I continued exploring recent releases from Maggie Rogers, Vampire Weekend, Waxahatchee, Lime Garden, Fabiana Palladino, Boeckner, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Yard Act on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on great tunes from the year 1985, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of The Waterboys’ classic third album, “This Is The Sea,” the final record of their “Big Music” era. The set also includes the usual mix of alt-rock classics (The Smiths, The Cure), international gems from Italy (Matia Bazar), Greece (Lena Platonos) and Japan (Akina Nakamori, Rajie), so ..read more

I continued exploring recent releases from Bolis Pupul, Fabiana Palladino, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Waxahatchee, Kim Gordon, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Yard Act on the show this week, while the retro alternative set was a bit more vibe-oriented than usual, focusing mostly on female-fronted “electronica” groups from the late ’90s and early ’00s but also including some more indie-rock oriented tunes (Ivy, Lush, Snowpony), trip-hop (Esthero, Smoke City) and throwback ’60s sounds (Saint Etienne, Candie Payne) from around the same time period. Here’s the tracklist for the full show: West ..read more

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I continued exploring recent releases from Real Estate, Boeckner, Waxahatchee, Faye Webster, Lime Garden, Bolis Pupul, Kim Gordon and The Last Dinner Party on the show this week, while the retro alternative set followed up last week’s 1977 block with one from 1978, featuring more punk classics (Wire, Magazine, Siouxsie & The Banshees), electronic legends (Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra) and genre-busting mavericks (Scott Walker, Kate Bush). Here’s the tracklist for the full show: West Of The Fields March 26, 2024 R.E.M.- Talk About The Passion Local Natives- April Vampire Weekend- Clas ..read more

I continued exploring recent releases from Kim Gordon, Mannequin Pussy, Real Estate, Boeckner, Yard Act, Future Islands, Omni and Faye Webster on the show this week, while the retro alternative set looked back to the year 1977, with groundbreaking rock legends (David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Talking Heads), electronic innovators (Kraftwerk, Cerrone, Giorgio Moroder), weird singer-songwriter cult classics (Serge Gainsbourg, John Martyn, Dennis Wilson) and a hearty helping of punk too (The Stranglers, Ramones, The Jam). Here’s the tracklist for the full show: West Of The Fields March 19, 2024 R.E.M.- I ..read more

I continued delving into recent releases from Yard Act, Omni, Sleater-Kinney, Mannequin Pussy, Faye Webster, Future Islands, Lime Garden, The Last Dinner Party and NewDad on the show this week, while the retro alternative set served as a sort of sequel to last week’s ’70s power pop block, with an extended look at the ’90s heirs to the power pop sound, inspired by the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of the Gin Blossoms’ classic “New Miserable Experience” album. I also included a couple tribute sets to some notable musicians we lost in the last couple weeks, Karl Wallinger, former Waterboys membe ..read more

I continued exploring recent releases from Mannequin Pussy, The Smile, Yard Act, Faye Webster, Kim Gordon, Sleater-Kinney, NewDad and Helado Negro on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured tons of classic power pop from the ’70s (and into the early ’80s), inspired by my first viewing recently of the excellent Big Star documentary “Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me” and the release of a fantastic 3-disc compilation from the Cherry Red label, “Looking For The Magic: American Power Pop in the ’70s.” Here’s the tracklist for the full show: West Of The Fields March 5, 2024 R.E.M ..read more

I continued delving into recent releases from Sleater-Kinney, The Smile, The Last Dinner Party, NewDad, Future Islands and Helado Negro on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured a bunch of off-kilter pop from the early ’80s, inspired by listening to the sole album from the brilliant Belgian electro-samba band Antena, “Camino del Sol,” from 1982. We’ve got gems from Japan (YMO, Taeko Onuki, Miharu Koshi) and Italy (Alice, Nada, Loredana Berte), as well as from trailblazers like Kate Bush and John Cale, plus music from icons like Talking Heads, New Order and The Cure. Here ..read more

I continued exploring recent releases from ML Buch, Sleater-Kinney, NewDad, Helado Negro, The Smile, The Last Dinner Party and Caroline Polachek on the show this week, while the retro alternative set looked back to the extremely fruitful musical year of 1991, in honor of Pitchfork’s recent Sunday Review of Mercury Rev’s still-impressive debut album “Yerself Is Steam.” There’s a heavy dose of classic ’91 shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Chapterhouse) as well as grunge legends (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins), hidden gems from Japan (Mishio Ogawa, Flipper’s Guitar) and the unclassifiable bri ..read more

I returned from a two-week vacation with a bevy of new tunes to play, while also exploring more from recent releases by The Smile, The Last Dinner Party, NewDad, Future Islands, Sleater-Kinney and Wishy on the show this week. The retro alternative block was split into a quartet of mini-sets, as I paid tribute to lost musical greats Mojo Nixon, Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Damo Suzuki (Can) while also taking a look at some of this year’s new nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here’s the tracklist for the full show: West Of The Fields February 13, 2024 R.E.M.- Turn You Inside-Out (Live in G ..read more