MinneClassics #3: "Hold Tongue" by Zoo Animal

My face is low, quite near the ground...

(Zoo Animal by Emily Utne)

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.

MinneClassics #3: "Hold Tongue" by Zoo Animal by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #69 (Rhymesayers 20th Anniversary Celebration)

You can be yourself and be a star...

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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #69 (Rhymesayers 20th Anniversary Celebration) by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. P.O.S. - Let It Rattle

02. Freeway & Jake One - One Thing

03. Toki Wright - Devil's Advocate

04. MF Doom - Rap Snitch Knishes (w/Mr. Fantastik)

05. Aesop Rock - Cycles To Gehenna

06. BK-One - Love Like That (w/Aby Wolf)

07. I Self Devine - Sunshine

08. Brother Ali - 5 Line King

09. Soul Position - Priceless

10. Atmosphere - Smart Went Crazy

11. Eyedea & Abilities - Music Music









Thanks for listening!

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 25 Most Played Albums: November '15

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)

03. Catsax - Catsax (63 plays)

04. Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth (24 plays)

05. Gin Blossoms - Congratulations I'm Sorry (24 plays)

06. Guided By Voices - Under The Bushes Under The Stars (24 plays)

07. Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots (24 plays)

08. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (20 plays)

09. Air - Talkie Walkie (20 plays)

10. Descendents - All (20 plays)

11. The Plastic Constellations - Crusades (20 plays)

12. The Monochrome Set - Love Zombies (20 plays)

13. Eels - Rotten World Blues (20 plays)

14. Eyedea - The Many Faces Of Oliver Hart Or How Eye One The Write Too Think (19 plays)

15. Retribution Gospel Choir - The Revolution (16 plays)

16. Stars - Nightsongs (15 plays)

17. Zoo Animal - 2014 Ruff Trax (15 plays)

18. Paul Westerberg - Stereo (14 plays)

19. The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth (14 plays)

20. Ruth Ruth - Laughing Gallery (!4 plays)

21. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (13 plays)

22. The Vandalias - Mach V (13 plays)

23. The Replacements - All Shook Down (13 plays)

24. Manny Phesto - Southside Looking In (13 plays)

25. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People (12 plays)

Image via Tap Music
Stats via my Last.fm page

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #68

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.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #68 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Bad Cop - Wish You Well











02. Mixed Blood Majority - Insane World

03. Dosh - Nothing New

04. Social Distortion - Under My Thumb

05. Zoo Animal - Gravedigger

06. Catsax - You Can Find Me In The Tall Grass

07. My Bloody Valentine - When You Sleep

08. Millencolin - Jellygoose

09. Sophia Eris & Psymun - Fight/Love

10. Kudzu Wish - Are We Not Snow?

11. Oasis - Champagne Supernova








Enjoy, everybody!

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.