Podcast of my FNX appearance this a.m.

Ok,as the subject line suggests, here's the podcast of my FNX Radio appearance this morning where I speak the virtues of Dom, Sleigh Bells, Crystal Castles and other cool shit.

I am NOT listening to it because I absolutely despise my voice. How do you people listen to me talk ragtime so much? Also, I was completely hopped up on a "Tedeschi Speedball" -- a 5 Hour Energy Boost and a Monster drink. I think I freaked out Fletcher. Hey it was 8am, what do you want.

Radio Vanya: FNX "Summer music preview'

Hey early risers' club -- I'll be on the glorious airwaves of FNX Radio tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m., doing a "Summer Music Preview." Basically talking ragtime about all the shit you should be listening to this summer. On tap: Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells, Chemical Brothers, DOM, Band of Horses, My Chemical Romance and more. Feel the burn, kids.

Radio Clash: Sandboxers mount protest

Repost from my Herald Hotline blog: Remember the Sandbox? It was a pretty sweet weekday morning show on FNX Radio 101.7 FM until those pesky Men in Suits axed half the staff and reshaped the program into something slightly different called the “No Nonsense Breakfast.”

Well, now “Sandboxers Unite - Bring back The Sandbox” is launching a “formal, peaceful protest” tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. in front of the Phoenix Communications headquarters at 126 Brookline Ave. in hopes of getting the Sandbox back on the air.

Naturally, Hotline is down with this cause, and after all the Conan O’Brien protests the past few weeks, it’s nice to see people up in arms over something. (Full disclosure: I was an occasional guest on the Sandbox, and appeared on the No Nonsense Breakfast two days after its inception.)

Since their abrupt firing several weeks ago, the two Sandbox on-air casualties, Charlie & Special Ed, have taken to the Internet, launching “The Empire” daily radio podcast. Their supporters have amassed almost 2,300 fans for the “Sandboxers Unite” Facebook page and fans have allegedly been bombarding the Phoenix higher-ups with emails demanding the Sandbox be restored. So far, it doesn’t appear likely, though that could change with a strong showing on the street tomorrow morning.

Go ahead, protest away. Do it for Conan.

Radio Vanya 6: 2010 indie releases

Quick note: I'll be on FNX Radio 101.7 FM around 8:10 a.m. discussing new rock/indie/dance releases in early 2010. It'll be my first appearance on-air since the Great Green Day Debacle of 2k9 and first of the new "No Nonsense Breakfast"-era of FNX Mornings. Listen in, as I'm always a risk to say something absurd!

'FNX nixes "Sandbox" morning program

SUCKAGE!!! WFNX Radio 101.7 FM is sha-sha-shaking things up out in Lynn Rock City. The alternative rock radio station has nixed its always entertaining “Sandbox” morning program, which is a total bummer, but it also cut ties with the utterly useless and trite “Love Lines” syndicated night time program, instead allowing DJ Paul Driscoll’s “Alter Ego” to expand its hours. The station has also added former ‘BCN personality Adam 12 to fill the afternoon slot previously held by Big Jim Murray, who is taking an “off air” role. Quite the shakeup in the New Year!


I was a guest several times on “The Sandbox,” as part of its Jukebox Jury CD review panel, and am pretty sad to see it go. But it won’t be gone entirely, as “Sandbox” co-host Fletcher will remain on-air in the morning with program director Keith Dakin and news guy Henry Santoro in a new show that will involve more listener interaction. We'll see. But we'll definitely miss Special Ed and Charlie.

Here’s a link to the press release I just posted in Hotline, with official word and some station big-wig quotes.

:::: Michael V's Top 40 Songs of the Decade ::::

And to close things out, here it is. No snarky commentary*, no hyperbole, no YouTube clips. Just a list of my Top 40 songs of the 2000s, a decade spent mostly in Boston (all but eight displaced months) and a time where I grew into the repressed-but-remarkably dressed person I am today. This is the shit. (*Might add commentary over the weekend, but it's NYE and I have shit to do...)

Top 40 songs of the 2000s,
by Vanyaland's Michael V

1. Kelly Clarkson “Since U Been Gone”

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”

3. BM Linx “Understanding Orange”

4. The Walkmen “The Rat”

5. VNV Nation “Beloved”

6. The Stills “Still In Love Song”

7. The Killers “Somebody Told Me”

8. The Strokes “The Modern Age”

9. Passion Pit “I’ve Got Your Number”

10. Pela “Lost To The Lonesome”

11. The Knife “Heartbeats”

12. The Rapture “House Of Jealous Lovers”

13. Miley Cyrus “See You Again”

14. Soviet “Candy Girl”

15. The Information “A Simple Plan”

16. Cascada “Everytime We Touch”

17. Franz Ferdinand “Michael”

18. Lady Gaga “Poker Face”

19. The Killers “Smile Like You Mean It”

20. Bloc Party “Banquet”

21. JJ72 “October Swimmer”

22. Adult “Hand To Phone”

23. Protokoll “Moving Forward”

24. Silversun Pickups “Common Reactor”

25. Fischerspooner “Emerge”

26. The Killers “Mr. Brightside”

27. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club “Love Burns”

28. VNV Nation “Standing”

29. Rihanna “SOS (Rescue Me)”

30. My Chemical Romance “Helena”

31. Sigur Ros “Olsen Olsen”

32. Hercules & Love Affair “Blind”

33. The Libertines “Can’t Stand Me Now”

34. Justin Timberlake “Sexyback”

35. Interpol “PDA”

36. Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”

37. Morrissey “Irish Blood English Heart”

38. The Kaiser Chiefs “I Predict A Riot”

39. Doves “The Man Who Told Everything”

40. Pela “Tenement Teeth”

xoMv.

Radio Vanya 5: Green Day's new album

Almost forgot... I'll be on FNX Radio 101.7 FM's Jukebox Jury tomorrow (Monday) morning around 9am taking a verbal deuce on the new Green Day album, "21st Century Breakdown." I will always consider Green Day's early gem "Going to Pasalacqua" one of my favorite songs EVER, but this new watered-down Rock-Opera Part II is really quite terrible. They once just named albums Dookie, and now they just are. Tune in, drop out, hear me roar.

Chameleons defeated by Sponge. Guh.

So yeah, I fucking LOST TO SPONGE'S "PLOWED" this morning, but only because the chick I was up against was the sexy-voiced FNX receptionist and reps Saugus with her I-Talian famz. So bogus. Clearly the Chameleons' "Swamp Thing" is a better song! Oh well, now I don't have to phone in from Mexico next week... But still.

Radio Vanya IV: Chameleons' "Swamp Thing"

So my prize for winning last week's "My Song..." battle on FNX Radio is having to get up and be at the station tomorrow morning at 8am. But that means I'm back on the air (!!!), defending my title with the Chameleons' 1986 modern rock classic, "Swamp Thing."

We'll see if I can get the same response I got last week with Ride's "Vapour Trail."

If I win again, I get to phone in next week from Mexico. (Part of my vacation, not an FNX prize). I have no idea what I'll play next week... Suede?

Ride's Vapour Trail is victorious!

I won! Hells yeah, Ride's "Vapour Trail" beat out an old Lyres punk jam this morning on the FNX Sandbox My Song... battle, showing there are just enough of us suddenly-old UK indie/shoegaze bastards left. So I'm back on next Thursday to defend the title, playing a lost classic by these guys: