In the dimly-lit bedrooms of sandy-haired indie kids all
over Scotland,
you can just about hear tearful snuffles above the mournful wail of Joy
Division's Isolation.
And why shouldn't they weep? Indie station Xfm is to be no
more, rebranded instead as part of the mainstream dance Galaxy network.
Whichever stations' playlist you prefer, and in truth
there's good and God-awful on both, Xfm as a brand stood for far more than the
blandness of Galaxy ever could.
It's true to say that Xfm has become far more
commercial than it was in its ramshackle pirate beginnings, but when the music
scenes it represents have been wholly co-opted by Bigco looking for a bit of scruffy
hair cool, in comparison it held up well.
And what now for the London
and Manchester
stations? Are they, as Global currently suggests, big enough music cities to
make safe an even slightly edgy station such as Xfm?
It would be a great shame for the decade-plus, dedicated
work of certain Xfm staff to establish the station amongst the bland radio
output of the UK,
for it to be dumped in favour of a network sell more in tune with advertisers'
requirements.
But we'll see. I suggest you listen while you can, because
for all its flaws, Xfm would be greatly missed if it became no more.
