I was listening to the 90s on 9 channel on Sirius/XM last weekend (love those old awful countdown shows) and I was reminiscing to the fact that nobody seems to make songs quite in the same way Filter, Wide Mouth Mason, Barenaked Ladies, Treble Charger, and bands of their ilk did so well. You know the type of song I’m talking about; loosely based on the loud/soft/loud grunge formula, lubed up with a touch of light-hearted lyrical styling, and lots of funky bass. And Shawn M. Smith (your friendly neighborhood Radio Exile editor), who must have an RSS feed on my reminisces, decided to drop down a package containing the new EP by All of Us/None of Us [MySpace}, a band who must listen to more 90s on 9 than I do.

The four songs present on Arcane and Abel (awesome title, btw) come across as a class project on late 90s dark pop rock: Smashing Pumpkins-style intro on “Whatcha gonna do?” Check. Sugar Ray-style chorus on the same song? Double check. Chili Peppers-lifted riff on “Excess”? Definitely. This isn’t a criticism, though. Unlike bands trying to relive the 70s and 80s, there aren’t nearly enough bands carrying the late 90s torch, and at least for that it gets points. Those were good times, people.

Complaints? Sure. There are only four songs here, and all of them go in somewhat different directions. This can be great if you’re using it as a business card, but as a listening experience I have no idea what to make of this band. They also come across as little more than a sum of their references, something they hopefully rectify on a full length. Good start, though.

[mp3] All of Us/None of Us – “Knew That”

There’s something to be said for the legalization of recreational drugs, and though nobody will admit it, that something almost always everything to do with enjoying psychedelic rock music. Can it really be that much of a coincidence that the prevalence of Pink Floyd-inspired era of overlong synth solos, incomprehensible lyrics, twenty-minute “jams” and trippy concert posters occurred at the same time when everyone under the age of 30 was hopped up on illegal substances?

I have two insignificant questions about psychedelic rock: Is something good if the majority of its fans are rarely sober? If so, what does that say about the sober music critic, who prefers to have a clean head when doing their job and thus has no idea how to approach this genre?

Oh, I suppose I could go out to my local corner supplier and pick up some shrooms to do the job proper, but then you wouldn’t be getting 500 words out of me, would you? No, you’d be getting something along the lines of “Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound’s AWESOME MAN. It…ROCKS, you know?” And I don’t think anyone wants that.

When Sweet Sleep Returned is the Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound‘s [MySpace] third album, and I have to assume the last two fell in line with the same trajectory of aping the piss-break moments of every Grateful Dead show; not one line on this record sticks out, and not one song comes across as any more or less memorable. But this band is clearly not about recording memorable songs so much as creating a mood, and for that they’ve succeeded. Listening to this record made me feel like I was in the opening scene of “At Home At The End of The World,” a somewhat bored kid listening to rock records in my room while I got high and tried to forget about my completely standard mid-west upbringing. Assemble Head at Sunburst Sound craft albums in a way that scream “LP”, making the entire album a singular emotional journey, and I came out of it feeling like I had definitely been on a ride. The ride itself had been slow, featured few turns or surprises, but ricketed along the way a nice familiar roller coaster from your parent’s era tends to.

The problem with When Sweet Sleep Returned is that it doesn’t make me feel anything different for classic rock; it isn’t annotating anything so much as citing. They could have very well existed in that time frame and nobody would have noticed the difference (with the exception of more crackles). But Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound doesn’t actually make me want to revisit classic rock, because there’s actually very little stopping me from revisiting it with the actual bands from the actual time. It wasn’t that long ago, really, and everything was so well preserved that I can easily digest a legitimate bootleg anytime I want. Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of bands out there that lift direct styles from previous eras, but they often imbue it with postmodern self awareness. When Sweet Sleep Returned sounds completely genuine, and it could be the sobriety or it could be MTV ruining my brain, but genuine nostalgia just doesn’t sell anymore.

[mp3] Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – “The Slumbering Ones”
[mp3] Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – “Clive and Lyre”

At the end of the day, all we really want from pop music is a crafted feeling. When “Young Folks”, Peter Bjorn & John’s catchy summer piece of pop perfection slowly crept along every surface of western culture distribution (radio, television, commercials, and, finally, your mom’s minivan), we can be forgiven for believing that Peter Bjorn & John [MySpace] is a pop music band. We can also be forgiven for believing in the hype of this new release, Living Thing, as a continuation that faith. This belief is fortified by the first single, another annoyingly-catchy and whistle-able “Nothing to Worry About” that absolutely highlights the experience. But these hopes are quickly dashed under the freight train of inevitable truth: Peter Bjorn & John craft noises and sounds, and while these noises and sounds can sometimes produce what we like to call “absolutely excellent pop music,” it is more of an accidental side effect of what’s really going on here.

The context of this statement makes a lot more sense when one realizes that Peter Bjorn & John’s actual last release, Seaside Rock, contained not one line of vocals. While they save us from what many refer to as “incomplete rock,” this record has so few hooks and full-fledged works that it might be confused as a demo. Many of these songs are conservatively referred to as “pop experiments,” utilizing off-center chords, timing, and instrument choices (I was wrong in guessing which instrument was being used 8 times out of ten. But, come on, the bass line in “Living Thing” sounds like a broken Digery-Do).

To be fair to Peter Bjorn and John is that this type of pop experimentation is popular with the kids these days. Animal Collective and others have made producing an album of “let’s try this” songs perfectly acceptable, and, I admit, listening to new music these days is kind of exciting. We literally have no idea what’s going to come next, and that’s genuinely fascinating. Peter Bjorn and John are part of this movement, but I still can’t help but shake the feeling that they could be giving us album after album of hypnotically-catchy summer pop, making everyone in the world happier in the process. Instead, they gave us something to worry about.

Even though “Young Folks” has been overplayed to bloody horse death, I still have not met a single person who doesn’t like it. And, to reiterate, “Nothing to Worry About” is plenty fun and worth the single download, and “Blue Period Picasso” would make a great B-side on a single. But this isn’t an album that would normally encapsulate such a great pair of pop nuggets. Then again, maybe I’m wrong about that. Perhaps living in a world where two songs on a record of interesting experiments is better than one where there’s two songs in a pool of forgettable, mediocre takes. At least weird experimental pop makes you feel something.

[mp3] Peter Bjorn and John – “Nothing to Worry About”

I know most people who read this blog are American, so you only have a faint idea of The New Pornographers. Like most Canadian bands, The New Pornographers are really 7 bands in one, featuring members from Swan Lake, Immaculate Machine, Maow, The Evaporators, Age of Electric, Limblifter, Destroyer, and Superconductor. AC Newman [Myspace], the band’s lead singer, is also the guy behind The Slow Wonder, long considered to be the “missing” NP album. 2009’s Get Guilty is a terrific sophomore effort by the singer, and will soon be inevitably known as “the other missing NP album.”

The reason his solo efforts sound so much like The New Pornographers is somewhat perplexing; yes, he writes the songs for both projects, but few of the other side projects come as close to being from obviously the same source. What it does convey is how much his own vision gets to play out on the New Pornographer canvas, and it’s one worth celebrating; Get Guilty is one of the most rewarding pop albums I’ve heard in years. It’s what Challenger, the last NP album, should have been: reflexive, celebratory, mysterious, danceable, celestial, and, yes, wondrously guilty. Beginning with one of the most fun first verses I’ve ever heard, “There are maybe ten or twelve things that I can teach you/after that, well, you’re on you’re on/and that wasn’t the opening line/it was the ten or twelfth one/make of that what you will.”

Is it bias to beam about an album that makes you feel happier to be alive? AC Newman creates songs like this, and these 12 new ones don’t stray from the formula much: take the guitar sensibilities of the Beach Boys, match them with the incomprehensible (but narrative) lyrics of the Tragically Hip, and blend with lots of ooohs and aaahhhs to create absolutely perfect Canadian pop music. Newman’s sense of humour is on display in full force here as well, though no more on “All of my days and all of my days off,” where he pledges to give all of his days off to his love.

I’m better for owning this album. You will be too.

“Submarines of Stockholm” [mp3]
“There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve” [mp3]

We generally want three things out of an EP: first off, we want a sense that the band knows it only has 20-30 minutes to “show and tell” the hell out of themselves, as EPs act like business cards more than real showcases of artistic legacy. Secondly, we want a sense that the band isn’t “finished” yet, since EPs are also great places to showcase more experimental fare. Lastly, we want to want more out of the band, as if an EP is the free trial for the new fancy program coming in 90 days. It’s a simple formula to grade just about every EP we get to review here at Radio Exile. Lanterns. [Myspace], a San Diego punk rock band, eagerly succeeds on all three fronts.

On Apocalypse Youth, Lanterns. blows out my speakers with fervently passionate vocals and some of the best-sounding drums I’ve heard in months. Though it’s often difficult to figure out exactly what is being said in the lyrics, it oftentimes doesn’t appear to matter. This EP is meant to be blasted, not decrypted, and it sounds fantastic on 11. It makes me want to plunk down 5 bucks to see them at a showcase event, which I will almost definitely do if they ever show up to the centre of the universe (that’s Toronto, btw).

As a business card, Apocalypse Youth feels solid. It’s very clear what Lanterns. are trying to do (but could they do it without the period at the end of their name? It’s screwing up my word processor), and that’s rock like Pearl Jam and carry the weight of absolutely no one. The instructions here are “to rock,” and it seems to end there. At the same time, songs “End-Times Blues” and “Electric Warrior Kisses” suggest further dimensions to the alterna-punk-gaze, emphasizing the “-gaze” section with aplomb.

All three of my criteria are satisfied (rule 3.5, sort of an obvious opposite to “leave me wanting more” is to make sure I don’t get sick of you in 20 minutes. That’s satisfied too). Bring on an LP and tour schedule opening for Animal Collective and The Kills.

“Creation Myth” [mp3]

EP releases after two somewhat-successful LPs can be strange things. They can signal a change in sound (Radiohead), or as a reassurance that the band hasn’t actually gone anywhere, but can’t afford to record a full new record (just about everyone else). Golden Bear’s Everest EP steadfastly lands in the latter category, not because they can’t afford to record six more songs (how would I possibly be privy to that information?) but because the sonic quality of this release strays only inches from the last two collections.

I have three simple rules about EP grading: sell me the band in under a half hour, experiment a little (because fewer people are watching), and leave me wanting more. For people who haven’t listened to the two previous full-lengths from Golden Bear [Myspace, Everest does a great job as a Myspace page. Heavy on the light drums, easy on the hard rock, and laid back lyrics about important rock band problems (from “Future Blues,”: “I could write a story/or I could play a song/that would seem inglorious/but that would right my wrongs”), Golden Bear sound a lot like Nada Surf or Rooney or any other American pop band hoping to make a guest spot on the next Michael Cera mixtape.

And this is fine, for the most part. Everest fails only in that it doesn’t provide a single new dimension to the band, and becomes just another set of songs by a group already comfortable with their groove. If you’ve already past judgment on Golden Bear, Everest won’t change your mind either way. I will give points to the crayon-pencil cover art, though. That’s always appreciated.

"Night Lights" [mp3]

Though I would have never guessed it in a million years back in 2002, The Strokes have turned into a great little pot from which quality side projects have bloomed. First, Albert Hammond Jr turned his modest guitar work into two surprisingly catchy LPs, and now Fabrizio Moretti continues this wave of good faith by creating Little Joy [Myspace], a mish-mash of various easy-rock genres that creates a messy and fun record of songs that feel like they were recorded forty years ago.

Right out of the gate, Little Joy pleases with the single “Brand New Start,” which sounds like a Strokes song if they’d been raised in Memphis, slow and sentimental with that signature Hawaiian breeze Elvis and Belle and Sebastian utilized so well. From there, the record jaunts from acoustic, drunken rambling (“Play the Part”) to honey-sweet duets about the kind of love they just don’t make anymore (“Don’t Watch Me Dancing”). The best parts of the record are when they forget they aren’t an indie pop group from the the current era and break out the indoor dancing boots, like on the excellent Strokes-like “How to Hang a Warhol.”

If there’s fault in this incredibly cute collection of songs, it’s that I’m not sure Little Joy knows whether they want to act more like the Strokes or She & Him, another great duet band insisting on playing music their grandparents would write. Perhaps it’s best there’s a middle ground band there; I just hope there’s an audience that finds them.

“No One’s Better Sake” [mp3]

Conor Oberst would be proud. The grandiose mix of stretched-out personal lyrics matched with a crescendoing snare drum is alive and well in the confines of Boris Smile’s new EP, Beartooth. Loosely-wrapped strings and drums are nothing new in indie pop, but it’s a fine line between sounding like the next wailing emo bitch who can’t tune and The Mountain Goats. Boris Smile [Myspace] has a few production tricks going for them, which at once makes the EP more palatable and makes the idea of listening to them live a precarious thought. It’s too early to call if they are a well-rounded band, and I’m afraid this EP only gives a few faint ideas in both directions.

If one takes the smoothly-mixed tracks “Hour of the Wolf” and “Program Me To Love,” then we have nothing to fear. Both are sentimental and clean and deserve to be on a few Valentine’s mixtapes this month. They offer a glimpse of a band capable of creating the next “Such Great Heights,” and this should be encouraged (and the Scrubs-ready “Books of Blank Pages” should underline a prime-time climax as soon as possible).

The “problem” (I add quotations because it really all depends on “perspective”) is with the jangled “Beartooth (spooky version)” and “Tut Tut,” which both drag their heels and feel not only unpolished but close to demo-level quality. It wouldn’t be apparent if not for the excellent work with the first three tracks I mentioned. I want to clarify that this might be the point, and that it’s very possible they are trying to illuminate vulnerability by having these tracks be less varnished. And as I’ve said in other reviews, an EP is a great place to experiment and this might explain the sonic shift from professional to four-track standards.

All in all, I do want to hear more from Boris Smile. The vocals and sweet-as-all-sentiment melodies are rock solid. The question should be whether they want to be rough or polished, or if they want to continue straddling the line.

“Beartooth” [mp3]

This guy, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson [Myspace] had the unfortunate duty of playing in Toronto a few Wednesdays ago – I say unfortunate because it was -35 outside and I can guarantee very few people were in the mood to brave it to see a relative unknown from Brooklyn. It’s a shame, though. On a warmer night, he would have had a better time. The audience would have too, as Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson has a great set of sad little numbers here.

MBAR’s style is reminiscent of M. Ward, or a depressed Jack Johnson (could you imagine?) Largely acoustic and spare guitar provides little support for the shaky, insecure vocals of MBAR. When done right, the effect can be mesmerizing. Entire rooms can find solace in strangers and a soundtrack to a lonely night. When done wrong, the effect can come across as amateur and not worth anyone’s time. Thankfully, MBAR has it right on; the entire disc feels like one big fireside show. He is sitting 6 feet away from you. He knows your name. He knows why you cry at night, and he’s here to help.

The one moment of pure communal joy that comes in the clincher “Buriedfed” seals the album as a fantastic debut. It shows MBAR capable of carrying a melody that can lift as well as any righteous folk song. I’ll make sure to catch him next time he’s in town, regardless of the weather.

“Buriedfed” [mp3]

I’m not the biggest fan of Chapters’ [Myspace] style of low-note rock; the style went out in 2001 when Nickelback and Three Days Grace overdid it and essentially killed rock radio. However, public rock radio still exists, and rock radio DJs need new bands that sound exactly like those nu-metal bands from 2001 (if only to prove they were right in overdosing us on it) to play right along with them. I’m sure Chapters will find a nice, warm home there and their latest EP, Wife, fits neatly into that format.

These five songs show that the loud-soft-loud template given to us by the Pixies in the 80s still holds influence over new rock bands. The formula has been modified slightly in the past 20 years to a loud-louder-loud formula, but the gist is the same. On the plus side, there’s a singular theme running through these songs (something I appreciate in an EP). Sure, the theme is “fucking,” but at least it’s there. Every song is about sex in some way. “Critical End,” is probably the most telling; “Tell me did you like it? Tell me did you like it? Say it like you mean it!” There’s lots of talk of compensation and insecurities in between the lines, but every direct phrase is about wanton sex.

That in and of itself wouldn’t be so bad if the actual rock music wasn’t so tired and if the singer’s voice wasn’t so grating. I’m definitely giving points for having a direction, but the tools of three-chord, drum-heavy, gravely-singer rock are all rusted and really need a break. Best of luck on mainstream radio.

“Climax and Exoneration” [mp3]

Stars [Myspace] is a band from Montréal that uses heaping helpings of romantic/revolutionary themes in every one of their songs. It’s an effect that has left them as one of the few indie bands whose lyrics actually matter; it also makes them seem a little lame sometimes. Following last years’ In Our Bedroom After The War, Stars issued this EP for their new tour, entitled Sad Robots EP. It’s a 6-song collection that manages to touch on every facet of Stars’ arsenal: bombastic love songs about lost youth, long instrumental numbers begging to be added to movie soundtracks, and genuinely heartfelt lyrics.

“Sad Robot” is a short, French song that acts as little more than an introduction. “Going Going Gone” is a live rendition of one of their b-sides, and illustrates their fine line between messy romance and electronic subtleties. “Undertow” does more of the same, but falls short on delivery as it goes nearly nowhere. The best Stars songs are those that tell a story of some kind. In this respect, two songs stand out as keepers, and one of them is possibly the best song Stars has ever done.

“A Thread Cut with a Carving Knife” builds wonderfully with drums and singer Torquil’s somber recollections. It crescendos several times in an all-instrument attack. It’s a great little piece of noise-pop. But “14 Forever” is the jewel of this collection. Easily one of their best pieces, “14 Forever” is pure nostalgia. “And if sometimes the kids seem a little sad/it’s because they say goodbye to the youth they think they had,” Torquil sings, echoing the desire to be in a permanent adolescence. It’s an absolutely amazing song and should usher in the last year of the decade of adult denial quite well.

“Sad Robot” [mp3]

I’m going to quote a DJ from the XMU station on XM radio. Before playing a new Animal Collective [Myspace] song from this terrific new disc, he said “by 2015, the only band talked about on blogs will be Animal Collective. They will be the only band played on the radio. At my funeral, Animal Collective will play me into the ground. And he will play you into the ground, too.” It’s one of the few times where brash hyperbole is welcome. While Animal Collective’s difficult-at-times melodies and lyrics inhibit them from complete world domination, very few things are going to stop this band from becoming the be all and end all for indie music fans worldwide. Merriweather Post Pavilion, the first great album of 2009, is only going to further the cause.

Far and away, this is Animal Collective’s most accessible record, with their songs beginning to songs created by human beings using instruments already invented (some used by other bands). The amount of recognition is important, as Animal Collective can only exist as a “reward” band for hardcore indie kids for so long. This is the album to introduce the band with, because people who aren’t familiar might actually listen to it instead of trying to kill it.

Even with the extra “pop” going on, it’s still very much an Animal Collective album. Lyrics are still difficult to figure out, musical influences come from the left-field bleachers, and it’s still somewhat difficult to pinpoint what makes the entire thing enjoyable. But much in the same way Bjork’s Volta record felt like a treat after dealing with Medulla, Merriweather Post Pavilion feels and sounds like candy. Tough, oddly shaped candy, but sweet nonetheless. There are no weak points to this album. It is the future of pop music. Get used to it.

“My Girls” [mp3]

Oww…

The first day of the New Year is always the most painful. This is largely to do with the severely unhealthy alcohol habit most of us have, compounded with our communal masochistic desire to be as inhumanly inebriated as possible the minute before midnight (just in case the world ends). More bathrooms are used for bedrooms, more bad disco is trolled out like its 1979, and more people quit drinking forever the morning after. There are also some good points.

But this being a music site and us being music critics, we tend to doll up our preferred choices around for everyone to see. I am far more than anyone sorry I missed being a part of the top 15 picks from Radio Exile, but I was away on vacation and had next to no free time. They are all fantastic picks, and in and of themselves make one of the best playlists of all time. The various writers here at RE have exhausted themselves in good taste, and it should be everyone’s privilege to take a crack at listening to those 15 records. I know I’ll be catching up on the few I haven’t already digested.

In fact, it’s probably a good idea to spend the first bit of 2009 going through all your favorite sites’ top 10s, 20s, or 97s. But what if you couldn’t, all of a sudden? What if, through no fault of your own, your ability to listen to your music was taken away. Let’s say a glitch in the program automatically shut down your mp3 player, essentially bricking it?

People who bought the original 30 gig Zune are feeling that reality this morning, as a problem with the dating system (it doesn’t like leap years, apparently) shut a good majority of them down. The only fix is to “wait until tomorrow” as the dating problem should fix itself. The problem isn’t affecting new Zune owners, but that’s not the point. Thousands of people use the original Zune, and for the time being, they can’t listen to anything, new or old.

There are many good arguments for connecting us all. Pandora, imeem, music blogs like this one, and more advanced programs like the Zune Pass allow music to spread far faster and be appreciated by far more people than anything we’ve had before. But connection comes at a price, and this Zune problem shows exactly that. With a simple dating error, everything falls apart. Much like the staggering pain from a new years’ hangover (every word I’m writing hurts), the idea that one’s music device could simply go “poof” is far more harrowing.

The “what-ifs” are terrifying. If a simple leap year problem could shut down a slew of Zunes, how easy would it be to disrupt the entire fleet of iPhones or the whole gaggle of XM/Sirius radios?

(Microsoft is handling this with a good bit of humor at least. One Twitter post on the Zune page says “we will update the firmware before 2012.”)

Its with this awful but totally relevant conspiracy theories that I’ve found a pretty good resolution for 2009: Diversify my listening habits. Putting one’s eggs in one basket is a bad idea, and music is no different. For the majority of 2008 I’ve been an iPod Touch man. But the idea that my computer or my iPod could just die at any moment is pretty damn sad, so I’m reaching out. I got a new record player for Christmas to replace my busted one, so I can go back to buying records. As for finding new music, XM radio is probably the best resource I’ve found. The iPod Touch is still my preferred “to go” device, so that stays too. Perhaps I shouldn’t get rid of those old CDs I’ve still got laying around. Maybe the tapes should stay too.

This entire decade has been about finding out just how we should deal with the problem of mediums. CDs began to die. Records resurged. MP3 players, both isolated and connected to one another, became dominant devices. Tapes became romanticized.

Perhaps the answer is that we need all of them. That way, if one goes down, we’re not totally fucked.

…Now, back to the couch to watch BET’s top videos of the year. Owwwww.

The first thing that comes up when I type “mkULTRA” into Google is a startling Wikipedia entry about a secret government mind control experiment. Here’s a troubling quote:

“Project MK-ULTRA, or MKULTRA, was the code name for a covert CIA mind-control and chemical interrogation research program, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence. The program began in the early 1950s, continuing at least through the late 1960s, and it used United States citizens as its test subjects. There is much published evidence that the project involved the surreptitious use of many types of drugs, as well as other methodology, to manipulate individual mental states and to alter brain function.”

This is troubling not because of the conspiracy, but because Marykate O’Neil’s [Official Site, MySpace] newest 6-song EP is named after it, and on the surface has absolutely nothing to do with it. That makes this reviewer worry. I’m sorry, but actively listening to audio files named after a mind control experiment makes me a little uneasy.

Creepy sci-fi allusions aside, I’d like to recommend this EP, as it’s a relatively safe entry into the easy indie category of new songstresses. O’Neil’s voice is reminiscent of Beth Orton, as is her arrangements. Mixing light guitar and piano across underscored electronica has always been a nice formula, and she delivers it with just enough zeal to want more. Perhaps not much more, as each song more or less bleeds into the next, creating no real high or low-light.

The best song by far is “Green Street,” a natural country-folk romp of hope and wanting. “And now you live in New Jersey, you have three kids and you’re busy, fighting the gridlock and the 9-5,” she sings, painting a properly sad soliloquy that would be tragic if she wasn’t trying so hard to be sunny-sounding. That’s really the only thing I have to say in criticism towards these songs. I would believe in her characters so much more if she wasn’t deliberately smiling through the whole thing.

Still, a happy sounding singer is rarely a grating one, and the EP does make me want to research this young artist, if only because she shows a few signs of intelligent cynicism through those pearly whites. “I used to have dreams to accomplish great things/but now all I be is happy” is a great line from “Happy,” a song that wouldn’t be unwelcome on a Placebo album, for example. She also seems to have a wealth of indie-pop friends, from Josh Rouse to Pedro the Lion to Jill Sobule, so that’s interesting too. I’m seeing good things coming out of her, so yes, please, support her.

Score: 3/5

“Green Street” [mp3]
“Trouble” [mp3]

In this episode of Soundloading Audio, I call up Shawn M. Smith, editor of RadioExile.com (this site right here. That’s right, you’re reading what is essentially a feedback loop), and discuss how Radio Exile came to be, why it’s a good idea to write for a professional blog rather than your own, how strange it is that Best Buy has vinyl, and what the challenges and perks are of leading the charge in the indie music blogosphere.

Click here to listen to the podcast (or right-click to download it).

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This week on Soundloading, Éisee talks about the online experience for Lollapalooza, the blogosphere’s response to Dell announcing a new mp3 player, and the closing down of the Yahoo! Music Store. Video spotlight on the Mountain Goats.

This week on Soundloading Audio, Yahoo’s music store shuts down and they try to appease their audience; Online concerts getting better, but are they good enough to actually watch?; Radiohead is doing fine, thanks for asking; and finally, Dell is probably coming out with a new Mp3 player. Yay?

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This week, I called up YouTube sensation and Super Bowl contest winner Kina Grannis on how she feels about being an internet celebrity, the Digg song, becoming famous as an indie singer, recording new material, and what she’d do if YouTube disappeared.

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