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The Current Music Blog: July 31, 2009 Archive

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Today In Music History: Eight Tracks for Hey Jude

Posted at 6:38 AM on July 31, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Music History

Birthdays:

Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets) is 52.
Bill Berry (drums, R.E.M.) is 51.
Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim; The BPA; Housemartins) is 46.
Will Champion (drums, Coldplay) is 31.


1964 - A Rolling Stones concert in Belfast was stopped after only 12 minutes because of rioting fans.
1968 - The Beatles recorded four takes of "Hey Jude", working at Trident studios in London with its 8-track equipment (EMI was still using 4-track recorders),
1991 - Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson was given six months probation for spitting on a customer in a 7-Eleven store in Denver.
1996 - Aerosmith fired longtime manager Tim Collins, who later hinted that the band was back on drugs.

Theft of the Dial: Sonic Youth

Posted at 10:37 AM on July 31, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Theft of the Dial



I can only say that I was "agog" as Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth sat before me in our studios playing DJ for this latest edition of "Theft of the Dial." They were awesome DJs! Totally comfortable at the gig. If you missed it, I highly encourage you to listen to the whole thing - not just for some great radio, but also an extremely cool insight into what makes these guys (and thus Sonic Youth in general) tick. With the exception of the very swampy John Fahey cut, I felt occasionally like I was listening to sort of an examination of the stuff that Thurston and Lee felt like they'd influenced themselves; from the band Hush Arbors, on Thurston's own label, to a the very Sonic Youth-y Pavement track "Fight This Generation," to one of Cat Power's darkest tracks, "Names."

Thanks Thurston and Lee for being great hosts. Here's their playlist:

Awesome Color, "Free Man"
Hush Arbors, "Rue Hollow"
Cat Power, "Names"
Pavement, "Fight This Generation"
Wooden Wand, "The Pushers"
John Fahey, "Revelation On the Banks of the Pawtuxet"

Random Vinyl 7/27-7/31

Posted at 11:20 AM on July 31, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: Random Vinyl

Monday: The Stray Cats, Rant N' Rave with The Stray Cats (1983)

The band's follow-up to their breakthrough 1982 compilation Built For Speed, 1983's Rant N' Rave contained equally strong hits such as "(She's) Sexy & 17" and "Look At That Cadillac" - and our pick for today, "I Won't Stand In Your Way." Nothin' better than a little rockabilly to start off a cloudy Monday.

Tuesday: Lloyd Cole and The Commotions, Easy Pieces (1985)

Another album that's seen more as a follow up than a stand-alone (in this case, following the band's amazing Rattlesnakes). But it's still a tremendously strong if underappreciated record. We played the lovely ballad "Pretty Gone."

Wednesday: Wayne Newton, The Best of Wayne Newton (1967)

Okay, this one was admittedly played far more for weird laughs than out of appreciation - I mean, Wayne is one freaky dude. The album cover describes his "all-embracing friendliness"; today we might call that puke-inducing cheesiness. Submitted for your approval: young Wayne, sounding not the least bit male whatsoever (I mean really: when he was a young guy, he sounded 100% like a very sexy lay-day), doing "Danke Schoen."

Thursday: David Byrne, The Catherine Wheel (1981)

Is it clear with this pick that Steve has taken over the reins completely while Jill is away? Here's another David Byrne score for the New York art stage, from 1981. In this case, Twyla Tharp's dance piece The Catherine Wheel. I played the very Talking Heads-like "His Wife Refused."

Friday: Pylon, Chomp (1983)

Yes, I've featured this one before, but it's so awesome it's just a gift that keeps on giving. A cult band from Athens, GA from the early 80s and one that REM cites as being one of their biggest inspirations (in fact, after being called "The Greatest Band In The World" by Rolling Stone, Bill Berry from REM said, "We're not the greatest band in the world. That would be Pylon." That's reason enough for you to check them out. One of my prize vinyl possessions is a mint-condition copy of Chomp. I played "Beep."

What Are Some More Bands Who Have Never "Jumped the Shark"?

Posted at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2009 by Steve Seel
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

It all started back when Thurston and Lee from Sonic Youth visited our studios last week: we got to talking around the office about bands, such as Sonic Youth, who have never "jumped the shark." (You know the phrase, right? If not, here's a primer). Who are some other artists who have never made an ill-advised record or career decision, precipitaing their artistic decline? First, the discussion got going on Musicheads, where Bill DeVille and company talked about The Cure and Beck as fitting the criteria in their opinion (you can join in on that discussion here as well). But today, I put it to you for the 9:30 Coffee Break, so we could actually play some of your suggestions for such bands on the radio. The top vote getters, with selected songs:

1) Radiohead, "All I Need"
2) Yo La Tengo, "Little Eyes"
3) Bjork, "Earth Intruders"
4) Ween, "Shamemaker"
5) The Flaming Lips, "The W.A.N.D."


Song of the Day - Could this be a free tune about the guy who can tell us how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?

Posted at 12:03 PM on July 31, 2009 by Jim McGuinn


Today on our Song Of The Day podcast we're featuring the local band The Blind Shake. They recently unveiled their latest record, Soft Zodiac and you can grab their tune "Wise Mr. Owl" for free!

If you're a new S.O.D. subscriber, you'll also receive new music from Generationals, Zee Avi, Those Darlins and Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros.

Next week we'll be featuring new music from Discovery, Portugal The Man, Datarock, Nino Moschella and new local music from Vampire Hands.

You can catch The Blind Shake again this Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. on The Local Show with David Campbell


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