The (s)Wheat Spot!

Making Minivans Cool Again

My friend Trey said that once you start shopping for minivans, you stop comparing your car to other ones. "Is my 2004 Mustang as cool as the new 2005's? Probably not. My car sucks." Stuff like that. You just don't do it with minivans. Why would you? Each minivan that comes out, year after year, is just as uncool as the previous year model. "My minivan has automatic sliding doors! Yay! I drive a minivan... Boo!!!" Mazda minivan, Honda minivan, Toyota minivan, domestic... they are all just as much a poor-man's SUV as the last.

I happened to be the proud renter of a minivan for the last week, while escorting college students to Florida for a conference, and aside from the inherent soccer-mommishness of my mode of transportation, I found a redeeming quality in it all: a little something I like to call satellite radio.


The Blessed Grand Caravan Stereo Console

Somewhere in between Austin, TX and Florida, my hand fumbled across the stereo controls and serendipitously discovered the salvation of our roadtrip. Comedy, Sports galore, yadda yadda. What made me fall in love were the multiple "alternative" radio stations. My favorite two were the "fresh indie sounds" station and the "proto-alternative 70's/80's hits". The latter station reminded me of being 14, listening to the Edge retro shows in Denton, TX (this was before the ClearChannel buyout).

Call me shallow, but there's a legitimacy I feel when songs that I had been listening to on my iPod earlier that day show up on the "fresh indie sounds" station. I didn't even know that these guys showed up on radio rotations! I think that the last time I felt this way was when I bought Use Your Illusion 1&2 by Guns 'n' Roses the day they came out, and was completely overjoyed when "November Rain" and "Don't Cry" started getting radio play (These weren't the first singles, but they were my favorites).

This is an unfortunate byproduct of the current state of radio: move slightly out of the mainstream, and there is hardly a voice for you between the dials. Your only hope lies in some low-wattage college radio station (which opens you up to the possibility of having to sift through some pretty heinous garbage before you hear the goods - I know, I had a radio show in college) or you can listen to NPR, hoping that in between talking they expose you to some softer indie hits (but I wouldn't hold my breath for anything with a distorted guitar - kills the hippies' buzzes).

But now, you can put down your hard-earned money to enjoy an endless, commercial-free stream of good indie rock and New/No Wave on satellite radio. Who knew minivans could be so eye-opening?


"Rock on Panama City Beach! Rock on Minivans!"

My Florida Spring Break satellite Radio Playlist '05:
1. Can't Stand Me Now - The Libertines - S/T
2. London Calling - The Clash - London Calling
3. The Bucket - Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
4. Another Travelin' Song - Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
5. Walking with a Ghost - Tegan & Sarah - So Jealous
6. I Touch Roses - Book of Love - S/T (one of my favorite New Wave songs)
7. Since You've Been Gone/Maps [link moved - sorry]- Ted Leo - (covering Kelly Clarkson - sorry, I had to make this hipster in some way, but I love this song!)
8. The Wind - Cat Stevens - Teaser & the Firecat (I didn't mention the likeable 70's soft rock station I also enjoyed)
9. We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service - Give Up
[For closers, I'll give you a live version of a song off the upcoming Coldplay album. You're Welcome.]
10. Square One [link moved - sorry]- Coldplay - Live 3/12/05

posted by paul @ 10:57 PM