Flatbasset Radio's 25 Most Played Albums: June '16

Well hello again, album art collage fans! Welcome to another edition of Shit I Listened To Last Month!

Folks, June is in the books and summer's in full swing. As always, I'd like to take a moment to thank everybody who stopped by the Flatbasset blog over the last month to read the album write-ups. An extra big thanks to anybody who took the time to listen to the podcast. Still love doing it, hope you like listening to it.

As per usual, I listened to a bunch of music this past month. Lots of great new stuff, digging into some old stuff.... you know how it goes.

Before I get to the stats, the usual reminder: Every song listened to counts as a "play." Seems obvious, right? So, for example, Garrison Grouse's excellent new record has 11 songs, meaning each time I listen to it all the way through it counts 11 "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 around Planet New Basset.

Alright, here we go...

01. Metasota - #RUMDMT (91 plays)

02. Garrison Grouse - With That Said (77 plays)

03. The Counterfactuals - The Counterfactuals (63 plays)

04. Various Artists - An Earfull Of Sound Unseen (42 plays)

05. Clementine - Truth Mattress (38 plays)

06. Janis Figure - Damage Control (36 plays)

07. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (32 plays)

08. Capital Steez - AmeriKKKan Korruption (28 plays)

09. The Pooches - Splitting An Omelette With My Mother (27 plays)

10. Homeboy Sandman - Kindness For Weakness (26 plays)

11. Beck - Odelay (26 plays)

12. Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo (26 plays)

13. The Verve - A Northern Soul (24 plays)

14. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (24 plays)

15. Astronomique - Astronomique (24 plays)

16. Badly Drawn Boy - How Did I Get Here? (22 plays)

17. Devata Daun - L o o k (22 plays)

18. Various Artists - Adult Simw Singles Program 2016 (22 plays)

19. Tony Peachka - Live On Radio K (2016) (22 plays)

20. Information Society - Creatures Of Influence (21 plays)

21. Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (21 plays)

22. Buck 65 - Talkin' Honky Blues (18 plays)

23. Vats - Today (18 plays)

24. Luna - The Best Of Luna (17 plays)

25. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (17 plays)

There it is, everybody. Stay tuned for more shows & words & stuff.

Image via Tap Music
Stats via my Last.fm page

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 #79

"It takes strength to be gentle & kind..."

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #79!

Folks, summer's officially upon us and, in tribute, I've got red-hot jams lined up for this week's episode. As per usual, sorry for the gap between episodes. I'm very lazy. Conversely, thanks to everybody who did check out Episode #78. My buddy Nick & I teamed up for that one and I think it turned out to be the best one we've ever teamed up for.

That, however, is the last episode. On this week's show I've got a jam from my favorite reunited punk band, a cut from an iconic soundtrack, a set for our brothers & sisters in England, a spotlight on Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week, some under-informed political talk, a check-in on some of our Twin Cities friends, a few anniversaries, a lot of sweating, even more swearing, and my absolute ultimate summer jam! All that plus the Cover Of The Week & one of the most classic Flatbasset Flatclassics ever!

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 #79 (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. #79 plays out:

01. Descendents - Victim Of Me

02. Joey Bada$$ - Brooklyn's Own

03. The Pooches - Rhythm Of The Rain

04. Sugar Ray - Fly (w/Super Cat)

05. The Jam - Going Underground

06. Primal Scream - Trainspotting

07. The Specials - Racist Friend

08. Clementine - Evergreens

09. Devata Daun - Be A Stranger

10. Dem Atlas - Grbge Trsh

11. Frankie Teardrop - Waiting For You

12. The Smiths - I Know It's Over









There you have it, folks. Drink lots of water.

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: "Crooked Brain" by Clementine

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of July 26th-August 1st, 2015:

Clementine - Crooked Brain

01. The Psalmist's Shadow
02. Blood Diamonds
03. Float
04. Ate Baby Porcupine
05. Strongarm
06. Elephant And The Attic Tern
07. The Leaves Are Changing Brown
08. Mother's Song
09. In Praise
10. The Sun It Still Rises

(Photo: Kyle Kotajarvi)

It's no secret that the 90's are back in a big way these days. The glorious, lo-fi sounds of bands like Guided By Voices & Sebadoh can be found all over the indie rock world yet again. Bands like Titus Andronicus & Speedy Ortiz have taken the jangled, post-grunge model and added their own mono-genre-endorsed anthemic qualities to give us a welcome reminder that there will always be a place in the world for bands that embrace plugging in and turning up the volume as steps 1 & 2 to being a great band.

Why do I bring this up?  Because Minneapolis band Clementine represents a different sort of 90's renaissance. Their debut album Crooked Brain gazes back at the slower-burning sounds of post-grunge. They emphasize texture over bombast, moments over hooks.  It's a throwback to a time of longer attention spans and delayed gratification.

To really grasp Crooked Brain it's best to break it into two halves LP-style.  The first half of the record finds the band dabbling in stylistic turns.  "The Psalmist's Shadow" opens the album with over a minute of instrumental build-up before finally giving way to a verse and a mid-tempo pace that, as we find out over the course of Side B, is the band's forte. The three song run of "Blood Diamonds-Float-Ate Baby Porcupine" finds the band at their most daring, channeling Faith No More, Pixies, and... Live? It's a dynamic run that doesn't always hit, but when it does it works wonders.  "Ate Baby Porcupine" in particular rides some sneaky great guitar work and the band's most hummable hook to Crooked Brain's early peak.

Beginning with "Elephant And The Attic Tern," Side B provides an elongated look at Clementine as rafter-reaching balladeers. Abandoning the experimentation of Side A, the band aims big with a full set of slow-burners with big ideas, stepping away from post-rock and toward straight-up arena rock.

Now, I'm fully aware that some folks may take the term "arena rock" as a criticism, but that's preposterous stance to take. It's especially preposterous when a band is this damn good at it. Toeing the line between personal lyrics and universal sentiment, Clementine aims big and mostly hit their mark. "The Leaves Are Changing Brown" may be the stereotypical "acoustic jam," but it sounds more like a Brand New deep cut than some sort of watered-down R.E.M. cast-off.  Late cuts "Mother's Song" and "In Praise" are nearly 11 minutes total, but while they sort of blend together on first listen, repeated plays reveal hooks that reward patience. And of course, like any great 90's album, the band keeps a killer in the pocket for album closer.  "The Sun It Still Rises" takes the other four songs from Side B and gives them a jolt, speeding up the tempo, doubling down on the riffs, and riding an upward melody to a bit of catharsis.



To be completely honest, Crooked Brain didn't click with me right away. However, that's why I spend a week listening to these albums everyday. Sometimes it takes a while for them to really reveal themselves.  Once I was able to put understand Clementine's strengths (clean sound, universal themes, hooks that turn up like little shots of sunlight through clouds) I found Crooked Brain to be a unique & enjoyable record among the Twin Cities rock scene that doesn't always breed this sort of patience over immediacy and subtlety over volume.

If you'd like to check out Crooked Brain for yourself head on over to Clementine's Bandcamp page. The band is also undertaking a tour of the midwest this summer.  Check out their Facebook page for dates.

Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums: June '15

Well hello again, everybody.  Welcome to yet another installment of the least interesting thing on the internet (well, except for Tidal).  It's the beginning of a new month, which means it's time to recap my most played albums from the previous month with a vague collage and no real explanation!

Before I hash out the list I just want to mention that June was a pretty tough month here at Planet New Basset.  The blog and show's namesake & mascot Margo (aka Flatbasset) had a bit of a health scare this month that took up a lot of time, money, and energy.  I won't bore you with the specifics of it all, but she looks like she's getting through it.  She's a tough gal.  Send some positive thoughts her way.

Alright, let's get into it.  As always, one "play" = one song.  So an album with ten songs on it would be registered as ten "plays."  Larger pictures indicate more plays.

01. Clementine - Crooked Brain (51 plays)

02. Frankie Teardrop - Demos / B-Sides (42 plays)

03. Wild Ghosts - Joy Ranch Sessions (42 plays)

04. William Within - Lost In Writing (35 plays)

05. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment (33 plays)

06. BNLX - Good Light (33 plays)

07. Ramones - Mania (33 plays)

08. Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted (28 plays)

09. The Promise Ring - Nothing Feels Good (24 plays)

10. Various Artists - Back In Business Vol. 3 (20 plays)

11. Gulfer - Split With Fago.Sepia (19 plays)

12. Steel Tipped Dove - Centuries Long Sigh (19 plays)

13. Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (18 plays)

14. Various Artists - Give 'Em The Boot Vol. 1 (18 plays)

15. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (18 plays)

16. The Flagrants - The Flagrants (17 plays)

17. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (16 plays)

18. Roc Marciano - The Pimpire Strikes Back (16 plays)

19. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (16 plays)

20. Ian Kamau - Cocoon (15 plays)

21. The White Stripes - De Stijl (14 plays)

22. Various Artists - Father/Daughter Spring Sampler 2014 (14 plays)

23. Supergrass - I Should Coco (13 plays)

24. Pixies - Bossanova (13 plays)

25. Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me (13 plays)

26. Superdrag - Last Call For Vitriol (13 plays)

27. Mike Swoop - New Love (13 plays)

28. Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen (13 plays)

29. Various Artists - Stroked: A Tribute To Is This It (13 plays)

30. Greetings From Tuskan - The Love From Afar (13 plays)

31. The Roots - Phrenology (12 plays)

32. Green Day - Kerplunk! (12 plays)

33. Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (12 plays)

34. Superhopper - Does This Sound Exciting Yet? (12 plays)

35. The Good, The Bad, & The Queen - The Good, The Bad, & The Queen (12 plays)

36. Rebels To The Grain - Fine Wine (12 plays)

37. Edger - Rudiments (12 plays)

38. Blur - The Magic Whip (12 plays)

39. Ivy - Realistic (12 plays)

40. All - Allroy Saves (11 plays)

41. Alkaline Trio - Crimson (11 plays)

42. The Replacements - Tim (11 plays)

43. Kill Sadie - Experiments In Expectation (11 plays)

44. Lifter Puller -Half Dead And Dynamite (11 plays)

45. Portishead - Dummy (11 plays)

46. Haley Bonar - Big Star (11 plays)

47. Del The Funky Homosapien - Iller Than Most (11 plays)

48. Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams (11 plays)

49. Johnwayne - Cassette 3: Marion Morrison Mixtape

50. Radiohead - In Rainbows (10 plays)


There you have it, everybody.  Big thanks to everybody who read the blog & listened to the show last month. All episodes of the show are available to stream over on my Mixcloud page. If you dig it, stop by the Flatbasset Radio Facebook page & give it a "Like."


Information via my Last.fm account
Photo via Don't Drink And Root