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Flawed favorites
We love: WNUR
At 7,200 watts (that’s more than WXRT, Q101 and 97.9-FM the Loop), Northwestern’s WNUR uses one of the most powerful transmitters of any university in the nation. We love the crisp, clear signal, and the school is a farm for media personalities, but most of the skronk the DJs play sounds like a toddler beating a guitar against an electrical transformer. Do the playlists on 89.3-FM have to be so willfully difficult? We’re not looking for middle-of-the-road, just some middle ground. Commercial radio plays such a slick, slim selection, there’s plenty of accessible music left for the underground. A good start would be spinning records from the CMJ charts—an industry poll of collegiate playlists. Station manager Doug Kaplan disagrees. “Everything in the CMJ top 50 is getting a good amount of press already,” he says. “We showcase an American roots block and much more. We are really trying to broadcast all kinds of underrepresented music.” True, but the awkward silences and rookie miscues of student DJs would be more endearing in between songs that make you snap your fingers.
In the meantime Listen to Loyola’s WLUW (88.7-FM) for some slightly less obscure tunes—if you can find its measly 100 watts on the dial.Jam Productions | Pitchfork | Reckless Records | Greenhouse Theater Center | Empty Bottle | Lakeshore Theater | Ald. Joe Moore | West Loop gallery district | Boystown bars | Museum campus | Funky Buddha Lounge | State Street shopping | Chicago weather | Goodman Theatre | Sonotheque | Chicago Marathon | Intelligentsia coffee | Frontera Grill's brunch | Kuma's burgers | Five Guys burgers | The Whistler's cocktails | Spa Week | Chicago Park District programs | Andersonville | WNUR | Facets Cinematheque | AMC River East 21 | Printers Row Lit Fest
Time Out Chicago / Issue 245 : Nov 5–11, 2009
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Curses upon you. I curse you.
All press is good press and all, but I cannot help but feel as if the author of this article is gloriously misrepresenting the programming of WNUR 89.3 FM. Has he even listened to shows like: Blues, Streetbeat, Continental Drift, Jazz, This Is Hell, NU Radio Drama? WNUR represents far more than music you could call "skronk" -- it's about listening without boundaries, exploring all there is to be explored, reaching back in history for the classics and playing the best new music you haven't heard.
If you've listened in the last, oh, 5 years, you'd know that WNUR has one of the hugest selections of genres possible--where else can you hear Tropicalia, 1960s garage rock, radio drama, and experimental jazz all on one station? Students get a chance to learn all about working a radio station and the public benefits from diverse programming.
The weird ass shit on NUR is the reason why I listen to it! I love that WNUR isn't tied to CMJ's lists the way so many other college stations are. There's a reason WNUR has been ranked the #1 college station in the country by multiple institutions.
The benefit of LIVE, HUMAN DJs is that each show has a something different to offer. If you listen to WNUR at 2pm on a Thursday, you're bound to hear something different than at 2pm on Wednesday. You can always request songs, too. How can anyone learn anything new about art and music if they are listening to the same Shins record over and over?
"...songs that make you snap your fingers"? You sound like my dead grandmother. Do you think it's possible that many might appreciate that WNUR DJs recognize the fact that music can be appreciated as a form of art rather than an excuse for "finger snapping"?
While I'm with Doug on CMJ and PItchfork now becoming the new main feed, WNUR DJ's for the rock show don't think about the listener as much as themselves. It's kind of silly to sacrifice quality for quantity. They have so much quality in stuff you've never heard but its so spread out. I wish I could tune in and feel safe to sit and listen.
WNUR is the best!!!
for the record, wnur streetbeat--the nightly electronica/hip-hop block--plays music you can snap your fingers to... ;) http://streetbeat.wnur.org/
please leave wnur alone!!!!!!!!! listen to wluw if you want a bit more mainstream.