A long night, but no matter. I learned long ago that spending a bit extra time doing something you love… well, it’s a good thing! Stuarto sent along a text asking if I could pick up his 8pm show and I obliged. Being a mere few hours from show time, I just threw together an array of vinyl to mix in and ended up timing it almost perfectly. (more…)

I didn’t post at all on FensePost last week. That’s crazy. I had been on a roll, pumping out posts on a daily basis, then I hit a wall and needed an immediate break. But my breaks are typically filled with, well, something else. They’re aren’t true breaks, in the informal-synonym-for-vacation sense of the word. (more…)

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). (more…)

Friday evening was a mad house. Getting into the station wasn’t the issue, as I expect it will be in the coming weeks now that winter is upon us; it was the transition. Transitioning from one on-air personality to another is a bit nerve-wracking. The quarters are cramped, the mic is hot, and you have to do your best not to step on their toes as they wrap their show and you begin yours. And when it’s time to fly, you have to remember which buttons should be lit and which ones shouldn’t.

After the first song, things are fine. It’s just that initial track that likes to pose issue. It did it in late October, and it did it again on Friday. The song eventually hit the airwaves, and we were rolling.

November 4 was all about pop music. Some loud, some soft, some orchestral, some experimental. All good. No surprise, many songs came from overseas — Sweden (an obvious favorite) and Denmark being the most prevalent.

Here’s something a little new for these features. At bottom, I’ll make note of a few tracks, bands and albums from the playlist and include an mp3 for your enjoyment, when available. Typically these will be ones not yet covered on the site.

On to last Friday’s playlist:

“Do What You Wanna Do” by Acid House Kings off Sing Along With The Acid House Kings

“Reaching Through To The Other Side” by My Brightest Diamond off All Things Will Unwind
“The Strangers” by St. Vincent off Actor
“Adelai” by Lohio off Family Tree

“New Colors” by Figurines off Figurines
“Time Stretcher” by Treefight For Sunlight off A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull
“We Were Wild” by Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun off W I L D F I R E

“Wake Up” by Arcade Fire off Funeral
“Echoes” by I Was A King off Old Friends
“Ran Into A Coroner” by Built Like Alaska off Autumnland

“By The Sea” by Summer Fiction off By The Sea (Digital Single)
“Worry A Lot” by The Zebras off Worry A Lot

“Where Have We Been?” by Acid House Kings off Music Sounds Better With You
“Slippery Slope” by The Dø off Both Ways Open Jaws

“To Depart” by Suturee off Among Friends EP
“Welcome Here” by Jeff Hanson off Jeff Hanson

“All This World” by Arco off Driving At Night (7-inch Single)
“The Images We Get” by Sugarplum Fairies off The Images We Get
“Lazy Line Painter Jane” by Belle & Sebastian off Lazy Line Painter Jain (Single)

“A Good Thing” by Saint Etienne off Boxette (Disc 4: Eric Random)
“Western Hospitality” by Club 8 off The People’s Record

“How Come” by Avi Buffalo off How Come (7-inch Single)

End playlist. On to a few feature tracks. The first is from Suturee, a male-female bedroom pop duo out of New York. “To Depart” is off their recent five-song EP Among Friends and it features a little more volume than I remember from their earlier work. It still fits the bedroom pop mold; though, if you have a chance, check out the final track on the EP, “Name Remains”, as it employs a volume more in tune with shoegaze than bedroom pop. Listen to “To Depart” below…

Listen: “To Depart” by Suturee

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The second and last song I’ll feature this week is a brand new one by up-and-coming French band The Dø. “Slippery Slope” is off the band’s second release to hit the states, Both Ways Open Jaws. While not all songs are as punchy and, well, almost indicative of the over-blasted pop side of mainstream music as that of “Slippery Slope”, they’re all very good. This song reminds me of the realm MGMT fit into upon their release of Oracular Spectacular (or maybe The Ting Tings’ 2008 track “That’s Not My Name”). This song could make The Dø blow up. It’s that good, and it’s that accessible to the greater population.

Download: “Slippery Slope” by The Dø

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Avi Buffalo‘s self-titled debut earned the title of being my favorite album of 2010. So it’s with great delight that I announce to you the release of new material from the band, that being a single called “How Come”, due out on Sub Pop on June 28. (more…)

The problem with so-called best-of lists, is that they are really just a collection of items organized based on experience and time, in that there will be plenty of albums heard the following year and beyond that will hold just as much weight as these we dub as “Best.” So, as of right now, at this particular time in the tail end of 2010 and the first moments of 2011, these albums are the best. There’s no question about it; it will change. My next list (which I’ve started, but may take a while to publish) is dubbed, paraphrase: the best albums I didn’t check out in 2011 for some reason or another. (more…)

It appears there is truth behind the popular phrase about time speeding by the older you get. After hitting the ripe age of 30 back in September and taking a nice little road trip from my home north of Seattle to the Southwest town of Albuquerque at the end of that month, time seems to have slipped by with ease. And it appears I haven’t done one of these podcast things since July! (more…)

I know, I’ve owed this one to you, my readers, for a few months now. The plan originally was to concoct a sort of mid-year recap of the first half, dictating a slew of wonderful albums that may or may not come to find a spot on the inevitable end-of-year list. A hint at what may come. But that didn’t happen. I added a few hobbies to my seemingly never ending list of things that eat away at my time (see above photo) and it fell down the priority list. (more…)

It’s been a few months since I threw together a podcast, so I figured it was about time for another one. Besides, I’ve been working diligently on a mix-tape for a new local pal, Brett Sandström, whom I met after purchasing a Tullycraft single on eBay – he being the seller, both of us being astonished to find other Tullycraft fans in Skagit County. What began as a modern tribute to light garage pop ultimately changed direction to hint at songs that fit a sweltering, hot summer day. (more…)

Earlier this week I noted in my review of Avi Buffalo that Sub Pop may very well dominate my end of year list, and that being notable as we near the 1/3 mark of 2010. After thinking about it, I figured it was time for another list in Label Spotlight form. Now, the typical Label Spotlight covers the unknown record collectives throughout the world, but as some of my favorite releases so far this year have come from Sub Pop, I figured What the hell… Let’s go for it! (more…)