by Doug Zanger

Just for kicks, I thought that I would do 10 rounds on StumbleUpon using only the “Radio Broadcasts” topic setting. Here’s what we got (some sites have more in-depth reviews as deemed appropriate):

1) Batanga Radio by Mood. The gist of this is that you pick your mood and you get a station tailored to that mood. Since it’s raining and the end of the day, I went with “mellow.”

It was interesting. Palito Ortega, Bob Marley, Plastillna Mosh and, interestingly enough, “Clocks” from Coldplay. I don’t usually equate Coldplay with “mellow,” but it seemed to work. The next song, “Cachao, Creador Del Mambo” by Bebo Valdes wasn’t very mellow either, but it was a really good song. The mellow madness continued with Bebel Gilberto (a personal fave) and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

This is a huge Latin music site. According to their press kit, they have over 100,000 “my Batanga” members and have streamed over 4 billion songs.

Big: Easy to navigate player, really good selection, Bebel Gilberto, VW bug banners.

Medium: “Mellow” was mellow about 70% of the time but since I got to hear a Bebel Gilberto song, I’ll let it slide.

Not So Big: For some reason, the window for the site after clicking over was balky. But, that very well could have been me.

Grade: B+ for music. B+ for 4 billion streamed songs and a good media kit although it could stand to be updated.

Verdict: I’ll go back without a doubt.

2) Old Time Horror Radio. It claims “Ghosts, Monsters, Mad Scientists and More!” When you first look at the site, you can’t help but want to buy glow-in-dark fake fangs and adopt a black cat. I was almost turned off because I had to email them to get a password to get to the content but, since I had mellowed out from Batanga, I was cool with it. I settled on a quaint story called, “Devil’s Island.”

“Devil’s Island,” is the heartwarming tale of a New Englanders who live on an scary island called, well, “Devil’s Island.” I almost gave up again due to the way too long organ intro but, once it got going, it was really enjoyable. I won’t give away the ending, but the story does involve a ‘Noreaster.

Big: You’ll get sucked in instantly.

Medium: There was a “mellow” on this site too: “melodramatic.” The actors can be way over the top but, damn, this sucks you in. There’s a discussion forum that’s a little clunky but a good place to talk all things scary.

Not So Big: Site needs a huge overhaul.

Grade: B for the content. C- for the site layout and user friendliness.

Verdict: I’m kind of a wuss and don’t like scary things, but if you’re into radio dramas and like to be scared, this is the trick.

3) wwiTV. It’s a TV site. Not sure how that got there but at least I know that when I’m Jonesing for a little BN 24 International TV in Brunei, I can get my fix.

4) Lux Radio Theater. Broken or outdated links. I had “listen to ‘Wuthering Heights’” on my to-do list today. Guess I can’t cross it off. Yet.

5) Soundboard.com. (from the website) “Soundboard.com is the largest collection of audio sound bites and categorized soundboards from history to sound effects, movies to games, travel, animals, radio, science, personal sounds and more. You can listen, download tracks, embed boards on your site, blog or profile.”

So, being a former morning-show producer, this was like finding the Holy Grail and hitting the Powerball jackpot for $400 million (product placement…for Powerball, not the Grail). There’s a ton to cull through, but you can pretty much find that foul noise, cartoon sound bite or “more cowbell” and play it to your hearts content, or until the guy in the cube next to you throws a pen at you.

Big: The audio equivalent of Baseball-Reference.com. You can literally waste hours on this thing. Plus, you can build your own soundboard and put it on your blog or website. WBCN/Boston has a board that has been visited close to 308,000 times.

Medium: It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but the search is pretty darn good.

Not So Big: It could have a high “annoying” quotient if overused in a common area. Like an office.

Grade: A for content. B+ for usability.

Verdict: I’ll be back when I find out that someone has published a Sha-Na-Na board.

6) Clear Channel Music - HD Radio. I can only assume that this isn’t Clear Channel’s main HD Radio effort since it is really basic and not terribly content-rich (since this is a StumbleUpon story, I decided not to research, just stumble). Nonetheless, I listened to KKRZ/Portland’s Indie Rock HD station for a bit. Good music, but I didn’t know who the artists were since there was no data or other information. Again, in all fairness,I think this may be a site that I literally just stumbled on that may not necessarily be the front face of CCs HD Radio marketing.

7) Dwyer & Michaels - Die Laughing Morning Show Fax. I don’t know what this was, but I read it, was sad and felt like this:

Sneaky TV. TV. Not radio. Sorry. Plus, that flash opening is among the more annoying I have seen.

9) Old Radio World. Now THIS is a radio site. Old-school comedy, drama, mystery, sci-fi, western, detective, music and the ever popular “Miscellaneous.” On a lark, I clicked on “Miscellaneous” and what should I have found? VINTAGE RADIO COMMERCIALS! Choo-Choo Charlie, Alka-Seltzer, Pontiac, Old Spice and a bunch of others.

Big: The motherlode for vintage radio drama, theater and the like. Very easy to get around and a decent amount of content. Plus, since they have “The Shadow” on there, I’ll be able to keep up with my mom and Aunt Marcia when they talk about it at the next ham salad family gathering.

Medium: Would LOVE to see a good community component to the site. Maybe some flash players, too. A very moderate cosmetic freshen up could be in order.

Not So Big: I’d like to see some new content developed to see if today’s radio/audio actors have that same je ne sais quoi. Also might want to consider a name change. “Old Radio World” seems a little less than Centrum-Silver-ish.

Grade: A for content. B+ for usability. B for the player thing.

Verdict: You’re kidding, right? I’ve already bookmarked it and am trying to track down the people responsible so we can interview them.

10) Shortwave Broadcasts. I think that was the name of the site.

I first tried to listen to live stream from Cuba. That didn’t work out so well. In fact, it was eerie how quickly the error message popped up. I can only assume that trying to access a website with a dot “cu” on it is verboeten. Undeterred, I gave Iran a shot. I couldn’t find the streaming button, but I did notice that the weather in Tehran will be 24 degrees centigrade with 14% humidity today. It’s like Arizona, but not even close.

Let me know if you StumbleUpon some radio sites. Send them over, it’ll be a gas.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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