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Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part X

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By the time November rolled around, I found myself thinking less like a clueless mid-teen reacting to everything around me and taking more chances with my creative and personal lives. The ideas within the IWN were taking a much darker and more experimental road, and I’d started writing my first screenplay, coming-of-age comedy inspired by John Hughes. I was also trying out new ideas with a plan of not holding back nearly as much as I had. I felt like I was less of a dork with braces and finally coming into my own as a creative person in training. I had to start somewhere, right? Why not now?

November was also the month when I first made not one but two radio-sourced mixtapes by recording a full side of music while listening to WMUA, the college station of UMass Amherst. Those two mixes (both later titled The Crossover I and II) got a lot of repeat play during the day when I couldn’t always get the station in clearly. [It was around this time that the guy at Radio Shack suggested I purchase a six-foot extending antenna, which I duly bought and used for several years (and radios).] I’d make a few more commercial station ‘radio tapes’ well into 1987, but that would soon come to a close once my obsession grew.

Killing Joke, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, released November 1986. I remember this one getting a bit of flak because it was so slickly produced, the songs weren’t as powerful as their previous work, and it sounded very…well, 80s. It didn’t do too well, but I do remember “Sanity” and “Adorations” getting a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes.

A Certain Ratio, Force, released November 1986. I remember WMDK being a bit excited about this album coming out, as it was their first album in four years (not including the collection The Old & the New which had come out earlier in the year). They’re not your typical British post-punk band; they’re more like post-punk-meets-funk, and the critics loved it.

The Mission UK, God’s Own Medicine, released November 1986. The first album from Wayne Hussey’s new band after leaving The Sisters of Mercy, and you can hear a few similarities between the two groups, though The Mission would be more melodic and less doom-and-gloom. “Wasteland” got a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes and on college radio. They’d be a favorite on Boston’s alternative station WFNX over the next few years.

He Said, Hail, released November 1986. Graham Lewis, the bassist/vocalist from Wire, also had his own solo project at this time (one of many during their hiatus) although it would be a few years before I’d finally get around to picking them up, starting with 1989’s Take Care.

Fishbone, In Your Face, released November 1986. This funk-metal band had a strong fan following for ages, so when their first album finally came out it was an immediate favorite. Even from the album cover you could tell that they didn’t always take themselves entirely all that seriously, and this album shows it: while there are certainly some serious tracks here, there are also quite a few fun jams as well.

Clan of Xymox, Medusa, released November 1986. This is a curious 4AD band that I knew of thanks to seeing them in the bins at Al Bum’s and later at Main Street Records, but I never quite got around to picking up their albums until 1989’s Twist of Shadows. I’d pick this one up on one of my jaunts to the many used shops in Boston during my college years, and “Agonised By Love” became one of my favorites of theirs.

Lone Justice, Shelter, released November 1986. This was a band that straddled the lines between alternative, country and folk, and did surprisingly well not just on AOR but also on pop radio. “Shelter” was the big hit for them and got a decent amount of play all over the place.

Wire, Snakedrill EP, released November 1986. Speaking of…after disappearing at the start of the decade to focus on solo projects, this influential foursome reconvened and began what they would call their “beat combo” era with this teaser EP, with a new album coming in the new year. It’s a fascinating release as all four songs sound completely different from each other despite having a similar style. “A Serious of Snakes” is radio-friendly and catchy as hell even despite its oblique lyrics; “Drill” is their showpiece focusing on lyrical and musical repetition; “Advantage in Height” reminds fans of their first post-punk wave; and “Up to the Sun (A Vivid Riot of Red)” sees the band at their most experimental. This EP would be reissued as bonus tracks on the cassette and CD of their album that would drop in April.

Game Theory, The Big Shot Chronicles, released November 1986. Another band listed in Trouser Press Record Guide that caught my attention, this power pop band were critic favorites and would show up on WMDK quite frequently.

China Crisis, What Price Paradise, released November 1986. This British band showed up on an episode of Night Flight as a band with success in their home country but very little visibility in the States despite being signed to Virgin Records. I’d hear “Arizona Sky” and “It’s Everything” on WMDK around this time, both great singles that really could have fit in perfectly on American pop radio, and I’d soon find this record in the bins at Al Bums.

They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants, released 4 November 1986. It’s safe to say I’ve been a TMBG fan since album number one, and I absolutely adore this record for its silliness and relentless oddball creativity. So much so that this garnered a follow-up record review in my school paper! “Don’t Let’s Start” got a lot of play on 120 Minutes, AOR and college radio, as would “(She Was a) Hotel Detective”. [And I would learn later that they were sort-of-once-local, having grown up in Lincoln MA, thus the title of their follow-up in 1988.] I bought this cassette at Strawberries if I’m not mistaken, and it got a ton of play over the next several years, so much so that I can still quote several songs, heh.

‘Til Tuesday, Welcome Home, released 4 November 1986. The follow-up to their mega-huge Voices Carry album may not have been as popular, but as a Boston band they definitely got their fair share of play on local rock radio with the singles “What About Love” and “Coming Up Close”. The latter became one of my favorite tracks of theirs, a song that perfectly encapsulates the closing-down of the year feel of late autumn in New England.

Kraftwerk, Electric Café, released 10 November 1986. Their first new album in five years, this was big news, especially since they were the godfathers of early synth music, which was now at the peak of its current wave. I remember Night Flight and even PBS doing a retrospective on them at this time, and releasing the video for “Musique Non Stop”, which at the time had cutting-edge CGI facial animation work.

Cocteau Twins with Harold Budd, The Moon and the Melodies, released 10 November 1986. This was part of the wave of CT albums and EPs I’d dub from a friend in early 1989 that would end up getting constant repeat plays on my Walkman over the next few years. It’s my favorite of their discography, even despite it being more of an experimental side-project, but its dreamlike ambience is absolutely breathtaking.

Kate Bush, The Whole Story, released 10 November 1986. I picked this one up at Strawberries soon after it dropped, partly because I’d really liked “Running Up That Hill” and partly because of the video feature I’d seen on Night Flight. I’d known how different her music could be from other alternative and pop music, but this felt like it was in a different yet parallel universe. I’d be a longtime fan from here on in.

The The, Infected, released 17 November 1986. This too was something that caught my interest via Night Flight when they premiered the movie Matt Johnson made to promote this album. Like the film, the album is dark, dense and unforgiving and yet with a sense of redemption at the end. Nothing is held back: songs about sex, obsession, war, desolation, politics, death, and going to the brink. I was absolutely floored and immediately bought the cassette at that little record corner inside the department store in Amherst, the same place I’d bought Flaunt It. One lasting memory I have is of a friend borrowing this then giving it back the next day saying “It’s okay, but why do I want to hear songs about ‘piss-stinking shopping centers’?”

Duran Duran, Notorious, released 18 November 1986. After the almost-dissolution of the group and its loss of two core members, Simon, Nick and Andy reconvened with an album with a much slicker production and stylish songwriting. It definitely lost some of their older fans, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the title track, but the sexy slinkiness of the “Skin Trade” single kept me interested. It’s more of a transitional album than a solid one, but it’s worth checking out.

Bad Brains, I Against I, released 21 November 1986. I remember 120 Minutes making a big thing out of this release as this was the hardcore band’s first album in over three years with a change in sound, moving closer towards funk and metal, and would become their biggest and most popular record. [You can kind of hear a style that Living Colour would adapt themselves a few years later.] I also remember seeing ads for it in the music magazines, and would occasionally hear tracks from it on WMUA and later on WAMH.

The Other Ones, The Other Ones, released 24 November 1986. I gravitated towards this album thanks to the excellent single “We Are What We Are”, which spoke to me at a time when I was still trying to figure myself out. Although it only scraped by to number 53 on the Billboard Top 100, I was entranced by its simple message: we only want to be ourselves / we’re just like everybody else. As a teenager this clarified so much: I needed to get out of my own head and be who I wanted to be instead of constantly overthinking it like I always did. And that I surely wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Despite its slick 80s pop style, this album was just quirky and different enough that I fell in love with it, and it got a ton of play in my room for a good couple of years.

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Next up: winding up the year

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part VIII

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I started off my high school sophomore year with a plan to change my outlook. I was now the only sibling at home (all my older siblings were in college or adulting at that point), so it felt a bit weird to have the house mostly to myself for hours at a time. This meant that I finally had a bit of relative privacy and time to figure out who I was without all the interruption and outside influence.

This of course meant staying up far too late, hanging out in my bedroom and listening to music after my parents went to bed. This meant exploring avenues of creative writing. This meant immersing myself in music magazines I bought at the local smoke shop downtown. And this also meant videotaping various episodes of Night Flight and 120 Minutes and watching them Monday afternoon.

I would also get a new job: a hall monitor at the local YMCA. For a few hours during the week I’d walk the halls, mopping and sweeping the floors, gathering up equipment left behind, and babysitting the little kids before and after their swim classes. [Most of them were perfect angels but there was one or two who would screw around for ages.] Did I utilize that time to do a bit of light homework, reading my music magazines, trying out a few writing ideas, and goofing off with friends who stopped by? Of course! It was a simple job but it was harmless and sometimes kind of fun. I’d take the job again in the summer and fall of 1987 until I was ‘hired’ at the local radio station.

As expected, Q3 starts out with a ton of great releases, so this one’s going to be another long one!

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Shriekback, Big Night Music, released September 1986. I’d heard of them in passing and noted their listing in Trouser Press, and I believe this was the first album of theirs that I’d be aware of, and WMDK would play “Gunning for the Buddha” now and again. I owned this one as a dub first until I found a cheap vinyl copy in the bargain bins somewhere.

Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians, Element of Light, released September 1986. “Raymond Chandler Evening” is one of my all-time favorite RH songs, and I adore the music video as well (I would learn via 120 Minutes later on that it was a tribute to the 1927 dadaist film Ghosts Before Breakfast). RH was getting considerable press in the music magazines at this time as an alternative musician, and this album went over quite well with critics and fans alike. Surprisingly, I would not own this one for a few more years.

The Mighty Lemon Drops, Happy Head, released September 1986. Another band beloved by critics and signed to Sire — a label known for its stellar alternative and punk catalog, thanks mostly to the brilliant Seymour Stein — this album was fodder for 120 Minutes and AOR stations like WMDK. I owned this one on vinyl via another bargain bin dive.

It’s Immaterial, Life’s Hard and Then You Die, released September 1986. I vaguely remembered “Ed’s Funky Diner” on WMDK, but it would be another couple of years until I owned this record when I found it and a few other gems at the downtown Salvation Army store.

Cocteau Twins, Love’s Easy Tears EP, released September 1986. I think this might actually be the first time I’d heard of this band, having seen this EP on cassette at that other record store at Hampshire Mall (the one whose name I no longer remember, alas), but I wouldn’t actually hear them for another couple of years. Come 1988 I’d have this one dubbed on a cassette with their other 1985-86 EPs which would end up getting major play on my walkman.

The Chameleons UK, Strange Times, released September 1986. I distinctly remember hearing “Swamp Thing” on WMDK a couple of times and really loving it, only to completely forget it for a few years until I heard it again on the same station and finally picked up the cassette. By the time I was in college, this album would get a lot of repeat play on my headphones. It’s a banger album that is worth checking out.

Skinny Puppy, Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, released 5 September 1986. I distinctly remember seeing the video for “Dig It” on 120 Minutes over the next several months, and in retrospect I think this was the song that actually introduced me to the industrial genre. I dubbed this one from a friend (the same one I dubbed multiple Cocteau Twins albums from) in 1988. Also in retrospect, it’s definitely because of “Dig It” that I ended up being a huge Nine Inch Nails fan a few years later.

The B-52’s, Bouncing Off the Satellites, released 8 September 1986. I remember this one coming out and WMDK playing various tracks off it, but it not doing well on the radio or the charts, due to it having been in limbo for over a year, partly because of Ricky Wilson’s passing. It’s not their strongest record, but it certainly set the stage for their chart-topping follow-up three years later.

Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Blood & Chocolate, released 15 September 1986. Costello’s output had grown sporadic and introspective at this point, and his second album of the year was similar to King of America in that it felt more like something he did for himself than for anyone else. None of the singles were hits, although “Tokyo Storm Warning” would show up on AOR stations now and again.

Love and Rockets, Express, released 15 September 1986. Now this album, on the other hand, was unexpectedly popular on both sides of the Atlantic for college radio listeners! While their previous album, 1985’s dreamlike Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven, was a minor favorite in the UK (it would remain an import in the US until its reissue in 1988) preceded by their debut single, a crunchy and distorted cover of The Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion”. That single would be appended to the US edition of Express as a selling point, and it did amazingly well. I bought this one (not long after its release) in the oddest of places: a local flea market my dad and I would frequent on Sundays. Best eight dollars I’d ever spent, I played the hell out of this record for a good couple of years, and it remains one of my favorites of 1986.

This Mortal Coil, Filigree & Shadow, released 20 September 1986. This collective came to my attention at 1am while listening to WMUA in November of that year, when they played the funereal “Inch-Blue”/”I Want to Live” at the top of the hour. What was this…?? It wasn’t the punk or the post-punk I’d been fascinated by on college radio, and its dark ambience blew my mind. I’d always been fascinated by music that made me visualize listening in a darkened room or a forest at night, and this was like being in a deserted cathedral. By early 1987 I’d find this one on cassette at Al Bum’s in Amherst (the better to relisten at 1am, of course) and it became one of my favorites for the next couple of years. It introduced me to 4AD’s early years and I was hooked on nearly everything that label released. [No big surprise that it became a frequent soundtrack for my writing.]

Throwing Muses, Throwing Muses, released 20 September 1986. This too was a 4AD release, and to my surprise it was also a somewhat local band! The Muses were the first American band (from Rhode Island) to be signed to the label (Pixies, another local band, would be signed soon after), this got some minor play on WMDK and WRSI. Their early work is a bit hard to take in if you’re not used to it, but they fast became a favorite band of mine.

Billy Idol, Whiplash Smile, released 20 September 1986. Meanwhile, The Punk With The Sneer finally returned after a nearly three year absence with an album that became a huge hit on MTV even despite the critics feeling he’d lost his drive by embracing synthesizers. I was hooked on the groovy single “To Be a Lover” (originally a great Stax single from 1968) and bought the cassette through my RCA Record Club membership, and it got considerable play during the afternoons. It’s a surprisingly solid record that proved he wasn’t just a face on a pop video.

Billy Bragg, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, released 22 September 1986. Bragg had been around for a few years by this point and beloved by fans and critics, but this was the first album where he had a full band behind him. “Greetings to the New Brunette” got a lot of play on WMDK and even a bit on MTV, also getting repeat plays on 120 Minutes. I’d soon be a fan and collector in a few months.

The Fall, Bend Sinister, released 29 September 1986. This was probably the first time I’d heard of this band, although I wouldn’t really hear anything by them for a while longer (unless they were played on college radio and I wasn’t paying attention). I distinctly remember noticing in Trouser Press that they had a ridiculously long discography, most of it import and thus out of my budget.

New Order, Brotherhood, released 29 September 1986. I wouldn’t own this one for around another year, but I do distinctly remember seeing a highly glowing review in a music magazine I’d started picking up called Only Music — a spin-off from Spin magazine that focused only on music news and releases. This quickly became my favorite New Order album once I finally picked it up.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Pacific Age, released 29 September 1986. This was another one I’d picked up in the bargain bin, this time at Al Bum’s if I’m not mistaken, partly because I really liked the single “(Forever) Live and Die”. I was well aware of the band because of their ubiquitous “If You Leave” single from Pretty in Pink as well as their Crush album that had gotten a bit of play as well with its single “So in Love”. This was the album that made me a fan of them. And also taught me the British spelling of ‘maneuver’.

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Next up: Further down the college rock rabbit hole…

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part VI

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I remember midsummer of 1986 being hot, excessively humid and full of excitement. Even despite my day job at the supermarket taking up some of my time, I was heavily immersed in my growing music collection and the different radio stations I now listened to on a daily basis. I wasn’t just listening to music for a few hours at this point; I was often listening all day long, a habit/obsession I haven’t really bothered to get rid of since. While most teens my age were reading comic books or watching TV, my radio was always on and I was reading music magazines and poring over Trouser Press for the next titles I wanted to look for.

Yet who knew that one unconventional album would significantly alter the course of my life…?

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Let’s Active, Big Plans for Everybody, released July 1986. I remember the music magazines and that music reviewer in the Telegram really liking this band. I didn’t know much about them other than that they were (he was?) REM-adjacent, basically musician-producer Mitch Easter with various friends, and that all the critics loved his Athens GA-meets-psychedelia sound. I’m pretty sure I heard them in passing on WMDK at some point and I also remember seeing the magazine ad for this album, though I never got around to picking up their stuff because it was just so damn hard to find my way!

Gene Loves Jezebel, Discover, released July 1986. This was an interesting band as they successfully crossed over in the US, with “Heartache” and “Desire (Come and Get It)” getting decent amount of play on rock radio and MTV. They kind of passed me by as I’d initially filed them away as another 80s hair band, but they grew on me the more I heard their songs.

The Smithereens, Especially for You, released July 1986. Another band that crossed over to rock radio and MTV to an impressive degree, this New Jersey quartet’s trick was that they took blues and sped it up, rock ballads and quieted them down, and played it all with guitars tuned down almost a full step to achieve that heavy low end. “Behind the Wall of Sleep” was a big favorite of mine for quite a while that summer.

Guadalcanal Diary, Jamboree, released July 1986. Yet another band the critics loved yet never quite achieved any large success, this band from Marietta GA laid down countrified indie grooves similar to their Athens brethren REM, though with a much lighter touch. Another album I remember seeing ads for in music magazines and hearing a few things on WMDK, but they wouldn’t quite land any success, at least not for another year…

Eurythmics, Revenge, released July 1986. I’d like to think that this was the Eurythmics album that finally broke them through into consistent mainstream success. While they were one of the mainstays of the original MTV era with “Sweet Dreams”, they’d only have the occasional memorable hit single until the wild and bantering “Missionary Man” hit the airwaves and caught on massively. It’s my second favorite album of theirs.

Peter Murphy, Should the World Fail to Fall Apart, released July 1986. The video for his cover of Pere Ubu’s “Final Solution” would get the occasional play on MTV now and again, and would eventually get repeat plays on future episodes of 120 Minutes, but I was only vaguely aware at the time that he was formerly the lead singer of Bauhaus. I’d see this album now and again in the bins, but it would be a few more years before I’d catch on and become a big fan of his solo career.

David + David, Boomtown, released 7 July 1986. I remember hearing this song on WAAF a lot and being of two minds about it. I loved the desperate mood the music created, yet I wasn’t a big fan of its depressing skeezy-side-of-town lyrics (I was depressed enough at the time, thank you very much). I kept on returning to it, however, because it was such a sonically amazing song to hear on a hot and hazy summer day with the radio on and the windows open.

The Communards, Communards, released 21 July 1986. To be honest, the original Thelma Houston version is one of my favorite disco songs of the 70s, and I grew up with that single in the family collection, and when I heard that Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat and did a banger of a cover, I loved it. I’d eventually own the promo single for it (yet another ‘borrow’ from the local radio station a few years down the line).

The Smiths, “Panic” single, released 21 July 1986. How do you follow up an absolutely brilliant album that’s an instant hit with several of your best songs on it? By releasing one of your most popular non-album singles! Allegedly written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr after hearing the terrible breaking news about the Chernobyl disaster on the radio, only for it to be immediately followed by the innocuous “I’m Your Man” by Wham!, the band’s fans took it as a screed to the fact that commercial radio (and the rigidity of the BBC) were tone-deaf and and out of touch. Its oddly chipper “hang the DJ” closing refrain only underscores what was fast becoming one of alternative rock’s biggest issues with popular music: stop choking us with this slop and give us what we want.

REM, Lifes Rich Pageant, released 28 July 1986. After four stellar and critically lauded albums but still remaining well entrenched in the alternative college radio scene (even despite the occasional breakout into rock radio), it took the brilliantly beautiful single “Fall On Me” to send them further towards a bigger following. IRS Records winced at its simplistic 8mm filmed-upside-down video, yet somehow it caught on not just on MTV but showed up on several rock radio stations. The album also feels different form their previous records; they’ve moved past the quiet countrified jangle-rock and mumbly oblique lyrics and moved closer towards meaning: the stunning emotional release of “Begin the Begin”, the desperation of “Cuyahoga”, the hope of “These Days”. And even the occasional silliness that they formerly kept hidden, like “Underneath the Bunker” and “Superman”. It’s such a surprise after their previous records and one of my favorite early-era releases of theirs.

Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Flaunt It, released 28 July 1986. Out of all the 80s albums that could have claimed the title, this was the one that completely altered the course my life. I’d picked it up at a small shop in downtown Amherst, a little hole in the wall inside an indie clothing shop. I’d heard about them a month or so earlier via the music magazines — the news being that they’d been signed to EMI Records for an incredible four million pounds, they were five guys dressed up in fishnets and fright wigs and played synthesizers and used unconventional samples and were heavily influenced both by Elvis and by synth duo Suicide. And their album featured actual commercials. I became absolutely obsessed with this album, listening to it constantly on my headphones at top volume to fully immerse myself in its futuristic weirdness. It resonated with me to such a degree that it broke whatever link I had to commercial radio at the time: this was music that truly spoke to me personally, even despite its goofiness and ridiculousness. It was just so out there, breaking so many rules simply by ignoring them, but that was its appeal: it’s okay to let your freak flag fly. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Live it. Mind you, I had no plans or inclination to start fashioning myself up in punk attire, considering that was a fast track to getting bullied by the jocks and ostracized by pretty much everyone else…but this was all about the mind and the heart for me. It told me that it was okay to dig deeper, to go further and ignore whatever anyone else might say. And I never looked back.
More importantly, this album was also the catalyst to reunite with me with someone I’d met in junior high, someone who would become a lifelong friend and welcome me into an altogether different circle of friends that changed my life infinitely for the better. I’d written a glowing record review in the school paper and they’d reached out to me. Within a month I was a part of this new crowd — they were a year ahead of me, but exactly on my wavelength in every other way. The next year and a half would be one of the best times of my teenage life.

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Next up: where to go from here…?

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part V

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It was finally summertime, and I’m pretty certain that this was right about the time I finally got myself a summer job. Mind you, there’s not much out there for a teenager when you live in a small New England town with no public transportation, other than maybe the local supermarkets, but you take what you can get. I worked for one for a good few months so I could make some extra money to put into my super sad bank account, pocketing just a bit for weekly things like candy and soda, music magazines and the occasional album I wanted. I only worked for them for one summer if I recall.

On my off hours, though? My radio was always on in my bedroom, listening to the commercial stations during the day and WMDK in the evenings, then listening to my cassettes as I fell asleep at night. This was probably around the time I would stay up overly late, partly because I could and partly because it was my own way of enjoying myself without my family crowding around me. I did a lot of late night writing then.

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Easterhouse, Contenders, released June 1986. Before I started watching 120 Minutes with any regularity, I’d stumble upon some of MTV’s more adventurous playlists, and this band would show up every now and again. [They were signed to a major label in the US, so that would most likely explain them showing up at all.] I may have heard them on WMDK as well, come to think of it. They were a British band with a very vocal leftist political lean, and I think they were probably the first ones where I’d noticed that kind of thing — a band loudly and proudly wearing their beliefs like that.

Abecedarians, Eureka EP, released June 1986. I’m not entirely sure when I first saw the video for “Soil”, perhaps on late night MTV or Night Flight, but it was a song I’d heard once and immediately thought: I must own this. It would take me a good couple of years to actually find the damn thing, most likely at Al Bum’s down in Amherst. They were an LA post-punk trio that sounded nothing like any other band I’d heard of.

The Woodentops, Giant, released June 1986. If I recall, I’m pretty sure it was this song that was on an early episode of 120 Minutes that caught my attention to both the show and the band. WMDK had said a few really good things about their lo-fi acoustic grooves, and I immediately fell in love with “Give It Time”. This was another album I picked up almost immediately, this time on vinyl at Strawberries, and gave it a lot of plays that summer and fall.

The Housemartins, London 0 Hull 4, released June 1986. Somehow, “Happy Hour” got a bit of play on commercial radio as a very minor favorite in my area, but it was the constant praises they got by the music presses that intrigued me. I believe I had a dub of this sometime in 1987 or 1988. Who knew that just a few years later, that tall and lanky Norman Cook would be one of the hugest techno DJs of the 90s?

The Mekons, The Edge of the World, released June 1986. I remember reading about this band in the Trouser Press Record Guide and hearing good things in the press, but it wasn’t until this album that I finally got to hear them on WMDK. It would be quite a few more years until I’d get around to actually owning any of their work!

Love Tractor, This Ain’t No Outer Space Ship, released June 1986. I’d hear this band for the first time in mid-November of that year when I started listening to WMUA again once it came back on the air for the fall semester. This is when I decided that, like my current wave of radio-sourced mixtapes, I’d dub a tape side’s worth of music, with the sole purpose of familiarizing myself with this genre I was now obsessed with. “Night Club Scene” appealed to me because they reminded me of the early REM years (which makes sense as they were from the same Athens GA scene). I eventually found this album on cassette and played the hell out of it for a good couple of years in the afternoons while doing my homework or writing my stories. It still remains a favorite from this year.

Erasure, Wonderland, released 2 June 1986. I remember seeing ads for this album on the back pages of several music magazines, and many critics lauding their infectious sound and their pedigree (keyboardist Vince Clarke was an original member of both Depeche Mode and Yazoo). I’d hear a few songs by them but they didn’t quite gel with me until a few years later in 1988 when I “borrowed” a copy of The Innocents from the radio station I’d worked at.

Genesis, Invisible Touch, released 9 June 1986. Yes, I was still buying rock albums at this time! I’d really liked the first couple of singles from this album and picked it up on tape not long after it dropped, and it became a favorite of mine. Surprisingly it got a lot of play while I worked on the IWN, partly because of the gloomy “Domino” medley on side two.

The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead, released 16 June 1986. I wouldn’t hear this album probably for another year, but I was well aware of how many fans and critics thought this was the most brilliant album of the year. And it truly is one of their best albums, a huge step up from their first two much darker albums and several singles. Come my junior and senior year I’d have this one playing all the time on my Walkman, up to and including those summers I worked for the DPW.

Agent Orange, This Is the Voice, released 27 June 1986. I wouldn’t hear this band for another year when “Fire in the Rain” showed up on the Enigma Variations 2 compilation in the summer of 1987, but I was well aware of what many called the ‘skate-punk’ sound; fast and hard and often surprisingly melodic. This band was more melodic than most, but that track became one of my favorites that summer.

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Next Up: In which I finally get my hands on a life-altering album.

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part III

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Many of you already know the story. I mentioned it waaay back in the day and dubbed it ‘the Clarence Clemons Event‘. At some point between April 20th and 26th 1986 — a long-awaited spring break from my freshman year in high school — I personally discovered college radio. Oh, I knew it existed, I just never got much of a chance to listen to it, mainly because the family home was in a valley that cut off a lot of the more distant radio signals. That, and I was still somewhat enamored of MTV and rock radio. That would continue to be the case for some months to come, but the seed was sown when I stumbled upon WMUA, 91.1 FM, while searching for something to listen to one chilly night. From there on in, armed with the local library’s copy of The Trouser Press Record Guide (I’d own a copy soon enough), my obsession with acquiring music would slowly shift to the left of the dial. While it didn’t yet have the name ‘alternative’ linked to it, it certainly was quite an alternative to what the US pop and rock charts were providing me, and I was hooked.

**

The Art of Noise, “Paranoimia” single, released April 1986. Max Headroom, played by manic actor-comedian Matt Frewer, was a curious and distinctively 80s icon that started in early 1985 in Britain as a veejay, talk show host and central character in a sci-fi TV movie. He was so weird and anarchic yet so blazingly hilarious you couldn’t turn away. Eventually he showed up here on the single version of this surprise hit and would eventually have an American TV series in 1987-88.

The Fixx, Walkabout, released April 1986. I’d been somewhat of a fan of this band even though I hadn’t owned any of their work until much later. They were a mainstay on MTV and rock radio, always catchy yet slightly peculiar in their music and lyrics. I always liked their less-popular singles like “Built for the Future” and the brilliant the single “Deeper and Deeper” from the Streets of Fire soundtrack. Their music has surprisingly held up well over the years.

Soundtrack, Absolute Beginners, released 7 April 1986. I remember this Julien Temple movie being a huge deal when the movie came out, even though it ended up getting mixed reviews and not as big of a draw in the States. After all, this is a very British movie with a very British soundtrack, based on a very British coming of age novel. The Bowie theme song, however, fared much better, and it’s one of my favorites of his.

The Blow Monkeys, Animal Magic, released 7 April 1986. Speaking of things British, “Digging Your Scene” was a surprise hit in the States and got a lot of play on MTV and pop radio, with its cool, soulful style and jazzy grooves. It did reasonably well in the UK, and this one remains their most popular album.

The Art of Noise, In Visible Silence, released 14 April 1986. This group is more known for their quirky electronic experimentation and their occasional cult classic single (not to mention their always clever and memorable videos), so they may not have been a big seller, but one could always depend on being pleasantly entertained. This album was more a critic and fan favorite than a charter.

Cocteau Twins, Victorialand, released 14 April 1986. It would be another few years before I actively bought anything by this band (who would then become one of my all-time favorites, frequent Walkman go-to’s, and writing influences), but I do remember hearing about them in passing from the music writers out there. Surprisingly, I would not own this particular album until my freshman year in college.

Cameo, Word Up!, released 15 April 1986. Like I said, I was still listening to American Top 40 on the weekends (several of my mixtapes of the time used it as a source), and “Word Up” quickly became another favorite. It’s a silly soul-rap track but it’s catchy as hell. A shor time later, this would be the first cassette I’d buy when I joined the RCA Record Club.

Soundtrack, Legend, released 18 April 1986. Say what you will, I loved that Tom Cruise/Mia Sara/Tim Curry movie, which got its US release during this month. I’d even say this was an early influence on my writing, even though I wouldn’t actually try writing in the SF/F genre for another few years. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack was great, and I really liked the Bryan Ferry track that played during the ending credits.

Butthole Surfers, Rembrandt Pussyhorse, released 18 April 1986. This was another band I knew of thanks to music critics, even though I obviously would not hear anything from them on the radio, at least not until sometime in 1987 when I first heard “Sweat Loaf”. I do, however, remember WMUA mentioning them at one point.

Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” single, released 21 April 1986. Previously, the former Genesis singer was more known for his strange and slightly unnerving songs and videos like “Shock the Monkey”, “Games Without Frontiers” and “I Don’t Remember”, so it was quite the unexpected delight to hear him drop the funkiest and catchiest single (and the most eye-popping video) he’d ever released as a teaser to his next album.

Siouxsie & the Banshees, Tinderbox, released 21 April 1986. Again, another band I’d heard of thanks to music critics and several rock history books I read at the time, although I’m pretty sure I’d heard “Cities in Dust” on MTV on minor rotation as well. It would be a while before I actually picked up her albums, and this was one of the first ones which I’d dubbed from a friend sometime in 1987.

**

I’d still listen to rock and chart radio probably at least until 1987 or so, and then remain somewhat aware of it thereafter — after all, I was an obsessive and wanted to keep tabs on several different genres, and still do to this day — but over the course of the next several months towards the end of the year, my music purchasing habits changed considerably. Whenever our family went to the mall or somewhere that had an indie record store nearby, you’d find me digging through the bins from A to Z and picking up albums, tapes and singles when I could afford them. I even started purchasing more blank cassettes to make even more radio-sourced mixtapes, going from a handful in 1985 to a few dozen in 1986. Two of them would be ‘crossover’ mixes, featuring my first recordings of college radio.

**

Next up: further to the left of the dial

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part II

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I like to think of March 1986 as the point where there was a significant shift in music, at least in my personal view.

On the last weekend of February, MTV dropped Pleasant Valley Sunday, a day-long celebration of The Monkees, by playing all fifty-eight episodes back to back, much to the delight of thousands of GenXers like myself who grew up watching the show in syndication. [It proved so popular that the series became part of a regular line-up on the channel for a time, and Micky, Peter and Davy (and later Mike) soon went on an extremely successful reunion tour and even dropped a few new tunes later in the year.]

On the tenth of March, MTV also premiered the Sunday-overnight show 120 Minutes, an idea spawned by music writer and snark-extraordinaire Dave Kendall (yet not hosted by him for another few years, though he’d do the record reviews), initially planned as an AOR-heavy show but soon morphing into a showcase for the early and influential years of alternative rock. The show itself would become a cult favorite several years before the breakthrough of grunge.

Closer to home, I’d been moving away from the hard rock radio of WAAF whose playlist was veering dangerously towards hair metal, and away from WAQY who seemed happy to stay in what was fast becoming classic rock. I was listening more to the AOR and modern rock of WMDK and WRSI, though I’d still check up on American Top 40 on the weekends. I’d also been reading a lot of issues of Smash Hits (then called Star Hits here in the States), a music magazine geared more towards the hipper UK bands than the gloss of American pop. I’d been looking for a personal change for a while by then, and this avenue was certainly appealing to me.

There’s a lot to cover, so here we go!

The Triffids, Born Sandy Devotional, released March 1986. I believe I discovered this band via Night Flight on USA Network, as one of their episodes featured a focus on Australian bands. It would be long time before I picked anything up by them, but I would often hear a song or two by them on WMDK over the next year or so. This would be one of their best-loved albums by its fans.

Sonic Youth, EVOL, released March 1986. I’m pretty sure I heard of this band in passing on WAAF and through the music papers, but never really paid much attention other than seeing the video for “Shadow of a Doubt” either on an early 120 Minutes episode or on Night Flight. They were, however, a band I’d see constantly in the record shops once I actively started going to places like Al Bum’s and Main Street Music. I’m pretty sure I might have seen them at Strawberries as well.

The Go-Betweens, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, released March 1986. I don’t remember if this band was mentioned on that Night Flight episode, but they were another band I’d heard about. They’re a critic favorite that you just can’t seem to find anywhere and rarely hear on the radio, but I’d eventually see them (and fall in love with them) soon enough.

Dumptruck, Positively Dumptruck, released March 1986. I’d known about this band primarily because they were from Boston, and there was a great writer in the Worcester Telegram that would always highlight and push local groups. “Secrets” was played on the first 120 Minutes episode I’d tape and later watch (and rewatch endlessly). Surprisingly, it took me years to actually add them to my library!

New Order, “Shellshock” single, released March 1986. It’s funny how this was the first New Order song I’d heard, and yet I didn’t know it was them for months until I finally got a copy of the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. I wouldn’t own anything by them until late 1987 when I picked up the cassette of their Substance album, and they’d become a regular go-to in my Walkman for the next several years.

INXS, “What You Need” single, released (US) March 1986. This had already been a successful single in Australia, but it got major airplay here in the States when it was released as a later single. There was a lot of crossover here as well, having gotten play not only on MTV and chart radio, but also on heavy rock and AOR stations as well. This was a song I’d hear on WMDK quite often. It became one of my favorite tracks of that year, and it pops up on several of my mixtapes (sometimes more than once!).

**

As you can see, I could not exactly pinpoint the release date of the above titles, as they’re not listed anywhere online that I could find, so I just have them tagged as “3/1/1986” in my library. Now to the dated songs!

**

Metallica, Master of Puppets, released 3 March 1986. This album is why I knew about them well before their self-titled 1991 breakthrough album, as they would get a fair bit of play on the evening shows on WAAF, where they’d play deeper cuts and more guitar-virtuoso performers. It wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse at the time, though I was quite aware of them.

Depeche Mode, Black Celebration, released 17 March 1986. I knew about this band due to their 1984 hit “People Are People”, but it wasn’t until a few months after this release that I finally broke down and started buying their stuff, starting with this one and 1985’s Catching Up with Depeche Mode. This was of course after discovering and becoming hopelessly obsessed with college radio in April, but it all fell into place perfectly for me: they’d just dropped a highly popular record on a major US label, they were getting a lot of print in Star/Smash Hits because of it, and they were one of the first bands I latched onto when I started poring through Ira Robbins’ Trouser Press Record Guide. I bought this one on cassette and it would get an incredible amount of play on my Walkman over the next three years, getting me through a lot of teen emotional turmoil and deeply influencing a lot of my writing around this time.

Hüsker Dü, Candy Apple Grey, released 17 March 1986. I’d heard of this band via that same writer in the Worcester Telegram as the band played in the area off and on, but the first time I’d actually heard them was on WAAF of all places. One of the deejays at the time was a big fan and was super excited that they’d signed to a major label, and “Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely” got some play on the station for a brief time. I’d end up buying this one on one of my many forays into the dollar bins over the next few years.

Van Halen, 5150, released 24 March 1986. I know this seems a little out of place here, but I’d never gotten sick of this band, having grown up with them getting heavy airplay on both WAAF and WAQY. This was an important make-or-break album for them, as David Lee Roth had exited the band and Sammy Hagar had taken his place, and no one knew what they would sound like. The teaser single “Why Can’t This Be Love” would be a major hit on rock radio and kickstart the popular ‘Van Hagar’ era with several charting singles. And yes, I did see them live on this tour in August (with Bachmann-Turner Overdrive opening)!

Joe Jackson, Big World, released 24 March 1986. I was of course familiar with him thanks to his early 80s videos getting a lot of play on MTV, but by this time he’d disappeared from the channel, only to become a favorite on AOR stations like WMDK. The bluesy “Right and Wrong” got some airtime, and the quirky yet fascinating album (three sides, all new songs recorded live just a few months previous with the audience mixed out) became a fan favorite.

Pet Shop Boys, Please, released 24 March 1986. I absolutely fell in love with the single “West End Girls” from day one and borrowed my sister’s copy of this album all the time until I finally owned my own, and it remains one of my favorite albums of that year. I loved that it was essentially a synthpop album but without the gloom of UK new wave or the disposability of chart pop; it was something in between, something I could latch onto and enjoy. I’ve been a fan ever since. “West End Girls” also kickstarted one of my works of juvenilia at the time, the next project I worked on after finishing the Infamous War Novel: a John Hughes-inspired teen comedy, and my first attempt at writing a screenplay.

Prince, Parade (Music from the Motion Picture ‘Under the Cherry Moon’), released 31 March 1986. I was a big Prince fan by this time, having utterly loved both the Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day albums and wanted to keep tabs on his releases. I remember WMDK talking about him earlier in the year: they’d mentioned that he’d been working on a quirky project of songs under the pseudonym of Camille, and that he was also working with the Revolution on a multi-disc record as well. [These projects of course would start as Camille and Crystal Ball, lose the Revolution mid-year, and eventually morph into 1987’s brilliant Sign ‘o’ the Times.] In the meantime, however, he’d kept himself busy by filming his second movie and recording its oddball soundtrack. “Kiss” was the teaser single that blew everyone’s mind, but for me it was the single “Mountains” that won me over with its infectious groove.

**

Next up: Discovering College Radio and Playing Both Sides

Best of 2025

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This past year kind of felt like a transitional year for me in terms of listening to music. I managed to not obsess over discography completism as much as I had in previous years, for starters. I also dialed back the incessant need to listen to everything, which was also using up all kinds of brainspace and keeping me from actually retaining any of it.

I felt that this was a year of trying out different things instead, so that meant that not every band I liked previously stuck with me this time out. Several albums that got a ton of kudos from bloggers and music sites tended to pass me by. On the other hand, something obscure like Automatic’s Is It Now? or Coral Grief’s Air Between Us connected deeply with me. There were of course the mainstays like Doves and Grandbrothers, whose albums I listen to frequently during writing sessions, that kept me entertained.

None of it was bad, per se. It’s just that I’m in a place where I wanted to change up my tastes and listening habits, that’s all. Perhaps 2026 will be another transitional year in which I find new artists and albums to latch onto, or perhaps something will arrive that will completely blow my mind. Or maybe by chance, it’ll be a year full of stellar releases. We shall see when the time comes!

So without further ado, here’s my list of what I listened to the most, and what stayed with me over the last several months. As always, my favorite album and song of the year are in bold. I’d have created a Spotify playlist for my own best-of-year that sits in my library, but alas said website is on the outs with several friends and music listeners for not properly paying musicians, among other things. Ah well.

Albums
Andy Bell, pinball wanderer
Automatic, Is It Now?
Coral Grief, Air Between Us
Crushed, no scope
Doves, Constellations for the Lonely
GoGo Penguin, Necessary Fictions
Grandbrothers, Elsewhere
Miki Berenyi Trio, Tripla
Motion City Soundtrack, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
Packaging, Packaging
Peter Murphy, Silver Shade
Suzzallo, The Quiet Year
The Beatles, Anthology 4
The Hives, The Hives Forever Forever the Hives
The Verve Pipe, Reconciled

Songs
Automatic, “Is It Now?”
The Beatles, “I Am the Walrus [Take 19 – Strings, Bass, Clarinet Overdub]”
Blushing, “So Many”
Bob Moses, “Better Broken”
Bob Mould, “Here We Go Crazy”
Coral Grief, “Starboard”
Doves, “Renegade”
J Mascis, “Breathe”
Packaging, “Running Through the Airport”
Peter Murphy, “Swoon”
Pulp, “Spike Island”
Sparks, “Do Things My Own Way”
SPELLING, “Portrait of My Heart”
The Neighbourhood, “Hula Girl”
The Verve Pipe, “Tattoo”

The Singles 2025 Playlist:

1. Blushing, “So Many”
2. SPELLING, “Portrait of My Heart”
3. The Hives, “Legalize Living”
4. Steve Queralt, “Lonely Town”
5. Doves, “Renegade”
6. Motion City Soundtrack, “She Is Afraid”
7. HighSchool, “Sony Ericsson”
8. Ashes and Diamonds, “On a Rocka”
9. Peroccupations, “Ill at Ease”
10. Automatic, “Is It Now?”
11. Hannah Jadagu, “Doing Now”
12. Lucy Dacus, “Ankles”
13. Flock of Dimes, “Keep Me In the Dark”
14. The Chameleons UK, “Feels Like the End of the World”
15. Snapped Ankles, “Smart World”
16. SPRINTS, “Descartes”
17. Throwing Muses, “Drugstore Drastic”
18. The Charlatans UK, “We Are Love”
19. Hatchie, “Lose It Again”
20. Heartworms, “Extraordinary Wings”
21. Suzzallo, “River”
22. Bob Moses, “Better Broken”
23. JR Richards, “Alive”
24. Peter Murphy, “Swoon”
25. The Beatles, “Free As a Bird [2025 Mix]”
26. Bob Mould, “Here We Go Crazy”
27. Air, “Cemetary Party”
28. Doves, “Cold Dreaming”
29. Nine Inch Nails, “As Alive As You Need Me to Be”
30. J Mascis, “Breathe”
31. Tortoise, “A Title Comes”
32. Pulp, “Spike Island”
33. Florence + the Machine, “Everybody Scream”
34. Packaging, “Running Through the Airport”
35. Sea Lemon, “Stay”
36. The Neighbourhood, “Hula Girl”
37. Cut Copy, “Belong to You”
38. GoGo Penguin, “Fallowfield Loops”
39. Unbelievable Truth, “You’ve Got It”
40. Brandi Carlile, “Returning to Myself”
41. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke, “Back in the Game”
42. Just Mustard, “We Were Just Here”
43. Dead Pioneers, “My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal”
44. Steven Wilson, “Perspective”
45. Dropkick Murphys, “Who’ll Stand with Us?”
46. Mogwai, “God Gets You Back”
47. Andy Bell, “I’m in love…”
48. Paul Meany, “Scenic Route”
49. Garbage, “Chinese Fire Horse”
50. above me, “out of body out of mind”
51. David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra, “Everybody Laughs”
52. The The, “Unrequited”
53. The Verve Pipe, “Tattoo”
54. Celeste, “Woman of Faces”
55. The London Suede, “Disintegrate”
56. White Lies, “Nothing On Me”
57. Coral Grief, “Starboard”
58. PLOSIVS, “Death Kicks In”
59. The Reds, Pinks & Purples, “The World Doesn’t Need Another Band”
60. Crushed, “starburn”
61. The Hives, “OCDOD”
62. Grandbrothers, “We Collide”
63. The Beatles, “I Am the Walrus [Take 19 – Strings, Bass, Clarinet Overdub]”
64. HAIM, “Down to Be Wrong”
65. Motion City Soundtrack, “Your Days Are Numbered”
66. OK Go, “Love”
67. Too Much Joy, “Song for a Girl Who Has One”
68. Anna von Hausswolff, “The Iconoclast”
69. Nation of Language, “Inept Apollo”
70. Miki Berenyi Trio, “8th Deadly Sin”
71. Automatic, “Mercury”
72. Depeche Mode, “In the End”
73. Massage, “Daffy Duck”
74. Inhaler, “Open Wide”
75. Franz Ferdinand, “Audacious”
76. Bob Moses, “Waiting on the World”
77. Sparks, “Do Things My Own Way”

**

See you next year!

Year End: Favorite releases, October 2025

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October provided us with another great month of releases, especially in the final week! Quite a few reissues and a few pleasant surprises.

The Monkees, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd Super Deluxe Edition, released 2 October. This has to be my favorite Monkees album, to be honest. While Headquarters was the first record where they were allowed more creative and musical input, this one took it one step further. It’s kind of like their Revolver, full of well known tracks like “Words” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” but also fascinating deep cuts like “Daily Nightly”. This edition includes several single versions, b-sides and outtakes.

Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? 30th Anniversary Deluxe, released 3 October. Sure, this one’s already included in the Complete Studio Album Collection that dropped back in August, but this one’s a standalone remaster of their breakthrough album that features several unplugged versions. Also of note is an updated reshoot of the iconic cover, looking down Berwick Street in Soho, London.

Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl, released 3 October. I’m no Swiftie by any stretch, but I’ve come to really appreciate her music over the last few years. I’m quite taken by her style of songwriting, which takes the best of catchy chart pop and gives it a slightly oddball twist.

Massage, Coaster, released 10 October. I was quite taken by this band, most likely because they sound just like the Britpop of the early 90s before it expanded into a multi-headed monster. Shades of jangle pop and hints of Ride dreampop.

Packaging, Packaging, released 10 October. This is definitely near the top of my list of albums of the year for me, especially with the single “Running Through the Airport” which is also in my list of top songs. It’s got that indie moodiness with a twist of synthpop and motorik to make it just that much more otherworldly. An amazing record worth checking out.

Bob Moses, BLINK, released 17 October. This band is still on my list of “I will download anything they release” groups, as they continue to deliver their excellent brand of ambient dance pop. This one got a lot of play during my writing sessions!

Hannah Jadagu, Describe, released 24 October. A discovery thanks to KEXP, she kind of reminds me of the current wave of quiet yet quirky indie rock like Jay Som and Japanese Breakfast. A nice relaxing listen.

Brandi Carlile, Returning to Myself, released 24 October. I’d known about her for a while but only got into her after reading her Broken Horses memoir some years ago, and I’ve been a big fan ever since. She’s definitely in that Indigo Girls style of folky-countrified alternative, and she can wail just as much as she can rock. A stellar songwriter.

Tortoise, Touch, released 24 October. I was so excited to hear this band had finally reconvened after several years to drop a new album! They pick up right where they left off with moody jazz-tinged instrumental indie rock. Highly recommended.

HighSchool, HighSchool, released 31 October. If I were in high school and followed through with The Flying Bohemians in this day and age (and with the ability to record), this is totally what we would sound like.

Too Much Joy, Son of Sam I Am (Tommy’s Version), released 31 October. After far too many years, the rights to TMJ’s breakthrough album finally reverted to the band, and they wasted no time in giving it a proper reissue with a great sounding remaster and several extra tracks. It’s good stupid and clever fun and remains one of my favorite albums of 1990.

The Charlatans, We Are Love, released 31 October. Their first album of new songs since 2017’s Different Days, it’s worth the wait for this band that’s been around since the late 80s as one of the early Britpop mainstays.

*

Whew, that’s a lot! More to come…

Year End: Favorite releases, September 2025

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As expected, September had an avalanche of new releases, several of which I’d been waiting on for quite some time. A lot of long-standing bands with new records, a lot of excellent reissues, and some new discoveries that got significant play here in the office. Enjoy!

Suede, Antidepressants, released 5 September. It’s great to see this band still going strong after all these years. Singer Brett Anderson’s voice may have dropped significantly and lost that squeaky wail, but he can still belt it out.

Saint Etienne, International, released 5 September. This long-standing UK band has finally chosen to take the REM route and split amicably, and this is their last release. There’s no melancholy or wistfulness here, just another light and wonderful album of pop gems.

Ivy, Traces of You, released 5 September. These were unreleased tracks from their run between 1995 and 2012, and left behind after Adam Schlesinger sadly passed away from COVID in 2020. His fellow bandmates Andy Chase and Dominique Durand chose to reconvene and finish them off in his honor. It’s a lovely record that picks up right where they left off.

The Chameleons, Arctic Moon, released 12 September. After several years away, the band reformed in 2021 and toured for a few years before recording their first new album in twenty-four years. They’re still a fantastic post-punk band worth checking out.

David Bowie, I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002-2016) box set, released 12 September. The sixth and final box set that captures nearly every recorded release from the icon, this one stretches from his contemplative Reality up to his final release Blackstar, and also contains b-sides, rarities, duets, and several live cuts. This is the era when I finally started listening to Bowie a lot closer than I had in the past and really began to appreciate his endless creativity.

Nation of Language, Dance Called Memory, released 19 September. This trio continues to defy description with their quirky mixture of brittle post-punk, meandering synthpop and moody lyrics. KEXP played this one quite a bit.

Motion City Soundtrack, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World, released 19 September. Their first new album in ten years, they’d been touring for the last few years (we saw them twice in Berkeley, once before the COVID lockdown and once after its end), they still remain those oddball emo rockers going through self-therapy with high-level nerdy lyrics and bouncy melodies. Well worth the wait.

Grandbrothers, Elsewhere, released 26 September. As expected, this keeps on getting played here in the office during my writing sessions. I’ve always loved their quirky mix of jazz and electronics — every sound, including the percussion, is played on (or in) one grand piano and processed through a mixer. It’s a wonderful album and one of my favorites of the year.

Automatic, Is It Now?, released 26 September. I did not expect to latch onto this album as quickly and completely as I did, but I just love their old-school post-punk sound, and the title track has been an earworm all autumn. One of my favorite albums of the year.

Crushed, no scope, released 26 September. I didn’t quite resonate with their previous album even though it had a few memorable tracks on it, but this one they knocked out of the park, and it’s become another big favorite of mine.

Unbelievable Truth, Rich Inner Life, released 26 September. A and I heard the above track when driving home one day and we both thought they sounded like mid-era Radiohead… only to find out the lead singer is Thom Yorke’s brother! The rest of the album is just as great, just twitchy enough to grant the comparison but unique enough to stand on its own.

Hooverphonic, The Magnificent Tree Live with Strings, released 26 September. Twenty-five years after its initial release, one of my favorite bands releases a live revisit of the fan favorite.

Air, The Virgin Suicides Redux, released 26 September. Meanwhile, the French duo reissues their soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola film filled with desperately haunting instrumentals that caught my attention back in the waning days of my stay at HMV and remains one of my favorite albums of the year 2000.

*

More to come…

A year without mixtapes

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Alas, I did not have the time, nor the inclination, to make any mixtapes this year. I’m pretty sure I’ll still do my year-end playlist/mix, but other than that, I just never got around to it. But that’s okay! This isn’t the first time I’ve gone through a musical dry spell. Between 2006 and 2011, I only made eight mixes in total — two of them were for someone else, and the last was when I’d decided to resurrect the year-end mix.

The main reason for not making one? Well, I’d hinted at it late last year when I’d wanted to spend more time listening the albums I downloaded rather than focusing on the discography completism spiral I’d fallen into over the last couple of years. I felt too disconnected from the music in my own library and wanted to change that. So over the course of 2025, I gave my favorites some more repeat listens. Got to know them a bit better. Found a few singles and deep cuts that caught my attention. Not to mention revisited a lot of my favorite albums from recent years, with the occasional deep dive into an oldie but goodie. And I replayed a lot of albums during my writing sessions!

The other reason for not making one is because I just hadn’t had time or the ability to listen to them other than at my desk. There’s also the fact that we’d recently moved and

So, will I be making more of said mixtapes in 2026? We shall see. I’m not going to confirm or deny at this point. If I’m in the mood for it, I’ll do it. If I do, I might try revisiting the style of my oldest mixes by allowing older songs, something I haven’t done in ages. [A lot of my most recent non-writing-soundtrack mixes usually stick to newish releases from the last few months.]

Either way, the point isn’t just to make the mixes, but to enjoy the tunes I put on them. And I think I’m finally on the way back to that point.