another playlist (which probably annoyed her). So right now ANYTHING in the non-RIAA library could play, reggae, classical, pop, whatever. I have no control over what happens next.
March 9 - 5:oopm — I’m playing a combination of my favourite non-RIAA and RIAA recordings.
Mud Radio is awesome. Keep it up! It will be nice if you ever decide to add a chat. There is this need for communication that happens when there is a voice talking to you!
I love having a place to come if WWR is down or just playing crap. Thanks
Mud Radio - March 10th (11:00am) — Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash from an unreleased 1969 CBS Studios session in Nashville, TN, plus three songs with Bob Dylan taken from the Johnny Cash Show.
1 - One Too Many Mornings
2 - One Too Many Mornings #2
3 - Good Ol’ Mountain Dew
4 - I Still Miss Someone
5 - Careless Love
6 - Matchbox
7 - That’s Alright Mama
8 - Big River
9 - Girl Of The North Country
10 - I Walk The Line
11 - You Are My Sunshine
12 - Ring Of Fire
13 - Guess Things Happen That Way
14 - Just A Closer Walk With Thee
15 - Blues Yodel #1
16 - Blues Yodel #2
From the Johnny Cash Show:
17 - I Threw It All Away
18 - Living The Blues
19 - Girl Of The North Country
The sound quality (at least on my end) is excellent. I’ll be playing this stuff ad nausem all day — until I tune into Whole Wheat Radio around 4:00pm.
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash fans are going to love this. I’ve been listening for the past 45mins, and it’s great fun. Dylan sounds like a cartoon character, but somehow it works. And Johnny Cash has such a dominating presence. I gotta go out for awhile, but seeing how I’ll be repeating the playlist about 5 times today before I tune into WWR, I’ll have a chance to hear the rest of it. I’ll post the link where I downloaded it later for those interested in obtaining a high-quality version of it (it doesn’t sound nearly as a good through my low-quality stream).
Update (12:45pm): Here’s where I downloaded the good-quality Dylan and Cash MP3s:
http://djmonstermo.blogspot.co.....-cash.html
1:15pm — The stream is down for about an hour while I do some audio work, but I’ll turn it back on later and play the Cash and Dylan stuff again… until I tune in to Whole Wheat Radio. At one point 5 people tuned into the stream, which it a lot more than I usually get during the day (the number of listeners during the day usually hovers around zero).
2:10pm — The stream is back up.
3:15pm — The Mud Radio page now has a “chat box.” It’s garbage, but it’s what we’re using while working on the REAL chat page.
6:00pm — More people are tuning in to the Dylan and Cash than my “normal programming,” so what the hell, I’ll let it play all night… over and over again. I won’t be listening myself because I’m working on my thesis, but I may turn on the mic just before the playlist begins to repeat.
8:30pm — Alright, that’s it for the Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan stuff. It’ll be selections from my favourites list for the rest of the night, both RIAA and non-RIAA. (Now watch my listenership go down to zero.) But it was fun. If I find any more recordings like this, I’ll play them all day long like I did with this one today. Seems to work out alright.
Friday, March 11 — Sometime this weekend, the Mud Radio page will be completely redesigned to look very much like this rough outline. As for today’s webcast, I probably won’t be turning it on until 4:00pm (Atlantic time) — but you never know.
10:30am — I’m going out for a coffee, then some grocery shoppy. While I’m gone, I’m sticking the microphone out my apartment window. So if you tune in, you’ll hear the sounds of the city outside my window. (It’s kind of quiet now.)
1:35pm — Hey, I have 1 listener who’s been listening to the sound outside my window for the past 15 minutes! (Is that you, Mr. Dick?) Anyway, I just switched it over to “Phillip’s Favourites,” both RIAA and non-RIAA recordings.
2:25pm — Stream is down. Doing some audio work. I’ll turn it back on in an hour or so.
#$%?* Johnny Cash I had to change my name…parents calling me Sue….bastards…….
Go to the Mud Radio page for latest annoucements.
A couple hundred new songs just added to the Mud Radio library, not including about 200 new classical music tracks for those quiet Sunday mornings. Also added an FTP site for anyone who wants to add their own MP3s to the library. Major renovations taking place. Will write up a new post once they’re all done.
Happy Hardcore techno, here you come!