A new free underground music station on the Route 1 corridor plays eclectic music around the clock from a vinyl collection of songs you probably won’t hear on the radio.
Since August, local resident Todd Dengel has run The Wax Altar, an online music station that plays songs from his extensive and eclectic collection of vinyl records.
On a given day, listeners might hear mbaqanga songs from 1980s South Africa, singer-songwriter John Prine, a Christmas album from the blues greats Booker T. and the MG’s, or German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk.
Dengel’s collection started during childhood, when he would buy his own albums and borrow his dad’s to use on a turntable in his room.
“When I was a kid there were many compilation albums with the 1950s 1960’s rock songs geared towards kids like ‘Looney Tunes’ or ‘Goofy Greats’ and that bled into my parent’s records,” he told the Hyattsville Wire. “My dad had what turned out to be some great early doo wop and blues 45s. I always kept and took care of them while the collection and my tastes grew.”
After digitizing his collection, Dengel set the music up to play randomly on The Wax Altar through the internet radio site Live 365. As of last month, it’s also on TuneIn, the most commonly used radio app for Google Home, Alexa and Sonos, which just named it one of four Editor’s Choices for new and emerging stations in the U.S.
He’s currently licensed in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom and working on adding other countries as well.
Locally, Dengel likes to stop by Sonidos Music in Beltsville and Red Onion Records in Hyattsville to add to his vinyl collection.
“I love sharing enthusiasm with the owners of these shops when a great batch of records comes through,” he said. “It’s a unique owner-customer relationship- I think it’s akin to someone having a favorite bar.”
You can listen to The Wax Altar for free on its main site, as well as on Live 365 or TuneIn. You can also check out its Instagram page for posts about albums currently playing.
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