Here we are now (once every 4 months)

Re: "Anonymous" who suggested more live music on my radio show, and more blogs too. I hear ya! I do spend extra time posting my radio show statuses only on facebook. As far as the live thing goes, the perfectionist in me wants it to be a good experience for the listener - my interview with Ivan & Alyosha was too nervous but the music was great - my interview with Curtains For You was fun but the engineering was trickier. Rest assured however, I am definitely thirsting to feature more live performances, SOONER than later!

Where my headspace is, at the moment; where were you when you first heard Nirvana; "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? I was a dishwasher at Skippers in Montana, washing baskets and scraping off unwanted Alaskan "halibut", when that song blared over the boombox radio, fall of '91. Went to Budget CDs after my shift, bought the CD single with the B-sides, changed my life!

So come on and relive autumn '91 memories with me on my tribute show to 'Nevermind' on the eve of its 20th anniversary, Poptopia Parkway, Fri. 9/23 8:30 pm PST, KSER Independent Public Radio 90.7 FM, online at kser.org!

KSER Pop Pkwy Live Sessions #2

Hot on the heels of my debut session with Ivan & Alyosha last week, here I go with a new live radio show May 6 on KSER with Seattle indie pop quintet Curtains For You. Look 'em up on myspace and facebook!

If you're a fan of classic baroque & psych pop, vocal harmonies, and lush theatrical rock as personified by The Beatles, Zombies, Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson, ELO and Rufus Wainwright, chances are you'll dig Curtains For You as well.

Earlier this year, I conducted a phone interview with lead vocalist & guitarist Matt Gervais, leading me to arrange this upcoming live session. Matt co-writes the band's material with pianist & vocalist Peter Fedofsky, who happens to maintains an informative blog, with info about Peter's solo music (some of which naturally overlaps with the music of Curtains For You).

The band is set to release their 3rd album, 'After Nights Without Sleep' [Spark And Shine Records], with a special CD release show at Columbia City Theater, Sat. May 14.

So join us Fri. May 6, 8:30-10:30 pm PST, on 90.7 FM KSER!

KSER Pop Pkwy Live Sessions #1

I'm excited to feature the first official live band session on my Apr. 29 radio show with Seattle indie folk / pop quartet Ivan & Alyosha!

For the record, the distinction of the first ever live musical performance on my show belongs to a solo Phillip Gregory, representing Seattle indie / power pop quintet Carousel. Find out more about them on facebook or myspace.

Carousel's debut EP Love And War [Museum Records] was one of my favorite releases of 2009. That Nov. live interview with Phillip was truly a memorable session for me. I'm proud to be friends with the guys in Carousel, and I very much look forward to hosting the band another time, as I know they are hard at work on their first full-length album, to be released hopefully in 2011.

It seemed like good timing to invite Ivan & Alyosha this week, as the band is opening (along with Seattle chamber pop group Grand Hallway) for another up-and-coming Seattle indie folk / pop vocal sextet, The Head & The Heart, at their sold-out Apr. 30 Seattle concert.

Back in Feb., I conducted a phone interview with I&A's founding member Tim Wilson. The band has released 2 EPs (The Verse, The Chorus [Cheap Lullaby Records] {2009} and Fathers Be Kind [Missing Piece Group] {2011}). They will be opening for another great singer / songwriter, Brandi Carlile, at select west coast cities in May, and are also working on their first full-length CD.

Join us, won't you, Fri. Apr. 29, 8:30-10:30 pm PST, on KSER!

L & R's Top Albums of 2010

2010 was a great year for new music, and on the 12/31/2010 episode of my Poptopia Parkway radio show (KSER 90.7 FM Everett, http://www.kser.org/), my wife & I featured a song from each of our top 10 albums of the year. What were your favorite albums of 2010?

My Top 10 Albums:
Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker [Modular] - "Lucidity"
Thermals - Personal Life [Kill Rock Stars] - "Never Listen To Me"
Teenage Fanclub - Shadows [Merge] - "Shock And Awe"
Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love [Matador] - "I Didn't See It Coming"
Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo [Sub Pop] - "Remember Last Time"
Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now [Warner Bros.] - "Switchblade"
Elizabeth & The Catapult - The Other Side Of Zero [Verve Forecast/UMG] - "You And Me"
She & Him - Vol. 2 [Merge] - "Me And You"
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest [4AD] - "Desire Lines"
Spoon - Transference [Merge] - "Nobody Gets Me But You"

My wife's Top 10 Albums:
Broken Bells - Broken Bells [Columbia/Sony BMG] - "October"
Black Keys - Brothers [Nonesuch] - "Tighten Up"
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul [Capitol/EMI] - "Daddy's Gone [f/ Nina Persson]"
MGMT - Congratulations [Columbia/Sony BMG] - "Siberian Breaks"
Mynabirds - What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood [Saddle Creek] - "Ways Of Looking"
Sia - We Are Born [Monkey Puzzle/Jive/Sony BMG] - "The Co-Dependent"
Glasser - Ring [True Panther] - "Home"
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs [Merge] - "We Used To Wait"
Delorean - Subiza [True Panther] - "Real Love"
OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky [Paracadute/RED] - "This Too Shall Pass"

The terrible twos?

Poptopia Parkway turns 2 years old in April...
Watch this space for info about the special show...
That's all for now...

The Beauty And The Beats

My tribute to the Super Bowl XLIV halftime act (The Who!) went well Feb. 5... but now I need a "vacation" from all the highfalutin' Pop Pkwy concept shows.

Enter my wife R. to assist me with "The Beauty And The Beats" (that is not a typo)... limited engagement, 1 night only!

It will be a mainstream extension of The Tunnel that follows me on Fridays, and will be in honor of the hard work done by co-hosts Rob and Maire, who really know how to dig deep into truly experimental and underground electronica music.

Check us all out on Fri. Feb. 12, 8:30 pm, KSER 90.7 FM!

Favorite CDs of 2009 (finally!)

Here is my wife's "Top Ten" of 2009 (I had extra time on the 1/1 show and thus expanded it to an "Excellent Eleven")... in order of broadcast (all important in making those sweet segueways that have become our calling card at Poptopia Parkway, Inc.):

Harper Simon 'Harper Simon' [Tulsi]
Metric 'Fantasies' [Metric]
Phoenix 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' [Ghettoblaster/Glassnote]
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson 'Break Up' [Boyletown/WEA]
Various Artists 'New Moon: The Twilight Saga [Soundtrack]' [Summit/Chop Shop/Atlantic]
One eskimO 'One eskimO' [Shangri-La]
Built To Spill 'There Is No Enemy' [Warner Bros.]
Jeremy Enigk 'OK Bear' [Lewis Hollow]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'It's Blitz! [Deluxe Edition]' [DGC/UMG]
Rocco DeLuca & The Burden 'Mercy' [Ironworks/UMG]
Moby 'Wait For Me [Deluxe Edition]' [Little Idiot/Mute]

Followed by my favorite albums of 2009 - a top ten of sorts, another 15 honorable mentions, EPs and reissues/compilations... again mostly in order of broadcast, split between the 1/1 & 1/8 shows:

Thermals 'Now We Can See' [Kill Rock Stars]
Superdrag 'Industry Giants' [Thirty Tigers]
Cheap Trick 'The Latest' [Cheap Trick Unlimited]
V/A 'War Child Presents Heroes: Vol. 1' [Astralwerks]
Eels 'Hombre Lobo' [Vagrant]
Black Crowes 'Before The Frost...' [Silver Arrow]
Rhett Miller 'Rhett Miller' [Shout! Factory/Sony BMG]
V/A '7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out' [Sony BMG]
Wilco 'Wilco (The Album)' [Nonesuch]
V/A 'Dark Was The Night' [4AD]
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Tripwires 'House To House' [Spark & Shine]
Weezer 'Raditude' [DGC/Interscope]
Dead Weather 'Horehound' [Third Man/Warner Bros.]
Brendan Benson 'My Old, Familiar Friend' [ATO]
Slender Means 'Adrift In The Cosmos' [Painless Life]
U2 'No Line On The Horizon' [Interscope]
Pearl Jam 'Backspacer' [Monkeywrench/Universal]
Andrew Bird 'Noble Beast' [Fat Possum]
V/A 'Sweetheart 2009: Love Songs' [Hear Music]
Norah Jones 'The Fall' [Blue Note/EMI]
Tinted Windows 'Tinted Windows' [S-Curve]
Visqueen 'Message To Garcia' [Local 638]
Neko Case 'Middle Cyclone' [Anti-]
A.C. Newman 'Get Guilty' [Matador]
Elvis Costello 'Secret, Profane & Sugarcane' [Specialty/Hear Music]
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Sloan 'Hit And Run [EP]' [Self-released]
Carousel 'Love And War [EP]' [Museum]
Sam Phillips 'Hypnotists In Paris [EP]' [Self-released]
Liam Finn & Eliza-Jane Barnes 'Champagne & Seashells [EP]' [Yep Roc]
Death Cab For Cutie 'The Open Door [EP]' [Barsuk/Atlantic]
-----
Devo 'Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!'/'Freedom Of Choice' [Warner Bros.]
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 'The Live Anthology' [Reprise]
Old 97's 'Wreck Your Life... And Then Some' [Bloodshot]
Nick Lowe 'Quiet Please: The New Best Of Nick Lowe' [Yep Roc]
Emitt Rhodes 'The Complete Recordings: 1969-1973' [Universal]
Nirvana 'Bleach [Deluxe Edition]' [Sub Pop]
Stone Roses 'Stone Roses' [Silvertone/Sony BMG]
Jayhawks 'Music From The North Country: Anthology' [American]
Big Star 'Keep An Eye On The Sky' [Ardent/Rhino]
Beatles 'Beatles In Mono' [Apple/Capitol/EMI]

Playing games with song titles on 1/29, a Who mini-tribute on 2/5 + more good music to come in '10 and then some! --Lon