The Rodent Hour

07/26/2024

Wow! This is pretty amazing! A member of Pink Flag, the first band that I ever visited with on The Rodent Hour, is going to be playing on Friday night at with their new band - - along with two other former guests - and

This is a seriously great lineup and I hope people will get out to the show. (If only shows were a thing that we still did.)

06/25/2024

Thanks Tom Howard!

Two weeks ago I received this fantastic show poster from one of the OG Rodents, who this show was named after. Not sure who the Crotch Rockets were but NoMeansNo and D.O.A. were hugely influential in my mis-spent youth.

05/08/2024

R.I.P.

"Man Points" from the album F IT by Guillotine Riot produced by Steve Albini.

Shot and directed by: A.F.CORTÉS at Electrical Audio in Chicago during the recording of the album.

Man Points form the album F IT by Guillotine Riot produced by Steve Albini. Shot and directed by: A.F.CORTÉS at Electrical Audio in Chicago during the rec...

04/28/2024

I may not be working out but I am working on a little project and I could use some help.

Of the over 250 unique guests that I visited with on The Rodent Hour, and the untold number of independent artists whose music we included on a playlist, I'm curious to know how many own and operate their own small business?

I don't need the name of your small business, just whether someone in the band owns and operates a small business.

Why am I looking for this information?

As I said, I'm working on a little project and the goal of the project is to convince a small city, one that is hoping to revitalize itself, that they should not overlook the impact that artists and musicians can have on their small city.

Our view has always been that in order for an independent musician to achieve some level of "success" they need to think of themselves as entrepreneurs and to operate like they're a small business.

When I use the term "success" I'm referring to everything from the act of putting a band together and creating music, to playing a show and all the way up to booking and scheduling your own tour. From my perspective I think that the ability to work with and through others to achieve goals is often an overlooked skill that musicians possess. I also think they're skills that are invaluable if you're looking to revitalize your small city.

Admittedly, it's a long shot but I think if you want to revitalize your small city there's no better group to assist with that effort than small business owners.

P.S. Please feel free to share.

04/13/2024

Sharing some fantastic news.

The artist who created our fabulous rodent characters, so many years ago, has signed with a literary agent at Bookends Literary! Hopefully this is a path that will lead to her being a published author/illustrator.

She's also been asked to participate in two art exhibitions. Nice!

We're forever grateful to all of the artists who continue to create art, and music, that we like.

03/30/2024

Today's a great day for a !

I can't believe that it was almost 11 years ago that The Highway played a live set in the studio at Pratt Radio. Time sure does fly!

That's what made Daniel Tortoledo's visit to MakerPark Radio all the more special. It brings me great joy to see artists that I like still sharing their gift with the world. As a fan of music, what more can you ask for?

The playlist for Daniel's visit includes lots of great music but also features tracks by artists who played live in the studio and at Culture Lab LIC.

https://bit.ly/DanielTortoledo

*Dirty - Wah Wah Wah
Lose Control - The Highway
*Won't change a thing - Basic Shapes
Gotta Roll on - Dead Gallery
Many Things - Daniel Tortoledo
*Close Enough - Stress Dolls
Dark Times - Daniel Tortoledo
*Pour Another - The Darts - US
New York - Eden James
TV Shop Winos - Brick Briscoe
Looking For A Girl With A Washing Machine - Big Sleep
*Dada Catapult - The Stolen Moans
Dernier Soir - Les Lullies
Got To Move On - Toxic Tito
*No Return - the Scaners
Gypsy Woman (She Told Me) - Alejandro Meola
Restless Days - Daniel Tortoledo
Interview & Live Performance
Set Me Free - The Highway

*New Music

Daniel Tortoledo is a Venezuelan/American singer-songwriter currently residing in the city of Vienna. He was in NYC to finish the mastering of his new album with Daniel Tortoledo & The Sound Machine.

03/07/2024

I took a stroll through DUMBO the other day and took a swing by BBOX Radio - The studio is looking sharp!

I visited with a lot of good people there and we played a lot of good music by independent artists. We also drank a lot of beer.

11/22/2023

I’m willing to bet that this little, power lifter would have had no problem hauling a slice of pizza up the stairs in a NYC subway station.

06/30/2023

Rocked out with Bad Kitty last night at Brooklyn Music Kitchen. It was great to finally see them live after visiting with Renee and Howard in November, 2021 on Radio Free Brooklyn.

https://bit.ly/Women4Rock

This episode was #78 on the Mixcloud chart and includes music by Desert Sharks, Vulpynes Thrilldriver, Guillotine Riot & The Cramps!

Full playlist + videos by Guillotine Riot, Vulpynes, Desert Sharks, Thrilldriver and The Cramps can be found at the following link.

https://spinitron.com/RFB/pl/14486400/The-Rodent-Hour

12/26/2022

Algorithms are weird. Someone from Indonesia just retweeted this show from Labor Day, 2017. A show that was broadcast on Radio Free Brooklyn. It was a lot of fun to listen to again.

Playlist
The Marquee - Pit
Sun Boulevard - King Of Anywhere
Vulpynes - Silica
Switches - I Just Wanna
O***m Ink - Porcelain Doll
BIRDS - Scatter
Archaics - Not For Nothing
Double Naught Spy Car - Tale of the Comet
Them Fangs - Left For The Wild
Web City Limits - Traitor
The Singles - If You Want Me, You Can Have Me
Ellen and the Degenerates - Milk
Justine and the Unclean - Passive Aggressive Baby
Schoolyards - From 29 to 44
Timekeep - Suite

Stay safe and stay warm!

The always amazing rock 'n' roll that is created in Brooklyn and New York City forms the base for our Labor Day broadcast but we branched out to include independent artists from around the globe whose new music has caught our ear. The Marquee "Pit" Sun Boulevard "King of Anywhere" Vulpynes "Silica"....

09/22/2022

Perhaps THE best picture by a guest during my time hosting The Rodent Hour.

We had an absolute blast hanging with Matt on The Rodent Hour at BBOX radio last night. He is an incredibly knowledgable and sweet dude and even took a shot of our Sauza to celebrate the release of our new record.

Tomorrow night we're at Arlene's Grocery at 10:30 PM. Come on out and celebrate with us. We'll be giving some free stuff away.

09/19/2022

Almost, but not quite, 10 years since Kira Metcalf and her band played a live set for The Rodent Hour on

When I texted a friend, and former co-worker, to say that I was at listening to Kira, she had the best response ever:

“Glad to see Kira still sharing her gift.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

05/31/2022

Shoutout to Tara Jacoby for creating this great illustration for an article about rats on Gothamist.

05/16/2022

Hey PDX music fans!

I'm trying to find out the name of a female-fronted rock band from PDX that just released a song called "Elephant". The song's brilliant and I would like to pick up some of their music, but the song is on an anonymous playlist.

All I have to go on is the name of the song and some lyrics.

"Compassion is an elephant that drags us across a cold, hard ground."

Here's a 2017 picture of Kool Stuff Katie, who I visited with at Freeform Portland

05/13/2022

Great memory!

That time in 2015 on BBOX Radio when we made the US radio debut for Orango from Norway.

"Bearded Love" - official video from the album "Battles" - available from Division Records (Norway) & Stickman Records (Europe). (C): Orango // (P): Orangoht...

04/24/2022

Wanda and Jackson stopped by to pay their respects the other day.

It’s downright criminal that more than three years after they were forced to close their doors the developers still haven’t started work. Not that I want to see more soulless buildings in Brooklyn but that could have been three more years of a great dive bar and a cool venue for independent artists.

03/06/2022

After 10+ years of hosting The Rodent Hour, including the last five on Radio Free Brooklyn, I made the decision to wrap up the show.

On January 31st, the good people of InCircles were my guests and I really couldn't have asked for a better group of people to close out the show with. Jewlee, Ozzie and Matt made sure that we went out with something a lot louder than a bang as they played a live set for our final broadcast.

https://bit.ly/InCirclesLiveOnRFB

Thanks to everyone who’s listened over the years. I hope you’ll agree with me when I say there’s so much good music being created by independent artists these days.

A huge thank you to all of the independent artists, both guests and otherwise, who continue to pour their heart and soul into making so much fantastic music. Music that has helped enrich my life more than anyone can imagine.

Thanks to Kate Hoos for taking so many great pictures and for being a wonderful guest over the years.

01/25/2022

Thank you for being part of the minority! The people who still listen to new music, the people who still buy new music and the people who still go out and listen to new music being created by independent artists.

Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market. Even worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking.

01/22/2022

Whether it's seeing the band live, or having her as a guest in the studio, it's always great to spend time with MONTE.

Lots of things in the works for this Brooklyn based power trio, including the release of new music, more shows and a special session at Leesta Vall Sound Recordings.

Playlist features rockin' tunes by our guest plus Castle Black, Crowd the Airwaves, The Dents, Bad Kitty and ROT TV on Tee P*e Records.

Originally broadcast on January 17th. For detailed track listing please visit: https://bit.ly/RodentHourOnSpinitron Tune in every Monday evening @ 8PM Eastern.

01/21/2022

Cold? What cold? We've got great music to help you take your mind off it.

Tune into Radio Free Brooklyn on Monday evening at 8 PM Eastern when Kistin & Jericho from Kristin Flammio & The Pretty Btchin' join me in the studio. You'll find a link to listen in the event page below:

Kristin Flammio & the Pretty Bitchin' on RFB

Also on the playlist will be music by Oh!Gunquit (London), The Chelsea Curve (Boston), new music by Stress Dolls (Buffalo), plus two of the three artists playing at the RFB Presents show on January 28th at Bar Freda, Dirt Bikes (Brooklyn) and 7th Grade Girl Fight (Charlottesville).

RFB Presents: 7th Grade Girl Fight (C'Ville, VA), Castle Black, & Dirt Bikes @ Bar Freda

01/19/2022

I really hope that some former guests, as well as artists that we've played on the show, will submit an application to LOUD WOMEN Fest 6.

The 5th annual LOUD WOMEN Fest will be held on 18 Sept 2021 in London. Featuring BANG BANG ROMEO and 19 more awesome acts.

01/17/2022

"Time To Go" is making some noise on Mixcloud charts!

https://www.mixcloud.com/RadioFreeBrooklyn/the-rodent-hour-ep-240-time-to-go/

I'm glad that listeners are enjoying the rockers by Judex, GIFTSHOP, Fear Is Dead, Thee MVPs, Vinyette, Gone By Friday, Basic Shapes, Los Feliz, Mary Shelly and RunHideFight plus by Advocaat on Big Eleanor Records, Predeceased and discordense on P.O.G.O. records.

Also available on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts and from our show page on the Radio Free Brooklyn website.

01/17/2022

For some strange reason I just can't get motivated for Monday's show.

Are you kidding me?! We're hanging with MONTE! It's going to be a blast! There's new music on the way, gigs to tell you about, plus a fun opportunity that they're doing with the good people at Leesta Vall Sound Recordings

to Radio Free Brooklyn on Monday at 8PM when we welcome MONTE to our studio. It's always a good time when you spend time with this based power rock trio.

Monte on The Rodent Hour

Show playlist includes Crowd the Airwaves, Bad Kitty, ROT TV on Tee P*e Records, Castle Black and The Dents.

Listen via our website or download our app for iOS or Android. (Pro-tip: Use your Bluetooth enabled phone to listen to RFB while you're in your car.)

"No Motivation" has been in the MONTE repertoire since the band's creation. The song was written by front woman, Caitlin Montclare in 2015. It has been on a ...

01/15/2022

Alright! Listen up! "Time To Go" is now available on Mixcloud.

Playlist features rockers by Judex, GIFTSHOP, Fear Is Dead, Thee MVPs, Vinyette, Gone By Friday, Basic Shapes, Los Feliz, Mary Shelly and RunHideFight plus by Advocaat on Big Eleanor Records, Predeceased and discordense on P.O.G.O. records.

Always available on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts and from our show page on the Radio Free Brooklyn website.

Originally broadcast on January 10th. For detailed track listing please visit: https://bit.ly/RodentHourOnSpinitron Tune in every Monday evening @ 8PM Eastern.

01/08/2022

Happy New Year! New Music from Brooklyn and beyond to kick off 2022.

Playlist includes Razor Braids, Plaid Dracula, Wine Lips, The Kundalini Genie, Basic B-tches, AVA VOX, Moon Goose, The Pulsebeats, Clementine Was Right, Pleasant Valley Band, The Shelter People, Broozer, Thee Gunlocks and Kristin Flammio & The Pretty Btchin'.

You can also listen to the show via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and via the Radio Free Brooklyn website.

Originally broadcast on January 3rd. For detailed track listing please visit: https://bit.ly/RodentHourOnSpinitron Tune in every Monday evening @ 8PM Eastern.

01/02/2022

Change of plans! We're erring on the side of caution again.

Monday night's broadcast will now feature music by Kristin Flammio & The Pretty Btchin', but no Kristin, along with new music by Basic B-tches, Broozer, Plaid Dracula, Razor Braids, Wine Lips, Thee Gunlocks, The Pulsebeats, The Kundalini Genie, Clementine Was Right, AVA VOX, The Shelter People, Pleasant Valley Band plus more!

Use the link below to listen via the Radio Free Brooklyn website or you can download our app for iOS or Android.

http://rfb.nyc/trh

12/31/2021

Who's crazy enough to make plans for 2022? We are!

That's because we've got a great guest to kick-off the new year with - Kristin from Kristin Flammio & The Pretty Btchin' will be joining me in the Radio Free Brooklyn studio to talk about the release of their debut album, "If You Want To Leave". We'll also have new music by Pleasant Valley Band, Clementine Was Right, AVA VOX and Broozer to share.

Show time is 8 PM on Monday evening. You can set a reminder by joining the event page.

Kristin Flammio & the Pretty Bitchin' on RFB

Stay safe and Happy New Year!

12/27/2021

Tonight @ 8 PM Eastern on Radio Free Brooklyn we have for your listening pleasure an encore presentation of my November visit with Killdeer, an NYC all-female guitar-driven rock and roll band. Link below to listen or download or mobile app for iOS or Android.

http://rfb.nyc/trh

Great music by our guest plus killer tunes by Lee Harrington Lynda Mandolyn and The Chelsea Curve, both on Red on Red Records, BERRIES, X-Ray Love, Brenyama, Black Widows and The Dead Coats.

The band does have a bunch of upcoming show so make sure that you follow them on social media in order to stay as up-to-date as possible in our ever-evolving situation. Stay safe.

12/24/2021

Whenever we’re in Syracuse we always stop at The Sound Garden Syracuse to see what’s new.

I think Wanda & Jackson are trying to decide who’s rock and who’s pop.