The Current Music Blog: June 10, 2009 Archive

Neil Young Daily Deconstruction: Day #2 Answer

Posted at 6:11 AM on June 10, 2009 by Steve Seel

Time for the answer to day two of our week-long Neil Young Daily Deconstruction, where we invite you to guess the identity of the Neil Young album cover that we'd photoshopped to exlude certain key elements. Everyone correctly guessing all five albums will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of the amazing new Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 Blu-Ray box set, which is our CD of the Week this week.

Tuesday's Deconstruction:

And the answer:

Neil Young: Time Fades Away

Young followed up his biggest hit record ever - Harvest - with a record he said "nobody wanted."

Long out of print on vinyl, still unavailable on Compact Disc in the early 21st century and widely pirated, physical copies of the album are considered by some to be the "Holy Grail" of all Neil Young memorabilia. In an effort to gain wider distribution of what they consider an essential Neil Young recording, fans started a petition in 2005 requesting that the album be officially released. In December of that year, the petition reached 5,000 signatures. As of June 9, 2009, the petition has 13,688 signatures - Wikipedia

Enter Wednesday's contest right here!

Today In Music History: Missin' Ya, Ray

Posted at 7:07 AM on June 10, 2009 by Steve Seel

Birthdays:

Mike Doughty is 39.
Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan) is 45.
Guitarist Joey Santiago of The Pixies is 44.
Kim Deal of The Pixies is 48.
Shirley Alston Reeves of The Shirelles is 68.

1964 - The Beatles released "A Hard Day's Night," both the album and the single.
1966 - A Beatles song featuring a new audio effect was released. "Rain" used a tape played in reverse. John Lennon said the reverse-tape effect wasn't planned; the tape was just put on the wrong way. Accident or not, though, the band obviously liked the effect, since they left it in the final mix. It's heard on Lennon's vocal at the very end. And so began the tradition of "backward masking" (and thus, suspicion of subliminal messages in rock n' roll on the part of fearful ministers, parents and congresspeople).
1967 - Bob Dylan and The Band began recording sessions that remained unreleased for a long time but eventually surfaced as an album titled "The Basement Tapes."
1972 - Joe Strummer and Topper Headon of The Clash were arrested for painting their band's name on a London wall.
1992 - A Texas law enforcement agency called for a national boycott of "Cop Killer" by Ice-T. Sales of the song skyrocketed.
1993 - Sinead O'Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to "stop hurting me please." She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O'Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.

Today in 2005, Ray Charles died of liver disease at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 73. We played "I Got A Woman."

Jarvis is giving away "Angela" for free!

Posted at 9:43 AM on June 10, 2009 by Barb Abney

Last month Jarvis Cocker released his second solo album, Further Complications. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast we're featuring the tune "Angela" for free!

If you're a new subscriber to the Song Of The Day podcast, you'll also receive new music from Dirty Projectors, Viva Voce, The Alarmists and John Vanderslice.

Later this week we will be featuring new music from Polly Scattergood and local music from Solid Gold.

Jarvis will be playing a handful of North American dates next month.... More...

3 highly recommended songs...

Posted at 11:01 AM on June 10, 2009 by Barb Abney
Filed under: My Three Songs

Erik Warg from Minneapolis picked today's My 3 Songs set because...

" These three songs come from albums that are constantly in my playlist. I cant remember a week where I have not listened to these three albums. The Silversun Pickups have a certain sound that seems to surround and takes ahold of me. I always seem to catch a new subtle bass line, guitar rift, or drum beat each time I listen. The first time I heard "Well Thought Out Twinkles" with its wonderful tempo, pacing, and its wonderful melding of sound, I became hooked on this band. The Kooks album is by far one of my favorite driving albums. It has a great upbeat, fun, sound that is impossible not to rock out to. This album is so much fun I tend to speed while listening to it. Finally, "How We Operate" by Gomez is a fantastic album. I can never get enough of it, and if you dont have it, go and pick it up, you will thank me. Even though my favorite song on that ablbum changes, I always get excited when "Cry on Demand" comes on. It showcases the musical talents of each of the band members, and the instrumental portion of the song is one of my favorites. I cannot count how many times I have sat in my driveway listening to this song. "

Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
The Kooks - "You Don't Love Me"
Gomez - "Cry On Demand"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.