China’s Shijing Stereosystem – Propaganda

| Records

This year’s provocatively titled Propaganda album by China’s Shijing Stereosystem really does make you appreciate the sounds of Chinese music and the flavor of Chinese culture, albeit through the lens of contemporary pop music — it’s everything you could want in an indie rock album, if that album was made in an alternate universe.

Cats Are Cool – March 20, 2024

| Featured

Due to storms in the Brattleboro area which knocked out power, broadcast service, and possibly streaming service (we don’t really know), it’s quite possible that no one at all heard this week’s Bubble Wrap radio show. C’est la vie! If you’re one of the many who missed it, here’s what you missed…

Swinging Along – March 13, 2024

| Radio

A mix of old and new this week with tunes from across the decades.  In the recent category, there was La Souterraine, our favorite Souterrainian label with enjoyable dance pop from Gatien and Jaseur (separately — they are not a duo).  Also, a rather remarkable “Bolero” from Mexican Institute of Sound and some nouveau R&B […]

Time Gone By – March 6, 2024

| Radio

This week’s discovery was China’s Shijing Stereosystem, a band from London, England with a decidedly Asian flavor. The new album is provocatively entitled Propaganda, and it’s terrific through and through. Big drums accompany music that can only be called Chinese, although our knowledge of traditional Chinese music comes primarily from watching movies. Here, the traditional sound is wedded to a mashup of indie rock, hip hop, and pop for an intoxicating blend. We especially enjoyed “Red Book” and “PinYin vs China Girl.”

We’ve also been enjoying The Revenants from Boston, whose sound changes with the year. The new album I Love You Pookie embodies a contemporary pop sound with the rough edges of indie rock. Seattle-based Hello Meteor are more in the electronic pop vein with elements of ambience. We played the mesmerizing “Egression Protocol.”

Genre Generator – Feb 27, 2024

| Radio

Sifting through the sands of time, seeking songs to fit their rhyme, whence this rush of wings we hear, interseason, drawing near. Chillhop Essentials Spring 2024 by Chillhop Music Blossom by Darkspeen Shore & Skyshard Untame the Tiger by Mary Timony Read on for the full playlist of Bubble Wrap on WVEW Brattleboro. Feb 27, […]

Snow Shine – February 21, 2024

| Radio

New music is back now that Valentines Day is out of the way.  Who knew such an antiquated holiday could prove to be such a distraction from the important task of releasing tunes…. Favorite records this week: The Cyrkle‘s Revival: Indeed, an album of brand new material from the mid 60s pop band that gave […]

Love Me – February 14, 2024

| Radio

Valentine’s Day should be inspiring given that the topic of pop music for many years and still today, is love. But it was slim pickings in the new music department, so for this week’s playlist, we hope you enjoy quite a number of songs from 2005 and 2017, for no particular reason. A few new […]

February 7, 2024 – Tornado on the Moon

| Radio

Greetings. The Bubble Wrap radio show consists of broadcasting a 2 hour, maybe, and blogging about it. This week’s show consisted of a lot of car songs (for personal reasons known only to host B). Otherwise, new music from Bandcamp and beyond. Favorite track of the week: “Plastic Pyramid” by Omni. In fact, I’m listening […]

Halloween Stranger – October 25, 2023

| Radio

Gustave William Lemaire, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Being less than a week before Halloween, it was the best and only time this year to trot out the scary music. This year, we’ve been celebrating since Michaelmas, which is early indeed for this sort of thing. But it’s been cool and grey here much of […]

Mums The Word – October 11, 2023

| Radio

This week’s show waffled between the themes of war and weather, in between rafts of new music from the likes of Flight Week, Vanishing Twin, Lucky Star USA, and the High Dials. Lots of anti-war songs including a new track by our own XoXoXopher called “Get Rid of War.” Too bad that theme never goes […]

Rain Falls Up As We Do – October 5, 2023

| Radio

Despite the sunny warm weather of the last few days, Fall was on our minds. We played a fair amount of autumn foliage music on Bubble Wrap Radio this week.Also in there, new music from ImJudas, The Clientele, Louie Zong, and Cleo Sol. This month, we’ve been enjoying random tracks from Big Stir Records new compilation Stir The Cauldron, a Halloween collection chock-full of seasonal chills and thrills.

Essentially Autumn – September 27, 2023

| Radio

Lots of interesting new music from artists we know and love, and bunch more from bands we never heard of before, including the usual assortment of seasonal rarities and oddball recordings from CG.  Leading the pack, Enemy Airship, a new group that I just discovered from St. Louis, Missouri, whose new album Emperor, Somehow has […]

Cautiously Hopeful – September 20, 2023

| Radio

Bubble Wrap, the radio show, continues intermittently. We continue to broadcast the show from our home base every Wednesday night we can from 7-9pm. We had more than a few technical difficulties this year, but we aren’t complaining. We’re lucky to be able to do the show at all. Sometimes we think of giving it […]

State of the World – May 25, 2022

| Radio

Transfixed as we are by war and mass shootings, it’s not always easy to keep your chin up.  But we try. Notable new music: The Happy Somethings’s “New Life,” a sweet and, yes, happy boy/girl duet about starting a new life. The Garden Folk: and their new collection entitled, appropriately enough, Spring ’22.  It’s what […]