Album Of The Week: December 30-January 5, 2014

My Album Of The Week for the week of  December 30th-January 5th, 2014:

The Person & The People - Zen And The Art Of Popular Music

I decided to dig a little deeper with The Person & The People on the strength of their new single "I Was Wrong" (which MinneSarah & I reviewed in Songs Of The Week #72 just last week over on Newest Industry).  Sarah pretty much nailed it when she wrote, "You know what the world needs?  A good pop song."  Boy, compared to most of the garbage we deal with in that column that's really the truth.

Anyway, I've had a great run with St. Paul power-pop bands this year (Panther Ray, The Persian Leaps), so I figured one last EP would be good way to send off 2013.  The Person & The People's St. Paul Power-Pop Party!  Alliteration, bitches!

Head on over to their Bandcamp page to check it out for yourself.

Songs Of The Week #72: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Kita Klane, Wooden Shjips, We Are Scientists, Courtney Barnett, & The Person & The People...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #72!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01.  Kita Klane - Running Circles (from the EP In Love With The Enemy)

TCDroogsma:

     Kita Klane's Bandcamp page describes her as an, "L.A. natie & songwriting chanteusse."  I'm not 100% certain what that "songwriting chanteusse" means, but it sounds an awful lot like the kind of buzzword that stupid people use to sound important.

     With "Running Circles," Klane seems to be aiming for the soft, gooey middle ground between Adele & Amy Winehouse.  She hits the mark, but that's not necessarily a good thing.  She lacks Adele's "everywoman" charm (to say nothing of her vocal chops) while her "edgy" seems to be more a press-photos-and-artist-description concept than anything that's apparent in the music.  Maybe this sort of thing is just better left to the British.

MinneSarah:

     The mood of this song is reminiscent of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with the bell keyboard organs.  Kita Klane has a fire in her belly and it's all directed towards her ex in this smoothly delivered, dark and angry song.  Her caramel voice calmly describes her disappointment in a guy whose life choices seem to be wrong turns.

     Revenge break up songs only live in two camps - 1.) I'm better off without you and the best revenge is living well - think Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" - 2.) You suck and you've always sucked and my condolences go out to anyone who will have to even look at you in the future - think The Toasters, "I Wasn't Going To Call You Anyway" (for instance, strange bedfellows to be sure). This one is in the second camp, but with a tangible sense of betrayal - she's not been off this one for a while and may drunk dial him to sing him this song. Ironically, nothing says running circles like checking your ex's Facebook twice a day. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1.5/5
                              MinneSarah: 3/5

02.  Wooden Shjips - Everybody Knows (from the album Back To Land)

TCDroogsma:

     When I was going through these songs at the beginning of the week and saw that I'd be reviewing a band out of San Francisco that's described as "spacey psychedelic rock" and has little regard for proper spelling, I feared the worst.  That's a lot of minuses.

     However, proving the age old "Droogsy is usually wrong about everything" lesson yet again, "Everybody Knows" turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  The floats along on a guitar riff that seems basic, yet, over the course of five minutes, reveals itself to be a Kevin Shields-esque hypno-riff.  It's steady pulse provides the canvas for guitar solos, vocals that push falsetto (but don't force the issue), and the first tolerable use of harmonica to ever appear on the SOTD podcast.  Honestly, after a week with this song I still have no fucking idea what they lyrics are.  It doesn't matter, though.  That guitar sets the mood and never lets go.

MinneSarah:

     Distorted guitar saves the homesick harmonica, but that harmonica really drags this song down.  The mood of this one is low key, a little Velvet Underground, a little Phishy.  The vocals are comforting and carry the song throughout a haze - after several listens, I'm still not sure what any of the lyrics are or what they could be about. When in doubt, add a guitar solo - it also adds a good thirty seconds.  Though I don't know much  about this band, they seem like they've got a lot going for them in terms of tapping into their artistic creativity.  The harmonica really lost it for me, and that's sort of a deal breaker. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 4/5
                              MinneSarah: 3/5

03.  We Are Scientists - Dumb Luck (from the EP Business Casual)

TCDroogsma:

     On a scale of 1-10, how tired of reading reviews that start, "Holy shit!  We Are Scientists is still a thing?!?" do you think the guys in We Are Scientist are?  It's gotta be at least an 8, right?

     Well, I'm nothing if not out of date, so holy shit! We Are Scientists is still a thing?

     Now, obviously, We Are Scientists have already carved out their niche in early Aughts history with "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt."  It wasn't a big hit, but it was definitely the kind of song that would scroll down my television if Time Life every put together a "Best Of The Early Aughts: The Hipster Years" compilation (or if they still sold CD's on television).

     So, with that in mind, just enjoy "Dumb Luck" for what it is.  It's hardly a redefining single (for the genre or the band), but it has it's charms.  Namely: Bitter, bitter anger.  I mean, the song opens with, "It took you long enough to figure this out... it should have been hours ago..."  At its heart, "Dumb Luck" is a solid, if half-formed rant.  However, We Are Scientists use all the veteran savvy they have, dressing the song up with plinking keys, double-tracked guitar solos, echoing vocals, and a stop-start chorus built around one monster riff to turn the song into a fully formed jam.

MinneSarah:

     For as much as "Dumb Luck" starts out as a Queens of the Stone Age song, eventually I stop tapping my foot and feel like I'm listening to something at my dentist's office.

     The first verse is the best - the vocals are layered, guitar is looping, and the drums keep building the mood.  The chorus and beyond is just too much - what I imagine the Wild Onion is like on the weekends.  It has all the good elements of a good pop/metal/alternative crossover, but the refrain is just a little too upbeat and out of place compared to the rest of the tune. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                              MinneSarah: 3/5

04.  Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener (from the double EP A Sea Of Split Peas)

TCDroogsma:

     This poor, stupid song.

     Let me explain.  I listen to these SOTD tracks as I walk to work every morning.  Courtney Barnett's rambling "Avant Gardener" had the misfortune of being cut off halfway through everyday (with the second half waiting to be picked up when I went on break).  While this didn't do the song any favors, it was doubly disappointing for me, as this break made it seem as if I was slogging through the song twice a day.

     I read a blurb about "Avant Gardener" earlier this week in which Barnett claims that this is one of the only songs she's written that began with the music (with lyrics added after the fact).  Maybe that's the problem.  The music itself is a pretty standard country-tinged shuffle.  Perhaps the psuedo-clever lyrics (a story in which Barnett passes out and is rescued by an ambulance filled out by the kind of jokes & references that make dumb people feel smart) seem so desperate because it would take something daring to give the song any color.  Barnett aims for "Dylan-esque" (bluntly referenced in the song's video), but comes off like somebody captioning photos on Instagram.  If this is the next generation of folk music I pray Mr. Tambourine Man never lays down his guitar.

MinneSarah:

     One of the things I dislike about Bob Dylan is that at times his lyrics seem to be recounting or explaining a scenario in excruciating detail.  "Avant Gardener" certainly fits this description.  Who would have thought someone could write a five minute song about an asthma attack and have it be listenable?  The guitar is twangy and distorted throughout, with pops and buzzes fighting through the narrative.  There is something endearing about hearing every thought - what do the neighbors think?, they must be wrong, these people sound decent!

     After a couple listens, this song seemed like a masterpiece - the vocalist is clever because she plays guitar - or maybe it is just her Australian accent.  After about ten listens in and this song is particularly annoying and the guitar and detailed narrative is stale.  Hands together for making a song about asthma sound interesting, at least for several listens.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
                              MinneSarah: 3/5

05.  The Person & The People - I Was Wrong (from the album Big Whoop)

TCDroogsma:

     I don't know what they're putting in the water over in St. Paul, but it's leading to tremendous power pop.  Somewhere between The Persian Leaps and Panther Ray lies The Person & The People.

     Now, a large chunk of the appeal of "I Was Wrong" is that absolutely no aspect of it sounds new.  In fact, I could pretty much hum along with the melody as it unfolded the very first time I heard it.  Whether that means the songs appeal is in "timeless pop craftsmanship" or "listener nostalgia" is an interesting question, though it's rendered absolutely moot for the three minutes I spent bobbing my head while the song played.

MinneSarah:

     You know what the world needs?  A good pop song.  "I Was Wrong," is a straightforward example of an unapologetic (okay, the song is about an apology) rock pop song.  It's a formula that is beyond refreshing.  While I'd give my left nut to have a new Superdrag albums, I'm lucky (mostly because I lack nuts) that there is a local band capable of carrying on the torch of straight forward, catchy, pop music.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                              MinneSarah: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Newest Industry Presents - Flatbasset Radio: Episode #25

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Me & Garrison Keillor on the four-wheeler sippin' tequila...

Hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #25!
 
For those of you who are unaware of the Flatbasset Radio format, here's what you're looking at: TCDroogsma is our resident MP3 junkie. As you've probably noticed in his Songs Of The Week column, he's not always the most positive music fan. In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a fan of music, we give him an hour each week to play the songs he's digging and talk a little bit about them. Once he's recorded his podcast we put it right here on the website for free to stream!

In this week's episode Droogsy eschews Christmas songs for "secular music," uses the term "dream-poppy-prog-rocky...," celebrates a young rapper who passed too soon, concedes that he's let his laser noise game lapse, ranks Santa's reindeer in this week's Power Rankings, indulges his love of dopey love songs, and, at least for this week, puts down his axe in his fight against an indie rock icon.

You can download the podcast for free by clicking the episode's title or stream the episode by clicking on the Mixcloud player below.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #25

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #25 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Atmosphere (w/Dem Atlas, Joe Horton, & Toki Wright) - Color In The Snow
02. King Tuff - Bad Thing
03. Homeless & The Van Gobots - Math Automatic
04. The Henry Clay People - Clean Sheets
05. Capital Steez - Cab Fare
06. Jamie XX - Untitled
07. Run The Jewels (w/DJ Q-Bert) - Pew Pew Pew
08. Mason Jennings - Raindrops On The Kitchen Floor
09. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Some Trees
10. FINS - Transatlantic Tryst
11. Tom Waits - Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

There you have it, music fans! 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.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Album Of The Week: Decemberr 23-29, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 23rd-29th, 2013:

Wild Ghosts - No Coast

A couple of weeks back I was writing about The Persian Leaps and mentioned how nice it was to hear a band that eschewed making a racket for front-and-center vocals.  Well, after spending that week with The Persian Leaps (and the subsequent two with Allan Kingdom & Homeless), I figured I'd spend a week with somebody who puts racket first.

I can't remember exactly how I found out about Wild Ghosts.  It was definitely a case of falling down a Last.fm or Bandcamp Recommendations wormhole.  Regardless, I somehow stumbled onto their Bandcamp page and decided to give No Coast a chance.

Wild Ghosts is a rough listen the first few times.  Coherent vocals are difficult to pick up until the fifth song and, once that ends, they're rarely heard from again.  The band works its way into grooves that are not readily apparent, which is why Wild Ghosts makes for such a perfect AOTW record.  I'm really hoping that, over the course of a week, the ideas buried somewhere in the reverb & organ & feedback are going to show themselves.

Songs Of The Week #71: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Painted Palms, Cut Copy, The So So Glos, The Moth & The Flame, & The Counterfactuals...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #71!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01.  Painted Palms - Spinning Signs (from the album Forever) 

TCDroogsma:

     There's a lot going on in "Spinning Signs."  After a couple cursory drum beats we're enveloped in a world of bouncing synths, whooshing synths, and a vocal line fighting for attention.   The lyrics are a collage of psychedelic mumbo-jumbo like "lights spill out my mouth, it's in my hands, it's in the sky," but when the chorus poses the question, "Why can't any of the words get past my mouth?"  the answer seems obvious:  Because there's so many keyboards drowning it out.

     Still, at its core, "Spinning Signs" is a pop song.  I'm willing to bet the guys in Painted Palms own every Of Montreal album, but I'll bet "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?" is their favorite.

MinneSarah:

     Have you ever thought, "The only thing that would have pushed the Beatles over the edge as best band of all time is electronic keyboards?"  I guess I've thought so once or twice, but not until I've heard "Spinning Signs" did I debate it earnestly.

     This song sounds like a party of Depeche Mode meets Tame Impala.  It's got a steady electronic beat, to be sure, but it retains the catchiness of songs you could actually listen to over and over - the use of the keyboards is not overpowering.  The vocals are confident and push the song forward with a sense of urgency.  Of all the songs on this podcast, this may win the award for most listens in a week.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3/5
                              MinneSarah: 4.5/5

02.  Cut Copy - We Are Explorers (from the album Free Your Mind)

TCDroogsma:

     One of my oldest and most beloved traditions here on SOTW is to hate on synth-pop songs.  I don't know if it's because I grew up on punk  rock or, more likely, it's because most of these songs are half-formed ideas wrapped up in synths and presented as fully-realized ideas, but they rarely speak to me.

     However, every now and then a synth-pop band will just nail a song (think M83's "Midnight City" or Yeasayer's "Ambling Alp").  When that happens, not only is it great "for a synth-pop song," it jumps ahead of indie rock, hip-hop, old 90's shit that I love, and becomes just a perfect track.  "We Are Explorers" is that moment for Cut Copy.  Everything about this track is perfect.  The keyboards bounce, the vocal melody is incredibly catchy, and, most importantly, the song pushes into the stratosphere for the chorus.  It's good enough that I would slog through an entire Cut Copy show just to see a venue go bananas during "We Are Explorers."  Definitely a late entry into the "2013 Best Of The Song Of The Day" contest.

MinneSarah:

     Cut Copy were one of my favorite bands when I lived in Canada.  While they aren't from Canada (they're Aussies), they have a sound that isn't quite Euro-electronic that I've dubbed "Commonwealth Electro."  Honestly the word "trash" can often follow that phrase, but "We Are Explorers" is certainly the former.

     This song is unabashedly electronic - it even features mini sirens.  Despite the discoteque vibe, the singer's mellow voice is used to temper the heavily electronically enhanced music.  This band has always made me feel like I'm on the cutting edge, and true to my "Commonwealth Electro" tag - we are exploring together when you pop this tune on your stereo.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 4.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 4/5

03.  The So So Glos - Lost Weekend (from the album Blowout)

TCDroogsma:

          The So So Glos are an indie rock band out of Brooklyn that's fronted by brothers Alex & Ryan Levine.    Like all great New York bands from The Velvet Underground to The Strokes, "Lost Weekend" finds the band taking their turn writing the "anthem for the morning after."

      "Lost Weekend" rumbles about on a simple-yet-effective bassline while Alex Lavine snarkily lets a compatriot know that it's time to grow up.  He cuts the deepest with the lin, "Don't cry, you did it as much as I, and I'm not gonna be the one to bail you out this time..."  The energy that fueled this "lost weekend" seems as though it's being channeled into more worthwhile pursuits (like, say, The So So Glos), and he's run out of time to suffer those around him who refuse to read the writing on the wall.  Certainly a sentiment that anybody on my side of 30 can relate with.

MinneSarah:

     How many of you can honestly say you've planned a lost weekend?  I've had plenty of weekends where Monday rolls around and when people ask how my weekend was, I can't remember - knitting, entire series of TV shows, ramen noodle sampler packs?  Well, this passionate guitar driven ode to being forgotten puts my former definition of lost weekend to shame.  The vocals are excited, and vacillate between "ooooh ooooohs" and gutteral screams.  While this song does have a West Coast vibe, it is different from what I would consider the indie rock norm at this point. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 4/5
                               MinneSarah: 3/5

04.  The Moth & The Flame - Sorry (from the EP & EP)

TCDroogsma:

     Speaking of sentiments that anybody over 30 can relate with, here we have "Sorry" from Utah's The Moth & The Flame.

     The song rides a bass hook that seems to continually push the song upward while Brandon Robbins laments the mistake of staying in a relationship that's run its course out of a desire to protect somebody's feelings.  When the song drops out with under a minute left and the spotlight is left on Robbin's howling, "I'm sooorrryyy..." it's the perfect embodiement of what I'm assuming is a universal regret.  There's almost nothing as painful as trying to make amends for this type of mistake, and The Moth & The Flame do a great job of making that feeling both palpable & danceable.

MinneSarah:

     I know a kid who has a tattoo on his neck, at his collar bones, that reads, "I'm sorry."  He says it's just easier that way.  It doesn't hurt to own up, and this earnest song puts the listener at ease with an unsolicited mea culpa.  I couldn't quite put my finger on the distinctly British sounding vocals, but realized it reminds me of The Doves (though many may say Coldplay).  The lyrics are about bad relationships - but rather than point the blame - he is just sorry he didn't realize it sooner.  This sentiment sounds genuine and not at all sarcastic.  The drumming parts were so catchy I couldn't stop from stomping my feet on the light rail or clapping my hands when my nails were wet.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 4.5/5

05.  The Counterfactuals - If You Go Then You Go It Alone (from the album Minimally Decent People)

TCDroogsma:

     Much like I took a moment last week to acknowledge the beautifully Minnesotan sentiment of Red Mountain's album title Scowling Lightly, I think it's important to acknowledge The Counterfactuals Minimally Decent People album title.  Not "bad" people.  Nobody in Minnesota assumes that someone is "bad."  "Minimally Decent" is about the Minnesota Nice-iest way of putting it.

     The song "If You Go Then You Go It Alone," as you can probably imagine, is a bit more direct.  It opens with the line, "'Go on.'  That's the final word from over the phone..."  and only gets more resigned from there.  The song isn't angry, necessarily, but strikes a very matter-of-fact tone.  In a way, it almost seems like the conversation that would end the sort of drawn out goodbye The Moth & The Flame were referencing above.  If there's on thing Minnesotans do well, it's hold a grudge, and reminding that no-longer-special someone that if they go then they go it alone is basically a statement of intent to file somebody away into the "Grudge" file. 

MinneSarah:

     I can't think of a better song name for an Americana-inspired song. "If You Go Then You Go It Alone" is filled with metallic acoustic sounding guitar and full-bodied percussion.  It doesn't quite fit the stereotype of Americana - but seems to rely heavily on the influences.  I like that the sound is more modern and developed.  The vocals are filled with sadness and passion, sometimes you just have to put your foot down even if it's not entirely what you want to do.  If this were the trajectory of folk-pop, I wouldn't be worried and I'd embrace it with open arms.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3/5
                               MinneSarah: 3.5/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.   

Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #24

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

All the parts are running, sparks are spilling out the gears...

Hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #24!
 
For those of you who are unaware of the Flatbasset Radio format, here's what you're looking at: TCDroogsma is our resident MP3 junkie. As you've probably noticed in his Songs Of The Week column, he's not always the most positive music fan. In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a fan of music, we give him an hour each week to play the songs he's digging and talk a little bit about them. Once he's recorded his podcast we put it right here on the website for free to stream!

In this week's edition Droogsy plays a song for the cold weather, reaches back for a lost Twin Cities R&B jam, laments being too old to attend Doomtree Blowouts, shines a spotlight on some local artists in an Album Of The Week showcase, questions the definition of "extreme hiatus,"  plays an modern indie rock classic, explains that British people are inherently polite, gives us a Flatclassic that doubles as the Cover Of The Week, and, of course, fires a few shots at David Bowie!

You can download the podcast for free by clicking the episode's title or stream the episode by clicking on the Mixcloud player below.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #24

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #24 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01.  Mason Proper - Lock & Key
02.  Illogic & Blockhead (w/Lionesque) - Chiseled Masterpiece
03.  Walter Lewis & The Blue Stars - I Have Love At Home
04.  Doomtree - The Grand Experiment
05.  Frankie Teardrop - New Beverage
06.  Allan Kingdom - I Should Be A Pusha
07.  The Persian Leaps - Hard Feelings
08.  The Walkmen - The Rat
09.  Baishe Kings - Yeah
10.  Clinic - Miss You
11.  K.Raydio & Psymun - Jupiter
12.  Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World

There you have it, music fans! Enjoy!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry reviewing singles in our Songs Of The Week column. Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.

 


For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.    

Album Of The Week: December 16-22, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 16th-22nd, 2013:

Homeless & The Van Gobots - Twenty-Dirt

It's hip-hop for the second week in a row here on the Flatbasset AOTW.  The similarity between Allan Kingdom's Talk To Strangers and this week's Twenty-Dirt is limited strictly to genre defenition.

Homeless (@HomelessRyanK) first came to my attention in August of 2012, when his single "Get Gone" (a collaboration with K.Raydio) turned up on The Current's Song Of The Day podcast (which MinneSarah & I reviewed way back in the second edition of Songs Of The Week.  We were so young & naive).

Anyway, that track had Big Cats! on the beat and cast Homeless as an angry, frustrated, but ultimately hopeful young man.  Twenty-Dirt takes those same character traits, but stretches them a bit.  Homeless is still frustrated, but some of that anger has been replaced with the good humor to recognize which fights are worth fighting.  Obviously it's not totally fair to compare a whole album to a lone single, but the lighter moments on Twenty-Dirt certainly give the album a nice balance, letting the listener know that, despite all the problems that surround him, Homeless is still able to enjoy the simple things in life.

In place of a producer on Twenty-Dirt, Homeless collaborated with The Van Gobots (@TheVanGobots).  I'd be lying if I said I was super-familiar with their work prior to Twenty-Dirt, but that may be for the best in this instance.  The band works up a nice post-punk racket for Homeless' rhymes.  Because I'm not familiar with their other work, it's possible for me to listen to these songs without wondering what they would have become without the restraint of the tracks being a canvas rather than the stand-alone art.  It's certainly enough to make me want to check out more of their work.

If you're interested in checking it out for yourself Twenty-Dirt is available as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.  They'll be playing an album release show on December 21st at Cause.

Songs Of The Week #70: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Los Campesinos!, Diego Garcia, Blood Orange, Tennis, & Red Mountain...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #70!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01.  Los Campesinos! - Avacodo, Baby (from the album No Blues)

TCDroogsma:

     My knowledge of (and relationship with) Los Campesinos! has been built entirely through the SOTD podcast.  This is the sixth time the band has appeared in my weekly rotation.  This means that I'm currently in possession of what could probably be called a "Best Of..." EP.  It also means that I'm liable to have missed the little evolutions of the band, with each song coming as a fully formed dispatch as to where Los Campesinos! are now.

     Following along as the band went from poppy, hook-laden upstarts who relied almost solely on energy to the somewhat disillusioned, a little less poppy, more mature and still hook-laden space they occupy now has been a rewarding trek.  "Avacado, Baby" opens with the type of textured guitar hook that's indicative of how much more thought goes into the songwriting from an instrument standpoint.  Once the verse kicks in, however, we're reminded that singer Garreth Campesino's melodic snarl is still the star of the show.

     Lyrically, "Avocado, Baby" is not in a good place.  The third verse in particular is an example of well-crafted, psuedo-literate vitriol.  It also stands as a testament to just how well Garreth can twist pronunciation in order to rhyme a couplet.  The yelled out hook explaining just why he's called "the avocado" is pretty fucking corny, but it's delivered with a mix of anger and braggadocio to sell the whole thing.  Push comes to shove, I'm a sucker for spiteful lyrics, boy/girl harmonies, and hooks on hooks on hooks.

MinneSarah:

     A band out of Wales should not be called "Los Campesinos!," it's misleading.  Otherwise, this band sounds a lot like pop punk acts like Panic at the Disco!  The lyrics are brooding but childish - they sound like the spoken word diary of a angsty teenage boy.  Though I know dance alt pop punk was a big deal ten years ago (who didn't have that Killers album), I had no idea that a song like "Avacado, Baby" could be relevant in today's music scene.

     While I'm a huge fan of British music, I would have pegged the lead singer as faking this accent (shows how much I actually know), but again, it draws comparison to all those bands in the early 2000's that actually used that tactic.  The end of the song features a children's chorus and or cheerleaders? The takeaway from this song is that avacados shouldn't be used as metaphors. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 4/5
                               MinneSarah: 1.5/5

02.  Diego Garcia - Start With The End (from the album Paradise)

TCDroogsma:

     Quick sidenote for anybody who reads these columns regularly:  I couldn't help but laugh when the bongos come in at the beginning of this song.  MinneSarah's been railing against bongos in indie rock all year and I'm sure hearing them at the start of this Argentinie-styled song made her angry even though it's an Argentine-style song.

     Alright, back to the plot.  "Let's start with the end and stay 'til the end," is the opening line of this song.  Garcia spends the rest of the song arguing the virtues of living in the moment, staying friends, and the circular nature of the universe?  Time travel?  It's tough to say.  Even though I kind of like the song, the lyrics seem willfully cliche, which detracts from Garcia's pleasant sentiment.

     Garcia has a warm, pleasant voice that fits the song's style.  He's not passing down hard-learned lessons, but rather making suggestions that he thinks are probably, y'know, a pretty cool way to approach life.  I"m not totally sure I'm buying what he's selling, but he certainly put a lot of work into the wrapping paper.

MinneSarah:

     Fun loving Diego Garcia wants us all to relax, enjoy some fancy Latin guitar, and enjoy our lives.  From my cynical perspective, it seems a little rose-colored to think that most relationships are not going to become monotonous or sour, but Diego promises that by pretending to start at the end, we'll be better to each other.  The soothing buttery cello and vocal optimism almost convinces me that I've been doing everything wrong my entire life - but as the end is still ahead (or behind?), we've all got a little time.  

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 2.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 2.5/5

03.  Blood Orange - You're Not Good Enough (from the album Cupid Deluxe)

TCDroogsma:

     Blood Orange is just one of the aliases of Dev Hynes.  While I'm not super-familiar with his work, I know that his song "All My Friends Are Listening To Crunk" under his Lightspeed Champion moniker is still one of my favorite SOTD tracks.  "You're Not Good Enough" has none of that songs strummy humor, but rather lays some ice cold lyrics over some warm, bouncy synth lines.

     "You're Not Good Enough" actually comes off like a morning-after version of Daft Punk's ubiquitous "Get Lucky."  The Nile Rodgers-esque chka-chka guitars and bouncing bass aim for the same dancefloor, but where Pharrel was up all night to get lucky, Hynes is dealing with the aftermath (specifically, forty-nine days later) and probably questioning the definition of "lucky."  A chorus of, "I never was in love, you know that you were never good enough..." leaves little to the imagination.  The spark of lust may have been extinguished, but that's no reason to stop dancing.

MinneSarah:

     Funky, bass-y songs that sound like they would soundtrack a detective show from the 80's are an actual genre in 2013.  This song doesn't even sound out of place, and blends nostalgia with catchiness.  As far as lyrics are concerned, "You're Not Good Enough" goes for the jugular. If you've ever wanted to tell someone that they were a mistake, you've never actually loved them and they were horrible in bed, this might be the song to put on the stereo in lieu of an awkward talk. Girl/Boy vocals can be hit or miss, but both singers sing at the same time, making it sound almost like one congruent voice.  Despite the fact that I love a good revenge song, I became despondent while listening to it - it might be too mean unless you are in that mind state already. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 2.5/5

04.  Tennis - Mean Streets (from the EP Small Sound)

TCDroogsma:

     Tennis is the husband & wife duo of Patrick Riley & Alaina Moore out of Denver.  As you may or may not recall (the hype machine runs so quickly these days), they were all the rage for a couple of weeks back in 2012.

     "Mean Streets" starts as a character portrait, which we join halfway through with the opening lines, "Summer up in the Catskills, baby, singing just for the thrill..."  Oddly, however, that's just about as far as our protagonist's story goes.  Over a spry keyboard bounce, Tennis aims for ambiguity with the chorus and hits its mark dead on, letting us (or, possibly, her?) know that, "whatever's left, you'll find you've got to give it what you got."  You can choose your own meaning for that chorus.

     Lyrical ambiguity aside, the song swings along like with a warmth that makes me wish I was spending summer in the Catskills.  "Mean Streets" is warm & catchy in a way that seems to come very naturally to Tennis, leaving enough room to breath that I found myself liking it more & more as the week wore on.

MinneSarah:

     "Mean Streets" is chill and jazzy.  Piano mixes with drums, showcasing the singers vocal range from sultry to bubble gum.  The lyrics are about a girl gone good, singing on the mean streets until she has ubiquitously become a star.  The lyrics start out with the line "Summer up in the Catskills," which sounds like a far cry from the mean streets.  While the song is about a rise to success, the origins are covered, then the success, but how this primadonna got to where she is still is fuzzy.  "Mean Streets" is an enjoyable listen, and has a certain sophistication that would place this song in an upscale boutique or hip restaurant, but don't try and read too far into it. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 2.5/5

05.  Red Mountain - Put Me Through (from the album Scowl Lightly)

TCDroogsma:

     Red Mountain is a band out of Duluth and, before I go any further, I'm going to take a second to acknowledge that Scowl Lightly is arguably the most Duluth-ian title for an album that I can possibly imagine.

     Red Mountain opens "Put Me Through" by stacking harmonies that verge on white-boy doo-wop over a simple keyboard line.  When the song springs to life at the 1:20 mark, it doesn't break out the way you'd expect.  The drums turn up to shuffle along, giving the song a pulse that seems both nervous & resigned.  By the time the trumpets show up a minute later, it's become clear that "Put Me Through" is not headed for any Day-Glo payoff, but, like anybody who's going to survive in a Duluth winter, Red Mountain puts their heads down and presses forward, selling us on the same well-crafted hook that opened the song.

MinneSarah:

     The levels of genuine longing and melancholy pull this song together.  Vocals are sung in a round of one during the intro, but then have an echo chorus behind them.  "Put Me Through" builds continuously, and adds just the right touch at every change.  While usually, trumpets, cello, cowbell, and a chorus of "ahs" detract from a song, these components actually work to add emphasis.

     Lyrically, "Put Me Through" is about the longing associated with wanting to be with someone you just know would not work out in the long run.  Written from a realistic perspective, the possibility of dying alone is thrown in for good measure.  These are our options, love is not always pretty, but this song highlights those not so pleasant aspects and makes you happy to be able to experience the full spectrum of human emotions.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 3.5/5
                               MinneSarah: 4/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.   

Album Of The Week: December 9-15, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of December 9th-15th, 2013

Allan Kingdom - Talk To Strangers

Talk To Strangers is another album that I downloaded after checking out Erik Thompson's excellent 10 Twin Cities Acts Who Deserve To Be Famous column.  Though, I should note that this wasn't the first time I'd come across Allan Kingdom's name, it was the first time it was the first time I said, "Oh yeah, I gotta check that out."  Thanks to Erik Thompson (or his editors) for putting the link to Kingdom's Bandcamp page in the column.

As such, click on Allan Kingdom's Bandcamp to check out Talk To Strangers for yourself at whatever price you see fit.

I'm excited to spend the week with Talk To Strangers because, frankly, I need to hear more new voices in the Twin Cities hip-hop community (and I say that with all the love possible for the old voices I've been listening to for years).


After a couple of spins, Talk To Strangers makes for an interesting listen because Kingdom doesn't seem to be straining himself to fit in with the hipster set, which is refreshing, but he's also not presenting any sort of myth-building version of himself.  Honestly, he just sounds like a dude who's rapping over some laid back beats because it's fun to just kick back and rap over some laid back beats.  Definitely a welcome change of pace.

If you're interested in checking Kingdom out in person, he's part of a lengthy list of artists playing First Avenue on Saturday, February 15th for the release of the 5th The Best Love Is Free compilation.  Gotta believe that's a show worth checking out.

Newest Industry Presents - Flatbasset Radio: Episode #23

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Everything's gonna be alright...

Hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #23!
 
For those of you who are unaware of the Flatbasset Radio format, here's what you're looking at: TCDroogsma is our resident MP3 junkie. As you've probably noticed in his Songs Of The Week column, he's not always the most positive music fan. In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a fan of music, we give him an hour each week to play the songs he's digging and talk a little bit about them. Once he's recorded his podcast we put it right here on the website for free to stream!

In this week's episode Droogsy plays us a song that helps him get through the day, debuts the new feature: Cover Of The Week, discusses his favorite late-90's glam rock film, gets an answer to the question: Does San Diego have an underground music scene, fawns over the Turf Club, declares a band that didn't even fill the Turf Club "An American treasure, mispronounces another artist's name, and wishes his dad a happy birthday!

You can download the podcast for free by clicking the episode's title or stream the episode by clicking on the Mixcloud player below.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #23

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #23 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01.  The Cloak Ox - Josephine
02.  Sage Francis (w/B. Dolan) - You Can't Win
03.  Total Slacker - Keep The Ships At Bay
04.  Jason Lytle - Get Up And Go
05.  Holy Ghost! - Hold On, We're Going Home
06.  Lakutis - Body Scream
07.  Grant Lee Buffalo - The Whole Shebang
08.  Octa#Grape - As Long As I Forget
09.  SIFU Hotman - Outnumbered, Outgunned, Outmaneuvered, And Winning
10.  Sebadoh - Soul And Fire
11.  Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train To Georgia

There you have it, music fans! Enjoy!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry reviewing singles in our Songs Of The Week column. Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.  

Songs Of The Week #69: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

AgesandAges, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, & Sebadoh...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #69!
 
For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself.  It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given each song a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side of the page.  The artist who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. AgesandAges - Do The Right Thing (from the album Divisionary)

TCDroogsma:

     AgesandAges are a band out of Portland, Oregon and boy, they really are.  Only such an ambiguous, dull city could produce an ambiguous, dull message like "do the right thing."

     While I certainly appreciate that these guys want me to do the right thing, I just don't feel like they genuinely give a shit.  More accurately, "Do The Right Thing" sounds like a pre-emptive defense that they, themselves are doing the right thing.  Now, if the "right thing" involves boring, circular melodies and dated, cliched platitudes, and the type of choir vocals that would make Edward Sharpe think, "Oh shit!  Do we sound like that?!?" then you can just go ahead and put me in the "doing the wrong thing" category.

MinneSarah:

     What a positive motivational song? Although AgesandAges fail to describe what the "right thing" may entail, they expect that you just do it, and that you do it all the time - lyrics that could well be taken straight from a page of a propaganda pamphlet.  The building choral style vocals make it sound as though you are in the middle of an intervention featuring a violin and tambourines - and lots of them.

     The rest of the song is pretty run of the mill adorable alternative and doesn't really offend one way or the other.  The vacuous simplicity of the positive message and its delivery is annoying.  To steal a line from the song..."if you love yourself you better get out now."  Unfortunately for AgesandAges, this song made me feel that the right thing was to never listen to this song again - and yeah, that does make me feel better already. 

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 1/5
                              MinneSarah: 1.5/5

02. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside - Lips N Hips (from the EP Summer)

TCDroogsma:

     Last January I reviewed Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside's song "Party Kids."  I didn't care for it, eventually saying, "It's all the mindless fun of 'Talk Dirty To Me' updated for the indie set."  Compared to "Lips N Hips," "Party Kids" is "Strawberry Fields Forever."

     Where "Party Kids" was basically disposable, stupid pop, at least it was catchy and well performed.  "Lips N Hips" finds the band abandoning decent melodies and relying solely on "surprisingly" blunt sexuality.  Even that might have given "Lips N Hips" some redeeming quality, but the whole thing is sunk by Sallie Ford's vocal performance.  I mean, when was the last time you heard a female singer struggle with the low end of her register?

     Lyrically, Ford abandons subtle seduction quickly and aims for the cheap payoff of flatly offering her body to a potential lover. It's a perfect approach for a generation that's accustomed to sending dick pics and nudezzzz, but, to paraphrase C. Montgomery Burns, call me old fashioned, but women were sexier when they kept their clothes on.

MinneSarah:

     "Lips N Hips" is the dirtiest of these California surf rock revival songs I've heard.  However the sentiment, though serious, comes across comically augmented.  The lyrics start out "Hey there, fella."  Ummm, is this a Mae West movie?  Additionally, the lyrics rhyme "really know you" with "really know you."

     While it feels like the song is trying to convey a sense of raw desire, the mood actually made me feel out of place and uncomfortable, like overhearing old people making love or reading a feeble sexting conversation between a couple of teenagers.  Combine that level of unease with the resolute fact that if I never heard a song that sounded so "retro California" I wouldn't lose any sleep.  Dud.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 0/5
                               MinneSarah: 1.5/5

03.  Sebadoh - I Will (from the album Defend Yourself)

TCDroogsma:

     Confession:  MinneSarah & I went and saw Sebadoh at the Turf Club last month.  She's been a huge fan of these guys since high school, so the show was probably less revelatory for her than me, but it sent me down a Sebadoh wormhole that I've yet to totally recover from.

     That being said, "I Will" is a brilliant, unflinching single.  Barlow wraps his softening-with-age voice around the aftermath of a relationship ending.  The song is filled with brutally honest lyrics.  I mean, it opens with, "Can you tell that I'm about to lose control?"  It's that feeling that hits several days after "the big fight,"  when the reality of life apart from this person hits like a ton of bricks.  As a 31 year old guy, I know that feeling well.  Perhaps because of my age (and, frankly, relationship history), the line, "So I make a plan and start to move" is the most poignant of the song.  Barlow's been down this road before and, even though he's freaking out on the inside, he knows the routine, which is just about the most crushing thought of all.

     (I was going to give this one a 4.5/5, but I bumped it up to my first "5" ever because Barlow uses the same title as one of Paul McCartney's most beloved, schmaltzy love songs.  Lou's got a great sense of humor.)

MinneSarah:

     "I Will" is one of Lou Barlow's emo songs - not that I can find anything wrong with a grown man sharing his innermost feelings - we all know that Lou would punch a nun in the face if she gave him the reason - he's the toughest guy in indie rock for certain.

     That having been said, "I Will" deals with the difficult subject matter of realizing you just aren't that into a relationship anymore.  The lyrics are delivered matter of fact and are uncannily relateable.  Unlike some of Sebadoh's Barlow driven songs, this one doesn't dwell on the acoustic, but turns the guitar amp up.  Sebadoh is a band I've loved since high school.  As a long time fan I'm happy to report that this song embodies the raw rock music that drove me to the band in the first place but also adds a layer that we're all different people than we were in 1995...and we're probably all better for it.

Final Score - TCDroogsma: 5/5
                               MinneSarah: 4.5/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR.  We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out column




For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.