Latent Dialectic – April 15,2026
There are two flavors of music we run into a lot on Bandcamp's new music feeds -- super chill and hardcore. Everyone seems to be either really angry (depressed, frustrated) and looking for an outlet, OR in need of relief from the constant stress of everyday life. Where the present fails us, we fill in out of the past... New releases from which we sampled: JLQ, Dada Smurf, Morgan-X, Sharon Chen, XOXO Xopher.
Where Do We Go From Here? – January 12, 2022
This is the Bubble Wrap radio playlist from January 12, 2022. We’re just getting started, folks… Space Ghost What Day Is It? ZAPP Radio People Prince Elephants and Flowers Danny Wilkerson Enough for Somebody Fort Worth cool cousins second song Portland, OR Advertisement The Matador Seattle WDW Mad Tea Party Area Music King Crimson...Continue reading→
Love Me Baby – August 18, 2021
The work don't quit, as they say. It's August, when everyone gets back to the old routine, and life starts anew. We aren't sure how that works. Distracting us from intermittent anxiety were the hushed ambient waves of Bartosz Lugowski, the mixed media adventures of Zach Promesa, and the romantic swirl of Veronique Bilodeau. Big Rips (yes, that's their name) wowed with a from-the-heart rock epic appropriately entitled "Everything Has Sucked Lately." Jonas & I, Finland's entry onto the indie-pop world stage, sound lonely and northern on their latest track "Yellow Walls." A bit like Simon & Garfunkel if it was just Garfunkel...Continue reading→
Where Did The Summer Go – Fourth of July thru Middle of August
ummer went fast, didn't it? It seemed extraordinarily action-packed to the team tasked with keeping Bubble Wrap on the air every week. People came and went, the weather did odd things, we didn't get to stop working our day jobs... But still Bubble Wrap played on except for a couple unavoidable absences for which we can be forgiven. So to catch everybody up, here's what we're gonna do. We're going to post miserable underwritten show lists for the last couple months, and then this article will say a few words about the more memorable tunes of the summer that at this very moment is fast fleeing into a haze of forest fire smoke and hurricane mist...Continue reading→
The Doldrums Fade Away – August 11, 2021
We took a two week semi-hiatus to celebrate the fact that no one else was doing anything so why should we? Hey, you know what they say about absence. In the meantime, the rain let up and we enjoyed some summer weather, which we deserve, dammit. Fortunately, by early August, there was starting to be music again, so we played some. For instance, the new old Prince album Welcome 2 America was released, courtesy of the Prince Estate, and yeah, it’s good. There’s even a summer song – “Hot Summer.” So what if it’s a decade old? Also awesome this week was Zella Day, who knocked listeners hand knit socks off with the southern-sky slippity-slide of “Girls.” “Storm” by Shad also rocks, if you care, and you should about this one.Continue reading→
Down On Us – July 21, 2021
The summer lull continued and so did the rain but the fireflies provided nightly light shows all the same. Favorite song of this week was “A Bee Without its Sting” by The Go! Team from Brighton, UK, because sometimes you just want some pop. Also enjoyed the dreamy sounds of Lightning Bug (“The right Thing Is Hard To Do”) and the stripped-down piano-driven sound of Clairo’s “Amoeba.” Fortunately, Desperate Journalist was on hand to wake us up with the dark, urgent gothiness of “Fault.”Continue reading→
Just Like The Rain – July 7, 2021
Right after the Fourth of July, our region in the northern northeast entered an unexpected rainy season where we’ve been on and off ever since. This prompted us to wonder what was up with the sun which just days before had been baking us in (nearly) 100 degree heat. We especially liked “LMK” by Caribbean artist Navy. Panache! amused with their very French “Paradis,” and who wouldn’t be amused by Cheekface’s “Listen to your heart — No!”Continue reading→
No Way, New Way – May 12, 2021
Half the theme of this week’s Bubble Wrap show was The World. The other half was No Theme At All. Always good to include the random element. Picks of the week include Thee Brinks, Daudane, Sorry, and Jessie Ware, whose dance hit “Please” pleased us. Thee Brinks are a French band, reminding us that French...Continue reading→
Rain Cloud Rain – May 5, 2021
Who knew there were so many songs about rain? It's Spring, so yes, it rains. What choice have we but to acknowledge it? New music helps. We've been especially liking Benjamin Belinska, The Silver Sands, The Bablers, and Daudane, among others. But first, it's time to revive Issac Burgess and Emily Parrish, Detroit dance pop duo whose super fun dance pop ep Year In Review seems to have been roundly and unfairly ignored, at least on the Internet.Continue reading→
One Thing After Another – April 28, 2021
Another interesting week of music on Bubble Wrap radio where the glories of spring met the grumpiness of our current state of mind. But we do our best to remain cheerful despite the events that make us doubt our sanity for doing so. On the grumpy side: Yard Act, our new favorite UK band, with a new song "Dark Days." This on the heels of last week's "Fixer Upper," seemed almost too good to be true. These guys fall into the new British genre of talkie rock which seems possibly influenced by the recently departed Mark E. Smith. Continue reading→
Shall We Dance? – April 21, 2021
In case you hadn’t noticed, April 21, 2021 is the five year anniversary of Prince’s death, and while not a happy milestone, it proved to be a great opportunity to play a bunch of Prince and Prince-related music. On Bubble Wrap this week, we played selections from his first album, For You, all the way...Continue reading→
Weather Happens – April 14, 2021
April is the month of "now you see it, now you don't" weather. It's sunny and bright! It's dark and stormy... The wind howls! It's peaceful and still. So too in all of life. Does this have anything to do with music? Maybe. It's up to you to find out. Top tracks this week from the likes of Grrrl Gang and their the delicious Honey, Baby ep; also from The Happy Smiling Germ, Nashville's best kept indie folk secret. Robot Rights "Getaway" was a fun surprise, doubly so because he's from "around here," in this case Vermont.Continue reading→
Smart As Art – April 7, 2021
Lots of new music this week, leading off with Chris Catalyst’s “Make Good Art,” featuring (of all people) novelist Neil Gaimon. We like this song because it gets right to the point, and it’s a good point. Continuing with this new UK “talkie” rock thing, we heard from Yard Act (really?) who gave us a...Continue reading→