Open Water

Open Water

181 - December 5, 2019

Dec 5 • 62 min

wahoo doray. indeed.

180 - November 28, 2019

Nov 27 • 59 min

I thank you for a great year. which only means you have a general allowance of 33 days to disappoint me.

179 - November 21, 2019

Nov 21 • 62 min

those guys at the top say Have a Nice Life but I suspect they don’t really mean it.

178 - November 14, 2019

Nov 18 • 63 min

Iggy offers the invocation and we all fall in line.

177 - November 7, 2019

Nov 6 • 59 min

this one’s for Bean. safe to say 30 years at KROQ is akin to 130 at KX.

176 - October 31, 2019

Oct 31 • 62 min

happy halloween and all that. 🎃

175 - October 24, 2019

Oct 24 • 58 min

next week this show will be in costume as another show entirely.

174 - October 17, 2019

Oct 17 • 62 min

in his ongoing attempt to fill the calendar with more live shows than school pickups.

173 - October 10, 2019

Oct 10 • 59 min

we the best music. (no, seriously.)

172 - October 3, 2019

Oct 3 • 62 min

come with me if you wanna live.

171 - September 26, 2019

Sep 26 • 60 min

A Giant Dog covered Arcade Fire and stuck the landing. they said it couldn’t be done (but really, they always say that, and we’ve been listening to them far too long anyway.) also more stuff.

170 - September 19, 2019

Sep 19 • 61 min

it took less time for Bombay Bicycle Club to go away, make us miss them, assemble some lost demos, make a new album and mount a tour, than it took me to move into the new place.

169 - September 12, 2019

Sep 12 • 61 min

it’s anniversary-palooza out there among our classic bands. too bad most of the marriages fell apart.

168 - September 5, 2019

Sep 5 • 59 min

still behind… catching up. breaking down. looking around.

167 - August 29, 2019

Aug 29 • 61 min

team TFS. all day, all night. pls join me.

166 - August 22, 2019

Aug 22 • 59 min

TFS is the word. (at least that’s what the FCC stipulates.) spread it.

165 - August 15, 2019

Aug 15 • 60 min

the windscreen stops all the sibilance and sheer force of passion coming across.

164 - August 8, 2019

Aug 8 • 60 min

RIP David Berman. I’d imagine there are enough imperfections in the proceedings to make him fake a smile.

Open Water — James interview — August 6, 2019

Aug 6 • 17 min

it’s the Open Water interview with Tim Booth & Jim Glennie of James, backstage at the Observatory North Park, on the penultimate night of the tour with Psychedelic Furs

163 - August 1, 2019

Aug 3 • 60 min

the soundtrack of your life. specifically the part that transpired between 5 & 6 last Thursday.

162 - July 25, 2019

Jul 25 • 122 min

2 hours in which to lull you and jostle you at alternating intervals — til you eventually come over to my side of things.

161 - July 18, 2019

Jul 18 • 63 min

He has returned. (Iggy Pop.)

160 - July 11, 2019

Jul 11 • 60 min

haven’t been caught up on the latest latest since SXSW. that’s no joke. and a dang shame. new stuff from Dumb, Purling Hiss, Model Zero, Drawing Boards… closer, closer, closer…

159 - July 4, 2019

Jul 4 • 61 min

a 4th of July wish for you: go watch the fireworks. try not to eat anything you’ll regret. register to vote. happy 4th.

158 - June 27, 2019

Jun 28 • 60 min

I went to Denver last week. now I’m back.

157 - June 20, 2019

Jun 20 • 61 min

hacked Radiohead, live Car Seat Headrest, music from AI, and two from the surf film Self Discovery for Social Survival. plus more.

156 - June 13, 2019

Jun 13 • 122 min

the machine matched my mood measure for measure tonight. the results are on the tape.

155 - June 6, 2019

Jun 6 • 59 min

life’s short. this show’s about an hour. you decide.

154 - May 30, 2019

May 30 • 59 min

we accidentally celebrate the imminence of Pride month with a song about shame. you can’t write this stuff.

153 - May 23, 2019

May 23 • 60 min

The Verve got their royalties back on “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” and all you got was this stinkin’ t-shirt. some days it’s like that.

152 - May 16, 2019

May 16 • 61 min

Tyler went overseas, left the window cracked and a couple open cans on the floor by the fridge. we make do with 13 new tracks and some pearls of wisdom in the seams.

151 - May 9, 2019

May 9 • 121 min

two hours tonight. lucky you. we kick things off with something irreverent & profane (as we’re wont to do), perform a GBV trifecta, and lull you into a nice haze early in hour 2 with some arena-style shoegaze. this is what love sounds like.

150 - May 2, 2019

May 2 • 60 min

all the best from England, Australia, Slovenia & Brooklyn. delivered in a dauntingly erudite dialect that sounds vaguely Western Mass.

149 - April 25, 2019

Apr 25 • 59 min

the tourists are coming, the tourists are coming. lock yourself in the car and behold new Wand, Beak>, Ride and more. leave the engine running just for a little extra bass.

148 - April 18, 2019

Apr 18 • 57 min

first 30 = a packed trunk full of high-energy indie jams to scare off the IRS. second 30 = Lauren Ruth Ward talkin’ & singin’ & hangin’. and it’s all cuz you showed up.

147 - April 11, 2019

Apr 11 • 62 min

hey, I’ve been painting the house. and there are times when not all of the windows in the room were open. so that spirit & mindset finds its way into tonight’s proceedings. won’t be the last time.

146 - April 4, 2019

Apr 4 • 61 min

we’ve raised the funds. now you see what we do with the money. regrets?

145 - March 21, 2019

Mar 21 • 60 min

back from Austin and comin’ in hot. new Goon, Low Life, Beach Slang and so much more of that crunchy peanut butter you love, and secretly share with the dog.

144 - March 14, 2019

Mar 14 • 60 min

it’s a pre-tape, so that I can go to Austin next week and eat vegan BBQ. and watch 100 bands. I start by leaving you with Nothing, which is something I’ve been known to do.

143 - March 7, 2019

Mar 7 • 62 min

seems I could dedicate the show to a fallen musician every week. let’s do this one for Sara Romweber. new stuff from Go-Betweens frontman Robert Forster, more from Down Under, and some cherished pre-Talk Talk nuggets. safe to dive.

142 - February 28, 2019

Feb 28 • 62 min

it can’t be Nashville every night… we start out with some bumps, but get the train back on the track with a little help from Royal Trux, POZI, Pom Poko and Sleaford Mods. and it ends, fittingly, with silence. (miss you most of all, Mark H.)

141 - February 21, 2019

Feb 21 • 59 min

one man’s false start is another man’s glimpse into the not-too-distant future. another perfect show, right from the jump. tonight we learn about patience in all its brilliant hues.

140 - February 14, 2019

Feb 14 • 60 min

it’s all love all the time. sometimes smells like lust, though. and plaster.

139 - February 7, 2019

Feb 7 • 63 min

11 minutes in, the fumes from the new coat of latex paint enter the lungs, and what follows can only be described as a stream-of-consciousness listicle punctuated by area tour dates. you’ve been served.

138 - January 31, 2019

Feb 1 • 61 min

I don’t care if you play it loud. just — y’know — play it.

137 - January 24, 2019

Jan 24 • 60 min

the station’s a mess, it’s in my kiss. double-dose of Ty and more where that came from.

136 - January 17, 2019

Jan 17 • 62 min

we’re back, ladies and gentlemen. and the station was kind enough to line the room with tarp & duct tape, to catch the mess that is this week’s show. blood on the tracks, indeed.

135 - January 3, 2019

Jan 2 • 55 min

welcome to…

134 - December 27, 2018

Dec 20, 2018 • 118 min

at the closing of the year… this.

133 - December 20, 2018

Dec 20, 2018 • 50 min

the station is a hot mess. looks like an Oh Sees album sleeve. no computer to record the show, so here it is, duct-taped together w/out my unhealthy intrusions. Merry Christmas.

132 - December 13, 2018

Dec 13, 2018 • 61 min

we separate the natives from the tourists in the first 8 minutes of Bevis Frond riffage. all uphill from there.

131 - December 6, 2018

Dec 6, 2018 • 58 min

a pre-tape is when I show you how I intend to love you later on. just listen.

130 - November 29, 2018

Nov 29, 2018 • 63 min

this one’s for Bleecker Bob. the world is in no more need of a lotta things. but I’ll always take another record store.

129 - November 22, 2018

Nov 22, 2018 • 59 min

Happy Thanksgiving to you… and yours… and theirs… and that other guy who just showed up, and you’re not sure how to feel about it because your sister insisted she was done with him. good tidings all around.

128 - November 15, 2018

Nov 15, 2018 • 60 min

it’s a weird, angular version of the show this week, in what looks more like junior-year geometry than inspired radio programming; we get leftfield musings from audiobooks, an unearthed gem from the Lynch-Badalamenti paradox Thought Gang, plus a…

127 - November 8, 2018

Nov 8, 2018 • 64 min

it gets pretty gritty tonight. but then, it also gets… pretty tonight. some dude showed up at the station with salsa in a canvas bag, and asked a lot of questions about where to drink and whether to feed the meter. sometimes KX is a bit like that colorful…

126 - November 1, 2018

Nov 1, 2018 • 59 min

hey, Pill is back. reason enough to have a show (though it’s a weekly thing, so truthfully it was already in the works). we muse over what a frogstrap is, Ty takes on The Dils, The Skiffle Players busk their way through the midsection, and Death Valley…

125 - October 25, 2018

Oct 25, 2018 • 120 min

we start off with a double-bang of Cloud Nothings, and end with a double-bang of Concrete Blonde (only because I timed the thing wrong and ended up with 2 minutes of surplus real estate). it’s all good, cuz that last one is sufficiently Halloween-ie.…

124 - October 18, 2018

Oct 18, 2018 • 121 min

in search of the freshest possible fruit, we find ourselves going back… and back… and back… to Australia. I don’t play favorites. I just play hits.

123 - October 11, 2018

Oct 11, 2018 • 120 min

it’s a 2-hour endurance test, as we experience at least one instance of playing two songs at the very same time. not so much a mashup as a f***up. register to vote so that this sort of thing never happens again. it’s in your hands now.

122 - October 4, 2018

Oct 4, 2018 • 62 min

i get ready for Desert Daze. i get you ready for Desert Daze. i also play new old stuff from Bowie & Joe Strummer. i live without regrets, but often with more irrational fear than I’d like.

121 - September 27, 2018

Sep 27, 2018 • 60 min

there are clues in 4 of the songs that will help you get Billy out of the basement. go.

120 - September 20, 2018

Sep 20, 2018 • 62 min

I’ve wanted to get down to Oz for years now. tonight, we go there in our minds — but you didn’t bring your passport, so I send you to Ontario to catch Billy Moon, DC for some Escape-ism and LA for all the Warm Drag you can handle. in the end, we’re back…

Open Water - Ramones Road to Ruin 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition release | playback & interview with producer Ed Stasium - September 20, 2018

Sep 20, 2018 • 59 min

a celebration of Rhino Records’ release of the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the classic Ramones album Road to Ruin, with producer Ed Stasium

119 - September 13, 2018

Sep 13, 2018 • 62 min

it’s a pre-tape, which only means I had something far better to do. I left the window cracked, some cold tofurkey in the fridge, and IDLES, Viagra Boys & scorching new Ty on the turntable. you’ll be fine. number’s on the fridge.

118 - September 6, 2018

Sep 6, 2018 • 64 min

so the show has a mind of its own (once again) and decides to start itself 5 mins. before the hour, while I’m in repose in the lobby, enjoying a hot toddy. a life of surprises. new stuff from down under, and we dabble in punk just enough to wake you up…

117 - August 30, 2018

Aug 30, 2018 • 63 min

I urge you to register to vote. then I play you a buncha freedom fries, like new stuff from Beach Goons, Ethers, BC Camplight and Ultra Beauty. and you squeeze out the final rays of summer as you drift into the mix. as it should be.

116 - August 23, 2018

Aug 23, 2018 • 120 min

like an adult playdate, it’s two solid hours of fun with all the requisite ingredients: post-punk, psych rock, shoegaze, indie pop and a little Naardwaar for seasoning. you can’t get this kinda value just anywhere.

115 - August 16, 2018

Aug 16, 2018 • 60 min

The Beths, Jorge Elbrecht & Shy Boys keep the summer sun high in the sky, Moses Sumney puts a welcome wrench in things with his experimental protest anthem, and that Soft Boys track that got bumped outta last week and the week before finally sees its…

114 - August 9, 2018

Aug 9, 2018 • 61 min

some old friends stop by to witness the slow destruction of a man afforded a mic, and we celebrate new releases from The Love Language, David Nance, Post Pink, Art Brut and more more more. and I spin the new Sleaford Mods, only in hopes the dialect will…

113 - August 2, 2018

Aug 2, 2018 • 62 min

is it Valentine’s Day? mightaswellbe, cuz Iggy & Underworld, Protomartyr & Spray Paint, and Ty & White Fence all did the collab thing. we get jittery & skittery with Dumb and Table Sugar, there’s some delightful bits of Old England in Peel Dream Magazine.…

112 - July 26, 2018

Jul 26, 2018 • 121 min

new noise from Ovlov, Mike Krol, Chastity, Slang, Data, Former Member… some vinyl purloined at the finest SoCal wax emporiums, and weather more or less on the 12-and-a-halfs. it’s a living.

111 - July 19, 2018

Jul 19, 2018 • 63 min

summer’s here, and that can only mean one thing — I’m drained from carpooling to camps. let’s all sing a song for the 5 fwy. and mean it.

110 - July 12, 2018

Jul 12, 2018 • 64 min

it’s hot cuz the AC is out, but while the flesh is weak, the mind soldiers on, as we trip thru a Japanese garden boasting the formidable titans Bodega & Flasher, plus irreverent noise from f**k & Viagra boys, a Portland twofer, and more. and fear not —…

109 - July 5, 2018

Jul 5, 2018 • 62 min

did you know a group of rhino poachers got eaten by a lion today? just as fitting is this mix o’ goodness, featuring all-new jangle from some longtimers new on inspiration (The RockATeens, The Chills, The Essex Green) and some other new stuff to keep…

108 - June 28, 2018

Jun 28, 2018 • 62 min

sure, I ended it with NIN. consider yourself spared — coulda just as easily been Death Grips.

107 - June 21, 2018

Jun 21, 2018 • 59 min

Catalan band Mourn take us on in w/ vitriol, before we get all soft n’ cuddly w/ Culture Abuse’s advice for grads. Protomartyr are back w/ more acid, and we do the generational baton-toss — Aussie style — btw The Go-Betweens & RBCF. and the only real…

106 - June 14, 2018

Jun 14, 2018 • 61 min

Jonathan from Deep Cuts saves the day with the fussy turntable. (in the immortal words of Julia Sweeney, “if it’s not one thing, it’s your mother.”) we get back on the proverbial track with newness from Flasher, The Lovebirds, The Sea and Cake, and Vital…

105 - June 7, 2018

Jun 8, 2018 • 119 min

2 solid hours of greatness tonight, that takes us from Chicago to the Emerald Isle to Australia to South Korea, and fittingly ends up in the fertile ground of Manchester, England. there’s some wandering vibes in hour one, and some early post-punk in hour…

104 - May 31, 2018

May 31, 2018 • 62 min

The Americans is over. what’s one to do now? try new angular post-punk from Lithics, Bodega & Fontaines D.C., plus a twofer from Illuminati Hotties, and some head trips courtesy of JJUUJJUU and Church of sun (thanks, Dave!). Kim K got to go to the White…

The Posies — acoustic session & interview w/ Jon & Ken (+ 30 mins. of new indie on the back end)

May 24, 2018 • 60 min

The Posies — acoustic session & interview w/ Jon & Ken (+ 30 mins. of new indie on the back end)

103 - May 17, 2018

May 17, 2018 • 120 min

two (in)glorious hours tonight, as we make up for last week’s detour, with newness from The Goon Sax, The Sea and Cake, Lume, BNLX, Hit Bargain, Dude York, Wild Pink and more — and a birthday nod to Eno (70 years of oblique strategies writ large…)

Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. — interview

May 10, 2018 • 64 min

a career-to-date chat with the singular Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. — Jellyfish co-founder, Beck touring & session musician, solo artist, and all-around gentleman

102 - May 3, 2018

May 3, 2018 • 61 min

pre-taped tonight, so’s I can go see the LCDs in Santa Barbara. you understand. more cuts from great albums featured on last week’s show, plus a double shot of Sloan (that’s what 27 years gets you. better than a fountain pen.)

101 - April 26, 2018

Apr 26, 2018 • 60 min

Wreckless Eric is back — and in good form. Omni gives us a new jangle, Pill get their early stuff reissued on wax, and we spend 10 infectious minutes with a Scottish charity album. all in a day’s.

100! - April 19, 2018

Apr 19, 2018 • 58 min

show 100 is a please-give-us-your-money affair, but who doesn’t love a pledge drive? we pay it back in advance, with newness from Sloan (27 years & going strong), A Place to Bury Strangers, Bush Tetras, Hinds, and more of that amazing Amazing. pay the…

99 - April 12, 2018

Apr 12, 2018 • 62 min

I coulda stopped with the balls-out rock-a-rolla of BAMBARA & The Sueves. I coulda pulled back after I laid some of The Amazing on you. I coulda left you to slip into the deep haze of Holy Wave. but I upped the ante with new RBCF, Bodega and more. oh, and…

98 - April 5, 2018

Apr 5, 2018 • 60 min

the only thing reliable in a world of uncertainty is a new GBV album. and so it is. we celebrate Failure new & old, bask in the madness of The Garden, enjoy 3 minutes of Italian rock, and lend 10 minutes to the man Neil Young. time well spent.

97 - March 29, 2018

Mar 29, 2018 • 117 min

two sweet hours tonight for you to bask in the warm, iridescent glow of the open water. we kick off with as infectious an ode to depression as one could ask for, courtesy of the restless guys in Preoccupations. add in some classic Wire, and new stuff from…

96 - March 22, 2018

Mar 22, 2018 • 59 min

they asked if I wanted to see the Bowie exhibit in Brooklyn, so I went. wouldn’t you? show is a priority, but the Thin White Duke is a bigger one. so all the dialogue sounds like, say, someone was sitting in a crappy business center in a downtown hotel,…

95 - March 15, 2018

Mar 15, 2018 • 118 min

some things go on for two hours. this show is one of them. all the better to fit in some anniversary records from the likes of Britpoppers Supergrass, The House of Love & Gomez. and noisy new stuff from Lithics, FRIGS, Moaning, The Lovely Eggs and more.…

94 - March 8, 2018

Mar 8, 2018 • 59 min

once again, there is a ghost in the machine — tracks that won’t load, and the human error that prompted a re-record on some of the vocal breaks. but you didn’t come for the disclaimers; you came for the Parquet Courts 2-in-1, the Scott Kannberg reissues,…

93 - March 1, 2018

Mar 1, 2018 • 59 min

FRIGS have my heart, but Mean Jeans bring the commercial jingles. how can one choose?

92 - February 22, 2018

Feb 22, 2018 • 59 min

Superchunk are back, Ride are back again, Fugazi are kinda back, Greta does Bowie, and it’s a double-Ought shot. and if there’s anything a free-market economy has taught us, there is typically collusion.

91 - February 15, 2018

Feb 16, 2018 • 62 min

the day after Love Day, it’s all back to relative normal. Uranium Club cough one up from the obligatory live rekkid, plus we get some South Korean surf from Say Sue Me, some lush demands from MGMT, and one very, very good tribute to the late irate Mark E.…

90 - February 8, 2018

Feb 8, 2018 • 60 min

a happy early couples day to y’all — courtesy of Bat Fangs, Hookworms, Mind Spiders and the whole menagerie. Royal Trux are back (almost). Khruangbin are sellin’ out all over, so let’s pretend like this show is the only place you can really hear ‘em. oh,…

89 - February 1, 2018

Feb 1, 2018 • 57 min

why do I buy tickets to shows I’ll probably never go to? it’s a character flaw. Ty Segall played the Dirty Bird, and it’s like that high school party where everybody else was there. no matter. two days later I give you an hourlong set of equal greatness,…

88 - January 25, 2018

Jan 25, 2018 • 60 min

Mark E. Smith would not have wanted us to eulogize him, but we’ll do it anyway. his spirit is as alive in the early-‘80s experimental pop of Laughing Clowns, as it is in the acerbic attitudes of Mudhoney, Flat Worms & Razorbumps. if the transitions are a…

87 - January 18, 2018

Jan 19, 2018 • 117 min

it’s a 2-hr ’stravaganza, as the new year (finally) gets into swing w/ some new stuff (Shame, Shopping, Preoccupations, Ought), but we take great consolation in finding garage rock from the back of the 2017 garage, and use that to mortar the rest of it.…

86 - January 11, 2018

Jan 12, 2018 • 57 min

sometimes it’s my list. sometimes it’s a list comprised of other people’s lists. nothing is original, don’tchaknow. not since everybody stole the blues and called it something else anyway. quite unlike my food, I don’t care where it comes from. long as it…

85 - January 4, 2018

Jan 4, 2018 • 61 min

hey, it’s a new year. that can only mean a January that starts with scant new records, the obligatory live album, reissues, some stuff that got bumped out of last year, and even-yet-still-more King Gizzard. and trust — that’s all a very good thing.

84 - December 28, 2017

Dec 28, 2017 • 61 min

we close out the year in grand fashion, leading with the only sensible voices this year, and ending with some minimalist post-punk. as the gods would have it. in-between is a melange of inspiration, and an assurance that it’s all gonna be ok if we just…

83 - December 21, 2017

Dec 21, 2017 • 123 min

2 solid hours to give you the last new goods and to clear out the closet a bit, and accommodate all the good stuff that got bumped last few months. if Stephin Merritt can write 50 songs to chronicle his life in one album, I can do this.

Open Water — the best of 2017.

Dec 21, 2017 • 273 min

no, really.

82 - December 14, 2017

Dec 14, 2017 • 61 min

I had my mind blown at the METZ show, so much of the hour was woefully incoherent. let’s let the music do the talkin’, shall we??!! new stuff from Total Control, Moaning, Pope and Lars Finberg, something from GBV’s album-of-the-month club, and hey The…

81 - December 7, 2017

Dec 8, 2017 • 61 min

it’s not my fault. Jason left his file unsaved on the drive, and I did a kindness just by storing it, but then I didn’t get a waveform, and I had to call Steph (who was kind enough today to extend her pad for the station’s holiday party, and worked her…

80 - November 30, 2017

Dec 1, 2017 • 64 min

Chrissie Hynde said, “nobody’s perfect / not even a perfect stranger.” I like Chrissie Hynde. this week, I decide to prove her point by cocking up the music upload process, and inadvertently leaving a stray song from a show several months ago, in the…

79 - November 23, 2017

Nov 24, 2017 • 60 min

one time at the old house, I grew so frustrated trying to install a doorknob on the hall closet, that I took the screwdriver and tore a sizable hole out of the door itself. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good. the moral of the story is supposed to…

78 - November 16, 2017

Nov 17, 2017 • 62 min

what a time, what a time… in the waning days of the year, we marvel at our state of affairs w/ a rejuvenated Superchunk, a downhearted Escape-ism and a rabble-rousing L.A. Salami (while the Gizzard continue to simply see 2017 as one long street date).…

77 - November 9, 2017

Nov 9, 2017 • 60 min

we salute the Bay State right from the git-go, find sleepy stuff from Curls and ass-on-fire stuff from the Gotobeds, set the wayback machine for the early ‘80s, and — yes — find time for a couple quick jabs from Castle Face … just to get yer head…

76 - November 2, 2017

Nov 2, 2017 • 62 min

will the show ever be live again? until we find out, bask in the warm light of Parquet Courts’ Italian tourism, Baxter Dury’s pub snarl, Grooms’ Brooklyn cold wave, Gord Downie’s poetic half-life, and more. I ate a boatload of candy and confused the…

75 - October 26, 2017

Oct 27, 2017 • 59 min

Italia was great, but it’s back to a live affair, as we offer up good things in pairs: twofers from The Gotobeds & Radiator Hospital, a couple doses of mad garage rock, and a couple inspired covers. trick or treat — smell my feet.

74 - October 19, 2017

Oct 19, 2017 • 58 min

I long to be live again. but they said ‘go’ and I went. while I was away, No Age showed back up with a slightly straighter line, Porches took a quaalude, The Wedding Present re-revisited their baby pictures, and Luna figured if they’re gonna play Mercury…

73 - October 12, 2017

Oct 12, 2017 • 59 min

is it obvious it’s pre-recorded? is the immediacy not there? the timely social commentary a bit off-kilter, like a psychic trying desperately to train focus? no matter — it’s all been prepped & ziplocked for your listening pleasure. Robert Palmer once…

72 - October 5, 2017

Oct 5, 2017 • 118 min

the wayback machine makes a couple stops in ’81 & ’82 tonight — then returns to portions of 2017 that sound a helluva lot like ’81 & ’82 thank Frankie Rose, Mourn, THICK and the lot. and yes, we give passing mention and enduring love to the Lost…

71 - September 28, 2017

Sep 28, 2017 • 120 min

two hours is a long time. especially when the mic sounds like it comes from inside a soupcan. (I’m on it — trust.) meanwhile, it’s a bevy of new and not-so, w/ even-yet-still-more Ted Leo, a Mourn cover, more Castle Face, a dual Deer Tick, a post-punk set…

70 - September 21, 2017

Sep 21, 2017 • 61 min

another helping of Ted Leo. a fitting sendoff to Bent Shapes. plus re-worked Wedding Present, fittingly esoteric Ariel Pink, and some old stuff that’s nonetheless new. oh, and another cock-up just to lay claim to the DIY ethos.

69 - September 14, 2017

Sep 14, 2017 • 57 min

“for a start take two Grant Harts / and call me when you die.” a little tribute, a little try-to-move-on. du you know the way to Minneapolis?

68 - September 7, 2017

Sep 8, 2017 • 56 min

the male gaze turns to you, with some new finds from the past 6 days, and some non-perishables pulled from the back right corner of the fridge. oh, and who can resist a trifecta of covers? not I.

67 - August 31, 2017

Sep 1, 2017 • 62 min

show 67 heralds the return of some of our prodigal sons — new stuff from Omni, The Front Bottoms, Pere Ubu & Tera Melos; Castle Face continues to exercise a desperate grip on the latter half; and Alex Dezen gets a twofer cuz he works just. that. hard.…

66 - August 24, 2017

Aug 24, 2017 • 59 min

arrrrrgh… people. (and also, new stuff from AJJ, GBV, Radiator Hospital, Rainer Maria, and a back-to-back whack from Castle Face). but arrrgh… people.

Everyone is Dirty — live session, 8/18/17

Aug 18, 2017 • 35 min

Oakland band Everyone is Dirty comes to KX to play and gab.

65 - August 17, 2017

Aug 17, 2017 • 56 min

show 65 finds itself a little garage rock-y at the outset, before diving back to the ‘90s for a short spell, then doing the goth for a cool 7 minutes, only to come out the other side with some harmless indie. no Glen Campbell. he woulda wanted it that way.

Mike Peters of The Alarm — interview August 17, 2017

Aug 17, 2017 • 53 min

Mike Peters of The Alarm in a career-spanning, hourlong interview

64 - August 10, 2017

Aug 10, 2017 • 61 min

does the vocal this week throw off a bit of a we-have-your-daughter-and-we-want-our-money vibe? that’s what you get with a B-grade Guitar Center mic and a glass desk, and a room more suitable to shooting a YouTube video on how to bedazzle your prom dress,…

63 - August 3, 2017

Aug 3, 2017 • 60 min

it’s all for, Damien. spanking new stuff from Weaves, Wolf Parade & Lemon Twigs, along with some rough stuff from the ‘Mats and the Smiths, and Jarvis Cocker genuflecting graciously to Scott Walker. all for the low, low price of nada.

62 - July 27, 2017

Jul 27, 2017 • 121 min

a special 2-hour edition of the Water brings some classic reggae, a double-dose of Daddy Issues, new ones by Teen Vice, See Through Dresses, Japans Breakfast & Brightness, plus a temperamental turntable and a host who doesn’t even have the excuse of…

61 - July 20, 2017

Jul 20, 2017 • 60 min

I’m not here this week, but I’ve left this life-like approximation of my sensibilities, soundtracked to the best low-budget music a nonprofit station can afford. David Nance channels Merle Haggard, GBV have yet-another-album coming, and otherwise it’s a…

Cymbals Eat Guitars - 7/18/17 - Laguna Sound Studio

Jul 18, 2017 • 35 min

the morning after their local date at the Wayfarer, I get to sit in with Cymbals Eat Guitars as they record a live session for KX, at the famed Laguna Sound Studio. glory be.

60 - July 13, 2017

Jul 14, 2017 • 63 min

Ted Leo arrives 10 seconds before I do, which is why I sound breathless and even more incoherent than usual. the 405 is a trickster fox — one minute, forgiving and seductive; the next, … just never mind. PILL & Protomartyr are back. all the best bands…

59 - July 6, 2017

Jul 7, 2017 • 62 min

I couldn’t take life’s often pallid soundtrack, without some skronking sax. so thank gods PILL is back. and it’s guitars on all sides, what with the likes of American Lips, Jason Loewenstein and King Gizzard giving the goods. I dusted off an old R.E.M.…

58 - June 29, 2017

Jun 29, 2017 • 59 min

when I was 11, I couldn’t get a girl to talk to me, to save my life. now, in the humbling throes of middle age, I’m surrounded by them. here’s a few of them talking at me, in the first half. their perspective is clear, their concerns are real, and their…

57 - June 22, 2017

Jun 22, 2017 • 61 min

know what? there’s not enough disk space on the drive in the studio. know what else? that’s why the show intro and the first break now live out in the ether with Richey Edwards, all of my family photos, and the digital Star Wars watch I left in Orlando in…

56 - June 15, 2017

Jun 16, 2017 • 57 min

do you smell the wax? Open Water made an all-too-rare foray into the glossy black world of vinyl on this show, of necessity, since the B Boys’ new whack wouldn’t see release til the next morning. so worth all the technial miasma it took, just to get one…

55 - June 8, 2017

Jun 8, 2017 • 119 min

i started the day with 13 tracks for the typical 1-hour show, but Jason had to go to the circus so it became a 2-hour show. then i saw my elder daughter at the station. i had a fistful of almonds cuz i didn’t eat all day. gave a nod to Tyler & Monica &…

54 - June 1, 2017

Jun 2, 2017 • 62 min

show 54 comes on the heels of a literal Earth-shattering event, as our Commander-in-Grief lights a match in the heart of Paris, just to watch it burn. hence, Bob’s Burgers. and some splintering punk. and a dash of David Lynch to put it all back to square.…

53 - May 25, 2017

May 25, 2017 • 62 min

show 53 kicks off with Tall Juan, simply because that’s the way he’d want it. then careens into some scintillating new-ish GBV & Black Lips, before diving into underground LA and emerging again in the early ‘80s with Tears for Fears driving the car. where…

52 - May 18, 2017

May 19, 2017 • 61 min

show 52 heralds indie darlings Perfume Genius & Johnny Jewel, and the return of the tireless Paul Weller — who squeezes another album for the ages out of his bare British hands

51 - May 11, 2017

May 12, 2017 • 60 min

show 51 wasn’t contemplated as a rush job. but rush jobs never are. blame would be shared by the studio equipment and its human operator for the flub that transposed Waxahatchee for Cayetana. after that, it was more civil — and surprisingly cohesive.

50 - May 4, 2017

May 5, 2017 • 62 min

the devil is in the details. and the electronics. and the production room. and the headphones. some said it coulda been English Beat saxophonist Saxa, from the great beyond. turned out it was the electrician.

49 - April 27, 2017

Apr 27, 2017 • 60 min

show 49 puts us back on-track, with some fuzzy Ron Gallo, some Kraut-y Trans Am, a little Little Star and a big Big Star. plus Car Seat Headrest do the Smiths, and we try to play vinyl without blowing a fuse. see what happens.

48 - April 24, 2017

Apr 24, 2017 • 58 min

show 48 is a super-special pledge drive show, and we all know how much people love pledge drives. it is what it is — we can’t run this thing on wishes. Beach Slang does the Plimsouls, the Plimsouls do themselves, and the boogie hits in the last 15. come…

47 - April 20, 2017

Apr 20, 2017 • 58 min

a couple insolent tweens storm the station, interspersing the cynical alt-rock with their merriment at just-being-alive. it’s ultimately to no end, as the likes of Uranium Club, Damaged Bug, INVSN & GBV make it thru the barricades anyhow. off to Coachella…

46 - April 13, 2017

Apr 13, 2017 • 58 min

show 46 starts off like one of those sketchy bars you wander into after pulling off the freeway. pretty soon you find yourself in an unwanted conversation that turns surprisingly heady and coherent. you drink a little, dance a little, share too much,…

45 - April 6, 2017

Apr 6, 2017 • 52 min

show 45 is a remote affair, as the host steps away to attend to another job — then proceeds to screw up the assembly of the show in post. (how much genius is lost in post? we may never know.) but Open Water is its own organism, so the show goes on, with…

44 - March 30, 2017

Mar 30, 2017 • 64 min

show 44 features British, Australian and American bands, cooked up in a heady stew by its Irish-American host — whose youngest daughter joins in the fun in the last few minutes, just to give him some needed context. PINS, NE-HI, Dick Diver, The…

43 - March 23, 2017

Mar 24, 2017 • 59 min

show 43 celebrates the glory that is the SXSW Music Festival, where Open Water was hunkered down for 3 days at the BrooklynVegan/SoS showcase. the best of the fest includes the likes of Cherry Glazerr, Rolling Blackouts, Dude York, Everyone is Dirty and…

42 - March 16, 2017

Mar 17, 2017 • 57 min

show 42 is a semi-local/semi-remote affair from SXSW, resulting in questionable audio quality for the intros, but otherwise celebrating some of the bands to see . Hollerado channels Gang of Four, R Stevie Moore elevates antisociability to high art, and…

41 - March 9, 2017

Mar 9, 2017 • 61 min

the SXSW Express hits town, nodding vigorously to Beach Slang, Heat, Priests, Bleached and more Austin-bound bands. also something clean(!) from Sleaford Mods (though they had to be wrestled to the ground to elicit it)

40 - March 2, 2017

Mar 3, 2017 • 59 min

No Men, No Joy, No Thank You. all the contrarian indie bands are present and accounted for. there’s even a languid Tim Darcy instrumental for all of you who’ve had a hard week. (all of US, that is.)

39 - February 23, 2017

Feb 23, 2017 • 58 min

late winter malaise rolls on with Rolling Blackouts C.F., Dutch Uncles, The Octopus Project, and other stuff that makes spring & summer barely perceptible. plus an oldie from Stiff Records — just cuz

38 - February 16, 2017

Feb 16, 2017 • 61 min

good Valentine’s Day? good. here’s some more candy. new Wire, old Wipers — plus PINS, PWR BTTM, Cayetana, Bleached, Beach Slang, Beachheads and more.

37 - February 9, 2017

Feb 10, 2017 • 60 min

show 37 seeks solace in a spate of ACLU benefit albums, wants some of what The Courtneys are having, and ultimately finds Kate Tempest even more pessimistic than we’d thought possible.

36 - February 2, 2017

Feb 3, 2017 • 57 min

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.

35 - January 26, 2017

Jan 26, 2017 • 60 min

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.

34 - January 19, 2017

Jan 19, 2017 • 59 min

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.

33 - January 12, 2017

Jan 12, 2017 • 63 min

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

32 - January 5, 2017

Jan 6, 2017 • 68 min

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…

31 - December 29, 2016

Dec 29, 2016 • 60 min

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.

30 - December 22, 2016

Dec 23, 2016 • 120 min

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

29 - December 15, 2016

Dec 15, 2016 • 61 min

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.

28 - December 8, 2016

Dec 8, 2016 • 58 min

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…

27 - December 1, 2016

Dec 1, 2016 • 57 min

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.

Open Water – show 26 - November 24, 2016

Nov 25, 2016 • 122 min

show 26 is about Giving Thanks — to the stewards of indie rock. (specifically, Wolf Parade, Merchandise, All Them Witches, LIV, His Clancyness, Joyce Manor, Power, Broncho, and a veritable cornucopia of other goodness.) will you ever be full?

25 - November 17, 2016

Nov 18, 2016 • 60 min

show 25 heralds the swanson of A Tribe Called Quest, and transitions seamlessly into some goth-y goodness from Savages, The Chameleons and Protomartyr, and hitches a ride in the Wayback Machine for some Trip Shakespeare and Big Star. now how much would…

24 - November 10, 2016

Nov 11, 2016 • 56 min

show 24 lives in a post-Election haze interrupted by the death of Leonard Cohen. what can be said, when the title of the Joan As Police Woman track says it all?

23 - November 3, 2016

Nov 4, 2016 • 59 min

show 23 has election fever, so — fittingly — it’s a bit manic and not too focused. new cuts from Duchess Says, CC Dust, Soft Kill & Cloud Nothings, plus the return of Earwig, and a PUP take on Phantogram. VOTE!

22 - October 27, 2016

Oct 27, 2016 • 64 min

Happy Halloween from Open Water — a little Concrete Blonde to kick things off, alongside new cuts from The Shins, Pond, The Radio Dept., Futurebirds, The Oh Sees, and so so so so so much more unsafe candy.

21 - October 20, 2016

Oct 21, 2016 • 59 min

show 21 shines brightly with the pleasing strains of the Matt Pond PA and Everyone is Dirty, but finds its angst again with Minihorse, Faux Ferocious, Year of Glad, Lovely Bad Things & Diarrhea Planet. yes, Diarrhea Planet.

20 - October 13, 2016

Oct 14, 2016 • 57 min

show 20 casts the net wide, with new drops of goodness from Midnight Faces, Valley Queen & Crying, yet another from Cass McCombs’ fantastic new record, a Pond headtrip, and a deep cut from Fischer-Z

19 - October 6, 2016

Oct 7, 2016 • 58 min

show 19 starts off on a mellow vibe, with Kate Bush’s extended live prologue from her sold-out 2014 UK dates, goes abroad for a little Nena & Francis Cabrel, and brings it all back home with new Pixies, White Night, We Are Wolves and that good ol’ Beach…

18 - September 29, 2016

Sep 29, 2016 • 61 min

show 18 is therapeutic, with some cathartic work from Joseph and Cymbals Eat Guitars, new stuff from Shovels & Rope, Phantogram and Beach Slang, and a Morphine drip

17 - September 22, 2016

Sep 22, 2016 • 62 min

show 17 is all about great new cuts from Grandaddy, Beach Slang, Cymbals Eat Guitars and the man Leonard Cohen. plus a Kevin Shields remix of an Undertones classic, and a little something from… Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?

16 - September 15, 2016

Sep 15, 2016 • 59 min

show 16 boasts some searing new sounds from Sleaford Mods and Pill, a new/old Oasis demo, something from Robert Pollard’s new projects ESP Ohio, and local boys Super Whatevr

15 - September 8, 2016

Sep 9, 2016 • 117 min

show 15 is another expanded 2-hour edition, boasting some dreaded Sex Stains, alongside spanking new stuff from The Pop Group, Thee Oh Sees, The Tyde, The Wedding Present and Nick Valensi’s Strokes side-project CRX. plus some Suede snarl.

14 - September 1, 2016

Sep 2, 2016 • 63 min

show 14 highlights some great new releases from Ryan Sheridan, Cass McCombs, Mat Kerekes and The Raveonettes, while casting a light on late-night, with TV performances by Wolf Parade and Car Seat Headrest

13 - August 25, 2016

Aug 25, 2016 • 59 min

show 13 is lucky indeed — new stuff from Flock of Dimes, D Generation, Thundercat, Jagwar Ma, and (of course) Gringo Starr

12 - August 18, 2016

Aug 18, 2016 • 118 min

show 12 is a special 2-hr affair, bringing brand-new tracks from Milemarker, AJJ, Cass McCombs and Touche Amore, along with a Belle & Sebastian Olympics tribute and a Romeo Void deep classic

11 - August 11, 2016

Aug 11, 2016 • 118 min

show 11 is a 2-hour tribute, 120 Minutes of 120 Minutes, featuring The The, Husker Du, Wire and The Church, and forgotten gems from Waxing Poetics, The Royal Court of China, and more.

10 - August 4, 2016

Aug 5, 2016 • 58 min

show 10, featuring new stuff from Cold Pumas, Manuela and The Parrots, plus a Pere Ubu post-punk classic

9 - July 28, 2016

Jul 28, 2016 • 60 min

show 9, a Lollapalooza tribute featuring bands appearing at the fest — Wolf Alice, Sunflower Bean, Lucy Dacus and more — plus new releases from Roosevelt, Porches & AJJ

8 - July 21, 2016

Jul 21, 2016 • 61 min

show 8, featuring a late-night TV performance by Parquet Courts, an Alan Vega cover from MGMT, plus new cuts from Sleigh Bells and Bad Suns

7 - July 14, 2016

Jul 14, 2016 • 59 min

show 7, featuring Australian breakout Camp Cope and a brand new release from post-Superdrag group The Lees of Memory, plus a PJ Harvey non-album track and critical darlings Parquet Courts

6 - July 7, 2016

Jul 7, 2016 • 61 min

show 6, featuring Shout Out Louds frontman Adam Olenius, plus Funeral Advantage, Adult Books, and a Superchunk scorcher

5 - June 30, 2016

Jun 30, 2016 • 59 min

show 5, featuring great new releases by Weaves, Caveman and Moonface & Siinai, plus a John Peel session w/ the immortal Chameleons UK

4 - June 23, 1016

Jun 24, 2016 • 61 min

show 4, featuring new music from Dawes, The Hecks & Sunflower Bean, plus a Damned classic and a deep cut from The Spiral Starecase

3 - June 16, 2016

Jun 16, 2016 • 59 min

show 3, featuring new cuts from Preoccupations, Milemarker, Merchandise, His Clancyness and The Temper Trap — as well as a deep cut from Catherine Wheel and a Cure classic.

2 - June 9, 2016

Jun 9, 2016 • 57 min

show 2, featuring new tracks from The Amazing, Moonface and Siinai, Local Natives, The Faint & G0GGS (feat. Ty Segall).

1 - June 2, 2016

Jun 2, 2016 • 62 min

the inaugural show, featuring new cuts from Esme Patterson, Tuns, Sweet Crude & The Temper Trap, as well as deeper cuts from Foals, Text, and more.