The Current Music Blog: March 18, 2008 Archive

New Raconteurs Album - Next Week!

Posted at 4:10 AM on March 18, 2008 by Mac Wilson

Taking a page from Radiohead, the Raconteurs drop word of their brand new album, Consolers of the Lonely, in the middle of the night. Even better, it's coming out next week! Pitchfork has the full press release, so you can dig in to all the details. 14 new tracks, and the album will be available digitally (at 320kb, no less), as well as on CD and vinyl.

I was actually thinking about Jack White's recorded output earlier today. The catalyst was the fact that the new Gnarls Barkley record, The Odd Couple, will be released in just a few weeks. Gnarls Barkley and the Raconteurs have always been permanently linked in my brain; I went to Europe for two weeks after my college graduation in the spring of 2006, and by the time I got back to America, "Crazy" and "Steady, As She Goes" had totally blown up and were the biggest hits in the country. I knew the Raconteurs had been in the studio, and I found it strange that I hadn't heard anything about them lately. One of my longtime maxims regarding Jack White is that you never know when one of his projects is going to release a new album -- with his tendencies towards low-fi recording and mixing, an album could pop up out of the blue at any time. I also thought it was cool that with his involvement in two bands, we have the potential for a new Jack White album every year! (The White Stripes in odd years, the Raconteurs in evens) Looks like both of these things have come to pass; they only finished mastering the album at the beginning of March! I wasn't totally won over by Broken Boy Soldiers, but I look forward to seeing what White and Brendan Benson can pull off together the second time around.

The Stream 03/18/08

Posted at 8:44 AM on March 18, 2008 by Barb Abney

The Raconteurs to headline Norwegian festival.
They'll also be releasing their sophomore album Consolers of the Lonely next Tuesday.

Hold Steady playing a free show at Hard Rock Cafe in NYC tonight.

Van Halen reschedule previously postponed dates.

Today In Music History:
1941 - Wilson Pickett was born.
1961 - Grant Hart (Husker Du) was born.
1966 - Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains) was born.
1967 - The Beatles were #1 with the song "Penny Lane".
1967 - Miki Berenyi (Lush) was born.
1976 - "The Man Who Fell To Earth" featuring David Bowie premiered in London.
1970 - Queen Latifah was born.
1977 - The Clash released "'White Riot" their debut single.
2001 - John Phillips (Mamas and The Papas) died of heart failure.
2002 - The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam.)

Live Blogging 03/18/08

Posted at 9:31 AM on March 18, 2008 by Barb Abney

11:40 a.m. White Williams
Listen to his SxSW performance in our archives.
Learn more here or here.

11:35 Local Music - Melismatics
They're playing The Fine Line on the 29th.
Watch the video for "Soul Sucker" and check out more dates here.

11:30 a.m. Wye Oak
Listen to their SxSW performance in our archives.
More...

11:10 a.m. Local Music - Gary Louris
He's playing State Theater on the 25th.
Here's his recent in-studio appearance.
More...

10:50 a.m. Jim Noir
Listen to his SxSW performance in our archives.
More...

10:35 a.m. Local Music - Superhopper
They're playing The Uptown Bar tomorrow night.
More...

10:25 a.m. R.E.M.
They will release Accelerate on April 1st.
More.

Song Of The Day Info - Moby
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring Moby with the tune "Alice" from his forthcoming album Last Night, which will be released on April 1st.
Here's NME's look at the tune.
More...

9:50 a.m. Mike Doughty
See/hear his recent in-studio appearance here.
He'll be playing First Avenue Saturday and Sunday.
More here..

9:40 a.m. Bon Iver
They're playing The Turf Club on April 12th.
More...

9:25 a.m. Billy Bragg
He has a couple of promo dates this week in NYC.
Listen to his SxSW performance in our archives.
More...

9:15 a.m. Jem
She's recently posted an update on her site.

Facemelter Episode 11: Dan Auerbach

Posted at 2:18 PM on March 18, 2008 by Brett Baldwin (2 Comments)

You've probably heard the new Black Keys single "Strange Times" on the air recently. It's a fun hand-clapping jam that really puts Patrick Carney's drumming at the fore. And that's all well and good, but over here at the Facemelter desk, we've still got some ringing in our ears from frontman/guitarist Dan Auerbach's numerous awesome solos. Fire up this episode of the podcast, and tell us what you think.

• Listen to/Download this episode
• Subscribe to the podcast

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"My 3 Songs" for Tuesday

Posted at 2:05 PM on March 18, 2008 by Steve Seel

Peter Giles of St. Paul writes today, "These were my favorite performances from The Current's SXSW broadcast." He adds, "Darondo = new favorite!"

1) Darondo, "Legs (Part 1)"
2) The Heavy, "That Kind of Man"
3) Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation"

Yeah Peter, it was quite a broadcast this year. We're so glad you dug it!

It was something to welcome the whole crew back from Austin yesterday and feel the vibe just coming off of them -- everyone was just so invigorated. I don't know if she's gotten props anywhere else, aside from at the end of the broadcasts themselves, but a salute really needs to go out to our Music Director Melanie Walker, who's responsible for putting together the most incredible lineup of guests we've ever had down there. The mix of old and new, young versus verteran, the balance of genres and styles and sensibilities was astounding and thrilling. It was a shining moment for the station, I think.

So, if you want to relive any of it, or if you missed anything, it's all right here.