You Know That Band You Love? They SUCK!

Posted on June 12, 2003

I’m addicted to XM Radio. Specifically, I’m addicted to XMU, a station they provide which plays indie rock, underground hip-hop, jam-bands, and other experimental stuff. They play the coolest stuff I’ve ever heard. I even shelled out for a SECOND radio — the XM-PCR — so I could listen at work. (I told you I was addicted.)

There has, however, been a blemish on my XMU experience of late. That blemish is a little band called “Of Montreal“. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t stand these guys. Their stuff makes me want to throw my radio out the window, it’s so annoying. And, for some reason, XMU has been playing them veeeeery frequently.

Finally, I got fed up and sent an e-mail to the XMU staff, asking them to consider revising their playlist.

From my e-mail:

please please please play LESS of this band “Of Montreal” you guys have
had in heavy rotation lately. They drive me NUTS with their meandering,
tuneless whine-rock. Every time they come on it’s like fingernails on a
blackboard, and they come on a LOT these days.

So — I don’t know if you take anti-requests — but I suppose that’s
what this is 🙂

A couple of days later, I got a note back from Scott Struber, the programming honcho behind XMU, which read, in part:

LOL! Jason, thanks for the feedback. Always appreciated. They’re not actually in heavy rotation, but you must be having the misfortune of catching them every time they’re on. Anyway, your timing is great, as we’re planning on pulling them into a slower rotation this week.

Cool! Problem solved, right?

Wrong!

Flash forward to this afternoon. I’m listening to XMU again today, and I hear another of their DJs, Toby, recapping the stuff that had been played that hour. As she’s running down the list, she says something along the lines of:

“… and we heard the latest one from Of Montreal… that’s Struber’s favorite song!!!“

D’oh! It’s generally not polite to send someone an e-mail telling them their favorite band plays “meandering, tuneless whine-rock” — at least not where I come from.

Open mouth, glue e-mail to foot, insert foot in mouth…

So anyway, I sent Struber a note congratulating him on his professionalism in replying to my message dissing his fave, and I thought I’d take this space to issue a public mea culpa as well. If it had been me having MY favorite bands dissed like that I think I would have had no recourse but to hunt down the disser with a high-powered rifle.

Thankfully, it looks like Struber’s a better man than that… for which I should probably be rather thankful!