When yer plumbing backs up, you're gonna drink it

Drive Like Jehu - "Turn It Off" (Drive Like Jehu)

Why do I let myself worry?

Patsy Cline - "Crazy" (Showcase)

Playlist for 3-19-15

I've been slacking so hard you guys.

Well that's not true. I've been crazy busy at work at spending my evenings training for my Krav Maga level test on Sunday. So please wish me luck in remembering the 341 ways to kick someone in the dick.

And see you tonight during my show!

Things that Are Square 3-19-15

(*) = New release

Seu Jorge - Life On Mars? - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride - Heretic Pride

Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford - Born to Run - Darkness on the Edge of Your Town

Belle and Sebastian - A Century of Fakers - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds

Yo La Tengo - Before We Run - Fade

Jonathan Richman - There's Something About Mary - There's Something About Mary Original Soundtrack

Destroyer - Trembling Peacock - This Night

The Replacements - Here Comes a Regular - Tim

King Khan & The Shrines - Shivers Down My Spine - The Supreme Genius Of...

(*) Slutever - Open Wide - Almost Famous

Girlpool - Plants and Worms - Girlpool

Dads - Chewing Ghosts - I'll Be the Tornado

(*) Pile - Touched by Comfort - You're Better Than This

(*) Sannhet - Revisionist - Revisionist

Don Caballero - Delivering the Groceries at 138 Beats Per Minute - What Burns Never Returns

Minus the Bear - Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse - Highly Refined Pirates

(*) Purity Ring - Begin Again - Another Eternity

The Notwist - One With the Freaks - Neon Golden

Zhala - Prophet - Zhala (For Eve in Irvine, CA)

Judy Gloom - Touch My Body - Covers

(*) Dan Deacon - When I Was Done Dying - Gliss Riffer

The Mae Shi - Run to Your Grave - Hlllyh

Tex Williams - Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette! - Got A Light, Mac?

Phosphorescent - The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning) - To Willie

(*) Jake Xerxes Fussell - Raggy Levy - James Xerxes Fussell

Momus - Lucky Like St. Sebastian - Circus Maximus

Lambchop - The Decline of Country and Western Civilization - Damaged

Give me wizardry, thermatology

Megadeth - "Five Magics" (Rust In Peace)


I would very much like to compile a mix of songs all about wizards/magic. Any suggestions?

Body report

Hey guys. I ran the LA Marathon yesterday and wrote a song about how I'm feeling today.

This is the first day of my last days

Nine Inch Nails - "Wish" (Broken)

Sad songs and waltzes may not be, but concert tickets are

Hell yeah. I just got tickets to see Willie Nelson live.

Genre Research Project 92/1361: Deathstep

Deathstep is a sub-genre of Brostep which takes influences from Deathcore, Metalcore and occasionally Death Metal. This style often mixes bass wobbles with chopped-up guitar and vocal samples. Many deathstep tracks have "breakdowns" which are often used in deathcore and metalcore.

[Editor's note: honestly, I thought maybe this was mis-labelled because it doesn't strike me as very.....death-y. But after combing through various internets, I guess this counts? I dunno. It doesn't feel very aggressive to me.]

Playlist for 3-5-15

Hey folks,

I dunno about you, but this was a pretty rough week, and the rest of the month is looking pretty rough, too. Lots of work stuff, lots of personal stuff (I stupidly signed up for the LA Marathon in a week), and so expect some pretty chill shows from me until April. I hope you don't mind.

And as always, feel free to leave a request in the comments!

Things that Are Square 3-5-15

(*) = New release

Sebadoh - Truly Great Thing - III

Yume Bitsu - I Wait For You - Yume Bitsu
Slowdive - So Tired - Outside Your Room EP
Smog - Truth Serum - Supper
(*) Slutever - Open Wide - Almost Famous

(*) Pile - Touched by Comfort - You're Better Than This
Ghost Mice - Critical Hit - Andrew Jackson Jihad & Ghost Mice
(*) Aphex Twin - diskhat ALL prepared1mixed 13 - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 EP
(*) Dan Deacon - Take It to the Max - Gliss Riffer

(*) Kreng - Acceptance - The Summoner
Loscil - Gymnote - Submers

Genre Research Project 91/1361: Grunge

Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in Seattle. The early Grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop, but by the early 1990s its popularity had spread, with Grunge acts in California and other parts of the U.S. building strong followings and signing major record deals.

Inspired by hardcore punk and heavy metal, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, "growling" vocals and apathetic or angst-filled lyrics. The grunge aesthetic is stripped-down compared with other forms of rock music, and many grunge musicians were noted for their unkempt appearances and rejection of theatrics.

Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and Stone Temple Pilots' Core. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of hard rock music at the time. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to affect modern rock music.

Often characterized by a sludgy guitar sound that uses a high level of distortion, fuzz and feedback effects, grunge fuses elements of hardcore punk and heavy metal, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. The music shares with punk a raw sound and similar lyrical concerns. However, it also involves much slower tempos, dissonant harmonies, and more complex instrumentation—which is reminiscent of heavy metal. Lyrics are typically angst-filled, often addressing themes such as social alienation, apathy, confinement, and a desire for freedom.

Grunge bands had made inroads to the musical mainstream in the late 1980s. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label when they joined the roster of A&M Records in 1989. A number of factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. During the mid-1990s many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, labeled by Time as "the John Lennon of the swinging Northwest", appeared unusually tortured by success and "struggled with an addiction to heroin before he committed suicide at the age of 27 in 1994".

Playlist for 2-26-15

Hey guys, how is your week going?

Mine is going kind of rough! But I am setting up a weekend of fun/relaxing events that will include getting drunk and playing Fireball Island, going to the opposite end of the board game spectrum and playing Star Trek Attack Wing, going to a "bondage-themed" birthday party at Villains, a housewarming BBQ, and maybe a show from The Body. Hopefully that will be relaxing. I hope.

What do you guys have planned? Let me know/request songs for the show in the comments!

Things that Are Square 2-26-15

(*) = New release

Lambchop - The Decline of Country and Western Civilization - Damaged

(*) Steve Gunn & Black Twig Pickers - Cardinal 51 - Seasonal Hire

The Allen Brothers - Shake Hands with Mother Again - Classic Southern Gospel

Laura Cantrell - Sam Stone - Future Soundtrack for America

Daniel Johnston - Careless Soul - 1990

(*) Dan Deacon - When I Was Done Dying - Gliss Riffer

Prinzhorn Dance School - Don't Talk to Strangers - Prinzhorn Dance School

Oneida - Each One Teach One - Each One Teach One

(*) Quarterbacks - Weekend - Quarterbacks

(*) Twerps - Back to You - Range Anxiety

Built to Spill - The Plan - Keep It Like a Secret

Sebadoh - Skull - Bakesale

A Silver Mt Zion - What We Loved Was Not Enough - Fuck Off, Get Free, We Pour Light on Everything

And we start talkin' 'bout what we want to forget

Merle Haggard - "Misery and Gin" (Back to the Barrooms)

Can you believe there are people who write off this entire genre?

The sixth stage of grief

Kreng - "The Summoning (Feat. Amenra)" (The Summoner)

Nestled among five tracks of violin-based modern classical named after the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance), Kreng drops a giant, raging slab of doom metal before reaching "acceptance." As if anyone with the ability wouldn't attempt to magic a lost loved one back before finally accepting them as truly gone.