In this slightly shorter episode I talk about music from the Bottle Rockets in light of the announcement of Brian Henneman's retirement from the group, and also give my thoughts on Doctor Who and Star Trek: Picard. I also talk about oatmeal and beer and stuff like that, too. It's a fun one!

Check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and more stuff (including occasional posts between episodes!)

Time Index:

0:00 - Intro - Including Michelob Amber Bock and Oatmeal!

7:10 - Music Break - Born in This Town

7:40 - The Bottle Rockets and the retirement of Brian Henneman

17:46 - Music Break - Falling

18:16 - SCI-FI!!!

Doctor Who - 19:07

Star Trek: Picard - 25:37

34:41 - Music Break - Sometimes You Say Goodbye

35:11 - Outro - Including news about my plumbing and The Hobbit

Thanks for your support!

In this episode, I return to numbering which episode it is in the episode title, among other things. (Can you believe it's almost 100 episodes?!?) I mostly talk about music from Matthew Sweet, Ani DiFranco, Lucero, The Hold Steady (although I forget to actually mention the band or album title for a LONG time while I'm talking about it! Sorry!), and Lord Huron. I also touch on the Switch re-release of Super Mario 3D World, hats, phones, Rush Limbaugh, and beer. So there's plenty to dig into, even though it's a little bit of a shorter episode. Do it up!

And be sure to check out the podcast blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and other stuff!

Time Index:

0:00 - Intro (Texas, Snow, Rush Limbaugh, and New Phones)

13:14 - Music Break #1 - "You've Got to Laugh"

13:44 - New (and old) Music Releases:

Matthew Sweet - Catspaw - 13:44

Ani DiFranco - Revolutionary Love - 17:45

Lucero - When You Found Me - 21:47

The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy - 26:40

Lord Huron, in general.

38:18 - Music Break #2 - Greetings from Far Away

38:48 - Outro (Schlafly APA, Super Mario 3D World, and more)

In this episode I break from the usual format and just talk about being bummed out and the art that's helping me through it at the moment. It's a different one. There's no music and no format. I just talk. Hope you enjoy it. Please visit http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and more. Thanks!

This is a little bit of a different episode in that the "intro" last for a half-hour! A couple Checkmates wrote in with questions, so I took time to answer them...and that left only room for one segment where I talked about four albums that came out when I was 13. It's a good episode, but it's a different pace. Do you like it? Well...if not, then ASK BETTER QUESTIONS! Otherwise...dig it! And check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com. 

Time index:

0:00 - Intro

6:38 - Mailbag!

26:28 - Rest in Peace to Mira Furlan, Larry King, Cicely Tyson, Cloris Leachman, and Dustin Diamond. (Bummer!)

34:10 - Music Break - "I Go..." from the "Two Hangmen" EP, currently unavailable online.

34:40 - 4 Albums from when I was 13, including Rush - "Conterparts," Nirvana - "In Utero," Live - "Throwing Copper," and Yes - "Talk." I love this segment...and seriously...Marc...call me or whatever...

1:02:03 - Music Break - "Fightin' Drunk" from the "Two Hangmen" EP, currently unavailable online.

1:02:33 - Outro, including talking about Alewine Pottery and...whatever!"

Thanks for your support!

In this one I talk about good starting points for some classic artists, all of whom share sad anniversaries in the month of January, as we just recently passed the anniversaries of the deaths of John Lennon, David Bowie, and Neil Peart, respectively. I also talk about my feelings of the recent happenings in the country a little bit and some personal stuff. And so on. But most of it is just me telling you where to start if you've always meant to get around to listening to one of those acts, but you just don't know what to listen to.

 

And that's it!

Check out the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com and thanks for your support.

Here's the time-index:

0:00 - Introduction

Talking about the state of America - 0:52

Back to the show - 12:28

15:28 - Music Break - "Nobody Else"

16:00 - Starting Points

John Lennon - 18:46

Rush - 31:08

David Bowie - 41:09

52:03 - Music Break - "Always"

52:33 - Outro

This was a fun one for me, planted deep in the 1990s, when I first started switching on and becoming me. Listen to me fondly describe music from 1994 and 1995 and Batman The Animated Series, as well as whatever else comes to mind--including my recently broken toe! It's a fun one. Dig in.

 

Also please be sure to visit the companion blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and more.

 

Time index:

0:00 - Intro

7:34 - Music Break - In My Heart

8:04 - 4 Albums from 1994/1995

Dream Theater - Awake - 12:15

Pearl Jam - Vitalogy - 16:41

Van Halen - Balance - 22:08

Queensryche - Promised Land - 27:58

36:02 - Music Break - Out from the Light

36:32 - Batman The Animated Series

52:36 - Music Break - Not-Quite Middle-Life Crisis

53:06 - Outro

The day has come! This week's episode is all about my favorite albums of 2020. I do the top ten plus some honorable mentions and some general life updates. Dig it!

There's no real time index this week, since it's pretty much all one topic, but if you're wondering what songs were used in the episode they're "Coronation" and "The Cycle Part 4" off my "Departure" album.

There's also a blog post at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com that's going to be pretty much a cut and paste of my post on my personal blog at http://derekbrink.wordpress.com. So that's a thing, too.

Thanks for your support!

This isn't really an episode, but it felt important to record it really quickly. I'm not going to get a full episode up this week, but I at least wanted to post SOMETHING. The fact is I recorded an episode last night, but this morning woke up in a LOT of pain and it's making the editing process unbearable. So here's five minutes of me talking about that and not having to edit it.

In short: Sorry there's not a full episode this week. But NEXT week (or maybe the end of this week--whatever) there will be a full episode where I break down my top ten albums of 2020! (Health permitting.) That'll be a good episode, I bet. It's a good list, anyway...so check that out next time!

And thanks for your understanding this week.

This is a fun episode. Despite the music being a little too quiet, the heater being a little too loud, and the fact that I referred to a movie as being something "I want to like so much more than I does." Still fun! I talk about a Drive-By Truckers Record Store Day release and give my thoughts on the Roger Moore run of the James Bond movies. Plus I talk a little bit about Avalanche Ale, The Lord of the Rings, and Pat Patterson. Dig it! And check out the blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com where normally there's a bunch of photos and stuff but not this week (because that's ANOTHER thing that went wrong!)

Time Index:

0.00 - Intro (including talking about Avalanche Ale at 2:10).

6:40 - Music Break

6:55 - Drive-By Truckers - Plan 9 Records Record Store Day release

19:21 - Music Break

19:36 - James Bond movie update: The Roger Moore Era

37:19 - Music Break

37:29 - Outro, including some chatter about Lord of the Rings and also a RIP to Pat Patterson.

I start this week's episode thinking it's going to be a "Fast Cash" episode, but it ended up just being a slightly shorter regular episode. Whatever. I talk about music from Bob Mould, Neil Young, and Rufus Wainwright along with telling some personal stories. I like this episode a lot and hope you will too.

Time Index:

0:00 - Intro

6:50 - Updated thoughts on Newcastle Brown Ale / Listener mail.

16:06 - Music Break - Give It Up

16:36 - Music Talk

Bob Mould - Distortion Box Set - 17:37

Neil Young - Return to Greendale - 26:38

Rufus Wainwright - Northern Stars - 32:52

39:04 - Music Break - Coming Storm

39:34 - Outro

Story about my friend Bill and keepsakes and such - 40:03

Thanks, and as always please be sure to check out the blog at http://emptychecking.blogspot.com for photos and stuff.