The Current Music Blog

Honey-Do: "Instrumental" stylings

2012-02-11T16:17:19Z

While I was hosting The Current's Time Machine the other night I was playing Santo and Johnny's 1959 instumental, "Love Lost," I realized how many great songs their are with no words. So, today I'll scatter a bunch of instrumental's into my part of our Saturday. On the agenda are tunes from Booker T and the MG's, The Meters, Beastie Boys, as well as some of your requests!

Transmission Video of the Day - The Darkness "Friday Night"

2012-02-10T19:06:58Z

Reasons why this Darkness track made the "Video of the Day" cut: - Obvious reason: It'll soon be Friday night - Less obvious reason: I dig the Thin Lizzy sounding guitar solo - A bit more obvious: Just hosted last night's Transmission tribute to Glam rock, and Glam is in the air - Reason for those in the know: The Darkness will be rocking First Avenue this coming Sunday - Ideal reason: Friday needs to be taken back from Rebecca Black I'm done now. Have a great weekend and catch you next week with Transmission's tribute to the "Paisley Underground" movement of the early 1980's

Visit the Transmission homepage

Transmission 2/9/12

2012-02-10T16:57:44Z

Listen

Joan Jett

Playlist

Joy Division - Transmission
Sweet - Blockbuster
Slade - Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Mott The Hoople - Roll Away The Stone
T.Rex - Metal Guru
David Bowie - Hang Onto Yourself
Mick Ronson - Only After Dark
Gary Glitter - Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again
Brian Eno - Needle In The Camel's Eye
Roxy Music - Do The Strand
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us
Suzi Quatro - The Wild One
New York Dolls - Trash
Kim Fowley - Motorboat
Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy
KISS - Shout It Out Loud
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love

9:30 Coffee Break: Landscape Songs

2012-02-10T14:39:31Z

Photo Credit: www.warinthenorth.com

Where do you go when you're day dreaming in February? A tropical beach? A dew covered meadow? Snow-capped mountain ranges? Let's take a musical vacation for today's 9:30 Coffee Break with songs that paint a picture and describe a landscape.

Songs played: Otis Redding "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" Innocence Mission "Lakes of Canada" Talking Heads "Take me to the River" John Denver "Rocky Mountain High"

Today In Music History: The Clash Enter The Studio

2012-02-10T12:51:01Z

Today in: 1975 - Record producer Phil Spector was injured in a car accident. Not much was known about what happened, except that it occurred somewhere between Los Angeles and Phoenix and that Spector was injured.. 1986 - John Lennon's Live In New York City album was finally released. 1993 - Michael Jackson revealed during a live TV interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had a disorder that destroys the pigmentation of his skin. He also insisted he's had very little plastic surgery, contrary to what the public has thought. 1997 - Liam Gallagher of Oasis called off his wedding to actress Patsy Kensit because of what he called ``obsessive and intrusive'' media attention. They quietly got married the following April. They have since divorced. History Highlight: Today in 1977, The Clash began recording sessions in London for their first album. The band's first single, "White Riot", was released quickly the next month and the album itself came out in April. In February 1993, the New Musical Express magazine ranked the album number 13 in its list of the Greatest Albums of All Time. NME also ranked The Clash number 3 in its list of the Greatest Albums of the '70s, and wrote in the review that "the speed-freaked brain of punk set to the tinniest, most frantic guitars ever trapped on vinyl. Lives were changed beyond recognition by it".

The Chart Show 2-9

2012-02-10T03:00:49Z

Listen

Towers is the third track from Bon Iver to go to the top, on the eve of the Grammy's!

Funny, it came in to the chart at #3 last year but never made it to #1 until now.

Lots of new entries as we replace five HOF inductees and last week's debutantes

The Shins and Florence have another strong week. We lost Beirut after 4 weeks.

Another big week for local artists bouyed by The Jayhawk fans trying to win tix.

They helped boost The Honeydogs, The Pines and Mason Jennings. Will the new

Ting Tings be as big as their debut?! Will Jack and Sharon vie for #1 next week?

It's up to you...thanks for voting and if you become a member today get the cool

Current Duo...Local Current Vol 2 & Live Current Vol 7, together; WOOOHOO!

TW	LW	Wks	2/9/2012	The Current Chart Show
			Artist	Song
1	5	10	Bon Iver	Towers
2	2	5	Of Monsters And Men	Little Talks
3	10	2	Florence and the Machine	No Light, No Light
4	8	2	The Shins	Simple Song
5	4	4	St.Vincent	Cruel
6	13	3	Dr. Dog	That Old Black Hole
7	17	2	Polica	Lay Your Cards Out
8	X	1	Jack White	Love Interruption
9	X	1	Sharon Van Etten	Serpents
10	20	2	The Honeydogs	Aubben
11	11	5	Lana Del Rey	Video Games
12	X	1	The Jayhawks	Hide Your Colors
13	9	2	Feist	The Bad In Each Other
14	16	5	Mason Jennings	Clutch
15	12	6	The Wombats	1996
16	18	3	Howler	Back Of Your Neck
17	14	11	tUnE-yArDs	gangsta
18	X	1	The Pines	All The While
19	X	1	The Ting Tings	Hang It Up
20	X	1	Nada Surf	When I Was Young

Transmission Video of the Day - Roxy Music "Do the Strand"

2012-02-09T18:42:56Z

Tonight at 10pm The Current's airwaves go GLAM! Tune in to hear the key artists that inspired much of the the punk, new wave and indie rock we dig today.

Visit the Transmission homepage

Beats from the Tribe: Award Tour

2012-02-09T16:20:15Z

Since Q-Tip has gotten the lion's share of the glory for A Tribe Called Quest's success... and because ATCQ has been known for their deep jazz and funk samples, we're digging through the crates finding those cuts used to make the definitive Tribe sound. 1993's Midnight Marauders was a critical success, and though it didn't match the praise heaped on Low End Theory, it produced a couple of stand-out singles, among them the hit "Award Tour." "Award Tour" is the highest charting Tribe song to date, and it's due in no small part to the sample. The refrain "We on Award Tour with Muhammad my man..." is a nod to Ali Shaheed's brilliance in utilizing a track from Weldon Irvine -- "We Gettin' Down" -- to be precise. Weldon Irvine's story is not well told. He was a band leader for acclaimed jazz singer Nina Simone and wrote the lyrics for the civil rights anthem "To Be Young Gifted and Black." Later in life, he served as a mentor to rappers Mos Def and ATCQ's Q-Tip. Like many songwriters in the early '60s, Irvine did not retain rights for his publishing and subsequently went uncompensated for his art for many years. In 2002, following an unsuccessful attempt to get an advance on a new project, Irvine committed suicide. Hip hop producer Madlib put out an album in his memory, A Tribute to Brother Weldon, under his jazz moniker Monk Hughes. ]]> A Tribe Called Quest artist page

Passport Approved 2/8/12

2012-02-09T15:44:30Z

Listen

Farryl Purkiss

Playlist

FARRYL PURKISS - "Seraphine" (Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa)
ALL MANKIND - "Hollywood Tonight" (SO Recordings, UK)
THOMAS AZIER - "Red Eyes" (Unsigned, Germany)
ALL THE YOUNG - "Another Miracle" (Warner Bros, UK)
PEPE DELUXE - "A Night And A Day" (Catskills Records, Finland)
BIRDY - "1901" (14th Floor/Atlantic, UK)
ECHOTAPE - "Unstable" (Unsigned, UK)
HUCK FINN - "Charles Dickens" (Unsigned, Switzerland)
GRAEME WATKINS PROJECT - "Bloodshot Eyes" (Sheer Sound, Africa)
RALPH MYERZ - "Forever Yourz" (import, Norway)
HUSKY - "History's Door" (Liberation, Australia)
OH LAND - "Break The Chains" (Fake Diamond, Denmark)
ATHLETES IN PARIS - "Borrowed Time" (The Animal Farm, UK)
JOAKIM - "Forever Young" (Tigersushi, France)
LEAGUE - " Golden Maps" (Unsigned, Portugal)
ROSHAMBO - "Cigarette Lemonade" (Unsigned, Sweden)
MAKESHIFT INNOCENCE - "All You Need Is Love" (OP3, Canada)
THE TWO - "Everyday" (Wagram Label, France)
ALFRED HALL - "So Bright" (Waterfall Records, Norway) *N. American Exclusive
ALL MANKIND - "Lay Me Down" (SO Recordings, UK)
FRENCH FILMS - "Convict" (Import, Finland)
THE CHEMIST - "Lullaby #1 (Mercy)" (Warner Music, Australia)
THE CONCEPT - "D-D-Dance" (Unsigned, Sweden)
DAUGHTER - "Home" (Unsigned, UK)
GOTYE - "Save Me" (Samples 'n' Seconds Records, Australia)
IREMEMBERTAPES - "All I Know" (The Animal Farm, UK)
MIDNIGHT YOUTH - "World Comes Calling" (NZ On Air/Warner Bros. New Zealand)
NOVA DELAI - "Slippering Into Sleep" (Unsigned, Sweden) *World Exclusive
BLONDE ON BLONDE - "Oh My Oh My" (Unsigned, Australia)
THE FLUXX - "Take You Back" (Unsigned, Norway)

9:30 Coffee Break: Extraterrestrial Visitor Day

2012-02-09T14:30:59Z

What is Extraterrestrial Visitor day exactly? Let's take this directly from their website: "A day 'to celebrate and honor all past, present and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.' Passed as a memorial (not law) by the New Mexico state legislature in acknowledgment that ever since the Roswell UFO incident of 1947, New Mexico is recognized worldwide as a nexus of sightings and unexplained mysteries. Annually, the second Thursday of February." For today's 9:30 Coffee Break we're looking for songs that reference "citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown." The song can mention someone from a planet far away, or someone more local that seems unknown. Songs played: David Bowie "Starman" Klaatu "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" Ash "Girl From Mars" Radiohead "Subterranean Homesick Alien"

Today In Music History: Carole King Is 70

2012-02-09T12:10:35Z

Today in: 1964 - The Beatles made their first live U.S. television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The band perform five songs, including "I Want To Hold Your Hand.," before an estimated television audience of 73 million people (over one-third of the entire U.S. population - the largest television audience ever. 1972 - Wings played its first show -- unannounced and uninvited - for students during lunchtime at Nottingham University in England. The price of admission was 33 cents. 1981 - Bill Haley, of The Comets fame, died of a heart attack at his home in Harlingen, Texas. He sold an estimated 60 million records in his lifetime, most notably for "Rock Around The Clock." Birthday Highlight: Singer/songwriter Carole King is 70 today. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards (examples: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" first recorded by The Shirelles, "The Locomotion" sung by Little Eva, and even songs for The Monkees). As a solo performer, King had an album, Tapestry, at the top the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971, and it remained on the charts for more than six years. Billboard Magazine named her the most successful female songwriter of the second half of the 20th century, because she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. From Tapestry, we played King's solo hit "I Feel The Earth Move."

What's New on The Current This Week

2012-02-08T19:24:29Z

Here's a taste of some of the great new music we added to rotation this week on The Current!

Band of Skulls — "Sweet Sour"

This bluesy British garage-rock trio made an impressive debut a few years ago with the album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, and now they're back with a new album due out later this month. This is the title track from that record, and its cocktail of ear-catching melodies and distorted riffs certainly lives up to the name "Sweet Sour."

Justin Townes Earle — "Look The Other Way"

Justin Townes Earle is on the verge of releasing his fifth full-legnth studio album, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, which has a release date of March 27 and was recently featured in The Current's list of our most anticipated albums for this spring. This tune offers a preview of what Earle has in store on his latest release. If you like it, be sure to check out his May 7 show at the Varsity.

Shearwater — "Breaking The Yearlings"

This Okkervil River offshoot has been quietly honing their sound and perfecting their indie-rock pedigree over the course of several releases, and have now signed to Sub Pop for their seventh full-length studio album Animal Joy, due out on Valentine's Day. This first track showcases the band's dark, driving atmosphere.

Fun. — "We Are Young"

New York indie-pop outfit Fun. (yes, the period is part of the band's name) have been gaining momentum lately, especially on the strength of this single, which features a guest spot from Janelle Monae and was used in a Superbowl commercial last weekend. They've even sold out their upcoming Minneapolis show at the Varsity Theater!

Current Presents: Making Music

2012-02-08T18:24:30Z

Pink Mink: photo courtesy of The Whole Music Club

This week's Current Presents is a special one with major ties to the local music community. Mark Wheat is joined by James Everest who hosts the long-running Making Music series at the Whole Music Club of Coffman Union on the University of Minnesota campus, and they'll be talking about favorite moments of the show and teasers of the upcoming season.

The music and conversation series is also celebrating its 15th anniversary, and the creators are bringing some new tricks to its format including past participants dropping by or phoning in to join the conversation with their own questions for the artists being profiled. This idea is especially exciting considering the roster of musicians who have been featured on Making Music in previous years including Andrew Bird, Dessa, Slug, Jeremy Messersmith, and David Longsreth of Dirty Projectors.

Some details have emerged on the line-up in the next few months including Alpha Consumer on February 16 (which includes members of Bon Iver, The Pines, and The Cloak Ox), Peter Pisano of Peter Wolf Crier on March 1, and Dylan Hicks (of Halloween, Alaska) on April 26.

You can find more information on the Making Music website and, to reiterate the community impact of these events, all shows are conveniently free to the public.

Listen to this week's Current Presents Sunday night at 9 p.m. to hear more about the Making Music series featuring James Everest and hosted by Mark Wheat.

Additional Links:
Making Music Facebook Page
Making Music YouTube Channel

Transmission Video of the Day - T.Rex "20th Century Boy"

2012-02-08T18:21:06Z

Catch Mr. Bolan of T. Rex along with Bowie, Reed, Mercury, Ferry and the rest of the gang tomorrow night at 10pm as Transmission revisits the 1970's Glam rock movement. Don't forget to throw on your feather boa before tuning in.

Visit the Transmission homepage

Time Machine Tuesday: 1959 (2/7/2012)

2012-02-08T16:59:58Z

Welcome to Time Machine Tuesday with your host Bill DeVille. This week in the time machine he'll be taking you all the way back to 1959, our oldest year yet explored! It was a great year and we've got all the highlights here. It was the year of the Buddy Holly plane crash, which claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper. The year wasn't all bad though. Rock 'n Roll was on top, Chuck Berry was still a free man, and jazz was becoming more and more accessible, making it a great year in music history. You can catch it all at 10 pm on Tuesday nights, on 89.3 The Current. Ray Charles, "What'd I Say":