Andy Gapin

It’s a Christmas miracle! I got my top 10 albums of the year list done! I kept forgetting about this and putting it off so much that I didn’t think I’d have it done by Christmas, but I buckled down and made it happen.

In years past, I’ve done bigger lists and/or had honorable mentions and all that jazz. Mostly this was fueled by hosting The Playlist, but without having a radio show to host a top albums of the year countdown on now, I had less drive to make a list that I could fill an hour (or two) with.

This was an odd year for me, I barely spent any time listening to music. Even though I still hosted the radio show up until September, I felt less connected to the music than I used to. I think this is a temporary thing, but I really found myself never listening to music at home and listening much, much less at work. I’m putting the blame on trying to do too much and having too much going on. It used to be that the biggest thing in my life was the radio station. Most of what I did was connected to that so I was surrounded by music. Before that, I ran a venue. Before that, I did little besides going to shows. So up until recently, most of my time and hobbies were music  related. That’s changed a lot this year, I spend more time doing non-music related things now. It’s changed a lot for me, but I think things will even out sooner or later. I hope at least.

Because of all that, I think I missed out on a lot of music this year and even stuff that I did check out, didn’t get the time that it deserved. Making a list this year was hard, but I’m pretty happy with it.

So here it is, the albums I was most into for 2010…

So after seven years, The Playlist is over. It’s hard to believe that something that’s been a large part of my life for so long is gone, but it’s true. Almost fittingly though, last night’s show was the most fun I ever had doing a radio show. It reminded me of everything I loved about doing college radio, much of which got lost in a cloud of jadedness. Hosting an all new music show was great, but it was often hard to fill the entire show with music I was excited about. There’s only so much great stuff that can come out each week. I’d get to play a few great records and fill in the rest with average records. That was always the biggest struggle, but last night had none of that. Last night’s show was nothing but music I love.

I spent the night before running some really custom queries against our database–you get this luxury when you’re the sucker that wrote the software that the radio station relies on for music databasing and logging. I found the artists that I played the most over the last four and a half years and built a playlist from there. I would have liked to go all the way back to when the show first started, but we were still using paper logs up until the beginning of 2006 and there was no way that I was going to try to hunt those down…assuming they still exist. The playlist I created was over two hours long so I had more than I was able to play, but it was alright, I was able to prune down as I was doing the show. I decided not to order anything, I didn’t want to make a pre-planned show and just sit there on autopilot. Instead, I burned two identical MP3 CDs–works out better than playing everything from a computer–and stuck them in the CD players. I had a list of the tracks and switched between players selecting what felt right at the time and what was going to create a solid flow. It’s the way that I always did my show and I didn’t want to change that. I’ve always been about going with the moment and what songs just feel right together. I feel like I nailed this as well as I ever have last night.

I was lucky to be able to score a second hour for last night. It was the first time in two years that I’ve done a two hour show, but it was great, I was able to fit in 34 songs along with a lot of stories about the last seven years and about the music I was playing. I always tried to talk about what the bands I played meant to me, but it wasn’t easy when much of the music was coming from new artists and not just new albums by artists I already was into. Last night, I was able to tell many stories about the bands and what they meant to me. It was great and it made me remember why joining the radio station was my first priority when I started college nine years ago.

The decision to end the show wasn’t easy, I knew it would come eventually, but I could never bring myself to do it. Once I finally made that decision, it was a tough back and forth between knowing how much I’ll miss it and being relieved that I could end it positively and free up a little bit of much needed time in my personal life. Though, as I progressed through the show, I felt myself becoming sadder and sadder that it was ending. By the end, I was feeling almost like I was going to cry. I knew walking away wasn’t going to easy. So I’m sad that it’s over now, but I do know that it was the right time for me and that the show had an amazing seven year run. I had many dedicated listeners and got to expose them to over 1500 different artists and bands over that time. I don’t know how many different albums I played, but my best estimate puts it well over 2000. To me, that’s pretty impressive. That’s a ton of new music. I can walk away knowing that the show was very successful in doing what I created it to do, push new music.

Over the last week, I’ve learned that beyond doing what I set out to do with The Playlist over the airwaves, I also was able to extend that via my blog for the past few years. I learned that I not only had listeners who looked to the show for new music, but I also had readers that couldn’t listen to the show and instead came here to see what I played and found out about the music that way. So awesome.

So last night’s show was a seriously stacked playlist, there was a ton that I still wanted to play, but I couldn’t get it all in. I dediced to end the show with the band that had the most spins on The Playlist. I was surprised when I found out it was The Loved Ones, but thinking back, I did play Keep Your Heart in its entirety when it came out. I wanted to post a big list of the most played artists, but I didn’t know where to cut it off. I may save that for a future post to milk one last entry about the show here. We’ll see, but if you’re really interested, let me know and I’ll make it happen.

The show wasn’t entirely hiccup free though. Just as I was about to start, the internet in the studio went out and for a while, I had to do the show entirely old school. I had to log on paper and couldn’t look up album info. I guess it was an appropriate reminder during the last show of what it was like when the show first started. It was surprisingly fun. However, this seems as though it may have messed up the beginning of the recording of the show. I haven’t verified this yet, but if it’s true, I will almost definitely cry. It was such a memorable show for me and to not have a recording of it would be seriously upsetting.

I’m staying an active DJ at the station so I don’t plan for this to be the last time I have a radio show playlist to post, but when it comes down to it, only the future knows how much I’ll actually end up subbing shows when needed. So for the very last time ever, here’s the playlist from last night’s The Playlist…

• Cheap Girls – A Lesser Rate – Find Me A Drink Home
• Ted Leo And The Pharmacists – Me And Mia – Shake The Sheets
• Drive-By Truckers – The Day John Henry Died – The Dirty South
• Minus The Bear – Knights – Planet Of Ice
• Spoon – Don’t You Evah – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
• Electric Six – Night Vision – Switzerland
• Tilly And The Wall – Bad Education – Bottoms Of Barrels
• Feist – So Sorry – The Reminder
• Frank Turner – Poetry Of The Deed – Poetry Of The Deed
• Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band – Air Mattress – Outer South
• The Thermals – I Don’t Believe You – Personal Life
• Maritime – Parade Of Punk Rock T-Shirts – We, The Vehicles
• The Pipettes – Pull Shapes – We Are The Pipettes
• M. Ward – Never Had Nobody Like You – Hold Time
• The Hold Steady – Chips Ahoy! – Boys And Girls In America
• The Copyrights – Knee Deep – Make Sound
• The Steinways – Arena Rock – Gorilla Marketing
• Against Me! – Thrash Unreal – New Wave
• Murder By Death – Rum Brave – Red Of Tooth And Claw
• Coconut Records – Microphone – Davy
• Neko Case – The Next Time You Say “Forever” – Middle Cyclone
• The Lawrence Arms – The Revisionist – The Greatest Story Ever Told
• Radiohead – 15 Step – In Rainbows
• Okkervil River – Pop Lie – The Stand Ins
• Lucero – I Don’t Wanna Be The One – Rebels, Rogues, And Sworn Brothers
• She And Him – I Was Made For You – Volume One
• Bryan Scary – Macedonia Hotel – The Shredding Tears
• Lemuria – Pants – Get Better
• The Measure [SA] – Portland – One Chapter In The Book (A Collection Of Standard Waits And Measurements)
• The Gaslight Anthem – Orphans – American Slang
• Rilo Kiley – The Moneymaker – Under The Blacklight
• Mclusky – She Will Only Bring You Happiness – The Difference Between You And Me Is That I’m Not On Fire
• NOFX – Seeing Double At The Triple Rock – Never Trust A Hippy
• The Loved Ones – Living Will (Get You Dead) – Keep Your Heart

90.3 The Core

The third to last ever edition of The Playlist went off pretty well last night. Except for a few minor things, I was pretty happy with the show. I started off with The Gaslight Anthem even though it’s months old now. The DJ before me ended about five minutes early with a different song on the album, so I played a quick sting and then moved on a few tracks to play “Orphans.” Worked out well.

I got a request for The Thermals, which I was very happy to play, while most of the rest of the playlist was new stuff that was added to our library in the last week. Though, as is something I’ve been struggling with there recently, that doesn’t mean it’s actually very new.

I think the last The Playlist ever will be on 9/15 at 9pm. I’m trying to get a second hour for it, but we’ll see. :-/

• The Gaslight Anthem – Orphans – American Slang
• The Cinnamon Band – Buena Vista – All Dressed
• Versus – Gone To Earth – On The Ones And Threes
• Woven Bones – Hey Kid – I’ve Gotta Get [Single]
• Bare Wires – Family Heart – Seeking Love
• Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – At Night – Where The Messengers Meet
• Thieving Irons – Babylon Is Burning – The Midnight Hum
• The Thermals – Heres Your Future – The Body The Blood The Machine
• Ra Ra Riot – Boy – The Orchard
• The Ivy Walls – Ghost – The Elegant Universe
• Frontier Ruckus – Silverfishes – Deadmalls And Nightfalls
• Samantha Crain – Lions – You (Understood)
• Chief – The Minute I Saw It – Modern Rituals
• The Acorn – I Made The Law – No Ghost
• Social Studies – We Choose Our Own Adventures – Wind Up Wooden Heart
• Of Montreal – Coquet Coquette – Coquet Coquette [Single]

90.3 The Core

My review was going to be titled “Fuck Gaslight Anthem,” but alas, it is not. Nor should it be. The last time I saw the band kind of killed them for me for a while, they played well, but they gave off a rockstar vibe that just didn’t sit well with me. Then American Slang came out and it was (is) solid. Very solid. I started to get excited about Gaslight Anthem again. American Slang was the in-your-face indication that this band is still on its way up and is the real deal. After that, the video for “American Slang” was released featuring nothing but New York City imagery. What the hell? It felt like a slap in the face. Moving from NJ isn’t a big deal and writing some songs about NYC, especially when you’re from a state squished between two major cities, isn’t either. That stuff is totally cool with me, but it felt like Gaslight Anthem had turned their backs on New Jersey and no song about Andy Diamond and The Court Tavern was going to be enough to convince me otherwise. New Jersey isn’t just where the Gaslight Anthem is from, it’s who they are and what made them what they are. This was always something they embraced, but I I didn’t feel that way anymore. It wasn’t that they weren’t putting Jersey front and center anymore, it was that they dropped it and replaced it.

Now last night, the band came out to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” and Fallon was wearing a Yankees shirt–on its own, who cares, if you’re from Central or North Jersey, you’re probably a Yankees or Mets fan–but with everything else…yikes. This immediately felt like a second slap in the face. I felt all the sincerity this band had just disappear. And that’s saying a lot for me because I’ve always felt that their music oozes sincerity more than just about any other band out there.

At this point, I was really thinking about how I was going to say “fuck this band” and that wasn’t helped much when Fallon had someone else play second guitar just so he could hold the mic stand with two hands while singing on a few songs.

I stand by most of these feelings, but still I have to say, damn, this band writes some great songs and damn do they know how to play them on a stage. They were absolutely great. They really were. Despite everything else, the sincerity was still there and the passion for the music was as strong as ever.

The set was long, over an hour and a half. My knees were hurting, but I was still enjoying every second. The band ripped through almost everything they have spanning every release under the Gaslight name. It was impressive how much they got through and how much they didn’t neglect Sink or Swim except a few of the songs you would have expected them to play. In fact, just about the only songs they didn’t play from Sink or Swim, besides the acoustic ones, were the expected standards. “Red in the Morning” was even followed up by a comment from Fallon saying how he thought it sounded like it should be a song by The Bronx. This was a comment that about ten people in the crowd actually got. I looked around, no one knew what he was talking about. It was awesome.

Honestly, Gaslight Anthem was seriously solid last night. Seriously.

Now, Frank Turner…well, I would have liked to see more than I did. Thanks to an ever-late friend, we got there in time to only see a few songs, but he sounded awesome. Frank Turner is the kind of opener that I would gladly pay to see headline and I’m hoping that I get the chance soon.

The outdoor stage at the Stone Pony was surprisingly decent as well. There was a nice breeze and the sound, while not great, was good enough. It was a serious set up and I think I enjoyed it more than I would have inside. However, they were charging $20 for parking which is ridiculous. We drove three blocks down the road and parked for free near Asbury Lanes. I would suggest anyone going to other shows this summer there do the same.

And below are a few cellphone pics that all look the same. I tried and failed to get the DSLR in.

PS: A friend mentioned something about Brian being sick of the Springsteen comparisons, but I say that’s a load of crap, if you don’t want to be compared to Springsteen, don’t sound so much like him. Easy solution.

PPS: Contrary to the rumor going around before the show, Springsteen did not come out and play with them.

Half decent show last night, nothing really special of note though.

In other news, Gaslight Anthem posted the video for “American Slang.” The video seems to filmed entirely in NYC, which isn’t horribly surprising since Brian lives in Brooklyn now, but this feels slightly like a slap in the face. I don’t think anyone expects them to constantly be “JERSEY! JERSEY! JERSEY!” but they’ve always been so proud of being from New Jersey and it was a very big part of who they are and what the music was about. To turnaround now and make a video that is so in-your-face NYC just doesn’t feel right.

Anyway, the video is below and the playlist from last night’s radio show is below that.

• Wolf Parade – Yulia – Expo 86
• Peggy Sue – The Shape We Made – Fossils And Other Phantoms
• Villagers – The Pact (I’ll Be Your Fever) – Becoming A Jacket
• Gemma Ray – Big Spender – It’s A Shame About Gemma Ray
• Jeremy Jay – Splash – Splash
• Gogol Bordello – Uma Menina – Trans-Continental Hustle
• Blitzen Trapper – Laughing Lover – Destroyer Of The Void
• Born Ruffians – Oh Man – Say It
• Kathryn Calder – If You Only Knew – Are You My Mother?
• Mates Of State – True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston) – Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)
• Careful – I Loved A Girl But She Loved Me – Oh, Light
• Like Bells – Sea Salt – Palma
• Cate Le Bon – Terror Of The Man – Me Oh My
• Vic Chesnutt – Dick Cheney – Skitter On Take-Off
• Band Of Horses – Laredo – Infinite Arms
• Devo – March On – Something For Everybody

Source: 90.3 The Core

Last night’s show wasn’t anything too special, but it was a solid one nonetheless. The only gripe I had was that the new Against Me! and Gaslight Anthem records weren’t out for play yet so I had to play songs from my iPhone to avoid sticking with the singles. That wouldn’t have been a problem, but I haven’t gotten around to buying either album yet–I might not actually buy White Crosses–so the versions of the songs I played were from the leaks and of much lower quality than I would have liked. The leaks don’t sound awful on my phone or in the car, but they both sounded incredibly flat over the radio. Oh well.

Here’s the list!

• >Walter Schreifels – Arthur Lee’s Lullaby – An Open Letter To The Scene
• >The Gaslight Anthem – Orphans – American Slang
• >Blitzen Trapper – Laughing Lover – Destroyer Of The Void
• >Deer Tick – Choir Of Angels – The Black Dirt Sessions
• >The Henry Clay People – Slow Burn – Somewhere On The Golden Coast
• >Broken Social Scene – All To All – Forgiveness Rock Record
• >The Frontier Brothers – Burning Panties – You Should Start A Band
• >Skybox – Morning After Cuts – Morning After Cuts
• >Ty Segall – Bees – Melted
• >Against Me! – High Pressure Low – White Crosses
• >Setting Sun – Into The Wire – Fantasurreal
• >Shoe. – Weight Of The World – The Speed Of Life
• >Delta Spirit – Golden State – History From Below
• >Suckers – Before Your Birthday Ends – Wild Smile
• >Here We Go Magic – Old World United – Pigeons

Source: 90.3 The Core

I didn’t do a radio show last week, but last night’s edition of The Playlist wasn’t too shabby. I accidentally hit the stop button the CD player with the back of my hand about 3 seconds into a song and one mic break sounded a bit out of breath, but everything else was pretty solid. A nice selection of music and short but informative mic breaks.

Last night was one of those shows where you know you’ve got a ton of listeners. I mean, there are always people listening, whether they are calling you or not, but I got a couple IMs, a couple calls, and a request for Echo and the Bunneymen (which I played). I even got a compliment from the mom of the DJ after me. Nice! Apparently, she likes my show better. And separate from those, my fiancée’s college friend even got a couple of her friends listening too. Not bad!

So here’s the playlist…

• Minus The Bear – My Time – Omni
• Walter Schreifels – Arthur Lee’s Lullaby – An Open Letter To The Scene
• Annuals – Flesh And Blood – Sweet Sister [EP]
• Night Driving In Small Towns – Kick – Serial Killers
• Horse Feathers – Vernonia Blues – Thistled Spring
• The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang – American Slang [Single]
• Family Cactus – A Running Mystery – Come Howling
• Shoe. – Keep On Going – The Speed Of Life
• Kate Nash – Kiss That Grrrl – My Best Friend Is You
• The Hold Steady – Rock Problems – Heaven Is Whenever
• Echo And The Bunnymen – Do You Know Who I Am’ – The Fountain
• Sarah Jaffe – Before You Go – Suburban Nature
• Harlan T Bobo – Crazy With Loneliness – Sucker
• CocoRosie – Hopscotch – Grey Oceans
• Broken Social Scene – Meet Me In The Basement – Forgiveness Rock Record

Source: 90.3 The Core

A relatively standard show last night, I’d say. I kept the mic breaks short and concise and had the best segue between two songs I’ve ever pulled off. Minus the Bear’s “My Time” went so perfectly into Growing’s “Massive Dropout,” it couldn’t have been any better.

I forgot to play the “American Slang,”  but I guess I’ve played enough of that one song over the past couple weeks anyway. On a whole, the new Gaslight Anthem record is great, maybe I’ll play something else from it next week. It’s a better record than The ’59 Sound which is saying a lot, but the thing about The ’59 Sound is that it had no staying power for me. I loved it pretty hard for a few months and then stopped caring about it. But I think American Slang is kind of their album that says “we’re for real, we’ve got a lot of good stuff in us and we’re going to be around for a while.” It’s a pretty solid indication that these guys aren’t a fluke. Unfortunately, it also propels them farther away from being “our band,” not that they really have been for at least the last year anyway.

• Roky Erickson With Okkervil River – Be And Bring Me Home – True Love Cast Out All Evil
• Frog Eyes – Lear In Love – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
• Night Driving In Small Towns – Serial Killer – Serial Killers
• Sean Hayes – Pwerful Stuff – Run Wolves Run
• The Press – Pattern Mill – INTEOTWIJTEOAE
• Minus The Bear – My Time – Omni
• Growing – Massive Dropout – Pumps
• The Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt – The Wild Hunt
• The Salteens – Hallowed Ways – Moths
• CocoRosie – Grey Oceans – Grey Oceans
• The Mynabirds – LA Rain – What We Lose In Fire We Gain In The Flood
• Kate Nash – Don’t You Want To Share The Guilt? – My Best Friend Is You
• The Black Keys – Tighten Up – Tighten Up [Single]
• The Hold Steady – Our Whole Lives – Heaven Is Whenever

Source: 90.3 The Core

The Playlist last night was not one of my better shows. Everything felt off. The segues weren’t what I wanted, I didn’t really have any life in my mic breaks, and trying to work the Crystal Castles request in with the music I had picked out was a disaster.

Oh well, they can’t all be winners.

• Love Is All – Never Now – Two Thousand And Ten Injuries
• Gaslight Anthem, The – American Slang – American Slang
• Crystal Castles – Untrust Us – Crystal Castles
• Fanfarlo – Finish Line – Live [EP]
• Tallest Man On Earth, The – Troubles Will Be Gone – The Wild Hunt
• Hold Steady, The – Our Whole Lives – Heaven Is Whenever
• Mynabirds, The – Give It Time – What We Lose In Fire We Gain In The Flood
• Kaki King – The Betrayer – Junior
• Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy And The Cairo Gang – The Sounds Are Always Begging – The Wonder Show Of The World
• Minus The Bear – Animal Backwards – Omni
• Laura Marling – Blackberry Stone – I Speak Because I Can
• Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends – Live At Park Ave -
• Roky Erickson With Okkervil River – Birds’d Crash – True Love Cast Out All Evil
• Murder By Death – You Don’t Miss Twice (When You’re Shavin’ With A Knife) – Good Morning, Magpie

Source: 90.3 The Core

I got to play new Minus the Bear, Hold Steady, and Gaslight Anthem on the show last night. I’m glad we got this stuff in the station now since I don’t normally like to play leaks on the show. I guess it’s not really a big deal, but I kind of feel weird about it.

Other than that, the show was pretty solid. It was fun and I kept all my mic breaks really short.

• Against Me! – I Was A Teenage Anarchist – I Was A Teenage Anarchist [Single]
• Minus The Bear – Into The Mirror – Omni
• The Press – Fine China – INTEOTWIJTEOAE
• Jonsi – Animal Arithmetic – Go
• Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy And The Cairo Gang – With Cornstalks Or Among Them – The Wonder Show Of The World
• Gaslight Anthem, The – American Slang – American Slang [Single]
• Codeine Velvet Club – The Black Roses – Codeine Velvet Club
• Manchester Orchestra – Tony The Tiger – Live At Park Ave
• In Tall Buildings – Walking Man – In Tall Buildings
• The Hold Steady – Rock Problems – Heaven Is Whenever
• Fanfarlo – Finish Line – Live [EP]
• Kaki King – Sloan Shore – Junior
• The Mynabirds – We Made A Mountain – What We Lose In Fire We Gain In The Flood
• Roky Erickson With Okkervil River – Goodbye Sweet Dreams – True Love Cast Out All Evil

Source: 90.3 The Core