Danny's blog

Released in May 2021, this album will always remind me of re-emerging to familiarity given that Garrett Pierce's songwriting is something that I've enjoyed for years before the world flipped on its head. The fact that it's on Crossbill Records is an extra bonus in that regard, as well as, producer and instrumentalist Max Hart's contributions. All around very solid output that I'm thrilled to share with you. 

Before, during or after today's AOTW show, I encourage you to support Garret at https://garrettpierce.bandcamp.com/album/eyes-wide-in-the-fire and check out his other records.

You can also possibly experience Garrett's performance first hand on October 26th at Veterans Memorial Theater where he will be playing with Max prior to a set by Tré Burt during the first produced show by the Davis Live Music Collective. Visit davislivemusic.com for more information. 

Spoon is a very solid American indie rock band. They're amazing live and on record. I'm going to play They Want My Soul during this week's episode because I can't find Hot Thoughts and also because it was my favorite thing going when it came out in 2014. They just finished a very long tour, upstaging The Shins on a double bill when I saw them at The Greek, crushing The Masonic, and finally settling down for a bit. Hopefully, that means they're recording and you will have discovered them with this radio show and fall in love before their next release and you'll go to their concert and jump for joy and it was all due to KDRT! 

Hey, guys. One of my favorite bands throughout the last 15 years dropped a new album (their 8th). I've listened to it tons and will again for this episode of AOTW ~ via the gray vinyl pre-order that I'm stoked with.

If you're new to Deerhunter, this is as good of a place to start, frankly. They were pretty noisy in the late aughts, which was great. Their last few lps have just been perfect. This one is no exception!

Lots of articles written about this band. Their lead singer, Bradford Cox isn't bashful about his experience as a musician, touring, the Internet affecting his business and his personal struggles with friends dying way too young. Bradford's solo project, Atlas Sound, is also worth checking out. 

I hope you enjoy this album. Peace 

Sophomore albums are always intriguing to me when an artist's debut was well received. Seems like the pressure is on to do even better on (often) a shorter amount of time. 

Courtney Barnett delivered with Tell Me How You Really Feel (May 2018) especially when so many garage-rock-slack-style outfits are putting stuff out there. She's from Australia, where many other cool rock bands are from. Maybe that and her collaboration with Kurt Vile in between releases helped. 

Hope you tune in, you nameless, faceless listener, you.

I love this new lp by The Shins. It's very diverse, but still sounds like them. 

Can hardly wait for their concert at The Greek Theater in Berkeley with Spoon. Nice bill, but The Shins definitely put out a better record between the two this year.

Enjoy

Sure, the song Heartbeats has 160M plays on Spotify even though it's 10 years old and Veneer is the album everyone first heard José González and his overdubbed crooning... well, except for me. I discovered In Our Nature (2007) first and whether that's the reason or not, it's still my favorite lp by this man. Swedish, you say? 

Thanks to a Facebook ad for the Mondavi Center in Davis, I will be seeing him perform with a 20-piece orchestra tomorrow night. Can't wait! 

Hope you join the warmup listen with me tonight for this episode of Album of the Week.

-Danny

As 2016 comes to a close, I've found myself singing some of the lyrics to the 2007 release by Akron/Family; primarily the words sung in the opener "go out and love, love, love everyone..." which is repeated throughout the bookend tracks (and apparently the recipe for getting through tough times in the world). Or the three words of the album title, which stretch longingly in the 3rd song, Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead.

Love Is Simple ~ chaos, rock action, tribal bongo-banging, sentimental sing-alongs and pop gems galore. A cast of thousands live and breed inside... (from the sticker on my shrinkwrap). "The most beautiful thing about the Akron/Family is that they are virtually unclassifiable. Is it rock? Post-rock? Acid folk? Freak folk? Free improvisation? Ultimately, who cares what it is, that it IS is what matters most..." ~ All Music Guide 

Wand is a band that I discovered because my friend Kaz Mirblouk posted a link to their KEXP live performance and I was floored. Over the course of a few weeks, I found myself gravitating to one of their three studio albums on a daily basis. 

This trio has a lot of history with L.A. and Bay Area garage pyschedelic rock artists, such as Mikal Cronin and Ty Segal; performing with, supporting tours and recording with similar producers, such as local legend, Chris Woodhouse. 

1000 Days is their most recent lp (2015) so I'll start with it, but there will be time to jump into the other two. As a pround owner of all three on vinyl, I'll be happy to share Wand with you today. [Then again, Kaz has his own awesome record, so maybe I'll fill the time with a few from it. If not, click here: https://kazmirblouk.bandcamp.com]

Wikipedia suggests that they're taking their time with the next album. I hope you'll come away from this episode with eager anticipation of that release. And of course, a TOUR!