Before I took over, per the norm, host Chef Stuarto brought me on air to discuss the coming show. He asked if there was a highlight track I wanted to talk about. The discussion centered around the first track I would play that evening – Jacco Gardner’s “The Ballad of Little Jane”, which I likened to a modern rendition of The Beattles’ later-era. (more…)

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. (more…)

Stuarto Glasser, host of the All Around the World Music Show, called me up a little after 5pm Friday and asked if I could fill in for him. Thinking it would be a great way to attract a few more listeners I agreed. I headed home and put together a playlist of some of my favorite indie artists from around the world. (more…)

2009 is a tough year to judge. I’ve checked out more albums this year than any year in the past. Well over 1,000. And there have been quite a few great ones as well. When this list began, it had 110 albums. I abandoned my top 33 and 1/3 for 45, and then said “screw it” and upped the number to an even 50. These are the top notch albums of the year, all worthy of praise. (more…)

What a decade it’s been. 2004 was my first year in the so-called Real World; jobs, car payments, instability everywhere. Things weren’t all happy and seemingly upbeat like the mid 90s. After eight months in Seattle, I found myself unemployed and decided it was time for more education. I moved to the greater Portland area and began prep to enter a Masters in Business Administration program, taking night classes at WSU Vancouver and making a frequent trip out to Pullman, where I’d soon attend graduate school. The overall instability and open-your-eyes wake-up calls of 2004 seemed to extend beyond me. Two of the most honest and disturbing albums I’ve ever heard were released this year – another strong one in music overall. (more…)

The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21 (hence the wine bottle photo above). A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even before that fateful day. (more…)

So we meet again after several years / after several years of separation begins Kings Of Convenience‘s new single “Boat Behind”, and it’s the most fitting opening as the band has been on hiatus for about half a decade. As we hit the rainy fall season, “Boat Behind” is the perfect video to induce a nostalgic state, draped with sunny days and open sunroofs and hitchhiking girls. And as one of my all-time favorite bands, coupled with its glorious ending, “Boat Behind” is among the best music videos of the year. (more…)