Flatbasset Radio: Episode #62

I'd do the same if I had the chance, cheat the system, rig the race...

Well hello again, podcast fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #62!

Thanks for stopping by.  It's been a little while since I did a show where I just straight up played jams so I'm back to the old format for this one: just summer jams and banter for your ears.

Sadly, I'm still flying solo on this one, which means plenty of nasally commentary.  I discuss the tornado that may or may not have rolled through Minneapolis, a new "American Standard," the common ground between Frank Black & Bob Dylan, & the absolute greatest summer jam in the history of summer jams.  I revisit a couple of Flatbasset's Album Of The Week bands, sing the praises of one of the pillars of the Twin Cities hip-hop scene, get nostalgic over one of the great punk rock record labels of all-time, and struggle to connect old episodes of Seinfeld to Canadian hip-hop.  All that plus I celebrate some anniversaries, play my Cover Of The Week, and celebrate one of the most classic of Flatbasset Flatclassics!

As always, Flatbasset Radio is completely free. Just click the Mixcloud player below and you're good to go.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #62 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

01. Plums - Parking Lots
02. Holly Miranda - Waves
03. Blueprint - Boombox
04. Frank Black - The Dark End Of The Street
05. Edger - Holy Armour
06. Andrew Broder / Crescent Moon - Palms Up
07. What Tyrants - Dancehall No. 2
08. Sugar Ray - Fly
09. The Potatomen - Sam's Song
10. Felt - Morris Day
11. Lee Ranaldo - Off The Wall
12. Buck 65 - Blood Of A Young Wolf

There you go, everybody!  Thanks for stopping by for some jams!

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 50 Most Played Albums: April '15

Well hello again, everybody.  Welcome to the always compelling monthly recap of Flatbasset Radio's 50 Most Played Albums of the previous month!

April has come and gone. The last of the snow melted, the rain washed away what was left, the boys of summer began yet another campaign, the boys of winter began their Quest For The Cup, and I finally got back to posting podcasts.  As per usual, I listened to a ton of music while all of that was happening.  Good times, April.

Let's have a look at what was getting the most spins around Planet New Basset.  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.

(Quick Note: As you can see, the largest box in the picture is a blank grey album.  That's supposed to be a picture of What Tyrants' new album No Luck.  I have no clue why the Album Cover Collage Generator is refusing to accept its right to life.  As a consolation, go back and read my AOTW column about No Luck.  It's a gem of an album.)

01. What Tyrants - No Luck (78 plays)

02. Straya - Healthy Steps (77 plays)

03. The Cribs - For All My Sisters (70 plays)

04. Plums - Jen (56  plays)

05. Murder Shoes - Murder Shoes (40 plays)

06. Various Artists - Expansion Sound Vol. 1 (34 plays)

07. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late (34 plays)

08. Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (26 plays)

09. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll (24 plays)

10. Millencolin - Same Old Tunes (25 plays)

11. Various Artists - Limited Fanfare Records Spring/Summer Sampler 2015 (24 plays)

12. Bad Religion - Generator (22 plays)

13. Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams (22 plays)

14. Dfalt - Greyscale (22 plays)

15. Pink Floyd - Animals (20 plays)

16. The Jam - Greatest Hits (19 plays)

17. Wretch Like Me - New Ways To Fall (19 plays)

18. The Cure - Greatest Hits (18 plays)

19. The Durutti Column - The Return Of The Durutti Column (18 plays)

20. Killer Mike - Sunday Morning Massacres (18 plays)

21. Ratking - 700 Fill (18 plays)

22. Human Kindness - Live On Radio K (2015) (17 plays)

23. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (16 plays)

24. The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die (16 plays)

25. Baishe Kings - Eyes Of Mark Mixtape (16 plays)

26. Cruel Love - Cruel Love (16 plays)

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

28. Various Artists - Trainspotting (14 plays)

29. Dfalt - Dfalt (14 plays)

30. Douga - [] / Dancing In The Garden (14 plays)

31. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass (13 plays)

32. The Stone Roses - Second Coming (13 plays)

33. The Future Sound Of London - Dead Cities (13 plays)

34. Jay-Z - MTV Unplugged (13 plays)

35. Division Of Laura Lee - Black City (13 plays)

36. She & Him - Volume One (13 plays)

37. Death Grips - The Money Store (13 plays)

38. Human Kindness - Not Apathetic (13 plays)

39. Morrissey - You Are The Quarry (12 plays)

40. Ivy - In The Clear (12 plays)

41. Big Star - #1 Record (12 plays)

42. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Graces (12 plays)

43. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (12 plays)

44. Radiohead - Airbag/How Am I Driving? (12 plays)

45. Sean Na Na - Family Trees Or: Cope We Must (12 plays)

46. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (11 plays)

47. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (11 plays)

48. Kool A.D. - Word O.K. (11 plays)

49. Jarvis Cocker (11 plays)

50. Son Volt - Trace (11 plays)

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

Album Of The Week: "No Luck" by What Tyrants

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of April 19th-25th:

What Tyrants - No Luck

01. Far Out
02. Muffins
03. No Luck
04. Feeling Alright (I'm Okay)
05. Lean On The World
06. Dancehall No. 2
07. 4's And 5's
08. Scuzz
09. Modern Man
10. What Chu Want?
11. Shag
12. Blue In The Face
13. Fuzz Trip

The Twin Cities are in the midst of a Golden Age of guitar music right now.  Between the good folks at Land Ski Records, No Problem Records, Forged Artifacts, and the glorious noise coming from Ecstattic Studios, it's a fantastic time to be a rock n roll fan here in Minnesota.

Of course, this being Minnesota, that rock n roll sound so much better when the sun's shining and the window's are open.  Enter What Tyrants and their debut album No Luck.  If ever there was an album meant to be played at parties or in cars, this is the one.

What Tyrants consists of brothers Sean & Kyle Schultz and Garrison Grouse doing pretty much everything you'd want out of a garage rock band.  At their core they sound like a mash-up of The Hives & The Hi-Fives (The Hive-Fives?), but they manage to stand out by adding a few wrinkles of surf-rock here, a bit of lo-fi nonsense there, and a secret ingredient that I suspect is English post-punk grooves.  Have a listen to "What Chu Want?" for a good example of this intoxicating mix.




Lyrically Sean Schultz isn't covering too many bases that haven't already been covered by dozens and dozens of the descendants of The Monks.  There's bitterness, there's cynicism, there's love, there's jealousy, the desire to just let go, but above all, there's an unflinching belief in the power of loud guitars and bundles of energy.  For my money, "Dancehall No. 2" doubles as the What Tyrants mission statement.



Like I said from the jump, summer's upon us.  Don't waste it.  Those sunny days and drunky nights will be that much more fun with a copy of No Luck.  It's available in stylish cassette form from the good folks at Forged Artifacts or as a Name-Your-Price download on the What Tyrants Bandcamp page.  Go get it now and enjoy a rock n roll summer.

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

Well hello there, everybody.  Long time no see, eh?

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Who's stupid page is this and how did I get here?"  Well, you tell me, smart guy, it's your browser.

You may also be thinking, "Hey, isn't the post below this a recap of February's albums?  Did Droogsy really take a whole month off?"

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, but...

You see, March is what I like to call my "busy season."  I hold down two jobs and March is when one of those jobs gets so busy that, not only do I not have time to write the blog/record shows, I don't have time to eat properly, sleep enough, see my friends, or even shave.

(Just kidding.  Who shaves?)

Anyway, I'm back now and I promise to make it up to you.  My "busy season" comes to a screeching halt this weekend and I'll be back in my AOTW/podcast/Twitter groove again.  Until then, here are the 50 most played albums around Planet New Basset over the last month.  As always, each song on an album = one play.  Larger pictures indicate more plays.

01. Museum Mouth - Alex I Am Nothing (79 plays)

02. Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels To Be Something On (72 plays)

03. Waveless - Waveless (28 plays)

04. Steely Dan - The Royal Scam (27 plays)

05. What Tyrants - No Luck (26 plays)

06. Millencolin - For Monkeys (24 plays)

07. The Cribs - For All My Sisters (24 plays)

08. Human Kindness - Not Apathetic (22 plays)

09. Human Kindness - Live On Radio K (2014) (21 plays)

10. Descendents - Liveage (19 plays)

11. Danny Brown - XXX (19 plays)

12. Sage Francis - Personal Journals (18 plays)

13. Billy Joel - 52nd Street (18 plays)

14. The Suicide Machines - Destruction By Definition (17 plays)

15. Lil' Wayne - Sorry 4 The Wait 2 (17 plays)

16. Paul Westerberg - 49:00 (16 plays)

17. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son Of Chico Dusty (16 plays)

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

19. MK Ultra - MK Ultra (15 plays)

20. Billy Bragg - Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy (15 plays)

21. Gasp - A Girl Called Glasgow (15 plays)

22. Jazz Spastiks - Singles Collection (15 plays)

23. Plums - Jen (15 plays)

24. Pearl Jam - Yield (14 plays)

25. Bad Religion - The Process Of Belief (14 plays)

26. Mark Mallman & Vermont - Mark Mallman & Vermont (14 plays)

27. Shad - The Old Prince (14 plays)

28. Ian Kamau - Cocoons (14 plays)

29. Death Grips - Fashion Week (14 plays)

30. Gorillaz - Demon Days (13 plays)

31. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (13 plays)

32. Pulp - Different Class (12 plays)

33. The Promise Ring - Wood/Water (12 plays)

34. The Living End - It's For Your Own Good (12 plays)

35. Cat Power - The Greatest (12 plays)

36. Superdrag - Last Call For Vitriol (12 plays)

37. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It & See (12 plays)

38. Dem Atlas - Charle Brwn (12 plays)

39. Coldplay - Parachutes (11 plays)

40. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (11 plays)

41. Morrissey - Vauxhall & I (11 plays)

42. Lightning Seeds - Dizzy Heights (11 plays)

43. Tapes 'N Tapes - The Loon (11 plays)

44. Mystery Jets - Seratonin (11 plays)

45. Edison - No Sun No Food (11 plays)

46. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2 (11 plays)

47. The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land (10 plays)

48. Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (10 plays)

49. Interpol - Antics (10 plays)

50. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II (10 plays)

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