Here in the northeast, we’re in that peak/past peak moment with foliage. We balance precariously at this point for quite a few days before one day the weatherman pronounces decisively, “we’re past peak,” and you know it’s true. It’s also a time when we balance precariously between two radically different views of the future — […]
Supa Fresh – March 28, 2018
| Radio
Every once in a while you take a look around and ask “what’s it all about, anyway?” and the answer that comes back is – nothing. And that’s the thing. It’s about nothing and everything all at the same time. Music this week revealed itself to be about the usual things – love, the Internet, […]
Carnival Life – January 24, 2018
| Radio
Around and around and around we go, and where stop: the letter F, for one. This week on Bubble Wrap, we continued down the list of songs from the old laptop whose names begin with F. And of course, newer music from around the indie world. Probably the hit of the show was Ferde Grofe’s […]
Not A Loser! – January 17, 2018
| Radio
The clear winner of this week’s Bubble Wrap round-up was “I’m Not A Loser” by Amyl and the Sniffers. I’m not sure what to say about that except that punk rock rules and girls who talk back even more so. Otherwise, it was late 2017 all over again, because that’s what you get in January. […]
Moving On Into A Bright New Tomorrow – January 10, 2018
| Radio
With 2017 safely behind us, Bubble Wrap Radio moved on with the first crop of 2018 releases (and a bunch of late 2017 as well). It is way too early to have any idea what 2018 is going to be about, and a selection of tunes is always selected by a biased someone, so I’ll go ahead and say that darkness and dread will continue, but leavened with a bit of gallows humor and the occasional burst of inspirational optimism.
Best of 2017 – Shouting At The Dark
| Radio
It’s impossible to think about 2017 without some trepidation — there were so many low points. Would we be nuked? outlawed? or just poked with pointy sticks? These were trying times. Musically, however, the trend was largely positive. Musicians seemed to be waking up out of their Taxi-induced malaise (“shiny happy marketing music”) into a […]
So Free – November 1, 2017
| Radio
It was a week of tragedy and violence, on the heels of earlier tragedy and violence, not to mention the destruction of various natural disasters. In between, there was Hallowe’en, and to get in the spirit, so to speak, we’ve been watching cheery Netflix shows like Stranger Things and House of Cards… We don’t know what to think anymore, so we play music, trying to make sense of it all, one song at a time…. And then, in the midst of our happy escapist dream set, what should pop into our consciousness but — Poppy.
Poppy? Who’s Poppy?
| Music
We haven’t run across a musical act this weird since The KLF mystified audiences back in the early 90s. Thanks to FluxBlog for introducing us. Usually Flux is my source for mainstream, but Poppy is not mainstream, and while the Poppy persona seems to imply that fame and fortune are already hers, it’s hard to […]
(Don’t) Fear The Future – October 25, 2017
| Radio
On the show before Hallowe’en, we always like to play some seasonal music, which in our case consists mostly of songs with scary words in their titles or band names. But even on that flimsy basis, I was able to ascertain a theme to this year’s selection, which was, in a word, fear, and its permutations, bravery and paranoia. So before I go on, I want to say, boldly and with all good cheer, “Don’t be frightened, boys and girls!” The future may look sucky but we won’t know until we get there, so why waste time worrying now? That is our Hallowe’en message to you…
Taking the Long Cut – October 18, 2017
| Radio
In the context of a two hour radio show with two programmers competing for time, it becomes hard to allow for the expansive requirements of a song over 5 minutes. This is too bad because longer tracks are every bit as valid as radio-friendly 3:00 ditties. Artists have railed about this for years, although not so much lately now that radio is (for the most part) relatively free of new music, and certainly of new music that takes any chances. It was with this in mind — not to mention a swelling backlog of songs over 5 minutes — that caused the show of long songs to happen.
Cable Built Dreamland – October 11, 2017
| Radio
It was our first episode of Bubble Wrap since The Great Refurbishing of the WVEW station equipment over the weekend, giving us our first “clean” broadcast since…ever? Thank you, Refurbishers! It’s nice to have cables that don’t cut out at random intervals or if you breath… To celebrate, we played a lot of new music plus a bunch of older tracks from the likes of Zapp, Cameo, and the Bar Kays.
Fear of Trains – September 27, 2017
| Radio
We took a turn toward the oldies on this week’s Bubble Wrap radio show, with Aerosmith (ably assisted by Beavis and Butthead) to start it off. Perhaps it’s that autumn spurs nostalgia, which in my case enabled me to shake off inertia and actually play some old records. This led to a respinning of Pavement’s […]
Remember This – September 20, 2017
| Radio
Here in the southern half of the northern tier of New England, we celebrated the start of autumn with a return to summer. That should surprise no one these days. Aside from the sudden bout of global warming, we aired new and nearly new tunes from Lido Pimienta, Paper Thieves, and Phoebe Bridges, along with mini-showcase of Lazy Salon.
It Goes On – September 13, 2017
| Radio
This week on Bubble Wrap, we enjoyed the varied pleasures of Heartscore, Rainer Maria, Colaars, P.SUS, and Norma Jean, among many others. It was a veritable panoply of pop and funk. The Steely Dan tribute continued in cover form with Nik Hunt’s version of “Do It Again” and a radio edit of “Show Biz Kids” […]
Fleeting Moments – September 6, 2017
| Radio
All day Labor Day, as we paddled around an idyllic mountain lake admiring nature, I kept saying “This is the last day of summer.” To which my co-paddler said, with some truth, “It is not!” But for me, Labor Day is the end of the summer season — no more white duck shoes, pink rose, or meals al fresco. No, it’s Fall. On Bubble Wrap, we kicked off the new season right with some inspirational funk and a bunch of new music from the likes of Hercules and Love Affair, Odesza, and DieAlps! Yes, that exclamation point is part of their name.