The Production Side

I stumbled across this channel a couple of months ago and was very excited at what I heard. It’s still a new channel, but I’m hooked. Lithium plays all 90’s alternative music from the heavy hitters, like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, STP, RHCP, Radiohead, etc., to some of the forgotten bands, such as Silverchair, The Toadies, The Butthole Surfers, Cake, The Verve, etc. Here’s what I love about this channel, and Sirius as well.

1. Diversity. Lithium plays every sort of “alternative” music from the 90’s, they could play Soundgarden followed by 311, then Denis Leary’s “Asshole” and then “God” from Tori Amos.

2. Better song selections then FM radio. Unlike regular radio stations that must entertain the mainstream with familiar songs, Sirius stations can mix it up. Sure, they’ll still play “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam, but they’ll also play Pearl Jam’s studio version of the Victoria Williams song “Crazy Mary”. Basically, Sirius mixes the hits with the lesser known to keep casual and die hard fans happy.

3. No Commercials. I hate listening to ads on the radio, with Sirius, there are no commercials, it’s just music 24/7. Which makes sense since you are already paying for the service.

4. Similar channels available. Unlike FM radio that is shutting down some alternative stations, Sirius has several channels to chose from that fit your musical taste. Fans of Lithium, may also enjoy the other Alternative channels such as Alt Nation, First Wave, Underground Garage and Left of Center (a college, indie station).

Of course with the good comes the bad, here’s what I don’t care for.

1. No local identity. The local radio stations have one huge perk and that’s keeping listeners informed of regional news and events and adding that local flare that makes each city unique.

2. No personalities. Lithium does not have any dj’s, sometimes a person just needs some sort of human contact.

3. Some bad band selections. For all of the great music that Lithium plays, they manage to throw in some stinkers, such as Creed, Godsmack and Blink 182. I thought it was a law that Creed was banned from all airwaves, I guess I was wrong.

I know this may have seemed like a shameless, corporate plug, but fans of the 90’s should give this channel a listen. Also, you don’t need to buy a satellite radio to get Sirius, you can get Sirius Internet Radio for a monthly fee and Dish Network subscribers can get Sirius in certain packages.

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