West of The Fields

I continued exploring recent releases from Peggy Gou, Goat Girl, DIIV, A. G. Cook, Beth Gibbons, Jessica Pratt and Girl and Girl on the show this week, while the super-sized retro alternative set strived to establish my own West Of The Fields "canon," after a pair of new "best albums ever" lists, a poorly received one from Apple Music and a pretty fascinating one from Paste Magazine, got a lot of attention from music nerds in the past couple weeks. My own "best ever" list includes some old favorites you've heard me play many times on the show (Mew, Ringo Sheena, Curve, Ivy) and some newer additions that have made a big impression on me lately (Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, The Waterboys, Fishmans).

I continued delving into recent releases from DIIV, Cindy Lee, Jessica Pratt, Billie Eilish, Bat For Lashes, Fabiana Palladino, Corridor, Amen Dunes, Fat White Family and Beth Gibbons on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured a lengthy selection of great darkwave tunes, some from bigger names (Soft Cell, Clan Of Xymox, Xmal Deutschland) and a ton from obscure but excellent artists, all part of another fantastic Cherry Red Records compilation, "No Songs Tomorrow: Darkwave, Ethereal Rock and Coldwave 1981-1990."

I continued exploring recent releases from Maggie Rogers, Billie Eilish, Camera Obscura, A. G. Cook, Amen Dunes, Fat White Family, Fabiana Palladino, Mount Kimbie, Beth Gibbons and Cindy Lee on the show this week, while the retro alternative set took us back to 1993 in honor of another recent Pitchfork Sunday Review, this one of Scottish electronic group One Dove's one and only album, the lost classic "Morning Dove White," produced by the great Andrew Weatherall. The set includes shoegaze legends (Slowdive, Chapterhouse), college radio standbys (Red House Painters, Yo La Tengo) and plenty of alternative classics (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cranberries).

I continued exploring recent releases from Mount Kimbie, Justice, A. G. Cook, Allie X, Jessica Pratt, Beth Gibbons, Cindy Lee, Camera Obscura and Maggie Rogers on the show this week, while the retro alternative focused on some classic '90s alternative music from Japan, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of Fishmans' "Long Season" album, a record that was once totally obscure here in the West, but has increasingly been embraced by a growing online cult of dreampop fans. The set features two selections from "Long Season," as well as tunes from acts that did see some of their records released in the U.S. at the time (Cornelius, Pizzicato Five, Buffalo Daughter) and many that never got a U.S. release but should have (Supercar, Mishio Ogawa, Poison Girl Friend and my beloved Ringo Sheena).

I continued delving into recent releases from St. Vincent, Amen Dunes, Fat White Family, Corridor, Allie X, Cindy Lee, Mount Kimbie, Chanel Beads, Jessica Pratt and English Teacher on the show this week, while the retro alternative set paid tribute to legendary producer, musician and songwriter Steve Albini, whose engineering on records by Pixies, PJ Harvey and Nirvana and his own work with pioneering noise-rock bands Big Black and Shellac changed the course of alternative rock history. Albini shockingly passed away earlier this month from a heart attack at the age of 61.

I continued exploring recent releases from Boeckner, Camera Obscura, St. Vincent, Corridor, Fat White Family, Bolis Pupul, Justice, Mount Kimbie, Chanel Beads and Pearl Jam on the show this week, while the retro alternative set looked back to the (relatively!) recent past with a block of great tunes from 2010, inspire by my recent obsession with Cindy Lee's "Diamond Jubilee" album. Patrick Flegel, the creative force behind Cindy Lee, released their last album with their cult-favorite band Women, "Public Strain," in 2010, so I unearthed a couple tracks from that fine record, along with other gems from that year by Deerhunter, Crystal Castles, Beach House, Gorillaz, Goldfrapp and many more.

I continued exploring recent releases from Cindy Lee, Chanel Beads, Local Natives, Bolis Pupul, Justice, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Gesaffelstein, Allie X and Wisp on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on great tunes from the year 1982, in honor of yet another Pitchfork Sunday Review of a classic album, this time Lou Reed's epic "The Blue Mask." The retro set also features gems from Japan (Haruomi Hosono, Taeko Onuki), Italo disco magic (Dharma, Klein & M.B.O.) and alternative rock legends (Gary Numan, Gang Of Four, Siouxsie & The Banshees).

I continued delving into recent releases from Gesaffelstein, Allie X, Cindy Lee, Mount Kimbie, Maggie Rogers, Vampire Weekend, English Teacher and Wisp on the show this week, while the retro alternative set traveled back to 1994, inspired by the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of the brilliant debut album from the English post-rock band Bark Psychosis, "Hex." We've got slowcore classics (Low, Codeine), copious amounts of trip-hop (Portishead, Massive Attack), Brit-rock royalty (Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Blur) and alt-rock legends (Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos, Morrissey), along with some surprises.

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), sophisti-pop magic (The Style Council, Everything But The Girl) and goth gloom (Sisters Of Mercy, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry).

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.

I continued exploring recent releases from Yard Act, Real Estate, Boeckner, Ride, Julia Holter, Kim Gordon and Bolis Pupul on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on tunes from the year 1984, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of the Meat Puppets' influential sophomore album, "Meat Puppets II." The block includes jangle-pop classics (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, The Go-Betweens), alternative rock legends (The Smiths, The Replacements, Husker Du), oddball maverick songwriters (David Sylvian, Scott Walker, Jane Siberry), international gems from Japan and Italy (Akiko Yano, Miharu Koshi, Matia Bazar) and much more.

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).

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).

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 member and founder of the underrated turn-of-the-'90s psych rock band World Party, and Eric Carmen, a big solo hitmaker in the late '70s and '80s but whose best work came as frontman for power pop gods The Raspberries.

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."