Radio

It’s been two days since George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis. The streets are filled with protestors. Covid-19 is still lurking about. It’s been hot — noticeably warm for this early in the season. It’s against this backdrop that we attempt to “cheer up” our compatriots in Radioland. A lot of older songs this time, which have the reassuring quality of being already lived through. Highlights: We found a cache of old Rhythm Scholar remixes, several of which we shared with y’all tonight. My fave was the happy version of “Can I Kick It?” by Tribe Called Quest. Also checked out a new label comp from Rare Drugs records in Toronto. This new disc, entitled Interiors, features 14 artists, all interesting in their way.

On this most auspicious of days both numerically (20 – 20 – 20) and anniversarily (it’s my birthday), we inserted a party theme to this week’s Bubble Wrap show.  “Lifeboat Party,” “Time To Party,” “Party Girl,” and more!  In between, some 2020 releases including Caribou, Waxahatchee, Coriky, and Charlie XCX.  For those who are tired […]

This week on Bubble Wrap, we revisited May 2010 to supplement the meager offerings of May 2020.  What a difference a decade makes!  Faves from 2010: New Orleans group Galactic with “Heart of Steel” (killer track featuring Irma Thomas’ powerful vocal) and “Galaxies” by Let’s Say We Did, a now defunct band from Gothenberg,  Sweden.  Favorite new track was DJ Houseplants’ “Just Don’t Know” — who knew anyone was still doing disco?  Also liked William McCarthy’s “Ballad for the Unemployed,” a talky folk number that directs its plaint to motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

Bubble Wrap continues on WVEW FM in Brattleboro and the process of broadcasting from home gets a little easier each week.  This show featured almost no dead air!   Instead, we did a brief tribute to Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk who died the day before we aired, focusing on songs that had a big effect on hip hop.

Coronavirus has taken its toll on music — there seems to be less of it coming out these days than previously.  That would explain why we’re playing so much old stuff on Bubble Wrap these days. Of the newer stuff, our track of the week was Yirim Seck’s “Click” with a musical message about racism (“They ain’t winning of we click.”)  We also enjoyed the pop stylings of Shane Tutmarc with “Brave New World” and the funky groove of “Mind Up” by J-Felix.  As for the Kitsch Award, that goes to the Greene County Boys, a singing group consisting solely of doctors, for their song “It Must Be A Virus.”

A magic number, 22, and then you add the two 2’s in 2020, and you get the idea that it’s a very double day. Not that we took advantage of that phenomenon, as we stuck to singles pretty much throughout this week’s edition of Bubble Wrap Radio. Highlights right out of the gate with Fiona Apple’s “Ladies” — such gentle exasperation! and Molly Maher’s “Run Run Run.” Ice Age gave us a lockdown song that was actually good: “Lockdown Blues.” Irish poet Sinead O’Brien proved that poetry reading to music can sound cool, rare though that might be.

Bubble Wrap, the pandemic edition, continues every Wednesday night from 7-9pm on WVEW in Brattleboro, VT. Our listenership has expanded as family and friends, bored of social isolation, tune in. More new music, as always: Hayley Williams, Kiss The Tiger, Kamilita, and Rinse top the list. Best of show goes to Laura Marling for “Strange […]

Bubble Wrap continues to be all about distracting our listeners during the coronavirus epidemic.  But this doesn’t mean we’ve completely lost our principles.  New music from Nap Eyes, Tres Leche, Lucinda Williams (!) and Liraz.  Favorite throwaway track: “Skype Date” by Shotgun Jimmie.  Weirdest cover:  “Mon Amour Mon Ami” by Julien Gasc. Shoutout to Said […]

  After a few weeks of missing shows because we were paranoid about the germy studio, an amazing thing happened — we discovered Mixx, a rather fab slab of open source mixing software.  This, along with some complicated jujitsu involving servers and networks, allows us to both stream and broadcast over the air from our […]

New music from Florist, Sudan Archives, The Maples, and Moon Duo. Track of the week: Sit Down Meal by Dry Cleaning. Otherwise, a quiet storm prevailed. Read on for listening notes and full playlist from Bubble Wrap.

Orchestro Pacifico Tropical, Kokoko!, and Steve Lacy led the way on Bubble Wrap this week, taking dance music in all kinds of unexpected directions. Among the other luminaries, Modern Nature, Black Heart Saints, Magdalena Bay, and Fountain all with new  and variegated tracks.  And more, of course.

September is people doing everything they want to do now! the trend of this week’s list was that of a moderate forced march (Teto Lando), cheerfully midtempo (DJ Shadow/De La Soul, Canvas People) but tempered with shadows (Summer Cannibals) and glints of anger (Titus Andronicus), giving way uptempo encouragement (La Bruja De Texcoco). Read on […]

This weeks’ playlist was leavened with a fair amount of jazz and experimental music, from the smooth 70s groove of Akira Toyoda to the adventurous (and affecting) composition of Mack Porter. Plenty of pop too, with Chaos Chaos, Lower Dens, Shredders, and even Bat for Lashes. Read on for details and full playlist.

So much good music this first week of September. Singles from Black Country, New Road, Geowulf, Blackpool Astronomy, and of course, the Weeping Bong Band. Also loved SAULT’s “Let Me Go” and Charlotte Adjigery’s “Cursed and Cussed.” Van Halen is “Hot for Teacher,” Tony Randall and Jack Klugman cover “You’re So Vain,” and civil defense preparedness continues with a spot from Tony Bennett. Read on for details and playlists.