Hello again, free music fans!
Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #26! 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 celebrates some of his favorite records of 2013, admits to being years behind in his apps, give his sponsor their money worth, is confounded by gender reversals in his Cover Of The Week, attempts to redefine "success" for musicians, gives us his slogan for the year, defends a genius' ego (or an egoists' genius), and gives us his theory as to why everybody thought 2013 was terrible!
You can download the podcast for free by clicking the episode's title
or stream the episode by clicking on the Mixcloud player below.
01. Tree - Safe To Say 02. Atoms For Peace - Ingenue 03. Dessa - I'm Going Down 04. Ras Dude - Rizla 05. Johnny Marr - New Town Velocity 06. The Strokes - Happy Ending 07. Action Bronson & Party Supplies - Contemporary Man 08. Edison - Astringent 09. Beady Eye - I'm Just Saying 10. Mixed Blood Majority (w/Kristoff Krane) - Ritual 11. Low - Mother 12. Marijuana Deathsquads - Blood 13. Jonwayne - Ode To Mortality 14. Daft Punk (w/Todd Edwards) - Fragments Of Time 15. Kanye West (w/Justin Vernon & Chief Keef) - Hold My Liquor
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.
Well hello again, free music fans!
Welcome to Episode #15 of Flatbasset Radio!
For those of you unfamiliar with the
podcast, here's the story: TCDroogsma is a music junkie. So much so
that just writing our Songs Of The Week column is not enough for him.
So, in addition to reviewing songs each week, he records this
podcast and we give it away as a free download or streaming right
here on Newest Industry.
Episode #15 represents the
triumphant return of the podcast after a month off. In this episode
TCDroogsma calls for The Smiths to stay broken up, tries to explain
why indie rappers are so quick to defend Lil' Wayne, stumps for his
favorite spring album, gives The Strokes career advice, and deems one
of the most over-the-top acts of the last decade “classic.”
Click that player above to stream
the podcast or click the download button to have a copy for your very
own. Always free, sometimes good.
Flatbasset Radio: Episode #15
01.
Sonic Youth – 100%
02.
Tree – Nino
03.
Har Mar Superstar – Lady, You Shot Me
04.
Johnny Marr – European Me
05.
Veronica Falls – Everybody's Changing
06.
Abstract Rude – Rejuvenation
07.
Low – Clarence White
08.
Kanye West (w/Lil' Wayne) – Barry Bonds
09.
The Strokes – Welcome To Japan
10.
Kwame – The Rhythm
11.
Bomba de Luz – Howl At That Moon
12.
My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade
For
more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter
(@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry
reviewing songs for our Songs Of The Week 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 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.
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside,
Low, Yo La Tengo, Bleeding Rainbow, & Thomas Kivi & The
Immigrants...
Well hello again, mp3 junkies!
Welcome to Songs Of The Week #24!
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with the Songs Of The Week column, here's the deal. Each week we ask
two of our regular contributors to download the songs given away via
The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. After giving the songs a good
listen, we ask them to review the songs and give them a score 1-5.
Unfortunately, MinneSarah's computer
went south on her this week, so, much to the chagrin of everybody
involved, we're left with TCDroogsma flying solo this week.
For those of you who would like to
play along at home, be sure to click here and subscribe to thepodcast yourself. Download the songs (or give them a listen here)
and vote in the poll to the right side of the page for which was your
favorite. The artist with the most votes wins the credibility of
anonymous internet opinions, the most valuable resource this country
has to offer.
Now, on to the songs! TCDroogsma,
thoughts?
01. Sallie Ford &
The Sound Outside – Party Kids (from the album Untamed Beast)
TCDroogsma:
I've been struggling for three days trying to form and opinion on this song and, I'm sorry, nothing's coming to me. I mean, the band works up a nice 'Tilly & The Wall' type of groove, I suppose. The lyrics, as far as I can tell, are an anthem for feminists partying as hard as frat boys? Is that a fight worth fighting? It should be noted, it's possible that I'm missing the entire point and that's not what they're about at all. Seems that Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside set out to write a hip-shaking, good-time-party-time, indie rock jam. Mission accomplished. It's all the mindless fun of "Talk Dirty To Me" updated for the indie set.
Final Score: 2.5/5
02. Low – Plastic
Cup (from the album The Invisible Way)
TCDroogsma:
You know the old saying, "It's always the dumbest person in the room that wants to talk politics?" What's that? That's not an old saying, it's just something Facebook reminds me of every day? Oh, regardless... "Plastic Cup" finds my beloved Low taking aim at the widest possible target: privileged, upper-middle class Americans who have no real concept of the struggles going on around the world. All this set to a pretty straightforward acoustic strum and the lovely Sparhawk/Parker harmonies that we all know and love. Now, if "Plastic Cup" is meant to be heard as some sort of larger critique on the role of America in 2013, I'm sorry for missing the point. Based on the condescension in Alan Sparhawk's voice, though, I don't get that sense at all. Frankly, he comes off like Chan Marshall in that awful "Ruin" single. "You can always count on your friends to get you high, you could always count on the 'rents to get you by..." That doesn't sound like a "universal" critique to me at all.
I wrote about this earlier when I reviewed "Just Make It Stop," but one of Low's best traits is their ability to speak in broad, nearly cliche terms and somehow make them feel both universal and brutally personal. Evidently that kind of approach works much better when it comes to human emotion and not geopolitics. My expectations for "The Invisible Way" keep dropping with each new song that's released. I blame Jeff Tweedy.
Final Score: 1.5/5
03. Yo La Tengo –
I'll Be Around (from the album Fade)
TCDroogsma:
I should note two things before I start reviewing this song:First, I'm not a Yo La Tengo fan. I mean, I'm not anti-Yo La Tengo, I just mean that I don't really know them very well. They have a pretty good-sized cult following and any one of those people would probably be able to give a better perspective on this song.
Second, I never totally got over my initial disappointment that this was not a cover of The Spinners. That would have probably been awesome. (Update: Yup. Awesome.)
So, what I'm left with a slow burning song whose first half consists of Nick Drake stoner poetry and a second half that builds with some acoustic guitars and keyboards to a climax that is ultimately kind of anti-climactic. Now, that may sound like I don't like the song. That's not the case at all. In the right place and in the right mood it's possible that this is one of the best songs I've heard this year. When neither of those criteria is in place, however, this is background music.
Final Score: 3/5
04. Bleeding Rainbow
– Waking Dream (from the album Yeah Right)
TCDroogsma:
After somehow resisting my initial inclination to savage a band that calls itself "Bleeding Rainbow," I was able to embrace the awesomeness that is "Walking Dream." This song drips so much 90's that I wouldn't be surprised if it was written by Juliana Hatfield (note, that is a wholehearted compliment). It always makes me happy to hear a band write some good hooks, go loud/quite/loud, and let the feedback fill in the blanks. Somewhere Levar Burton & Courtney Love are smiling (and barely aware of each other's existence).
Final Score: 3.5/5
05. Thomas Kivi &
The Immigrants – Cops & Crims (from the EP Thomas Kivi &
The Immigrants)
TCDroogsma:
Thomas Kivi & The Immigrants almost had me. Despite the fact that we've all heard this song 100 times in some form or another actually made me like it more. Call it the comfort of familiarity (act like you didn't know exactly how the guitars were going to come out of the chorus. Or what the vocal melody was going to be 15 seconds into this one). This would make a great Nada Surf b-side.
In fact, I was pretty much all in on this one until the same mindless political cliches that sunk Low popped up. "So you see, ain't nothing new, this whole wide world is red & blue, it was made in China, man, and Afghanistan's drowning in the Bible..." I cringed more typing it than I did hearing it the first time. That ham-fisted adding of "man" to make the lines rhyme is even worse than using the term "Crims" to make the chorus work.
Final Score: 2/5
Well there you
have it, everybody! Another week's worth of songs downloaded,
listened to, reviewed, and filed away never to be heard from again.
As always, we'd
like to take a moment to point out that neither this blog nor its
contributors is in any way affiliated with the artists above, The
Current, or Minnesota Public Radio. We're just music fans with
keyboards and little 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 hosting our weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.
Frankly, between those two things, that should be enough TCDroogsma.
Of course
Newest Industry also has a Twitter home (@NewestIndustry1). Give us
a follow to stay up on the work being done by all of our regular
contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.
Stopping by and giving us a “Like” is a free & legitimate way
to support the blog. Every little bit helps, ya heard?
It's Minnesota, man, your face will
freeze fast...
Well hello again, music fans!
Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #11!
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with our podcast, here's the idea: Each week TCDroogsma participates
in our Songs Of The Week column. Since he's typically pretty
negative, sowe put him in charge of producing and recording a podcast
each week to play us some jams that he actually likes. Of course the
podcast is free to listen to and download.
This week TCDroogsma plays a batch
of cold weather jams, explains the virtue of the cold, laments a lost
search engine, makes a play for Meg White, puts Canada on blast for
excessive punctuation, puts together a Mixed Blood Majority showcase,
finds the common ground between Kill The Vultures & Guided By
Voices, promises a Songs Of The Week bloodbath, explains a joyous
moment when hockey & hip-hop intersected, and explains
power-pop's missing link between Big Star & Fountains Of Wayne!
Click above to download the podcast
or click the player below to give it a listen:
01. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) 02. Atmosphere - 66th Street 03. The White Stripes - In The Cold Cold Night 04. The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward 05. No Bird Sing - Devil Trombones 06. Lazerbeak - Legend Recognize Legend 07. Kill The Vultures - Vermillion 08. Mixed Blood Majority - The Runaround 09. Low - Just Make It Stop 10. Jay-Z - Interlude (Public Service Announcement) 11. Kate Nash - Death Proof 12. The Growlers - One Million Lovers 13. Gin Blossoms - 'Til I Hear It From You
There you have it, folks! Another
week of jams & banter! Thanks for listening!
For more of TCDroogsma's banter, be
sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma) or on his personal
Flatbasset blog. If this whole Meg White thing works out we're sure
his Twitter will be a hell of a follow.
Newest Industry also has a home on
Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) which you can follow to stay up on the
work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly we have
a Facebook page here. Giving us a “Like” is a free &
legitimate way to support the blog. Plus, the “likes” will make
TCDroogsma feel better when Meg White inevitably leaves him.
You see I'm close to the edge, I'm
at the end of my rope...
Hello again, music fans! Welcome to Singles Mixer #5!
For those of you unfamiliar with the Singles Mixer columns, here's the scoop. Whenever we find new singles from Minnesota bands we task one of our regular contributors with reviewing them. As is Newest Industry policy, all singles are given a score of 1-5 (whereas albums are rated 1-10).
This time around we asked TCDroogsma to give us his thoughts on Low's new single "Just Make It Stop" from their upcoming album The Invisible Way.
TCDroogsy, thoughts?
How you feel about “Just Make It
Stop” likely depends on how you feel about the recipe that Low has
perfected over 20 years.
There are typically three things that
define Low:
01. Instrumentation that makes as much use
of the empty space as it does of the instruments.
02. Alan Sparhawk's distinctive, fragile
vocals (often times complimented by Mimi Parker).
03. Lyrics that are somehow universal &
personal, allowing the listener to find themselves in nearly every
song.
“Just Make It Stop” only hits on
one of these three ingredients. Lyrically, this song fits nicely
into the Sparhawk/Parker canon. The lyrics are vague enough, with
many of the couplets addressed to the “you” that always seems to
be saying and doing things to fuck with people. Hell, even the
titular “it” is never really addressed. The world? Time? The
omnipotent, overbearing “you” (or, maybe, “them?”).
Regardless, when you sign up for the
music of Low you sign up for that sort of lyrical content. There's
something to be said for a band that can write songs that everybody
can relate to in their own way.
Now, on to those other two ingredients.
I fully realize that Alan Sparhawk is
not the “lead singer” of Low in the traditional sense. Still,
when releasing the first single from a new album, it's a bold move to
shelve the singer who is, to the casual fan, the voice of the band.
I'm not complaining
here, it's just a surprising left turn. I think Parker has a great voice and absolutely
carries the song. Whether it's years of sharing the microphone with
Sparhawk or my inability to separate new Low songs from my expectations, Parker manages the same
aggressive fragility as her sometimes co-singer.
Which brings us to the instrumentation.
What's the one thing that casual indie
rock fans know about Low? That they're slow and quiet. Obviously
“Just Make It Stop” is neither of those things. It's actually a
pretty rollicking affair considering who's playing the instruments.
Much has been made about the fact that
The Invisible Way was
produced by Jeff Tweedy. Admittedly, I didn't put a whole lot of
stock into his involvement (though, as a Wilco & Low fan it did
breed some curiosity). I was hoping that the lessons learned about
spacing and silence during A Ghost Is Born
and Summer Teeth would
translate to “Low with a Wilco twist.” Rather, if this single is
any example, we're being treated to “Low plays Wilco.” Rather
than an experiment in organic, live silence (I feel so pretentious
just typing that), “Just Make It Stop” has much more in common
with the country-tinged feel of Being There.
I
realize that this all makes me sound like a curmudgeon who wants his
Low to sound like Low. There's a grain of truth to that, as I really
do love the band's work. More accurately, I'm a bit disappointed
that rather than pushing toward the sound explored on Drums
& Guns (a masterpiece in my
book), Low seems to be pushing toward sounding like everybody else.
For a band that spent twenty years carving out a niche that was
theirs and theirs alone, “Just Make It Stop” sounds more like
compromise than evolution.
Final
Score – 2.5/5
There you have it, folks! TCDroogsma puts Low's new single "Just Make It Stop" square in the middle of the rankings.
For more information on Low's new album The Invisible Way and their upcoming tour, be sure to visit their website here. They can also be found on Twitter (@LowTheBand).
For more TCDroogsma, be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found here on Newest Industry hosting our weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio. Be sure to tune in each week, as winter's slowly causing him to lose his mind.
Of course Newest Industry also has a home on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1). Give us a follow to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here. Stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free and highly effective way to support the blog.
"All you guys out there gonna wish you were Al Green..."
Hello again, music fans! Welcome to
Sounds Of Sota #2!
For those who are unfamiliar with
Sounds Of Sota, it's a running column in which we ask one of our
contributors to review new albums & EP's from Minnesota artists.
In sticking with our desire to rank and rate everything the albums
are given a score of 1-10 at the end of the column.
This time around we asked TCDroogsma
to give us his thoughts on Minnesota institution Low's new live EP
“Plays Nice Places.”
TCDroogsma, thoughts?
When I first heard
about Plays Nice Places I was intrigued for two reasons.
First, for nearly
20 years Low has perfected the art of getting just as much out of
silence as they have out of sound. I was curious to see how that
would translate to a live album. Would the crowd appreciate the
silence with reverence or would the constant hum of a live album
threaten the balance upon which the songs are built?
Second (and more
personally), I've seen Low twice. The first time was an absolutely
transcendent performance opening for Wilco on the banks of Lake
Superior. Despite the presence of rain and temps that couldn't have
been above 60, that show made me a Low fan for life. The second time
I saw them was at the Mainroom as part of a packed bill for a Radio K
benefit. Honestly, I could barely keep my eyes open during the set.
Now, what I've come
to realize about both of those shows is that the band's performance likely
wasn't dramatically different and that my experience at each one was
driven almost entirely by surroundings and circumstance. With that
in mind, Plays Nice Places had the potential to settle (at
least in my mind) just what kind of live entity Low really is.
What we get with
Plays Nice Places is a band at the peak
of their powers, for better or worse.
Opening with the
classic “Words,” Plays Nice Places starts on its highest
note. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I've built something of a
cottage industry in our Songs Of The Week column by taking shots at
Ben Gibbard. Here, however, his voice provides a warmth that is
almost non-existent in Alan Sparhawk & Mimi Parker's song-to-song
existence. Despite the presence of some insufferable giggling,
Gibbard's cameo gives the album some sorely needed color. It's just
a shame that, as the opener, you don't realize just what a treat his
presence turns out to be.
The rest of Plays
Nice Places is certainly enjoyable (if risk-averse). While it's
hard to believe that a band with the longevity of Low could be
distilled to six songs, they manage to pull it off by pulling the 6
songs from 5 albums ("Waiting" stands as the only new track on the EP). Sadly, the songs, while very good in their own
right, are rarely the highlight's from their parent albums. This EP
is just dying for an elongated, fuzzed-out version of “Broadway”
or perhaps a more fragile take on something like “Dust On The
Window.”
Still, a sheen of professionalism hangs over the proceedings. With the exception of a joke
introducing Gibbard and a brief introduction to “Murderer,” we're
given precious little personality from the band. Whether it's the
aforementioned reverence or editing, there is almost no existence of
crowd noise during the songs. The band's harmonies are more
calculated than inviting, and Sparhawk's singing stays between the
lines so consistently that it's jarring to hear him channel a bit of
Westerberg for a sneer at the end of “Witches.”
Depending on your
expectations of Plays Nice Places, it's either an enjoyable
(if somewhat disposable) portrait of a band (if you're one of the
converted) or “...another Low record, eh?” (if you're not).
Frankly, with 19 years in the bank, most people have formed an
opinion of Low already.
Still, it would be
foolish to complain about a free, live EP. As an unabashed fan of
the band, I'm certainly thankful that this document exists. To the
uninitiated, it's unlikely to be the skeleton key to fandom (The
Great Destroyer is still their most important album from that
perspective), but in an indie-rock world that currently celebrates a
genre-hopping, bigger is better, more is not enough attitude, it's
good to remember that Low, whether live or on record, commands a
niche that belongs only to them.
Final Score: 7/10
There you have it, everybody. The
new Low EP reviewed by a Low fan. As mentioned, “Plays New Places”
is free. Click here to visit Low's page to download the album for
yourself (right-hand side of the page).
For more TCDroogsma he can be found
on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He also maintains a personal blog
Flatbasset and hosts Newest Industry's weekly Flatbasset podcast.
And no, he's never adequately explained to us what “Flatbasset”
means.
Newest Industry also has a home on
Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) which you can follow to stay up on the
work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we
have a Facebook page here. Trivial as it may seem, stopping by and
giving us a “Like” is a valuable way to support the blog. And
it's free. Stop by, eh?
