Links: Music Podcasts for Commuters

Every week, I spend about seven hours inside my truck driving to and from work. Instead of listening to FM radio (where you get ten minutes of music interrupted by ten minutes of commercials and inane DJ chatter), I listen to music podcasts. Here are some of my favorites:

International Departures with Myon and Shane 54

Hungarian progressive trance DJs Márió Égető (Mÿon) and Előd Császár (Shane 54) are in demand worldwide, as evidenced by their dizzying international schedule. Whether it's Miami, Vancouver, Texas, or Taipei, the duo travels the world, unloading enough trance music for ten clubs. You can keep track of their dance music exploits via their podcast, "International Departures." There's nothing quite like high-energy vocal trance for weaving in and out of traffic.

The J. Pitts Show with DJ Nice Rec

If you're getting tired of the same old Jay-Z and Kanye, it might be a good idea to try out the J. Pitts Show, an eclectic indie hip hop podcast.

Eclectic is sort of an understatement, actually; there are some episodes of the J. Pitts Show that have zero hip hop. I especially like the "Man of the Hour" episodes, which put the spotlight on particular artists, record labels, or regions. Any hip hop show that can devote a whole hour devoted to Michael McDonald, of Doobie Brothers fame is worth listening to:

Do not adjust your computer screen, this is a whole episode of nothing but Michael McDonald songs. Yes, an hour-plus of the man known for his blue-eyed soul. What? You thought this podcast was about nothing but that indie backpacker rap? Oh, what a fool believes. Keep an open mind and peep game!

KEXP Presents Music That Matters

If I had a station like KEXP around, I might turn on my radio more often. The University of Washington-based "dynamic arts organization" hosts numerous interesting music programs and puts out several good podcasts. The pick of the litter is the pretentiously-named "Music That Matters," a biweekly podcast curated by various DJs. The genres vary (you can go from shoegazer to psychedelic to soul in a matter of minutes), but every episode features at least one band that you've never heard of performing something that you have to listen to: