Ick’s Radio Daze: SiriusXM’s The Loft

Station: The Loft (Sirius Ch. 29)
Format: Contemporary Eclectic
Type: Satellite (SiriusXM)
Slogan: Singers, Songwriters, and Beyond
Date / Time: Feb. 9th, 2010 / 8:30-9:30pm MST
Commercials: 0
Hot Chick on Home Page of Web Site? Nope. ‘Tis all about the music. When the closest thing to a hot chick is Rosanne Cash, you know it’s all about the music.
DJ: Franny Thomas
Favorite Song: “You Took My Breath Away” – Traveling Wilburys

Least Favorite Song: Ain’t pickin’ one – warn’t a bad song in the bunch.

Song List:

The Swell Season – “Two Tongues”
Radiohead – “Fake Plastic Trees” (acoustic)
King Crimson – “Cadence and Cascade”
Tom Waits – “Way Down In The Hole” (live)
The Duhks – “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard – “California Zephyr”
Led Zeppelin – “Going to California” (live)
David Vandervelde – “California Breezes”
Traveling Wilburys – “You Took My Breath Away”
John Hiatt – “Feels Like Rain”
Lyle Lovett – “Natural Forces”
Allison Moorer – “The Broken Girl”
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “Fix It”
The Devlins – “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart”
The Waterboys – “I Will Not Follow”

Comments: We’re a few weeks into this column, and it’s high time I treated myself. So this week, I chose my very favorite radio station at the moment: Sirius-XM’s The Loft. It’s channel 29 on my Sirius dial, and it constantly and consistently delivers amazing music to these ears.

It’s one place I can rely on hearing some of my favorite artists and tunes, while introducing me to fresh, new music. And “new” can mean a tune that’s been out for years and years.

Case in point this hour: King Crimson’s “Cadence and Cascade”, a great song that’s as old as I am (1970), from King Crimson’s second album, In The Wake Of Poseidon – and a song that I don’t recall ever hearing. I’ll quote “roflcopter100ify”, the most recent commenter on the YouTube page: “It’s beautiful. I have no idea what it means.” It may sound like an early Spinal Tap outtake (along with “Listen to the Flower People”), but hey, it relaxes me. The flute reminds me of 70’s Bruce Cockburn too, another thing I find relaxing.

The hour had a handful of other tunes I’d never heard: most notably “Two Tongues” by the Swell Season, and “California Breezes” by David Vandervelde. I’ll be tracking these down.

And what a playlist this hour… The Wilburys’ “You Took My Breath Away”, one of my favorite Tom Petty-sung tunes ever; Hiatt’s version of “Feels Like Rain” (bliss); killer live versions of “Going to California” and “Way Down In The Hole”; an acoustic “Fake Plastic Trees”; brand new ones from Allison Moorer and Lyle Lovett, Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard. And to wrap up the hour? The friggin’ Waterboys!!

There wasn’t a single moment in the hour that I ever felt let down or even slightly disappointed in the music selection. Clearly they’ve tapped into their demographic with me. I mean, this is a radio station that makes me excited about music, past & present. Is there a single terrestrial radio station in the land that can geek me out as much as The Loft? Nope.

Adding to the appeal is the benefit of satellite radio: no commercials on their music stations. Hearing an hour of music interrupted only a couple of times by a pleasant DJ (Franny Thomas) who’s as relaxed and into the music as I am – dang it, it’s just a treat.

I feel good. Refreshed. Thanks Loft.

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