The Current Music Blog: July 22, 2009 Archive

Today In Music History: Johnny Cash's Final "American" Recording

Posted at 6:09 AM on July 22, 2009 by Steve Seel (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music History

George Clinton (Parliament, Funkadelic) is 68.
Don Henley (Eagles) is 62.
Rufus Wainwright is 36.

1969 - Aretha Franklin was arrested for disorderly conduct after a disturbance in a Detroit parking lot.
1977 - Stiff Records released My Aim Is True,the debut album from Elvis Costello. (It was released later that October in America).
1979 - Little Richard, now known as the Reverend Richard Pennman, told his congregation about the evils of rock & roll music, declaring "If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody."
1989 - The Batman soundtrack by Prince started a six-week run at No.1 on the Billboard album chart.

Today in 2006, Johnny Cash was at No.1 on the US album chart with American V: A Hundred Highways. An ailing Cash recorded all the vocal parts first, and the instrumental tracks were recorded after his death in 2005. The record was a mix of Cash originals, standards, and covers by other artists - continuing the sucessful formula of the previous Amercian recordings produced by Rick Rubin, the covers are sometimes by unusual or unlikely choices of artists, in this case Bruce Sprinsteen and Gordon Lightfoot. We played a Cash original, "Like the 309."

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3 songs that explore Akron, Ohio..

Posted at 9:27 AM on July 22, 2009 by Barb Abney (0 Comments)
Filed under: My Three Songs

Allison Litton from Cottage Grove picked yesterday's My 3 Songs set because...

"What is up with the water in Akron, Ohio? Hey-O O-HI-O! I love these bands!"

Devo - "I Can't Get No Satisfaction"
Pretenders - "Cuban Slide"
The Black Keys - "10 A.M. Automatic"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

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3 slightly evil, dirty, angular tunes..

Posted at 12:49 PM on July 22, 2009 by Barb Abney (0 Comments)
Filed under: My Three Songs

Scott Herron from St. Paul picked today's My 3 Songs set because...

"Slightly evil, dirty, angular rock is the best rock! I don't know that the airwaves can handle this much badassness. Prove me wrong Babs!"

Lifter Puller - "Star Wars Hips"
Archers of Loaf - "Harnessed in Slums"
McLusky - "To Hell With Good Intentions"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

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Grab "Pale Horses" from Moby's latest..

Posted at 10:39 AM on July 22, 2009 by Barb Abney (0 Comments)

Late last month, Moby released his ninth studio album, Wait for Me. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast you can grab the tune "Pale Horses" for free!

If you're a new subscriber, you'll also receive new music from Eugene McGuiness, The Fiery Furnaces, Double Bird and The Rural Alberta Advantage. Later this week we'll be featuring new music from Other Lives and local music from Eyedea and Abilites.

Last week on Sound Opinions, Jim and Greg both raved about this record, giving it the coveted "buy it" honor.

Moby will be appearing at The Myth on October 1st.

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The Doctor Is In

Posted at 1:46 PM on July 22, 2009 by Steve Seel (2 Comments)
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

In honor of President Obama's press conference tonight concerning his plans for health care reform, we took your requests for songs related to health for the 9:30 Coffee Break. Never let it be said that we don't go the distance for our listeners to play your requests, especially regarding the first song here.

1) Motley Crue, "Dr. Feelgood"
2) Peggy Lee, "Fever"
3) Nilsson, "Coconut"
4) Morphine, "Cure For Pain"

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10KLF Update - The rush to get in!

Posted at 5:12 PM on July 22, 2009 by Lindsay Kimball (0 Comments)

We're finally here! After missing our first exit from I-94, we managed to make it into Detroit Lakes without too much hassle. We stopped at a local store to pick up some groceries and essentials like a kiddie pool and some grass mats. You could pick out the concert goers from the locals fairly easily just based on their purchases. While I was checking out with ingredients for s'mores and the aforementioned kiddie pool, the guy behind me had one mug, a tube of toothpaste, and a poncho.

The camp grounds look like mini cities made up of domes and triangles littering the ground. The camping chair-to-person ratio is one-to-one. With just about 30 minutes until the first band goes one stage, Gomez, the crowds are frantically trying to get their camps arranged before the festivities begin.

Speaking of camps, I'm observing the art of camping at 10KLF. Look forward to a blog about that shortly as well.

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Black Francis stole our dial!!

Posted at 7:15 PM on July 22, 2009 by Mark Wheat (0 Comments)
Filed under: Theft of the Dial

We started off the set with a track from the new album that Francis (as David Bowie calls him) or Charles (as his wife calls him) has made with his wife Violet, in the spare time that they have between raising 5 kids under the age of 11?!?!? The name of the project comes from Luxembourg...well listen to the stories that he tells and see if you can guess as the playlist unfolds, what is the theme that links it all together?

1. Grand Duchy - Ermesinde

2. The Platters - The Great Pretender

3. The Beatles - Savoy Truffle

4. Iggy Pop - Tell Me A Story

5. De La Soul - 3 The Magic Number

6. Elliott Smith - Needle In The Hay

7. MGMT - Kids

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10KLF Update - Let's get this started right. GOMEZ!

Posted at 8:32 PM on July 22, 2009 by Lindsay Kimball (0 Comments)

Being the band to open a festival seems to me to be the easiest and yet the toughest slot to play at a festival. On the one hand, the crowds are excited, rested, and ready, but on the other hand, they've haven't gotten into the groove of the festival yet. It's just like how comedians seem to be funnier after you've had one warm up the crowd.

Gomez gracefully maneuvered the opening slot. They played an hour and a half long set, which began with a small crowd hovered around the stage. As they got further and further into their set, the audience size grew and at least quadrupled. Around the middle of the set they played "See the World," and you could hear the crowd singing along. After telling the audience that they looked "healthy," they went into "Airstream Driver" complete with kazoos during the chorus. They ended their set with an extended version of "How We Operate," which drew out into guitar distortion and percussive clamor as they walked off stage.

Check out the photos we took at The Current's 10KLF page.

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