The Ledge #600: Hudson’s Best of 2023
Choosing my favorite records of the year is always a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great fun for a music nerd like me to revisit the hundreds of releases I’ve checked out the last twelve months. But it’s also frustrating trying to thin down those picks into a list that truly represents the past year. Many records that initially seemed a lock are suddenly eclipsed by new records that I simply can’t ignore. Other albums that I had prematurely set aside have revealed themselves to be chock full of fabulous tunes that I can’t imagine living without. Overall, this is another great year for music. I’ll never understand the mindset of people, especially those around my age, that complain how there’s no great bands or records these days. Sure, the pop charts are primarily filled with garbage, and one does have to spend more time than ever finding new artists. But the search has always been a great part of the fun of being a collector, and my main reason I’ve now put together 600 episodes of this show is to share my findings with others. I’m always thrilled when I hear that someone has bought a record […]
The Ledge #600: Hudson’s Best of 2023
Choosing my favorite records of the year is always a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s great fun for a music nerd like me to revisit the hundreds of releases I’ve checked out the last twelve months. But it’s also frustrating trying to thin down those picks into a list that truly represents the past year. Many records that initially seemed a lock are suddenly eclipsed by new records that I simply can’t ignore. Other albums that I had prematurely set aside have revealed themselves to be chock full of fabulous tunes that I can’t imagine living without. Overall, this is another great year for music. I’ll never understand the mindset of people, especially those around my age, that complain how there’s no great bands or records these days. Sure, the pop charts are primarily filled with garbage, and one does have to spend more time than ever finding new artists. But the search has always been a great part of the fun of being a collector, and my main reason I’ve now put together 600 episodes of this show is to share my findings with others. I’m always thrilled when I hear that someone has bought a record […]
The Ledge #585: Hudson Compound Playlist
This week’s show is another of those broadcasts where I simply air some of the records I’ve been playing around the house the last few weeks. There’s no real format outside of that, but you do get to enjoy almost 60 years of fabulous…
The Ledge #575: Second Quarter Report
With tonight’s show being the last broadcast of June, and especially as it is also the last day of the month, it’s pretty clear that it needed to be a second quarter recap. There’s over two hours of great music that has come out in the last three months, similar to the first quarter recap show of March 31. The material ranges from the fantastic power pop of Paint Fumes and Jagger Holly to veteran rockers such as Ian Hunter and The Waco Brothers. There’s some rootsy rock and roll from Tommy Stinson, Deer Tick and The Baseball Project. The music comes from not only the usual US, UK, and Canadian artists but also from Australia, Austria, France, and Germany. As for this week’s “52 weeks of Teenage Kicks” series, I have a very special cover by German punkers Die Toten Hosen. Way back in the early 90s they had a fantastic covers record called Learning English, Lesson One, where they invited members of the original bands to assist them with their remakes. 2017 saw the relese of Learning English, Lesson Two that continued that format. For their version of “Teenage Kicks”, they featured original Undertones guitarist Damian O’Neill! I […]
The Ledge #573: Even More Miscellany
This week’s episode is another show consisting of material I’ve been a bit obsessed with around the Hudson compound. The first half is primarily new or new-ish material. The tribute to Justine Covault continues with tracks off the brand new Justine and the Unclean album, The Signal Light, along with new tunes by Lydi Loveless, Kate Redgate, Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys in the Campfire, and a great Alice Cooper cover by veteran rockers Zero Boys. The second half of the show is dominated by older records that I’ve recently picked up. Many were originally owned by my buddy Phil who had his semi-annual record sale last weekend. But I also have included a couple of reissues of records that I’ve been trying to acquire for years. The Lyres On Fyre, for example, was the very first truly independant record I’ve ever owned, and I desperately needed a copy to replace the one I lost decades ago. And then there’s Double Nickels On the Dime, the classic double album by Minutemen. Going for big bucks on the used market, SST finally pressed some more copies, and I just could not resist! Of course, there’s also this week’s installment in the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” […]
The Ledge #571: New Releases
The first Friday of June means we have nothing but new releases on The Ledge, and it’s quite the lineup tonight. There are artists from all over the world, ranging from just a mile or so from my home (Thought Patrol) to Germany (Hamburg Ramones, Berlin Blackouts), with additional stops in Italy, Norway, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries). There’s the return of a ton of veteran artists, including Rancid, Graham Parker, The Aquadolls, and Joan Jett. Most importantly, at least for me, is the brand new project by Tommy Stinson. Over the last few years he’s been touring with his pal Chip Roberts under the Cowboys in the Campfire moniker, and today sees the release of their debut album, Wronger. While a bit quieter than we’re used to from the former Replacements bass player, it’s still quite a record from the hardest working member of the legendary band. Of course, we begin with the latest in the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” series, and this time it is nt a new release. This version is from the French band Nouvelle Vague, an act that was created to remake classic punk and new wave songs in bossa nova versions. Yes, […]
The Ledge #524: Birthday Covers
When I read that the 35th anniversary date of the release of the fifth Replacements full-length album, Pleased to Meet Me, fell on a “Ledge” night, it obviously became the focal point for a theme. I decided to celebrate the birthday by recreating the album’s track listing with covers of each and every song. This became a bit of an issue, however, as some songs were missing from my initial search through my archives. And while I inevitably found some of the missing pieces, I still was short two songs just days before tonight’s show. Luckily, I was alerted to a message board compilation of Replacements covers that included a track donated by our friend Jeremy Porter. Since this comp also included a version of “Red Red Wine”, I quickly contacted him to see if he had the whole release! Well, not only did he have the needed track, he actually played on it! The Regulars were his high school band, and on this cover he played guitar and provided backing vocals! Yes, I was set! Unfortunately, a few minutes in my show I was informed that June 17, 1987 was not the actual release date for the album. “Trouble […]
Live Ledge #393: PW & Friends
This week’s show came about partly thanks to a Juliana Hatfield tweet of an old article about The I Don’t Cares, her 2016 collaboration with Paul Westerberg. Remembering how much I was charmed by that record, I spent the afternoon reacquaintancing myself to that release. Then it suddenly hit me. If I went through all the various names that Paul and the rest of the Replacements had used for their various projects I should be able to fill a full Live Ledge episode. It was actually much easier than I expected. In fact, we even went a few minutes over our usual two hour timeslot. I also tried to shy away from the obvious tracks. For the Replacements and even the solo Westerberg material I picked mainly some somewhat rare live tracks. Tommy Stinson’s set includes a little known Clash cover he did for Uncut Magazine. This show is meant to just be fun and not a representation of the musician’s greatest moments, together or solo.
Live Ledge #380: Tommy & Evan
Host Scott Hudson chats about his weekend at the Tommy Stinson/Lemonheads show, along with lots of great garage rock.
Live Ledge #379: Garage Pop Power Rock
A great set of power pop and garage rock, including a lengthy set of new Rumbar Records releases.
Live Ledge #304: New Releases
Two hours of great new releases, including tracks from the new live Replacements album.
Live Ledge #263: Tommy Stinson
Tommy Stinson talks to Scott Hudson about the rebirth of Bash and Pop, the Replacements reunion tour, and many other topics regarding his long career.
Live Ledge #230: Bob Mehr
Music journalist Bob Mehr joins Scott Hudson tonight to talk about his new book, Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements.
Live Ledge #219: Thank You Friends
A post-Thanksgiving episode celebrating just a few of the artists I’m thankful to have in my life.
Live Ledge #125: The Clash
To celebrate the release of the Sound System box set, tonight’s show is all Clash-related!
Live Ledge #123: Replacements Roundtable
Director Gorman Bechard, author Caryn Rose, blogger Brad Searles, and music fan Jason Loeb join Scott Hudson to discuss last week’s reunion of the Replacements in Toronto.
Live Ledge #116: Replacements Reunion
An almost all-interview show, with Gorman Bechard chatting about the Replacements reunion, and members of Cursive and Teenage Bottlerocket promoting upcoming Sioux Falls appearances.
Live Ledge #101: New Finds
It’s that time of the month again – almost nothing but new releases and blog finds, including one of the tracks from the upcoming new release by The Replacements!
Rural Ledge-ucation #73: Happy Birthday Tommy Stinson
Yesterday was Tommy Stinson’s 46th birthday, so it is only natural for us to celebrate it with music from all periods of his career.
Live Ledge #81: Family Tree
Besides the usual new releases, blog finds, and old faves, tonight’s show features a number of “family trees” – sets that include spinoffs and solo projects of some of my fave bands.
Live Ledge #73: I’m Back!
After another short break due to remodeling, Hudson is back with almost all new releases!
Live Ledge #65: Whine-Free
The goal was simple – to make it through an entire show without whining. Did I succeed?
Rural Ledge-ucation #54: Record Store Day
Hudson’s 3rd annual Record Store Day recap reviews the pile of music released on his favorite day of the year.
