Radio Something — Music

Mystery, Memory, and Red Red Wine

Valerie Richardson, WPKN — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:23:42 -0400

A free-ranging mix of music new and old, moving from Iris DeMent and Bruce Cockburn through reggae, cumbia, psychedelic Beatles interpretations, blues, hip-hop, French pop, and other uncategorizable pleasures. Along the way: Jah Wobble, Josephine Foster, Sabina Sciubba, Mudcat, De La Soul, and recent music from Jesca Hoop—including the achingly beautiful harmonies of the “The Lost Sky,” recorded in a new stripped-down, acoustic version.

During the show, I mentioned a particularly wonderful live version with Jesca Hoop, Aoife O'Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, and Chris Thile, recorded during a performance of A Prairie Home Companion [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3xhLJmNb5o].

Summer Festivals and Juliette Greco

Valerie Richardson, WPKN — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:49:29 -0400

In this afternoon’s Radio Something, I will be celebrating the sounds of summer music festivals from around the world (Including headliners Greentea Peng, Ganavya, Madé Kuti, Ana Lua Caiano).

In the third hour (2:20:00 to be exact), I’ll take a detour to Paris for a short set featuring the legendary “existentialist chanteuse” Juliette Gréco, whose extraordinary career spanned more than sixty years.

I recently explored Juliette Greco’s life and music after hearing her name mentioned frequently during the celebrations of Miles Davis’s centenary in late May. Their relationship is now the inspiration for the upcoming film Miles & Juliette, produced by Mick Jagger.

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Artist / Song / Album / Label

Laura Veirs / Flying Into Darkness / Flying Into Darkness / Raven Marching Band

Laura Veirs / Drink Deep / Hello I Must Be Going / Raven Marching Band

Aldous Harding / One Stop / One Stop / 4AD

Aldous Harding / Train on the Island / Train on the Island / Flying Nun Records

Donny Hathaway / Someday We'll All Be Free / Extension of a Man / Atlantic Records

Belinda Carlisle / I Feel Free / Heaven on Earth (30th Anniversary Edition) / Geffen*

Jon Batiste / FREEDOM / WE ARE / Verve

The Nields / Tyrants Always Fall / Tyrants Always Fall / The Nields

Vance Gilbert / (They Long To Be) Close To You / The Mother of Trouble / Disismye Music

Susan Werner / Dreams/Jung / Dreams/Jung / Sleeve Dog Records

Ganavya / Would Be Better / Would Be Better / LEITER

Ganavya / Indo Blue / Aikyam: Onnu / yāttirai

Greentea Peng / Jimtastic Blues / MAN MADE / AMF Records

Greentea Peng / Make Noise / MAN MADE / AMF Records

Mádé Kuti / Take It All In Before The Lights Go Out / Chapter 1: Where Does Happiness Come From? / Mádé Kuti

Mádé Kuti / Wait And See / Wait And See / Mádé Kuti

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek / Direne Direne / Direne Direne / Big Crown Records

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek / Cool Hand / Cool Hand / Big Crown Records

Ana Lua Caiano / Manjericão - Live / Manjericão (Live) / Glitterbeat Records

Ana Lua Caiano / Se Dançar É Só Depois / Se Dançar É Só Depois / Chinfrim Discos

Mariaa Siga / Boukanack - Sensor Club Live Session / Boukanack (Sensor Club Live Session) / MADE IN AFRICA

Mavis Staples / Beautiful Strangers / Beautiful Strangers / Anti/Epitaph

Brother Wallace / No God In This Town / Electric Love / ATO

Taj Mahal / You Put The Whammy On Me / Time / Resonatin' Records

Juliette Gréco / Rue des Blancs Manteaux / La belle vie / Rym musique

Juliette Gréco / Déshabillez-moi / Tubes Chanson Française / Universal Music Division Decca Records France

Juliette Gréco / Sous le ciel de Paris / Blue / Puzzle Productions

Greentea Peng / Meditation / MAN MADE / AMF Records

River Songs — Marking My Exit from River Life

Valerie Richardson, WPKN — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 21:39:27 -0400

This May 2026 edition of Radio Something was a passages-of-life show. After eight years of living on a boat on a river (the Quinnipiac, to be exact), I'm leaving this chapter of life behind to help care for my elderly mother.

Ever since I first moved onto the boat, I've wanted to do a river show — about tides, movement, memory, crossings, change, and the currents that carry us through our lives. Today felt like the right day.

They Say It's Spring: Radio Something broadcast for April 22, 2026

Valerie Richardson, WPKN — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:21:47 -0400

This show was conceived on a bright spring morning, driving along Ridge Road and Skiff Street in Hamden and North Haven. I don't thank I've ever seen so much forsythia in full bloom—in the early morning sunlight—plus daffodils, tulip magnolia trees, and cherry blossoms. I feel like the yellow is still seared onto my eyeballs.

Artist — Song — Release — Label

Jonathan Richman — Le Printemps Des Amoreux Est Venue — Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild — Vapor P&D
Jolie Holland — Springtime Can Kill You — Springtime Can Kill You — Anti/Epitaph
Teddy Bear Radio — Latte & Forsythia — Springtime Relaxing Jazz Playlist — SIWORKMUSIC
Vassell Meka — Flowers Dub — The Full Spectrum — Legacy Mekas Muzik
Simon & Garfunkel — April Come She Will — Sounds Of Silence — SME

Paraskevas Grekis — Avril - Hasaposervikos Dance — Greece-Grece/The Best Of Greek Music — Arcade Music Paris
Rickie Lee Jones — Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most — Pop Pop — Geffen
Lou & Peter Berryman — Forsythia — The Pink One — CORNBELT
Pokey LaFarge — Daffodil Blues — Riverboat Soul — Free Dirt Records
Cedric Burnside — Pretty Flowers — Pretty Flowers — Single Lock Records
John Fahey — When The Springtime Comes Again — Death Chants, Breakdowns And Military Waltzes — Fantasy Records

Veda Hille — This Spring/Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most — Little Volcano — Veda Hille
Beaten By Them — Spring Bird — Kinder Machines — Logicpole
Cœur De Pirate — Printemps — Cœur De Pirate — Wrasse Records
Ron Sexsmith — Spring of the Following Year — Hermitage — WM Canada
Kaia Kater — Sun to Sun — Sorrow Bound — Kingswood Records
David Kuncicky — (Nothing But) Flowers — (Nothing But) Flowers — David Kuncicky

Paris Combo — Avril — Attraction — Universal Music Division Polydor
Emilíana Torrini — Miss Flower — Miss Flower — Groenland Records
Bruce Cockburn — April In Memphis — Crowing Ignites — True North Records
Jacqueline Taieb — Le printemps à Paris — Femmes de Paris, Vol. 1 — Silva Screen Records

Pierolalune — Poisson d'avril — Au clair de l'année — Montagne et Musique
De Dannan — The Flowers of Spring — The Best Of DeDannan — Shanachie
Nkemjika — Forsythia — Forsythia — Nkemjika
Ferre Gola — Poisson d'avril — QQJD, Vol. 3 — Ferre Gola

Joanna Newsom — Sprout and The Bean — Sprout and The Bean — Drag City Records
Angel Olsen — Spring — All Mirrors — Jagjaguwar
A Hawk And A Hacksaw — The Sparrow — The Way The Wind Blows — The Leaf Label
Glenn Jones — Forsythia — Vade Mecum — Thrill Jockey
Nina Simone — Wild Is The Wind — The Best Of Nina Simone 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection — Verve Reissues

Erin McKeown — They Say It's Spring — Sing You Sinners — TVP Records
Mila Drumke Band — I Think the Spring — Radiate — Little Pro Records
Young Iranian female voices — Song of Spring and Hope — Songs in the Mist — Kirkelig Kulturverksted
Tom Waits — You Can Never Hold Back Spring — Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards — Anti/Epitaph
Djivan Gasparyan — Lovely Spring — Moon Shines At Night — All Saints Records
Claudia Schmidt — Fanfare For Forsythia — Out of the Dark — New Rounder
Talking Heads — (Nothing But) Flowers — Naked — Parlophone UK

Jolie Holland — First Sign of Spring — Wine Dark Sea — Anti/Epitaph
Frank Kimbrough — Forsythia — Rumors — Palmetto Records

In Memory of Pete Stewart: Radio Something 2026/2/11

Valerie Richardson, WPKN — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:09:23 -0500

During my February 11, 2026, show, I paid tribute to WPKN’s dear friend and longtime programmer, Pete Stewart. He was one of the true craftsmen of freeform radio—thoughtful, intuitive, and quietly brilliant—and one of the gentlest souls to ever walk through the doors at WPKN.

For many years, Pete’s van carried a bumper sticker that read, “Obey gravity, it’s the law.” It made me smile every single time I passed it. Somehow, it felt perfectly Pete.

Playlist

Cathy Kreger / Can't Find My Way Home / Grand Central Waltz / Passing Tone Music
Traffic / Dear Mr. Fantasy / 60s Psychedelic Rock / Universal Music India Pvt Ltd.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra / Music For A Found Harmonium / Preludes, Airs And Yodels (A Penguin Cafe Primer) / Universal Music
Mose Allison / I Live the Life I Love / Live 1978 / Liberation Hall

Terrance Simien's Krewe De Monifique / Tomber Amour Encore (Fell in Love Again) / Ancestral Grooves / Music Matters Records

Sam Cooke / Twistin' The Night Away - Live / One Night Stand - Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963 / SME
Ry Cooder / Little Sister / Bop Till You Drop / Warner Catalog and O/H
Shakey Graves / The Perfect Parts / And The War Came / Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd.
Shawn Colvin / You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Live at the Bottom Line, NYC, NY - August 1993) / Cover Girl / Columbia

Jake Blount / Once There Was No Sun / Once There Was No Sun / Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Norah Jones / Black Hole Sun - Live / ‘Til We Meet Again (Live) / Blue Note (BLU)
Lucinda Williams / Big Red Sun Blues / Lucinda Williams (Deluxe) / Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd.

Norma Tanega / Walkin' My Cat Named Dog / Hippies: 60's & 70's Classics / Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group
Nina Simone / Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter / The Essential Nina Simone / RCA/BMG Heritage

Thomas Dolby / The Toad Lickers (feat. Imogen Heap) / A Map Of The Floating City / Non-Wea/Other
Talking Heads / (Nothing But) Flowers / Naked / Parlophone UK

Young Dubliners / The Rocky Road To Dublin / St. Patrick's Day Party Jam! / MBO - The Music Business Organisation A/S
Mimi And Richard Farina / Bold Marauder / Reflections In A Crystal Wind / Vanguard
J.J. Cale / Anyway The Wind Blows / Forever Man / Reprise

Bettye LaVette / Don't Get Me Started / LaVette! / Jay-Vee Inc.

Keb' Mo' / Put a Woman in Charge (feat. Rosanne Cash) / Put a Woman in Charge (feat. Rosanne Cash) / Concord Records
Charlie Musselwhite / Chan Chan (Charlie's Blues) / Continental Drifter / Virgin Catalog (V81)
Taj Mahal / Hooray Hooray / Hooray Hooray / Nonesuch

Toshi Reagon / Happy And Satisfied / Righteous Ones / Razor & Tie

Gil Scott-Heron / Winter In America / The Bottle / Prestige Elite USA
Jack Hardy / Winter Sunlight / Noir / Jack Hardy
Miles Davis / Blue In Green / aboutJAZZ / Universal Music Division Decca Records France

Lui Collins / Baptism of Fire / Baptism of Fire / Molly Gamblin Music

Terrance Simien's Krewe De Monifique / Caribbean Second Line / Ancestral Grooves / Music Matters Records
Traffic / Dear Mr. Fantasy / 60s Psychedelic Rock / Universal Music India Pvt Ltd.
Chris Smither / Hey, Hey, Hey / Chris Smither Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop ... /
Chick Corea & Bela Fleck / Bemsha Swing / Remembrance / Béla Fleck Productions