Monday, October 26, 2009

The Visible Spectrum - 10/26/09

I am not off to a good start with this blog... super late on this posting... should've been done by Tuesday. Oh well.

Here's the listing for Monday's show. The show was good, with only one one production error, that being when I blasted the volume at the beginning of "Blessed Burden" (I sincerely hope I didn't bust anyone's speakers). All apologies to the dude that asked for me to play a local band called the Alcoholic Stuntmen, or at least that's what I think they're called, but I couldn't find them in WRVU's library.

1) The Gaslight Anthem - "Great Expectations"
This was an excellent way to start off the show, especially since my sister had taken me to see them and Murder By Death at the Mercy Lounge on Friday as a birthday gift. The Gaslight Anthem writes some really good blue collar punk drinking songs with a good rock 'n roll backbone. Not too abrasive for the first song in a 9 am radio show.

2) mewithoutYou - "The Fox, The Crow, and the Cookie"
mewithoutYou's latest album has been on rotation at WRVU since I began training in the summer and I'm not gonna stop playing it until the music directors pull it off the shelf.

3) Murder by Death - "Steal Away"
Played in tribute of my sister for taking me out to the show on Friday, again. To quote MBD's singer and guitarist, Adam Turla, MBD writes songs about "doom and shit." Adam Turla sounds like Johnny Cash and their cellist is ridiculously hot, so its hard to keep from spinning their records.

4) Dinosaur Jr - "Pieces"
These dudes are old, but the still get it done. "Pieces" is a decent indie rock song, but I do think it drones on a little too long.

5) Mos Def - "Quiet Dog Bite Hard"
I don't get enough hip hop in my show. I should work on that for the future, but in the meantime Mos Def is holding down the fort.

6) Ocelots - "The Truth As I See It"
Local Nashville band that plays indie rock. They have an amazing song about an elephant that's on fire, but I've already played it twice in the past month, so I figured that I'd play a different song.

7) Brand New - "Bed"
Brand New's new album Daisy is fuckin' fantastic and "Bed" is just one of ten excellent songs that I want to play on the show. It's a dark song with a haunting chorus, a combination that will always win me over.

8) Get Laid - "Yours Truly"
I'd never heard this before, but it worked well coming out of the talking break. Get Laid is a female fronted band from New York that plays old school hardcore punk with conviction.

9) Mission of Burma - "Feed"
I had heard good things about Mission of Burma everywhere from AP to punknews.org to my weekly Grimey's newsletters, but this was completely underwhelming. Meh.

10) Polvo - "The Pedlar"
Slightly better than Mission of Burma, but not by much.

11) Pre - "Gang of Wire"
Had never listened to this before. I could not wait for this song to end and should have pulled the plug early. Sorry folks.

12) Defeater - "Blessed Burden"
"Blessed Burden" is the opening track off of Defeater's debut album, Travels. Travels is a strictly narrative concept album and one of the best debut albums I've ever listened to. Since Modern Life is War broke up, Defeater is the new torch carrier for the blue collar melodic hardcore genre.

13) I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - "So This Is Your Home"
I Would Set Myself On Fire For You was a screamo band from Georgia. They were an awesome mix of Ugly Organ era Cursive and Circle takes the Square. Most of their stuff is more chaotic and frenetic, but this is still a really good track that highlights their tendency for singing in rounds.

14) These Arms Are Snakes - "Subtle Body"
TAAS can do no wrong. Within the realm of music, I can only say that about them, Geoff Rickly, Converge, and Brand New. That's it. "Subtle Body" is a dirty and sexy track off of TAAS's second album, Easter.

15) Bear vs Shark - "Song About Old Roller Coaster"
I find this song to be really similar in structure to that of "Subtle Body". Bear vs Shark were a post-hardcore band in the vein of At the Drive-In. They broke up way too soon. "Song About Old Roller Coaster" is my favorite song of theirs.

16) Trophy Scars - "Anxiety. Anxieties."
"Anxiety. Anxieties." packs a major emotional punch. It is the de facto closer for the album Alphabet. Alphabets., which has a major theme of alliteration and I love the way that it plays out into this song.

Check out the show by clicking the link to the archive on the right hand column or listen to the show on Mondays at 9 am on 91.1 WRVU. I haven't made next week's set yet, but I'd like to include Dead Swans and Russian Circles. If you'd like to request anything, leave a comment.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

What the hell is this?

Well, looks like I've caved in and joined the late 1990's by starting a blog. My intent for Radio & Vodka is to talk about my two big hobbies right now: my radio show on 91.1 WRVU Nashville and my vodka infusions. Of course, me being me, I'm going to have some random, tangential posts, but that's par for the course, right?

Anyways, welcome to Radio & Vodka. My first update should come sometime around Monday after my radio show, in which I'll post the set-list from the show, why I chose the songs I played, and a link to the audio archive (for those of you who didn't catch the show at 9 am on Monday on 91.1 WRVU). My first post on vodka infusions should appear later in the week as I am currently preparing a handle of Grey Goose for a Halloween party. Yum.