Stuarto and I talked a lot just before my show began and in the minutes after it started about the radio station he’s been building at his house. He’s dubbing it 1020Radio, and you can check out the (right now) super minimalist site he’s running over at 1020Radio.net. You can also find it on Facebook.

I’ve been pretty impressed with what I’ve heard from Death And Vanilla in the past. There was that self-titled EP from a year or so ago, and there was a Beko Records single dating back two. The band is back with a new (also self-titled) LP on Hands in the Dark Records, and it is here you can find “Rituals”.

Somewhere under a mountain of music, somewhere behind boxes of stuff from the living room, tucked away on my CD shelf in the back corner of my music room — my personal “man cave” — is a TacocaT album. It’s been a while since I listened to it. So I have no basis of comparison as I discuss the band’s new track “Spring Break-Up” off their EP Take Me To Your Dealer.
It’s fun, it’s poppy, it’s punky, it’s loud. It’s damn catchy, a lady fronts it, it’s reminiscent …

Teen Dream, Beach House‘s last LP, came in as my number 2 album of 2010. Within its cover are 10 songs, not a single one weak. Beach House is back with Myth off their forthcoming album Bloom and if this song is telltale for what we can expect, the new album could be a solid contender for 2012.

I haven’t had much time of late to write. The house project of repainting walls, painting trim, pulling up carpets, and laying down bamboo has absolutely dominated my time. That and working on my BMW, which in the past few weeks has received a full tune-up (with exception of replacing points and cleaning the carb).

I love videos like this, videos that start out seemingly normal then take a turn for the bizarre. Rock band Mock Suns do a great job taking something as simple as getting ready for and having a dinner party and turn it into something a bit unusual, and a hair disturbing.

We’ve been doing up the floors in our house, stripping out the carpet, repainting the walls, painting the trim and doors, and laying down a rich brown woven bamboo (hence the lateness of this post and the general lack of posts this week). It’s a project that should add equity to our house and, one day, our pockets. I threw this playlist together Friday morning and set to work stripping carpet from the hallway while it played in the background.

“Nightmare” mixes post-punk and fuzz for a highly infectious coldwave sound. It’s a bit odd, coming from Seattle. The fuzz seeps into everything, the harmony vocals, the percussion, all stemming from the guitar. Grave Babies maintain the nonchalant-ness of their chosen genre, yet there’s something oddly upbeat and positive about “Nightmare”.

Man, what a wild week. And I’m not talking about the wild you indie folk are used to, likely boozing it up and partying every night. I’m talking about the working life, the stress of the job, the busy days and exhaustion-laden nights. Going to bed at 9:30; I feel old.

Gathered Ghosts is the solo project of Javier Suarez (Craft Spells, Yarn Owl). His latest venture with the project is “Went To You”, a dreamy synth-laden track featuring Andi Wilson (Andreanna). The couple strikes gold here; dark, romantic, a bit haunting, “Went To You” is a truly great song.