I don’t want to waste anymore time on this than I already have. Duncan Wood—known to our humble establishment as DJ Woodie Wood—has released his debut EP, and it’s some bullshit. He really shouldn’t have gone through the trouble of mailing me this copy for the station (let alone a copy for me); he’s pestered me about it for months, forcing me to listen to the bad first mixes, which really aren’t all that different from what you hear here. This project reeks of amateurism, succumbing to the mawkish drivel and banal moon-June-spoon rhymes of lesser pop artists. Not even bass virtuoso Zachary Ostroff can save this musical dogshit, which is about as pleasant to listen to as a Falcon Punch on the nose. Go listen to something that’s more stimulating, like Nickelback or Phil Collins.

This has been an extended joke. Wood’s debut EP is a fine piece of work, featuring a handful of warmly-written acoustic pop tunes in the style of James Taylor or Jason Mraz. The performances are good, the mixing is good—it just sounds and feels good. No need to overthink this little batch of songs; just put it on and play it and help our boy out.

FCCs: None
Favorites: 1, 3, 5, 6

1) “big sur” (4:07)* – Acoustic guitar-driven song with clicking percussion. There’s a soft trumpet in the background which gets a standout solo around the two-minute mark, and again close to the end of the song. Probably my favorite number.
2) “where am i, pt. i” (1:10) – A sound collage of voice messages over a spare acoustic guitar. It’s basically an interlude.
3) “in your flame” (3:12)* – This song’s a bit brisker than “big sur,” and it’s about lost love. Drums are prominent, with clean electric guitar and trumpet.
4) “where am i, pt. ii” (1:11) – The second half of the interlude. Starts off with a funnier message, which has been censored for the FCC, but it’s still not begging to be played.
5) “mt. hamilton” (3:24)* – A pair of guitars, acoustic and electric, dance around each other. Prominent percussion with a pair of guitar solos at about 1:30 and 2:10. Found sound-type audio in the last minute of the song.
6) “santa cruz” (5:03)* – Here’s the only track that I’m not completely smitten with. The electric guitar is a little too overdriven, and it kind of distracts from the acoustic guitar and trumpet, which are more reserved and tasteful—and quite lovely. The last half of the song is pretty much extended soloing, with studio banter coming in in the song’s final minute.
7) “where am i (unabridged)” (2:56) – A bonus track that consists of both parts of the titular interlude. Like I said, it’s an interlude, not really a track that merits playing on its own.
8) “mt. hamilton + santa cruz (single version)” (7:20) – This bonus track is, as the name implies, “mt. hamilton” and “santa cruz” tacked onto each other. There’s not too much of an audible difference between these mixes of the tracks and those ones, so…just play those ones.