So I'm listening to the new WNRN compilation CD, Station Break, y'know, and I'm, like... writing in the style that Matthew Farrell did for the liner notes, o.k.? And, like... uh, I'm like... feeling kinda bad because I know Farrell can actually write and stuff and this is, um,... really kinda banal, (but still better than much of that pesky Cripsy Duck's work) but then again, we are talking NRN here, and well, bubblegum comes in many flavors... I suppose, and NRN is a different flavor, uh... y'know?

OK. Go get the WNRN compilation, it's a fantastic sampler of a number of local acts of little repute, some cool live tracks from a few acts you probably know well, and a healthy dose of the established C-Ville regulars roster, and it's only $12.99 (or something) for two CDs. I mean go get it now. It's tré bitchen, and even though I had nothing to do with it: I'm kind of proud.

But as long as we're talking about WNRN here, I just gotta ask: what's up with that radio station? Like a good politician, it promised to save local radio from the blahs and instead delivers a daily playlist of national alternative bubblegum cheese-- the toppermost of the poppermost! Blech. I'm sorry, but that in no way replaces tunes chosen by DJs who actually want to hear them. (I cough into my hand to mask the sound of a blurted "WTJU!") Even if the jockey's taste doesn't sit well with you, you can still respect what's happening.

But that's only the half of it. You call that "non-commercial?" I find five minutes of poorly read sponsor carts way more annoying than real commercials. Is that long-winded capitalistic hiney shining really legally not-for-profit? Am I banned from the studios yet?

Well, enough of my rabid nitpicking, I really like the CD. Station Break has some of the best tunes put out in the last year(-ish) by local artists mixed in with live tracks from the infamous DMB and Ani DiFranco (can't get her out of Higher Grounds?!), some totally bonus oddities like a killer space-jazz track from Cosmology's 1984 album, all kinds of groovy moods from names you've heard and a bunch of little known stuff like Chris Keup and Charming and Lisa Van Fossen and the Dumm-Dumms (covering "Video Killed the Radio Star," no less).

Rabid nitpicking returns: Somebody failed to put track numbers on the CD packaging: BAD mistake. When some joker like me wants to know who is playing what track, it sucks to have to actually count down the names. You should know, you're a radio station: that info is useful. Duh.

Oh yeah, the secretest, most bonus thing about the CD has got to be the picture of Hogwaller Ramblers' Jamie Dyer in the arms of Bella Morte's Andy Dean. You don't see that every day. Thank God.

Like, I mean, really....

--Cripsy Duck ........................................................................................... up