The West Of The Fields 2023 Top 50 Countdown
Take a look back at another exciting year in alternative, indie rock and electronic music with my countdown of the top 50 tracks of 2023!
Take a look back at another exciting year in alternative, indie rock and electronic music with my countdown of the top 50 tracks of 2023!
I continued exploring recent releases from Bar Italia, Health, Peter Gabriel, The Kills, Sofia Kourtesis, Crosses and Hotline TNT on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured great tunes from the year 1981, in honor of Pitchfork’s Sunday Review of the perpetually underrated English post-punk band Au Pairs’ debut album, “Playing With a Different Sex.”
I continued delving into recent releases from Peter Gabriel, Bar Italia, Hotline TNT, The Kills, Health and Sofia Kourtesis on the show this week, while the retro alternative set ventured back again to the early ’80s for another block of Italo disco gems, this time focusing more on the “dark side” of Italo.
I continued exploring recent releases from Yeule, Peter Gabriel, a.s.o., Sofia Kourtesis, Metric, Wild Nothing, The Kills, Pip Blom and Hotline TNT on the show this week, while the retro alternative went back to the early days of Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart for a set of mostly forgotten hits from around 1989 to 1991. I also included a pair of short tribute sets to the late, great Shane MacGowan, frontman for the legendary Celtic punk band The Pogues, and Geordie Walker, guitarist and co-founder of the influential post-punk band Killing Joke.
I continued delving into recent releases from Wild Nothing, Bar Italia, Health, Sofia Kourtesis, Pip Blom, The Kills, Slow Pulp and Jacknife Lee, Budgie and Lol Tolhurst on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on music from 1982, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of Fun Boy Three’s self-titled debut album from that year.
I continued exploring recent releases from Sofia Kourtesis, Hotline TNT, Bar Italia, Melenas, Mitski, Pip Blom, Wild Nothing, Yeule and Jockstrap on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on sophistipop, that uniquely ’80s brand of super-polished New Wave that incorporated smooth sounds from jazz and R&B. I played a bunch of classics from the genre by Spandau Ballet, The Blue Nile, Level 42 and more, as well as more recent acts influenced by the genre, like The 1975, Destroyer and Rhye.
I continued delving into recent releases from Blonde Redhead, Sofia Kourtesis, Hotline TNT, Pip Blom, The National, Slow Pulp, Bar Italia, Wild Nothing and Crosses on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on some forgotten gems from the early days of Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart, which originally debuted in the fall of 1988.
I continued exploring recent releases from Sufjan Stevens, Mitski, Hotline TNT, Bar Italia, L’Rain, Yeule, The Drums, Wild Nothing, Melenas, Slow Pulp and a.s.o. on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on music from the year 1987, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of The Sisters Of Mercy’s goth-rock classic “Floodland,” originally released in November of that year.
I continued exploring recent releases from Wild Nothing, Blonde Redhead, The National, Sufjan Stevens, Yeule, The Drums, Melenas, Hotline TNT and Metric on the show this week, while the retro alternative set featured genuinely disturbing music to scare you for Halloween. This might not be your favorite retro set I’ve ever done, but it sure was … interesting, lol!
I continued delving into recent releases from Slow Pulp, The Chemical Brothers, The Drums, Yeule, Metric, Melenas, Glasser, L’Rain, a.s.o., Deeper, Mitski and Wild Nothing on the show this week, while the retro alternative set focused on tunes from the year 1982, in honor of the recent Pitchfork Sunday Review of Ohio New Wave icons The Waitresses’ debut album, “Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?”