The Heart

Very soft music with sappy, lovie-dovie lyrics, that just about sums up the Heart. It's not my cup of tea.

The Heart, Love Songs, XM 23
My previous experience with channel: little to none.

Heard on The Heart:
"Power of Love", Jennifer Rush; "Time in a Bottle", Jim Croce; "Practice What You Preach", Barry White; "Next Time I Fall in Love", Peter Cetera; "Answer in the Sky", Elton John; "Biggest Part of", Ambrosia; "All Out of Love", Air Supply; "I've Got Love", Natalie Cole; "So Much in Love", All-4-One; "Baby, Come to Me", Patti Austin; "You", Neil Sedaks; "Got to Be There", Jackson 5; "She's Got A Way", Billy Joel; "One Sweet Day", Boyz II Men; "White Flag", Dido; "Wind Beneath My Wings", Bette Midler; "Three Times A Lady", the Commodores; "Giving You the Best", Anita Baker; "Heaven Help Me", Deon Estus & G.M.; "The First Time Ever", Roberta Flack; "Your Love is Kind", Sade; "Just When I Needed You Most", Randy Vanwarmer; "Adia", Sarah McLachlan.

Time spent listening: a little over an hour.

Tomorrow:
No channels are scheduled for Sundays. I will review the past week and look forward to next week. Also Sunday Spot Light.

On Broadway

Simply put, On Broadway plays show tunes. If you like show tunes, then it's a safe bet that you'll like this channel. However it's not for me. The music is too light and inconsequential to be interesting. Additionally it's not a good background channel since every so often in a song there's a thunderclap of noise that's very distracting.

On Broadway, Show Tunes, XM 28
My previous experience with channel: I've never really listen to this channel.

Heard on On Broadway:
"Prelude", Apple Tree; "In My Own Little", Cinderella; "Boom-boom", Little Me; "Me and My Baby", Chicago; "It's a Pig", By Jeeves; "You Don't Know Paris", 50 Million French; "Your Just in L", Call Me Madam; "The Big Time", Will Rogers Follies; "I Wonder How It", Henry Sweet Henry; "Overture", Fine and Dandy; "There Is Life Out There", Avenue Q; "That was Nearly", By Jeeves; "We're in the Money", Ginger Rogers; "Muquin", Thoroughly Modern Millie; Interview: Sam Wolfson and Bryan Fogal.

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: The Heart, Love Songs, XM 23

Fine Tuning

Fine Tuning plays a wide variety music regardless of genre. It plays classical, jazz and rock, just to name some of the music that can be heard on the channel. So how does this differ from Hear Music? Hear music plays sets of music from a genre while Fine Tuning seems to vary more from song to song. Also Fine Tuning's playlist is bigger, at least for now (HM is still very new). Consequentially I hear more repeats on Hear Music than on Fine Tuning. Hopefully Hear Music's playlist will broaden as time goes by. If you like a lot of different types of music then give Fine Tuning a listen.

Fine Tuning, Eclectic, XM 76
My previous experience with channel: it's a former pre-set - replaced with Hear Music (XM 75), now I just channel up for Fine Tuning.

Heard on Fine Tuning:
"An Fharraige", Maire Brennan; "Symphony No. 40" (one movement of), Mozart; "Morning Glory", Blood Sweat and Tears; "Twilight", Vangelis; "Ronell's Reel", Kathryn Tickell; "Canyon Song", Oregon; "Little Wing", Jimi Hendrix; "Revelation", Iona; "Presence of the Lord", String Quartet; "Darling Be Home", Lovin' Spoonful; "Chinatown", Joe Jackson; "Simplify", Sarah Ban Breath.

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: On Broadway, Show Tunes, XM 28

Fred

I see Fred people. I hear Television.

Fred has been one of my favorite XM channels ever since I got XM almost two years ago. Fred plays the history of alternative music (as the channel promos remind us). It is essentially the alternative equivalent of Deep Tracks. You won't hear the 'hits' so much as other songs by recording artists. For instance today I heard "Down in the Park" by Gary Newman and not his hit "Cars". You'll also hear groups that never really had a hit, like Television (a group I like a lot), but influenced later musicians.

If you like any of the other alternative channels on XM then be sure to check out my friend Fred.

Fred, Deep Classic Alternative, XM 44
My previous experience with channel: it's one of my very favorite XM channels.

Heard on Fred:
"Hello Sandy Allen", Split Enz; "King of Emotion", Big Country; "Big Shot", English Beat; "Jealous of Youth", The The; "All I Need Is Everything", Aztec Camera; "Caution", Chameleons UK; "Down in the Park", Gary Newman; "I Want to Touch", Catherine Wheel; "Peek-A-Boo", Siouxsie and the Banshees; "Prove It", Television; "Is She Wierd", the Pixies; "88 Line About", the Nails; "All Day", Ministry; "

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: Fine Tuning, Eclectic, XM 76

The Groove

Grooovy man! Can you dig it? I knew that you could. What cat wouldn't be hip to this channel? OK, every channel isn't for everyone, but most people should like the old R&B songs that are played on the Grove. The songs, especially the rhythmic hooks, are real catchy.

Try it out if you haven't already.

The Groove, Old School R&B, XM 64
My previous experience with channel: I very seldom listen to it.

Heard on The Grove:
"A Lover's Holiday", Change; "He's Friend of Mine", Eddie Kendricks; "Running Away", Maze W/ Frankie B; "Master Blaster", Stevie Wonder; "Nothin' You Can Do", Average White Band; "Back to Life", Soul II Soul; "Night (Feel Like Getting Down)", Billy Ocean; "Computer Love", Zapp; "Fantasy", Earth Wind and Fire; "Upside Down", Diana Ross; "Ghetto Child", Spinners; "A Lonely Man", Chi-Lites; "She's Strange", Cameo; "This House", Tracie Spencer; "Affection", Lisa Stansfield; "Keep On Loving Me", Whispers; "Fencewalk", Mandrill; "Le Freak", Chic.

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: Fred, Deep Classic Alternative, XM 44

Highway 16

Highway 16 (Top Country Hits) is very similar to Nashville (XM 11, 90's and Today's Country). I guess the difference is Highway 16 sticks to the current hits while Nashville mixes in some hits from the 1990's along with today's country. This subtle difference is lost on me. They both sound like pop channels to me, albeit with country trim to set it apart from the usual top forty pop. This channel is very bland and boring to me.

Highway 16, Top Country Hits
My previous experience with channel: very little. I tuned in to see what it was like when the channel launched, but I haven't listened since.

Heard on Highway 16:
"Don't Break My Heart Again", Pat Green; "Suds in the Bucket",Sara Evans; "Dixie Rose Delux", Trent Willmon; "Some Days You Go", Dixie Chicks; "Feels Like Today", Rascal Flats; "Bless the Broken", Rascal Flatts; "Where You Are", Rascal Flatts; "Then I Did", Rascal Flatts; "Break Away", Rascal Flatts; "When the Sand Runs Out", Rascal Flatts; "The Day Before You", Rascal Flatts; "Holes", Rascal Flatts; "Skin", Rascal Flatts; "Oklahoma Texas Line", Rascal Flatts.

Note: at 6:00 pm ET, I ran into a show called Short Cuts that featured Rascal Flatts. The show was your basic interview/song type program. The DJ interviewed the band in between playing cuts from their new CD.

Time spent listening: about an hour.

Tomorrow: The Groove, Old School R&B

Reflection and Projection

This past week was an interesting one for me. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked Aguila (Mexican music), and Hear Music (The Voice of Music at Starbucks) is a nice addition to XM's channel line-up. Hear Music needs a deeper playlist (Elvis Costello and Ray Charles are played a lot), but hopefully it will deepen as the new channel evolves.

I rate the week's channels this way:
1. The Joint
2. Bluesville
3. Vox
4. Hear Music
5. Bluegrass Junction
6. Aguila

Channels next week:
Mon. Highway 16, Top Country Hits
Tue. The Groove, Old School R&B
Wed. Fred, Deep Classic Alternative
Thu. Fine Tuning, Eclectic
Fri. On Broadway, Show Tunes
Sat, The Heart, Love Songs

I'm not a real big country or rap fan, but I can handle these two channels. Fred is one of my most frequently listened to channels and Fine Tuning is a pre-set. I've never listened to On Broadway or The Heart for very long, so it will be nice to check them out.

Sunday Spotlight

XM Comedy (XM 150)
When you want to have a few laughs tune into XM Comedy. You'll hear some very funny people, such as Lewis Black, Ron White, George Carlin and Brian Regen. There is a comedy show Friday nights at 10:00 pm ET that features a comedian. It's usually either a recored stand-up performance or an interview interspersed with recorded bits. Note: this is an XL channel (extreme language), so you will occasionally hear a naughty word or two.