Radio Recap - 20 October 2009

Here's last Tuesday's playlist.

Husker Du “Pink Turns to Blue” from Zen Arcade
A.C. Newman “Miracle Drug” from The Slow Wonder
Alaska! “S.S.” from Emotions
All-Time Quarterback “Dinner At Eight In The Suburbs” from All-Time Quarterback
Ambulance LTD “Anecdote” from Ambulance Ltd
Ben Kweller “Commerce, TX” from Sha Sha
Blonde Redhead “23” from 23
Bright Eyes “Arc Of Time (Time Code)” from Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
Broken Social Scene “Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)” from Broken social scene
Built To Spill “Randy Described Eternity” from Perfect from Now On
Califone “Pink & Sour” from Roots & Crowns
Cat Power “American Flag” from Moon Pix
Holiday Shores “Experiencer” from Columbus'd the Whim
Islands “Disarming The Car Bomb” from Vapours (read about)
Old Canes “Little Bird Courage” from Feral Harmonic (read about)
The Flaming Lips “Powerless” from Embryonic
Dark Meat “The Faint Smell of Moss” from Truce Opium
Wye Oak “Mary Is Mary” from The Knot
Art Brut “Rusted Guns Of Milan” from Bang Bang Rock And Roll
Death From Above 1979 “Go Home, Get Down” from You're A Woman I'm A Machine
Sufjan Stevens “Movement IV: Traffic Shock” from The BQE
The Whigs “In The Dark” from In The Dark (read about)
Atlas Sound “Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox)” from Logos
Thomas Function “Belly of the Beast” from In The Valley Of Sickness
Lou Barlow “Goodnight Unknown” from Goodnight Unknown

Promo: The Whigs - "In the Dark"

I'm not sure why, but The Whigs' new song hasn't been commanding the attention it deserves, even given the short time it has been available. I'm not even sure if it can yet be called a promo; it's release marks the announcement of their new album In the Dark to be released in February 2010. The album doesn't even appear on the record label (ATO) website, but The Whigs posted the title track in a bulletin on their iLike page yesterday morning. So check out "In the Dark" and listen for it tonight!

Promo: Old Canes - Little Bird Courage

I'm a big fan of the Appleseed Cast, so I was pretty stoked this morning to find out that lead singer Chris Crisci's side project was releasing an album today. This project is called Old Canes and today marks the release of their second album, Feral Harmonic, out on Saddle Creek. I haven't had the time to listen to the whole album yet, but Saddle Creek has release one track for download. It's good, so I'm sending it your way, too. It's a feel-good track called "Little Bird Courage", a little less emo, a little more folk-y, than standard Appleseed cast. Listen for it tonight.

Promo: Vampire Weekend - "Horchata"

Allow me to jump on the blog bandwagon and plug the new promotional track by Vampire Weekend. "Horchata" will be a track from their upcoming album Contra, out in the states on January 12 from XL Recordings. I find it to be typical VW: catchy, lighthearted with eclectic instrumentation. It's also good and you should give it a listen below or on PUR tonight. Then download it by joining their mailing list in the Vampire Weekend player below or by going to their website for the non-email list option.

Threadspinner - Live on PUR

This week PUR was graced with Santa Barbara local band Threadspinner to promote the local release of their debut album Night Chorus (national release Nov. 17). The album release party is tonight, but unfortunately for you (but fortuantly for the band), the show is sold-out! If you haven't heard them yet, Threadspinner puts a subtle but powerful indie-pop cover over hauntingly beautiful, singer-songwriter-esque songs. Tuesday, they played three songs from the album ("Where the Game Begins", "Waking World", and "Night Chorus"), and gave a short interview. Check out the podcast of their appearance below.

Threadspinner - Live on KCSB

Radio Recap - 29 September 2009

Here's last Tuesday's playlist. Muchas gracias to Threadspinner to coming to the show! The podcast of their appearance coming very soon.

Fleet Foxes “White Winter Hymnal” from Fleet Foxes
Bowerbirds “My Oldest Memory” from Hymns for a Dark Horse
Au “rr vs. d” from Verbs
Evangelicals “Paperback Suicide” from The Evening Descends
The Ruby Suns “There Are Birds” from Sea Lion
The Ting Tings “Great DJ” from We Started Nothing
Black Kids “Hurricane Jane” from Partie Traumatic
Bishop Allen “Empire City” from Charm School
White Rabbits “I Used To Complain Now I Don't” from Fort Nightly
Brothers And Sisters “You're Gone” from Fortunately
Threadspinner Live Performance!
Wax Fang “World War II (Pt.2)” from La La Land
Dinosaur Jr “Friends” from Farm (Jagjaguwar Records)
Phoenix “1901” from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
Japandroids “Rockers East Vancouver” from Post-Nothing (Promo) (Polyvinyl Records)
Portland Cello Project “Beat (Health, Life And Fire) (Featuring Thao)” from The Thao And Justin Power Sessions (Kill Rock Star)
Cymbals Eat Guitars “Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)” from Why There Are Mountains (Self Released)
Death Vessel “Mandan Dink” from Stay Close
The Decemberists “Apology Song” from 5 Songs
Wye Oak “Siamese” from The Knot
The Brian Jonestown Massacre “(David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six” from Take It From The Man!

Preview Lou Barlow's Goodnight Unknown

In less than two weeks, Merge Records will release Lou Barlow's new solo album Goodnight Unknown. A few songs from the album have been floating around the internet for a few weeks now, and these fulfill every expectation I have based on Barlow's previous work with Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion, and the numerous other side projects over the last 20 years. And now, as of last Tuesday, we can see if my first impression holds true to the whole album. Thanks to Merge and NPR, you can preview the album in it's entirety here.

Also, for the last 7 weeks before Goodnight Unknown comes out, Lou is making a video for a different song and posting them on what Merge is calling "Lootube." Check out the videos thus far.

Preview Goodnight Unknown at NPR.
Pre-order here.