The Current Music Blog: December 31, 2007 Archive

The Stream 12/31/07

Posted at 8:46 AM on December 31, 2007 by Barb Abney

Radiohead reportedly refused to sign with record label for less than $10 million.

Patti Smith's Bob Dylan podcasts.

Holiday greetings from Moby, Ben Kweller and Tapes 'n Tapes.

Today In Music History:
1942 - Andy Summers (Police) was born.
1947 - Burton Cummings (Guess Who) was born.
1959 - Paul Westerberg was born.
1963 - Scott Ian (Anthrax) was born.
1973 - Journey made their live debut in San Francisco.
1973 - AC/DC made their live debut in Sydney.
1981 - Tom Waits married Kathleen Brennan.
1984 - Rick Allen (Def Leppard's drummer) crashed his Corvette Stingray. He lost his left arm in the accident.
1985 - Ricky Nelson was killed in a plane crash.
1996 - Paul McCartney became a Sir.
2000 - Chris Robinson married Kate Hudson.

Live Blogging 12/31/07

Posted at 9:30 AM on December 31, 2007 by Barb Abney

10:45 a.m. Bruce Springsteen
We played the song "Livin' In The Future" but here's a look back at the past.
He's coming back to town on the 16th of March.
More..

10:30 a.m. Lupe Fiasco
He'll be on Letterman Friday night.

10:20 a.m. Vampire Weekend
You can pre-order their full length here.
More here and/or here.

Song Of The Day Info - Chicago Afrobeat Project
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring Chicago Afrobeat Project with the tune "Fix and Release" from their album (A) Move To Silent Unrest which is in stores now.
More...

9:50 a.m. Okkervil River
You can still grab their covers mixtape, Golden Opportunities, here.

9:30 a.m. Radiohead
Tonight's their next webcast.
In Rainbows is The Current's CD Of The Week. Get your own copy when you support us online.
It was reported that they asked for ten million dollars from EMI ... they disagree.

9:10 a.m. Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago will be in stores on February 19th.
You can pre-order it here. .
Catch a live Bon Iver performance on January 17th at The Turf Club with The Pines and Roma Di Luna.
More...

"My 3 Songs" for New Year's Eve

Posted at 1:57 PM on December 31, 2007 by Steve Seel (1 Comments)

Chris Silker of Mpls writes today, "As the year draws to a close, I find myself looking back ... and looking ahead."

1) Mark Mallman, "Remember the 20th Century"
2) The Mountain Goats, "This Year"
3) Semisonic, "This Will Be My Year"

Excellent set, Chris. Man, what a year it's been. I want to thank everyone who's requested a M3S set this year -- it's been a lot of fun handing over the controls during the noon hour, and so many of your sets have been great, great radio.

Here's what blows my mind, every day: in age when we all get our music from so many sources: iTunes, mp3 players, satellite, TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy," musty old broadcast radio can still draw so much passion and involvement from people. Every day, I take requests, and I think, "That person didn't have to request that song from me; they could have paid 99 cents and heard it immediately, and then owned it." But no; they call and request a song, as if this were still 1965 or something. They get into the whole process of connecting to the outside world via a radio station -- in a fashion that was supposed to be long dead -- and fostering a communal experience of listening/discovering/enjoying together. Incredible.

Things change. They change more rapidly all the time, now; who knows how long this will all last. Think of what life was like just in 1998, for Pete's sake: look at how much things have changed since then! So, change is a given and a constant. I always get a bit sad and sentimental bidding another year farewell, knowing it will never be back. But, as the floor moves beneath our feet, here's one thing I know will stay constant: the meaning of music, and the value it will always have in the life of those of us for whom it means a little more. May it bring us together in the coming year, and help us rise up against all cynicism and against those who believe it is merely a product for us to buy. To those of us who understand that music is not just "something pleasant," like an air freshener, but a life-sustaining force: salut.

Happy New Year.

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Best Gig of the Year?

Posted at 3:46 PM on December 31, 2007 by Mark Wheat (37 Comments)

We've asked you for your fave albums of the year...tune in Tuesday at 10 am to hear the results, now before we stop looking back at 07, we'd like to get your votes for best live show of the year?

Danny posted some of his and told a great story on Musicheads about seeing Wilco up in Duluth. Give us a short review of why it was so good and perhaps what makes a great show for you, is it the fact that the artist can perfectly reconstruct the sound of your fave songs live, the rapport that an artist has with the audience or an amazing sight that you thought you'd never see, like Tori Amos ejecting audience members?!?!

We'd love to hear from some of our listeners in other cities too, so be sure to name the venue and location. I love getting calls and emails from listeners about their live show experiences, especially as I can't get to as many as I used to with this work schedule! This email is from local listener Linda Brooks who went to Tourcoing, near Lille in France to see Beirut; "Lead singer Zach Condon, who's from New Mexico, revealed in perfect French, that he and trumpeter Greg Paulus were very sick and might not be able to sing and play all night. Speaking for all the crowd one Frenchman shouted "Sing and play all night!"
This is especially poignant as the new cd has a big French flavor and songs named after French towns AND Linda's son went to school with Greg Paulus here in the Cities. She also related a story about Ronnie Wood of The Stones being on the same TV show as Beirut in the UK and congratulating them as he is a fan. I had actually read that he asked for their autograph! I also read in the same Word magazine that Robert Plant's fave gig of the year was Arcade Fire, it's great to hear these legends grooving to the new bands too!

To live vicariously like me check out a local blog that does a great job of re-creating the vibe of shows HowWasTheShow.com And I've really been enjoying some of the slide shows on City Pages website including shots from one that we did get to Andrew Bird at the Guthrie;

He and local phenom Martin Dosh use looping machines live so they can play a snippet and then hit a pedal that makes it repeat over and over while they play something else. On the first song of the set they had trouble getting the intro right. Andrew stopped each time with a pithy comment and after the 5th time said "it's not embarrassing yet is it?" On stage banter is one of my favorite parts of a gig and he totally won me over with that and many other smart asides all night, plus they never stopped again the whole night and the looping sounded amazing!!

So tell us about your live moment highlight of 07 and ...
Happy New Year Everyone!!

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