ANGRYish MUSIC RANT

gouty

Hello There,
I've been listening to Phantom since i was fifteen years old (yadda yadda), right back to the heady days of
Spectrum and It was an amazing discovery for me, i was quickly introduced to the likes of
Eels, The Dandy Warhols and Pavement. For the next couple of years i, like most people i'd
imagine, did my damnest to get all my friends to listen to it too. For a good while, phantom
dictated most of my CD purchases ranging from Teenage Fanclub to Death In Vegas to Soulwax.

But, and this is quite a considerable but, I really have been genuinely disappointed by the
music played on phantom in the last couple of years. I am 21 now and have been meaning to
write this for quite a while but it is only the recent barrage of nu-rock in the last few months
that has driven me to do so! Whether or not you like them, theres a rash of great new indie bands
out at the minute and Dublins indie station isn't playing any of it. So for some one like me who made
the switch firmly from dave fanning to phantom a good few years ago, i find myself switching
back to him and tom dunne. Just so i can hear music from the likes of Simian, I Am Kloot, Pj Harvey
and Turin Brakes.

I don't think it's because my music taste has changed, i still love Eels, the Dandy Warhols and
Pavement (you guys should get the preston school of industry cd from ex-Pavement guy), but
apart from the dandy warhols, you don't seem to play any of their music. I'm not sure if its a
case of each dj bringing in their own personal cds or whether there's one person who's in charge
of buying in new cds. If indeed it is the latter then this person should be given a swift kick up
the jubblies. Phantom has lost it's sense of adventure. I'm not going to listen to your station
if i'm going to have to sit through Bush, Blink 182 and Turn when i can go to my own cd collection
and listen to Queens of The Stone Age, The Strokes and At The Drive In.

This is just my opinion. And i'm sorry if it's a little hardcore, it's just sad to see a great radio
station, in my opinion take a bit of a wrong turn. Phantasm's still great though!

all the best

Larry O Loughlin:)

SimonMaher

First of all Larry, thanks for the posting and the emails. Really is great to see someone taking the time to put a posting like that together.

Obviously though, there are a number of things I would disagree with, and this posting is on a personal level as someone who works on Phantom, rather than as a station policy statement.

Im going to deal with the points bit by bit, with Larrys comments in inverted commas:

"Whether or not you like them, theres a rash of great new indie bands out at the minute and Dublins indie station isn't playing any of it."

In fairness, thats rubbish. Give me examples of all the bands we arent playing. Listen for a day and see the bands we arent playing. Listen to Icon on a Wednesday night and listen to all the demos we arent playing. Talk to all the Dublin/Nationwide indie bands we arent playing and who's gigs we are plugging.

"So for some one like me who made the switch firmly from dave fanning to phantom a good few years ago, i find myself switching
back to him and tom dunne. Just so i can hear music from the likes of Simian, I Am Kloot, Pj Harvey
and Turin Brakes"

Absolutely we will never play every band that is in people musical tastes, although in our defense PJ Harvey and Turin Brakes are regulars on Phantom. All musical suggestions are very welcome and are generally acted upon! Do up a list of 20 bands and 20 songs that you think would sound good on Phantom and send them in.


"i still love Eels, the Dandy Warhols and Pavement (you guys should get the preston school of industry cd from ex-Pavement guy) but apart from the dandy warhols, you don't seem to play any of their music"

We have been playing the preston school of industry a great deal of late, had on air interviews, gave away CDs and tickets. Ditto Stephen Malkmus. Ditto the Eels.

"I'm not going to listen to your station if i'm going to have to sit through Bush, Blink 182 and Turn when i can go to my own cd collection and listen to Queens of The Stone Age, The Strokes and At The Drive In."

What can I tell you? Yes we will continue to play consistently popular artists like Bush, Blink 182 and Turn. These artists and many others are very popular with Phantom listeners and mixed with the new and unsigned artists we play, give us our "sense of adventure". Ref my above paragraph about Pavement by the way: Ditto The Strokes and At the Drive in.

Basically what Im saying is, Phantom is never ever going to be able to keep everyone happy all the time, and its job is to keep people happy at least some of the time, promote as many Irish artists as possible and keep Eddie Rockets and Spar in business.

Im not a particularly big fan of a lot of the "nu-rock" stuff you mention, but there is stuff that I like but wouldnt generally play because it basically just doesnt gell with what Phatnom does. All suggestions always welcome and always appreciated.

Thanks for the posting, and the emails again Larry.

Pete Reed
reed@phantomfm.com

gouty

thanks for the response pete
okay thats fair enough. i should clarify though that when i said "Whether or not you like them, theres a rash of great new indie bands out at the minute and Dublins indie station isn't playing any of it." i didn't necessarily mean irish or dublin bands. No one can deny that phantom strongly support the irish indie scene, probably more than any other station on the airwaves. Which is great. So many irish acts are indebted to phantom and rightly pay tribute to them. Thanks again for the reply
Larry