The Current Music Blog: January 7, 2008 Archive

The Stream 01/07/08

Posted at 8:53 AM on January 7, 2008 by Barb Abney

Marty Crandall (The Shins) is currently in jail on domestic assault charges.

Morrissey to tour Iran?

John Vanderslice will open for Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.

Today In Music History:
1937 - Paul Revere (Paul Revere and the Raiders) was born.
1948 - Kenny Loggins was born.
1959 - Kathy Valentine (The Go- Go's) was born.
1974 - Carly Simon and James Taylor became parents.
1977 - Andy Gibb's "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" was #1.
1994 - Oasis began recording their debut album Definitely Maybe.
2002 - Jon Lee (Feeder) was found hanged at his Miami home.

Live Blogging 01/07/08

Posted at 9:35 AM on January 7, 2008 by Barb Abney

11:15 a.m. CD Of The Week - Sia
Some People Have Real Problems is The Current's CD Of The Week.
Get your own copy when you support us online.
She'll be playing The Fineline on February 29th.
More...

10:30 a.m. Local Music - Gary Louris
His new album, Vagabonds will be released on February 19th.
More..

Song Of The Day Info - Yeasayer
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring Yeasayer with the tune "2080" from their album All Hour Cymabls which is in stores now.
They're playing 7th Street Entry along with MGMT on February 7th.
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9:40 a.m. Chuck Prophet
You can grab the tune "Freckle Song" on our Song Of The Day Podcast page.
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9:20 a.m. Vampire Weekend
You can pre-order their full length here.
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"My 3 Songs" for Monday

Posted at 1:08 PM on January 7, 2008 by Steve Seel

Rachel Underwood of St. Paul requests some "local guys who always make me smile" today. "These would be my 'serenade wishes' if I had my way," she says. Well, you have your way today, Rachel.

1) Semisonic, "Singing In My Sleep"
2) Mason Jennings, "Keepin' It Real"
3) Vicious Vicious, "Stay With Me Tonight"

Have you ever requested a My Three Songs set?

The Power of Protest Music

Posted at 7:55 PM on January 7, 2008 by Mark Wheat (44 Comments)

Music has awesome powers!
I was reminded of this at the weekend listening to Weekend America telling a story about how a family boosted a 7 yo boy's confidence while he learnt skiing, by singing MC Hammer’s "U Can’t Touch This" when he got the jitters!
If it can boost our confidence so that we can do something scary...I'm going to try to ski for the first time ever this weekend...can it change our minds in other ways? Has anyone asked you "why do you think that way?" and you've realized that it was because an artist that you admire said it in one of their songs...which one?!

Steve Seel did a great job of outlining the history of protest music in our culture last week and Jacqui added that some of the contemporary artists (she used Arcade Fire) do express some very strong opinions in their music without it even being ghettoized as protest music.

What are some other examples?
If protest music is supposed to change our minds about something or at least bring attention to an issue that the artist thinks deserves it, or even confirm our point of view...when have you said dang that's exactly what I think but I've never been able to say it like that!...then which songs work for you in that way?

What are some songs that might not immediately come to mind if someone asked for an example of protest music (wiki is very very inclusive of this genre) but you've realized that it led you to believe something...anything. It certainly doesn't need to be overtly political, when I heard Kimya Dawson's song "Tire Swing" it validated the way I felt about the restorative powers of swinging, in the playground sense of the word!

Which song is the most affective protest song you've ever heard?

We'll play a bunch of your suggestions and read some of your comments on Thursday night between 8 and 9 pm.

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