The Current Music Blog: January 21, 2008 Archive

The Stream 01/21/08

Posted at 8:39 AM on January 21, 2008 by Barb Abney

SPIN calls Brother Ali "modern urban Norman Rockwell."

Apples in Stereo to release Electronic Projects For Musicians, a b-sides and rarities compilation on April 1st.

Robert Plant disses Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Today In Music History:
1938 - Wolfman Jack was born.
1965 - Robert Del Naja (aka "3- D", Massive Attack) was born.
1965 - Jam Master Jay (Run-DMC) was born.
1978 - The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack was #1.
1987 - Bruce Springsteen inducted Roy Orbison into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.
1992 - Billy Idol pleaded guilty to assault and battery charges stemming from an incident outside a restaurant.
2002 - Peggy Lee died.

Live Blogging 01/21/08

Posted at 9:18 AM on January 21, 2008 by Barb Abney (2 Comments)

11:40 a.m. Wild Sweet Orange
They're playing at The Varsity Theater on February 12th along with Tulsa.
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11:30 a.m. Local Music - Gary Louris
His new album, Vagabonds will be released on February 19th.
More..

11:20 a.m. Eddie Vedder
The vinyl of the Into The Wild Soundtrack will be released next week.
If you're a tenclub member you can buy it now.
Here's the Entertainment Weekly interview with him about his solo recordings.

10:30 a.m. Nada Surf
They're playing First Avenue on April 3rd.
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10:15 a.m. Jack Peñate
His full-length debut, Matinee will be released tomorrow.
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Song Of The Day Info - Carla Bruni
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring former French supermodel, Carla Bruni, with the tune " Those Dancing Days are Gone" (her musical interpretation of the William Butler Yeat's poem) from her forthcoming album No Promises, which will be released stateside on February 19th.
Here's an interesting article about her.
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9:40 a.m. Tulsa
Their album, I was Submerged, is in stores now.
Here's the Pitchfork review.
They're playing at The Varsity Theater on February 12th.
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9:30 a.m. Xavier Rudd
He's playing First Avenue tonight.
His in studio appearance was on the 20th of June.
More.

9:20 a.m. The Raveonettes
Lust, Lust, Lust will be released on February 19th.
Here's a review on one of their recent shows.
They're playing 7th Street Entry on St. Patrick's Day.
More...

9:10 a.m. Malcolm Middleton
The former Arab Strap member released A Brighter Beat less than a year ago and he's already mere weeks away from his next full-length Sleight Of Heart, due out in early March.
Learn more about him here and/or here.

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"My 3 Songs" for Monday

Posted at 3:41 PM on January 21, 2008 by Steve Seel (1 Comments)

You've heard of music being a life saver? Katia Rush-Hall of Mpls says, "these songs keep my sanity when I'm scanning the water during my lifeguarding shifts."

1) A Fine Frenzy, "Almost Lover"
2) Kings Of Leon, "On Call"
3) Dan Wilson, "Sugar"

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The Greatest Living Songwriter ... Macca?

Posted at 6:23 PM on January 21, 2008 by Mark Wheat (102 Comments)

Last week in the Musicheads discussion Bill uncovered some comments from great songwriters lauding the songs of Mickey Newberry. Among them John Prine, who I would put near the top of a list of great songwriters saying : "Mickey Newbury is probably the best songwriter ever." That got me thinking, well who IS the Greatest ever and what do other great songwriters think about the subject themselves?

Perhaps because of my background, I always start with The Guinness Book of Records to tell me things like this, and they say; "McCartney is the most successful musician and composer in history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song "Yesterday" is listed as the most covered song in history and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio."

A lot of you almost made The Beatles the Greatest Band Ever, so perhaps this would be consolation for that lose to Led Zep? Can he be considered without his partner Lennon? Well let's make it Greatest Living Songwriter to get over that argument! Although personally I was always more of a McCartney fan, Wings "Band on the Run" was the first album I brought with my own money in 1971. I certainly wasn't a fan of the Beatles before then, they were almost muzak to us in the UK and had a certain stigma of being my parents generation. But I do think his massive success with Wings solidifies his right to the crown without John.

Other lists of this nature have suggested that Dylan should be # 1, like this one from Paste magazine in June 2006. And Robin Hilton of NPR's "All Songs Considered" agrees. I was seriously considering being won over to their side this weekend and I again spent time with the "I'm Not There" s/t, but it struck me that people are less likely to try to cover Dylan songs because they tend to have an unmistakable style of his own, which should not be considered a good quality in this case. Songs from The Greatest Songwriter, should be easy for everyone to sing. I don't pretend to understand the mechanics of song structure, but Dylan's seem to rely more on many plucked notes, from the folk tradition, whereas McCartney uses chords which a lot of pop music has become reliant upon. Like those of Burt Bacharach, every time I hear one of his songs, it just seems so perfectly formed. Burt was another outside favorite of mine, he's had 70 US Top 40 hits and 54 in the UK, but I realized that he might have to be considered a part of a team too because many of his lyrics were written by Hal David. So I'll stick with Macca (the nickname that the Brits use for McCartney) who some people would accuse of only writing silly love songs, but what's wrong with that, I'd like to know?

It would be interesting to hear from songwriters who perhaps have tried to sing both Dylan and Macca songs, a new book takes this idea as basis for numerous interviews with some of the finest songwriters alive such as Smokey Robinson, Willie Nelson, Jewel, Kenny Chesney, Cat Stevens, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Ray Charles, Clint Black, Rob Thomas, Dolly Parton, Rufus Wainwright, Bob McDill, Lyle Lovett, Keith Urban, Beck, M.Ward, Lou Reed, Roger Miller, Grant-Lee Phillips, and John Denver. It's called;
Song: The World's Best Songwriters on Creating the Music That Moves Us (American Songwriter Magazine)

Are you with me or against me, who is the Greatest Living Songwriter?
AND who would you suggest as an outside contender, like Mickey Newberry is for John Prine?
Or perhaps suggest someone younger who you think will grow into the role and why?

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