I continued exploring recent releases from Bar Italia, Mandy, Indiana, Arlo Parks, Blondshell, The National, Lana Del Rey, The Rubs and Alison Goldfrapp on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on late ’70s and early ’80s dance music, ranging from “pure” (but revolutionary!) disco (Dennis Parker, Donna Summer) to “mutant disco” (Ian Dury, Cristina) and post-punk (A Certain Ratio, ESG), all the way to Italo disco (Giorgio Moroder, Gino Soccio) and some weird outliers (Izumi Kobayashi, The Rolling Stones (!!??)).

I continued exploring recent releases from Mandy, Indiana, Water From Your Eyes, The National, Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, Avalon Emerson, Miss Grit and Blondshell on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured great tunes from 1996, in honor of Pitchfork’s Sunday Review of Sheryl Crow’s self-titled sophomore album from that year.

I continued delving into recent releases from Bar Italia, Blondshell, Miss Grit, The Tubs, Yaeji, Jessie Ware, Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins, The New Pornographers and 100 gecs on the show this week, while the retro alternative set contained two blocks: a tribute to the late Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, featuring some of his best performances on record with Morrissey and Marr, plus his contributions to songs from Sinead O’Connor and The Pretenders, and another longer block including great tracks from the year 1992, inspired by the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of Nine Inch Nails’ ’92 “Broken” EP, featuring some well-known indie rock classics (Pavement, Sonic Youth, Ride) and some more obscure selections (Lucio Battisti, Levitation, Swallow).

I continued exploring recent releases from the Smashing Pumpkins, Alison Goldfrapp, Bar Italia, Beach House, The Tubs, Avalon Emerson, Yaeji, The New Pornographers and Miss Grit on the show this week, while the retro alternative set looked back again to the incredibly rich musical year of 1981, with alt-rock classics from the U.K. (Siouxsie & The Banshees, Simple Minds, Japan), as well as exciting New Wave music from Japan (Yellow Magic Orchestra, Akiko Yano, Taeko Onuki), Italy (Giuni Russo, France Battiato, Alice) and Germany (Kraftwerk).

I continued delving into recent releases from Alison Goldfrapp, Jessie Ware, Blondshell, Wednesday, Depeche Mode, Everything But The Girl, The New Pornographers, The Tubs, Boygenius and Miss Grit on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured an eclectic assortment of quirky ’80s art-pop, ranging from ABBA’s swansong (well, until their recent return) “The Visitors” to solo work from Colin Newman (Wire) and Isabelle Antena (Antena) and taking us from Italy (Lucio Battisti, Loredana Berte) to Japan (Ichiko Hashimoto) to France (Etienne Daho).

I continued delving into recent releases from Jessie Ware, Everything But The Girl, Depeche Mode, The Tubs, The National, Angel Olsen, Yves Tumor, Miss Grit and 100 gecs on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on tunes from the year 1998, in honor of the recent Record Store Day release of Pearl Jam’s “Give Way,” a live album documenting the band’s tour for the “Yield” record which was originally intended to be released alongside PJ’s “Single Video Theory” documentary in ’98 but scrapped at the last second.

I continued exploring recent releases from Blondshell, Wednesday, Depeche Mode, Everything But The Girl, Yves Tumor, M83, Feist, Lana Del Rey, Boygenius, The New Pornographers and Angel Olsen on the show this week, while the retro alternative set paid tribute to the late Mark Stewart, vocalist and founding member of the groundbreaking UK band The Pop Group, with a block of twitchy, angular post-punk, which transitions into another one of my sets of random early ’80s weirdness, with art-pop, synthpop, New Wave and other oddities thrown into the mix (I also accidentally paid advance tribute to Brazilian rock icon Rita Lee by playing one of her solo songs just two weeks before her death at 75! Spooky …).

I continued delving into recent releases from Debby Friday, Yves Tumor, Blondshell, Wednesday, Daughter, Feist, Miss Grit, Depeche Mode, Yaeji and Fever Ray on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on classic power pop, from its beginnings in the ’70s with Big Star, Todd Rundgren and The Raspberries to ’80s mainstays like Marshall Crenshaw and The Plimsouls, and on into the ’90s with The Posies and Matthew Sweet, all inspired by the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of Material Issue’s classic 1991 debut album, “International Pop Overthrow.”

I continued exploring recent releases from Wednesday, Yaeji, Daughter, The New Pornographers, Lana Del Rey, Debby Friday, Yves Tumor and 100 gecs on the show this week, while the retro alternative set included two distinct sections: a tribute to legendary Sire Records executive Seymour Stein, whose label helped break punk and New Wave artists including Talking Heads, The Pretenders and The Replacements, and a block of ’80s New Wave and synthpop songs from across the globe, including individual sets devoted to acts from Italy, the UK, Japan and France.

I continued delving into recent releases from Debby Friday, Frankie Rose, 100 gecs, Lana Del Rey, U.S. Girls, Fever Ray, Depeche Mode, Ladytron, M83 and Yves Tumor on the show this week, while the retro alternative set was dedicated to remembering the brilliant musician, composer and electronic music innovator Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away in March from cancer at the age of 71. The retro set features highlights from his work with synthpop pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra, some of his best solo material, collaborations with other artists like David Sylvian and Thomas Dolby, and a selection of the many wonderful songs he wrote, arranged or produced for other artists during YMO’s “imperial phase” in the early ’80s.