Thinking Out Loud – April 28, 2020

| Radio

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.”

Duopolis – April 22, 2020

| Radio

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.

Awaiting April Showers – April 15, 2020

| Radio

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 […]

School’s Out, Let’s Shout!  – April 8, 2020

| Radio

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 […]

What Day Is It? – April 1, 2020

| Radio

  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 […]

Indie Rock Turns 30 – January 8, 2020

| Music

Ok, 30 years is an arbitrary judgement on my part, but for me anyway, indie rock started in the very early 90s, which by my reckoning makes it 30 years old this year.  Another decade begins.  Where will the genre go?  It’s a little soon to tell, but if I had to pick a band […]

Bombs and Threats of Bombs

| Songs

I woke up this morning humming “Woodstock,” the old Joni Mitchell song from back in the late ’60s.  I wasn’t actually humming her version — I was humming the CSNY version which is harder and more conventionally rhythmic.  Joni’s Woodstock is sadder and more desperate — “I have come here to lose the SMOG,” she […]

Caught In The Maze – October 9, 2019

| Radio

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.

Cataclysmic Fusion – September 25, 2019

| Radio

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.

Keep A’Goin’ – September 18, 2019

| Radio

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 […]

Ghost Funk – September 11, 2019

| Radio

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.

Simon and Sunglasses – September 4, 2019

| Radio

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.

Back and Forth – August 28, 2019

| Radio

Sometimes you just feel like listening to old music. This week, we dug way back into the archives for tracks from the ‘60s through the ‘90s, interspersing new tunes from this year. This gave us new Pixies followed by Todd Rundgren, Yo La Tengo and the Berries, and even Joni Mitchell and Donny Benét. Only […]

Time Is In The Elsewhere – August 21, 2019

| Radio

Time may be elsewhere but we are here on planet Earth, enjoying the last dregs of summer, the warm breezes, the sunny vistas, and sadly, the very first colored leaves of autumn peeping out of the greenery. Like the foliage, the music of this week pointed us toward fall – Violent Femmes, Hiss Golden Messenger, […]