The Duluth band Low were featured in the Star Trib on Sunday, focusing on the buzz surrounding their new album, The Great Destroyer.
You can snag a couple Low mp3s from Sub Pop Records.
You can also catch a video of Hollis, the 5-year-old daughter of two Low members, signing albums and drawing pictures of monkeys.
I’m listening to local band the Olympic Hopefuls live on 89.3 The Current. They played one song from their debut CD and two unrecorded songs–great stuff.
Who needs to watch the as yet scoreless Super Bowl?
Today at approximately 3:00 p.m. it became official. The first chords of U2’s “In God’s Country” echoed over my radio and 89.3 FM The Current became the best radio station ever. I’d been listening non-stop for five or six days and though I loved what I was hearing, I’d yet to hear my favorite band ever. With those opening strains I stopped what I was doing and sent The Current an e-mail telling them the news: Best. Radio station. Ever.
They’re a Minnesota Public Radio station playing a vast mix of music–I hesitate to call it rock or indie rock or alternative rock because they’re all over the place. They also play some folk, electronica, country, hip-hop, straight-up pop–even oldies. It’s amazing. In the several days I’ve been listening I’ve liked about everything I’ve heard. Only once or twice have I turned to the radio and frowned. Most of the time I’m shaking my head no: “No, no, no–don’t stop a rockin’!”
And did you hear that first part: public radio. It’s non-commercial. Can you imagine the joy of not ever hearing obnoxious radio commercials? It’s the joy of NPR with hip music! They’re playing all sorts of music I like (Johnny Cash, Radiohead, Polyphonic Spree, Badly Drawn Boy), introducing me to lots of new stuff (Arcade Fire, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Arthur Yoria) and playing tons of local music (Low, Valet, The Olympic Hopefuls).
I never have to listen to another pathetic endorsement from a Cities 97 DJ (“You know, when I want to put my hair in dreads, I call the pros over at…”). I never have to listen to Drive 105 play another single into the ground. I can listen to good music and get the weather and news. Sorry iPod, you’re looking lonely.
The Pulse of the Twin Cities has a lengthy interview with the staff of 89.3 FM and the Star Trib has a factually inaccurate little piece. You can also listen online, supposedly (I’ve yet to get the stream to play).
ChristianMusicToday has a revealing interview with Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler talking about rock and roll being boring, their record company pushing them to do a worship album, and a return to sarcastic songs like “Breakfast.”
Smoosh is an indie band comprised of 10- and 12-year-old sisters Chloe and Asya that’s landed opening spots with Pearl Jam, Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab for Cutie. Asya plays piano and Chloe plays drums for a simple yet fresh sound that’s surprisingly mature. Some early tracks sound like kids in a rock band, but later recordings have an impressive vocal quality. Look out Ashlee Simpson.
You can nab an mp3 from their record company, listen to live radio performances, hear the NPR story or just buy the CD, She Like Electric.
A few mid-week online music selections for you…
Independent acoustic strummer Justin McRoberts has released a live bootleg album, Live at Grove City, which is available only at his web site. While you’re there, check out the McDemo player, which lets you listen to clips from all five of his previous albums. For my favorites check out the cover of U2’s “One” from Intersections, and then go all the way back to his debut, Reason for Living and check out “5th Wheel.”
On the other end of the muscal spectrum, Tooth & Nail’s Showbread offers what the bio calls “spazz rock.” And that’s about right. If you can put up with screaming vocals, the music on their debut album, No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical is stellar. You can listen to the entire album on their site, or visit purevolume.com to download the best clips (speaking of purevolume, when did they become the defacto place to listen to and download good music?). You can also watch a video for “Mouth Like a Magazine” online, which gives you a sense of spazz rock in the flesh.
In other music news, a survey of artists reveals that two-thirds of musicians think file sharing poses little threat to them. Artists are split on sharing in general, with 47 percent saying sharing is bad and prevents them from being compensated for their music, and 43 percent saying sharing isn’t bad and gives them a wider audience.
So as you can imagine, I’ve been listening to U2 non-stop since picking up How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb yesterday morning. I’ve also enjoyed reading all kinds of reviews and articles, as well as hearing friends’ reactions, which is actually more important.
So let’s have a little U2 talk.
The song list for the second volume of CCM’s Top 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music has been announced. So far, the shut-out of Tooth & Nail continues.
The songs from the second volume (the 100 songs were not ranked) include …
A ridiculous 446 U2 songs are availabe on iTunes in The Complete U2, which includes every studio album, tons of singles, EPs and b-sides, as well as several concerts and a collection of unreleased and rare tunes.
Surprisingly it’s available a day early (or it’s late enough the night before that we can call it close enough), but happily you can buy most some songs for 99 cents and don’t have to shell out $150 for the set (UPDATE: though most of the rare and live cuts are now available “album only”). But despite the title I can think of a few U2 tracks missing. Not many, but a few, including the covers “Beat on the Brat” (The Ramones) and “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (Johnny Cash), as well as “Fortunate son “(Creedence Clearwater Revival) and “Paint it Black” (The Rolling Stones), though the latter two are available on the Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses EP. I could probably go on, but it seems like a dorky, fan boy thing to do, and I’d probably get schooled by a real fan.
And if you haven’t heard, U2 stormed the streets of New York today.
The new album comes out tomorrow, so I’ll stop the obsessive U2 posting. I promise.