Brave New Waves was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing overnight five nights a week, the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture, including film, comics, literature and art. The show was once described by longtime host Brent Bambury as "explaining fringe culture to a comfortable mainstream audience," In an early interview with The Globe and Mail, La Paix told the newspaper that she was only a recent convert to underground music, having previously been primarily a fan of country music.
In 1990, the program was scheduled to receive a short-term trial run on WXPN in Philadelphia, with an eye toward being picked up for U.S. syndication by National Public Radio; however, due to the obscenity controversies that were prominent in American music at the time, NPR opted to cancel the contract because Brave New Waves did not censor songs with potentially objectionable lyrics. The program aired for the last time on March 16, 2007.
The show was inducted into Hour magazine's Montreal Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Album
In 1988, the program also began recording live in-studio sessions curated by producer Kevin Komoda, some of which were released on the 1991 compilation album Brave New Waves.