Internet radio is amazing, not least of all because it’s possible to find a station that caters to almost any taste.
No longer are you stuck listening to the dozen or twenty alternatives on your local AM/FM bands. Now you can tune in the whole world right from your computer — or on one of the increasingly popular wi-fi radio devices.
The listening possibilities opened up by Internet radio would be astounding even if you were limited to the regular, over-the-air stations that happen to provide an audio stream as well. But for something really different, you have to look to the Internet-only radio stations.
With perhaps 50,000 Internet radio stations on line now — an up-to-date, accurate count is probably impossible to come by — here are the 5 that I consider the strangest of the ones I’ve sampled. Just do a web search on the name if there’s one you think you’d like to listen to:
- 12 Step Radio – Plays songs about drinking and the havoc alcohol can play with people’s lives, with an emphasis on “recovery songs” to encourage people to stay sober.
- Radio Didgeridoo – All didgeridoo music, all the time; apparently there’s a craze for this native Australian instrument in Poland, of all places, which is where the station originates.
- Nirvana Radio – Streams sounds that are supposed to help you meditate; the “best vibrations in the world” according to the station’s web site.
- Birdsong Radio – You guessed it: Non-stop bird recordings, for ornithologists and those who find that sort of thing relaxing rather than annoying.
- ATOS Theatre Organ Radio – Recordings of music played on those big old pipe organs that sometimes accompanied showings of silent films; definitely an acquired taste (ATOS stands for the American Theatre Organ Society).