Here you go: a recap of what your favorite over-vocabulated radio personality played on those Tuesday nights through the year, with helpful and occasionally sardonic commentary to help guide your recollection.
AM + Shawn Lee
La Musique Numerique
This collection gives us vocal and instrumental versions of its tracks, which include a standout cover of Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" and a vibe that will make you take out the grownup glasses for making cocktails.
The Computers
Love Triangles Hate Squares
The nigh ungoogleable Computers are straight-ahead boogie rock, but they do it with flair. Barrelhouse piano and twangy guitar duel with a bassist and drummer that know how to thump it.
The Greyboy All Stars
Inland Emperor
The Funk is strong with these ones. It sounds like it was recorded in a hurry, but that's a good thing. The band strains at their leashes from start to finish, with raw polish and enough bump to get your coffee table demolished should you play it at your next party.
Los Amigos Invisibles
Repeat After Me
This Venezuelan band returns with another episode of their non-stop *gozadera* -- their live show is not to be missed, unless you have a problem with an hour and a half of non-stop (literally, the band does not stop) mixing of Latin disco and '80s hits.
Oblivians
Desperation
The Oblivians sound like the soundtrack to *American Grafitti* run through a Tube Screamer. You can compare them to the Ramones, but their rock-and-roll-toilet lineup, in which every member can play every instrument, gives way to some ear-opening sounds.
The Refreshments
Let It Rock: Tribute to Chuck Berry
Let's face it. Nobody can write a barely-there innuendo like Chuck Berry. The Refreshments, whose theme song for King of the Hill you may have heard many times, have been pumping out these tribute albums for a while, but I think this time they nailed the subject.
The Shouting Matches
Grownass Man
Nomenclature would be enough for this band to qualify for this list -- these are fantastic band and album names. The band follows up on the one-two punch with a fistful of dive bar anthems that'll kick your sorry lazy butt all the way to the dance floor.
They Might Be Giants
Nanobots
There is always at least one good track in any They Might Be Giants release, and usually more. Every once in a while, there will be an album with lots and lots of good tracks, and Nanobots is one of these. It's a return to Apollo 18 not only in style, but in the addition of tiny sonic vignettes to spice up your random play.
ZZ Top
The Complete Studio Albums
No, it's not new, but it did come out in 2013. A fascinating chronogram of a true-as-dirt Texas blues band that went from weirdo beardos to MTV's favorite dirty uncles overnight. Consistent with their roots for the longest time, the band added some disco sizzle to their thing a decade into their career, to great commercial success, and somewhat debatable artistic success. It's all in there.
Bop Du Fway
Dispatch from Outville
The lab is not returning my calls to carbon-date this oddity, so I'm going to tag it here as a 2013 release and move on. Out of Columbus, Ohio, this quartet is what would happen if you asked Firesign Theater to make fun of beatniks, then found someone better to do it.
Julius C. Lacking can be heard every Tuesday night at 10 pm Florida time on WFIT, 89.5FM and wfit.org
Check out the full list of DJ countdowns for more WFIT favorites!