Curate-A-Record
by Sean Carolan

A couple of weeks ago, a bit of e-mail was passed on to me by Your Diva, from a friend of a friend that had stumbled across the ALTROK Radio link and was pleasantly surprised to hear that it sounded like the FM106.3 days of old.

Can't help it - it's how I do radio.

What started out as a moment of ego gratification, however, segued rapidly into navel gazing and self-loathing. (But then again, what doesn't?) What had I done that was worthy of such praise? I struck a nerve, apparently, and one I'd hope to strike again, but how, and with what? And would it be possible to have it in a convenient hip flask? Supersized?

I retraced my steps, but couldn't come up with a story better than, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." The segues were all near-perfect, since I do all the editing in non-linear fashion now, making it unlikely I'll ever audibly start a record at the wrong speed (like those aforementioned good ol' days.) The sequencing itself was almost entirely accidental - apparently, WinAMP's "shuffle" button is the free-form DJ's best friend.

Still, I suppose, all those songs are there 'cause I put 'em there, and I didn't let the random sort do all the work - I rearranged songs that just didn't fit, and tried to get something new into each set (or at least then-new; the most recent update of the stream was last July.) I suppose there is some aspect of it that could be categorized as "my contribution". Maybe that's all you need to do - find good music, point other people to it.

In essence, that's what I do, when I mix together a disc or a tape. I'm just a curator, and the music is just another exhibit.

Please keep your conversations to a respectful level as we pass the Clash diorama.

©2002 Sean Carolan