Rack Spins 4.4.07

Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
Sweeping violins, orchestral instrumentation, and quirky electronics swirl joyously around Wolf’s energized baritone. Hooky and very theatrical.

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Patrick Wolf - Accident & Emergency

[Buy]

Thee More Shallows – Book of Bad Breaks
Fuzzy, atmospheric synths envelop minimal yet accessible pop arrangements. Does away with the verse-chorus verse format without losing any fluidity.

Thee More Shallows - Night at the Knight School
Thee More Shallows - Eagle Rock

[Buy]

RJ Pettersen is an Assistant Music Director at WVAU. He is in the midst of a sneezing fit. RJ's radio show airs each Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at www.wvau.org.

Rack Spins 3.29.07

Peggy Honeywell - Green Mountain
Honeywell's captivating rasp is the highlight here, but her sparse and eloquent folk arrangements, touched with country and blues, take a close second.

Peggy Honeywell - Green Mountain
Peggy Honeywell - Thief

[Buy]

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Glaswegian group applies Mogwai's huge crescendos to shoegaze's layered soundscapes, building gradually toward an anthemic and overpowering sound.

The Twilight Sad - Cold Days From The Birdhouse
The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken The Memory

[Buy]

RJ Pettersen is an Assistant Music Director at WVAU. Music is his favorite waitress. RJ's radio show airs each Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at www.wvau.org.

Rack Spins 3.26.07

Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
Wave after wave of eclectic, ambitious indie pop crests but doesn't quite crash on the listener, leaving melody and intense emotion in its wake.

Cloud Cult - Take Your Medicine
Cloud Cult - A Good God

[Buy]

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Instant Dance Party: 2 Tbsp. Talking Heads/Brian Eno, 1 Tbsp. assorted krautrock, 2 eggs. Add New Order for extra flavor. Keep in CD Player for 5-7 minutes.

LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!

[Buy]

RJ Pettersen is an Assistant Music Director at WVAU. He is having a phenomenal year. RJ's radio show airs each Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at www.wvau.org.

Rack Spins 3.20.07

Germans – Cape Fear
Working with a palette including the Flaming Lips’ extreme fuzz bass, Pavement’s wonderfully disaffected vocals, and the ecstatic bloops of an NES game, Germans craft informed yet idiosyncratic indie pop.

Germans - Tiger Vacuum Bottle
Germans - Pogos Abenteuer

[Buy]

Low – Drums and Guns
Another elegant and atmospheric record from this seminal indie rock band. Sparse lyrics about murder and death hover among subtle yet pregnant arrangements bursting with genuine emotion.

Low - Breaker
Low - Dragonfly

[Buy]

RJ Pettersen is an Assistant Music Director at WVAU. He is currently looking at a ginger root. RJ's radio show airs each Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM at www.wvau.org.

This is the trial run of the Rack Spins column, which RJ plans to publish twice weekly. Future entries will not necessitate the use of sendspace, which, as you can probably tell, is cumbersome and just plain silly.