The Current Music Blog: July 15, 2008 Archive

The Stream 07/15/08

Posted at 8:55 AM on July 15, 2008 by Barb Abney (1 Comments)

Pitchfork's review of Sub Pop's 20th anniversary fest.

Dead Milkmen reuniting for upcoming Austin festival.

All the details on Oasis' forthcoming album Dig Out Your Soul.

Today In Music History:
1946 - Linda Ronstadt was born.
1952 - Johnny Thunders (The New York Dolls) was born.
1956 - Ian Curtis (Joy Division) was born.
1958 - John Lennon's mother was killed in a car accident involving a drunken off-duty police officer.
1978 - The Rolling Stones' Some Girls was the #1 album.
2002 - Jarvis Cocker (Pulp singer) married Camille Waddington.
2004 - U2 called the police after someone stole a copy of the bands forthcoming album Vertigo during a photo shoot.
2005 - The original policeman in the Village People (Victor Edward Willis) was arrested when police found a gun and drugs in his vehicle.

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Live Blogging 07/15/08

Posted at 9:40 AM on July 15, 2008 by Barb Abney

The Music Exchange Info
The Current and WXPN in Philadelphia are exchanging local music this month. Tune in each Tuesday and Thursday to hear local music from Philadelphia and Minnesota selected by WXPN and The Current. You can also visit us online to download a free song from our featured artist. Today's featured song from WXPN is "Run Wit Me" by Kuf Knotz and the Hustle. The Current's song is "All Those In Favor" by The Owls.
They're playing The Square Lake Festival next month.

Song Of The Day Info - Sigur Rós
Today on our Song Of The Day Podcast we're featuring Sigur Rós with the tune "Gobbledigook" from their new album Med Sud i Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust.
They're playing The Orpheum on September 25th.
You can learn all of the necessary pronunciations here.

9:50 a.m. Dr. Dog
Fate will hit the shelves next week.
You can stream some of their unreleased tunes here.
They'll be on Conan Thursday.
More...

9:30 a.m. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
They're playing for free at The State Fair August 21st & 22nd.
More...

9:05 a.m. Yeasayer
They're playing the 2nd annual Free Yr Radio concert at Urban Outfitters in Uptown on Wednesday, July 30. Download your free ticket now.
More on Free Yr Radio..
More Yeasayer..

"My 3 Songs" for Tuesday

Posted at 1:14 PM on July 15, 2008 by Steve Seel (1 Comments)

"Three great songwriters, three great songs," writes Brian Sinkula today.

1) Iron & Wine, "House By The Sea"
2) John Vanderslice, "Keep the Dream Alive"
3) Mike Doughty, "Ossining"

Thanks Brian! Meanwhile, hearing that John Vanderslice tune inspired listener Alix to write in, "John Vanderslice is a great songwriter and 'Keep the Dream Alive' is a wonderful song! When I saw him at the 7th St. Entry with Bishop Allen, this was his closer and it was amazing. He and the band walked into the crowd and I was completely blown away. Such an amazing preformer. I also told him that he was swell, in which he pointed at me and told me that I was swell. I pretty much want him to marry my mother."

Man how I wish I'd seen that show.

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Quantity over Quality

Posted at 9:00 PM on July 15, 2008 by Mac Wilson (4 Comments)

As users of iPhones know, last week saw an epic glitch in the latest version of iTunes. So naturally, when I got a notification last night asking if I'd like to download version 7.7 of iTunes, I clicked 'yes'. Long story short, it now takes me 10 minutes for my computer to recognize my iPod, with no fix in sight (any Mac techies feel free to leave advice in the comments; I use Windows XP). I eventually figured out how to get my iPod, Tony III, hooked up, but not before a disturbing thing happened: my play history for the last 24 hours was wiped out. All play counts and 'last played' were as they were the last time I had plugged my iPod in, the night before. It was as if a day in my life had been wiped off the map!

The point I am trying to make is that this should not have disturbed me, yet it did. You know, back in the Dark Ages (i.e., pre-iTunes), there was no way of keeping track how often you listened to a particular artist, album, or song -- if you liked something, you listened to it a lot, if you didn't, you rarely picked it up. With iTunes, we may have instant access to more music than we would have had before (feel like switching songs? rather than changing the record/CD, just skip to a different track!) but I wonder whether having my listening habits meticulously logged is a bad thing. 'Play counts' inherently bring more transparency: in the old days, you could listen to something over and over and just enjoy it for its replay value, but now, when you see the play count for Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" rise into the double digits, you start second-guessing your own listening habits.

None of this should matter, of course. You should listen to what you want, on whatever subjective basis you choose. Yet the seductive power of the play counts won't let me go. What's the fix? Do play counts help or hurt your listening habits?

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