Announcing…Squawkin’ Good Showdown 2016!

Posted on by mcsquawk

March is here and that means it’s time for my musical March Madness style tournament. Formerly known as Squawkatiel Madness, Squawkin’ Good Showdown will have 32 of your favorite artists heard on my show in the past year going head to head, competing to be your 2016 champion.

Here’s how the tournament works: Each week, starting Wednesday, March 16, the artists who are up for voting in the current round will be played on that week’s edition of Squawkin’ Good Radio from 8-10 pm on WRUV. Two artists will be paired up in each round to compete for your votes. The one that gets more votes moves on to the next round and will be played on that next week’s show. This will continue until my April 20th show where the champion will be crowned, who you, the listeners, have picked as your favorite Squawkin’ Good artist of the 2015-2016 school year!

The winner of Squawkin’ Good Showdown gets the following prizes: They will be guaranteed one of their songs played each week on Squawkin’ Good Radio for the next 12 weeks after their victory, plus they will get a special feature about them on this website.

For the next 2 weeks I’m giving you, the listeners, the chance to pick which 32 artists will compete in Squawkin’ Good Showdown 2016! Vote in the window below. If it doesn’t show up, you can vote here. You have until 5 pm on Tuesday, March 15 to get your vote in.

Rubblebucket – Top 10 Songs

Posted on by mcsquawk

A new feature I’ll be doing here at Squawkin’ Good Tunes is a showcase on a band I like and a countdown of their best songs. The first band to receive this honor is none other than Burlington exports Rubblebucket, in honor of their upcoming show this Friday, March 4, at Higher Ground Ballroom.

Formerly known as Rubblebucket Orchestra, this group fronted by lead singer Kalmia Traver and bandleader Alex Toth combine a brass band sound with Afrobeat and Latin jazz influences and have increasingly added rock and pop elements to their music with each album. Though they now call Brooklyn home, Rubblebucket are still a favorite here in Burlington and they were the winner of last year’s Squawkatiel Madness tournament on WRUV.

Here are my Top 10 favorite Rubblebucket songs.

10. “Shake Me Around” (Survival Sounds, 2014)

9. “Bikes” (Rubblebucket, 2009)

8. “Silly Fathers” (Omega La La, 2011)

7. “Landing” (Rubblebucket, 2009)

6. “Philips Van” (Rubblebucket, 2009)

5. “On the Ground” (Survival Sounds, 2014)

4. “Came Out of a Lady” (Triangular Daisies EP / Omega La La, 2010)

3. “November” (Rubblebucket, 2009)

2. “Pain From Love” (Oversaturated EP, 2012)

1. “Raining” (Omega La La, 2011)

 

Listen to all ten songs below:

Upcoming Releases – Spring 2016

Posted on by mcsquawk

We’re already 2 months into 2016. That means the weather will finally start getting warmer here in Vermont, aside from the occasional March snowstorm. It also means a whole bunch of new music as the release schedule picks up, and this spring is no exception. March 4th is particularly stacked with new albums from the indie/alternative sphere, and lots of other great artists will be releasing albums later in the spring including The Thermals, Bibio, Yeasayer, Frightened Rabbit and two new albums from Islands. Here’s what you have to look forward to this spring:

 

March 4

Dead Stars – Bright Colors (Weird Tree)

Jennifer O’Connor – Surface Noise (Kiam)

Kitten – Heaven or Somewhere in Between (Scary Kids)

La Sera – Music For Listening to Music To (Polyvinyl)

Miike Snow – III (Downtown/Atlantic)

Nada Surf – You Know Who You Are (Barsuk)

Poliça – United Crushers (Mom + Pop)

Prince Rama – Xtreme Now (Carpark)

Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place – You’re Doomed. Be Nice. (Temporary Residence Ltd.)

Sego – Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Around (Dine Alone)

Thao & the Get Down Stay Down – A Man Alive (Ribbon)

Wintersleep – The Great Detachment (Dine Alone)

 

March 11

Bent Shapes – Wolves of Want (Slumberland)

Brian Fallon – Painkillers (Island)

Lucius – Good Grief (Mom + Pop)

Into It. Over It. – Standards (Triple Crown)

The Wild Feathers – Lonely is a Lifetime (Warner Bros.)

 

March 18

Cullen Omori – New Misery (Sub Pop)

Damien Jurado – Visions of Us on the Land (Secretly Canadian)

Dustin Kensrue – Thoughts That Float on a Different Boat (Vagrant)

Lust For Youth – Compassion (Sacred Bones)

 

March 25

Bob Mould – Patch the Sky (Merge)

RJD2 – Dame Fortune (RJ’s Electrical Connections)

The Joy Formidable – Hitch (Canvasback/Atlantic)

The Range – Potential (Domino)

The Thermals – We Disappear (Saddle Creek)

White Denim – Stiff (Downtown)

 

April 1

Andrew Bird – Are You Serious (EMI)

Com Truise – Silicon Tare (Ghostly International)

Bibio – A Mineral Love (Warp)

Moderat – III (Mute/Monkeytown)

Mogwai – Atomic (Rock Action)

Weezer – Weezer (White Album) (Crush Music)

Yeasayer – Amen & Goodbye (Mute)

 

April 8

Deftones – Gore (Reprise)

Frightened Rabbit – Painting of a Panic Attack (Canvasback/Atlantic)

Woods – City Sun Eater in the River of Light (Woodsist)

 

April 15

Bear Hands – You’ll Pay For This (Spensive Sounds)

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes – PersonA (Community Music)

Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop – Love Letter For Fire (Sub Pop)

 

April 22

 

April 29

Holy Ghost! – Crime Cutz EP (DFA)

Pity Sex – White Hot Moon (Run For Cover)

Rogue Wave – Delusions of Grand Fur (Easy Sound)

 

May 6

Aloha – Little Windows Cut Right Through (Polyvinyl)

White Lung – Paradise (Domino)

 

May 13

Islands – Taste and Should I Remain Here at Sea? (PledgeMusic)

Nothing – Tired of Tomorrow (Relapse)

Oscar – Cut and Paste (Wichita)

The So So Glos – Kamikaze (Votiv)

 

May 20

Marissa Nadler – Strangers (Sacred Bones)

 

May 27

Gold Panda – Good Luck and Do Your Best (City Slang)

 

Listen to songs from each of these albums below:

*I will be updating this list as more albums are announced.