New Countdown: Turning a Hawk into a Little White Dove

Foo Fighters

I get a little long-winded on this one, but that's ok because the rock is in full effect!

Enjoy!


Countdown #344

***Featuring***
Bleachers
Foo Fighters
Huey Lewis & the News
Imagine Dragons
The Killers
Muse
New Politics
Portugal. The Man
The Revivalists
Sir Sly
Streetlight Manifesto
Weezer

New Countdown! I have issues! Well, AN issue!

Tame Impala

This is the kind of episode that half of me is freaked out about posting and half of me couldn't be more stoked. There's a lot of reading involved. Let's leave it at that. That way there's some surprise to the way the episode unfolds!

Two debuts this week! It's good to be back in good ol' 2013. :)

That must be the toughest part of being a time traveler. Keeping up with contemporary pop culture!


Countdown #166

***Featuring***
Bastille
Cage the Elephant
Capital Cities
Coldplay
Fitz & the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Tame Impala

New Countdown and a Look Back at Summer Jams

The Neighbourhood

Do you realize how hard it is to be named James and type the word "jams"??

Anyway, it's the first countdown of the Calendar Fall and I've been playing with the spreadsheets, so that gets a lot of discussion in this episode. I really enjoyed the retrospection. I hope you did too!

If you DO enjoy retrospection, you should come back for a Very Special Countdown next week (HUGE HINT) :) See you then

Countdown #165

***Featuring***
Atlas Genius
Bastille
Capital Cities
Coldplay
Fitz & the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Kings of Leon
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics

New Countdown: When I'm 164...(doot doo)

Capital Cities

This was one of those weeks where it felt like the podcast had been in production FOREVER. It was really only a couple of days, but I feel like it has literally been months since I started recording #164.

We're also in one of those waves where the bands on the countdown (with a few minor exceptions) aren't that well known, so it gives me the feeling that I'm really sharing some NEW music. Which I like :)

Speaking of which, I am pondering starting a series for Mondays called "Mailbag Mondays" where I play songs by bands who I first heard about because they emailed me. So, you heard it here first. And if it doesn't come to pass, then you get first dibs on the ridicule and shaming.

Countdown #164

***Featuring***
Atlas Genius
Bastille
Capital Cities
Fitz & the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Radiohead

New Countdown 17 Years in the Making!!

Capital Cities

Yes, this episode was a long time coming, but I think it's going to end up being one of my favorites. I hope it's one of yours, too!!!

Countdown #163

***Featuring***
Alanis Morissette
Atlas Genius
Bastille
Capital Cities
Fitz & the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Tracy Bonham

New Countdown: James's Bonus Song Emporium!

Imagine Dragons

If you were looking for the nonsensical, seemingly random ravings of a madman, you're in the wrong place, bub! But if you want a podcast where sometimes we have more than 2 bonus songs, then step right in, my friend, have I got the podcast for you!!!

The weather is becoming increasingly fall-like and we're going to have to start to accept the fact that our summer anthem this year was a song about needing to put on a sweater because the weather is too chilly.....which I think we can all do. I'm really excited for some fall weather, actually.

Countdown #162

***Featuring***
Atlas Genius
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fitz and the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Radiohead

New Countdown, or, a Descent into Madness

Fitz and the Tantrums

Here's another episode where you hear me in various states of consciousness/fatigue. Which can either be a fun ride or a descent into madness....no, not the Muse song. :)

I'm really loving the songs on the countdowns of late. I hope you are too!

Countdown #161

***Featuring***
Atlas Genius
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fitz and the Tantrums
Grouplove
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Radiohead

NEW COUNTDOWN: Looks Like We Made It!

The Neighbourhood

This show has everything: volume problems (and volume solutions), dance lyrics that don't translate to spoken word very well, pop-unders. Just everything! But I promise you it all works out in the end! :)

Oh I also have a very special co-host for the first half. He's the strong, silent type.

Countdown #160

***Featuring***
Atlas Genius
Beck
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Dessa
Fitz & the Tantrums
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Nine Inch Nails

New Countdown: Last Countdown as a Dad of 1!

Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams

Well, this is it. 3 days after this is published, I will become a father to a little baby boy. And I will have to begin training him to take over the podcast when I'm gone (his sister will no doubt be appearing on his shows with her band. Maybe he can have her on as a guest! There IS a tradition of sisters as guests on this podcast)

So here it is, chock full of bonus songs. And I hope you enjoy it! I'll be back with another new countdown on Sunday 7/28. And next week we'll have a special bonus episode: The Ten Lowest Charting Songs (2010-2012). It's a good one, so come on back!

Countdown #159

***Featuring***
Beck
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Dessa
Fall Out Boy
Fitz and the Tantrums
Imagine Dragons
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Nine Inch Nails
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: Ahead of the Game (for once)

Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams (and Nigel Rodgers)

Well, it is 9:37 on Saturday night. I finished this podcast on Thursday night and I'm halfway through the recording of an upcoming bonus episode. So I'm feeling pretty good about the scheduling of it all.

This is a good episode. We're getting into the heat of the summer. These are the episodes we'll look back on come December and be like, "Oh yeah....remember that?" or at least I like to think we will. Does anyone else ever get pre-emptively nostalgic? Is there a term for that kind of nostalgia?

Countdown #158

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beck
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: All the right sides of all the right records

Thirty Seconds to Mars

This is one of those countdowns that was recorded all around the globe......or in two places in the same state....but it's pretty close, right?

Hopefully this week, I can record the next normal episode and the two pre-records that I want to do before my kid is born in the middle of the month.....Wish me luck!

Countdown #157

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: Hello? Hello? Anybody home?

New Politics

Well, here I am! Haha. Yeah, the time got the best of me this week, but, when you think about it, being a couple of hours late is nothing when you think about the perpetuity of the life of the podcast after it's published. I listen to a podcast where the host has kind of a running gag where he tries to keep the content timeless, so he'll say stuff like "back in early 2013" for stuff that happened a couple of months ago.

Anyways. It's kind of a short episode, also due to the fact that I picked the worst times to record, BUT it also contains what may be the most adorable intro ever. So you may want to give it a chance :)

Countdown #156

***Featuring***
alt-J
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Ed Sheeran
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown: 50% MORE CONTENT!

It's the longest episode in 3 months. It has 5 bonus songs. And I loved every minute of it. I feel like we're in the midst of hearing "the sound of 2013 in alternative music," but it won't become evident what exactly that sound consists of for a while yet. I'm happy to just sit back and enjoy the tunes.

I hope you'll join me.

On a related note, 1/5 of the podcast is dedicated to Father's Day, so I just wanted to wish all the Dads out there a happy one and I hope you celebrate it in a way that makes you happy and that you know how valuable a good Dad is in a kid's life.

Countdown #155

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arcade Fire
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Paul Simon
The Soggy Bottom Boys
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Yellowcard

New Countdown from Home!

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Back home from Ohio. I started to record this one so early and I'm a little confused about how it's already 2 am on Sunday morning and I'm still just getting this done.

We ran through the countdown very quickly this week, so there's a little bit of a bonus song at the end. :) And by "a little bit of a bonus song", I mean, "a bonus song".

Countdown #154

***Featuring***
alt-J
Arcade Fire
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Thirty Seconds to Mars

New Countdown from Our Nation's 17th State!

Twenty One Pilots

Hey I just noticed that one of the guys in Twenty One Pilots is wearing a Cleveland Indians tshirt! How cool and unintentional! As the title of this post suggests, I'm currently in Ohio, where my daughter was one of the flower girls in a wedding. She did fantastically well.

There's a bunch of new stuff at various points in this show, so I think you'll enjoy it. If you do, definitely leave me a comment saying so. You can comment if you don't enjoy it, too, but let's just say I'm not looking forward to reading it. :)

Countdown #153

***Featuring***
Beastie Boys
Capital Cities
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Muse
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Twenty One Pilots

New Countdown: I have GOT to start doing these earlier :)

Imagine Dragons

Man, it is so late and there wasn't a lot of movement on the chart. I still think we pulled off an enjoyable show, though. Who's "we"? Me and Billboard? I guess. ANYwho, I'm clearly talking to myself and coming off as insane, so I'll see you next week when hopefully it's not as late and there's some more movement to talk about :)

Countdown #152

***Featuring***
Capital Cities
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
The Lumineers
Muse
My Brightest Diamond
The Neighbourhood
New Politics
Of Monsters and Men
Radiohead
Thirty Seconds to Mars