The Current Music Blog: May 23, 2008 Archive

The Stream 05/23/08

Posted at 9:00 AM on May 23, 2008 by Barb Abney

Line-up for New American Music Festival in Pittsburgh announced.

David Gilmour picked up the Lifetime Achievement award and Amy Winehouse was too late to grab her award at the Ivor Novello Awards, yesterday.

Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo) to take postcard illustration art on the road.

Today In Music History:
1928 - Rosemary Clooney was born.
1934 - Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesiser was born.
1944 - Raymond Fulwood (Parliament Funkadelic) was born.
1947 - Bill Hunt (Electric Light Orchestra) was born.
1967 - Philip Selway (Radiohead) was born.
1979 - Tom Petty was forced to file for bankruptcy.
1991 - Michael Lavine took the shots for Nirvana's Nevermind album in Los Angeles.
2000 - Noel Gallagher walked out on an Oasis tour of Europe after repeated arguments with his brother, Liam.

Do The Shuffle

Posted at 2:50 PM on May 23, 2008 by Mac Wilson (4 Comments)

The Who - "Love Ain't for Keeping"
I've always liked the way this song is a tranquil little garden among the angst of the rest of Who's Next.

Bon Jovi - "It's My Life"
This is one of those songs I've always associated with my junior year of high school. It has an indomitable spirit that this angsty young man always enjoyed hearing on the radio. Produced by Max Martin, who gained fame by his work with the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

Big Star - "Turn My Back on the Sun"
Weren't you excited when you heard Big Star was releasing its first album in 25-some years in 2005? I was too, until I heard the entire In Space album... That was a rough autumn for Alex Chilton: his album barely made a dent in the charts, and he had to be rescued by helicopter from his New Orleans home following Hurricane Katrina. I should note that this is a pretty nice little pop song that quotes "Wouldn't It Be Nice".

The Beatles - "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
I first heard the rough mix on the Anthology (yes, that's correct: I listened to the Anthology before I listened to Sgt. Pepper) and was really intrigued by the organs. The famous story is that George Martin took a bunch of stock organ sounds from the library, snipped them to pieces, tossed them into the air, and spliced them together at random. Because the Beatles have not made any songs available online, I have substituted Eddie Izzard's lovely version from the Across the Universe soundtrack. My sister was on an airplane with Eddie Izzard once.

Yo La Tengo - "Daphnia"
Utterly pointless and plodding track from YLT's 2006, Stephon Marbury-lovin I Am Not Afraid of You.... A while back, I did a blog entry challenging all of you to condense the album down to listenable length; this would be my first track to go. Worthless...no redeeming value whatsoever.

With that, have a great weekend.

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Live Blogging 05/23/08

Posted at 9:09 AM on May 23, 2008 by Barb Abney

11:55 a.m. Sun Kil Moon
They're playing The Varsity on June 6th along with Retribution Gospel Choir.
More...

11:35 a.m. Local Music - Chris Koza
The Dark Delirious Morning is the new record.
The CD release show is Saturday, June 7th at First Avenue with This World Fair, These Modern Socks, and The Parlour Suite.
More...

11:30 a.m. R.E.M.
They're playing The Xcel on June 5th with Modest Mouse and The National.
More...

10:45 a.m. Coldplay
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends will be released on June 17th.
Pre-order it now to get some instant Coldplay gratification.
They're playing Excel Energy Center on July 8th.
More...

10:40 a.m. Lupe Fiasco
He's playing Target Center along with Kanye on June 11th.
More..

10:35 a.m. Mudhoney
Their latest, The Lucky Ones was released earlier this week.
They're playing SP20 (Sub Pop's 20th anniversary concert.)
More...

10:30 a.m.The Submarines
You can still grab a tune from them on our Song Of The Day Podcast page.
Here's their take on "Little Boxes."
More...

Song Of The Day Info - Local Music - Ghost In The Water
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring the Minneapolis duo, Ghost In The Water with the tune "Cardinal Red" from their new album Teeth.
Hear from them again this Sunday night on The Local Show with Chris Roberts.
They're playing The Triple Rock with M83 next Wednesday.
Get more info here and/or here.

9:50 a.m. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
They're playing 7th Street Entry May 24th.
More...

9:45 a.m. Local Music - Ed Ackerson
Polara's 5th studio album, Beekeeping is out now.

9:40 a.m. Andrew Bird
He'll be playing the SOLD OUT Rock The Garden along with Cloud Cult, The New Pornographers and Bon Iver.
More...

9:30 a.m. The National
A Skin A Night and The Virginia EP have been released.
They're playing The Xcel on June 5th with R.E.M. and Modest Mouse
More...

9:20 a.m. The Wedding Present
El Ray is in stores now.
Get their very first digital single here.

9:05 a.m. Bob Dylan
He'll be 67 tomorrow!
He'll be playing the New American Music Union Fest in Pittsburgh along with The Raconteurs and others.

Bob Dylan turning 67!

Posted at 9:36 AM on May 23, 2008 by Bill DeVille (35 Comments)

That fellow from Hibbing, Bob Dylan is turning 67 on Saturday. We thought it would be fun to play 67 songs over the course of this holiday weekend to celebrate...since it's a little difficult to eat cake through your radio speaker. So we'll be playing a Dylan song every hour until sometime on Monday. I was enlisted with the difficult task of compiling the list of tunes. Thanks to my colleagues for all the fantastic suggestions. Actually the task wasn't that difficult because of Dylan's body of work. His music touches on 5 decades w/plenty of highs and even a few lows. (Self Portrait, Street Legal)

If you think about it what other artists besides the Beatles & the Stones have a body of work as impressive and full of GREAT songs as Dylan?

I think my favorite Bob Dylan song is, "Mozambique" from his very underrated DESIRE album. I just love that gypsy fiddle and those Emmy Lou Harris harmonies! What it your favorite Dylan song?

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"My 3 Songs" for Friday

Posted at 1:50 PM on May 23, 2008 by Steve Seel

Ella Mitchell of St. Paul is turning 18 ... and she writes today:

"I was going with the growing-up-vibe, since I seem to be feeling oddly nostalgic lately. Even though it's my 18th birthday and I'm technically a legal adult now, I still find myself caught between those moments when I feel like it's my first day of kindergarten to people mistaking me for much older than I am. I'm starting to come to terms with getting older, but at the same time I'm trying not to completely grow up too quickly."

1) Belle & Sebastian, "Legal Man"
2) Of Montreal, "I Was Never Young"
3) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood"

Happy birthday, Ella. I really have nothing to add -- you put it all so beautifully. Glad to play your set!

Guest DJ Set 5-23-08

Posted at 8:29 PM on May 23, 2008 by Mark Wheat (2 Comments)

Another local DJ Set from a fan of the friday night DJ Set!
Matty V is one of the True Punks Do Electro posse in Mankato. He did this set live for a radio show they do every Saturday at Midnight on KMSU.

1. Green Velvet "Flash"
2. Metamatic "Relax"
3. Elite Force "Return2mindfunk"
4. DJ Herbie & Jolly DJ "Put Your Hands Up"
5. Martijn van Velden & Lucien Foort "Bassification"
6. Unknown vs. Faithless "We Come One"
7. Pagano "My Religion"
8. Ferrante & Mariano DC "Peaktime"

Happy Memorial Day weekend!!

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