The Current Music Blog: November 4, 2009 Archive

Today In Music History: Jackie Wilson Debuts

Posted at 6:35 AM on November 4, 2009 by Steve Seel (0 Comments)
Filed under: Music History

Birthdays:

Singer-guitarist Chris Difford of Squeeze is 55.
Rapper-producer Diddy (Sean Combs) is 40.

Today in:

1963 - The Beatles performed for the Queen Mother in London. This is when John Lennon commented that people in the cheap seats could clap and the rest could rattle their jewelry.
1976 - A Bruce Springsteen concert in New York was interrupted by a bomb threat. Springsteen joked that the threat could have come from his former manager, with whom he was involved in a legal battle.
1978 - The band Boston played the city of Boston for the first time, in a sold-out show.
1984 - Prince launched his Purple Rain tour in (wait for it) Detroit.
1986 - Country singer Tammy Wynette checked in to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction to painkillers.

Today's history highlight: On this day in 1957, Jackie Wilson made his US chart debut with "Reet Petite", (it made No.1 in the UK in 1986, 29 years after its first release).

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Wednesay Coffee Break: By The Way, Which One's Pink?

Posted at 8:20 AM on November 4, 2009 by Steve Seel (46 Comments)
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

(updated below)

Why would you name your band after a person who's not actually in the band? Because it's clever, confusing, and therefore fun. Not to mention ironic, which is always good too. Today's 9:30 Coffee Break is all about such bands, like Jethro Tull or Lynyrd Skynyrd (both were real people, incidentally - just not in the band, since the former was an 18th-century British agriculturalist and the latter a guy actually named Leonard Skinner who was a gym teacher the guys in the band had in high school). Naturally, we'd like you to help us think of some others (not that we'd never play either of those ... don't tempt us).

Update: Here are our six selections from your over 150 awesome suggestions:

1) Walt Mink, "Miss Happiness"
2) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, "40 Day Dream"
3) Fujiya & Miyagi, "Transparent Things"
4) Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Think I Wanna Die"
5) Bettie Serveert, "Tomboy"
6) Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"

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Teenage Kicks ... brought to you by the letter X.

Posted at 3:00 PM on November 4, 2009 by Jacquie Fuller (1 Comments)
Filed under: Teenage Kicks

I hosted a "retro" radio show in college with the unfortunate name of "Blue Eyeliner," and it's long been a dream of mine to have a similar show on The Current. I pitched it to our Program Director, Jim McGuinn, and found out he had a similar dream. A few weeks ago, Jim gave it the green light and put the training wheels on by getting the show started while I was busy putting on The Current's member drive.

This weekend, the wheels come off! I'm super-excited to be hosting Teenage Kicks, and hope you'll give me lots of feedback, suggestions, and requests. (And don't worry--Jim will still be around from time to time, filling in, especially when there's a member drive going on.)

If you haven't caught Teenage Kicks yet, it airs Saturday mornings from 8-10 am. Remember when the term "alternative," with regard to music, entered the collective consciousness? Well, Teenage Kicks is all about the music that came before "alternative." Back then it was "college radio," "modern radio," call it what you will. But you get the gist!

This week's featured artist is X. Frontwoman Exene Cervenka has a new album out, so it seemed timely to take a look back at the band. Formed in Los Angeles in 1977, X forged a sound all their own: a combination of punk, blues, rockabilly and country, sugared on the edges by the crooning duo of Exene and John Doe. When you hear an X song, you recognize it right away as an X song. Few bands have managed to hit the same register.

I had trouble finding early footage of the band, but here they are playing "The New World," from their 1983 album, More Fun in the New World, at a recent SXSW.

I remember one SXSW--I think it was '99--I was watching the free show at Waterloo Park. Who did I see there, fire-engine red hair blazing, chilling out on a blanket like it was Easter Sunday? Yep--Exene. (I still want to be her.)

What are your memories of X? Seen 'em live? Got an X song that's close to your heart? Share your X story below, and tune in on Saturday morning for Teenage Kicks!

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Grab a Chisel for free!

Posted at 10:19 AM on November 4, 2009 by Barb Abney (0 Comments)

Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons will be playing First Avenue along with Brendan Benson on the 17th. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast you can grab a Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons tune that was produced by Brendan Benson, "Longer Time At Sea" for free! It's from the new record, Death Won't Send A Letter.

If you're a new subscriber to the Song Of The Day podcast you will also receive new music from GIRLS, Breakestra, BK-One w/ Benzilla and Mountain Goats. Later this week we'll be featuring new music from Mission of Burma amd Total Babe.

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3 "bat-like" songs

Posted at 12:06 PM on November 4, 2009 by Barb Abney (1 Comments)
Filed under: My Three Songs

Carles Spolyar from Minneapolis picked today's My 3 Songs set because...

"They pretty much sound like each other (well, Megafaun and Built to Spill sound like the Bats...) "

Megafaun - "The Fade"
Built To Spill - "Center Of The Universe"
The Bats - "Block Of Wood"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

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New Music Added To The Current This Week!

Posted at 6:15 PM on November 4, 2009 by Melanie Walker (1 Comments)

Hey there! It's Melanie Walker the Music Director here at The Current! Check out the latest new music we'ved added to our playlists each week here on The Current's music blog! You can learn more about the artist or band and listen to more of their music by clicking on their name and you will be linked directly to their website. Enjoy!

Florence And The Machine has a new album out titled Lungsand it is our featured CD of the week! We'll be hearing multiple tracks from the record all week including "Drumming Song", "Kiss With A Fist" and "Rabbit Heart (Rise It Up)". Lungs is in stores now. Florence Welch from South London has been making quite a name for herself in the UK and now in the States as well. Her debut release is a collection of tracks she's had multiple producers and musicians collaborate with her on. According to Welch "The name Florence and the Machine started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought "Okay, I'll be Florence Robot is a Machine," before realizing that name was so long it'd drive me mad". Lungs has been nominated for a 2009 Mercury Prize award, which is a very prestigious award in the UK.

Brother Ali "Fresh Air" from his new album Us in stores now. Rapper Brother Ali spent much of his life in the Upper Midwest, living in Madison, WI and Michigan as a young child. This is where he was first introduced to breakdancing, graffiti and rap. Ali eventually settled in northern Minneapolis with his family when he was 15. Ali first started his career in hip hop with a demo tape called Rites of Passage which made it into the hands of the still young Rhymesayers crew. The soon signed the MC and brought him with them to the 2000 Scribble Jam where Ali became a finalist. His 2003 debut, Shadows on the Sun, was produced by Atmosphere's Ant and including a song titled "Forest Whitiker" that spoke of his albinism. Us is Brother Ali's 3rd album.

Fanfarlo "Harold T. Wilkins" from their new album Reservoir in stores now. Up-and-coming indie pop band from London England, Fanfarlo, really developed their reputation through an apperence at the South By Southwest confrence in Austin, TX and word of mouth. They soon began getting quite a buzz online as well. The band is comprised of Simon Balthazer (vocals), Mark West (guitar), Leon Beckenham (trumpet), Cathy Lucas (violin), Justin Finch (bass), and Amos Memon (drums). Reservoir is their debut album!

Felt "Protaganists" from their new album Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez in stores November 17th. Initially started as a joke between friends Murs (from Living Legends) and Slug (from Atmosphere), Felt developed after a discussion came up during a tour about who would have the best chance of getting together with Christina Ricci. That ridiculous idea eventually lead them to dedicating an album to her to hopefully benefit their cause. In 2005, after they realized that their dreams of meeting Ms. Ricci might never come true so Murs and Slug decided to focus their efforts on another celebrity, and A Tribute to Lisa Bonet came out later that year. Felt 3 is their third attempt at winning an actresses heart. Aesop Rock joined the crew to help realize their dream of attracting Ms. Rosie Perez.

Julian Casablancas "11th Dimension" from his new album Phrazes for the Young in stores now. Juliian is best known as the lead singer/songwriter of the Strokes. He spent part of his teens in the Swiss boarding school Instituit Le Rosey, where he met Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., and in New York's Lycee Français high school, where he met Fabrizio Moretti and Nick Valensi. The band's 2001 debut album Is This It was a huge success. Most of Casablancas' bandmates released albums with other projects or on their own so Casablancas began recording his own solo debut album in 2008 with producer Jason Lader and Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis. Phrazes for the Young is Julian's first solo release.

Massive Attack "Psyche (Flash Treatment)" from their new EP Splitting The Atom in stores now. Massive Attack were among the most innovative and influential groups of their generation acting as the pioneering force behind the rise of trip-hop music. They signiture sound set the pace for much of the dance music to emerge throughout the 1990s, from acclaimed artists such as Portishead, Sneaker Pimps, Beth Orton, and Tricky. They began in1983 with the formation of the Wild Bunch, one of the earliest and most successful DJ collectives to arrive on the U.K. electronic music scene. Five studio albums and one EP later, Splitting The Atom is the second EP for Massive Attack to release.

Muse "MK Ultra" from their new album The Resistance in stores now. Muse's is guitarist/vocalist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard. From Teignmouth, Devon, these three British friends began playing music together and began the first incarnation of Muse while only 13 years old. By 1997, they released their self-titled debut EP on Dangerous Records, followed by the Muscle Museum EP in 1998. The group's emotive, passionate sound and live presence drew critical acclaim and industry buzz, and Muse signed a deal with Maverick Records after a trip to New York's CMJ festival. Since then, Muse have won 25 major music awards including two Brit Awards, six NME Awards, four Kerrang! Awards and five Q Awards. The Resistance is their fifth studio album.

Solid Gold "Matter Of Time" a new single by the band available through Green Label Sound for free. Minneapolis' Solid Gold is Zach Coulter, Matthew Locher and Adam Hurlburt. Founding members Zach and Matthew met in at the University of Wisconsin. Soon guitarist Adam Hurlburt was brought in that the trio quickly started crafting their signature sound. Their live show became complete with the addition guitarist Shon Troth and drummer "Sticks." Matter of Time is Solid Gold's first release since their incredibly successful debut album, Bodies of Water.

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