Oct

The Shorts — Packing

Packing

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104285852″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Whether you’re going to the crag for the day or embarking on a long adventure overseas, packing is a fact of life. Some of us make lists, others calculate every ounce, and still others throw every possible thing that might be needed into the back of the truck. Best to be prepared after all. When writer and biker Dean Campbell packs he “always forgets one thing and always brings too much to read.” Can your packing style influence how you experience a new place? After traveling by bike for four months through Africa, Dean understands that what we bring dictates what we take home from our distant travels.

Music: The Funeral Bell by David Karsten Daniels, Fight the Big Bull • Eleanor Speaks by Oh No Ono

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Sep

Embrace This

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104284508″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]I love bikes. I like riding them through the woods. I like working on them. I even like riding bikes on roads, but I’ve never been a road biker. To me road biking has always seemed a bit like raw oysters. I take one look at it and I think, “I don’t want to try it.” Despite their slimy demeanor, I really like oysters. Once I got over their looks, they taste pretty damn good. Maybe road biking would be like that for me. This summer I decided to not only try road biking, I decided to embrace it in all its spandex glory. My climbing could suffer. The mountain bike could collect cobwebs in the garage. Along the way, I discovered the joy of riding through my city.

By the way, the hill I’m riding in the end of the episode extends from the top of First Hill down into the International District through various cultural sections. I love it. So many good restaurants.

Music: Magnesium Light by DREAMEND • I Can’t Feel by Matthew Dear • Jerks on Ice by Elk City • Animus Vox by The Glitch Mob

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Sep

The Shorts — Zones of Subduction

Zones of Subduction

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104283086″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]Growing up, inheritance and parenthood–these themes have quietly woven their way into the Diaries’ Fabric. Whether it’s Brendan Leonard’s Go West or Steve Bohrer’s Balance, we’ve explored how parents introduce their children to the natural world. Today, Bob Nydam presents a story about the sometimes painful process of watching a child grow up. It’s a little like geologic processes at hyper-speed. Moments of calm serenity are punctuated by violent upheaval. Even when seemingly, we are in the midst of movement. We are climbers, adventurers and dreamers because these pursuits ask us to step beyond ourselves. Certainly, the same can be said for parenting.

Music: Truck Driver’s Blues (Featuring Willie Nelson) by Asleep at the Wheel, Leon Rausch • The Well by Breton • Bear by Carly Comando

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Aug

Dirtbag Playlist Vol. 5

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/177737405″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]August has arrived and that means a little break for the Dirtbag Diaries, but that doesn’t mean rest. Becca and I are working ahead. There will be new episodes in September, and we are really excited to announce that we are going to embark on one of my long time dreams–a six week climbing trip through the Sierra. All backcountry. A lot of walking. A lot of climbing. Most of all, some time to think and some time to check back in with one of the places and friends that have helped make me who I am.

Tracks:

1. Song of Night by SLOX

2. Skulltaste by Mux Mool

3. Kites by Geographer

4. Lying Around by Magic Bullets

5. Fine by yU

6. Ships With Holes Will Sink by We Were Promised Jetpacks

Most music provided by IODA Promonet. Also on this show, our main man, Ken Christianson, and Wolf Parade.

Jul

Go West

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/101492855″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]”There aren’t so many real cowboys left in America, just a lot of folks who dress like them,” writes Brendan Leonard. Maybe the cowboy is gone, but the tradition of going West to reinvent oneself has remained a part of our culture. Where does that desire come from? Is it a part the American Psyche? In Brendan’s case, it came from his father’s passion for the West. In small town Iowa, the only way Brendan and his dad, Joe, could foster the dream of red rock and sage was by watching westerns. Lots of westerns. Today, Brendan presents a story about mountain people and the dreams parents instill in their children. Go West.

Music:

All the songs from Brendan’s episode come from Seattle singer/songwriter Gabriel Mintz off of his new album Volume one. Here is a little bit about Gabe.

Seattle-based Gabriel Mintz has a need to write songs. Lots of them. It’s like blood or breathing. From his West Village days on Bleeker Street to his Greyhound Bus desert individuations, Mintz has written more than a hundred songs that tell of characters and sketched out scenes. Vocals are a gangly call. Dirtied, but on. Closer to the mic, his lower register becomes unashamed of its beauty. He’s roots type Americana-leaning with a warm spatial drone.

Capturing this sublime aridness, Mintz released Volume One this spring. It documents his first full-length foray and it’s an adventurous one. The expansive beauty of tracks like “Western Days,’ “Atom Bomb” and “Firefly” amble along the mental throughway like brush across a barren Texas highway.

These contemplative capsules were destined to accompany the open plains as seen from an auto on cruise control or the dew-tinted window of a passing train. The moods that reverberate on Volume One are many; from the gritty thump of “Safeway” to the 60’s pop harmonies of “Sofa Bed” where Mintz sounds like a cross between Roger McGuinn and Neil Diamond to the majestic “Desert Sky” whose stream-of-consciousness vocal sounds like a channeling of Jim Morrison from his epic ode “The End.”

Anchoring Gabriel’s visceral ruminations are Trent Moorman (Head Like A Kite) on drums and producer Geoff Stanfield (Sun Kil Moon) on bass who both recently joined him for a four-song live session at Seattle’s world-famous KEXP studios. The radio station’s Morning Show host/producer John Richards quipped “This new Gabriel Mintz is pretty stunning stuff, emotional & beautiful music.”