Strombo on CBC Radio 2

For as long as I can remember in Canada, CBC Radio 2 was a rather dull FM signal that seemed to appeal to 65 year old men that loved the "classics". A sort of snobbish high brow FM outlet that took tax dollars and played dead European classic musicians to folks with salaries high enough to afford satellite radio or a good internet stream (or CD's). The only time it was anything close to interesting was later at night with shows like Brave New Waves & the short lived Radiosonic (now the URL for a semi bland alternative rock station in Edmonton)

About a year ago someone woke up at the CBC and I guess they decided it might be a good idea to take a national broadcaster and have it actually represent Canada. Far less of those dead European composers & far more of PEI's Two Hours Traffic and Great Lake Swimmers. The station put legendary broadcaster Bob Mackowycz in AM drive and Halifax college radio guy Rich Terfrey in PM drive (Rich is also known as Buck 65).

Recently the CBC acquired the services of Strombo and gave him 4 hours of radio on Sunday nights. Prior to that Strombo had a show on the Corus radio network..a radio network best known for pushing pablum rock to the masses under the guise of being cool. Things happened (which I'm not going to get into) and Strombo ended up on CBC where he also has a TV program called the Hour.

I watch the Hour on occasion, usually on Podcast in iTunes. I'm not an overly big fan of Strombo on TV, sometimes he seems a bit "too cool for school" though I find that's changing as he ages. He does have some interesting guests on the show and I've seen him piss off a few people with some less than polite questions.

I must say I'm absolutely impressed with Strombo on CBC Radio 2. On the radio, he's definitely at his best when he's conversing with someone & as a stand alone broadcaster he's pretty listenable. He comes across much different on radio than TV and I have to say it's for the better. Maybe it's the lack of those red chairs ?

But where Strombo shines is that unlike most of his "indie rock" brethren he understands that music extends beyond the realm of that hippie, granola, left-wing indie rock sound. I'm a huge fan of indie music, but I find far too many people involved in that sound as as narrow and formatted as what you'd hear on a Top 40 station. Radio that plays that music always seems to stay within the narrow confines of the latest greatest "granola eating left wing singer songwriter" sound. Strombo (and the rest of Radio 2) embrace music outside the tight confines of that "indie music" box. You're as likely to hear Cuban influence rhythms on Radio 2 as you are to hear Feist.

The Strombo Show, 8 PM, Sunday nights on 102.1 FM in Calgary. It's a good way to spend Sunday evening.