
Some starts to the week need to be edged in to. You don’t always want a loud heavy clash of sound to wake you up. There is nothing that will force you to press the snooze button more than the roll of a double bass pedal and the screeching of guitars. In honour of a gentle wake up call, here is your music for this Monday morning, whatever time you happen to read it. He is the bearded one. He is the writer of songs. His [...]

I wasn't originally planning on doing a show this evening, but decided to take my normal spot behind the microphone anyway. So the playlist didn't begin coming together until the evening of. There was no theme, it was all variety; folk to electronic to noise rock. If you missed it, here's the list: "The Crystal Cat" by Dan Deacon by Spiderman Of The Rings "A Dark God Heart" by Sleep Party People off We Were Drifting On A Sad Song [...]

I entered the studio at about 9:35pm, meeting up with Stuarto, who has the time slot before mine. A quick interview about 15 minutes before my show, another few songs, and I was up. It was requested that I attempt a transition, and as indie music is my theme, and world music is his, I figured I'd kick things off with an oldie, but goodie: "The Gulag Orkestar" by Beirut. The theme of the evening, loosely, centered around folk. Indie folk, folk pop, folk rock, orchestral folk, experimental folk... [...]

Richmond had so many amazing albums come out this year, there was no way I could lump them in with national releases and narrow them down to 10. So I made a completely separate list. And it was still hard to do. Here are the best albums Richmond musicians had to offer for 2010. LONG ARMS - TO HOLD YOU If there was one Richmond album that I listened to over and over again, it was Long Arms. These guys know how to make a rock song that leave you begging [...]

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! I took that photo up there somewhere along the side of the highway in northern [...]

David Karsten Daniel’s 2007 album Sharp Teeth came out of nowhere for me … of course, there are elements of other great folk-inspired contemporary artists, Iron & Wine, Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy and bits of Wilco’s music, but Daniel’s debut on Brighton’s Fat Cat Records was multi-layered folk music with sumptuous strings, horns and great swirling vocal harmonies over the standard acoustic musical arrangements … truly extraordinary! The San Francisco-based artist’s follow-up 2008’s Fear of Flying was also notable, but his latest work I Mean To Live Here Still sees Daniels trying [...]

Before I change my mind again, here are my picks for the best ten albums of the year so far: Top 10: 10: Wolf Parade - Expo 86 It's no secret that I love Wolf Parade. Their debut was one of my absolute favorite albums of the past decade and their sophomore effort I found to be nearly as enjoyable. Their third record, Expo [...]

The new DKD is out with a blast of horns in the form of the lead off track "The Funeral Bell". I think the influence of Fight The Big Bull is heard front and centre in this track and leads an accent to Daniels quirky sense of indie folk-pop. You get a little bit of everything with this album and it is hard to really classify or put a label on, but overall I would say it is, dare I say, fun with some depth. I don't even know what that means, but give it a listen [...]

Maurizio Bongiovanni from "Bird Rib" (2010) Nic and I are having a conversation without talking. It happens when your neurons look like the same rorschach. His might resemble a saxophone a little more than mine. I have a very low tolerance for woodwind and brass. David Karsten Daniels - The Knot Unties (mp3)

When I compiled my original Best Of 2008 list last December, it was a snow day. The sky dropped about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of fluffy white stuff and we lowly sub-compact drivers could go nowhere. Between ranking albums and locating album art, I took a stroll around town with my camera. The above image comes from that trek. Overall, I was pretty happy with last year's list but, in revisiting all the albums from 2008, I now see quite a few that I left out. [...]
Woot! Part three of the a series I have going on record labels ( part 1 , part 2 ). This time we have the ever impressive "FatCat Records" from Brighton (and Brooklyn). FatCat Records is pretty much an "ahead of the curve" indie label with a few great "straight ahead" indie artists. If you are a bit sketchy on what I am trying to say, think of starting at Animal Collective and move towards Frightened Rabbit. See, now you [...]
As of recent, I've been listening a lot to David Karsten Daniels' album Fear of Flying . If you are a fan of Devendra Banhart, The Bowerbirds, or Wilco, I think you'll dig his folk sound-It's unfortunate that such a talented musician hasn't gotten more exposure. Daniels incorporates a variety of beautiful instrumentals into his songs to make for a lush listening experience. Fear of Flying released in 2008, and is Daniels' sophomore album (there have been five albums in all, but this is his second widely available one). My favorite tracks on [...]

So, another addition to my big list. I've already started listening to stuff from 2009 (hello Andrew Bird), and some albums that maybe could end up in the 2008-list if i'd made it next year, but right now, we'll just keep on going. 20. Scary Mansion - Every Joke is Half The Truth ( Zum Records ) Sounds like: There can never be enough Early Cat Power-clones, if they are as good as this. Scary [...]

>> We join the chorus of outlets expressing disappointment at the breakup of Brooklyn-based nu-gaze superlatives Dirty On Purpose , who disclosed their demise via presser this afternoon. The quartet, which formed in 2002, will play a final show on New Years Eve at Manhattan's Mercury Lounge, where it will open for the purportedly "loudest band in New York," noiseniks-in-arms A Place To Bury Strangers . According to the statement, the band returned from tour a month ago, discussed making another record, and ultimately decided that was something it didn't want to [...]
Podcast Page Direct Link RSS Feed Theme Music! Brazilian Girls, "Good Time" (Diplo Remix) Website Myspace The Stills, " Being Here " Website Myspace Adrienne Pierce, "Raise Our Voices Up" (I didn't get permission to post the song; however, I would like to mention that [...]

Fellow countrymen (and women): lend me your ear, Tomorrow, you need to vote, if you haven't aready early-voted. You need to vote no matter how long you have to wait in line. It's worth calling out of work, missing a class, canceling a social event, or anything else you may have to sacrifice to wait in line to vote. How you vote is entirely up to you of course, just vote, I beg of you. Particularly those of us under thirty-five - record turnout is expected this year, but all the talking heads seem to think it's all [...]

Like Jason Molina's recent work under the Magnolia Electric Co. moniker, David Karsten Daniel's Fear of Flying is an album of Crazy Horse-inspired folk-rock with a little Southern Gothic darkness creeping in around the edges. It's the kind of stuff that usually has alcohol imagery appended to it, and true to genre, Daniels' woozy singing does sound loosened by a few shots of Jack Daniels. The music is sharp and sober though, flavored by the welcome, under-used presence of horn arrangements. David Karsten Daniels - "Martha Ann": mp3 [...]

Image: Erin Tyner Oh, Heaven Isn't Real - David Karsten Daniels Why should Jesus get all the good music? It's not like this one's for the devil or anything -- it's just one great big secular humanist sigh of exasperation, as if Daniels has had it up to here with heaven this and hell that and will no longer hold his tongue. From the backyard of the Bible Belt, bluegrass swing, handclaps, holler [...]
This week's long laundry list of amazing bands waiting to be heard, features the first Portishead album in over ten years, aptly named Third . The talent is still there and the album is packed with great songs. 65daysofstatic also released an EP this week that sounds like it is ready to be played on tour with The Cure. Other releases that I can recommend are A Town and Two Cities by Your Vegas and Santogold's self-titled release. 65daysofstatic The Distant and Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties [...]

Once again, I find myself rushing to get this week's Graboid up, so this will be short. Nearly ten years after their last release, Portishead make their triumphant return with Third . After several listens, i'm still not quite sold on the album yet, but it certainly doesn't make me love the group any less. Other releases worth looking at include Santogold's self-titled debut, The Constantines' Kensington Heights , South's (who spells it out as sOuth? cos it's really lame) You Are Here , and hmm...what [...]