Pick Of The Week: Craig Finn
I still remember distinctly the first time I saw Craig Finn perform, with his band Lifter Puller, although many lesser shows have blurred in my memory since then. It must have been in 2000, after their record “Fiestas and Fiascos” came out. They played in the dirtiest, diviest club I have ever been to in...
Have A Pink Martini With FeFe Dobson on Castle tonight!
Such a fun episode! No better song than the charming “Lilly” by Pink Martini to start off our dog-themed show. Pink Martini are one of the hardest working indie bands in show biz, they’ve released six studio albums and have performed endless charming live shows to enchanted audiences during their long tenure together. Lucky...
Pick Of The Week: Her Space Holiday
I have not fallen in love with any 2012 releases yet (except last week’s pick, Snow Patrol), so I am pulling another 2011 release that deserves mentioning. Her Space Holiday is a project helmed by the talented Marc Bianchi and this album is significant because he has decided that after 15 years and six full-length...
Pick Of The Week: Snow Patrol
Thank you Snow Patrol for releasing an excellent album in a time that’s otherwise a bit slow for new releases. This is the band’s sixth release (yes, they had three albums out before most people ever heard of them) and its usually right about now that bands achieving their level of success start to self-destruct...
Pick Of The Week: William Elliott Whitmore
It’s traditional that I spend the last couple weeks of the year sorting through any remaining unfiled piles of CDs in my office so I can start the year with a clean slate and plenty of room for the new releases. So I end up listening to even more music than usual in the countdown...
Castle is “Super Bon Bon” Tonight!
Judging from the twitter feed, Castle fans are loving the 1996 Soul Coughing flashback! Good excuse to get out this excellent album and return it to rotation. And while you’re at it, Mike Doughty has a new album out so you can get on that as well. Soul Coughing – “Super Bon Bon”: Amazon ::...
J. Mascis Rules Castle
I’m kinda proud of this one, music fans. It’s the first TV show placement for this album that came out in March of this year. J. Mascis has been an integral part of my musical life since I was enlightened to the wonderful and mysterious world of indie rock via Dinosaur Jr’s seminal 1987 album...
Double Pick Of The Week: Thurston Moore, The Antlers
Two recommendations this week to make up for my six weeks off … both of these came out earlier in the year but are capturing my heart right now. This is a close-up moment for Thurston, both in the nature of the unusally acoustic record and the recent (shocking) announcement that he and his Sonic...
The Big C’s “Last Day On Earth”
Oh, those Big C writers. They got us on that one, didn’t they? Such a good fake-out. Somebody died in the previous episode, so we TOTALLY WERE NOT EXPECTING SOMEONE ELSE to die in the final episode. Granted, I first found out about this months ago when I first read the script but I’m glad...
Castle Links The Chain Gang Of 1974 and Jen Hirsh
Q: What artist named his band after Ryan Adam’s birth year plus a Raveonettes song? A: The Chain Gang of 1974. If OMD is one of your guilty pleasures, like mine, you will be into this band. Despite the band name, the music is not at all 70s-influenced, and doesn’t bring to mind jail or...
Pick Of The Week: Wild Flag
If you know me at all, its no mystery what Pick Of The Week would be on September 13. I’ve worshipped at the altar of Sleater-Kinney since their inception. I hosted Helium in a KCRW live performance in 1995, and played The Minders debut in 1998. Combine key members of these bands into a super-group?...
Pajaro Sunrise is “Kinda Fantastic” in The Big C
I’m quite vexed with myself that I did not post this promptly but hopefully it will remind some Big C fans that they meant to track down that irresistible, delicious-sounding song at the end of the episode where Cathy decides that the whole family should go to Italy for Christmas. The song is “Kinda Fantastic”....