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 — […]
Top of the Evenin’ – March 17, 2021
| Radio
It being St. Patrick’s Day, we felt it was our sworn duty as Americans to play some Irish music in honor of the day. As we discovered, there’s a fair amount of St. Paddy’s Day music tucked away in Archive.org, recorded off of scratchy old 78s. There are also plenty of Irish and Irish-American musicians […]
Haiku for Everything – March 10, 2021
| Radio
This week’s show featured more from La Souterraine, plenty of classic funk, and a hefty helping of new music by artists at various levels of obscurity from Hanford Flyover to Haru Nemuri, touching both ends of that spectrum. Hanford Flyover continue to impress. We played another from their most recent release, this time the moody, downtempo rocker “Cloverfield.” We also played tracks from I Think Like Midnight album and our new political rock faves The Dowling Poole.
Whither the Whetherman – March 3, 2021
| Radio
Bubble Wrap continues and once again, you missed it! But we’re here to tell you all about it so you won’t feel left out. We enjoyed “Mr. Whetherman” from UK band Hanford Flyover’s new release Hanford Tape Sessions, a surprisingly good record for such an obviously thrown together collecction. Meinfreak from Berlin gave us “Blütenmeergewehr,” which translates roughly as “Sea of Flowers.” We even found a song from a Vermont band, Clever Girls, who were decent enough to email us a link to it. Thank you, Clever Girls! We debuted “Spark.”
Shamanic Legacy – February 24, 2021
| Radio
This week’s edition of Bubble Wrap was a rough and tumble mix of tracks from all over, baby. There was the old: De La Soul, Parliament, Aretha, Gary Bartz, and even a snippet of Philip Glass. There was the new with a touch of the familiar: Bobby McFerrin’s daughter Madison doing her new song “Hindsight” and a pair from the son and grandson of Fela (Made and Femi Kute from the Legacy collection). Plus a few more tracks from recent faves Spunkshine, Mt. Pleasure, Nuevos Dolores, and Welsh rockers Bandicoot.
Covering the Spaces – February 17, 2021
| Radio
It was a quiet week on Bubble Wrap this week, with no theme to guide us and all the freedom from that. Consequently, we were extra entertaining. For example, the very first set was killer, leading off with The Lounge Society and their moody manifesto “Burn The Heather.” If you like Fontaines DC, you’ll like The Lounge Society. Then there was “Weekends” by Classixx & the Local Natives, a guilty pleasure for sure, but so hooky. Finishing off that set was “The Duke” by Menahan Street Band of Brooklyn, NY, doing their own brand of retro smooth jazz. It’s a groove, and the horns are nothing short of mellifluous.
Love, Baby – February 10, 2021
| Radio
The annual Bubble Wrap Valentine’s Day show featured love songs galore. We got sweet love, modern love, lacquered love, and of course our love. Old love, new love, young love, and not so love. What more can we say? It’s all about the love.
If Wishes Were Horses – February 3, 2021
| Radio
As we enter 2021 for real and for good, new music has begun to emerge that wasn’t recorded in 2020, that misbegotten year that we’re all trying to forget. Leading the pack for the Bubble Wrap crew are Arlo Parks and the new compilation from La Souterraine.
“Caroline” is a brand new track from Britain’s Arlo Parks, whose R&B nouveau has been percolating on the Internet for the last couple years. Parks’ new song is flawless contemporary pop with perfect vocals and a lyrical maturity that belies her years. We liked her funkier “Green Eyes” last year. Despite her self-assessment as a hopeless misfit, her music adds up to a very accessible package.
And then there’s La Souterraine, the busiest little microlabel in, well, La Souterraine, to be vague. The new installment in their compilation series is a volume 2 of their highly enjoyable Allopop of a couple years ago.
Agree To Disagree – November 26, 2020
| Radio
The latest episode of Bubble Wrap fell on Thanksgiving Eve this year, so there was some thanking to be done and some turkey songs to be played. New music resumed with more new favorites including Elvis Costello’s latest track, “Hetty O’Hara Confidential,” who is still biting and nipping at our heels. For some reason, I enjoy the bitter edge.
Party Rapture – November 11, 2020
| Radio
Riding the times like ocean waves, hoping not to get swamped, taking the good with the bad — these are all themes of life here on Bubble Wrap. Helping us do that was our artist of the week, Mori, whose new ep seekseek is chock full with playful keybs and wildly processed vocals including our […]
Past Lives – Repairs
| Records
Past Lives, a guy with “a couple guitars” living somewhere in New Hampshire, has quietly released a gem with his new ep, Repairs.
Waiting Game – November 4, 2020
| Radio
Although the elections were yesterday, we still don’t know who won although we have a pretty good idea…. So we distracted ourselves with music. Kiwi Jr. got their second play in as many weeks with “Undecided Voters.” We dragged Pavement and the Mountain Goats out of semi-retirement. We basked in the gentle pop stylings of Miloe, a new artist out of Minneapolis who has a thing for Winona Ryder. Adam Levy’s “Cadiz” recalled a kinder, gentler Kid Creole. Arlo Parks’ “Green Eyes” was mesmerizing. And the bonus tracks on the Prince Sign of the Times megaset are unusually good bonus tracks — we played 2 Nu 1’s 4 U.
Darkness Falls – October 28, 2020
| Radio
This week was our last week before the election, a scary time, and never mind Halloween. We chose to ignore all that and just play music. 😉 Faves of the week: A Tribe Called Red’s new track “Land Back” which uses traditional native American singers in an unusual hiphop context. Kiwi Jr, just signed by a minor major, gave us another winner with “Undecided Voters.” And The Creachies, who are neither British nor a girl group, supplied seasonal flavor with “One of the Vampire Girls.”
Introducing Signalwave — Ho Chi Minh City by Yingvarz
| Records
When I first heard Yingvarz’ new album Ho Chi Minh City, I had never heard of Signalwave, the genre that presently defines Yingvarz’ musical efforts. Yingvarz, formerly SaigonSO, is from Vietnam where he composes Signalwave in his spare time. In that, he is a big fish in a small pond, being possibly the only Signalwave practitioner in his country.
How Bad Could It Be? – October 14, 2020
| Radio
What can you really say these days? Not much so play more music. Lately Bubble Wrap Radio has been more off than on due to remote broadcasting difficulties, but we haven’t given up yet. This week, we managed to get a show in which means listeners got a chance to hear a few new tunes for a change. Favorite new pop band: The Creachies, from Baltimore, who have a new EP out called (appropriately enough) 3 for Free. We liked “Bad People” especially.
Aquarium Drunkard released some live Velvet Underground recently, giving us a chance to listen to “White Light White Heat” in all its gritty glory. Would indie rock have been possible without them?