All of our DJs receive hundreds of CDs a month to consider for airplay. In this regular feature, KCRW DJ Chuck P catalogues his musical bounty from the Post Office each week.
Back after a lovely holiday week away. I really enjoy this time of year. It’s become sort of “magical” again because of the kid. I get to relive it vicariously through her. It’s pretty cool. And yes, I’m a sap.
After some dynamic weather the past few days (a neighbors tree blew over in front of me yesterday!) it’s expected to mellow into cool temperatures for a week, with some rain. Excellence. A mighty haul at the post this week. Here are some highlights.
1) Split 7″ love – Dragons Power Up and Puppies & Trains offer two songs a side on this new 7″ and I’m once again thankful they included a CDR of the tunes. I enjoy listening to music mostly in the car, and it’s not real handy to listen to vinyl in the car. I haven’t really tried it, but I imagine it wouldn’t be. Maybe I just need to get a USB turntable.
2) Boris “New Album” – That should say Boris “ANOTHER new album.” It’s their third this year. The first two were Heavy Rocks and Attention Please (the latter was number 11 on my top ten of 2011) and this new album features some new tracks and different versions of some of the songs from the other two albums. I don’t mind when a band that I like goes crazy with releasing new music. It’s tough for some people new to their sounds to decide which of the 3 albums to get though. At any rate, even though I haven’t heard this one yet, I can safely recommend all three.
3) Cass McCombs single – from the new album “Humor Risk”, which is his second of the year (following “Wit’s End”)… dang! All these over achievers make listening fun. After seeing his brilliant set at FYF Fest earlier this year, looking forward to even more new music from this modern day troubadour.
4) Smashing Pumpkins “sampler” – Okay, I’m a little disappointed. After doing such a great job with promo on the R.E.M. reissues this year, EMI goes cheap and decides to give samplers of the remastered reissues of the first two Pumpkins albums on one CDR. Heck, not only did we get a full double cdr promo version of the R.E.M. albums, they ended up sending the killer full editions! While the songs included (5 from “Gish” with a couple bonus tracks and 5 from “Siamese Dream” with more bonuses) are good songs, it hardly paints a decent picture of what makes these reissues special. They must know, tho… they did it right earlier this year, but to not include “Suffer” from “Gish”? Really? No “Soma” from “Siamese Dream“? Huh… oh well.
5) Two new releases on Manimal Vinyl – The Child & Cameras have some new stuff! Cameras are from Australia and this is their third release, while The Child is from our own California coast. The label has created a unique identity for itself. It’s been fun to watch the evolution. Looking forward to checking these out.
Honorable mentions this week include new music from The Active Set, Nihiti & Big Fresh with the digital promo of the week going to the solo album from Brett Netson of Built To Spill & Caustic Resin. Expecting some crunchy goodness from Mr Netson.
Back on air this Sunday night with loads of new goodies and a healthy dose of excellence from 2011. Jump on!
If you’d like to be considered for this post, feel free to send your music to KCRW attention Chuck P. or to the PO Box info below.
Best,
Chuck P.
Music Please
PO Box 1870
Hollywood, CA 90078