Januard 7th 2009: Best of 2009 Playlist

Here's the actual playlist I did for my Best of 2009 program. Fun stuff. Due to a sport preemption, I ended up doing this show on a Thursday afternoon (a fill in for DJ Tanner) instead of my usual Wednesday night slot. In case you were wondering, there isn't really an hierarchy to the order, I just played what fit where. Except for the reissues. They're all bunched together in the middle.

song - artist - album - label

1. Invisible Girl - the King Khan and BBQ Show - Invisible Girl - In the Red
2. Teenage Eyes - Spider Bags - Teenage Eyes/Eileen 7" - Odessa
3. Broken Arm - The Shackles - Broken Arm/Funeral Shroud 7" - Sweet Rot
4. 2/11 Don't Forget - Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited - Matador

5. House - Abe Vigoda - Reviver - Post Present Medium
6. Losing Feeling - No Age - Losing Feeling - Sub Pop
7. Black Cloud - Christmas Island - Blackout Summer - In the Red

8. My Time Outside the Womb - Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances - XL
9. Been a Son (Live) - Nirvana - Bleach: 20th Anniversary Reissue - Sub Pop
10. Cool Ice Cream - Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Goner
11. Welfare Bread - King Khan & the Shrines - What Is!? - Vice
12. Slipping (Into Something) - The Feelies - The Good Earth - Bar/None
13. Beep - Pylon - Chomp (More) - DFA

14. Half Idiot - Pissed Jeans - King of Jeans - Sub Pop
15. Echonoecho - Mi Ami - Watersports - Quarterstick
16. Easy Answers - These Are Powers - All Aboard Future - Dead Oceans
17. Rough Steez - Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport - ATP/R
18. Trashed Aircraft Baby - Boston Spaceships - Zero to 99 - Guided by Voices Inc
19. No Seasons - Jacuzzi Boys - No Seasons - Florida's Dying

20. No Home - The Ettes - Do You Want Power - Take Root
21. Die Tonight - Ty Segall - Lemons - Goner
22. Call Me - Reigning Sound - Love and Curses - In the Red
23. Save Me From What I Want - St. Vincent - Actor - 4AD
24. Close Chorus - A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar - Mis Ojo
25. Suburban Beverage - Real Estate - Suburban Beverage 7" - Underwater Peoples

1/06/10 - A RETURN TO THE AIRWAVES!!!!!!1

To answer the question of the observant/curious; yes.

Wow. It's been a while hasn't it? I don't think I've really posted consitantly since the early Fall of '09. At this point the WHUS Halloween Show (w/ the Vivian Girls, Real Estate, Math the Band, and My Heart to Joy rocked UConn), Halloween itself, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and my dad's birthday have passed between "serious" entries but that's done with for now. We'll be (semi-)regular for now.

Anyway, I know the last post was a "best of" list (and there will be 2 [TWO!!!] more best of's coming soon) but this is my playlist from my return to the FM airwaves.

Not a great playlist. There was a basketball game this night, so I was only on for about forty-five minutes. This show basically gave me a chance to play some Margik Markers (never noticed the faces on Balf Quarry) and some Noveller (which is a bit more abstract than the stuff I usually play).

Anyway, it was redundant more than it was bad. Czech out the playlist:

** = Plucked from the WHUS new bin, for your listening pleasure.

#. title - artist - release - label - year (this is specific or vague as the information I have at hand)


1. Taste - Magik Markers - BOSS - Ecstatic Peace - 2007
2. Makes Visible - These Are Powers - Terrific Seasons - Hoss - 2007
3. Glass Blocks - These Are Powers - All Aboard Future - Dead Oceans - 2009


4. Nubians on Franklin Ave. - These Are Powers - Terrific Seasons - Hoss - 2007


5. White Wife - Mi Ami - Watersports - Quarterstick - 2009
6. St. Powers - Noveller - Red Rainbows - NO FUN - 2009
7. Brilliant Colors - Noveller - Red Rainbows - NO FUN - 2009

Best of 2009: Short-Form Achievements

Ah, it's that time of the year again. It's time for us to gather, and share the things we like and berate the things we didn't like. Well, I'll be doing more of the former (I'm trying to keep the negativity to a minimum, but we'll see how long that lasts). I liked some EPs and singles this year, and I would like to share what they were with you. I didn't really decide on any sort of hierarchy, so here's a simple list:

Singles and stuph:

THE SHACKLES - "Broken Arm" b/w "Funeral Shroud"

(Sweet Rot Records)

Five and a half minutes of tight, well crafted power pop split over two songs. A fun and catchy, but, more importantly, promising start from a relatively new Seattle band.

ABE VIGODA - Reviver

(Post-Present Medium)

LA art-punks continue to move toward accessibility. Reviver sounds like an epilogue to their breakout 2008 album Skeleton without simply sounding like a retread of old ideas. It's well-paced, alternating between frenetic and placid, most of the time within the same song. Plus, it has a killer cover of "Wild Heart" by Stevie Nicks.

NO AGE - Losing Feeling

(Sub Pop)

I wasn't much of a No Age fan last year when Nouns dropped, but I'm glad I gave them another shot. For two dudes, they sure get a lot done over the course of four songs. The record is equal parts frenzied punk rock, anthemic psychedelia, and lush, reverb-soaked dream pop. Fun for the whole family. The video to "Losing Feeling" is one of my favorites too.

REAL ESTATE - "Suburban Beverage" 7"

(Underwater Peoples Records)

A meandering mess of reverb and guitars over hushed vocals and a bouncy bassline almost represents Real Estate's mission statement. The A-Side clocks in at six-and-a-half minutes (it runs at 33rpm) and really only has one verse but it exemplifies the early sound of the band. It sounds two beers and a few puffs deep. The two tracks on the b-side, "Black Lake" and "Old Folk" are solid as well.

SPIDER BAGS - "Teenage Eyes" b/w "Eileen" 7"

(Odessa Records)

Twangy garage rock from Chapel Hill (by way of New Jersey?). The best thing from the South to come from the North in a long time. Rowdy without being abrasive, and catchy without being boring. Fun stuff.

Remember to stay tuned for the upcoming "Best Of" lists for albums and compilations/reissues from this year, and the daunting "Best of 2000-2009" list.

December 9 2009

I saw Ted Leo the weekend before this show. Titus Andronicus opened up for him (and the Pharmacists). Both acts fucking killed it, as usual. Granted, I haven't been to an absurd amount to live rock and/or roll show, but this is the second time I've seen these two together, and it was even better than the first time. If you have a chance to see either, or both, do it.

A vague winter theme during this show. Not a lot of new stuff.

Here's this week's stuff:


** = Plucked from the WHUS new bin, for your listening pleasure.

#. title - artist - release - label - year (this is specific or vague as the information I have at hand)

1. The Sun's Gonna Shine in the Morning - Dennis Diken with Bell Sound - Late Music - Cryptovision **

2. Shy - A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar - Mis Ojos Discos **

3. Don't Have to Be So Sad - Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun - Matador - 2003

4. Hoarfrost - Sonic Youth - A Thousand Leaves - Geffen - 1998

5. Under a Winter's Spell - Black Hollies - Casting Shadows - Ernest Jennings - 2008

6. Listen, the Snow is Falling - Galaxie 500 - This is Our Music - 1990

7. Snowstorm - Galaxie 500 - On Fire - 1989

8. Flight of the Feathered Serpent - Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport - ATP/R **

9. All My Friends - John Cale

10. Winter Warz - Ghostface Killah (ft. Masta Killa, U-God, Cappadonna, and Raekwon) - Iron Man - 1996

11. Blackberry Song - Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy - Matador **

12. I Can't Wait for Winter - Sean Smith - Sean Smith - 2005

13. Snowsuit Sound - Sloan - Twice Removed - Geffen - 1994

14. Blue - Emily Jane White - Dark Undercoat - 2007

15. Snow Days - Real Estate - Real Estate - Woodsist **

Stay tuned for the top of 2009 list.

December 2 2009

Okay. I can't find about a month's worth of playlists, but there isn't much missing.

The Vivian Girls/Real Estate/Math the Band/My Heart to Joy show went fine. A few things about the show:
1) Real Estate killed it, and I'm kind of surprised the kids liked them as much as they did
2) Math the Band is pretty fun
3) Hardcore bands are apparently kind of dense, self-important, and difficult to deal with
4) Vivian Girls still put on a good live show. They even switched instruments this time
5) Good times.

I had a trainee. He played some Melvins and Boris. Some other stuff I wasn't really into. Kid refuses to use headphones, will probably be way too loud or way too soft if he does his own show. He'll learn.

All of a sudden, the kids felt the need to squat in on my show. I don't mind too much, but it can get distracting. I don't want to name names, but maybe it'll show one or two of them how to do it (zing!).

Anyway, here's the show from December 2, 2009. It wasn't my best mix, but it wasn't bad.


** = Plucked from the WHUS new bin, for your listening pleasure.

#. title - artist - release - label - year (this is specific or vague as the information I have at hand)

1. Cousins - Vampire Weekend - Cousins single - XL **

2. Crystal Ball - The King Khan and BBQ Show - Invisible Girl - In the Red **

3. Penpals - Sloan - Twice Removed - Geffen - 1994

4. Flagpole Hill - Blacktop - I Got a Baaad Feelin' About This (Reissue) - In the Red - 2003?

5. All Consolation - White Denim - Fits - Downtown ** (song was kind of sucky, and the CD stopped working half way through)

6, Returning to the Fold - The Thermals - The Blood, the Body, the Machine - Sub Pop - 2006

7. When I Died - The Thermals - Now We Can See - Kill Rock Stars - 2009

8. Mind Eraser, No Chaser - Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures - Interscope **

9. Arms Against Atrophy - Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances - XL - 2009

10. The Birthday Wars - Oxford Collapse - Bits - Sub Pop - 2008

11. Even Heroes Have to Die - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks - Matador **

12. 1, 2, 3, Partyy! - Mission of Burma - The Sound, the Speed, the Light - Matador **

13. Tambourine - Little Girls - Concepts - Paper Bag **

14. Blackberry Song - Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy - Matador **

15. Green Truck - Sunset - Gold Dissolves to Gray - Autobus **

16. For Falling Asleep - Etienne Jaumet - Night Music - Domino **