Flatbasset Radio: Episode #75

The only salvation for us tonight is to turn on the radio...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #75!

Folks, no joke, I was not in a great spot when I recorded this week's show. I'm a little under the weather, my body aches, the light's burned out here at Planet New Basset, and I was late for work today. It's been rough.

However, part of the reason I do the show is, selfishly, to lift my own spirits and this one doesn't disappoint in that regard. What it may lack in quality banter it more than makes up for in absolute cold-blooded jams. I've got plenty of new local music on this one, a celebration of Beatles producer George Martin, some dusty-sample throwbacks, a couple of anniversaries, hell, I even manage to avoid launching into my entire Gin Blossoms defense (condensed version: the Gin Blossoms were great) Killer stuff all around. All that plus the Cover Of The Week & the Flatbasset 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 #75 (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 this week's show plays out:

01. Night Moves - Carl Sagan

02. DJ Shadow - Stem (Cops 'N Robbers Mix)

03. Majical Cloudz - Bugs Don't Buzz

04. Pale Spectre - Nothing Yet

05. The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping

06. The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever

07. The Beatles - Yesterday

08. Tony Peachka - Party Song

09. Medium Zach - The Art Of The Flip Pt. 1

10. Down By Law - Radio Ragga

11. Cat Power - Lived In Bars

12. Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down








There you have it, folks. 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.

Album Of The Week: "Dark Side Of The Roller Rink" by The Social Disaster

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of March 6th-12th, 2016:

The Social Disaster - Dark Side Of The Roller Rink

01. Queen Of Agency
02. Machinery
03. Gold
04. Little Girl
05. Bad Boys With Big Hearts
06. God
07. Want It All
08. Battleground
09. Quiet Savior
10. Voyeur

(The Social Disaster by Laramie Carlson)

Straight out of sunny Duluth we have Dark Side Of The Roller Rink, the debut LP from self-described "proto-pop, gloom pop, dance & doo-wop" quintet The Social Disaster. While that may seem like a curious description for a band, it's appropriate. For better or worse, on DSOTRR, the band manages to cover those bases and and more.



The Social Disaster wisely aims to make their case on the opening track "Queen Of Agency." The band locks into a a decidedly indie-pop swing (complete with a bed of synthesizers) as singer Rachel Phoenix steps front and center to deliver no-less-than three different hooks. It's one of the real highlights on the album, a moment when everything the band is trying to accomplish comes together in the same song.

The Social Disaster spends the next three tracks leaning toward the "dark side" aspect of the album title rather than the "roller rink" side. Flashing a harder-edged sound on songs "Machinery," "God," & "Little Girl" Phoenix questions religion, sexism, technology, & a woman's role in the world. Perhaps the band's crunch is meant to mirror the gravity of the subject matter, but unfortunately it causes these three songs to lump together, doing an injustice to all three.



High-water mark "Bad Boys With Big Hearts" functions as a mood-lightening reprieve at the end of the album's first half. The band steps back from the rawk to indulge in some straight-up doo-wop-pop, with Phoenix playing the role of pin-up charmer, lamenting her inability to avoid the same bad-boy mistakes that are just too much fun to repeat.



The album's second half finds The Social Disaster moving away from the charm of the first half and doubling down on a sort-of post-grunge crunch. "God" is Phoenix's anthem to the modern woman, declaring "I am my own God!" as the band rumbles behind her. They continue in this direction for duration of DSOTRR's second half. Unfortunately, as Phoenix forces the issue lyrically and the band works up the anger to match, the album loses the playful energy that makes the first half of the album a real joy.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh. I did enjoy Dark Side Of The Roller Rink. Like a lot of debut albums, though, it's a bit scattered stylistically and bit on-the-nose lyrically. The band seems to be trying to be everything all the time, which isn't tremendously surprising. It's completely understandable for a band to try to say everything on their first album. However, given how the band sounds when they loosen up, it's clear that they have the ability to be the kind of band that has a little something for everyone. I have very high hopes for The Social Disaster going forward. They're very close to striking the balance between their playful & serious side on this album. Going forward I certainly hope they find that balance, as the two sides of this band compliment each other tremendously.

If you'd like to check out Dark Side Of The Roller Rink for yourself, head over to The Social Disaster's Bandcamp page and give it a listen.

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: February '16

Well hello again, everybody. Welcome to another month's worth of instant nostalgia!

Even with a bonus day February flew by. I'm sorry that the posts haven't been too routine. I was very busy and very tired, but I'm trying my best here. Of course, big thank you to everybody who did make the time to check out the couple of Flatbasset Radio episodes I put together this month as well as that P.O.S. MinneClassics show.

The flipside of being so busy means that I likely spent a lot of time on public transit, which means I was able to listen to a ton of music. As you can see below, I covered a lot of ground.

As always, please remember that one song = one play. If I listen to, say, Springsteen's The River once all the way through, it counts as 20 plays. These stats are all pulled from my Last.fm page, which you should definitely follow if you're certain you've checked out absolutely everything else on the internet.

So, without further ado, here's Flatbasset Radio's 25 Most Played Albums Of February, 2016:

01. Edison - The Hand (79 plays)

02. Mixed Blood Majority - Insane World (77 plays)

03. Doks Robotiks - Doks (70 plays)

04. Bruce Springsteen - The River (61 plays)

05. Paul Westerberg - 14 Songs (42 plays)

06. Vandaam - VNDM EP 2 (42 plays)

07. J Dilla - Donuts (32 plays)

08. The Hang Ups - Pretend Hits (32 plays)

09. Local H - Pack Up The Cats (30 plays)

10. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (29 plays)

11. Operation Ivy - Operation Ivy (27 plays)

12. Fountains Of Wayne - Sky Full Of Holes (26 plays)

13. The Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth (24 plays)

14. The Specials - More Specials (24 plays)

15. Sparta - Threes (24 plays)

16. Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business (24 plays)

17. Collage - Lollygag (21 plays)*

18. Neil Young - Harvest (20 plays)

19. The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever (20 plays)

20. Desmond Dekker - Rockin' Steady: The Best Of Desmond Dekker (20 plays)

21. Shad - When This Is Over (20 plays)

22. Eric Mayson - Detail (19 plays)

23. Sayth & North House - Body Pillow (18 plays)

24. The Cure - Greatest Hits (18 plays)

25. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Bonus Disc) (16 plays)

*That blank spot you see is for an album called Lollygag by a local artist called Collage. Does anybody know anything about this band or album? I bought it on a whim over at Cheapo. There does not appear to be any information about it whatsoever on the internet. All I can gather from the album is that it was released in 1994 on Gypsy Gyrl records. It seems to be the project/brainchild of a woman named Terry Blessing. That's actually quite a bit of info, but if anybody knows anymore about it or maybe saw this band back in the 90's, please hit me up in the comment section or over on the Flatbasset Facebook page. Thanks.

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.