Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part V

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Jon Chaisson

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.

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.

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

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part IV

Posted on February 10, 2026 by Jon Chaisson

Coming up to the end of my freshman year in high school, I’d started making a few changes in my life. I’d seriously gotten tired of being part of a social circle where I knew I didn’t fit in and didn’t want to fit in. All of the neighborhood kids I’d hung with previously were older than me and had already moved on. I’d also gotten serious about my writing — or at least my undiagnosed ADHD got me hyperfocusing on writing the IWN when I really should have been doing my homework — and I now had a new soundtrack in which to link it to. I still had some mental and emotional hurdles to overcome, but I now had what I felt was an escape hatch.

The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, Distressed Gentlefolk, released May 1986. This was a band and album that WMDK would mention every now and again, especially on those weekends where they’d get a bit more adventurous with their playlist. I started paying more attention to these bands they played and mentioned, even if I didn’t get around to checking them out right way. I have a vague memory of hearing them but I don’t remember which song it was, however. I’d revisit this album a few years later when I dubbed it from my freshman year roommate in college.

The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Gun-Shy, released May 1986. Now this album I remember buying at Strawberries at Searstown Mall in Leominster after seeing the “Wild Blue Yonder” video on USA Network’s Night Flight one mid-summer weekend. It was loud, it was punk, but it was catchy as hell and I loved it immediately. It’s still one of my favorite albums of that year. They would get an unexpected minor hit in early 1988 with the goofy but infectious “I Wanna Be a Flintstone”.

Cactus World News, Urban Beaches, released May 1986. This, surprisingly, showed up on WAAF of all places, as “Worlds Apart” got some small but significant airplay at the time. They were an Irish band with heavy indie rock and punk influences but alas disappeared not long after their album dropped.

The Cure, Standing On a Beach: The Singles, released 6 May 1986. I can state that this album was the official start of my turn towards buying alternative albums almost exclusively from here on out. I’d heard of the band before (who hadn’t?) though at the time no local stations would ever think of playing them, so when I’d heard they were dropping what was essentially a best-of album, I figured this was the perfect place to start. I bought it at Musicland at Hampshire Mall in Hadley — specifically the cassette, because it featured a dozen rare b-sides, and I was already obsessed with complete discographies. Much to my surprise, when “Let’s Go to Bed” came on I immediately remembered it from the early MTV days, when they’d play that song along side the early Duran Duran videos. This became a go-to album for the rest of my high school days, enough so that I actually wore my original copy out and bought a replacement sometime in 1988. It wasn’t just an album that got me through my emotional rollercoastering, several of its songs resonated deeply with me, and it also became a solid writing soundtrack for the IWN. [You can even kind of tell in the story, about halfway through, where the plot suddenly gets all dark and grim.]
Once I bought this one, it all started snowballing…I’d be searching not for pop singles or hit albums, but for those harder-to-find ‘college rock’ records. I’d look in discount bins, independent record shops and anywhere else that would carry these offbeat albums.

Soundtrack, Dangerously Close, released 9 May 1986. The Smithereens’ “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep” had gotten some minor airplay on MTV and on the various stations I listened to, but it was the former song’s appearance in this film that caught my attention, most likely later in the year when it got played on cable television. I was deep into the “I love everything punk and alternative” phase by that point. I appreciated that this was a film featuring the time-honored plot of an alternative crowd versus the popular cliques and rich kids but wasn’t a horny gag-filled comedy. Instead it was something much darker and had one hell of a great soundtrack. The film isn’t high art, but it resonated with me regardless and got me hooked on The Smithereens thereafter.

Peter Gabriel, So, released 19 May 1986. This album completely blew my mind when it came out. I didn’t just love “Sledgehammer”, I loved the brittle tension of “Red Rain” and the soft caress of “Don’t Give Up” (I was aware of Kate Bush at the time, natch) and the gorgeous heart-lifting “In Your Eyes” and the fun grooves of “Big Time”. It broke so wide he was everywhere: MTV, college radio, AOR radio, and I would eventually see him live on this tour in 1987. My cassette copy, alas, got stolen by a classmate some months later and I would end up buying the album used on vinyl.

Laurie Anderson, Home of the Brave, released 26 May 1986. Anderson is someone I knew of, like Patti Smith, who was arty and from New York and had a small but extremely loyal following. I even remember hearing “O Superman” at some point. I didn’t quite get her arty approach until probably this record, when “Language Is a Virus” got a significant amount of play and her concert film (of which this album is an abbreviated soundtrack) showed up occasionally on MTV, and her video installations would pop up on PBS now and again.

Ramones, Animal Boy, released 30 May 1986. This was a band that I knew for ages from their early hits getting play on WAAF and my cousin owning End of the Century. Every now and again one of their other singles would pop up on hard rock stations, and “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg” — a single that appeared almost a full year before its album — was a surprisingly melodic and highly political track that appealed to me.

Wham!, The Final [UK Version], released 31 May 1986. This best-of collection was the swan song of this ridiculously popular duo that I’m not ashamed to admit I quite enjoyed over the last few years. An extremely truncated and hastily-built version of this album (Music from the Edge of Heaven) would show up in the States in July and become a huge seller. I thought “The Edge of Heaven” was a perfect swan song for the guys. Who knew that one year later, George Michael would blow the roof off of his former band and kickstart a stellar solo career…?

Coming up: In which I sink further into the darkness of college rock

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part III

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Jon Chaisson

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

Posted on February 3, 2026 by Jon Chaisson

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

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

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, December 2025

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

Looking back, there’s been quite a few reissues this year, and I’m not going to complain, other than the fact that more than once I’ve responded with “…how is this thirty/forty/fifty years old…???” That’s the downside of being a Gen-X music nerd who’s been listening and collecting since childhood, I guess!

Fine Young Cannibals, FYC40, released 5 December. They may have only released two albums and a handful of singles between 1985 and 1990, but they were all bangers. This is a great mix of everything and includes several remixes as well.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Live God, released 5 December. Cave has definitely mellowed with age, but he hasn’t stopped writing some of the most heartbreaking and uplifting music out there. This live record is a perfect cross-section of that from his recent tour.

The Wedding Present, Maxi EP, released 5 December. This British band has been at it for forty years and visited all kinds of styles of punk, post-punk and indie rock, and they’ve always been a critic’s favorite. This one, a sly nod to their 1996 EP Mini, is a fun listen.

Depeche Mode, Memento Mori: Mexico City, released 5 December. This long-lasting band drops yet another live album full of their hits and deep cuts recorded in Mexico City, and also features four leftovers from their previous album that are just as strong as the album itself.

Tourist, Music Is Invisible, released 5 December. A curious electronic band that I found via AllMusic that piqued my interest, and features the vocals of ambient instrumentalist Julianna Barwick. An interesting record that’s starting to get some play here during my writing sessions.

The The, Odyssey soundtrack, released 5 December. While Matt Johnson was away for many years, he wasn’t exactly out of the spotlight; he’s been working with his brother Gerard writing and recording soundtracks for his films. This one features a few vocal tracks like the single “Unrequited”.

Happy Mondays, The Factory Singles, released 5 December. Most best-ofs for this band tend to forget a lot of their earlier tracks (probably for the best, given that Shaun Ryder’s voice was even more wobbly and out of tune on those first singles, but I digress). And yet somehow they managed to record the funkiest and grooviest Britpop out there without overly depending on electronics. This mix reminds you just how great and fun the band is.

Tom Smith, There Is Nothing in the Dark That Isn’t There in the Light, released 5 December. The lead singer for Editors finally releases his first debut album and proves that he doesn’t just write gloomy post-punk, he’s also a great writer of heartfelt acoustic indie rock as well.

HEALTH, CONFLICT DLC, released 11 December. This noise-punk electronic band channels that great Belgian EBM sound and gives it a Wire-y edge with concise songwriting and edgy atmosphere.

Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here 50, released 12 December. The classic band that created and defined aural perfection with their experimentation and songcraft and inspired so many bands that followed, this is a wonderful surprise reissue that’s different from their Immersion Editions from 2011. This vastly expands on an excellent album with several demos, a live show, and a fascinating remix of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, which takes all nine parts that originally bracketed the album and places them together as one twenty-five minute track.

…and that’s a wrap! Have a great Christmas, and I’ll see you on Tuesday for the year-end mixtape!

Year End: Favorite releases, November 2025

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

The Q4 wave comes through once more with several excellent releases and reissues, many of which were on repeat here during my writing sessions. It’s been kind of a strange end of the year for me IRL — not exactly in a bad way, but definitely with its ups and downs — so it felt kind of good to be able to come home and focus on not much except the music I love and the writing projects I’m working on.

The Dears, Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful!, released 7 November. This band from Quebec is kind of fascinating in that singer Murray Lightburn’s voice used to sound shockingly like Morrissey with a slight headcold. They’re not a band that gets a lot of airplay on the radio (if at all), but they’re definitely one of those bands where if you’re familiar with them, you’re sure to be a fan.

Hatchie, Liquorice, released 7 November. A lot of indie fans were focused on the new and highly hyped Wet Leg album, though I found this one to be a lot more fun and memorable. They’ve always been that sort of bubblegummy indie shoegazey band that hits all the right buttons, and this one does exactly that for me.

White Lies, Night Light, released 7 November. It’s been a couple of years since their last album, and I’m glad they’re back. They’ve got that post-punk sound I love yet takes it in a different direction: a bit goth, a bit electronic, a bit synthpop. This one got a fair bit of play over the last couple of weeks during my writing sessions.

Paul McCartney & Wings, WINGS, released 7 November. Macca drops yet another best-of collection, though this one focuses completely on his tenure with his band Wings, partly to tie in with his new memoir Wings: The Story of a Band On the Run. It’s actually kind of surprising how many hits and stellar album tracks he managed to create in that one decade, even when his critics loved to tear it all down.

The Neighbourhood, (((((ultraSOUND))))), released 14 November. Like their last several records that have gone in odd yet fascinating directions, this one feels like they’d decided to create an album that would have fit nicely during the early heights of 1991 Britpop. It’s one of my favorites of the year.

Doves, So, Here We Are: Best of Doves, released 14 November. This nineteen-track album covers everything from their Lost Souls album to this year’s Constellations for the Lonely, and despite it being an all-killer-no-filler mix, they still managed to forget some of my favorite tracks like “Sea Song” and “Words”! This one’s a perfect collection to start with if you’re just starting out. One of my favorite bands from the HMV years that I’ll always follow.

Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair 40th Anniversary, released 14 November. I can’t believe it’s been forty years since my favorite album of my pre-college-radio years came out! I wore out the cassette of this back in the day, of course. A great album always worth owning.

Celeste, Woman of Faces, released 14 November. I hadn’t heard she had a new album out until the day it dropped, and it’s a good thing I caught on because this one is a banger, just like her previous album Not Your Muse. She’s got that sultry-jazzy voice similar to Adele and her tracks are just beautiful.

The Beatles, Anthology 4 / Anthology Collection, released 21 November. I know, I know…most of the musos made a bit noise about this box set, because a) they already have Volumes 1 through 3, and b) most of the new tracks on 4 were already available on previous recent Special Edition box sets. Still, they filtered it all through Peter Jackson’s MAL mixers and it sounds surprisingly fresh and clear. Still worth picking up, in my opinion!

Prince & the Revolution, Around the World in a Day Deluxe Edition, released 21 November. While this one doesn’t measure up to his recent mind-blowing box sets for Purple Rain and Sign of the Times and only contains the remastered album, remixes and b-sides (sorry, no unreleased jams and gems this time out), it still sounds great for what it meant to be: Prince’s about-face away from vertiginous stardom and a fascinating experiment into psychedelia and deep funk. I loved this album back in the day and it’s great to hear it again.

GIFT, Illuminator Deluxe, released 21 November. Sure, the original came out last year and was my top favorite album of 2024, I couldn’t pass up a deluxe reissue that adds a few new tracks and a few intriguing remixes. I still highly recommend this record, it’s that freaking good. They’ve also been hinting that there may be a new album coming out next year…

PLOSIVS, YELL AT CLOUD, released 28 November. Now this is the kind of noisy punk I like — it’s like Wire’s current iteration playing Pink Flag (only with much longer songs!), full of punchy guitars and relentless energy. It’s a super fun album to listen to while burning off stress.

More to come… December’s best-of list will arrive on Thursday (yes, on Christmas Day), and my best-of-year list will be up and running next Tuesday on the 30th! See you then!

Year End: Favorite releases, October 2025

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

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

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

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…

Year End: Favorite releases, July & August 2025

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Jon Chaisson

Despite there being a bit of a shake-up at the Day Job that would soon cause a ripple effect of other frustrations coming to the surface, I somehow found myself finally getting a little more focused on my writing work and the music I wanted to listen to. We were also both still getting used to living at our new home, yet eager to start making it our own. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s getting there.

Nilufer Yanya, Dancing Shoes EP, released 2 July. She keeps coming out with bangers, even if it’s just a tiny four-track mini-album! This one got a lot of play on KEXP during the summer.

Dropkick Murphys, For the People, released 4 July. You can always count on this band to not just be the Most Boston Band Ever, but to be so incredibly outspoken yet still surprisingly erudite, even despite their more ridiculous moments. They have a few things to say about the current administration, and they’re not afraid to let you know about it.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples, The Past Is a Garden I Never Fed, released 4 July. Glenn Donaldson continues pumping out more and more music, and this time it’s a collection of tunes that previously only showed up as vinyl-only tracks or rare singles. And as far as I know, he’s still based in my neighborhood!

311, 311 (30th Anniversary Edition), released 11 July. The album that broke them into the mainstream in the mid-nineties gets a wonderful expanded remastered reissue, sounding bigger and heavier than before. This one got a ton of play during my HMV and Belfry years, and it remains one of my favorite albums of that decade.

Hammock, Nevertheless, released 11 July. I can never quite figure out if I should label this band as rock or electronic, as they seem to glide between the two depending on what album of theirs you listen to. This one’s a quiet and enjoyable instrumental record that works perfectly as a writing session soundtrack.

Coral Grief, Air Between Us, released 18 July. This band just kind of popped up on KEXP’s airwaves one morning and caught my attention with its moody jangle pop I love so much. It’s a wonderful record and worth checking out.

Bush, I Beat Loneliness, released 18 July. I’ve pretty much been a fan of this band since its Sixteen Stone days, and while they’re no longer churning out radio hits, they’re still consistently writing great albums that are fun to listen to.

JR Richards, My Darkest Hour, released 21 July. Speaking of the 90s, the former lead singer of Dishwalla returns with an all new album that was crowd-sourced over the course of a year. He’s one of my favorites.

The Verve Pipe, Reconciled, released 25 July. Speaking of the 90s (again)… I’m glad that this band is still around making records and touring here and there. This is yet another excellent record from them. I suggest following Brian Vander Ark on social media as he’s quite hilarious.

Alison Goldfrapp, Flux, released 15 August. Her second solo album may seem a bit more dance-oriented than her previous work (and definitely less dance-rock than her output in the band named after her), but it’s still quite enjoyable.

Oasis, Complete Studio Album Collection, released 22 August. Released to tie in with their high-profile reunion and tour, this is a great way to revisit their back catalogue and remember just how good they actually were.

The Hives, The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, released 29 August. You can always depend on this band to put on a grand show, whether it’s a chaotic and hilarious live performance or an in-their-own-weird-universe videos, and they always go above and beyond with each album. This one is full of energy and fearlessness. One of my favorites of the year!