I am becoming more and more confident in talking on the radio. I am slowly developing my voice — my on-air personality. There is still room for improvement; namely in the transition from Stuarto’s show to mine, but I’ll get there eventually. Last Friday’s show was centered around indie-folk again, with plenty of psychedelic folk, orchestral folk, and folk-pop as well.

The Cave Singers are back with their third LP, No Witch, an album that promises great things on the tail of two already widely renowned releases. While only two songs have graced my ears thus far, it’s clear that the Seattle band continues its steady pace of creating phenomenal tunes.

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.

Let me tell you a story. In 2007 some notable things happened. I attended the annual music festival SXSW (the image above is of myself and The Lovely Sparrows’ Shawn Jones, taken by Abandoned Love Records/Virgin Of The Birds’ Jon Rooney), I grew a mustache, and I met a beautiful girl named Andi at the Capitol Hill Block Party. We hit it off and ditched the after-party to get a sprite (her) and coffee (me) at Denny’s in Ballard (sadly no longer there) at 1:30am. I …

KEXP has announced details behind their 7th Annual Yule Benefit, happening this year on Saturday, December 12 at Neumos in Seattle. Showcasing select favorites from the Northwest, concert-goers will not only be treated to excellent performances by the likes of The Thermals, The Cave Singers, The Builders And The Butchers, and Grand Hallway, they’ll also be supporting KEXP.

The Cave Singers debuted back in 2007 with Invitation Songs, an album packed with power folk tracks like “Dancing On Our Graves” and “Seeds Of Night”. These songs were inundated with an ancient folk sound, tinged with rock. “At The Cut”, the first single off their sophomore release Welcome Joy, maintains selections from that early sound, but the emphasis now is rock tinged with folk.