WFMU - freeform radio station based in Jersey City, New Jersey (but with a broad international listenership)
Standard 128k MP3 stream:
http://wfmu.org/wfmu.pls
Special higher-quality stream (currently 256k AAC) so far not published anywhere but this Roon forum:
http://stream0.wfmu.org/freeform-best-available
WFMU is truly freeform, meaning that each show’s actual human DJ plays or does whatever he or she wants to play or do (within the limits of US broadcast obscenity rules, of course, since this is an actual radio FM radio station in addition to providing streams).
There’s so much variety that some new listeners are initially kind of befuddled - because depending on whose slot they tune in for, they could hear: 78 RPM records and Edison cylinders played on period equipment, facemelting Nordic death metal, sincere folk singers, Japanese pop, roadhouse honky-tonk, obscure 1970s pop/rock, straight-ahead rock and roll, free jazz, twelve-tone modern “classical” music, hard bop, garage rock, R&B, dance club music, 1980s-sounding jangle rock, German New Wave, Finnish Humppa… I haven’t nearly covered it all… or any of a few talk shows. WFMU is for people with hungry ears and restless minds.
Homepage: https://wfmu.org/
Show schedule: http://www.wfmu.org/table
One of the secrets to happy listenership is that once you identify your favorite DJs - people whose taste frequently aligns with your own - you can either plan to listen to their shows live, or you can listen to their shows at your convenience - because shows at WFMU are archived and playable on demand. (Play of the archives seems unlikely to be supported in the much-awaited 1.2 release of Roon, but playing the WFMU live streams is something we’ve been told is likely to work, which makes me very happy.)
Playlists and archives: http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/
If any people here want to tell me (I don’t know if that should be offlist or in another thread or here - I don’t want to monopolize this thread with an obnoxious amount of plugging) what kinds of music they like, I’ll be glad to recommend a few shows they might enjoy listening to.
WFMU alternate stream: Give the Drummer Radio - 24-hour stream which sometimes has live DJs, sometimes plays as a jukebox of its curator’s music. Backstory: beloved WFMU DJ Doug Schulkind did a WFMU-proper show called Give the Drummer Some (sometimes jazz, sometimes Cambodian or Thai or African bands, sometimes R&B; often percussion-forward, sometimes not; always stuff Doug likes and wants to share) for many years. When Doug had to relocate to Pittsburgh, arrangements were made so that he could continue to do his show on his own special stream; when there was no live show, the stream plays a jukebox of music Doug curates.
But Doug has kept adding more DJs doing live shows to his stream, until now it’s like a whole little radio station of its own - featuring live shows by DJs from all over the US and sometimes elsewhere in the world. GTDR features shows from two other long-time and cherished WFMU DJs who had to leave town (Charlie Lewis and Tony Coulter) and a roster of geographically and musically diverse other DJs Doug has managed to collect, including: Kim Sorise in Louisville Kentucky, “Uncle Michael” in Topeka, Kansas, Jesse Kaminsky somewhere in Mass, noted music blogger Gary “Bodega Pop” Sullivan from nearby Brooklyn, music and Simpsons and Monkees aficionado Amanda Nazario, visual artist and curator of very interesting music Mayuko, and more.
Oh, and Doug still does two shows a week (on Tuesdays and Fridays).
Stream URL: http://wfmu.org/wfmu_drummer.pls
Schedule: http://wfmu.org/table?period=7115
WFMU alternate stream: Ichiban Rock and Soul - 24-hour stream which sometimes has live DJs, sometimes plays as a jukebox of its curator’s music
Stream URL: http://wfmu.org/wfmu_rock.pls
Schedule: https://wfmu.org/table?period=8364
The alternate streams don’t need to conform to US broadcast obscenity rules, although they don’t usually go out of their way to be sweary.
full-disclosure note: I’m now a WFMU staff member, but I’d be recommending the station as enthusiastically if I weren’t (I was a listener, fan and volunteer for WFMU for a good decade before getting the job offer).
WBGO - good jazz station in Newark, New Jersey
AAC (looks like 64k): http://wbgo.streamguys.net:80/wbgo
128k MP3 (but with a short pre-roll announcement): http://wbgo.streamguys.net
WPRB - Princeton University student station
128k MP3: http://stardust.wavestreamer.com:2152/listen.pls?sid=1
WXPN - University of Pennsylvania station in Philadelphia
128k MP3: http://wxpnhi.streamguys.com/listen.pls
Resonance FM - London
128k MP3: http://stream.resonance.fm:8000/resonance
