Hey everyone. We're playing catch-up for the second week in a row on Undeclared Rock. This week's podcast was actually recorded about three weeks ago, and it features the wonderful Alphabetical Order.

TAO have been in the studio on Undeclared Rock before...actually I think they've done more in-studios and interviews at the station than any other band over the last two years...but there's a reason for that. For one thing, they do their own interview, which means I (Or whoever is doing the interview) hardly has to talk at all. For another thing, they're all really great songwriters and musicians, and this in-studio here shows that.

You see, normally TAO is a super loud R-O-C-K rock band that gets a lot of comparisons to early 90's grunge bands and..uhh...some local DC group that starts with an F...name isn't a real word...they're kinda punk.....ahh, I can't remember. But in any case, they sound like them, apparently.

That said, these guys have more than enough of their own energy and compositional style to seem more like a celebration of loud and heavy rock songs, as opposed to a mere impersonation of them.

For this in-studio, Gavin and Gabe busted out the acoustic guitars, and bassist Kate whipped out the cello to play many of the songs off their debut LP I Am Magically Happening, but in an entirely different way than you hear on the album itself.

The more astute TAO fans among you will notice that I accidentally cut off the first few seconds of the song ("Submarines") that begins the podcast. That was my fault - I was an idiot and didn't press "record" until it was past that point. That said, I still think I timed it pretty well.

Let me know what you think! We'll hopefully be back this weekend with a brand new in-studio that WON'T be delayed by three weeks before it goes up.

Thanks for listening,
-A

Hooookay. This has been a long time coming.

I'm dreadfully sorry for the lack of posts lately. I swear I've been trying for the last several weeks to get these podcasts up but every time I try and I think it's done libsyn (the hosting service) messes up and nothing happens.

In any case, this podcast was done about a month (!!!) ago,  when I had the distinct pleasure of having Bellman Barker in the studio.

Besides being a bunch of really nice guys, the band are also some of the most truly compete songwriters I've heard on the local scene. Their songs manage to incorporate elements of Beatle-esque pop compositions with big, swooning arrangements and a healthy dose of vocal harmonies.

Yet, for all of that, their music still remains very approachable...as you'll hear in the podcast.

As for the podcast itself: Yes, there are some audio issues. I think a ghost somehow decided to inhabit the mixing board, and there were also a host of volume issues which make some of the interview responses a bit hard to hear. But once they get playing, I think it starts sounding pretty good.

Happy listening!
-A

Hey Everybody. Sorry for the last post on the podcast - it's been an especially busy week so far. This week we had the totally awesome dudes from Bottles/Cans in the studio, giving a special in-studio that sounds probably unlike anything you've heard from them recently.

You see, Bottles/Cans normally thrives on the rock. Their sound, both live and on recording, is marked by a very obvious energy and a chemistry as musicians that seemed natural from the very start (they talk about this more on the podcast).

That energy, combined with the fact that they're a three piece drums-bass-guitar outfit, may indicate that they their stuff teeters on the brink of pop-punk territory. That's not entirely wrong. Except for how it kinda is. Unlike 90% of the hi-octane trios out there, B/C keeps things fresh and interesting with incredibly solid songwriting and off-kilter structures that give their songs an inventive sheen.

Not to mention that they're all obviously really talented musicians, since on this podcast they managed to completely change up their sound and still have their songs sound great.

It was an absolute blast to have these guys in the studio, and I hope you guys have as much fun listening to them as I did.

See you next week!
-A

This week, we had local GW students Perry Flowers (of Moosh fame) and Evan Garcia in the studio, doing a pretty special collaborative performance between their two solo projects. Evan played some songs, Perry played some songs, and we got kicked out early so the station could broadcast a basketball game (which we lost). Good times.

Also: In a fit of inspiration, I did a stupid little musical/spoken word intro to try and explain all the stuff that went wrong with the recording of this podcast episode. Now it sounds like I'm heavily influenced by the stylings of 'lil Markie. And, man, I just don't know how to feel about that.

Enjoy!

Yay! It's our first post. This week we had our first in-studio performance of the semester with The Beanstalk Library. There may be some volume issues- we had a fair amount of technical difficulties - but hopefully everything will sound at least up to par.

Normally entries will be more verbose than this, though only slightly. It's been a long day.

Enjoy!
-Alex