Could it be?? A real radio station in Lancaster? Wait now, let’s not forget WIXQ and WFNM, Millersville University and F&M College’s respective stations. The addition of WXPN is huge though. I’ve been a fan of XPN for years, starting when I lived a half hour east of Lancaster, and could pick up the Philly signal pretty strongly. Now that they have put an antenna in Middletown, the signal is crystal clear, and the station is better than ever. Over the past few years it seems they have made a conscious effort to reenergize the playlists. More indie rock, taking more changes, new DJ’s that are fun to listen to. This is what radio should be like. I even stopped carrying my iPod in my car for the most part.

If you’re in the Lancaster/York/Harrisburg area and you have not tuned them in yet, check out 88.7 on your FM dial. If you’re not from the area, go to xpn.org and stream it. Welcome XPN.

PS - I will renewing my membership very soon.

The latest song to be put on repeat in my collection is track #5 from Okkervil River’s latest release, The Stage Names. Plus Ones, is one of the cleverest, catchiest tunes I can recall in a while. What makes it so clever you may ask? Well, songwriter Will Sheff picks out a handful of songs over the past 40 years that have numbers in their title, adds one to the number, and weaves them together into 3 plus minutes of pleasure. Some songs referenced in the track: 96 Tears, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, 7 Chinese Brothers, 99 Luft Balloons, 8 Miles High…among others. It took me about 5 listens until I started piecing together what was actually going on. Then the songs started jumping out at me…brilliant song.

Check out the song, and the entire CD when you have a chance.

Music has always been an important part of my life since as far back as I can remember. By age 4 I was hooked on the popular music of the day: Van Halen, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran. And my parents love for Motown and rock & roll from the 60’s broadened my musical horizons. Today music is just as important to me. I stay up-to-date with what my favorite artists are doing, and also try to find new music that will get me excited with their new sounds or great lyrics. Unfortunately, FM radio has become very uninspired, and with the exception of WXPN (UPENN radio), there is no chance of me finding any new music worth exploring. Enter: Internet Radio.

I’ve been listening to internet radio since 1998-1999. I remember listening to Shoutcast and Live 365 stations while in college. And after Apple released iTunes, I started listening to the variety of stations they have in their radio section. Radio Paradise, WOXY, and KEXP make my work day go much smoother, and have also introduced me to a number of new bands. I have purchased many CDs because of these stations. Now the powers that be want to make life a lot harder on internet radio stations. A new law is set to go into effect in July that will raise royalty rates for webcasters. These rates are so high that many radio stations will not be able to continue operating. This is just another example of the record industry biting the hand that feeds it. Visit savenetradio.org for more information, and what you can do to help.