2005 opened my eyes to a world of new music. I joined the crew at KZUU over the summer, my first summer back in Pullman working toward my Masters in Business. I’d spend my two-hour show pouring over thousands of obscure albums, looking for anything that might spark my interest. While music had always been a borderline obsession, until now it was just that – borderline. In the days that passed, it became a full-fledged consumption of everything me. There are turning points in all …

The third installment of A Retrospective, this time the focus is on 2002. The year of rebuilding, so to speak. It was the year I discovered Cider Jack (and did so plentifully) at the local Pullman bar Rico’s, and we all would rehearse Bill Brasky skits (from the SNL spots, and made up on the spot) as twenty feet away the university jazz combo performed excellent renditions of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and various Motown favorites. As we see every year, 2002 saw several real great releases. …

As I’ve noted countless times in my reviews, I am a firm believer that the sweetest and best of indie-pop from around the world comes from Sweden. While The Legends kicked off this phase, my attention was not focused on that country until I discovered label mates Acid House Kings. With the success of their cherished Sing Along With The Acid House Kings (2005, Labrador) comes the smash hit single “Do What You Wanna Do” in a Single/EP of the same name, this time on the Florida label TwentySeven Records …