It’s been a while since I did a “Radio Preset” segment and added a new find to my collection of stations around the world. It’s not by design or anything, I’ve just gotten stuck in my ways and haven’t gone off searching for weird new stations on radio.garden the way I used to. However, I’ve decided that for the new year, I’m getting back to doing some of the things I used to love, like tuning into random stations, looking up the history, and saying “hi” if there’s a live human involved anywhere in there.

So, this week’s find is L’Eko des Garrigues, in Montpellier, France. L’Eko is a non-commercial, nonprofit community radio station (what France calls a radio associative), broadcasting locally on 88.5 FM and streaming online on your favorite radio app. It’s been around in one form or another since the mid-to-late 1970s, which alone is pretty noteworthy, I’d say. They’ve survived disco, the “home taping scandal,” Napster, Spotify, and whatever the kids are into these days.

I glommed onto them because they were playing something shoegaze-ish when I flipped through (it was late-morning at work, so I needed the energy boost), and they cycled through garage rock, indie, proto-punk, and some cool, experimental avant-garde stuff over the course of the afternoon, so it’s obvious these guys are about the artist and are not chasing an algorithm or popular curve. Okay, yes, a good chunk of the music is in French, but I’m reasonably competent (ie, I took six years of French 40 years ago). Also, remember your translator app probably has a “conversation mode” if you simply must know what the announcer (or bizarre audio clip) is saying.

Doing a bit of research, I found the station is also deeply tied into local culture. They work primarily with local artists, venues, and collectives, and occasionally host live broadcasts and events. (Hey, that sounds familiar.) They’re also tied in with Halle Tropisme, which seems to be some sort of cultural center where local bands, artists, chefs, and creative entrepreneurs cross over — so, Fountain Square, if it were all in one building, or one of a half-dozen lost grand plans for the Stutz building that I’ve been told about and asked to donate to.

So, yeah, I feel a kindred spirit with these guys and recommend checking them out.