After a week away, it was nice to be back in the studio. This week I played several folk-related tunes, a few garage-based ones, and a small handful of indie pop tracks. With the amount of indie-folk I’ve played of late, I’m thinking we’re in store for another dreamy mix and maybe even a garage rock mix in the near future.

Andi and I have been on a DIY kick of late and a recent project has been homemade laundry detergent. With the three ingredients displayed in the photo above, along with water, we won’t have to purchase detergent for a few years. How’s that for cost cutting, hipsters?

I’ve highlighted a few tracks below (i.e. the bold ones) for sampling purposes. Download and enjoy!

Here’s the playlist:

“No Retro” by Basemint off No Retro b/w Basemint Theme 7″
“The City Still” by Bears off Greater Lakes

“Late Night Bikes” by Capybara off Dave Drusky
“So Long” by Fruit Bats off Tripper
“Song of the City” by Isidore off Life Somewhere Else

“Serpents” by Sharon Van Etten off Tramp
“Shallow” by Beach Fossils off Shallow b/w Lessons 7″

“In The Yard” by Bowerbirds off The Clearing
“Squawk” by Y La Bamba off Court The Storm
“Chasing Crows” by The Horde And The Harem off A Long Midwinter

“Bigfoot Camero” by Bel Air off Fall
“Switch” by Guy Capecelatro III off North For The Winter
“Lungs, Dirt & Dreams” by Damon Moon & The Whispering Drifters off Lungs, Dirt & Dreams

“Bet You Never Thought It Would Be Like This” by The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir off I Bet You Say That To All The Boys

“Weekend” by Smith Westers off Daytrotter’s Big Orange Studios Session
“I Am The Assassin” by Dag för Dag off Boo

“Doing As I Do” by The Beets off Let The Poison Out
“Girl” by Milk Maid off Yucca
“Vizcaya” by Jacuzzi Boys off Glazin’

“When I See You Again” by Shimmering Stars off Ghosts Past EP
“Come Monday Night” by God Help The Girl off God Help The Girl

“Forgiveness” by Girls off Father, Son, Holy Ghost
“Mona Lisa” by Atlas Sound off Bedroom Databank Vol. 3
“Unfaithful” by Charles Leo Gebhardt IV off Unfaithful

It finally happened. Winter arrived. Snow fell and we woke up this past Sunday with about three inches of the stuff. I’m glad it didn’t arrive earlier, as Friday saw me at KSVR for a four hour stint of music.

The first two hours flirted with folk music and the latter half was full-on garage rock, garage pop and psychedelic pop. Much of the 10 to midnight show came courtesy Finest Kiss, who posted some great 2011 lists.

Taking a week off from radio this Friday, as in appreciated for covering Stuarto’s show on the 13th he’ll be covering mine on the 20th. Here’s the list. Get ready, it’s a long one!

“Sunset Tulips” by Night Genes off Like The Blood
“What Never Comes” by Crooked Fingers off Forfeit/Fortune
“Cavern In A Square” by Ham 1 off Let’s Go On And On And On With Ham 1

“Valhalla” by Jack Wilson off S/T
“End of Days” by Brown Bird off Salt For Salt
“Can’t You Tell” by Vetiver off The Errant Charm

“My Pillow Is The Threshold” by Silver Jews off Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
“The Stations” by The Gutter Twins off Saturnalia
“Be Invited” by The Twilight Singers off Dynamite Steps

“Sixteen, Maybe Less” by Iron & Wine with Calexico off In The Reins
“Changing” by The Moondoggies off Don’t Be A Stranger

“The Wrong Light” by Kasey Anderson and The Honkeys off Heart of a Dog

“Close My Eyes” by Ólöf Arnalds off Ólöf Sings
“Smoke Will Rise” by The Lower 48 off Where All Maps End

“Wings Won’t Behave” by Whistle Peak off Half Asleep Upon Echo Falls

“Alphabet” by The Twilight Sad off No One Can Ever Know
“The Jessica Numbers” by The New Pornographers off Twin Cinema
“Yoshi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1″ by The Flaming Lips off Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

“Here Comes Success” by Royal City off 1999-2004
“No Reply” by Giant Sand off Chore of Enchantment
“October Boy” by Mick Harvey off Sketches from the Book of the Dead

“Dance” by Astrid Williamson off Pulse

“Moon See, Day See” by The Heligoats off Live Free & Let Loose
“Golden Friends” by Leopold And His Fiction

“Don’t Wait” by Bears off Greater Lakes
“Summer Gang” by Afternoon Naps off Summer Gang 7″

“If You Choose To Stay” by The Webelos off Shadow Seasons
“(I’ve Got) Trouble In Mind” by The Limiñanas off (I’ve Got) Trouble In Mind 7″
“Israeli Blues” by Index off Black Album + Red Album + Yesterday & Today [Disc-1]

“As Times Change” by Sea Lions off Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask
“Can You Feel The Backwash” by A Classic Education off Call It Blazing
“Pretty When You Smile” by Sweater Girls off Pretty When You Smile 7″

“Pretty Ballerina” by Left Banke off There’s Gonna Be A Storm – The Complete Recordings 1966-1969
“Like Dylan in the Movies” by Belle & Sebastian off If You’re Feeling Sinister
“Conventional Lullabies” by Young And Sexy off Panic When You Find It

“Roosevelt Island” by Eleanor Friedberger off Last Summer
“Dour Percentage” by Of Montreal off Paralytics Stalks
“The Golden Age” by The Resonars off Bright And Dark

“Catamaran” by Allah-Las off Catamaran b/w Long Journey
“Malkaus” by The Panthers off Pakistan: Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976
“Where You Gonna Go” by People’s Temple off Sons Of Stone

“Invitations” by Puberty off Invitations 7″
“Shari Vari” by The Dirtbombs” off Party Store

“Tuscaloosa Bar” by Indian Wars off Walk Around The Park

“Sycamore Tree” by Crystal Stilts off In Love With Oblivion
“Raspberry Thighs” by The Mantles off Raspberry Thighs 7″
“Bad Feeling” by Veronica Falls off Veronica Falls

“Give Me Back My Man” by Boyracer off Little Darla Has A Treat For You [Vol. 24 Disc 1]
“Blowing Kisses” by Exlovers off Blowing Kisses 7″
“So High” by Ringo DeathStarr off Colour Trip

“Plastic Disaster” by Little Cuts off Plastic Disaster 7″
“I Wanna Join The Army” by Dan Sartain off Too Tough To Live

“The Start of Something” by Voxtrot off The Start Of Something

Bears are a delectable pop band out of Cleveland, Ohio that blend indie pop sounds with psychedelic instrumentation and the clash between sleepy and mopey vocals. If there’s anything I like, it’s rainy-day pop music, and that’s precisely what this is. Greater Lakes is the band’s new LP — their third at that — and it comes out on Misra Records on Valentine’s Day 2012.

Word is floating around that this is their best album yet, and with a few listens, it’s easy to hear the truth in that statement. It opens strong with “Eleven a.m.” and “You’re Going” and continues to what, in my opinion, is the album’s showstopper: “Don’t Wait”. That song, hovering around the midpoint, is among their most psychedelic influenced tracks yet. And the greatness continues through the end of Greater Lakes.

Longtime fans of Bears will rejoice in this new album, and new fans will likely rush to pick up their previous catalog. Albums like their self-titled and singles like the masterful Who Knows b/w Making Something are all worthy of any pop fan’s collection, but they stand in this album’s shadow; Greater Lakes is an instant classic.

Download: “Eleven a.m.” by Bears

Misra Records [CD, 2012]

1. Eleven a.m.
2. You’re Going
3. From Good to Bad
4. More Left Out
5. Don’t Wait
6. The City Still
7. I Don’t Have You On My Mind
8. Perfect Girl
9. Wash My Hands
10. I Can’t Make Things Right
11. Until The Very End

This show began like any other, but without the transition difficulties. All was smooth. The music, on the other hand, was not. After a long, satisfying week, I was in need of some loud, abrasive rock music. But it wasn’t all like that. Due to the cold weather, I mixed in some beach pop, fuzzy dream pop and good old garage rock and pop.

Don’t forget to hit up the bottom of this post and listen to two tracks from the playlist!

“Torn Curtain” by Television off Marquee Moon
“Half Time At The Proper Name Spelling Bee” by Fishboy off Albatross

“Adversity” by Beach Fossils off What A Pleasure EP
“Out On The Highway” by Jeremy Jay off Dream Diary
“Pogo” by Eternal Summers off Pogo

“Let’s Fall Asleep Together” by Teen Daze off Beach Dreams
“Who Knows” by Bears off Who Knows (7-inch Single)
“We Can Do What We Want To” by The Blank Tapes off Home Away From Home

“Here Comes The Sunset” by Ryan Trott by Wild Wonder
“Death Rattles” by Woods off At Echo Lake
“In A While” by Beaches off Eternal Sphere

“Brat Mouth” by Hunters off Hands On Fire
“Sweet Sweet Mandi” by Bad Sports off Kings Of The Weekend
“Television Youth” by Sonic Avenues off Television Youth

“If This Is Love” by Darlings off Yeah I Know
“Prairie My Heart” by Harlem off Hippies
“Navajo” by The Black Lips off Good Bad Not Evil

“Beer League” by The Super Vacations off The Mystic Fortress Sessions Vol. 1
“Triple Eyed” by Son Of Rams off Frolics In The Pink EP
“Take My Hand” by Orca Team off Take My Hand EP

“Baby I’m Yours” by Math And Physics Club off Baby I’m Yours
“Rainy Saturday” by Brown Recluse off The Soft Skin
“No Retro” by Basemint off No Retro b/w Basemint Theme (7-inch Single)

“Within/Without” by LAKE off Giving & Receiving
“Take Me Somewhere” by Tennis off Tennis
“Strolling Past The Old Graveyard” by Gigi (feat. Karl Blau) off Maintenant

“The Velveteen Rabbit” by Patience Please off Parallel Plots
“No One Will Ever Know” by Family Trees off Dream Talkin’ (7-inch Single)

I love surprises, and The Super Vacations was just that. I returned home one day to find a lovely little 7-inch in my mailbox. The split single/EP featured two songs each by two bands. The first, I recognized: the amazing duo Eternal Summers. The second, a newbie, was The Super Vacations. “Beer League” is one of their two stellar tracks on this single.

Listen: “Beer League” by The Super Vacations

For some reason, “Brat Mouth” was the song that stuck out to me on Hunters’ new EP, Hands On Fire. This is a little strange, as listening to the entire 5-song EP, they’re all pretty damn solid. This EP is the latest offering from Aagoo Records.