Sonic Theater is a very different channel. It’s not an easy channel to visit briefly, because most of its programs are part of continuing series (some of which, like ZBS’ “Fourth Tower of Inverness”) have been around for decades, and so a one-day listen didn’t let me get into the programming to any serious degree.

I would probably enjoy this channel a lot if I had the time to tune into it on a regular basis and listen to one or more of the particular series every day.

I don’t watch VH-1 on TV, so I didn’t have any particular interest in today’s visit to VH-1 radio. But I’m determined to try every channel, at least briefly, so I tuned in when I got to the office.

And I was mostly pleasantly surprised. When I tuned in, they were running a Melissa Etheridge episode of “Storytellers“; the music was good, and the commentary was tolerable. Later on, I tuned in for Hour Five of “Greatest One-Hit Wonders“including the discussion of the very odd career of ? and the Mysterians.

But the music wandered all over the map (with more rap than I’d like), so I kept wanting to tune away (and at times, I gave up and did go elsewhere).

I might come back for more “One-Hit Wonders”, or other specials, but this isn’t a channel I’ll stay on for very long.

The Move is another channel I wasn’t really looking forward to visiting. A channel which features something called “Thump Radio” is not aimed at me!

When I tuned in, I found the music more likeable and more interesting than I’d expected. It was definitely full of energy. And it did a fine job of masking the teleconference going on in the adjacent office.

But it wasn’t music that encouraged thinking while I listened — if anything, it drove thoughts out of my mind (hmmm…maybe that’s why they describe it as “trance” and “rave”), so I left soon after finishing my morning pass through my e-mail. I tuned in again during “Radio Chumbo”, and had the same reaction.

There are times when I have something going through my mind and I can’t get rid of it (when I work too late, for example) — The Move might be a great antidote at those times. But otherwise, I think I’ll do my listening elsewhere.

Bootcamp returned to the Urban neighborhood today — in fact, we visited The City, which promises “today’s hottest urban hits and a few of the big ones from yesterday.”

It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, at least when I had the volume way down and the song of the moment wasn’t too bass-heavy. But when I had the volume up a little to help mask the conversations in the office next door, it was just like being next to one of “those” cars — you know, the ones with the thumping bass. The good news, such as it was, is that I didn’t notice any overtly profane lyrics.

There are cities I really enjoy visiting — this isn’t one of them.

Sometimes, I astonish myself. I don’t know why I predicted a C for Bluegrass Junction. After all, I like folk music; I loved the music in O Brother, Where Art Thou?; and “Orange Blossom Special” has always been one of my favorites. So I guess I must’ve been asleep when I made my prediction for today.

At any rate, I was wrong. I enjoyed listening to Bluegrass Junction all day — it was even good music to program by, and that’s not easy for me to say about music with strong vocals and lyrics.

This is definitely a channel to which I’ll return frequently!