J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 4th December 2013

[Welcome to the first of the three year-end episodes of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. I welcomed Ryan Snyder from YES Weekly for the final Indie/Rock Roundtable of the year. We discussed the new Destroyer EP Five Spanish Songs and also discussed Ryan's picks for favorite albums of 2013. It was a fun conversation and makes for a great show.

Next week will be the top singles of 2013. What did I think were the best songs of this year? Always a fan favorite show, I know it'll be good.

Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 4th December 2013 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Brendan Benson - "It's Your Choice" [from his new album you were right. looking forward to hearing more from this - probably in the early-year shows next year.]
the Monks - "Monk Time" [from their 1966 debut black monk time. if you've never heard this band, this album is so worth seeking out. as is reading their story. good stuff.]

[Here's where the Roundtable section begin. First we discussed the new Destroyer EP Five Spanish Songs. Listen to the podcast for the nuance, but the final vote: Ryan and J - thumbs up. The following two sets included music from albums that Ryan felt were the best of 2013. We also talked about some of his favorite albums that we didn't play music from. All in all a great time.]

Destroyer - "El Rito" [from five spanish songs]
Autre Ne Veut - "Play by Play" [from anxiety. i liked pretty much everything ryan brought up for the show.]
Blood Orange - "It Is What It Is" [from cupid deluxe. this is a band i've been playing on the show for a few weeks, so this is one place ryan and i completely agreed.]
Sky Ferreira - "I Blame Myself" [from night time, my time. i actually came close to playing something off this on the show when it came out, but didn't listen to the record well enough because this should be on my year-end singles show without question. a great song.]
Thundercat - "Bonus" [from the expanded japanese version of apocalypse.]
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Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - "Lies My Body Told Me" [from your turn. ribot is a guitarist who is well known for having played with tom waits since the mid-80s and this is some pretty great stuff, too. i need to check out the whole album.]
Pontiak - "Royal Colors" [from echo ono. i really dug this song - sadly a record i missed this year. we'll probably hear more.]
Disclosure - "Help Me Lose My Mind" [from settle. i've been listening to this album and while the rest of the record is more up and down for my taste, this track is just amazing. really, really good.]

[For the last 45 minutes or so of the show, I decided to dig back to the J's Indie/Rock Mayhem Top 25 Albums of 2003 list - now ten years old - and play a sampling of songs from records from that year. It's funny to go back and read my comments on the albums as some of my love is still the same and others, not so much. (Oi, Think Tank just hasn't held up as well as I thought it would.) Check it out and enjoy the flashback.]

Moving Units - "Between Us & Them" [originally from their self-titled debut EP - which is what was on my year-end list - the version i played was the one re-recorded for their first full-length, dangerous dreams, and it isn't as good. i wish i could have found the original, but couldn't lay my hands on it. it was number 8 on my list.]
the New Pornographers - "From Blown Speakers" [from their second album the electric version. i missed their debut album, so my introduction to the band was this one and i still love it. and this song. it was number 10 on my list.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Six O'clock News" [from her debut album failer. this album - and this song especially - still holds up extremely well for me. i will probably never stop thinking this is one of the greatest songs she has written. the album was my number 1 album of 2003.]
Verbena - "Way Out West" [from la musica negra. i miss verbena - and a.a. bondy for that matter; hey, bondy, new album soon? but what turned out to be the final verbena record was my number 23 album of that year.]
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the Minus 5 - "I'm Not Bitter" [from down with wilco. i had really kind of forgotten how great i think this album is. it's such a stellar pop album. it was my number 2 album of the year.]
the Cash Brothers - "It's Too Late to Say Goodbye" [from a brand new night. while in some ways not as good as its predecessor, the cash brothers were great songwriters. do they still exist as a band? this song especially is an awesome example of their lyrical and musical prowess. this was number 21 on my list that year.]
the Deathray Davies - "The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower" [from midnight at the black nail polish factory. a band that has kind of disappeared also as far as i know. great record though. was my number 13 album of 2003.]
the Jayhawks - "Tailspin" [from rainy day music, what turned out to be the final jayhawks record until this most recent reunion. really good album, too. was number 11 on my list that year.]
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Paul Westerberg - "Crackle and Drag" [from come feel me tremble. westerberg had made a bit of a comeback with 2002's stereo/mono (my number 1 record of that year) and this was not quite as good, but still excellent. it was my number 16 album of 2003.]
Jay Farrar - "Hard is the Fall" [from terroir blues. to me, this is the finest of farrar's solo work and it's a record whose weird and ethereal and surreal soundscapes are still pretty mesmerizing. this was my number 18 record of that year.]
Nicolai Dunger - "Hey Mama" [from tranquil isolation. i miss nicolai dunger's music a lot, and this record is an underrated gem. especially with the oldham brothers playing on it. this was my number 9 album of that year.]

That'll do it for this week. Thanks to Ryan Snyder for another great year of Roundtable discussions. Next week, get ready for the Top Singles of 2013. Until then, take care.