ALOUETTE MAINE ET LOIRE

Local French radio exists in a category Americans barely have vocabulary for. Alouette Maine-et-Loire serves the Loire Valley with music that reflects how France actually sounds outside Paris. You'll hear pop, sure, but also traditional stuff and whatever contemporary acts tour the region's smaller venues. The mix is unpretentious. The station doesn't argue about culture or position itself as a tastemaker. It's infrastructure. Community calendar announcements share air time with music blocks. Regional artists get play. National acts pass through. It's the sound of a place that's not trying to…