Flatbasset Radio: Episode #95

They'll even print my recipe for pasta with pesto...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #95!

I'm back on my hosting grind again this week. I've got all kinds of jams on this one - local rock, anniversaries, upcoming shows, some indie rock lifers, classic hip-hop, local electro-pop, the Cover Of The Week, and, as always, the Flatbasset Flatclassic!

Along the way I work in some discussion about the state of Planet New Basset (hint: not great), the state of the unions (hint: not much better), the career trajectory of Arctic Monkeys, finding hope in 80's punk, confused spelling, shows for charity, shows for your enjoyment, international Jawbreaker Day, the story of how Johnny Marr joined Modest Mouse, putting faith in Millenials, the beauty of the horn coda, and a heavy discussion about this week's 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 #95 (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.



Here's how Flatbasset Radio: Ep. #95 plays out:

01. Five Eight - Kids

02. Magic Castles - Sky Sounds

03. Astronautalis - These Songs (w/Fadeaway Jumpers)

04. Fury Things - New Day Rising

05. Beastie Boys - Finger Lickin' Good

06. Double Grave - Truth Is Whatever You Say

07. Modest Mouse - Dashboard

08. Jawbreaker - Sluttering (May 4th)

09. Vandaam - Warm Correspondents

10. The Happy Children - Came And Went

11. Arctic Monkeys - 505

12. Big Quarters - Song For Brown Babies









There you have it, folks! Enjoy!

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.

Flatbasset Radio's 25 Most Played Albums - April '17

Well, hello again everybody. Welcome to another edition of Album Collage Monthly!

That's right, folks, it's the first of May already and guess what? It fucking snowed today. I love you, Minnesota, but does it have to be like this? It's May! Come on!

Anyway, it's time for a little bit of instant nostalgia. Before I get to it though, just a quick thanks to everybody who checked out the last couple of shows. If you didn't notice, I got back behind the microphone for Ep. #94 and, while it probably did not improve the show for you, it felt great to add what little personality I have back to the show. Thanks for sticking with it.

Alright, let's get to it. I listened to a tremendous amount of music this month. Here are the 25 albums that got the most spins around Planet New Basset.

(As always, one "play" equals one song. For example, that new Chinchees album has 11 songs on it, so each time I listen to it front to back it counts as eleven "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.)

01. The Chinchees - The Chinchees (79 plays)

02. Craig Finn - We All Want The Same Things (70 plays)

03. Prince - Prince (63 plays)

04. Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77 (55 plays)

05. Various Artists - Unpop 146 (53 plays)

06. Big Quarters - Cost Of Living (42 plays)

07. Propagandhi - Less Talk, More Rock (42 plays)

08. Fountains Of Wayne - Traffic And Weather (42 plays)

09. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (40 plays)

10. T.D. Mischke - The Best Of The Mischke Broadcast (40 plays)

11. The Early Americans - Aha! Airmen Secretly (39 plays)

12. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 (39 plays)

13. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (39 plays)

14. The Church - Gold Afternoon Fix (39 plays)

15. Angelic Upstarts - Reason Why? (39 plays)

16. Davenport - Davenport (38 plays)

17. Romantics - America (36 plays)

18. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (36 plays)

19. Millencolin - For Monkeys (36 plays)

20. No Age - Nouns (36 plays)

21. Jawbreaker - Unfun (36 plays)

22. Greg Grease - Astral Beat Theories Vol. 3 (35 plays)

23. Descendents - Hypercaffium Spazzinate (35 plays)

24. Richard Ashcroft - Alone With Everybody (34 plays)

25. Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets (30 plays)

Thanks for stopping by! Lots more stuff to come in May!

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.

Album Of The Week: March 3rd-9th, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of March 3rd-March 9th, 2014:

Medium Zach - Valued Input

01. Live In Color (w/MaLLy)
02. Upward (w/Metasota)
03. More Than Superman (w/Slug)

I have a couple of rules when it comes to my Album Of The Week:

1. It should be a Minnesota artist (though exceptions can be made).
2. It should be at least 4 songs.

Until this week, I hadn't broken rule #2.  However, when I downloaded the three songs that make up Valued Input, that rule went right out the window.

As you hopefully all know, Medium Zach is one half of Minneapolis hip-hop mainstays Big Quarters (his brother Brandon Allday being the other half).  I've been a fan of those guys going back to the buzz of their debut album Cost Of Living in 2007.  In the seven years since they've, gone from talented upstarts to one of the most respected & consistent acts in the Twin Cities.  They've put out a staggering amount of music since then, but more importantly, everything they've put out rewards repeated listens.  Hell, just last week I was listening to the instrumental version of Cost Of Living and finding things I hadn't noticed before.

I saw BQ several times while they were promoting that album and they've always been genuinely nice guys and excellent performers.  Specifically, I remember my friend Phil & I attending the release show for Fall In Love, their collaborative EP with Mux Mool.  There couldn't have been more than 50 people at the Turf Club, but they put on a fine show, making a point to engage with all 50 of us in the room over the course of the night.

If I had to pick just one word to describe Medium Zach's musical style, it would be "thoughtful."  I realize that not every rapper would want "thoughtful" to be their defining adjective, but I'm willing to bet Medium Zach takes it as the compliment it's intended to be.  Whether he's rapping, constructing his own tracks, or remixing somebody else's work, his attention to detail always shines through.  His songs rarely "bang," but rather stake their claim by carving out their own sonic space via patience.  Every word & sound has a role to play in Zach's songs.  Nothing is superfluous, everything is necessary.

As you can see from the track list above, Medium Zach does almost no rapping on this album.  No matter. The three MC's above bring their own styles to Zach's beats and, in a testament to the quality of Zach's work, each rapper is able to stick to their own style instead of twisting their flow to fit the music.

Valued Input is available to download on Medium Zach's Soundcloud.  Give it a listen.

Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #1

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY. PLEASE CLICK THAT LINK AND GIVE THAT BLOG A LOOK IF YOU HAVE THE TIME.  WE'RE WORKING REALLY HARD ON THAT ONE.)

"I guess this is my dissertation, homey, this shit is basic..."

Well hello, music fans, and welcome to the inaugural episode of Flatbasset Radio!

For those of you unfamiliar with Flatbasset, it's the work of our regular contributor TCDroogsma.  For years now he's been posting mixes of songs online each month under the name Flatbasset.  Evidently he's decided to change things up a little bit.

(Click play on the embedded player above to listen to the podcast. Click the link below to download the podcast.)

Flatbasset Radio - Episode #1

In this episode TCDroogsma claims the British government is hoarding rappers, explains the best Halloween he ever had, recaps the "Get Out The Vote" show at First Avenue, steals an idea from Sound Opinions, and laments Morrissey's ill mother.

Still, we're all new to this so, TCDroogsma, what gives?

Boy, that's a concise question.  Basically, I've been making those Flatbasset mixes for a few years now and I've found that they are not very successful.  I decided to change it up a little bit by turning the mixes into a podcast where I break up the songs by talking a little bit.

That was your plan?  To break up a bunch of great songs with your rabbling?

Well, when you frame it that way it doesn't make much sense.  More accurately, it wasn't quite fair just labeling it a "mix" as that implied that it was some chopped up party starter, which it obviously wasn't.

Plus, I realized that people weren't really reading the bits I wrote about each song.  Since people hate reading I thought they might rather listen to me explain why the songs are great.

So you don't think people like to read and yet you spend nearly all of your free time blogging?

(Sigh...)

Alright, let's get to this episode then.  Anything we need to know about it? 

Well, this was my first go at a podcast, so you just have to bear with me.  I think it turned out pretty well though.  Here's what the playlist looks like:

01. Kanye West
02. Nirvana
03. JJ Doom
04. PJ Harvey
05. Big Quarters (w/Sims)
06. Ryan Adams
07. Eyedea & Abilities
08. Air
09. Mark Mallman
10. MaLLy
11. I Self Devine
12. Brother Ali
13. The Smiths

Really, just give it a listen.  Even if you find my voice grating and my stories insufferable, the songs fucking kill.

Well alright then.  TCDroogsma, thanks for stopping by to explain yourself. 

Thanks.  I plan on doing this each week, so you'll be hearing from me a lot in the near future.

Great... great...

For more TCDroogsma you can give him a follow on Twitter or Instagram (@TCDroogsma) or check out his own blog Flatbasset.

This blog also has a Twitter home (@NewestIndustry1) that you should follow to stay up on all the work our contributors are doing.  More importantly we have a Facebook page here.  Be sure to stop by and give us a "like" if you have a minute.  Enough "likes" and we can get TCDroogsma a real microphone to record these things.