Don't get me started on how weird the whole holiday has become...4 foot tall inflated Pooh bear with a Dracula cape on in your front yard??!?! And I still don't get it when people dress as ANYTHING it is supposed to be a scary costume!!
Thanks for all the suggestions for theme music, it was fun to see how we could spread it out over the whole day...although I guess as Mary has said in the past...we do like the Devil's music!

Does anyone know of any cool rock-n-roll dentist? Someone gentle, who has good music in the office and is liberal with the laughing gas?

Anybody go to any costume parties this weekend and see any good costumes? Unfortunately, I didn't make it to any this year, but I was curious if anyone was going to dress up as Harriet Miers.

Did you dress up as anything this year?

I've caught myself smacking my lips together a lot today when talking. Sorry. I hate that sound and I don't know why I felt the need to torture others.

Hello!

Seems to me I've been slacking on my bloggin'. What can I say? I'm forgetful. I was just reading a Festivus article. I want to have a Festivus party just so I can air my grievances with my guests.

This past Wednesday I attended the Paul McCartney concert at the Xcel. Holy cow. It was great, I'd been looking forward to it for a long time. He played close to 40 songs. Incredible. His new album is quite good. "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" is the name of the new album. I wanted to get a shirt, but I think Sir Paul could bring his merch prices down just a tad.... that's coming from someone who spent $9 on a cocktail at the Xcel. Holy smokes! I know it was a double, but sheesh. To Jill Riley it looked like a single though.

Went to The Go! Team last night at First Ave. Wow, talk about high energy. They were really fun. I like bands that actually have a stage presence and actually put on a show. They were a lot younger than I pictured them. It was really fun for me to hear my favorite songs by them live. Junior Kickstart, Ladyflash and Bottle Rocket are some of my faves, but they all sounded great. Except... well, one of the drummers sang and it hurt my ears, but it was all apart of the fun I suppose. Plus, I felt old, and I am no where near aging. I don't know what it is about all ages shows sometimes. I mean, they are great so that everyone has a chance to hear some music, but sheesh. I never got to go to a show by myself when I was 12... or maybe that dude just looked 12.

I just had an embarrassing moment on the air. I was in a production studio pushing a couple buttons and realized I needed to be back on the air pronto. Well, I ran, made in time, but was totally out of breath. I must've sounded real great. I make it a point not to run in daily life, so I was a little winded. I bet I sounded like the creepy guy that calls in the middle of the night and just breathes into the phone. Or- remember what the Fatty McGee character sounded like on Adam Sandler's first CD? Yup. No more stairs for me.

I'm going to a costume party tonight. Yes. Not only does everyone look ridiculous, but it's a good excuse to act ridiculous as well.

I better go find my oxygen tank.

Happy Halloween. By the way, I'm convinced my apartment is haunted.

-Riley

Rob has been one of the DJ's on Radio 1 charged with trying to fill in for John Peel. He has a similar broad taste in musical styles as he demonstrates on his new compilation cd Fabric 24. But this track list has none of those songs and instead remixes big beat mashups, hip hop and classic rock in an innovative way. This is what we heard;
Skeewif - man of constant sorrow
Run DMC - walk this way
Topcat & Mary - disco request
DJ Mascaras - another one bites da girls
Run Jeremys Window Licker - X rated lick
Les Visiteurs - Snoop Acid Drop
Tomboy - Samba
Switch - a bit patchy
Markus Guentner - umbegung

For more info;
bbc.co.uk (Radio 1)
fabriclondon.com

Would someone please read this book so I can talk to you about it..

Robert Laguardia's Monty A biography of Montgomery Clift. I've also read Patricia Bosworth's take.. I prefer the Laguardia one. It's a little more dark.

Like Thorn said this morning, "It's Friday, so ... that means we're coasting, right?"

Okay, maybe not all of us. But in case you're looking for ways to shirk your responsibilities and pretend to be working until 5:00 comes, I can't recommend a better Friday afternoon time-waster than this.

Have a great weekend.

Hey Tim good job! I guess with the web these days ANYTHING is discoverable?! I loved watching the Liver Birds as a kid, quite a feminist show for it's time. BUT the Young Ones was one of me all time faves. When I first came to the USA I worked on a summer camp as a counsellor. There were about 9 of us Brits trying to keep the kids entertained and me and a very short stocky guy from Manchester used to re-enact scenes from the Young Ones, he was Rick and I was Vivienne...i think! Anyway the kids at that time had never even seen it so you can imagine their looks of disbelief?!? Anyway, Tim send me your address at mwheat@mpr.org and i'll send you a prize and if you have no idea what I am referring to, see my post from last night.

Get thee to the Fitzgerald Theater this Sunday night for the Guest Session Sunday's final night with The Hopefuls..
Special guests include 3/4 of Trip..
I'm just saying...

As an unrepentant Mark Eitzel/American Music Club fan, I've been looking forward to the new Eitzel solo disc, Candy Ass. I have to say I'm underwhelmed. It continues the electronica-thing of The Invisible Man, but it seems like Mark made this one in his sleep (or in the middle of an even-more-enthusiastic-than-usual bender). I can imagine listening to it occasionally maybe at 3am, but would be kind of a big sonic quaalude for the middle of the day on the radio.

Also, any David Sylvian fans out there hear the new Sylvian/Jansen/Burnt Friedman disc? (They're calling themselves "Nine Horses" ... what a terrible band name). The snippets on the Samadhi Sound website make the material sound a bit cheesy to me, but it's hard to tell. "Wonderful World," however, sounds promising. (No, we don't have a copy here ... Samadhi Sound is a tiny label and doesn't generally send their stuff).

I guess, then, that the exciting new release of the moment is still Gang Of Four's Return The Gift. At least, until we get this.

So ... there's this huge collection of unreleased Elliot Smith circulating on the Internets. I can't advocate that you seek it out (illegal), nor could I play it if I had it (super-duper illegal), but I'm just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of if/when it might be released.

Another question: does anyone have any familiarity with an ES documentary that contains live footage, as well as footage of him in the studio playing every instrument (amazingly)? I would love to get a copy of such a thing -- again, if it's something that's actually commercially available.

Areya Askin?!?
More old British TV references...too long to explain...sorry...p'raps I should run a contest, anyone who knows where that reference comes from gets a prize, I'm trying to clear out me closets at home as we prepare to move apartment, so you can have an article of detritus!!
Anyhoo...I'm excited to have a great DJ set for Friday lined up, to follow the 1 1/2 Peel sets we had, we have one from one of the DJ's who stepped in to fill his shifts; Rob Da Bank
AND, one of the big names in dance music is in town Thursday night Richie Hawtin is at the Quest.
Where do you go dancing? Are there any regular nights in town that are worthy of mentioning on the radio?

When I was a kid I bit a themometer. Hello Mercury! Hello Stomach Pump!
What stupid childhood injuries did you suffer?

She won't do it, so I'll be the one to make sure you see a really nice little profile of Mary that ran in the Strib the other day.

here's a few interesting releases;

The Fiery Furnaces "Rehearsing my choir"
I have seen such wildly divergent reviews of this that i was insanely hyped to hear it especially as these guys were one of my fave musical crushes from the last two years...with that in mind I am going to come down on the positive side. I have a lot of time for spoken word delivery and good story telling and the musical background is simply elegant FF bawdybeat!

Rogue Wave "Descended like Vultures"

Tons of T.Rex re-issues and compilations if you need more!

"This Bird Has Flown" A compilation to celebrate the 40th Anniversary
of The Beatles "Rubber Soul" album, includes Sufjan Stevens, Low, The Donnas and Cowboy Junkies....and speaking of Beatles...

George Harrison's "Concert for Bangladesh" is being re-released and put on DVD, it was perhaps the first huge benefit gigs, and included a surprise appearance from Bob Dylan.

Breakestra "Hit the Floor"

Since I'm not in the position to aquire another pet( aren't there laws?).. I ask that the next person to adopt a cat, dog, ferret etc. at least consider naming it "Mr. Steak".. even better if it's a female.
I overheard someone talking about a restaraunt they used to frequent called MR. Steak and for some reason I think it's the funniest name I've ever heard.

I'm gonna say it: I'm tired of how we're not supposed to like Westerberg's 90s material. The truth is, I got tired of this proscribed posture years ago, but now I've really, really had enough of it.

You know what I'm talking about. 14 Songs and Eventually etc. are just "commercial sellouts" from the guy who spent the 80s sweating blood and booze. What absolute hooey.

I just got done playing "Once Around The Weekend," and for about the one-billionth time since I first heard it, I was struck by what a perfect song it is. Is it "Color Me Impressed?" Is it "Here Comes A Regular?" No. It's not supposed to be. Rather, it's the sound of an artist who has a vast and brilliant grasp of the craft of songwriting, serving up a sonic diamond and getting nothing but grief for it. What is wrong with people that they want this man to be puking out variations on "Sorry Ma" until he's 60? Why on earth am I even having to sit here and write this?

The same thing happens to me when I listen to "Black Eyed Susan" or "MammaDaddyDid," or any number of other 90s Westerberg gems. I realize that these are songs that thousands of lesser artists would kill to be able to write, but Westerberg himself only got proclimations of "feh" from our guardians of artistic "authenticity."

Anybody else want to get in on this rant? Can we put an end to "Westerberg orthodoxy" forever?

How was THAT for a set?

We played Roger Miller on the anniversary of his death. The sound of the tune made us think of Nancy Sinatra and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". And speaking of boots, why not some Dwight Yoakam covering Cheap Trick?? We couldn't resist.

Just another fine example of DJ teamwork.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Mike

Got a great ticket winning phone call tonight!
I had just gotten a call from the First Ave staff asking if I'd announce that the Soul Asylum show that had been sold out in the Entry for weeks was now going to happen in the Mainroom, in an hour! Then I gave away tickets for the Go Team! and a guy won them as he was standing outside the club on a smoke break! They broadcast the Current to the smokers which gave me the idea of doing a quick set for those standing out there waiting for the Soul Asylum show to start, including a song by Tommy Stinson who was making his debut on bass. It's awesome when you feel like you're doing radio OF the moment.

Would you tell a stranger if they had something stuck in their teeth or were walking around with a dryer sheet stuck to their pant leg?
Yesterday without thinking I tucked a dudes tag back into his shirt collar... a stranger in front of me getting coffee!!
What's my problem? I would've been skeeved out if someone did that to me.

Well my friends, we surpassed our goal of 1.8 million membership dollars! Thanks so much to everyone, new and renewing members, for the wonderful support. The Current is YOUR station and you showed how much you need it around by showing your financial support.

I had so much fun listening to Seel and Wheat last night as they pitched membership to the final hours of the drive. They were quite cooky by the end!

I carved a pumpkin last night. It was a quiet night at the Riley residence.

Tonight make sure to go down to The Fitzgerald Theatre tonight for Polara! They have a number of guests and if you're a member, you get 2 tickets for the price of one. It should be a great time, doors are at 6:30pm. Enjoy some appetizers before the show and mingle with some Current DJ's. See you there! Don't forget the wrap up of Guest Session Sundays next week with music from The Hopefuls. The only excuse I will accept for you not being there is The Hold Steady that night at First Ave.
-Jill

Next Tuesday will mark the first anniversary of John Peel's death and as one of the original DJ's on the BBC's Radio One, the UK's public radio, it seemed fitting during the fund drive here at the pioneering MPR station.
The set was from the Fabriclive #7 cd:
The Kingswoods...purty vacant
Sinthetix...liar
Culture...lion rock
Act 1...tom the peeper
Joy Division...love will tear us apart
Elementz of Noise...clock
The Cheviot Ranters...corn rigs tunes
Marc Smith vs. Safe'n' Sound...identify the beat

People hate hospitals, that's a given.
I always thought it might be amusing to paint the recovery room ceiling to look like HELL... so as you slowly come to from the anesthesia the first thing you see are flames and the beast master.

30 Hours to go ... have you supported The Current yet?

We'll make this if YOU do!

We go to bed in the dark. We wake up in the dark.
And over half of The Morning Show, these days, happens when its dark (outside). But I took a call from a listener just a few minutes ago who shed some light on us:
"I just love this station. The Twin Cities has really been missing this kind of music for a long, long time."
Thanks for that call. It's those kinds of comments that make our day.
Hope you feel the same...1-800-227-2811 or www.minnesotapublicradio.org

Hey Night Owl listeners of The Current....

Where are you? Night time is the right time to renew or become a NEW member of Minnesota Public Radio. Where would you be without The Current to get you through the night? I know, I know you're waiting one more night. But- remember, we're wrapping up the Minnesota Public Radio fund drive on Saturday! Thanks to everyone who's thrown their hard earned cash our way! The Current is getting better and better every day and it wouldn't be possible without your support. Thanks!

On another note, I just noticed my fingernails are finally long enough to be considered feminine. That only means one thing- I haven't been playing my guitar lately.

Don't forget to contribute!

-Jill

I'm not making this up...I played E.L.O. tonight, one of those whims. THEN I read the Cue and see the Halloween gig discussion, so I mention that on the air and Jeff calls and says;
E.L.O. were his first ever concert at the Civic Center, Halloween 1982!??! How weird is that? He said that Hall & Oates were the support and E.L.O. had to play a medley of their hits, they had so many! How many bands can, or want to do that any more?
I always liked medleys, a lost art or an abomination best left dead...whatd'yathink?

Hi Danny,
I never see you, How's it going?
See you at the Soul Asylum show, should be mental.

It was a hoot to have Lucia on with me this afternoon. Fun for many reasons, but chief among them has to be her hilarious screed against the Four Non Blondes song "What's Up." Thank you, Mary, for giving voice to something that legions of lesser DJs -- including myself -- have never had the courage to say.

Is anyone going to a costume party this year? Last Halloween I went to TWO costume parties and they are always my favorite kind of party. I was a devil one night and a nun the next...

I'm trying to decide what costume to go with this year. I love Halloween. I don't think I've ever had a bad time at a costume party. I'm thinking about recycling the evil doctor costume, but then I saw a very large and ridiculous banana costume in a shop the other day. The problem with me is that I like to add some blood and guts to my costumes. An evil, killer banana? hmmm. Food for thought.

What's the best costume you've ever had? Most original?

That phrase is from a TV commercial that I remember from my youth and so it might not mean anything to any of you ! Just one of those phrases that STILL repeats itself in my head every once in a while...the power of advertising huh!? Well what i really wanted to stress was what a lot of teamwork goes into making radio, especially during the Fund Drive. It's fun to help Mary during her shift and have Steve Nelson, our boss, in the studio helping us try to keep focused!
Because I've been putting in extra hours Jill is coming in early tonight another sign of teamwork...but you know, YOU are the most important part of this Current team, you're like the cheerleading section in our hometown crowd. The members are like the rabid fans who go to every game...and we loveya!
Thanks for all the support so far, today was awesome, let's ride this pony home, together!!

Has anyone seen an episode of the most horrifying show on television..
BREAKING BONADUCE?
With someone as messed up as this dude do you think a line has been crossed. Trainwreck entertainment?

Our challenge today is to take 2000 membership pledges before the end of the day to get back on track. Well lookee here ... we're doin' it. As of this writing, we only have a little over 850 to go, and it's about 1:15 pm.

Thanks, folks. Thanks for continuing to support The Current.

So I head out the door this morning fully expecting to see that glorious full moon I saw hanging over the city yesterday morning (like a giant Powerball in the sky), but NO!... Clouds today.
Cloudy or not, it's still dark this dang early in the morning.

Good Morning! Hope you're enjoying the music today!

Mike Pengra

Have you ever openly wept at a show because it was that good, or because it was a singer/band you'd been waiting to see all your life?

Only a few releases of music that we are playing today, most notably;

Silver Jews "Tanglewood Numbers"
Often referred to as a Pavement side project, behind the writing of David Berman they've really come into their own on the last two cd's and this has some great poetry in the lyrics and some fine guitar playing by Malkmus.

Tiefschwarz "eat books"
From Germany, the name means VERY black, but there's a lot of sunshine on this electronic workout. There's a vocal from Tracy Thorn and a few other guests, which gives it an inconsistant feel, but the last two instrumental tracks are some of the strongest.

The Beautiful New Born Children "hey people"
Gravenhurst "Fires in distant buildings"

The Ruts "Babylon's burning" is re-released, the only album they put out in '79, but perhaps with a new poignance?!

Last week when I interviewed Neil Gaiman he mentioned Elvis Costello as an artist that he trusts to make good records. He basically said he didn't like EVERY record Elvis puts out, but as an artist he trusts him enough that he will make another record that eventually he will love.
I wasn't exactly the world's biggest Tin Machine fan but I trust Bowie. Who do you trust?

Well, it was rough, but they got me to do it. Determine my "five favorite songs of all time," that is.

Asking a music-head to do this is terribly painful. We generally don't like the idea of having to pick fifty favorite songs of all time, much less five. Do I pick songs that I loved when I was five years old? Howabout songs that I loved in high school, but now find to be ridiculous? What if the songs are ones that I was ga-ga for when they first came out, but that we've all grown terribly tired of by now? Who needs a list with those on them?

Jeez, Steve, it's just a fun little game, not something you got a government grant to implement. But still ... you saw High Fidelity. Lists are something music-heads take very seriously.

Anyway ... calming down now. Our Membership Department asked many of the on-air hosts here at MPR to come up with our five favorite songs of all time, as a fun incentive for people giving during the fund-drive today. So, when you give, you'll get the list ... find out Gary Eichten's favorite 5 of all time (an awesome list), and Kerri Miller's and Cathy Wurzer ... and of course, Mary's and Mark's and the Morning Show guys' as well (Jim Ed's list is especially interesting...).

Make your own mental list of the reasons you listen to The Current ... and then support it!

I almost did join the Kiss Army, Destroyer was one of the first albums I got, and it had all the paraphenalia advertised inside. Got me thinking... what if we offered Current masks, like the Kiss masks, to all new members? We really are asking you to become members of our fan club, what special gifts would you like to get? I think me head would look great on a stick!!

Were you ever a member of a fan club?

Whew, finally a moment to come up for air. As I was saying, it's a busy day around here.

The New Member Challenge is going great. But kids, you're going to have to help your pal Lucia out by becoming a new member if you haven't yet. She's left with bringing it all home.

Thanks to everyone who's supported The Current so far this drive, and this year. Our success is your doing, pure and simple.

... as Ben Lee would say.

Membership drive is going fabuloso ...

Today is wonderful... I think we've worked out all the bugs in our computers at the time, so my stress level is basically non-existant today.

I'm off to the Fitzgerald for Guest Session Sundays. This week it's Boiled in Lead, hosted by Dale Connelly.

My contacts have been in for way too long and I can't see. I hope I make it home. I'm always afraid of what people will think of me if I ask them for eye drops. Don't be on the roads tonight after about 11:30pm cause you might be sharing the road with a half blinded DJ.

-Jill

John Peel "FabricLive #7"
Amazingly this is the only collection put together by the great man and represents what he actually played in a live dance club, a pretty electic mix huh?! He did actually play snippets of soccer commentary in the clubs too, the piece that started this set was the goal that enabled Liverpool, his fave footie team, win the European Cup, which he described in an interview as the best moment of his life!
The rest of the set was...
Soledad Bros...break'em on down
Don Carlos...late night blues
MC DET...hipsteppin'
The Velvettes...needle in a haystack
Bad Livers...lust for life
Trouble Funk...let's get small
The Capris...there's a moon out tonight
The Fall...mr.pharmacist
Smith and Selway...15.5 remake

Where did the kids who wore capes in high school go?

It's been a great first day of the membership drive. We had a goal to raise $160,000 by noon today ... and listeners helped us reach that goal by 11am instead. Incredible!

We would love to keep this momentum going. This is the last on-air drive you're going to hear in 2005; the next time we do this, it will be our one-year birthday, and time for many of our Founding Members to renew. So, if you've been hanging out on the sidelines since January, taking in the station's offerings ... howabout supporting what we do?

Here's what you're supporting:

Mary Lucia asking Andrew Bird what he was for Halloween last year ... Bird answering, "a spork" ...Mark Wheat honoring his idol and inspiration John Peel with a special set on the anniversary of Peel's death ...Bill DeVille broadcasting live from the Austin City Limits Music Festival ...Bill DeVille GOING TO TEXAS in the middle of a hurricane ...the absoultely hilarious Danny Sigelman, worth a pledge in and of himself ...Lucia trying not to laugh during Bob Collins' newcasts..."50 Songs For 50 States" on July 4th ...Mark Wheat's new releases every Tuesday evening...The Morning Show, and MPR institution for decades...DJS who PICK THEIR OWN MUSIC...

...you complete the list.

Funny that Mary should ask that question about funeral music...we didn't plan this...but I started my show tonight with a song that John Peel once said that he wanted played at his funeral;
Roy Harper's "when an old cricketer leaves the crease"
and then played The Undertones "teenage kicks" which was the song played at his huge funeral a year ago. I think I'd have "atmosphere" from Joy Division played at mine and it was awesome to hear Pink Floyd's "shine on you crazy diamond" at my step fathers, we bonded more over Wish You Were Here than anything else! Music can bring us together even at the end. I felt like I was trying to pay homage to John Peel tonight and I hope he could hear us!! Hope you did too!

Do you ever imagine what songs you'd like to have played at your own funeral?

Whoa, this Guest Session Sundays thing is taking off. We just got word this morning that Polara has greatly expanded their roster of guests on their show on the 23rd. Added to the original lineup of Astronaut Wife (back from the dead!) and The Mood Swings are Kraig Jarrett Johnson, Sideways, Scott Laurent, Marc Perlman, Dan "The Plate" Boen, Tim Oesau, DJ Marc "The Guv'nor" Mueller, and a finale by "The Susstones Omniphonic Orchestra." Holy smokes. Don't miss this one.

Tomorrow will mark the last day that the legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel was on the air. A year ago Oct 25th he died suddenly on vacation in Peru. In the UK, Thursday has been declared Peel Day and there are over 300 concerts and special events being held and a six hour special on Radio One....www.bbc.co.uk
I listened to him when I was in high school and he literally changed my life and laid the foundation of my obsession with music, so I want to celebrate his life too. I'll play a few of his faves Thursday night and then on Friday he's the Guest DJ, through an amazing set that he did at the club Fabric in London...hope you can join me.

Who went? My oh my, what a show. I thought it was even better than the much ballyhooed Arcade Fire show; that one was awesome, yes, but I was levitating by the time the band got to the instrumental passage from "Different Names For The Same Thing" last night (I'm curious if anyone went to both shows and has a comparison of the two). Anybody wanna go out on a limb with me and say DCFC is the best band in America right now?

Do you ever go outside, suck in a big lung-full of air, look around and just love the outdoors? I love Fall weather and it makes me all warm hearted and excited for the holiday season.... for a few reasons. I love eating non stop and having a good excuse for it and hanging out with family is cool too. Loving the outdoors is so different now that I'm in "the city". I just realized that I think I might be manic right now.

I'm counting down the days until The Go! Team is at First Ave. I've been waiting for a long time now, but it always seems the closer a show that you want to see comes, the further away it seems. I'm impatient, but maybe that comes from being the youngest child.

I was weirded out by the new Sinead O'Connor CD. It's reggae. Reggae is not weird, but Sinead O'Connor doing reggae is weird.

There's been discussion of late on the forum...not that I ever go there...about buying music that you hear on the station. Is it helpful to get a run down of the release dates of the new stuff that I try to do on a Tuesday night?
This is not a complete list, just some cd's that are out today;

Gang of Four...return the gift
(Reworkings of their original 'hits' with a little more power and
production sheen, but I think it works and I'm a huge fan who was sceptical of the idea)
Chocolate Genius Inc...black yankee rock
The Clientele...strange geometry
Deerhoof...the runners four
Dirty Three...cinder
(first one with vocals, one track each by Sally Timms and Cat Power)
Mark Gardener...these beautiful ghosts
(ex-Ride frontman with a totally different feel)
Matt Pond PA...sveral arrows
Kelley Stolz...the sun comes through (EP)
Paul Weller...as is now
(leader of The Jam and Style Council having a revival of sorts)
Danger Doom...the mouse & the mask
(Collaboration between Dangermouse and MF Doom...can THAT fail?!!?)

Spend wisely!

When you were a kid, what did you request for dinner on your birthday?

Has anybody noticed that these blog entries are like little typewritten distillations of our individual approaches to our airshifts? I'm comparing mine, Mark's and Mary's styles ...

It really has been a good year for compilations made up of local music, Twin Town High Vol 7, sticks out as a fave, but the Sound Unscene (sic!) Sampler may ...take the bickie (as we used to say in the UK!)A couple of strong unreleased tracks from Mallman, Beatrix Jar and Duplomacy, and a nice cross section of what else is 'bubbling'. If thousands do a nice job of covering Joy Division and Tapes 'n' Tapes come out firing on all cylinders.
What a great momento of an awesome festival that we can be proud of, there's not one like it anywhere in the world yaknow!

Has anyone ever become addicted to Nasal spray? The warning label says to use no more than 3 days, last winter I had the mother of all colds and took it everyday for a month. It got to the point where I couldn't breathe without it. I can't imagine kicking Heroin being worse.

The lease on my car expires this month. Lost in the shuffle of contemplating exactly what I'm going to do about a vehicle was the realization -- holy cow, it's been four years. Seems like just yesterday.

A lot has happend in the meantime. Had a few relationships. Met my wife and got married. Bought a house, got some dogs. And, of course, got a new job here at MPR, moving over to be on The Current.

When I lament the passage of time and how it means that life is flying by, I have to say that it's nice to be here in the time I find myself in. The Current, a lot of people feel, is just one part of something much larger ... a very exciting time for music here in the Twin Cities (and independent music in general). Things are changing, and I think we're entering a time when it will be very, very cool to live here. I am extremely, tremendously proud of the local music scene, and now, we have a chance to share it with the rest of the world like never before. Sound good?

I'm just waiting patiently and anticipating tonight's edition of Guest Session Sundays at the Fitzgerald. The Honeydogs are performing with a number of guests including Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum), Laurie Lindeen (Zuzu's Petals) and John Munson (Semisonic). See you tonight at The Fitzgerald!

-Jill

Well, I'm back at work and I think I shall be able to kick this cold or bug or whatever is wrong with me. I knew once the weather changed that I would get sick and it happened! The stuffy head symptoms transformed into a chest cold and that has now transformed to flu-like symptoms. Ewe. I can feel myself getting better everyday though. There was no time for sickness today though!!!

Shawn Hewitt and the National Strike stopped by the studio today, two computers crashed. I'm pretty sure my hands touching the computers is what make them crash. Our system is happy with us lately. Refer to Steve Seel's last post for the explaining of that one. I love computers, seriously, but they don't like me. The scary thing is, I have anxiety dreams about dead air while I'm hosting and I don't like when they come true. It makes me nervous and I think my left kidney hurts because of it!

I need a nap,
Jill

He was voted America's Fave DJ '04 by BPM magazine and gained a lot of press for being one of the first DJ's to get actively involved in politics, touring as part of the Rock the Vote tour in '04.
He also finds time to chat to politicans in his home of Germany.
His new cd is called Politics of Dancing 2, it's a double and was hard to find a section to cut for the session, very tasteful set.
We joined CD 1 during track;
#5 Shiloh.."dream on"
#6 Walsh & Coutre feat Holly.."burn"
#7 Thomas Datt.."alone"
#8 Lolo.."why?"
#9 Purple Haze.."adrenalin"
#10 Kuffdam & Plant.."summerdream"

www.paulvandyk.com...is the place to find more info.

Was I the only girl who had a Stretch Armstrong?

Want a little look behind the scenes here at The Current?

Today, HAL decided to abort this mission, kill Commander Frank Poole and the other three crewmembers sleeping in suspended animation, and try to lock me outside the Discovery. I had to bust inside his brain-room and shut him down before he killed me and took the whole ship of radio down with him. Fortunately, he did NOT start singing "A Bicycle Built For Two" as we turned him off.

We play most of our music off of a hard-drive that basically functions like a GIGANTIC I-Pod. Essentially, we rip many of our CDs into this thing so that we can have them all at our fingertips -- every song the click of a mouse away -- rather than having to pull the discs themselves. There are some downsides to this -- like not always having the physical disc in your hands to covet the cover art, read the liner notes and such, but the benefits for the most part far outweight the drawbacks. Like, being able to play a request mere seconds after it's made, that sort of thing.

Of course, it's still a computer. Which means it can crash. Which means it WILL crash, and you just hope you're not the poor dope who's doing a show when it happens.

Well today, I was. And -- duh -- I only had ONE CD IN THE BOOTH at the moment it happened. David Sylvian's "Everything And Nothing." This means that David Sylvian fans got a special treat today: not one, but TWO songs by their narco-baritone-voiced idol. Not a problem for me, since I'm a fan of the guy, but if you're not a fan, one song is probably plenty. Anyway, while we scrambled to get the big I-Pod back up and running, there was much running around, Broadcast News -like, to get something on the air.

Woo Hoo!

Anyway, HAL is back now, and he's been tamed. He shouldn't be killing any more frozen crew members ... shouldn't be ...

Great to have this blog up and running and thanks for the feedback already. I featured it on my regular feature at 9pm tonight and it struck me that some of you might have interests and associations that might work to be mentioned on the Current Community.
Send me details...
mwheat@mpr.org
of an event you are involved in or an ongoing activity that might work and I will post what I feature on this blog most nights, just trying to make the Current Community bigger and bloggier!!

Yesterday I was thinking that if I'm ever in a deep coma, someone should play Ella Fitzgerald in my hospital room.
There is something I respond to in the warmth and clarity of her voice.
So if someday you should hear that Mary Lucia is in a vegetative unresponsive coma, will you pass this information on to my attending physician.

There's a kind of "soft expectation" that the lunchtime hour on the radio should be a little more rockin' than the morning hours that immediately precede it ... but with the unabashed beginning of fall today here in our hometown(s), I'm in an autumnal mood. I started off my shift by proceeding to kill any momentum we'd built up with Laura Veirs and Elliot Smith in full-on chill mode. It had to be done.

What I want to know is: what is "fall music" to you? Is it moody/reflective/chilly? Is it warm, as in fireplaces and sweaters? Is it bouncy/excited, as in school and new romance? Sorry if these images sound corny, but I'm serious. We all have our own associations with the seasons, and the lingering memories of the first date at the Friday-nite high school football game is just as valid as anything else. Some of this stuff we carry with us all of our lives.

What does fall sound like to you?

Kind of crazy how many new releases there were to get to last night,
so many that I forgot to do this blog!
BUT here's a few that you might be interested in;

Fiona Apple...extraordinary machine
(Long awaited for fans and the one that the label refused to release at first)

The Fall...fall heads roll
(The first few tracks disappointed me, but then they get into a massive groove and rock as well as they have ...ever!)

My Morning Jacket...Z
(The first that they have worked with a producer on, and he is a legend John Leckie. There's also guests like M Ward and Andrew Bird)

Mugison...mugimama,is this monkey music?
(My new favourite discovery, this guy is amazing. Listen on headphones and appreciate the minute production effects which are astounding)

Atmosphere...you can't imagine how much fun we're having
(I love Ant's samples on this album, hooj and rockin' in places like they have never done before and with an 'old school bent which is cool without being derivative. Slug is Slug but Sluggier!)

If they could bottle the EXACT smell of Laundry exhaust, I'd buy it.

Gotta say it again ... that was uh-MAY-zing. If you missed it, or just wanna hear it again (and again and again), go here. I especially couldn't believe "Always Coming Back Home To You;" it was like an intimate hip-hop performance. I'd never heard anything like it.

Slug and company are going to be huge. They'll never be back.

It was an awesome feeling to be able to introduce Happy Apple on the stage of the Fitzgerald Theater last night. It was the very first Current concert and they did us proud! Watching Dave King playing drums from one of the boxes above the stage was amazing, I couldn't take my eyes off him! And his between song banter was at times HI-larious!
Thanks to everyone who came down, especially for the meet and greet before the show, a raffle in the lobby was a fun start to the night..the missus tried to cheat so she could get a new red Current water bottle, she really REALLY wants one! Maybe next week luv... The Honeydogs have an awesome guest list lined up, should be special.