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

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

St. Vincent, Brooklyn’s sweetheart Annie Clark, has a style that can suit anyone’s fancy. And Actor is a powerful example of an astonishing effort from Clark to develop down right delightful tunes. It’s the warm coffee in the morning. As well as the ecstasy for an exciting night. If “Laughing With A Mouth of Blood” doesn’t make you feel like break-dancing at your closest Starbucks, there is something seriously wrong with you. “Marrow” should be that sort of cut that leaves you feeling less whole when it is all sang and done. And how can you not feel like taking a candle-lit bath filled with cheap wine when you hear “The Bed”?

If none of these scenarios apply, go ahead and get yourself checked.

With Annie’s recent addition to the peculiar indie rock riddle soundtrack to Twilight Saga: New Moon, she has not gone unnoticed as of recent times. Though she’s been dazzling audiences for some time, things really seem to be moving along a destiny inspired path. What Juno did for Kimya Dawson a few years ago is coming back in full force. No matter how the premise of said films strikes you, with this artist in tow, it proves to at least sound good. St. Vincent will certainly act as a major influence in the astonishing and sometimes far to predicable world of indie rock.

St. Vincent: The Strangers [mp3]

4AD [CD, 2009]

1. The Strangers
2. Save Me From What I Want
3. The Neighbors
4. Actor Out Of Work
5. Black Rainbow
6. Laughing With A Mouthful Of Blood
7. Marrow
8. The Bed
9. The Party
10. Just The Same But Brand New
11. The Sequel

Annie Clark of St. Vincent (MySpace) sure has a thing for pop culture. Marry Me, her debut LP, was titled after a joke line from one of the greatest television shows of all time – Arrested Development. Her latest one, Actor, will be coming out soon on 4AD and single “The Strangers” is already promising more cultural references by hinting of Nancy Sinatra in the verse.

But as the song progresses, she forays into a wonderful distorted bridge before returning to the softer side of things. In true St. Vincent form, this is a song she could easily perform solo with select drum box accompaniment and a lap-top to re-generate the various multi-vocal harmonies she has going on selectively throughout the tune.

If one thing can be said about St. Vincent, it’s that she’s an expert songwriter. This comes both in the lyrics and the various vocal patterns she lends them as well as the instrumentation she uses to make the song whole. It could be heard on tunes like “Marry Me” and “Paris Is Burning” off her debut, and it’s again dominant in “The Strangers”.

This is all quite exciting, and I’m sure I’m not alone in my anticipation of Actor. Its release date of May 5 cannot come soon enough. Good news: if you preorder the album, you’ll get a free 7″ single!

St. Vincent: The Strangers [mp3]