The Latest from Radio Free Cruze

  Okay, so here's the deal...we are working on a very cool RADIO FREE CRUZE application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which will allow a one-click listening experience.  Once we get it through development, it will be available free to everyone.  That said, you know how deveolpment can be...it will still be a while before the app is done, approved by Apple, and ready to go.

  In the meantime, though, there's a really cool app we've discovered that will let you listen RIGHT NOW,   And it will only set you back six bucks!

  The application is called WUNDER RADIO, and you can get it HERE in iTunes, or just go to the App Store via your iPhone and search WUNDER RADIO. 

  Once you buy the app on your phone or iPod Touch, or buy in in iTunes and then synch your portable, it's pretty eash from there.  Here's what you do:

• Launch the application,
• Click on the "Stations" button in the lower left hand corner. 
• Type "RADIO FREE CRUZE" into the search bar and we will come up.  (Yes, that's us--the one that says "Radio Free Cruze, Emeryville, CA."  We're not located there, but that's where our server is, so I guess WUNDER RADIO thinks that's where we are.)
• Simply click on our name to launch the station. 
• Once it's playing, click the "+" button on the top bar to add us to your favorites, and then we'll be there every time you open the app without having to search again.

  The WUNDER RADIO app (which was developed by the Weather Underground website (yes, the weather guys) is really good...the sound quality is better than some other apps I've heard, and I really like its ease of use.  If you don't feel like waiting for the free app, this one is definitely worth the six dollars. 

--Cruze, RFC

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Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Be sure to join us all day Thursday, March 19 on RADIO FREE CRUZE as we spotlight The FOO FIGHTERS!

  We'll be playing a lot of cool tracks from the FOO FIGHTERS all day for FEATURE ARTIST THURSDAY...their big hits, as well as deeper tracks, B-sides, and even some live cuts all worked into our normal mix of New Rock, Indie, and Alternative!

  The FOOS will have a new album later this year, so we'll whet your appetite for that just a little with some of the best of their tracks (including a cool cover of ARCADE FIRE'S Keep The Car Running where Dave "improvises" (ie, messes up) some of the lyrics.  It's quite cool, actually!

  Be sure to listen Thursday 3/19, and help us spread the word!

  Thanks again for listening...

--Cruze, RFC

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Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

  Okay, maybe I'm overreacting.

  But that said, I've seen plenty of shows in my concert-going lifetime.  Some good, some REALLY GOOD, a few GREAT, and some just ok.  I remember seeing SMASHING PUMPKINS in Chicago before SIAMESE DREAM came out and they blew my mind.  I came out of that show knowing in my soul that this was going to be a really important band, and certainly they became that.  (I also saw them in Houston in 1997 and they bored me to tears, but that's another story.)

  Anyway...I had that feeling again.  Last night.  At the BLACK CAT in DC, when I got to see THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT live for the first time.  I'm now convinced that this is one of the most important bands of the last several years.  (Last time I felt this way:  ARCADE FIRE).

  Alright, disclaimer time.  I picked these guys as my favorite band of 2008 based only on their self-titled debut album.  And we've certainly played plenty of tracks from TATE (for short) on RADIO FREE CRUZE.  Unless they were really awful, chances are pretty good that I was going to enjoy the show.

  But it was more than that--at least for me.  From the moment they took the stage (opening with WISHING WELL, a perfect track to start the show), to the rave-up performance of GASOLINE, to a couple of new songs (ECHO PARK was particularly good), to a "bring-the-house-down" rendition of their biggest song, SOMETIME AROUND MIDNIGHT, I was certain that this band is "important."

  I went on the web to see what others thought, and predictably found a few blog posts blasting them as "posers..."  Wondering how anyone could like this band, and how they weren't authentic.

  Perfect!  Now I'm CONVINCED that I love them.  Most of my favorite bands, actually, are the ones that indie snobs seem driven to insult and dismiss...so I know I'm right on track with this one.  (And to the haters...why not spend your energy telling me about a band you DO like?  Such a better use of your time.)

  Bottom line...maybe I'm overreacting, but the debut album from THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT is one of the best albums I've heard in the last few years.  And the live show is enthralling.  If you have the chance...don't miss them!

--Cruze, RFC

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Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Unlike most of their counterparts who dominated the pre-grunge world of Alternative music alongside them, DEPECHE MODE refuses to become a "retro act."

Although they've got a great catalog of music from the '80's and '90's, they continue to release relevant, interesting music even in 2009.

And why not?  The indie/alt world is full of bands that have obviously been influenced by DEPECHE MODE.  And let's face it, their style (which has continued to update and evolve through the years, but is still very much rooted in synth-pop) is even more "in fashion" than it has been for years!

The new album will be called SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE, and is scheduled for release internationally on April 20, and April 21 in the US.  We have several new tracks from it here at RADIO FREE CRUZE, and they're VERY GOOD!

So...it only makes sense to feature DEPECHE MODE as our spotlight for this week's FEATURE ARTIST THURSDAY (3/5) on the RFC!  We'll cram in as many Depeche tracks into the mix as the Digital Millenium Copyright law will allow us to.  You can look for us to feature the band's big hits, as well as album tracks, B-sides, remixies, and maybe even a few live tracks just for good measure.  And OF COURSE, you'll hear the new tracks from SOUNDS OF THE UNIVERSE that I mentioned!!

So I hope you'll spend a big chunk of the day with us!

Thanks...Cruze, RFC

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Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

British rockers MUSE are working steadily on their next album, the follow-up to 2006's BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS, and frontman MATT BELLAMY told BBCRadio 6 that ""A symphonic album has turned up here--like a full collaboration with an orchestra!"

"There's definitely a few things on the album which are segueing into each other and it's all very orchestral," BELLAMY says.  "That could take over the album, so it could actually be kind of classical act basically, and move away from rock all together."

Original statements from the band had led us to expect something more electronic from MUSE this time around, but it sounds as if a different direction altogether has developed as the recording has progressed.

While no release date has been set for the as-yet-untitled disc, BELLAMY says the album is about "halfway done," and he expects it to be out by the fall.  He says that oce it is released, MUSE will go back on the road to support the disc.

No word as to whether they plan to travel with a symphony orchestra!

More from NME here...

Cruze, RFC

Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

  Either the stories about how badly they get along are exaggerated, or they've found a way to set differences aside, because BLINK 182 have announced that they are officially "back together!"

  According to a note on their website, the band members are "picking up where we left off, and then some.  In the studio writing and recording a new album.  Preparing to tour the world yet again.  Friendships reformed.  17 years deep in our legacy."

  I saw these guys on their final tour as a band, and they were still a great, if somewhat loose, live show.  I have no doubt that they will be able to jump right back in where they left off, and we ar Radio Free Cruze are pretty damned excited about new Blink music!

  Here's a great interview with MARK HOPPUS at Alternative Press that sheds a little light on how the reunion came about.

  No word on the future of +44 or ANGELS AND AIRWAVES.  We'll keep you posted.

--Cruze, RFC

Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Las Vegas band THE KILLERS top the RADIO FREE CRUZE Most-Played list for this week with their bizarrely catchy song about alien abduction!

LILY ALLEN debuts in the Top 11, and so does the aweseome Scottish band GLASVEGAS!  (This album is GOOD, you guys!)

Here's how the list looks:

1. THE KILLERS/Spaceman (Day And Age)
2. BECK/Walls (Modern Guilt)
3. LILY ALLEN/The Fear (It's Not Me, It's You)
4. THE BOGMEN/Ocean's Apart (single)
5. FRANZ FERDINAND/Ulysses (Tonight: Franz Ferdinand)
6. PENDULUM/Propane Nightmares (In Silico)
7. COLDPLAY/Lovers In Japan (Viva La Vida)
8. GLASVEGAS/Geraldine (Glasvegas)
9. ANGELS & AIRWAVES/Call To Arms (I-Empire)
10. THE NATIONAL/Mistaken For Strangers (Boxer)
11. THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT/Gasoline (The Airborne Toxic Event)

Thanks again for listening...you guys rock!!

--cruze

Posted by cruzeblogrfc at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)