I read a review in The Guardian of NME Radio a few months ago when the station launched. the precis went something like this – ‘kinda nice, but why do you need that when you have the internet (Spotify / Hype Machine / etc)?’ My experience of the station is the exact opposite. I have an unhealthy love of music on the internet and I am also a horrendous music snob. Which should mean that I hate NME radio. But actually it’s dead good.
Avoiding the internet Vs radio debate, let’s set the scene. It is very difficult to recommend anything from UK morning radio (pirates aside). If you actually like music, commercial radio is almost unbearable (Ricky & Melvin would be aaaight were it not for the blow-your-brains-out-Soulja Boy selections, but Dr Fox? Jamie Theakston? They make me want to slice off my ears). The BBC on the other hand is obviously grrrreat in the mornings, but the shows are 100% F.U.L.L. Jammed with listeners on-air, superfluous content, endless features, trails for other nonsense, every minute sounds like it is their last. Even the occasionally charming 6 Music breakfast (NME’s closest rival) has four features an hour, a flabby music news, a cosmologist and an increasingly bizarre constellation of guests. It’s all TOO MUCH.
NME Radio obviously has no cash. Which means no big production teams, no whimsical features, no window dressing. It sounds like this is because no one is really advertising on it yet, which for the listener is an unexpected boon. The presenters are great but only really expected to deliver the essentials – you get the weather, music news headlines and tonight’s gigs (like XFM did back in the day).
There are some pretty good tunes. While they do lean a bit heavy on the lobotomizing sounds of The Enemy and Oasis, this week I heard the new Radiohead download only single, The Horrors and some Ride without interruption. While the DJ’s can be a bit hospital radio, I would rather listen to enthusiastic amateurism than oil-slick professionalism any morning of the week. And some of the talent – especially indie queen Samanthi – are actually dead good (the worst are the ones that they have nicked off other stations).
Perversely the very reason DAB is a bit pony is why NME works. I have a DAB in my kitchen; it beats my Internet radio hands down for two reasons: because it turns straight on and because it has less choice… sometimes you just want to turn a dial through a few options and pick something. NME on DAB (only in London I’m afraid) means that it is the best of a very wordy bunch. It is musical wallpaper that does the essentials really well and for that it’s my new breakfast station. Listen here.
One note. There is also an iPhone app for the station. I have absolutely no idea how they can charge 59p for this heavily branded, ad-heavy thing that essentially connects you to the internet, but I admire their balls.
