Open Water

show 36 lends its voice to the refugee crisis, but ultimately doesn’t take itself seriously enough to steer straight after that… or end error-free.

show 35 is all about new-ness, with all-too-timely releases from Japandroids, Cloud Nothings, Heat, Priests, Teen Vice, Camp Cope and a buncha other stuff that sounds good at the desk, better in the car, and best at the beach. even in January.

show 34 starts in a shoegaze-y way, then feels a bit bad for itself, before finding its snark, then bouncing its head in bemusement. why not, indeed.

show 33 cannot be brought down by fake news. it offers only testimonials from Sleaford Mods, Kim Gordon, Chavez, Japandroids and and and and and and

the new year brings a fortune cookie of hope that might just sing loud enough to drown out abject fear, as conveyed through the strains of The Pop Group, Uranium Club, Faux Ferocious, another Tweedy and more more more...

show 31 offers up one installment from each of the best albums of 2016 — “best” being a relative term befitting beauty pageants and barstool arguments.

show 30 is a 2-hour holiday music extravaganza, with more than a few that got away. happy festivus, y’all.

show 29 fittingly resembles a 29-year-old — brash in its assertions, rambling between angst and grace, and quite unable to get to 30. The Shacks, The Seams, Crystal Fairy, At the Drive-In, Faux Ferocious, more.

show 28 features a special guest in the form of new KX intern Adeline, who makes her radio debut (at about the 26-min. mark) and shows dignity in the face of the host’s technical gaffes. also onhand: The Seams, Tim Darcy, Jeff Rosenstock, Dams of the West, and more-ish

I came breezing in from the motorway at 4:59, just to bring you this bag of independent. you basked in the warm glow of Total Slacker, Magnetic Fields, Mick Harvey, Preoccupations and the Lucy Show. we both came away fulfilled.