Louie is a Grammy Award winning DJ, a Puerto Rican New Yorker who came to fame in the 80's and early 90's hayday of NYC clubs like The Sound Factory and Paradise Garage, and with his regular partner Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales released the seminal compilation NuYorican Soul, charting the growth of a new hybrid sound working with live musicians. He plays a hooj party at the Winter Music Conference in Miami every year and is also at Coachella this year.

This set was taken from a Vega Records compilation vol 1.
Blvd East & Louie Gorbea - Luv 4 Money (Brown Sugar Mix)
Mr. V - The Drum (Mr. V's Alternate mix)
Ricardo Miranda pres. Latin Soul Brothas - Termino Mi Amor
Bah Samba feat. Isabel Fructuoso - Calma (Louie Vega remix)
Louie Vega feat. Raul Midon - Cerca De Mi
Mr. V - Jus Dance (Cosmic Ritual DUB)
Check; www.mawrecords.com

Arab Strap (From Scotland) were in today, they could've read the ingredients in a package of hotdogs and it would've sounded good.

No, it's not a cool new band or anything. It's what I dread every springtime.

I'm filling in for Bill DeVille this weekend during the 9am-3pm slot. Don't worry, Bill will be back next weekend.

Don't forget, we lose an hour this weekend. Daylight savings time and such.

Now we have to decide what we mean by Prog, let's keep it to good prog
in other words those who do not like it at all should refrain from replying, but what bands are we talking about when we say they are influential?
And no Googling ..oooh I never even thought of that:)
I'll start...King Crimson

To link to the Replacements photo (link goes to Jim Walsh's blog, walshfiles.com).

Some things seem to just come along right when you need them. Happy Thursday.

... for a lovely in-studio session. Nope, I didn't hurl.

If you missed it, or just wanna hear her lovely performances again, check it out here (shortly, that is ... if it's not there yet, it will be very soon).

If you remember at the start of the year, I predicted the return of Prog Rock...although we still have to come up with another name for it. Well tonight I seem to have been on a roll with contemporary bands that have a prog touch. Got a chance to listen to the whole of the upcoming Flaming Lips and that is definitely referencing the high art, Wayne even admits it in last months Mojo. The Quasi cd is also a good example and even though I have only heard 2 songs from it the new Built To Spill will prove my point I think...be afraid!
Maybe we should call it Progressive Prog or NuProg?

See you down at Glueks (16 N. 6th St.) tomorrow! I'll be the one doing the radio show.

I'm supposed to interview Martha Wainwright today. Now, I've done tons of interviews, and talked to "bigger" stars than Martha, but this interview actually has me filled with anxiety. I'm even more freaked out at the prospect of talking to Martha than I was Neko Case (which fell through, unfortunately). Why is that? I think it's because some people just have bigger auras than others ... Martha has been described as clearly having a "very old soul."

Anyway, the interview should air tomorrow during my shift. Tune in and see if I kept my lunch down.

It's so nice to see the snow going bye bye.

I can't wait till the first big thunderstorm of the season. I love storms.

Via two of my fave websites here's a couple of snippets of interesting local music news;
On mnstories.com there's video from SXSW of Sean Tillman on stage with The Strokes. Apparently his Har Mar Superstar endeavours are over as his 'old' band Sean Na Na opened the show and is recording new stuff.
AND on walshfiles.com there's a picture that suggests that at least some of the remaining members of The Replacements have been playing together again and might even record a NEW song?!?!
Careful tho' it is nearly April 1st!

I've got a song stuck in my head, and I have no idea what it is. I've tried humming it to several people around here, and some recognize it, but nobody can name it. It's making me nuts.

So I tried the Song Tapper. Have you heard of this? You tap in the melody of the song using the space-bar of your computer, one tap for every syllable of the lyrics. Using this, I've discovered that the song I'm trying to figure out is either "El Scorcho" by Weezer, Mozart's "Turkish March," or "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel." Sigh.

This is what I get for watching junk TV. The song was used twice last night on Without A Trace in a repeat on TNT.

I had a chance to goof around this morning, (usually I sleep in until the last possible second before I have to be somewhere) it felt so soothing to buy a bag full of someone else's clothes before work.

Me and the missus enjoyed hanging with everyone in the suite last night at the Queen show, we also had a few singsongs with "We are the champions" especially! Brian may was really the first guitar hero type of player that I've seen. He seemed genuinely touched by the reception that he got and he did an indulgent guitar solo, but I preferred Roger's drum solo I always liked that song! Surprised that they did "Under Pressure" but it persuaded us to watch the Bowie "Reality" 04 tour DVD that a friend had lent us, now that was an amazingly rockin' show, an awesome band and Bowie really looked into it! It is great that those old rockers are still around to entertain us! Not by putting on cheesy Vegas shows, but doing their hits in a fresh way,surviving and in Queen's case the only way that they can!

Well, Neko Case had to cancel her scheduled in-studio appearance tomorrow here at the station -- something about her wallet getting stolen. I'm bummed. We're gonna try to re-schedule for Wednesday ... I've got my fingers crossed for that. We've already got Martha Wainwright scheduled for that day (she's opening for Neko at First Ave), so if that actually happens, my heart might explode.

Last night's Queen/Paul Rogers RAWK fest was insanely fun.
If AC/DC comes we have to do this again!!!
I hope that the ticket winners had as much fun as we radio losers.

I just could not ignore the massive Winter Music Conference that is happening in Miami right now. EVERY DJ in the world is there it seems !! It has become the biggest event of the year on the world dance music scene and is constantly referenced for months afterwards as to what was hot and where the 'genre' is headed. It would have been impossible to pick one DJ to represent the event so I thought I would try to build a set from some of the artists that we regularly play who are featured at the festival shows, to give a flavor of the event. The big news is that there is more 'rock' music there than ever before. As well as the big name DJ's Hard Fi, Hot Hot Heat, The Killers, She Wants Revenge and Prodigy are all there too and Peter Hook from New Order is one of the keynote speakers along with Coldcut, who I've never considered a strict dance 'act'. It's more diverse than it has been before, perhaps a sign of coming of age after 21 years? But mixing rock, rap and other styles with dance music has always seemed more easily accepted in europe than over here so perhaps it is their influence?
What do you think?

If you have been turned on to the music mixes that we have been playing over the past year on a Friday night, checking out these pages might give you some pointers as to where to discover more of it!..www.wintermusicconference.com or
http://www.m3masterlist.com/ and enjoy!!

The playlist will be on the regular web playlist.

Without fail when anything slightly "racy" is played or mentioned on The Current I look up to see a group of Cub Scouts taking a tour of the radio station.
Second time this has happened.

What the hey, it's Friday. Ryuichi Sakamoto, Graham Parker, Robyn Hitchcock, They Might Be Giants. Plus, did you catch that My 3 Songs set? Holy Momma, this was one of the best I think I've ever gotten.

Magazine: Shot By Both Sides
The Stranglers: 5 Minutes
Joe Jackson: Friday

'Came in from a lady who says she went to college in Scotland in the 80s and those tunes were on the jukebox at the pub where they used to skip classes on Fridays. Absolutely amazing set.

For my fellow aging late 30-something geezers ;-).

Minnesota Rollergirls bout tonight at Roy Wilkins Auditorium here in St. Paul.

Info you may want to know:
PRETTY IN PUNK
Friday, March 24, 2006
6:30pm doors, 7:30pm bout

Dagger Dolls vs. Garda Belts
Atomic Bombshells vs. Rockits

The half-time entertainment will be provided by local band The Cardinal Sin.

They're expecting a large crowd tonight, so don't come strolling in late. Last bout was almost a full house! If you want to hang with the MN Rollergirls after the bout, they always have a post-bout party at Station 4 here in St. Paul.

I'll see you there. I'll be the one yelling outrageous claims into the microphone at half time.

mnstories.com
is a daily weblog done by local guy Chuck Olsen and he was down in Austin. He got some footage of Har Mar Superstar on stage with The Strokes. Apparently Har Mar's other band Sean Na Na opened the gig and are recording a new album. Does this mean that Har Mar is no more?!?!

I was actually somewhat intrigued ... until I read the band name.

"After much rumor and speculation, Todd Rundgren has indeed signed on as lead singer and guitarist for the group featuring two founding members of The Cars. Rundgren, guitarist Elliot Easton and keyboard player Greg Hawkes will be joined by fellow former Utopia bass player Kasim Sulton and longtime Rundrgen collaborator (and Tubes alum) Prairie Prince on drums as The New Cars. Bassist Ben Orr passed away due to cancer in 2000, and neither David Robinson nor Ric Ocasek (who wrote 95% of the band's original material) will participate. The quintet will begin its Road Rage Tour on May 12 in Robinsonville, MS at the Grand Casino Tunica Event Center."

The New Cars? Ugh.

Got a call today from a couple who just moments ago had a baby girl, and now they're listening to The Current. They wanted to know if I could play something for them and their new baby. Now, who could say no to that?

We scratched our chins for a second to come up with something more original than the obvious Stevie Wonder choice, and Lucia produced "Adorable Baby" by The Drifters. Nice choice Looch!

Congrats to Melissa, John, and young Elsie Violet. Welcome to the world Elsie!

As Looch is my concert pal on Sunday, I've never seen Queen either, thought I'd join her gig conversation...the xmas eve before the Sex Pistols came to the USA they had a gig booked in a small seaside town about 40 minles from where I was in boarding school, our English teacher took me and my 2 best friends to get tickets a week before the show! BUT when I called me mother to tell her that I would not be coming home for xmas, she cried so hard that I decided I couldn't do it. Her final words were...
"they'll be another time that you can see them." TRIH!!
By the way Roger Taylor drummer with Queen is the only rock star to come from my home town, where I was in boarding school, King's Lynn.

Obviously I know that Queen with Paul Rogers is not The real Queen, but as I've said this is as close as I'll ever get to seeing them. I never saw the Clash and now never can.
Any band you love and missed the opportunity to see live and now..sob.. can't?

I ran out and bought the new Mates of State CD yesterday. I happened to be in the Electric Fetus in St. Cloud, so I figured, what the heck. Might as well make some purchases. I'd been anticipating the new Mates of State release, Bring it Back, for some time now. I adored Team Boo and the last EP All Day. So, when I asked the dude working if he'd listened to the new Mates of State yet, he said "Ya"... but with a troubled look on his face. So, I said, "Is it typical Mates of State, or is it bad?" So he says, "Well, since you like Mates of State, you shouldn't hate it." So, I continued with my purchase. Put it straight into my CD player in the car. Well, needless to say, the album might have to grow on me.

It's OK though... I said the same thing about the last White Stripes album, and it turned to be one of my favorites from last year.

My favorite, so far, of the new Mates of State is "Like U Crazy". Give me time, I'll be raving about the rest soon enough.

Don't get me wrong though, I love them. I hope they do an instudio when they come to town in April. April 5th to be exact, with Maria Taylor at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. Sounds like it could be a cool show. I gotta work though... maybe next time (long winded sigh). It's an earlier show, so who knows.

Me and the missus thoroughly enjoyed a relatively new DVD on my night off last night...enjoyed being on for Looch in the afternoon...and I'm sure she'd enjoy this film too. Don Letts was a DJ back in the late 70's at some of the earliest punk gigs and played reggae and dub in between the bands, basically starting the strange link between the two genres in England. He's a film maker too and has been making this documentary for several years it's called 'Punk:Attitude". He talked to all the right people tracing the emergence of the music and fashion of Punk from both sides of the Atlantic, had some awesome old footage and the sound quality was great too.
The extras were a major disappointment however. I know I'm young to this DVD scene, but what is up with the daft extras?!?! Any must see extras on a DVD film you know?!

I won't lie there were quite a few Spinal Tap moments last week at SXSW.. what with all the British tour managers weilding Cricket Bats.
On a bright note The 88 proved to be the most solid nicest fella's, I was scared as I am such a freakshow for their music I would've been dissapointed if they had been creeps.

The undead walk amongst us, and they are named Thorn and Lindsey Kimball, who pulled in from SXSW at 6:30 this morning after an all-night drive that apparently featured traversing floodwaters. It's now 2pm and for some reason, they're both still here. The music staff's work is clearly never done.

Mary's producer Stephanie, however, couldn't look more chipper. Obviously, she found some sleep somewhere ... unlike this guy (get well soon, Keith).

I was having a discussion with someone on whether or not an indie band/artist "sells out" when you hear their song in a commercial. For example, Iron and Wine's version of "Such Great Heights" in the M&M commercial. Or I've been hearing a Louis XIV song in a shoe commerical or some similar product.

Is it a new way for lesser knowns to get their music heard, or is it selling out? Is it comparable to having your song on The O.C. or some other TV show?

PS- I hate The O.C.

Barry is from Lurgen in Northern Ireland, helping us celebrate St.Patricks Day with a groovy set of old school funk;

kurtis blow | the breaks | (mercury)
bob james | take me to the mardi gras | (alpha omega)
soul combination | soul combination | (invloved)
billy squier | the big beat | (alpha omega)
the temptations | i can't get next to you | (motown)
kc and the sunshine band | sound your funky horn | (rhino)
all the people feat. robert moore | cramp your style | (blue candle)
the fatback band | mr. bass man | (spring/polydor)
skull snaps | it's a new day | (gsf)
bobby byrd | doing the do | (pgd/polydor)
roy ayers | cincinnati growl | (polydor)
herbie hancock | spider | (legacy)
vernon burch | get up | (eskimo)
dynamic corvettes | funky music is the thing | (abel)
badder than evil | hot wheels (the chase) | (strut)

You can find more info on him and a whole slew of DJ sets from Ireland at;
www.electrotoxic.com

What a bunch of mensches Sound Team were; clearly not rock and roll "bad boys" (at least not at 1pm in the afternoon). And howabout the "looovly" Nottingham accent of Nick Armstrong and ... uh, sorry, "IV Thieves." Nice guys too. Also, we had great sets from Portastatic and Jose Gonzalez. Check 'em all out on our main SXSW page (again, click on the individual artist links, and the audio can be found under "More From MPR").

What's it like being there? Again, Keith Harris is your man.

I've already given props to the support team down in Austin helping to make Mary's live broadcast happen. Here's where I give props to some folks on this end: Derrick Stevens, our Production Coordinator, getting all the morning and early afternoon sessions together, and all the guys from our Operations department, connecting the wires and keeping the lines of communication open.

I've had heartburn every day for the past month. I don't understand, it's not like I'm eating italian sausage and gravy every day.

Does this just mean I'm an adult now?

Missed you all a ton, you know that dontya?! And thanks to Bill and Tony for filling in, it's great to be back, BUT...
I have to say that the missus found the bomb place to stay in Portland. The Hotel is called The Jupiter and is decked out with designer furniture from a TC's firm called Blue Dot. It has cool music piped all round its patios and balconey, but the best part is that is attached to one of the best live venues in town, The Doug Fir, which has a groovy restaurant attached to it aswell, everything you need really!?!?
It was our first trip and I must say we were very impressed. Their warehouse district is full of condos and art galleries and cafes; they have two alternative weeklies too, one run by an ex-TCer, highlighting how much is going on;an amazing coastline an hour away and the best coffee I've ever tasted, Stumptown! The cities have a lot of simularities and there seems to be a lot of cross-polination. So now we have teased you with how cool Austin AND Portland is, but with the beautiful 6 inches of snow that welcomed us, it is still very hard to beat our home town. MSP Rox 2!

From Austin! Have you caught any of today's performances from SXSW? We've got them up in case you've missed them or want to hear them again. Go to the SXSW Main Page, and then the audio can be found under "More From MPR" on each of the individual band links. We've got some web exclusive downloads as well.

Today is a travelling day, for everyone who's going down to Austin for South By South West. Naturally, those of us left behind are all jealous -- both because 1) well, they get to go and 2) they get to avoid the second big snowfall of the week. The place to hang out and look for updates for most of the rest of the week is here, at Keith Harris' blog from the festival.

Let us pray to the Gods Of Technology that our remote broadcast from the festival goes off without a hitch. Mary is in good hands with the able engineering help of Sam Keenan and Cliff Bentley, two veterans of such endeavors.

Of course, while those guys are working like crazy people putting together their Fabulous Radio Extravaganza, the rest of us are going to kick back with our margaritas and enjoy the show. So, we got that goin' for us.

Just what we needed in mid-March. More snow. It's supposed to snow about 4 to 5 more inches tonight into tomorrow morning. Wonderful. Now I want to put my Christmas tree back up. Or launch snowballs at Mary and Seel. I might just do both. I was thinking about introducing my kitty cat to the snow, but I don't know how she'd feel about that.

I took advantage of Monday's snow day by watching a couple movies I had neglected to rent in the past year. First of all, I finally rented Walk the Line. I loved it so much I watched it twice in a row. And- I might just watch it again when I get home. North Country on the other hand was so-so. That's all I gotta say.

I've decided I want to take a trip to Savanna, Georgia. Why? Just so I can visit Paula Deen's restaurant. I love butter. But- since I love music, I'm pretty sure I'm going out to California first to Coachella. I can't wait. I've never traveled west before.

The band Caesars does an excellent cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper". Who's gonna crack the first cowbell joke first? All though, there's not much cowbell in the Caesars version.

Been listening to the new CD "Patterns" from Chris Koza.
Very moody and cool, this feller's the real deal.

Boy, what a difference a day makes, again. Beautiful and sunny on the drive in this morning ... just lots and lots of white everywhere.

Yesterday evening, I was reminded why adults don't do snowball fights. Because they're the ones who have to do the shovelling. Day-um, that was some heavy, wet gloppy stuff yesterday.

DeVille came in yesterday and said, "That's the last time I buy a house on a corner lot."

Somebody could put your eye out with an icy snowball.
That’s a typical “mom” warning, but I guess it’s easier than you think to pop an eye out of its socket. An article at Slate goes into excruciating detail about an incident last week where a Villanova basketball player had this happen to him when an opposing player stuck a finger in his eye. The short answer – push it back in. Ugh.
Would it be wrong to require basketball players to wear mittens?

Seel,
With the heavy wet snow I had some major trauma flashbacks to getting pelted by hard packed snowballs by the mean boys after grade school.
You missed nothing unless you pine to be hit in the skull with a rock.
looch

Okay, this is where I admit that I am pushing 40 and I still have never 1) built a snowman, nor 2) been in a snowball fight. I grew up in a land without snow and didn't even see snow for the first time until I was 27. Michael Wells just said "that's so sad." I don't think so. It means I still have this to look forward to.

Friday night... what can I say? I had the most fun I've had in a long time. And believe me, I needed it. I headed to The Rox in St. Cloud for Mark Mallman. It's always the same faces in the crowd when he comes to town. The St. Cloud kids love to dance, and well, we danced our butts off to Mark Mallman. He played a new song, which I totally loved. I can't remember what it was called, but I DO remember that it was wonderful.

Saturday night was the Tracy Bonham and Martha Wainwright show at The Fitzgerald here in St. Paul. First of all, thanks to everyone who came out. It was a great show, nice and relaxing, chilled out environment. All though, I have a hard time behaving myself at shows that are more laid back. I want to stand up and cheer and shake it. Anyway, before the show I was able to chat a little with Tracy Bonham. She remembered me from the last time she was in town, and I felt all special. I must say, I loved Martha Wainwright's personality. Very cool, very comfortable in her skin and not afraid to just say what was going on in her head. Martha Wainright will be back in April at First Ave with Neko Case. I would recommend that show to anyone.

I'm hooked on a band called Eagles of Death Metal at the moment. They're just pure, crazy fun. Speaking of which, Mark Mallman will be playing with them at South By Southwest down in Texas. I would like to write an open letter to all my co-workers who will be down there for the festival. "Dear friends, I am jealous of you. From, Jill"

Happy Monday. It's my goal to ruin my diet today.

Another in the series put together from Fabric in London, check...
fabriclondon.com
This is #26 in the series but they cut an exclusive mix for us;
Alan Parsons/ Eric Woolfson- I Robot- Arista
Nils Petter Molvaer- Axis of Ignorance- UMG
Aaron Jerome- Man Troubles- Wah Wah 45's
Solid Groove- Flookin- Loungin Records
Audiomontage- Vision 2 Vision- Freerange Recordings
Vince Watson- The way It's Meant To Be- Delsin Records
Trentemoller- Rykketid- Audiomatique Recordings
Quentin Harris- Let's Be Young- NRK
Artec- Sweet Music- Lucid Recordings

So my "rental car" is the biggest honkin' pick up truck I've ever seen in my life.
Now all I need to do this weekend is go hunting or hang at a strip club.

Whatcha doing Saturday night? I have an idea for you.

I'm hosting the Martha Wainwright and Tracy Bonham show at the Fitzgerald Theater Saturday night here in St. Paul. It's all part of Minnesota Public Radio's Singer-Songwriter's Concert Series. Come on out. Showtime is at 8pm. I don't know about you, but I'm pumped. I never thought I'd be hangin' with Tracy Bonham twice in one year. Call the Fitzgerald Theater Box Office and get your tickets.

Hmmm, that means I actually have a weekend full of plans. How exciting. Tonight I'm headed to my old stomping grounds in St. Cloud. Mark Mallman is playing at The Rox in downtown St. Cloud. You must all think I'm some Mallman groupie. Really though, I'll be able to visit my old roomie while I'm in town. I always tell her the only reason I miss her is because of her cat, Boo Boo and the fact that I was able to split bills with someone. That's not true though. I miss how much trouble we used to cause together.

FYI- Sunday I'm working the overnight in lieu of the afternoon. Ellen's got a hot date for the Belle and Sebastian and New Pornographers show Sunday night. I can't believe I just used the expression "in lieu of" in a sentence. I'm not writing an obituary, am I? This is still a blog, right?

By the way, it's my mama's birthday today. Happy birthday Ma Riley! Without you, I'd be... uh, who knows, but it wouldn't be good.

Can I just say...Keith ROX!! He's doing our blog for the big SXSW thingy and I just tried to catch up on it but it's HOOJ! Fun to read and well informed...he's won me over to the idea that blogs are good!
For a short time this should make all of us who can't go learn from the event too!

I've been listening to the new Kris Kristofferson disc, This Old Road. This is his first record since the release 11 years ago of A Moment Of Forever, and it's been even longer since he went into the recording studio (the release of that disc was delayed by five years for various reasons).

The man is pushing 70 and just as vital as ever. In fact, maybe even moreso given the socio/political context into which his new record comes to us. In the category of "grizzled old stalwarts making comebacks," I'm personally more impressed by this one than Neil Diamond's 12 Songs (about which I was sorta ambivalent) and even Johnny Cash's final recordings with producer Rick Rubin. Why? I think because there is not a single whiff of comeback "concept" to this disc; it sounds like Kristofferson singing while playing his guitar, rather than "hey, let's get Kris Kristofferson in the studio just singing and playing his guitar." Are you with me? There's no self-conciousness to it at all; the record simply is. And whoa, these songs are doozies of outlaw country-ism; I'm talking "this machine kills fascists" outlaw stuff. Worth a listen.

... we proudly present the 128k mp3 stream. Enjoy.

We had a request this morning for Molly and Kaitlyn in Minneapolis who did their History Day project on the life and work of Joan Baez. We mentioned on the air that Baez’s mother is also named Joan, which makes her Joan Jr.
Rare, isn’t it? Why aren’t there more female juniors?

So, I've been neglecting my blog. So I figured I better come up with something before Micheal Wells cracks the whip on me. In a bad way.

I basically like to laugh at everything around me. A lot of my late night phone calls come from guys telling me they like when I giggle. Ah-hem. Well, at least someone is enjoying it. My old station manager, the lovely Jo, used to tell me I have the best giggle. On the other hand a friend of mine used to tell me I sounded like Betty Rubble when I laughed really hard.

The way I look at it, this is live radio. I'm bound to fumble and stumble over my words now and again. So, the only thing I can do is laugh at myself. It's what I do best. The best thing is laughing at other people's expense though. You may think I'm really friendly with as much as I laugh. But, I just want to laugh at you. Try watching reality TV with me sometime. It's the same as people watching. We all do it, right?

The ability to laugh at oneself comes from a life filled with sarcasm, pessimism and rejection. One of these days I'm going to write my monologue for my debut at the Acme Comedy Club amateur night. You won't catch me doing any amateur nights at any other kind of clubs... so comedy would be the most appropriate kind of club to try my skillz.

I have floor and table lamps in both my bathroom and kitchen.
Thinking about it I don't think I have ever used an overhead light.

When I heard the news this afternoon that Ali Farka Toure had passed away I dug out a few of his old cd's and immersed myself, it was perfect for a rainy afternoon, I got lost and lifted.
Tonight we heard a couple of tracks from his 'Source' cd of '92 and two from African Blues from '90. His music had an amazing quality of sounding totally organic, but as if it was coming from another universe too.
During the show tonight I also found out that another artist that I admired has passed away. Ivor Cutler was a strange poet from Scotland who was a fave of John Peel. So I will bring some of his very weird work with me tomorrow.

I'm cracking up as my e-mail song requests have a note of "I dare you" to them.

The great Malian guitarist/singer/musician Ali Farka Toure passed away today after a long illness. He was in his late 60s. So, who was he, and why was he significant?

This BBC obit covers the basics. Toure is credited by many for demonstrating how the blues, an American form, can trace its origins to African music. However, he was also influenced himself by American blues, and is considered a master at blending his own native music with that which has been fed back to Africa via the west. Also, he's basically one of the most sucessful Third World artists to see success and fame in the west, ever.

Toure had a sweet sound that was totally, completely his own. If you're interested in getting turned on to his stuff, you could do far worse than the disc Talking Timbuktu, a (Grammy winning) collaboration between him and American blues guitarist Ry Cooder. Also, two of his classic discs, Red and Green, were reissued on the Nonesuch label last year.

Some Tuesdays I struggle to have a few new cd's to play, this week I will be stretched to even talk about let alone play all the new ones!!
It's mental, tune to see what happens...I might explode;
Neko Case; Stereolab; Mogwai; Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass;
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan; Centro-Matic; Ray Davies; Sparks
and David Gilmour

I hate what I'm wearing today.

Okay, I know a lame link to something from YouTube.com hardly makes for a creative blog entry. But, oh boy, it's "Hocus Pocus" from Focus!

I discovered the secret to enjoying the Home Show on Saturday – you’ve got to walk through the place fearlessly, like a millionaire, talking freely with salesmen about everything that looks good. Put off facing the financial reality until later. As long as the checkbook stays in your pocket and you don’t sign anything, there’s no harm done.
By the time we left, I had, in my mind, built a new porch, replaced 6 windows, installed wood flooring, added a space age blanket to the attic insulation, bought a new washer, dryer, water heater, furnace and added solar panels, a windmill and a geothermal exchange system, put in a home theater, an exercise room with a water treadmill for stay-in-place swimming, and turned the garage into a grease monkey pleasure dome.
I started to do a little figuring afterwards in the car, using the drive as my re-entry into the real world. By the time I got home, everything there looked pretty good exactly the way it was.
Next week – the car show!

Well known for leading the emergence of a style of dance music called 'Breakbeat' he has been one of the resident DJ's at Fabric in London for a year and was nominated for a Grammy for his remix of
'Fever' featuring Sarah Vaughan released on the Verve Remixed Vol 3.
grooveradio.com or residentadvisor.net are good places to start to find out more.
We didn't play his DJ set of breakbeats, but a selection he just did for the compilation series called 'Back To Mine'.
Here's what we played;
Eliot Smith - needle in the hay
PJ Harvey - the slow drug
Funkadelic - maggot brain
Dykehouse - sandy strip
M83 - lower your eyelids to die with the sun
Trans Am - a single ray of light on an otherwise cluody day
Boards of Canada - zoetrope

thanks for listening

Give Meatloaf a scalp massage or clean the monkeyhouse at the Como zoo with a hangover?

The Wall Street Journal + Death Metal + the Cookie Monster = this.

What the heck is going on over at Spin? Looks ugly.

I love Fridays. Need I say more?

We know him today as Magnet, and he has a new record out. Also, we've got him lined up for an appearance at SXSW and a chat with Mary Lucia. But nobody (not even the usually dependable allmusic.com) seem to realize that he is the same Even Johansen that made this record, and was the frontman for a short-lived Norwegian band called Libido. Libido's record Killing Some Dead Time is a lost gem of psychedelic guitar-pop, occasionally even beating Oasis at their own game. Yes, that's what I said. If you ever come across a used copy of this disc flipping though the bins a Cheapo, Seel recommends you buy it.

Do you ever hear a song and completely fall in love with it? Kind of like love at first sight, but more light love at first listen?

I'm going to tell what song I have a crush on. Don't tell anyone now...

OK, Tortoise and Bonnie "Prince" Billy have a new album out together called The Brave and the Bold. Basically, it's a bunch of covers... but done well for the most part. They cover Springsteen, The Minutemen and Lungfish to name a few. BUT- the song they got me with was Elton John's "Daniel". You hear it, it's familiar, but yet Tortoise and Bonnie "Prince" Billy made me love the cover of it, more than the original I think... which is rare for me.

I know, it's NOT quite rock and roll.... but I like it.

Would you rather have Pete Doherty babysit your newborn child or be beaten with a frozen garden hose?

It's The Onion AV Club's new feature, where they get Somebody Famous to hit shuffle on their iPod and critique the first five songs that come up; no cheating by skipping uncool songs.

Is this fun, clever, or vaguely boring? I can't decide which.

I think I heard the greatest "illogical" segue yesterday: Mary played Neil Diamond into Nirvana. I think I actually heard my neck snap from the whiplash. Outstanding.

Every year during Lent I still don't eat meat on Fridays or on Ash Wednesday. I just can't do it. I'm afraid. I might even go to Mass tonight. Not because I'm afraid, but because I love tradition.

I'm thinking about having a fish fry tonight. Of course that will involve setting off my fire alarm. I'm not a bad cook. The alarm is just really sensitive... I think.

Speaking of guilt...ah, nevermind. I'm not real sure where I was going to go with that one.