Album Of The Week: "Northen Lights" by Allan Kingdom

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of January 24th-30th, 2016:

Allan Kingdom - Northern Lights

01. The Ride
02. The Forest (Intro)
03. Fables
04. Monkey See
05. Hypocrite
06. Northern Lights
07. Renovate
08. Believe
09. Disconnect
10. I FeelYa
11. Interruption
12. Go Fish
13. Outta Pocket

For those of you following along at home, this is the fourth time Allan Kingdom has made an appearance in my Album Of The Week column. I've written up his Talk To Strangers album, its follow-up Future Memoirs, and the collaborative album by The Stand4rd.

In my write up for Future Memoirs, I had this to say about Kingdom:

"He's still rapping over murky, keyboard heavy beats in a sing-song style that shares the same stage with Young Thug & Chance The Rapper.  The major difference is that, where Young Thug is the extension of the Andre 3000/Trap world of his native Atlanta and Chance sings to find his own sunshine in Chicago's notoriously cold hip-hop scene, Kingdom brings a natural Minnesota style to his songs.  He doesn't necessarily aim too high in his songs.  Instead he sticks to the small things in life.  He appreciates a good woman.  He debates going back to school.  He's concerned about the racial issues in his city while shouting it out at the same time.  When it comes down to it, Kingdom's very much an everyman despite his age.  He's hoping for the best while making sure that the worst doesn't come."

And then, this:
 
"Future Memoirs is a fine record considering it's the first album Kingdom's put out that came with any expectations.  All things considered, it feels like a stepping stone.  I don't know what Kingdom's got planned after this one, but I believe he's yet to make his big move."

If you didn't know, since Future Memoirs, Kingdom as featured prominently in Kanye West's hit single "All Day." In hindsight it's funny that I was concerned with whether or not Kingdom was ready to cope with the expectations of a City Pages write-up. Not only was he ready, but with Northern Ligths, he proves that he's ready to deal with the white-hot spotlight that comes with a Kanye feature.

As if to confront these expectations head-on, Kingdom sings/raps "Ye told me drive slow, but ain't nobody say, 'homey, fly low...'" and that's exactly what Kingdom does throughout Northern Lights.

Northern Lights is, by a large margin, Kingdom's most mature album to date, which is not surprising considering he's still in his early 20's. The idealism of old jams like "I Should Be A Pusha" & "Observe" is still their, but he's developed a mean streak to act as the Yin to the young Yang. Early standout "Fables" walks the line between the two sides, imploring people not to "tell no fables," for two reasons. First, because nobody's buying the lies. Second, because you shouldn't be ashamed of your own story. It's a difficult line to walk but Kingdom & Chronixx toe it wonderfully.\


Kingdom's newfound maturity and fame have also brought out a new, sexual energy to his rhymes. Where women were rarely sexual objects on his previous albums, Kingdom makes no bones about the fact that he's enjoying the life his newfound fame has provided. Title track "Northern Lights" is the most overt example with a chorus of "I've been on a mission lately, this is fun to me, it's a hunt to me..."

That coin, however, also has its flip-side, and on tracks like "Renovate," Kingdom works to make his peace with the decisions he's made. Over a pulsing beat and an earworm of an auto-tuned hook he's taking issue with the people he's surrounded by as well as the changes in his life that have changed both his and their perspective. It may not sound like much, but it took Kanye West three albums to cover the emotional ground Kingdom hits in this song.


In both of my previous reviews I compared Kingdom to Young Thug & Chance The Rapper. In his own Minnesotan way, those comparisons still stand up. As all three have matured they've continued in their own regional traditions. Thug has become emboldened by his success and continued to get more & more strange (see: Andre 3000). Chance has taken his natural charisma and channeled it into the bigger all-things-to-everyone project Surf (see: Kanye West, Billy Corgan). Kingdom, for his part, has found the spotlight causing him to look inward and become even more self-analytical and detached (see: Prince, Paul Westerberg). Fortunately, that works out out in Kingdom's favor here. That narrowing of scope has caused Kingdom to scale back on the vocal quirks & production values. Kingdom and fellow producers Plain Pat and Jonathan Kaslow do far more with less than any of his previous albums. Whether this a new aesthetic going forward or a simple tearing down of Kingdom's sound to build up something new in its place is yet to be seen, but the version of Allan Kingdom we're getting right now is by far the most talented and most intriguing version yet.

If you'd like to check out Northern Lights for yourself, head over to Allan Kingdom's website for a free download.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him 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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #72

Party's in here, we don't need to go out...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #72!

First things first, a tremendous thank you to everybody who checked out the last couple of episodes. I have a ball putting together those "Best Of..." shows and I hope you had a ball listening to them.

However, now that 2015 is behind us, it's time to look ahead. This week's episode consists of jams, a good Scott Weiland rant, new Kanye, more jams getting the names of songs wrong, indie-prog, an introduction to Pytch records, some advice for getting through the winter, hot jams, gloom-pop, and a little bit of peace-making with my arch nemesis David Bowie. All that plus a batch of local jams, the Cover Of The Week, and the Flatbasset Flatclassic!

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #72 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Fury Things - Silence Is OK

02. Kanye West (w/Kendrick Lamar) - No More Parties In L.A.

03. Stone Temple Pilots - And So I Know

04. Death Cab For Cutie - All Is Full Of Love

05. Straya - Comma Spaceman

06. Ratking - Flurry

07. Ego Death - Now, Now

08. Garrison Grouse - Working On

09. William Within - Fall Into Her Uniform

10. David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes

There you have it, everybody. Enjoy!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him 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: "VHS" by Fury Things

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of January 10th-16th, 2016:

Fury Things - VHS

01. Silence Is OK
02. Honest
03. Mersault
04. Bruised Fruit
05. Stitch Up
06. Some Things
07. Summer Bummer
08. Shakes
09. Bahia

(photo via Fury Things Bandcamp)

Before I get into VHS, let's take a little trip in the old way-back machine. Back to the simpler times of March, 2013, when men were men, women were women, and Fury Things' song "Vapors" was given away as a Current Song Of The Day track. Back then I was reviewing these songs in my old Songs Of The Week column. Here's what I had to say about "Vapors:"

"On first listen, I did enjoy the song. The problem is that, while yes, it is a fuzzed-out, hook heavy, shoegaze pop song, it lacks the little nuances that makes those things work. A good fuzz-pop song should have something that feels found. A little guitar bit, a vocal tick, hell, even putting the guitars in either speaker of the headphones. For a good example of what I'm talking about, put on any Polara album."

Hmmmm... Not a particularly kind review, but I wrote it then and I stand by it now.  However, I followed it up with this:

"Fury Things seem to have taken the approach that just turning up the volume of the guitars is enough. It's an intriguing enough sound that I'll definitely keep an eye on this band in the future. I wouldn't be surprised to find that, in two or three years time, Fury Things will look back on “Vapors” as a nice building block, but not much more."

Well, here we are two years later and I stand by that sentiment as well. In fact, reading an interview with Fury Things' singer Kyle Werstein on Sonic Bids regarding VHS I came across a similar sentiment:

"The writing process for this album was very effortless for me, since, for the first time, I felt like I actually had something to say. Until I started writing VHS while navigating the fog of post-college life, I would abstract my experiences to avoid writing about myself because I felt at odds with my own identity and importance. I still feel that way, but as I started writing the lyrics to these songs, I felt more confident in speaking specifically about what I was experiencing at that particular moment in time. It became therapeutic and cathartic. So VHS as an album is kind of my way of making peace with a number of personal demons, and all the songs on the album deal with that in a different way."

Since "Vapors" appeared on EP2, Fury Things have continued to bulk up both their sound and their songwriting. Over the course of three more EP's they grew by leaps and bounds, to the point where their last EP Saskatchewan raised their profile to the point that they were able to step into the annual Replacements Tribute show this year and tear through a set of Husker Du covers with nary a word of objection. They've been on the rise for a couple of years and people were genuinely pumped to see them.

And so we have VHS, the first full-length LP to their name and it does not disappoint. The album opens with "Silence Is OK," an ode the greatest of Minnesota traditions, keeping your problems to yourself and coping in silence. Give it a listen, though, and you'll find the band hitting all of their sweet spots:

The drums pummel, the bass grounds everything, and those layered, melodic guitars and come a long way from "Vapors." And that's all in the first 30 seconds.

In addition to streamlining their sound, the band seems to have taken a cue from their friend/spirit animal Bob Mould and put a real emphasis on writing hooks that grab you and don't let go. The verse, chorus, and lead guitar part are all distinct and all completely hummable.

When the band sticks to this formula, they're almost unstoppable. However, like most debut LPs, VHS functions both as a housecleaning and a chance to stretch out and try new things.  After tearing through the first half of the LP, they offer up the palette cleansing "Stitch Up," an instrumental swimming in reverb and what backwards percussion. While the track alone doesn't offer much to enjoy, it is indicative of where the band's collective head is at. A statement that they're not content to just hammer on hooks, but rather have a sincere interest in writing an LP with mood & structure.

While "Stitch Up" acts as the "try new things" aspect of the album, Side B brings with it the "housecleaning" with the band revisiting a couple of classic tracks from their split EP with Brilliant Beast. Both "Some Things" and "Summer Bummer" offer up the best of Fury Things sound, their inclusion (especially after the experimental "Stitch Up") makes it clear that the band has a desire to put out definitive versions of their early classics and move on to the next phase of their sound.  A promise they make good on almost immediately.

VHS closes with two of the best moments on the whole album. Remember up above when I said that a fuzz-pop song should have something that "feels found?"  Have a listen to "Shakes:"

Now that's what I'm talking about! I promise you, nobody listened to the first 3/4 of the album and thought, "Boy, I wish they'd slow down," but my word, listen to that. The tempo changes, the acoustic strums, the drawn out hook... Nothing on VHS makes me more excited for the future of Fury Things than the structure & nuance of "Shakes."

The band closes the album with "Bahia," a more structured take on the sounds they were toying with on "Stitch Up," a slow, drifting album closer that stands as the end of the first chapter of the Fury Things story.

Where Fury Things goes from here is anybody's guess, but VHS, while both a culmination of what they've accomplished so far and an indication of where they're going, more than stands on its own merits. Fury Things have definitely made good on the potential they showed back in 2013 and you'd be a fool to bet they won't do it again.

If you'd like to check out the album for yourself, head on over the Fury Things Bandcamp page and pick it up. For the full experience I highly suggest you pick up those early EP's as well.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him 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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #71 (Best Of 2015 - Radio K Track Of The Day)

I get the sense you thought that I was going to bail on the dance floor...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to another Flatbasset Radio 2015 countdown!

Much like the last episode, I'm back with some more instant nostalgia here on Episode #71. This time around I'm celebrating everybody's favorite college radio station by counting down my ten favorite songs that were given away via Radio K's Track Of The Day podcast.  Again, who doesn't love a good countdown?

For those unaware of Radio K's TOTD podcast, I highly suggest you look into it. Follow this link, subscribe to the show, and each and every weekday you'll find a new song waiting for you. Radio K's selection of songs is, for better and worse, a bit more varied than The Current's version. The highs are high and the lows are low. As you're about to hear, though, it's definitely worth the effort.


For this countdown I only have a couple of criteria:

01. The song only had to be released as a Radio K TOTD track in 2015. The song didn't necessarily have to get its proper release in 2015.

02. No songs from albums I eventually purchased. If I did pick up an album that contained a TOTD track, I've probably already played something from it here on the show. This is especially important on this episode since Radio K turned me on to a ton of local music this year that I eventually picked up. Most of those songs will end up on next week's show, so stay tuned.

So kick back, push play, and bask in the glory of 2015.

(Full disclosure, again: I don't work for Radio K or the University Of Minnesota. I'm too old to work for Radio K anyway. I'm just playing these songs out of love.)

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #71 (Best Of 2015 - Radio K Track Of The Day) by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

10. The Awful Truth - Lakewater

09. Sayth & North House - Pink Pistols

08. Young Rival - Interior Light

07. Hinds - Chili Town

06. Operators - Ecstasy In My House

05. Just Wulf & Prime Cut - Gray Area

04. Strange Relations - Uprooted

03. Yppah - Occasional Magic

02. $10,000 - I'll Be There

01. Pseudoubt - Opaque








There it is, folks. Great stuff from 2015. Thanks for stopping by and giving the show a spin!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him 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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #70 (Best Of 2015 - The Current Song Of The Day)

It ain't who ya know, it's who knows you...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to an out-fucking-standing episode of the Flatbasset Radio show!

As you likely gathered from the unnecessarily long title of this week's show, you're in for a special episode this week. As per tradition, I'm starting off the new year with a few of "Best Of 2015" shows. This particular episode is a countdown of my 10 favorite songs given away via The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  Hell, who doesn't love a good countdown?

For those unaware of The Current's SOTD podcast, I highly suggest you look into. Follow this link, subscribe to the show, and each and every weekday you'll find a new song waiting for you. They're not all winners, but as you're about to find out, some of them are absolute gems.

For this countdown I only have a couple of criteria:


01. The song only had to be released as a Current SOTD track in 2015. The song didn't necessarily have to get its proper release in 2015.

02. No songs from albums I eventually purchased. If I did pick up an album that contained a SOTD track, I've probably already played something from it here on the show.

So kick back and listen. I play the jams, complain about how tired I am, mispronounce a bunch of names, and pretty much just fill the blank space between songs. It's a hell of a show.

(Full disclosure, I suppose: I do not work for and am in no way affiliated with MPR or The Current... yet. It's good to have goals though).

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #70 (Best Of 2015 - The Current Song Of The Day) by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

10. Desaparecidos - City On The Hill

09. Rainy Milo - Deal Me Briefly

 

08. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Do The Get Down

07. The Mountain Goats - The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero

06. Ratatat - Cream On Chrome

05. Adam Levy - Atoms Never Die

04. Pornonono - Body Right

03. Liz Vice - Empty Me Out

02. Israel Nash - L.A. Lately

01. Destroyer - Dream Lover









It was a hell of a year, wasn't it? Good stuff. Thanks for stopping by and giving the show a spin!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him 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.

Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums: 2015

Let's give it up for the new year...

Well hello everybody! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums Of The Last Year!

2016 is officially upon us, which means it's time for a little bit of instant nostalgia.  Those of you who follow the blog know that each month I put together a post of my 25 most played albums of the last month. At the end of every year I put together a larger post chronicling the most played albums around Planet New Basset of the last year.

2015, a completely shitty year in most regards, was certainly an awesome year for music. As always there was a nice batch of new local acts, some artists who made good on early promise, some veterans returning to form, and a smattering of non-local albums that reminded me that it's healthy to get my head out of the local music scene and have a look around every now and then.

As always, I'll be adding a tweet-length comment on each album because nobody has an attention span any longer than 140 characters anymore. In fact, if you've made it to the end of this paragraph I'd like to offer you my sincerest thanks.

For those of you who would like to read even more of my opinions (and really, why wouldn't you?), I've linked any of the albums I wrote about this year to the album title's below. Imagine, just thousands and thousands more characters of my thoughts on these records. You probably didn't have anything worthwhile to do on a Saturday night anyway, right?

Take note that the number of plays listed reflects the number of songs on an album.  If an album has 10 songs and I listen to it all the way through it counts as 10 plays.

Let's get to it:

01. The Cribs - For All My Sisters (154 plays): For my money The Cribs are the best band going right now. FAMS doesn't expand their sound much, but rather plays to their ragged strengths

02. Eric Mayson - Detail (133 plays): After a few Soundcloud singles Mayson made good on his potential with this soulful debut LP. Taken as a whole he covers a lot of bases well.

03. Blur - The Magic Whip (125 plays): After a few one-off tunes & solo excursions Blur returns! The boys sound as relevant as ever, cementing their legacy Brit-Pop's champs.

04. Human Kindness - Not Apathetic (123 plays): Everything great about the last 30 years of Twin Cities rock music rolled into one album. Simply put: The best band in town.

05. Freez & Mike Frey - Freez's Frozen French Freys (120 plays):The Illuminous 3 MC hooks up with Mike Frey for an album that's personal, political, humble & humorous. The best album yet from the WAG scene.

06. Johnny Marr - Playland (112 plays):Johnny Marr's latest isn't breaking the rules, but his guitar is still fire. His singing's improving as he steps out from some long shadows.

07. What Tyrants - No Luck (107 plays): Loud, loose guitars & shout-along vocals may seem out of place in January, but pop this baby back on in summer. A garage rock gem.

08. Buck 65 - Neverlove (105 plays): Everybody's favorite Canadian MC steps out from any facades and delivers his "divorce album. A genuine heartbreaker.

09. Clementine - Crooked Brain (101 plays): Half-Pixies, half-Coldplay. No Twin Cities album confused me this year quite like Crooked Brain. A grower for sure, but worth your time.

10. Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (99 plays): I love Steely Dan. Each January I buy one of their albums and spend the year with it. I'm doing my best to savor the discovery.

11. Stnnng - Dignified Sissy (98 plays): Stnnng's debut album is still fucking bananas. God bless a music scene that continues to give them a home 10 years after this opening salvo.

12. Rupert Angeleyes - Young Sunset (93 plays): An album out of place, Young Sunset's indie-pop sounds like nothing else in the Twin Cities, which means it's fit for everybody's taste.

13. Sebadoh - Defend Yourself (91 plays): American treasure Lou Barlow's divorce album from 2014. Both scathing & vulnerable in a way that can't be faked, Sebadoh pads their legacy.

14. Wilco - Star Wars (89 plays): I checked out of the Wilco experience after (The Album), but this free release hooked me back in. Not transcendent, but a nice welcome back.

15. BNLX - Good Light (89 plays): Ed & Ashley Ackerson return with an album of punky, British jams built on a solid American chassis as BNLX continues to forge its own identity.

16. Straya - Healthy Steps (88 plays): Local indie-prog band makes good on the promise of their early EP's. Did you know indie-prog was a thing? Look into it.

17. Murder Shoes - Daydreaming (88 plays): Murder Shoes called themselves "surf-noir" on their debut EP. On this full-length they build on that sound into something all their own.

18. Nosunnofood - All The Moving Parts Of The Ultimately Median Man (88 plays): Bay Area beatmaker Edison's alter-ego. With Nosunnofood he let's the beats breath and creates an album rather than a tape.

19. The Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth (86 plays): The Libertines return! Like their forefathers Blur, Pete Doherty & Carl Barat return from solo life to prove they still have something to say.

20. Kill The Vultures - Carnellian (84 plays): The re-branding of Crescent Moon that began with Mixed Blood Majority comes full circle with this outstanding new KTV record. A new chapter.

21. Deleter - Oblique Seasons (84 plays): Local punk vets mix Mike Ness & math rock to deliver one of the best rock albums in town. No frills, no fills. All passion & heart.

22. Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels To Be Something On (82 plays): I went through a Sunny Day Real Estate phase last January. Can't totally explain it, but these guys albums don't seem to age at all.

 23. Mike The Martyr - Marbury (82 plays): Mike The Martyr steps out from behind the boards to put his conversational flow on wax. Nostalgic rhymes & great beats front to back.

24. Tree Blood - I Am A Disgusting Pig (81 plays): Dirty, angry, loud, punk rock. IAADP is like a Jackson Pollock painting put to tape, Legend has it each side was recorded in one take.

25. The Flagrants - The Flagrants (81 plays): Heard The Flagrants guitar-pop on an Ecstattic Records comp, picked up the album & loved it. Can't find anything else about this band. Help!

26. Cruel Love - Cruel Love (81 plays): Mo Bluntz & Bonnie Stitches make good on the promise of their debut EP. Sensual vocals, slinky synths, sexy jams.

 

27. Museum Mouth - Alex I Am Nothing (80 plays): Southport, North Carolina's finest punk band. Museum Mouth's best record yet. Loud & lovelorn, MM hone their hooks to a fine point.

28. Rogue Valley - False Floors (79 plays): Rogue Valley's "winter album" may be the most poignant of their four releases. Chris Koza digs deep into the wonder of Minnesota's winters.

29. Panther Ray - Ripple (77 plays): St. Paul's Panther Ray take the GBV love of their EP's & blow it out widescreen for a full-length that's hard to pin down, which is the point.

30. I Self Devine & Muja Messiah - 9th House (77 plays): Two of the Twin Cities most well-regarded MC's team up with some new producers for an album that's much deeper than its "one-off" status.

31. Steel Tipped Dove - Centuries Long Sigh (76 plays): Brooklyn producer Steel Tipped Dove's beat tape. 50 minutes of beats for strolling through a cold winter.

32. Billy Joel - 52nd Street (73 plays): "Zanzibar" & "Rosalinda's Eyes" are still better than almost anything I heard this year.

33. Mike Mictlan - Hella Frreal (72 plays): Doomtree's most inventive rapper finds the sweet spot between Hand Over Fist & Snaxxx. Perhaps his clearest artistic statement yet.

34. Ego Death - Ego Death (70 plays): The perfect mix of pop, punk, gloom, & doom. Ego Death is chock full of hooks & inventive instrumentation.

35. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (69 plays): Four albums in and I still have no idea if I like Drake (though that's not for lack of trying).

36. Catsax - Catsax (65 plays): Look at this list. "Electro-jazz" doesn't turn up much. Big Cats & Nelson Devereaux team up for an album that open the door.

37. Plums - Jen (63 plays): I loved them when they were Warm Thrills, I love them now as Plums. If Vampire Weekend impregnated the Violent Femmes, you'd have Plums.

38. Fury Things - VHS (63 plays): The loudest band in Minneapolis (non-Blind Shake division) make good on the promise of their EP's with an LP of fuzzed out bliss.

39. Millencolin - For Monkeys (62 plays): I'm 33 now and for some reason albums that sounded great when I was 13 sound great again. Orebro's finest pop-punks stand the test of time.

40. Edger - Rudiments (62 plays): Twin Cities indie rockers build sturdy pop songs and then proceed to cover them in fuzz. Underneath, though, the songs are fantastic.

41. The Persian Leaps - High & Vibrate (62 plays): St. Paul's favorite power-poppers finish of their EP trilogy with a bang. Each one better than the last, now it's time for a full-length.

42. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.A$$ (61 plays): Critics hate Joey Bada$$, but his imaginative take on boom-bap era NYC (an era he was too young to experience) gets me every time.

43. Hotelecaster - Farther Fewer (60 plays): Childhood friends from St. Paul make good in Minneapolis. Hotelecaster has more ideas than time. Looking forward to what comes next.

44. Loud Sun - (((Loud))) (60 plays): Technically Andrew Jensen/Loud Sun, (((Loud))) is power-pop castle built on sand, liable to turn or drift at any moment.

45. Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves (59 plays): 2015 was the 20th Anniversary of the greatest punk album of the 90's. I said so much about AOCTW this year that I'm out of words.

46. William Within - Lost In Writing (59 plays): Songwriter Alex Simpson's solo project-turned-sextet hits so many chamber pop sweet spots on this EP that an LP seems unnecessary.

47. Oaks - Animal Life (56 plays): Husband & wife Jim Kolles & Erica Krumm beef up their reverb-and-drum-machine sound while adding new subtle new hooks to the Oaks sound.

48. Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams (55 plays): Ryan Adams makes a Ryan Adams record called Ryan Adams. I still eat this shit up.

49. Andrew Broder / Crescent Moon - Andrew Broder / Crescent Moon (55 plays): Both Crescent Moon & Andrew Broder are scene veterans who pushed themselves in 2015 while making work that fits their unique histories.

50. Homeless & Big Cats! - The Polar Bear Rug (54 plays): Rapper Homeless's last album was with backing from rockers The Van Gobots. It was great, but it's nice to hear him over some Big Cats beats.





There you have it. Thank you to everybody who checked in on the blog or listened to the podcast this year. For those of you interested in catching up on the show all of the Flatbasset Radio episodes can be found here. If, for some reason, you're inclined to keep up on what's getting spun here at Planet New Basset, feel free to check out my Last.fm page.

Like ever year, one of my resolutions for 2016 is to work harder at this blog & podcast. Please stay tuned. Tell a friend. Tell a friend to tell a friend. Good stuff coming up.