Only a short time ago, I believed wholeheartedly that playing good music (and by good music, I mean my taste in music) on the radio was a lost art, that the media outlet had been taken over by 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” and Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” (many insincere apologies if you actually like these songs).

As it turns out, I was wrong. Good radio is alive and kicking.

Surprisingly, one of the best indie radio shows out there runs on a station typically supported by middle-aged, white, liberal men — NPR. Yes, really. That NPR. The show is called All Songs Considered and offers a wide range of indie and alternative type music.

In Ithaca, you can hear All Songs Considered on channel 90.9 WSQG-FM from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Monday through Friday. Recently, the show ran features on the Juno soundtrack (which, by the way, is a great album) and Ringo Starr. The show has also compiled a list called the Best CDs of 2007 based on a vote in which literally tens of thousands of listeners participated. Next year, I want the number of votes for this list to beat the amount of people who vote for American Idol. By extension, I want more people to vote in this year’s presidential election, since last time around more people voted for who should be the next American Idol than who should be president.

The top 25 albums included the latest from Rilo Kiley, Beirut, Modest Mouse, Josh Ritter, LCD Soundsystem, Feist, the Arcade Fire (who The Fanclub Collective brought to Cornell way back in the day…Kudos, Fanclub!) and more. Radiohead’s In Rainbows, an album recorded without a record label and released online for essentially free downloading, far and away won the vote for number one record.

Besides playing all this awesome music while you drive or most likely study, All Songs Considered also caters to your technological sensibilities. The website, available directly via www.npr.org, provides a series of live concerts dating back about six months.

Each concert site features a review, photo gallery, set list, interviews, and, best of all, a free podcast available for instant download to iTunes. I highly recommend the Arcade Fire concert, though interested parties may wish to check out the Neko Case concert before she plays at The State Theatre in Ithaca, THIS SATURDAY!

If your musical turn of mind tends to the Canadian, CBC Radio 3, available at http://radio3.cbc.ca, has a great site. The on-the-air show is not much use to us here in the U.S. of A., but the station has a website to rival that of All Songs Considered, featuring great Canadian bands from all walks of music. For example, Teagan and Sara, who also enjoyed a spot on NPR’s Top 25 of 2007, or the band Metric are frequently broadcast through the station. Like NPR’s site, radio3 has many online features, including a blog with hot news in Canadian music, two superb weekly podcasts, and video streams of concerts and studio sessions. Pretty cool, huh?

For fans of local and alternative music, WICB, the so-called Station for Innovation, is a splendid radio resource. The station, 91.7, is run entirely by Ithaca College students and offers some great musical programming, besides covering sports and news. Such staple musical shows include Modern Rock, City Rhythms and Jazz Impressions, but the station also has some standout feature shows. Breakfast with the Beatles is always fun, and The Hobo’s Lullaby will satisfy any hippie craving you have ever had.

On Tuesday nights, head honcho senior Chris Wilson, also known as Kris Kapulet on the radio, does Homebrew, a show dedicated entirely to local music. On Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., he hosts Countdown to the Weekend, an indie show that, well, counts down to the weekend.

So, now you know. Even though you think you live in the middle of nowhere, in crappy Ithaca (hey, watch it, that’s my hometown you’re insulting), you can still listen to good radio. Go on, get tuned in, you’ve just missed Countdown to the Weekend!