Category Archives: Music

U2

Get On Your U2: New Single & Pre-Order No Line on the Horizon

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No Line on the Horizon by U2The first single from U2’s new album, No Line on the Horizon, is now available. The song, “Get On Your Boots” is being streamed from U2’s web site and is available for purchase on iTunes. No Line on the Horizon comes out March 3, 2009.

You can buy just the single for 99 cents, or pre-order the album for $9.99 and you can download “Get On Your Boots” today. The pre-order version of No Line on the Horizon includes two bonus tracks (one is an iTunes exclusive, the other is a pre-order only, but no details on what either one is).

You can also pre-order the deluxe version of the album for $17.99 from iTunes, which includes the two bonus tracks, a film from Anton Corbijn and a digital collector’s magazine.

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U2

All the Hype That U2 Can’t Leave Behind

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Bono in the U2 iPod adI mentioned before Christmas that the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, is coming out March 3. Let the hype machine begin. I’ve talked in the past about the marketing of U2, so I’m curious to see what they do this time around. Here’s a round-up of some of the current news:

  • Q previews the new album, comparing it to Achtung Baby in spirit and offering hints that producer Brian Eno and guitarist the Edge think it may be U2’s best album.
  • Rolling Stone offers a track by track appraisal of the new album.
  • Lead singer Bono brushes off nervousness about the new album: “Sure, you’re always nervous, but we’ve gone at it as if it was our first and the critics who have gotten a chance to listen to it already have all said it’s the best yet.”
  • Drummer Larry Mullen Jr.: “I think it’s some of the best music we’ve ever written.” (Q interview)

Hmm… I sense a theme developing.

Music

Top 50 Albums of 2008 for $5 Each

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If you’re looking to spend some Christmas money, you might want to check out the top 50 albums of 2008 for $5 each on Amazon. I really couldn’t recommend anything on the list because I’m musically inept. But Tim has a nice list of top albums for 2008, including a list of other top lists.

While I really like the iTunes store, I think Amazon is returning music to the realm of the impulse buy. For more impulse goodness, check out Amazon on Twitter for daily deals.

Adoption, U2

Adoption & U2=Awesome

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So the economy is in the toilet and work has been incredibly slow. No matter: The spring of 2009 has decided to be awesome.

Adoption
Most importantly, our adoption will finally happen. We got the referral a few weeks ago (it’s a boy!) and we found out yesterday that the court date will be Feb. 20, 2009. It’s a tentative court date and it could change, but the court date is what determines everything else. This is the legal process in Ethiopia where guardianship is transferred to us. If everything goes through OK they send us a birth certificate. If the birth certificate comes through OK then we’re able to get a visa and all that jazz and they can give us a travel date. Then we can book plane tickets and be on our way. They tell us travel usually happens 5-6 weeks after a court date, and in general we get 2-3 weeks notice before traveling.

Five to six weeks after Feb. 20 is March 27 to April 3. Not that I’m counting.

New U2
The spring of 2009 is also shaping up to be awesome because U2 will be releasing their first album in nearly four and a half years. OK, it’s not nearly as awesome as our adoption, but I’m still excited. The album, No Line on the Horizon, is due March 3. This means I can spend those final remaining weeks before we travel rocking out and I’ll have a ready-made soundtrack for those first months with our new kiddo.

Go 2009!

Music

Top 5 Christmas Songs

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Christmas music is playing everywhere, but it’s not always good. Every year I find myself on the elusive search for truly good Christmas music. Here are my top 5 Christmas songs:

1. “You Gotta Get Up” by Five Iron Frenzy (Buy it: CD on Amazon)
(Not sure why this song isn’t more widely available. Not sure if it’s legal, but you can grab an mp3 download here)

2. “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Sixpence None the Richer (Buy it: CD on Amazon)

3. “Last Christmas” by Leigh Nash (Buy it: iTunes/Free on Amazon)

4. “Oi to the World” by No Doubt (Buy it: iTunes/Amazon)

5. “O Holy Night” by Justin McRoberts (Buy it: iTunes/Amazon)

And special nods go to the Songs for Christmas boxset by Sufjan Stevens (Buy it: iTunes/Amazon) that is so awesome you just have to buy the whole thing, as well as Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God (Buy it: iTunes/CD on Amazon), which gets distinction for doing an entire song about the genealogy in Matthew.

I should also admit that my favorite Christmas song from my childhood is “Jesus is Born Today” by the Oak Ridge Boys (Buy it: iTunes/Amazon). It used to be on a Christmas tape my dad made, but he bumped the record player when it was dubbing and scratched horribly. Rather than starting the tape over, he just started the song again so the tape had the song one and a half times. Awesome.

Music

Sixpence None the Richer is Back

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After a four-year hiatus the band Sixpence None the Richer is back. If you’re not familiar with them, they were the buzz band of the late 1990s with the hit song “Kiss Me,” but they were also famous for lead singer Leigh Nash’s airy vocals, their lush instrumentation and their genre-defying faith. Who could forget Nash’s rare interview by David Letterman after the band’s performance? Nash tried to catch her breath and Letterman graciously gave her the opportunity (after a few jokes) to explain the roots of the bands name, which comes from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity.

As I was saying, they’re back. The four-song EP My Dear Machine is available from NoiseTrade (a music download service from Derek Webb where you can download an album for whatever you want to pay or by giving the e-mail addresses of three friends. I’m not sure how I feel about using your contacts as currency, but it seems to work for Webb.) and they have a Christmas album (!), The Dawn of Grace coming out October 14.

I was never very excited about their breakout self-titled album, but I loved 2002’s Divine Discontent (specifically “Eyes Wide Open” and “Paralyzed”). I’m still deciding what I think of My Dear Machine, but at the very least it’s nice to have them back.

Music

What’s Five Iron Frenzy Up To?

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Five Iron Frenzy FIF logoEvery year or so I like to follow up on the members of the lost but not forgotten ska band, Five Iron Frenzy, and see what they’re up to. It usually happens when iTunes shuffles across a Five Iron track and I slip into a day-long ska fest and play their entire catalog. You can guess what happened today.

So what are they up to?

  • Brave Saint Saturn – Third and final album due out late July and a little web site.
  • Hollyfelds – Former FIFers go alt-country?
  • Hearts of Palm (formerly Nathan & Stephen) – Lots of bearded men and a girl named Jeff. Oh, and a free download.

And if actual FIF alums isn’t enough for you, how about other bands singing tribute? Relient K has not one, but two tracks on its brand new The Bird and Bee Sides release paying tribute to Five Iron:

“Five Iron Frenzy / They were good, they were good / They were really really really good.”

You can grab the normal version or the ska mix. Reminds me of the hidden track on the W’s debut album thanking Five Iron Frenzy.

Books, Movies, Music, TV

The Top 100 Movies/TV Shows/Music/Books I Don’t Enjoy

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Entertainment Weekly released lists of the top 100 movies, TV shows, albums and books of the last 25 years. It’s kind of interesting to check out the lists and see how many of the top picks I’ve seen/listened to/read:

  • Movies: 42/100
  • TV Shows: 28/100
  • Music: 10/100
  • Books: 9/100

Keeping reading for disclaimers and inane insights.

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Media, Music, Twin Cities

89.3 The Current Playing More Repeats

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OK, enough politics.

Apparently my favorite radio station, 89.3 FM The Current—which extols listeners to “expand their playlist”—is shrinking their playlist according to City Pages. With falling ratings songs are getting played more often. In March 2007 one song was played 17 times in one week, while in late 2005 a single song was never played more than two or three times.

What City Pages doesn’t report is how often other stations repeat songs. Cities 97 has been repeating the same songs for as long as I’ve listened, which is close to 10 years. When I do happen to listen I’ll hear songs they over-played a decade ago, and they’re still doing it. (I will say that the Current totally overplayed “Knights” by Minus the Bear a few months back. The song was OK,  but now I hate it.)

It’s a little discouraging to see more repetition on the Current, but it’s not yet worth jumping ship. I hope the Current figures out what they’re doing. I love their eclectic mix of music. I’ve discovered more new bands that way (and went on to buy their CDs/downloads).