Friday, January 26, 2018

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #115


Everyone proclaims laptop ignorance...


Well hello again, everybody. Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #115!

Folks, we're back to our regularly scheduled program this weeks. 12 songs, 60 minutes, some banter... you know the drill by now

In this week's show I talk about the impenetrability of The Fall's catalog, the pride of Zion, IL, my growing appreciation of physical media, a lost Minneapolis band, label comps, my unapologetic love of Las Vegas' finest pop band, the complications surrounding the death of artists from your youth, and the communal nature of professional sports. All that plus the Cover Of The Week, Nate's Archives, the Minnesota Way-Back Machine, and the Flatbasset Flatclassic.

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. I've finally set up a decent downloading site, so if you'd like to download Flatbasset Radio: Episode #115 (with all the appropriate iTunes tagging), just click here.



Here's how Ep. #115 plays out:






01. Color TV - Paroxeteens





02. The Fall - Laptop Dog





03. Slow Meadow - Grey Cloud Lullaby





04. Local H - 25 Or 6 To 4





05. Male Bonding - Worse To Come





06. Wet Eyes - Spy Commission





07. The Killers - Run For Cover





08. Collage - Aussie Boy





09. The Magnetic Fields - California Girls





10. Harley Alexander - Tiny Bricks





11. The Flagrants - Purple & Gold





12. The Cranberries - Linger










There you have it, folks. Thanks for stopping by.




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

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #114 (Best Of 2017 - Live At Studio K)


I can't see you making any difference...


Well hello again, podcast fans. Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #114!

Yep, we're doing this again. The second half of my annual countdown tradition is here and ready to roll. My robo-co-host Robot Ralph is back and ready to countdown another batch of jams.

First off, thanks to everybody who checked out the countdown of The Current's Song Of The Day tracks on the last episode. I gave it a listen myself the day after it went up and I was still floored by how good those songs are. Fortunately, there's more where that came from.

Now, I've counted down the best of Radio K's Song Of The Day podcast for the last couple of years, however, this year's version is a little different. You see, three quarters of the way through 2016 Radio K decided that their "Track Of The Day" would no longer be an mp3, but rather a Spotify playlist. I can't get behind that. Spotify is trash. I was at a loss.

However, as the old saying goes, even when God closes a door he's still uploading mp3's somewhere else on his site. Radio K is still kind enough to make 95% of their Off The Record sessions available for download. Hallelujah! My weekly dose of the K continues.

As you can imagine, the kids behind Radio K tend to have a much greater hit-to-miss ration than the well-compensated tastemakers over at MPR. Some weeks Off The Record is fire. Others, water? That's the opposite of fire, right? Regardless, it's always interesting and definitely worth your time. Follow this link to head over to their archives and indulge in a tremendous amount of free and, more often than not, local music.

And hell, since we're posting links:

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #53 (Best Of 2014)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #71 (Best Of 2015)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #90 (Best Of 2016)

Before I get to the show I want to take a moment to thank those kids who run the show over at Radio K. You're priceless. Still the best, most adventurous radio station in the Twin Cities.

Alright, let's get to the show.

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. I've finally set up a decent downloading site, so if you'd like to download Flatbasset Radio: Episode #114 (with all the appropriate iTunes tagging), just click here



Let's gooooooooo....





10. Slothrust - Rotten Pumpkin




09. Cool Pollution - Water Towers




08. Manchita With Bionik - Cashed




07. Waveless - Eight Belles




06. Neon Blaque - No One Else




05. The 99ers - Godzilla's A Punk




04. Warik - In My Lens




03. Jessica Manning - Red Birds




02. Fragile Canyons - Rebel Child




01. Tyte Jeff - Lutheran Teens







That's a wrap on 2017, folks. Back to our regularly scheduled podcast next episode.




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



Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #113 (Best Of 2017 - The Current Song Of The Day)


It's been a long, hard year...


Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #113!

Folks, it's the first show of the new year. If you've been following the show for a while you know that I like to start every new year by looking back at the old year. Well, 2018 is no different. Yeah, we're two weeks into it, but I've been busy and haven't had time to sit down and properly assemble the countdown. However, time has been carved, songs have been reviewed, rankings assigned. Time to count down the 10 best Song Of The Day tracks given away by The Current.

This is an annual tradition here at Flatbasset Radio and it is absolutely one of my favorite shows to do each year. While I may have my beefs with The Current, I've been religiously devoted to their Song Of The Day podcast since '07. That's ten years worth of songs now! And I still work my way through all of them every single year (including the back catalog!). Is this healthy? No. But hell, what else have I got to do? They're not all classics, but every year I'm turned on to something new for the low, low price of free.99. I can't complain.

Before we get to this year's countdown, a few links. First, previous Current SOTD countdowns:

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #7 (Best Of 2012)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #28 (Best Of 2013)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #52 (Best Of 2014)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #70 (Best Of 2015)
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #89 (Best Of 2016)

 Of note: Flatbasset Radio: Episode #7 is posted here as a download from Archive.org because the show was "disabled" on Mixcloud. Not sure what that means, but I was so bad at doing the show back then that they probably took it down out of embarrassment.

Second, follow this link to head over to The Current and subscribe to the podcast for yourself. As you're about to hear, they give away some absolute classics.

The format of the show has changed a bit over the years, but I like the way last year's countdown played out, so I invited Robot Ralph to lead the countdown this year. No banter, just jams.

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. I've finally set up a decent downloading site, so if you'd like to download Flatbasset Radio: Episode #113 (with all the appropriate iTunes tagging), just click here.

If you don't have the time or desire to download the show, just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.



Alright, here we go!






10. The Weeks - Talk Like That





09. Mount Kimbie - Blue Train Lines (w/King Krule)





08. Wolf Parade - You're Dreaming





07. Heiruspecs - Relativity





06. Tyte Jeff - 1952





05. Kate Tempest - Europe Is Lost





04. Actual Wolf - Faded Days





03. Alex Lahey - Wes Anderson





02. Jens Lekman - Evening Prayer





01. Stanley - Brewin' Up










There you have it, folks. As a reminder, I paid no money for these songs and I receive no money for this podcast. I'm just a guy counting down the hits. Please don't sue me.




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


Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums: 2017


Folks, another year is in the books. Not a moment too soon if you ask me (I realize you did not ask me). I sincerely hope your 2017 was better than mine. If it wasn't, that's no good, but I hope you at least spent as much time listening to absolutely killer records as I did.

Not a lot of great things happened in 2017, but a ton of great music came out. So much so that I didn't even come close to keeping up with all of it. There was great national stuff, great international stuff, and, most importantly, a staggering amount of quality music coming out of Minnesota. Without any further buildup, here's Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums Of 2017.


(Note #1: As always, one "play" equals one song. For example, the new Mozzer album has 12 songs on it, so each time I listen to it front to back it counts as twelve "plays." As usual, all stats come from my Last.FM page. Give it a follow if you really want to stay up on what's getting the most plays.)

(Note #2: This is a list of "Most Played" albums, not "Best" albums. If I made that list it wouldn't look dramatically different, but it wouldn't be the same either. Not really a relevant note, just didn't want anybody to feel bad.)

Alright, here's how it went.

 
 
 
 
 
01. Medium Zach - Beatstory (143 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
02. V/A - The Greatest Of All-Time #2 (141 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
03. Tyte Jeff - Lutheran Teens (125 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
04. Witch Watch - Wandering & Wondering (120 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
05. P.O.S - Chill, Dummy (117 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
06. Allan Kingdom - Lines (115 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
07. The Miami Dolphins - Water Your Waiting For (113 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
08. Bash & Pop - Anything Can Happen (109 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
09. Suzie - Chardonnay (108 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. The Bolt Weevils - Long Way Home (107 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Hippo Campus - Landmark (106 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Shredders - Dangerous Jumps (101 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. The Chinchees - The Chinchees (101 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Good Doom - New Shapes For You (98 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Morrissey - Low In High School (96 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Strange Relations - Editorial You (92 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Craig Finn - We All Want The Same Things (92 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Extraterrestrials - Extraterrestrials (92 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Stanley - Stanley (91 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. The Awful Truth - Glisten (90 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Falls - Torn Between Comas (90 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Blaha - 499-456 (88 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Jeremy Ylvisaker (85 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Suzie - Deluxe (83 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Porno Wolves - Renegades (83 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. The Cribs - 24-7 Rock Star Shit (82 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Mux Mool - Implied Lines (Deluxe) (81 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Murder Shoes - Fall (80 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Loud Sun - Sea Graves (80 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Rupert Angeleyes & Joey Joey Michaels - Rupert Angeleyes & Joey Joey Michaels (80 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic (78 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
32. Fragile Canyons - Adapting To The Cosmos (77 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
33. Yeah Wings - Tomorrow Will Be Better (75 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
34. Metasota - It's Just Rap (74 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
35. Prince - Prince (74 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
36. StoLyette - Summer (74 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
37. Narco States - Temples Into Tombs (74 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
38. Frances Gumm - My Sweet Demise (71 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
39. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour Of Bewilderbeast (70 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
40. Remo Drive - Greatest Hits (70 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
41. Cool Pollution - From Kosmos With Love (69 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
42. Deleter - Meaningless Chants (69 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
43. Frank Ocean - Endless (67 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
44. Cheap Fantasy - Life Of Glass (67 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
45. Chance York & Big Cats - Highest Self (66 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
46. Free Truman - It's Whatever (66 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
47. Double Grave - New Year's Daydream (66 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
48. Sebadoh - Bakesale (64 plays)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
49. Minnie/Bluntz - Gone Plutonium (64 plays)










50. Brilliant Beast - Jelly (64 plays)









There you have it, folks. Another year in the books. Stay tuned for more shows in 2018.




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