New music including Amber Arcades, The Smile, Oliver Sim and The Orielles on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued delving into recent releases from Weyes Blood, Röyksopp, Vera Blue, Phoenix, Christine and the Queens, Alex G and White Lung on the show this week, while the retro alternative set again featured a tribute to a recently deceased musical great, this time Terry Hall of the legendary 2-tone band The Specials, as well as another grab bag of older tracks, ranging from early ’90s Japanese pop (Poison Girl Friend) to ’60s balladeering (Scott Walker) to ’80s alt-rock (Wire).

New music including Lana Del Rey, Iggy Pop, Nuovo Testamento and White Reaper on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued exploring recent releases from White Lung, Röyksopp, Automatic, Vera Blue, Alvvays, Smashing Pumpkins and Phoenix on the show this week, while the retro alternative set included two sections: one that featured tributes to three musical greats we recently lost: Manuel Göttsching, leader of the Krautrock group Ash Ra Tempel and a pioneer of electronic music; Hamish Kilgour of the legendary New Zealand indie rock group The Clean; and the great composer and David Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti; and the other just being a total grab bag of my favorite songs, no overarching theme or time period for this one, just good tunes!

New music including 100 gecs, Automatic, Alex G and Caroline Polachek on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued delving into recent releases from Vera Blue, Christine and the Queens, Phoenix, White Lung, The Orielles and Sorry on the show this week, while the retro alternative set explored some of the greats of the ’70s Krautrock movement in Germany, as well as a bunch of later songs that include that Krautrock-derived motorik beat, from Iggy Pop to Stereolab.

New music including Fever Ray, White Lung, Dry Cleaning and Gorillaz on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued exploring recent releases from Weyes Blood, Arctic Monkeys, Automatic and Alex G on this show, which picked up where my suddenly abbreviated Part 1 left off (due to a date for surgery on my finger at the hospital!). I also tossed out three full different sections for today’s retro set: a block of Fleetwood Mac and solo tunes in honor of the late, great Christine McVie, a set of early ’00s NYC indie rock in recognition of the new documentary on the scene, “Meet Me In The Bathroom,” and a somewhat strange set of dance music, which begins with some classic disco (Donna Summer, Chic) and slowly transitions into weirder territory (Alan Vega, Was (Not Was)).

New music including Disq, PVA, Causeway and Phoenix on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued exploring recent releases from Alvvays, Special Interest, Vera Blue and Royksopp on this abbreviated edition of the show, which suddenly got cut short due to a surgical procedure I needed to get over to the hospital for! (The things I do to keep this show going for you all! 😛  ). I finished up the remainder of the show a couple days later, so we’ll call this Part 1 of 2.

New music including Smashing Pumpkins, Christine and the Queens, Royksopp and Weyes Blood on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued exploring recent releases from Special Interest, PVA, Arctic Monkeys, The Orielles, Vera Blue, Sorry, Dry Cleaning, Alex G, Phoenix and Broken Bells on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured a long block of lesser known New Wave, synthpop and college rock tunes from the ’80s, some from fairly big names (Gang Of Four, ABC) and a lot from mostly obscure artists (Peter Godwin, Rational Youth).

New music including Romy and Fred again.., Young Fathers, Hatchie and Sharon Van Etten on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued delving into recent releases from Vera Blue, Special Interest, Christine and the Queens, Dry Cleaning, Alvvays, Phoenix and The 1975 on the show this week, while the retro alternative set contained a trio of tributes: a second one for Mimi Parker of Low, one for the brilliant post-punk guitarist Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd., and one for Sinead O’Connor (who is thankfully still with us) in honor of the new documentary on her career, “Nothing Compares,” as well as a Part 2 of my epic goth rock set that began in last week’s show.

New music including Special Interest, Vera Blue, Yves Tumor and Caroline Polachek on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued exploring recent releases from Phoenix, PVA, Dry Cleaning, Sorry, Alex G, Junior Boys, Arctic Monkeys and The 1975 on the show this week, while the retro alternative set included a tribute to the great Mimi Parker, drummer and vocalist for the brilliant Minnesota indie rock band Low who passed away in late 2022, as well as a massive block of classic goth rock tunes, inspired by this recent Rolling Stone list of the 50 best goth songs of all time.

New music including White Reaper, Holly Herndon, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Local Natives on this week’s West Of The Fields podcast

I continued delving into recent releases from The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, PVA, Alex G, Death Cab For Cutie, Alvvays, Phoenix and Junior Boys on the show this week, while the retro alternative set took a long look back at the trip-hop genre, from leading lights of the scene like Portishead and Tricky to more obscure (but still great!) acts like Bowery Electric and Lamb.