Internet radio is amazing, especially since it is possible to find a station that will satisfy 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 to the whole world directly from your computer, or on one of the increasingly popular wi-fi radio devices.
The listening possibilities opened up by internet radio would be amazing, even if you were limited to regular over-the-air stations that also provide an audio stream. But for something really different, you have to look at internet-only radio stations.
With perhaps 50,000 internet radio stations online now (it’s probably impossible to get an up-to-date, accurate count), here are the 5 I consider to be the weirdest I’ve tried. Just do a web search on the name if there’s one you think you’d like to hear:
- 12 Step Radio – Plays songs about drinking and the havoc alcohol can wreak on 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 from.
- Nirvana Radio – Broadcasts sounds that are supposed to help you meditate; the “best vibes in the world” according to the station’s website.
- Birdsong Radio – You guessed it: Non-stop bird recordings, for ornithologists and those who find that sort of thing relaxing rather than annoying.
- ATOS Theater Organ Radio: recordings of music played on those great old-fashioned pipe organs that sometimes accompanied silent film screenings; definitely an acquired taste (ATOS stands for American Theater Organ Society).
