Well hello again, podcast fans. Welcome to MinneClassics #3!
Folks, it's been quite a while since I've put together a MinneClassics episode, but Zoo Animal is playing their final show this weekend down at Amsterdam in St. Paul and that's cause for a deeper look at one of their most enduring tracks.
"Hold Tongue" comes from their 2008 album Young Blood. It's a simple song about the complex & personal subject of speaking to God filtered through Holly Hansen's deeply Minnesotan perspective. While that's true of much of Zoo Animal's work, I think "Hold Tongue" distills everything that Zoo Animal does well into a 3:00 song. Like I said, give the show a listen. I dig a little bit deeper into those themes as well as Minnesota's long tradition of mixing the complicated subject of religion with the complicated beauty of guitars and just where Zoo Animal fits in that lineage.
As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.
There you have it, folks. Like I mentioned above, Zoo Animal is calling it a day tomorrow night (12/12) down at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall. Go check it out.
Thanks for stopping by.
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.
Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to a very special episode of Flatbasset Radio!
Folks, it's a big day here in beautiful Minneapolis. Rhymesayers Entertainment, pillar of the local music community and the national hip-hop world, is celebrating their 20th anniversary with a big ass show down at the Target Center. It's a celebration, bitches!
As a tribute to all the hard work the label's done over the years, I decided to put together a show celebrating some of my absolute favorites RSE artists. It was a tough show to do, many great songs were left off, but that's a testament to the job they've done over the years. RSE keeps their quality control on point.
So, in this week's show I talk a lot about the importance of the label for all kinds of reasons. Rhymesayers isn't just about the music. In addition to playing the jams I discuss the importance of Rhymesayers as a part of the community, an example of the spirit of independence that runs throughout the midwest, and a testament to the fact that hard work & a belief in the goal can go a long way. Even if you're not a hip-hop fan, it's indisputable that the label's success has provided a blueprint for independent businesses throughout the Twin Cities. It's provided a beacon in a city that prides itself on an independent streak that was burning before RSE existed and will continue to burn after it's gone. Rhymesayers Entertainment is both an institution itself an inextricable link in the chain of the Twin Cities history.
Of course, at its core, it's built on the jams. Kick back and enjoy!
As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.
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.
That's right, folks. Another month has passed, which means it's time for an album collage.
It was a relatively busy November here at Planet New Basset. It felt great to get back on my podcast game. Well, as close to "on my game" as my show gets anyway. Big thanks to everybody who checked out the shows or read the posts. I'm thankful for YOU this year.
And stuffing.
And pie.
Mmmmm.... pie....
What? Oh yeah, the albums. As always, these stats are pulled from my Last.fm page.
01. Kill The Vultures - Carnelian (84 plays)
02. nosunnofood - all the moving parts of the ultimately median man (66 plays)
Someday you will find me caught beneath the landslide...
Well hello again, podcast fans. Welcome to Episode #68 of the Flatbasset Radio show!
Thanks for stopping by this week, devoted listener(s). I'm coming down with a cold this week and I figured staying inside and playing some jams would be the best way to cope with it. If I have to live with this messed up voice then so do you!
In this week's show I play some jams and talk about being sick, our old friends in Nashville, some new local hip-hop from some not-so-new artists, explain just how late to the party I was on one of the Twin Cities best bands, revisit last week's "good shoegaze vs. bad shoegaze" discussion, scratch my experimental electro-jazz itch, celebrate Sweden's greatest pop-punk export, reminisce about old St. Paul record stores, & give some winter advice. All that plus coughing and all the popped "P's" you could ever want!
Of course I also celebrate some anniversaries, get in a Cover Of The Week, and take a trip back to an iconic single for the Flatbasset Flatclassic.
As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.
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.
Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #67!
Folks, everything's terrible. It's been a tough week for people everywhere around the world and, if you're anything like me, you're exhausted. In that spirit, let's all take an hour long break from the real world and listen to some jams.
In this week's episode I try to press through the sadness while sitting in the dark discussing spelling in hip-hop, getting lost in electronics, loud local legends, semi-ironic covers, underrated Australian bands, my difficulties with the French language, Pete Doherty's quality control issues, good shoegaze vs. bad shoegaze, 90's cult figures, un-Google-able bands, & how best to use a time machine. All that plus some anniversaries, some love for our brothers & sisters in Paris, the Cover Of The Week, & the Flatbasset Flatclassic!
As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.
01. icollide - Lips That Won't Stretch, Tear
02. Astronautalis - SIKE!
03. Devata Daun - Fascinate
04. The Vines - Ms. Jackson
05. Brilliant Beast - Like Dreaming
06. Kanye West - Say You Will (w/Caroline Shaw)
07. Babyshambles -A'Rebours
08. Ruth Ruth - Amnesia
09. Felix Da Housecat - Do We Move Your World?
10. Juliana Hatfield - Shining On
11. Morrissey - I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Cheer up, kids. It'll get better.
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 Album Of The Week for the week of November 8th-14th, 2015:
The Persian Leaps - High & Vibrate
01. The Infection
02. Under The Lilacs
03. Dottie, Queen Of The West
04. Frozen
05. Anthem
Photo Credit: Jason Larkin
First of all, let me apologize for the lack of AOTW posts over the previous few months. I've been very busy. However, even though I haven't been writing posts, I have most definitely been spending lots of time with local albums.
As anybody who follows this blog knows, The Persian Leaps have been friends of Flatbasset Radio for quite some time now. Their debut EP Praise Elephants was an AOTW back in December of 2013 and its follow up Drive Drive Delay was an AOTW almost a year ago exactly. After putting out a couple of Soundcloud-only covers (including an excellent take on Teenage Fanclub's "The Concept" that became a Flatbasset Radio Cover Of The Week back in Episode #57), here we are with their third EP High & Vibrate. Considering lead singer Drew Forsberg also runs the successful & prolific Land Ski Records, the fact that EP #3 is ready to roll at all is quite an accomplishment (never mind the fact that its songs are excellent).
The Persian Leaps proved over those first two EP's that their bread-and-butter will always be power-pop. On High & Vibrate Singer/guitarist Forsberg, drummer Michael McCloskey, & new bassist/secret weapon Adam Brunner continue to write immediate, catchy power-pop that is perfectly at home in the Midwestern tradition that stretches back from Cheap Trick to The Replacements to The Promise Ring. However, like those bands before them, they continue to add wrinkles to their sound.
Praise Elephants was built on a very clean sound (so much to that I likened them, in a complimentary way, to the Gin Blossoms). On Drive Drive Delay they sanded off some of the polish, giving the EP an indie punk flavor in sound if not entirely in lyrics (which have always maintained a secretly perfect sort of Midwestern passive-aggressiveness in that regard). On High & Vibrate they keep those rough edges, but add a surprising, almost mathematical groove to the album. Give album opener "The Infection" a listen:
As you can hear there, the band's taken their Gin-Blossoms-meets-GBV sound and added a dash of Devo-esque rhythm to it. Sure, the song still gives in to those big, beautiful power chords when it's time for the hard sell, but they're clearly challenging themselves by finding new ways to get to that sweet spot. While I certainly don't know the inner-workings of the band, the addition of Brunner on bass has really given the band muscle. He & McCloskey seem to have found a chemistry that gives these songs a bit more swagger than was found on those previous EP's.
Check out the video here for "Under The Lilacs" and take note of the use of the clipped "uh oh's" that lead up to the chorus:
(Quick Video Sidenote: God, what a gloriously 90's video. The walking/singing shots, the blurred VHS-style shots, the close-ups of the instruments. If, like me, you grew up with 120 Minutes, it should be obvious why I love these guys so much.)
As you can & hear in those first couple of songs, the big, catchy chorus is still what hits hardest. However, those little detours along the way are what keep me coming back for repeated listens.
Now, traditionally the third release from an artist is a make-or-break type of affair. Think Park Life. Think The Queen Is Dead. Think Summerteeth. However, those are all from three-album cycles rather than this three-EP cycle we have here. Still, Mr. Forsberg, with his keen sense of pop history, takes the time to address the state of The Persian Leaps in closer "Anthem." "Nobody ever believed it, that guys like us could win..." he sings before heading into a chorus that simply consists of defiant "Uh uh's" and "No way's," both of which are directed at unnamed critics who seem to desire The Persian Leaps to fail.
In a way "Anthem" brings closure to a cycle started on Drive Drive Delay's opener "Firestarter," a call-to-arms to bandmates, fans, or simply to Forsberg himself. Bringing it all back home on "Anthem," he seems to be taking a victory lap after three excellent EP's, his own record label, & a growing fan base that wasn't built on gimmicks or buzz, but rather, at its heart, on well-crafted, thoughtful pop songs. In a music industry that's seems to place less and less emphasis on quality songwriting with every surprise album drop and pop-up venue, that's cause for a celebration.
If you'd like to pick up a copy of High & Vibrate for your very own you can head over to The Persian Leaps Bandcamp page. I'd also recommend checking out the Land Ski Records site. They've got an impeccable track record as well as some fantastic stuff coming out in the very near future.
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.
I stopped sharkin' a minute to get chips & drinks...
Well hello again, podcast fans. Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #66!
It's fall outside, kiddos, and that means it's time to put on your hoodies, pull out your hats, and indulge in Young Sandwich's Autumn Mix!
As he always does when the seasons change, my buddy Nick (aka Young Sandwich) stopped by to drop off an hour long seasonally-appropriate mix and this year's no exception. As you can see from the track list below, this Autumn Mix sticks to Nick's format of covering as many bases as possible in an hour. There's East Coast rap, impovisational jazz, 90's grunge, iconic folkies, 60's British rock, ska-punk, old-timey guitar theatrics, British hip-hop, 90's refugees, and one epic prog-rock jam. Somehow he makes all this work. What a beauty.
As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.
01. Beastie Boys - Alright Hear This
02. Junior Brown - Peelin' Taters
03. Roxy Music - Both Ends Burning
04. Cibo Matto - Beef Jerky
05. Scott Weiland - Circles
06. Ghostface Killah - Holla
07. The Rolling Stones - She's A Rainbow
08. John Scofield - Freepie
09. The Pfifers - Show No Fear
10. Nirvana - Molly's Lips
11. Wu-Tang Clan - Only The Rugged Survive
12. Bob Dylan - Autumn Leaves
13. The Streets - Fit But You Know It
14. This Town Needs Guns - In The Branches Of YGGDRASIL
15. Styles P - Hoodie Season
16. King Crimson - One More Red Nightmare
17. Neil Young - Harvest Moon
There you have it, folks. Tie up your hoodies.
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.
