NTS Radio

[Favelado]

Instead of trolling the 6 Music thread, I thought it would be better to set up a separate thread about NTS. It's been going since 2011 but I only discovered it this year, and I am completely blown away by how good it is. The sheer range of music they play, and how much of it I like takes me aback every time I tune in. Funk straight from the favela, 50s Chinese pop, 80s street soul - anything you can think of - but not snobby and they're happy to throw in the odd bit of pop music too. It's perfect.


I really enjoy Zakia on Saturday mornings and the In Flames show that's on once a month. However, I like the majority of shows, which is almost odds-defying.

If you haven't listened to NTS before have a dig around.

Here are their In Focus shows on artists you might be interested in.

In Focus

A deeper look into the back catalogs of various artists.

www.nts.live

The genre exploration page.

Explore | Listen on NTS

Discover the NTS archive with moods and genres.

www.nts.live

The Infinite Mixtapes.

Infinite Mixtapes | Listen on NTS

Music-only themed radio streams, made from NTS resident and guest shows

www.nts.live

Right now, the excellent Bicep are hosting a show.

Radio | Listen on NTS

Tune in live or listen back to our music archive of radio and mixes.

www.nts.live

Other specials (just off the top of my head) from the past couple of weeks are James Murphy, Jamie XX (I think he has a regular show) and Devo.

I wondered if any other Urbs were regular listeners and which shows you liked.

 

[Favelado]

FridgeMagnet I'm so sorry. Should be in Radio not Music. Hopefully a forgivable mistake.

 

[editor]

I've moved the thread. They lose a point for describing themselves as ' forward-thinking radio.'

 

[Favelado]

Hopefully they will pick up points elsewhere. It's become something I love in a short space of time.

 

[souljacker]

Love NTS. They have a lot of great shows and a brilliant archive. The Weatherall shows from a few years back were great.

 

[Favelado]

killer b

Moor Mother has an NTS show.

Moor Mother

Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary performer + musician Moor Mother collides a cacophony of sounds every month, from free jazz to noise to punk + more.

www.nts.live

 

[editor]

The music is good but I'm not enjoying the interface - where can I see what track is playing and is there some sort of pop up window I can use?

 

[Orang Utan]

Excellent radio station. Ollie Chubb’s is another great show if you like your classic house and techno. They’ve done some great tribute shows - Terry Riley and Coil recently. It’s not a pop radio station but if you have an interest in new interesting music and weird old music, then NTS is for you.

 

[Favelado]

The music is good but I'm not enjoying the interface - where can I see what track is playing and is there some sort of pop up window I can use?

I am an NTS supporter now so I get live tracklists. It might be that non-supporters can only see tracklists after shows, maybe another listener here can confirm. As a last resort there's Shazam or asking for an ID in the NTS chat. They don't run commercials so they get a revenue stream by offering perks to those who pay a few quid a month - live tracklists being such a perk..

Re the interface - I always have it running off the NTS app. Are you playing it on your laptop? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

 

[klang]

Excellent station.

 

[Favelado]

Love NTS. They have a lot of great shows and a brilliant archive. The Weatherall shows from a few years back were great.

The best of these are being repeated on NTS 2 today

 

[xenon]

Where do you listen to it, through a browser? Do they have an app?

 

[Orang Utan]

Where do you listen to it, through a browser? Do they have an app?

They have both

 

[mauvais]

You can get smart speakers to play it too.

 

[mwgdrwg]

Andrew Weatherall (r.i.p) on all day on NTS 2.

 

[mwgdrwg]

NTS is really great, one of the benefits of wfh is that I can have it on in the background most mornings.

My favourite shows are also Zakia's show, and I also love "Sounds of the Dawn".

 

[Lord Camomile]

Thanks for the tip, folks; proper Sunday afternoon listening at the moment

 

[Favelado]

Yesterday they had Christopher from the Sopranos, followed by James Murphy, followed by Four Tet as hosts.

I imagine 6 Music board meetings as everyone just sitting around the table saying "Fuck - what do we exist for?"

 

[xenon]

You can get smart speakers to play it too.

Ah, so you can.

I didn't think it would work cos the rights thing that has effected Tune In.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Does anyone ever actually talk?

I know generally that's what people aren't keen on, but would be nice to hear a little chat in between the tracks, even if it was just telling you who was playing and maybe a little about them. Otherwise it just feels a lit..* oh! Someone literally just started talking!

I swear that's the first voice I've heard on this station during my intermittent listening over the past week!

*to finish this thought, it feels a little like a (well) curated playlist rather than radio.

 

[Orang Utan]

Some people talk, but they usually just introduce the show and maybe interject with the odd tune ID.

 

[Orang Utan]

Talk being kept to a minimum is a good thing though. Let the music speak for itself

 

[Favelado]

Some show

Does anyone ever actually talk?

I know generally that's what people aren't keen on, but would be nice to hear a little chat in between the tracks, even if it was just telling you who was playing and maybe a little about them. Otherwise it just feels a lit..* oh! Someone literally just started talking!

I swear that's the first voice I've heard on this station during my intermittent listening over the past week!

*to finish this thought, it feels a little like a (well) curated playlist rather than radio.

Some shows there's talk. Zakia's show on Saturdays and In Flames there's a fair bit of chat for example. I'd say it's one third shows no chat, one third a little, one third a fair bit. I'm happy with the balance.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Talk being kept to a minimum is a good thing though. Let the music speak for itself

Yeah, I get that, and obviously it's simply personal taste. As I say, I just like to hear a bit about the music too, and feel it's one of the ways radio differentiates itself from a playlist.

 

[Orang Utan]

Some show

Some shows there's talk. Zakia's show on Saturdays and In Flames there's a fair bit of chat for example. I'd say it's one third shows no chat, one third a little, one third a fair bit. I'm happy with the balance.

Weatherall’s patter was brilliant.

 

[Favelado]

Yeah, I get that, and obviously it's simply personal taste. As I say, I just like to hear a bit about the music too, and feel it's one of the ways radio differentiates itself from a playlist.

I think that does happen on NTS too. Just not every show. Some shows goes into a fair bit of detail about the music.

 

[chemn]

I've enjoyed the 'Time is away' shows. The one on London Docklands was really good. Annoyingly they recently removed the thumbnail images for the TIA shows which hasn't helped finding the right one to listen to.

 

[Lord Camomile]

I've enjoyed the 'Time is away' shows. The one on London Docklands was really good. Annoyingly they recently removed the thumbnail images for the TIA shows which hasn't helped finding the right one to listen to.

Ooh, that does sound interesting. Any idea how I might find it (e.g. roughly when was it broadcast)?

 

[rutabowa]

We did a show on NTS, well we were guests. We talked too. The studio (in london anyway) is absolutely cool, it's little container crate that opens on to Gillett Square in dalston where there are loads of skaters and street drinkers hanging out so they can hear the music. Most of the show I ended up chatting to an old lady sitting just outside who was vibing to the music, she was telling me about the old times in Jamaica and invited me to a lovers rock dance they hold every friday in a local church (apparently you need to nip outside to smoke up and sip brandy) so I kept missing my interview cues but I'm on the mic a few times. More important to chat to the old lady outside though. Anyway it's a nice selection of lovers rock, we were back to back with Nabihah.

Nabihah Iqbal w/ General Echo - Lover's Rock Special 11th February 2020

Playing Lovers Rock. London-based DJ and producer Nabihah Iqbal (formerly known as Throwing Shade) brings you an ethnomusicological perspective on weird and wonderful music from around the world. Expect regular themed special episode; a good dose of history, and above all, good music to broaden...

www.nts.live

 

[rutabowa]

The chatroom is v active during live shows btw, if you are listening to any show and want a tune IDed just go in the chat and ask, the screen is right there for the DJ to see (as it is in most radio stations now). So a lot of mic chat is redundant, I like it personally though.