One of my favorite occasional theme for this show is the “Hudson Compound” series, where I play nothing but tracks from records I’ve been listening to in my humble abode. It’s been awhile, so I figured it was the perfect time to do this again.

The core of this week’s tracks comes from a little personal theme I’ve been following for the past week, where I have been playing almost nothing but great Minneapolis rock and roll that I’ve otherwise ignored in the last couple of years. There are great bands that should be much more recognized (Crash Street Kids, Loose Rails). There are original Twin/Tone Records legends (Suburbs, Magnolias, The Phones, Curtiss A, Soul Asylum). And there’s a few artists that rarely are far from my turntable (Paul Westerberg, Husker Du, The Hypstrz). 

Besides those two sets, there are sections devoted to 60s legends, garage rock bands whose albums I’ve acquired in recent months, and a few odds and ends. It’s the perfect weekend listen!

What’s your favorite Minneapolis band or album?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

You guys all know my rules about the cover version episodes – once the folder is full it’s time for a show. This time around, it’s also perfect timing. As I was putting this week’s show together, I discovered that Trash Kickers had put out a live video of them covering “Can’t Hardly Wait” at their May album release show.

Oh, yeah, I had to include that. Here’s why I love this band so much. Over the years, I’ve received dozens and dozens of press releases stating that this band or that album is reminiscent of The Replacements. They rarely are. In fact, many tracks on their debut record, Way Out Somehow sound like discarded Paul Westerberg tunes. Very good Paul Westerberg tunes, in fact. 

And while I was at it, another Facebook post reminded me that in 2013 Paul Westerberg had produced a band called The Silks, and on the b-side to their 7 inch had played guitar and sang on an obscure Rolling Stones song called “One More Try”. Yep, I had to pull that out of the archives.

Overall, this is one of the most interesting cover shows I’ve ever put together. You have the return of Strawberry Alarm Clock. You have Public Image Ltd’s Jah Wobble covering the Beatles. There are more tracks from the upcoming Jem Records Celebrates Bob Dylan album. There’s The Routes covering the Velvet Underground. There are tracks from the third volume of Drunk Dial’s Fake series. The list goes on and on.

There’s also an eye witness account of the live show included on Camper Van Beethoven’s reissue of II & III, as I was there!!!

What’s your favorite cover?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

I wish I could say I have vivid memories of 1986, but I really don’t. Look, it was the year after I graduated from college, and life was a party. I was working in a record store during the day at night I was a club DJ. Quite often the club followed me to the home I shared with a couple of friends with similar lifestyles.

I do remember the music, though, and tonight’s show celebrates the soundtrack of that glorious year. What surprised me as I was preparing this show, though, is that this was a year where roots rock dominated my life. Sure, there was plenty of traditional punk and alternative music, too, and that will probably be the focus of a sequel, but jangly guitars seemed to the be the sound of the times for me.

What was your favorite record of 1986?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

Before we get to a description of this week’s episode, I received a wonderful notification earlier this week that this show had hit #31 on MillionPodcast’s Best 100 Midwestern Music Podcast chart! Wow! This is quite an honor. 

If I’m going to be honest, I believe it’s these monthly new release episodes that have helped get this sort of attention. What other radio show features around four hours of new releases each and every month? Tonight’s show, like volume one last week, may be a little shorter from a typical episode but it’s jam packed with wonderful tunes.

As usual, there’s a set devoted to our friends at Rum Bar Records, including Songs From The Film, the new project of Chazz Matthews of the Cheap Cassettes. The Amplifier Heads once again hit it out of the park, and how can I not love the Paul Westerberg-ish tones of Tad Overbaugh’s “July” (plus it features Dave Minehan).

Elsewhere, there’s a twofer from a debut album by Taxi Girls that’s definitely bound to hit my top ten of the year. There’s the return of The Bobby Lees, a couple of fabulous Bob Dylan covers from an upcoming Jem Records tribute to the legend, and plenty more rock, punk, power pop, and Americana. Oh yeah, and I’ve found yet another new version of “Teenage Kicks”. 

What is your favorite new release?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

It’s that time of the month once again! It’s another set of new release episodes, and this one includes a lot of familiar faces. There are the usual submissions by the likes of Numb Surprise, Phil Cook & the Fall Dogs, Ricky Rochelle, and others, but there’s also some great covers from The Routes and the latest Drunk Dial Records’ Fake series. There’s also strong new stuff from Jon Spencer, The Jukeez, and The Paranoyds, along with a wonderful compilation of bands playing this month’s Punk Rock Raduno festival in Italy. 

But I’m especially happy to once again premiere some new local music. Off Contact’s new album, Cab You?, is set to be released in a few weeks, and this Sioux Falls-based post-punk outfit deserves plenty of attention. I also have a couple of tracks from Chicago’s Trash Kickers, who I highlighted last week as my favorite new record of the month. I can’t wait for the vinyl version to be released later this year.

What’s your favorite new release?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

With tonight’s show the final episode of June, it’s time to look back at the new music released over the past quarter year. These three months have been simply fantastic. There’s been followups to records that were at the top or near the top of previous year end lists (The Sleeveens, Memo PST, The Bevis Frond, etc.) There’s surprise albums by veteran bands (Eddy Current Suppression System, Natural Child). There’s the returns of longtime fave bands (Social Distortion, Oddfellows, High On Stress, etc.)  And there’s plenty of brand new bands, including a kickass Chicago group, Trash Kickers, that I just discovered a few days ago. What’s especially great is that these 40 albums are just a fraction of the fine tunes that have been released in recent weeks.

What’s your favorite album of the last quarter? 

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

A little over two years ago, I put together a show based only on songs released on the ten inch EP format. I’m still wondering why there aren’t more ten inchers released these days. It’s the perfect format for the EP’s that waste way too much space on most twelve inch releases. 

Anyway, since that previous show, I’ve not only acquired a few more of these type of records, but I’ve expanded my knowledge of the format. For new titles, there’s the live Replacements EP that accompanied preorders of the box set reissue of Let It Be. There’s also a couple of Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs EPs, and a reissue by The Delmonas. 

For older titles, I must give a bit of praise to my record collecting geek friend Phil. Over the years, he’s handed me a few titles that he knew that I’d enjoy. One of those was a record by a 90s band called Speedway. As I was looking at it the other day, I was pleasantly shocked to see that this was an early band by Miss Georgia Peach! I definitely needed to air a couple of tracks off that.

Phil also alerted me to a various artists ten inch that featured legendary South Dakota punkers Dissent, who went into our state’s Rock and Rollers Hall of Fame two years ago! Along with those tracks are a ton of records put out by Sympathy For The Record Industry, SST, and Estrus Records.

What’s your favorite 10″?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

The second part of the monthly new release series is generally dominated by the latest records Malibu Lou has put out on his legendary Rum Bar Records label. This month is no different, and it’s a perfect kick off to over two hours of great new tunes. The Hollywood Stars, The Amplifier Heads, Stop Calling Me Frank, Gene Champagne and Girl With a Hawk are this month’s Rum Bar representatives, and they’re all fabulous. There’s also a sampler of tunes from the lastest Dam-Nations compilation series.

The rest of the show is a battle of sorts between veterans and noobs. On the veterans side, there’s great new music from the likes of Guided By Voices, Social Distortion, Dwarves, Die Toten Hosen (their final album!), Nashville Pussy, and the Real McKenziess.

On the “noob” side, there are acts sucks as Irked, Taxi Girls, Cable TV, Hoaxxers, and so many more that once again proves there will always be great new rock and roll bands!

What’s your favorite new album?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

I have long described the contents of the first episode of my monthly new release series as “friends of the show” Well, that is more true than usual this month. Yes, there are the usual suspects (Numb Surprise, Phil Cook & the Fall Dogs, etc.) but there is also the debut single from an upcoming album by my hometown friends Off Contact. “Heart and Mind” is the first look at Can You?, their third album, and you can expect to hear more off that album as the summer progresses.

Besides those tracks, there is a set devoted to a cool concept record called Pets Sounds, an album of songs about…well, pets! There’s a sneak peak at an upcoming Jesse Malin tribute record, and tunes from two of my favorite new releases of the past month – Memo PST and The Lemon Twigs. Plus, lots of other power pop, garage rock, and some good ol’ rock and roll!

What’s your favorite track from this week’s episode?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

In the days following last month’s Record Store Day extravaganza I spent hours digitizing a number of titles I purchased that day. I also went through my archives to grab tracks from the many reissues that came out. A couple of weeks later, I was all set to do a show based on this work.

Unfortunately (for the show at least), I had a last minute family function to attend, so I had to set that folder aside for a future episode. Well, the future is now.

In my eyes, it was a great Record Store Day as there were plenty of rarities that I was excited to add to my collection. And as I don’t go after the pop titles that so many are standing in line to find these days, I was pretty successful in my efforts. There’s a shelved album by power pop maestro Tommy Keene. There’s a live album by The Muffs. Soul Jazz Records has another fabulous compilation. There’s expanded editions of a ton of classic albums. There’s something here for everyone. Well, everyone who has taste.

What was your favorite Record Store Day release?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com