Album Of The Week: "Some Pulp" by Some Pulp

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of December 29th-January 4th, 2015:

Some Pulp - Some Pulp

01. Undone '93 (The Tubetop Song)
02. Oh Oh (Who's Cryin' Now)
03. Tell Me Ur Mine
04. New Lame
05. Take A Ride
06. Pizza, Pop, & Cigarettes
07. Baby
08. Blue Pout
09. Teenage Mess

If you, like me, tend to spend too much time thinking about music, you've inevitably stumbled onto the question, "What would it be like if we got a time machine, pulled Marc Bolan out of T. Rex in 1971, transported him to the late 90's, and had him front The Muffs?"  Well, wonder no more! Some Pulp is here to answer that question with a resounding, "It would be mostly awesome!"

Some Pulp started as the duo of Graham Barton (vocals, guitar) & Dane Hoppe (drums) that has since grown to a trio with the addition of Elliott Snyder on bass.  I stumbled across them over the course of my slavish devotion to "Song Of The Day" podcasts when their single "Oh Oh (Who''s Cryin' Now)" was featured on Radio K's SOTD podcast.  It makes for a stellar single, instantly appealing to both the pop music fan & bitter aging guy sides of me.



On the strength of "Oh Oh," I figured I should check out what's going on with these guys.  I went over to their Bandcamp page to find out more and came away with two relevant facts:

1. They're signed to Forged Artifacts (and Forged Artifacts don't play).

2. Their album is a Name Your Price download (which means you should probably check it out).

While the band stretches out a bit in the second half of Some Pulp, the first three songs stand as one of the great runs by any Minnesota musician in 2014.  "Undone '93," "Oh Oh," & "Tell Me Ur Mine" lay out everything that's great about Some Pulp right from the get-go.  Hooks? Check. Snarky Anger? Check. Romanticism? Check. A titular reference to the 90's that helps place their sound some context? Check.  Even if you don't make it through the whole album (all 24 minutes of it), at least take 8 minutes and bask in the bubblegum glory of that opening hat trick.

Look, the year's almost done.  Most of you have already done your "Best Of 2014" lists (I know for certain that "Oh Oh (Who's Cryin Now)" is going to turn up on my "Best Of Radio K's Song Of The Day" podcast in just a week or two) but if you haven't you'd do well to give this one a spin.

As mentioned above, Some Pulp is available as a "Name Your Price" download on their Bandcamp page.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #51 (Christmas Special!)

We kissed on a corner then danced through the night...

Well hello again, podcast fans!  Welcome to a special Christmas Edition of Flatbasset Radio!

First thing's first, yes, I realize I'm posting this Christmas episode awfully late in the day.  I had my own Christmas obligations over the last few days and I just didn't have the time to put it together until now.  Fortunately for you, loyal listeners, this mix is less "Christmas Pre-Gaming" and more "Christmas Comedown."  So, whether you're on your way home from the in-laws, cleaning up wrapping paper, or just out-and-out wrecked on egg nog, you should probably pop this one on.

As an added Christmas bonus, this week's episode does not contain even one word from me!  That's right, no muffled microphone, no angry ranting, no non-sequitirs, and absolutely none of my nasally voice!  As you can see from the tracklist, the Cover Of The Week is still here as is our traditional Christmas Flatbasset Flatclassic (only the birth of Jesus Christ could provide a holiday worthy of making peace with Tom Waits).  It's just 40 minutes of straight Christmas jams!

As always, this episode is available to download or stream.  Just click the episode title below for a download link or click on the Mixcloud player below to stream.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #51 (Christmas Special!)

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #51 (Christmas Special!) by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Glam Chops - Baby Jesus Was The First Glam Rocker
02. Fountains Of Wayne - I Want An Alien For Christmas
03. Tracey Thorn - Joy
04. BNLX - What Do You Have Under The Tree For Me?
05. The XX - Last Christmas
06. Big Star - Jesus Christ
07. The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa
08. DMX - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
09. Los Campesinos! - When Christmas Comes
10. The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York (w/Kristy MacColl)
11. The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (Alternate Version)
12. Tom Waits - Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

For more of my rantings you can give me a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

Album Of The Week: "TheStand4rd" by TheStand4rd

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of December 1st-7th, 2014:

TheStand4rd - TheStand4rd

01. Binoculars
02. Stay
04. Simple Needs
05. Pretty
06. Vital Signs
07. Too Involved
08. Decisions
09. Tryna Fuck / No Reply
10. Weight
11. AsapRockyTypeBeat
12. Victims

First things first, let me apologize for posting this a day after the AOTW timeframe ended.  On the one hand, I'm very busy.  On the other hand, I needed an extra day to figure out just what the hell is going on with this record.

As you've probably read by now, TheStand4rd is made up of four up-and-coming St. Paulites: Bobby Raps, Allan Kingdom, & Spooky Black on the vocals with Psymun providing the beats.  Despite the fact that both Kingdom & Psymun have made appearances on this blog with AOTW posts, I still can't really wrap my mind around what's going on here.

Allan Kingdom has certainly seen his career take off since that City Pages article that declared him somebody who should be bigger.  According to the internet, Spooky Black is an "internet sensation," (though I'd never heard of him before this record, which is crazy, because I'm on the internet all the time).  And yet I came away from this album feeling like Psymun was the star of the show.

As I mentioned above, I've written about Psymun in the past and even played his collaborations with Chester Watson & K.Raydio on the podcast.  Psymun traffics is laid back, spaced out, beats that typically stand up brilliantly whether somebody's rapping over them or not.  From what I've gathered of his personality he's definitely a hip-hop fan (and making beats with the plan that somebody will rap on them), but he's certainly taking a different approach than just about anybody else out there.  I mean, you have to have some stones to put out hip-hop music that puts almost no emphasis on percussion.

Psymun's spaced-out beats are the perfect compliment for Kingdom, Spooky, & Bob.  As I mentioned in my write-up for Allan Kingdom's Future Memoirs, Kingdom's style seems to be the Upper Midwest's answer to the sing-song cadence coming from Atlanta (Young Thug) & Chicago (Chance The Rapper).  Unlike that album, however, the "Minnesota Nice" quality has been tuned down and these young egos are certainly up for a bit of indulgence in success.

Really, that's what I took away from TheStand4rd.  I've been following Twin Cities hip-hop for quite some time and the lineage that traces from Atmosphere, Kanser, & Heiruspecs take on traditional hip-hop to Doomtree's more skewed, wide open version seems to have led us here.  As far as I can tell, TheStand4rd at its core is four talented young men with a completely different idea of what "hip-hop" is supposed to sound like.  They put in plenty of work exploring these ideas as solo artists and, with this album, have combined their strengths to force the Twin Cities to sit up & take notice.  Like I said earlier, I'd be lying if I said I totally understood what was going on here, but if this album really is the opening salvo from the next generation in Twin Cities hip-hop then I think it's safe to say tat Minnesota's reputation for accessible, boundary-pushing hip-hop will remain intact for years to come.

To hear TheStand4rd for yourself take a minute and swing over to their Soundcloud page.

Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums: November '14

Did everybody have a good November?  On the one hand, Thanksgiving is unequivocally awesome.  On the other, the temperature dipped below zero and it snowed a bunch.  If those two things cancel each other out (and I'm arguing that they do), then the fact that my Flatbasset Radio podcast reached its 50th episode decidedly puts November, 2014 in the "Win" column.  Good times.

Anyway, here are the 50 most played albums both in my headphones and at Planet New Basset for the month of November, 2014:

(Larger picture indicates more plays)

01. The Person & The People - What A Drag (96 plays)

02. The Stand4rd - The Stand4rd (77 plays)

03. Some Pulp - Some Pulp (63 plays)

04. The Persian Leaps - Drive Drive Delay (48 plays)

05. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2 (24 plays)

06. Sebadoh - Harmacy (19 plays)

07. Descendents - Everything Sucks (16 plays)

08. Aesop Rock - Appleseed (16 plays)

09. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival (16 plays)

10. Human Kindness - You Are So Loud That I Want To Die (16 plays)

11. Stereolab - Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night (15 plays)

12. MF Doom - MM Food (15 plays)

13. Freeway & Jake One - The Stimulus Package (15 plays)

14. Face Candy - Waste Age Teen Land (15 plays)

15. Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel (15 plays)

16. Fountains Of Wayne - Utopia Parkway (14 plays)

17. Uncle Tupelo - Still Feel Gone (14 plays)

18. Detainee - Vital Organs (14 plays)

19. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - The Delivery Man (13 plays)

20. Superchunk - Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) (13 plays)

21. Museum Mouth - Sexy But Not Happy (13 plays)

22. Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five (12 plays)

23. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Take Them On, On Your Own (12 plays)

24. R.E.M. - Eponymous (12 plays)

25. Hall & Oates - Abandoned Luncheonette (12 plays)

26. Blockhead - The Music Scene (12 plays)

27. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots (12 plays)

28. Girl Talk & Freeway - Broken Ankles (12 plays)

29. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (11 plays)

30. Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (11 plays)

31. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine (11 plays)

32. T. Rex - Electric Warrior (11 plays)

33. British Sea Power - The Decline Of British Sea Power (11 plays)

34. The Plastic Constellations - Mazatlan (11 plays)

35. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town (10 plays)

36. The Verve - Forth (10 plays)

37. Halloween, Alaska - Halloween, Alaska (10 plays)

38. Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen (10 plays)

39. The Fall - Ersatz G.B. (10 plays)

40. Flagland - Tireda Fightin (10 plays)

41. Mixed Blood Majority - Mixed Blood Majority (10 plays)

42. Ryan Hemsworth - Still Awake (10 plays)

43. The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams (10 plays)

44. Bad Cop - Wish You Well... And Goodbye (10 plays)

45. Drake - 6 God (10 plays)

46. The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (10 plays)

47. Mr Twin Sister - Mr Twin Sister (8 plays)

48. Girlpool - Girlpool (Bonus Tracks (8 plays)

49. William S. Burroughs - A Thanksgiving Prayer (8 plays)

50. Various Artists - Radio K Song Of The Day (8 plays)

All info via my Last.fm account. Stop by to keep track of everything we're listening to here at Planet New Basset.

Photo via Don't Drink And Root