Poking around my grandparents house, I recall finding cassette tapes labeled w/ names of cities, “Rio, 1987″. I discovered that my grandfather liked to bring a little radio w/ cassette recorder with him when he traveled and bring back bits of radio (often jazz stations) as his customized souvenirs.

Despite the tendency toward monopoly, the radio waves are still alive today with local flavor. Perhaps more so today, as we now have the luxury of the internet to access broadcasts regardless of time and space.

The New York City area is rich with unique and independent radio, broadcast souvenirs at the ready for anyone wanting to get in touch with the famous beat of the city.

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WFMU.org broadcasting across the Hudson River from NJ. This fully listener sponsored station (no PSA’s, no corporate interruptions) is loved by thousands across the globe. DJ Trouble is my personal favorite, mixing French new wave, sultry chanteuses, avant-garde electronica w/ bird soundtracks every Thursday morning (w/ years of archives at the ready).

WBAI is an old standard in independent radio, now owned by Pacifica. Daytime programs dedicated to topics like ecology, health, democracy, art and minorities. Evening programs are musically driven and rich with reggae, latin and african music, jazz and free-form programming. Free-form radio godfather Bob Fass has been hosting his legendary Radio Unnameable for more than 40 years.

As a part of this year’s biennial, the Whitney Museum has invited Neighborhood Public Radio to set up shop next door on Madison Avenue and not only broadcast live, but equip the willing with remote transmitters to broadcast from their own neighborhoods.

East Village Radio offers a radio model for the 21st century: 16 hours of daily programming is only offered on the web but they maintain their local connection by broadcasting live from with an all glass storefront cum studio on 1st Ave + 1st Street. Mark Ronson renowned for famous mixologies w/ the likes of Amy Winehouse, Ghostface Killah and an album of well mixed covers.