The Current Music Blog

It's still a weekday, after all...

2009-07-03T19:39:41Z

It may be the "weekend" for some people, but since it's still technically a weekday, we've still got a fresh Song of the Day and a My Three Songs set. Today's Song of the Day is Greycoats' "Goodbye, Sweet Youth, Goodbye". I guess this is appropriate because it's my dog's birthday today. He turns 3 (his golden birthday!) so in dog years, he's of legal drinking age now. Our My Three Songs set came to us from Jackie, who recently got engaged. Her relationship has been marked with a 'cloud' motif; she suggested the first and third tracks, and let us fill in the rest. Tori Amos - "Bouncing Off Clouds" The Temptations - "Cloud Nine" Rilo Kiley - "Silver Lining" Thanks, Jackie, and thanks to everyone else who suggested a M3S set today. Have a happy and safe Independence Day weekend!

Random Vinyl 6/29-7/2

2009-07-02T16:52:15Z

Every weekday morning at 6:30am we pull some wax off the shelf. We call it Random Vinyl. Monday: Jefferson Airplane, "Crown of Creation" (1968) Grace Slick wrote the song "Lather" for Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden's 30th birthday. He was the first to turn 30 in the group and Grace Slick felt that once you hit 30, you were no fun anymore. That's the gist of the song anyway. Tuesday: Buddy Holly and The Crickets, "20 Golden Greats" aka "Buddy Holly Lives" (1978) A great compilation album of some the best tunes by Buddy Holly and The Crickets. We played one of Buddy's last hits of his lifetime, "Rave On." That single was released April 20, 1958. Buddy Holly would die in the infamous plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. Wednesday: Joe Jackson, "Big World" Joe's 1985 live-to-2-track album, recorded that way to express his growing disdain for modern reliance on studio overdubs. "Big World" features another gimmick: it's three sides of music on two LPs (the fourth side is blank, featuring a label that reads in large print, "There is no music on this side"). It is also possibly his last truly decent record; too bad he didn't have enough material to fill out the fourth side. "Wild West" leads off the album. Thursday: David Byrne, "Music for The Knee Plays" A long out-of-print record on the jazz/avant-classical label ECM (only recently reissued on Nonesuch) featuring Byrne's score to Robert Wilson's minimalst play "The CIVIL WarS" (sic). The music sounds like The Dirty Dozen Brass Band playing Laurie Anderson. The track "In The Future" contains typical Byrne-sian observations about war, entertainment, love and sex.

3 Buzz bin tunes...

2009-07-02T16:42:06Z

Mark Joseph from Minneapolis picked today's My 3 Songs set because... " After hearing about the death of Michael Jackson, I immediately spent time watching a ton of his old videos. Which got me thinking about when MTV actually showed music videos. And how awesome it was! Reflecting upon the time of Music Television, I remembered the "Buzz Bin" which featured specific songs deemed "Buzz Clips" that were notable songs/videos from up and coming bands, a lot of which are still around today and grew to great success (For example: Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Bjork). These three buzz clips I remember I really enjoyed seeing on MTV in the early to mid 90's." Superdrag - "Sucked Out" The Cranberries - "Zombie" James - "Laid" Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

Music To Go With Your Wookie Costume

2009-07-02T15:18:39Z

All this weekend, the CONvergence science fiction and fantasy convention is taking place in Bloomington, for those who want to spend at least a part of their holiday weekend indoors wearing chain-mail or a Boba Fett helmet. From what I understand, it's a big party - billing itself as it does as "a celebration of the funny side of science fiction and fantasy." So fantasy and sci-fi was our topic for the 9:30 Coffee Break today. Our favorite requests: 1) David Bowie, "Starman" 2) Queen, "Flash Gordon Theme" 3) The Faint, "The Geeks Were Right" 4) Leonard Nimoy, "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" 5) Led Zeppelin, "Ramble On" 6) "Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000" Lots of spacey Bowie songs to pick from, not just "Space Oddity." "Starman" has always been a fave of mine. I loved hearing the dialog featuring Ming the Merciless at the beginning of the Flash Gordon Theme; as for Zeppelin, you get a few choices of Middle Earth-referencing tunes in their catalog, and "Ramble On" refers to Mordor and Gollum; and as for Leonard Nimoy - what's that? You didn't know about his "Ode To Bilbo Baggins?" Well shoot, the video is gonna blow your mind then:

Grab some Moondagger for free!

2009-07-02T15:10:57Z

Randolph J. Chabot is Daestro. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast You can grab the tune "Vermillion Plaza" from the Moondagger record, for free! If you're a new subscriber to the Song Of The Day podcast, you'll also receive new music from Tiny Masters of Today, Mos Def, British Sea Power and local music from Little Man. Follow Deastro: on MySpace on Twitter on his blog

Today In Music History: Eno Embarks On His Own

2009-07-02T11:12:55Z

1956 - Elvis Presley recorded 'Hound Dog' at RCA Studios, New York. Take 31 was the version that was released. 1962 - Jimi Hendrix was honorably discharged from the 101st Airborne Paratroopers, after breaking his ankle during his 26th parachute jump. 1969 - Working at Abbey Road Paul McCartney recorded "Her Majesty'. Then Paul, George, and Ringo record 15 takes of 'Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight". John Lennon was absent, in the hospital in Golspie, Scotland, following a car accident the previous day. Today 1973, Roxy Music's synthesiser player Brian Eno quit after personality clashes with the bands singer Bryan Ferry. According to legend, Ferry was unhappy that Eno got much more attention than he did - both onstage through his outrageous costumes and makeup, and offstage through his talents for sonic innovation in the studio. Eno's departure only set his career free, though; he would go on to be one of the most sought-after producers in rock n' roll, producing breakthrough albums from Devo to Talking Heads to U2. We played a tune from his first release as a solo artist, "Needles In The Camel's Eye."

3 songs to listen to at work, maybe they'll remind you of someone, too...

2009-07-01T17:21:14Z

Josh Ranta from Minneapolis picked today's My 3 Songs set because... "I love listening to these songs at work & they all remind me of someone in my life." Pinback - "Non Photo-Blue" Peter Bjorn and John - "Nothing To Worry About" St. Germain - "Rose Rouge" Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

It's Over.

2009-07-01T16:25:20Z

Regardless of how you feel about the way the process was conducted - and whether or not your guy won - it's farily universally gratifying that this miserably long, drawn-out recount process for the Minnesota senate seat is settled. Notice that I'm not arguing that the recount wasn't justified; I think we can all agree that fair and accurate elections are kinda important. It's simply good to have this legal impasse finally unstuck. So your assignment today for the 9:30 Coffee Break: submit songs titled, or containing the phrase in their title, "It's Over." Yes, there are a few (sue us for not playing Boz Skaggs, Goo Goo Dolls or BTO). Our favorite suggestions: 1) Roy Orbison, "It's Over" 2) Longwave, "Wake Me When It's Over" 3) 12 Rods, "Glad That It's Over"

Rockin' youngins offer up a free tune for you!

2009-07-01T15:00:19Z

Tiny Masters of Today recently released their sophomore record, Skeletons. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast You can grab the tune "Pop Chart" from for free! The young trio have had alot of buzz surrounding them since Russel Simmins (Blues Explosion) started work on their debut a couple of years ago. Catch them live at Siren Fest in Brooklyn later this month. If you're a new subscriber to the Song Of The Day podcast, you'll also receive new music from Mos Def, British Sea Power, Little Man and Placebo. Tomorrow we'll be giving away new music from Deastro.

Today In Music History: The Poet Laureaute Of the Blues

2009-07-01T11:20:23Z

Birthdays: Deborah Harry is 64. Fred Schneider, (vocals The B-52's) is 58. 1969 - John Lennon, Yoko Ono and family were involved in a car accident in Golspie, Scotland. Both John and Yoko needed hospital treatment. Lennon later had the car crushed into a cube and exhibited it on his lawn at Tittenhurst Park. 1983 - A New Jersey based quintet calling themselves Bon Jovi signed to Mercury records. 1995 - DJ Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack. Was the master of ceremonies for the rock 'n' roll generation of the '60s on radio, and later on television during the '70s on NBC's The Midnight Special. Today in 1915, blues singer and guitarist Willie Dixon "the poet laureate of the blues" was born. Credited with writing more than 500 songs by the end of his life, he wrote classics including "I'm Ready", "You Shook Me", "I Can't Quit You Baby" and many others. A major influence on The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, Dixon died on 29th January 1992. We played a favorite, "Hoochie Coochie Man."

Best of the Year...so far!

2009-06-30T20:10:45Z

Happy New Half Year!! Can you believe it's the end of June?!?! Did some one press fast forward on this year? Some of our colleagues in the music press are taking the opportunity of reviewing what they think are the best albums released so far this year, both nationally and locally. Some that have been mentioned are; Dirty Projectors, The Decemberists, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I would add Conor Oberst and P.O.S. Who would you suggest? Have we missed anyone?

First rock star diagnosed with H1N1?

2009-06-30T17:40:55Z

Jens Lekman recently posted on his blog about his peril.

3 songs that might put you in a good mood too...

2009-06-30T17:16:54Z

Liz Kava from Minneapolis picked today's My 3 Songs set because... "Because I'm at work, and they will put me in a good mood!" Band of Horses - "Ode To LRC" Kings of Leon - "McFearless" Kool and The Gang - "Get Down On It" Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

Evil Tunes

2009-06-30T15:22:37Z

The judge at Bernard Madoff's sentencing hearing used some unusually colorful language yesterday: "One of the traditional notions of punishment is that an offender should be punished in proportion to his blameworthiness. Here, the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil." Can you see a 9:30 Coffee Break coming? Of course you can. Your suggestions for evil songs today: 1) Electric Six, "Rock n' Roll Evacuation" 2) Howlin' Wolf, "Evil" 3) Electric Light Orchestra, "Evil Woman" 4) Eartha Kitt, "I Wanna Be Evil" 5) Television, "See No Evil" Thanks everybody!

Rockin' youngins offer up a free tune for you!

2009-06-30T14:17:46Z