Last year, the Twitch community lost beloved streamer Blockbustermusic. He had run a series of raid trains, in which every DJ played favorite songs from their high school years. I loved this concept, and will be reviving it on my stream this week, with a set of pop songs released between 1985-1990.

As promised, this week's show will not have an organizing theme, beyond 'songs that I like'. A few new releases, some older favorites, and lots of space for requests!

Hard to believe, but it has now been three years since I started doing Twitch streams! I'm grateful for my crew of regular listeners and chatters, who have made this time so rewarding. I've decided that reaching this milestone will be an excuse for me to mix things up a bit.

Where I live in Canada, the third Monday in February is a holiday known as 'Family Day'. So, for this week's Twitch show, I've opted to use 'siblings in bands' as my theme!

Few cities have produced as much music relevant to my personal interests as Manchester, England. This week's stream will set out to make that case.

Those Nordic countries have it good. High quality of life, ridiculously good-looking people, affordable furniture, toys with high play value, and a lot of great bands. Let's listen to a few of them.

I'll be on a raid train tonight, at midnight Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Pacific, playing an hour of songs by LGBTQ artists. It's a benefit for fellow DJ Wonkknow, who has unfairly had their Twitch account suspended. Many friends are on this train - so come aboard!

A decade ago, when the Strangeways Radio crew were gathering on Monday nights, we would comment how certain tracks were obviously influenced by New Order. That Peter Hook bass tone, those deadpan vocals. I have long thought 'that could be a good theme for a show'. This week, I'm going to do it!

I think my regular Twitch listeners could use some levity and escape right now, so this week's stream is going to be all classic Disco. There will be a few familiar favorites, but I'm also including lesser known tracks, to keep things interesting.

There was a time during the 1980s when everyone *had* a Roland TR-808 drum machine. Synthpop, hip-hop, R&B, early house music, even top 40 ballads were getting in on the action. And, over the next two weeks, I will be sharing some of my favorite examples.

It's time to count down my favorite songs of 2024! Most of these will be no surprise to my regular listeners since I'll have played them on my stream at some point over the past year. But I have also spent the month of December making some new discoveries that I now get to share with you

If you're looking for some music to listen to after your holiday dinner, I'll be on Twitch at my usual time this week. It's a set that will put the Christ back in your Christmas, with songs that reference Jesus in the lyrics, or the name of the band.

This Wednesday, prepare for a third round of matchups between two songs that share the same name but are different compositions! Now that Twitch seems to have stopped enforcing its "restricted artists" list, I'll be including a couple of people that I left out of rounds 1 and 2!

This week, I bring you the second half of my history of Nettwerk Records. In its early years, the label was known primarily for releasing dark, electronic-based music. But as the 1990s began, their expanding roster of artists were bringing a more diverse selection of sounds to the table.

Over the next two weeks, I will be giving you the story of Canada's Nettwerk Music. Like 4AD, they had a knack for signing and distributing artists who were making interesting music but weren't getting much play on the radio. Also, for having consistently great graphic design for their album covers.

Karen and I celebrated the 27th anniversary of our first date at Daldongnae, which has instantly become our new favorite place for Korean BBQ! Everything was delicious. We opted to splurge on a cut of Wagyu, but honestly, the regular short ribs were just as good.

Karen attempts to take a nap, with Wilson assisting.

Tonight at 8 on Twitch, I'll be bringing you another set of songs that all clock in at 2:30 or less. Woo hoo!

My first Bluesky post!

I never used Twitter very much, and don't know if it'll be any different with this app. To lead off, I will use it to do some self-promotion!

Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern, I'll be back on the 'Dark Eighties' Twitch channel, with a three hour block of music.