Parea Radio

Parea means company, the group of friends around a table, and that's exactly the register this Greek station aims for. The playlist runs from rebetiko's smoky, outlaw-era roots (Markos Vamvakaris, anyone?) through the laïko ballads of Stelios Kazantzidis and into entekhno songwriters like Mikis Theodorakis and Haris Alexiou. Then it jumps forward to Marina Satti and the current Athens pop crop. No genre policing. It's streaming at 320kbps, so the bouzouki strings don't turn into mush. Daytime blocks keep things bright and singable, which suits a kitchen radio or a long drive along the coast. L…