Electricity + Drums

1/11/10 Show
Check out the full playlist.

Of particular note this week:

- Finally got around to playing The Shout Out Louds new track "Walls", which is the lead song from their upcoming album Work (out 2/23). Can't decide if this is just a little to schmaltzy for me, but if I liked "Ambling Alp" I probably have to like this...

- The Apparitions' "Electricity + Drums" was recently unearthed by I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, and I'd second her recommendation.

- Young Man appeared again on the playlist this week. Check out "Playtime".

- Many moons ago, I saw Pit Er Pat open for Tortoise, and I enjoyed the disheveled & playful prog-rock openers more so than the headliners. It seems as though Pit Er Pat has abandoned Chicago in favor of the warmer climes of L.A., and has decided to adopt M.I.A. as their muse. I don't fully approve of the change, but maybe you will: "Water"

Just A Growin'

January 4, 2010 Show
Check out the full playlist from yesterday's show.

Of particular note this week:

- Nice mellow jam from Young Man, complete with some African-inspired guitar licks: "Just a Growin'". Wait till the last 45 seconds if it doesn't grab you right away.

- Totally unrelated to yesterday's show, but I just saw this posted to My Old Kentucky Blog. Haven't listened yet, but the post contains the words "Free" "DFA" & "Mixtape", so you should go download it now.

On New Year's Eve I received two wonderful bits of news that pretty much guarantee I will be having a pretty rad 2010:

1. I was honored as "Best KBUT DJ in the Butte" as voted by town citizens & visitors in a totally unscientific manner. I'm not sure how official these things are, but I'll take it as a compliment (as opposed to the people who call in to my show and tell me to stop playing "Dentist-chair Muzak").

2. I am now a paid employee of KBUT, serving as Music Director for the station. I'm incredibly excited & honored. What does this mean for this blog? I don't know yet, but I will be posting music updates to kbut.org in the near future. I'll keep you posted.

Best Albums of 2009

Music is My Girlfriend's Best Albums of 2009
Counted down via radio on 12/21 & 12/28

In addition to the 25 LPs below, you should also check out the EPs released by Suckers & Airwaves this year.

25. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Summer of Fear
24. Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want
23. Jookabox - Dead Zone Boys
22. The Dutchess & the Duke - Sunset / Sunrise
21. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below
20. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
19. The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
18. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
17. St. Vincent - Actor
16. Yacht - See Mystery Lights
15. The Thermals - Now We Can See
14. The Antlers - Hospice
13. Dan Deacon - Bromst
12. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
11. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
10. Music Go Music - Expressions
9. Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
8. Girls - Album
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
6. Handsome Furs - Face Control
5. Generationals - Con Law
4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
2. Cotton Jones - Paranoid Coccoon
1. The xx - The xx



Check the playlists here and here. Astute listeners/readers may notice a mistake made on my part...

Second One to Know

12/14 Show
With 2009 winding down, I tried to put together a show filled with many of my favorite songs of the year. Unfortunately, two hours was not nearly enough time to fit in all of the good stuff, so don't read the playlist as a definitive list. If you listen to the show regularly, you've heard most of these tunes before, but that doesn't mean you don't need to hear them over and over and over.

There was also some new music played this week:


- Ridiculously late on this one, but if haven't yet heard Charlotte Gainsborough's "IRM" (with help from Beck), follow the link(s) to download it now. It's really good.

- Fast, loose, fun: Harlem's "Friendly Ghost". And their album is named Hippies. What could be better?

- Surf, garage & punk rolled into one. Nothing new, in fact it almost sounds like a Soft Pack song (see below). Dirt Dress: "Sonic Death"

- The Fresh & Onlys, yet another band that can't afford a proper recording studio this year: "Second One to Know"

- Denmark quintet Oh No Ono will release their self-produced album Eggs early next year. Put it on your list. "Helplessly Young"

- Belle & Sebastian influences all over this one, with even more of a 60s pop sound: Gigi's "The Old Graveyard". The second song on this post to sing about graveyards.

- I'm a fan of the Soft Pack, and now we have a studio recording of "C'mon" to go with that Laundromatinee session a while back.

- Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett is preparing to release Rat a Tat Tat this coming March. Check out the R&B influenced "Love is a Dirty Word".

Coming soon... Music Is My Girlfriend's Top Albums of 2009

Careful With That Hat

12/07 Show
Of particular note this week:

- Spoon unveiled (via NPR) the first new single from their upcoming Transference LP (out 1/19/09 in the US). The excellent "Got Nuffin" is on the album, but I guess that didn't count as the first single for some reason. Here's a live version from last summer if you're so inclined. Anyhow, "Written in Reverse" is pretty much the fuzzy, catchy, slightly cryptic power pop we've come to expect from Spoon. Not their finest, but it won't stop me from eagerly awaiting their new album.

- Citay isn't afraid to write 7 minute long songs with a wealth of instrumental solos & a dearth of lyrics: "Careful With That Hat". Bravo to them, we need more of this.

- Said the Gramophone recently posted their Best Songs of 2009. Artists I played off this list today: Micachu & the Shapes, tUnE-YaRdS, Bear in Heaven, Burning Hearts, & Bombadil. Absolutely worth checking out. In this day and age, Best Song lists seem more relevant than Best Album lists, even though we all love making them anyway.

- Both Air Waves & Neon Indian had Daytrotter sessions released this past week, and they're both worth your time.

- Van She cover Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper", and I guess I'm thankful they didn't take Christopher Walken's advice. (This "remix" did, and it makes me want to throw up).

- I have some close ties to the Portland, OR hip-hop outfit Good Biz, so I'm excited to see them coming to Crested Butte this Saturday. Should be a good time.

Check out the full playlist.

Birthday Radio

11/30 Show
In celebration of my girlfriend Heather's birthday, I played a whole lot of music that she enjoys today. Among them: Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, The Knife, Radiohead, Red Cortez, The National, Jonathan Richman, Cut Copy & many more. Awesomely, that's also a bunch of music that I like.

Check out the full playlist.

Also, this; because "music videos are so much easier to digest than movies":

What's In It For?

11/23 Show
Of particular note this week:

- One of the great joys of the internet is that you get access to widely prolific songwriters like Bradley Cox, who seems to have another wonderful release every week. His Atlas Sound alias covers the Five Discs' doo-wop gem: "Doctor"

- This has been around for a little while, but somehow it crossed my radar recently: Avi Buffalo "What's In It For?". Reminiscent of Band of Horses, but with a little less cliched yearning.

- The new single from Beach House surfaced this week: "Norway". It might be my favorite of their work, but I'm still not sold on this band.

- Aquarium Drunkard's most recent rare-find: Kim Fowley, who incidentally produced some of The Modern Lovers early work. Check out "International Heroes".

Here's a wealth of lo-fi goodies for the week:
- Sandwitches: "Back to the Sea"
- Magic Kids: "Superball"
- Light Pollution: "Oh, Ivory!"
- Andrew Cedermark: "Hard Livin'"
I'm starting to get sick of this sound. Maybe I just need to quit going to Gorilla vs. Bear.

Check out the full playlist.

Filled in for Monday's late night "Drinking in Bed" program last night. Here's the all-jazz playlist.

Stick Up For Yourself, Son

11/2/09 Show
Of particular note this week:


- Loving this new track from Brooklyn's Yeasayer. Seriously, check it out. Add their album to 2010's growing list of releases to potentially wet yourself over.

-Indianapolis' own Jookabox had quite a torrent of videos & music at MOKB last week. "You Cried Me" is a terribly fast acoustic stomp (thus, altogether different from the previously posted "Phantom Don't Go"). KBUT just the album, I'll let you know what I think...

- This kind of lost outsider rock seems be unearthed every week, and its almost always amazing. Psychedelic funk from early 70s Nigeria: The Strangers "Two to Make a Pair"

- Fuzzy girl-group rock courtesy of The Sandwitches: "Marry Me" & more...

- Air France adds a nice old school hip-hop feel to this dance floor ready track: "Spring (Air France remix)". IF I had any DJ gigs planned, you might hear it.

- Hadn't heard of NoahJohn until this Aquarium Drunkard post. Good for an alt-country storytellin' fix.

- The White Rabbits stopped by the Daytrotter studios recently. Also, The Antlers session is perhaps more worth your time, even if I didn't play any of their tunes on Monday.

- LO-FI WARNING: Wild Nothing "Confirmation"

Check out the full playlist

Little Bird Courage

10/26/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- Here you have Ernie Graham, a man whose self-titled LP from 1971 deserves some time with your ears. The two songs available at Aquarium Drunkard are the kind of soulful, bluesy ballads that no one seems to be making anymore.

- Surf City display a slighty new sound with the swirling guitars & effects on this hazy jam: "Autumn". My brother's friend's blog, Someday I'll Be Dignified & Old, first informed me of Surf City, and I couldn't thank him enough. Chad, KBUT's music director, saw these guys at CMJ in NY last week and said they were great.

- Terrificly rumbling folk-rock (complete with trumpets!) from the lead singer of The Appleseed Cast: Old Canes - "Little Bird Courage". This is really good.

Check out this week's full playlist.

Luv Goon

10/5/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- Free Energy has already released one of my favorite tracks of the year in "Dream City", so I was excited to see another song of their's emerge onto my radar. "Something in Common" wears its Strokes & Phoenix influences on its sleeve, which isn't a bad thing. Still, its no "Dream City", but I just bought the EP on iTunes anyway.

- Vampire Weekend created quite a stir today. A countdown clock appeared on their website, and upon striking zero (roughly 12:30pm MT), a new song was available for download! Check out the intriguing "Horchata" at their website. Their album Contra sees official release on January 12th in these parts.

- The upcoming Los Campesinos! release keeps getting better. Stream the terrific new single - "There Are Listed Buildings". I can't wait till "early 2010".

- Julian Casablancas, (former?) lead singer of The Strokes, drops his Phrazes for the Young album in a couple weeks. Check out the quite good lead single "11th Dimension", which finds him crooning over surprisingly complex electronic instrumentation Stream it here.

- Pearl Harbor are shaping up to be among the most consistent and best of the lo-fi wave. Aren't we all just Luv Goons?

- Brilliant Colors shared this noise-laden pop ditty with the world: "Absolutely Anything"

Check out the full playlist

Too Much Love?

9/28 Show
Of particular note this week:

- You may have heard of The XX by now, but if you haven't given their music a chance I'd implore you to do so right now. Four kids out of London shouldn't be making music this mature and emotionally charged. We finally got their debut album at KBUT and it's fantastic. Check out "VCR" and "Basic Space", then listen to more at their Myspace.

- Devendra Banhart, surprisingly, turns in my favorite Phoenix remix to date with this slowed-down, wistful take on "Rome" from this year's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart = Rome (Neighbours with Devendra Banhart remix)

- Sufjan Stevens is doing a short tour (stopping in Bloomington tomorrow night!) and has been performing some new material. Check out "Too Much Love", featuring a very new sound from one of today's most innovative artists.

- The blogs are all over this one: Nathan Williams of Black Lips & Jared Swilley of Black Lips got into quite a fracas this weekend in Brooklyn. As My Old Kentucky Blog astuted noted, this gives the Black Lips song "Short Fuse" a whole new meaning. Also, I still think "Short Fuse" would be perfectly rad for a ski movie segment (maybe I'll get on that this winter!). Read all about it and try and make sense of what happened: GvB / Pitchfork / Brooklyn Vegan

- Superior lo-fi garage rock from The Mantles = "Don't Lie". Guess I should track down that album.

- Pulsating, slightly dark tune from Brooklyn's Bear in Heaven = "Lovesick Teenagers". I like it.

- Sometimes language gets in the way of things. Let [ingenting]'s "Halleluja!" make you happy.

- New stuff from Alec Ounsworth, the frontman for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Interesting stuff here: "That is Not My Home (After Bruegel)"

Check out the full playlist

And, yes, I'm still working on that Monolith Festival recap...

I Felt Stupid

9/21/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- It's snowing in Crested Butte, but if you're still soaking up summer's rays I'd recommend "I Felt Stupid" by The Drums as a soundtrack. It's not exactly "an altogether new thing" as the track-ending sample suggests, but it might be the song of the week.

- The Soft Pack: they play fast, clean punk-pop that is more reminiscient of early Green Day than, say, The Thermals. Plus, they have a rad stand-up drummer. Check out a couple new songs and videos at My Old Kentucky Blog. Saw them at Monolith a couple years ago (I think they were still calling themselves the Muslims back then), and they were great.

- A new song from Brooklyn's Suckers has surfaced, and sadly, its my least favorite of their efforts to date. Too much buildup for a song that goes nowhere on a stately beat.

- Basic, happy, affirmative pop rock from the Parson Red Heads. Nothing revelatory, but nothing to scoff at.

Check out the full playlist

All Yr Songs

9/14 Show
Of particular note this week:

- Los Campesinos! explore a darker subject & sound on this new title track from their upcoming album. Great to see them experimenting and growing as a band - "The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future"

- Havn't seen his new album at KBUT yet, but I may need to seek out AA Bondy's When The Devil's Loose on my own. Check out "I Can See the Pines Are Dancing", a nice, more upbeat number from the gifted songwriter.

- Arresting little love song from Diamond Rings: "All Yr Songs". I'm a big fan.

- Not my favorite track yet from The Very Best, but M.I.A.'s vocals fit well with their sound: "Rain Dance (ft. M.I.A.)"

- Grampall Jookabox is now just Jookabox. He added a full band and seems to be recording the best music of his career with "Phantom Don't Go". Good to see something innovative coming out of Indianapolis.

- Looking forward to hearing the new album from King Khan & BBQ Show, as this title track is thoroughly pleasant (if less frantic & rough than some of their other tracks): "Invisible Girl"

- This week's buzzy lo-fi entry: a lovely ditty from the Smith Westerns: "Imagine Pt. 3"

- Two different worthwhile tracks, one link. First, listen to Heavy Trash's heartfelt & slightly silly bluesy-garage-rambler "Gee, I Really Love You". Then, try the pop sing-a-long "Flaming Arrow" by Jupiter One.

- Great sound on this new track from The Swimmers: "What This World Is Coming To". Love the keyboards & the handclap sound of the drums.

Check out the full playlist.

Monolith Festival Preview

8/31 Show
Colorado's best music festival is rapidly approaching, so I spent the entire 2 hours of my show on Monday playing bands that will be performing that glorious weekend of September 12 & 13th. (Why this week and not next? Well, I'll be on a pontoon boat and not on the radio on Labor Day.) I may only be attending Saturday of this year's festival, but that one day has a loaded lineup while Sunday only has 2-3 bands I would actually be excited to see (Phoenix & the Thermals). Saturday's eagerly anticipated performances include: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Of Montreal, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Girl Talk, Generationals, M. Ward, Walkmen, DOOM, Edward Sharpe & The Magnificent Zeros, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Starf*cker, Cotton Jones, Antlers, & Cymbals Eat Guitars. Not a bad day right there.

Check out all the pertinent info right here: Monolith Festival. Hopefully I'll get some notes up on this site after the show this year.

Check out the full playlist from Monday's show.

Jackhammer Friends

8/24/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- Started the show off with three 60s French girl groups. What could be better than that? All three songs I played are available at Aquarium Drunkard.

- Surprised I haven't linked to this song yet, but if you follow any blogs you've probably heard it before. Still, its a pretty sweet melancholy tune from San Francisco's Girls (who released the awesome "Lust for Life" earlier this year"). Give this one some time to win you over: "Hellhole Ratrace"

- The Very Best are up to it again, providing us internet-types with the B-side from "Warm Heart of Africa". Can't wait to hear this song remixed (not that it needs to be). "Yalira"

- New song from The Spinto Band, who seem to fit the Park the Van Records sound very well. Not my favorite track of theirs, but we'll see the rest of this EP turns out. "Jackhammer"

- The title track of Luke Top's Friends is a nice folky sing-a-long affair. Evidently Luke Top was also behind that Fool's Gold song I liked so much last week (it's on the LSTN #6 compilation).

- Feels like it has been used in a Wes Anderson movie, but I'm quite certain it hasn't: Scott Walker - "30 Century Man"

- In need a good roller skating song? Washed Out - "Belong". Unfortunately, Washed Out doesn't know how to end a song (have a listen).

Check out the full playlist

My Will is Good

8/17/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- My friend Alex turned me onto Edwarde Sharpe & the Magnificent Zeros during his visit to Crested Butte. As many others have said, they have sort of a Devendra-Banhart-meets-Arcade-Fire sound. I'd say their album Up From Below has a number of standout tracks you should listen to, including "40 Day Dream", "Janglin" & "Home". NPR has a short article on them.

- Another track from Port O'Brien's new album Threadbare is making the rounds. I'm rather excited about this one: "My Will is Good"

- Excellent new song from Volcano Choir, featuring Wisconsin's most popular cabin-dweller, Bon Iver. Good stuff here: "Island, IS"

- Pulsing, beautiful acoustic jam: Taken By Trees - "Watch the Waves"

- Another quality free mix from Urban Outfitters = LSTN #6. Be sure to check out Fool's Gold & Fortune Teller, among many other artists you've already heard about on this site.

- Awesomeness ensues when two of the best "garage" acts around (Black Lips + King Khan) combine to form The Almighty Defenders. Download two tracks from their upcoming release here (scroll down a bit).

- Another lo-fi, psychedelic summer jam from Family Portrait = "On the Floor"

- Evidently no one can afford quality sound recording equipment this summer:, making lo-fi the true sound of the recession. Check out this hummable tune from Small Black: "Despicable Dogs"

- Gentle Friendly are some London dudes drawing comparisons to Animal Collective, which doesn't immediately spark my interest. This song, however, does ever so slightly: "RIP Static"

- Quality americana-folk-rock storytelling: These United States - "I Want You to Keep Everything"

Check out the full playlist

Summer Pledge Drive, Vol. 2: The Garage Bands

8/10/09 Show
For my second Summer 2009 Pledge Drive show I decided to follow through on a show idea I'd had for years: 2 hours of vintage 60s garage band rock. I'd been putting it off because I wanted to do it right (lots of research, creating a good show "flow", plucking out the best 2 hours out of the many hours of fitting music, etc.), and I think it worked well as a pledge drive show. Strangely, I got more positive comments than possibly ever for a show, but I also only raised $85. Oh well, I had a blast.

I could go on and on about how much I like this genre of rock, but this quote from influential rock critic Lester Bangs pretty much says it all,

What is more American than the garage band? Call up a bunch of your buddies, get some six-packs or some weed, plus a guitar or two, a bass or drum kit, and you've got instant fantasies about instant stardom. Of course, at certain times and places, fantasy and reality have intersected, and that is part of what rock is all about. Given that the greatest garage bands could barely play, we may assume not only that virtuosity has nothing to do with the form, but also that the utopian dream of everyman an artist can come true right here, in our suburban land of opportunity-the ultimate proof that rock & roll is the most democratic and all-American of art forms

Many of the songs on the playlist came from the famous Nuggets compilation, but you also heard tracks from MOJO Magazine compilation and several vinyl tracks from The Sonics and also The Vampires. Check out the full playlist

Summer Pledge Drive, vol. 1

8/3/09 Show
Of note this week:

- The Summer Pledge Drive started at 8am on this day. Thanks to all my friends and family who pledged during my show and helped me raise $620! There are some awesome thank-you gifts this year for different pledge levels, so check them out and donate at kbut.org. Or call 970-349-7444 during my show next week!

- Death is amazing. Death being the unheralded early-70s Detroit proto-punk band that is starting to make a comeback (sans one original member who passed away before they recently garnered praise and appreciation). Check out the NYTimes articles that GvB links to above.

- Sunny indie-pop that could be done by any number of bands: Portugal. The Man - People Say. Still, its done well and I'm curious to hear the rest of the album.

- Another new track from Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs, which gets released September 8th. Here to Fall is more orchestrated, spacey, & wandering than the previously posted Periodically Double or Triple.

View the Full Playlist

Everything Absent, Departed

7/27/09 Show
Of note this week:

- Sadly, another promising Denver band has broken up. However, before they truly leave us, Everything Absent or Distorted will release a free 4 song EP as a parting gift. Read more and grab an mp3 from the EP.

- The Thermals stopped by the Daytrotter.com studios. How could that be a bad thing?

- The Gary would like you to keep your Damn Machines, modern-day John Henrys that they are.

- Sybris kindof sounds like Sonic Youth with a powerful & dynamic female lead singer: Sybris - Oh Man!

- The Big Pink provides a nice addition to any summer playlist: Dominos

- Still Playing Free Energy & lots of Mark Mulcahy (and covers). See the post below for links on those...

View Full Playlist

Dream City

7/20/09 Show
Of particular note this week:

- I love this song, which is almost a given because it comes out on DFA records. In a wonderful change of pace, however, its not a danceable electro song, but instead a classic 70s rock throwback that makes me want to drive nowhere in particular with someone in particular. Free Energy - Dream City

- Hadn't heard of Mark Mulcahy until this week, but I can tell I've been missing out on his expert songcraft for far too long (I'm downloading one of his albums on iTunes are I type). What looks to be an awesome tribute/compilation record comes out in September, featuring a long list of prominent artists that are all in it for a heartbreakingly good cause. Listen to songs and read more about the story & artists after the jump. There's two of his original tracks, and an excellent cover by the National included (and you can stream the Thom Yorke cover too!). This will be one of those albums you have to buy (instead of, you know, downloading it for free).

- There's a new Spoon single, which is always cause for celebration: Got Nuffin

- Richard Swift hit up the Daytrotter studios this week, and its all good: Richard Swift @ Daytrotter

- The interwebs are certainly abuzz about this collaboration between artists who, in my opinion, are fairly overrated. Still, its a good song: Atlas Sound w/ Panda Bear - Walkabout

- Have been getting a good rash of positive phone calls lately during my shows, which always buoys my spirits when I start to feel uninspired about doing this every week. This week requests for Iron & Wine and the Clash made it onto the show.

View the Full Playlist