Lou Reed always loved radio — if it was playing the right songs.
At one point he made sure it was playing the right songs — Reed was a DJ, and you can listen to one of the shows he did on WPIX in 1979.
Head here to download the show.
Thanks Aquarium Drunkard!
This is a weird one. I’ll let the folks who did this speak for themselves:
What might some of the rock ‘n’ roll era’s greatest stars have achieved and what might they look like now, if they had not died before their time? To explore these tantalizing questions, Sachs Media Group partnered with photo restoration and manipulation company Phojoe to create this gallery of images. It is a heartfelt tribute to the memory of beloved artists who helped shape generations of music fans, in order to keep their memory alive for future generations.
Here are some insights about the Kurt Cobain image:
Insights by Dr. Reebee Garofalo and Elijah Wald: “Given his aversion to celebrity, had Cobain lived he would likely have continued to work with Nirvana but also explored smaller, less commercial projects with other players, trying to recapture some of the anonymity and artistic freedom of his early years. He would probably have pursued artistic outlets offstage and behind the scenes, eschewing the limelight and using his fame to bring attention to young musicians on the cutting edge, as well as exploring his deep interest in Americana styles by producing and collaborating with older roots artists.”
Dr. Reebee Garofalo, a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he taught for 33 years. Dr. Garofalo is an internationally known scholar of popular music studies who has written numerous articles on music and politics, racism, censorship and the globalization of the music industry. Among his recent publications is Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the U.S.A.
Elijah Wald, a musician and frequent writer about music, including more than ten years as world music writer for the Boston Globe. In recent years he has written books on such diverse subjects as Delta blues, Mexican drug ballads, hitchhiking and a broad social history of American popular music. He has authored eleven books, including How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music.
To see images of Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Karen Carpenter and others as they might look if they were still alive, head here.
Here’s a cool demo that the Bottle Rockets recorded in 1991. Features Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar on background vocals.
By the way, Bloodshot Records has reissued the Bottle Rockets first two out-of-print albums, The Bottle Rockets and The Brooklyn Side, as part of a a two-disc set that includes 19 additional unreleased bonus tracks. The album was released today, November 19, 2013.
Eleanor Friedberger performed at the Judson Memorial Church during CMJ 2013. These videos were recorded October 18, 2013 by Seattle’s KEXP.
“Stare at the Sun”
“My Own World”
“Heaven”
“I Don’t Want to Bother You”
Plus 23 minutes of leanor Friedberger from July 2013.
Arcade Fire played live on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 program tonight (November 19, 2013) and did an interview as well. The set included “Reflektor,” “Afterlife,” and “Normal Person.”
Give it a listen.
The new Bruce Springsteen single, “High Hopes,” will be released next Monday, November 25, 2013. It’s a fairly recent recording, possibly made in Australia while Springsteen and the E Street Band were touring Australia earlier this year. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello Tom Morello plays wah-wah guitar on the track and there’s a horn section.
Springsteen and the band augmented by Morello performed “High Hopes” while touring Australia in March.
During an interview in June Springsteen said that he and the band and Morello went into the studio in Australia.
“We did a couple of things that I wanted to put down,” Springsteen told Rolling Stone. “Being with Tommy was exciting.”
Billboard reports that a new Springsteen album “could be out as early as January — a quick follow-up to 2012’s chart-topping Wrecking Ball.”
Here’s Springsteen and the E Street Band and Tom Morello performing “High Hopes” on stage.
Here’s the new single:
New video from The Pixies via NPR. It was directed by Jonathan Furmanski and Matthew Galkin.
“It’s kind of a ballsy song with real balls-out playing,” guitarist Joey Santiago told NPR via email. “And [it] harkens back to a lot of the harder-edged Pixies stuff, which is my favorite to play.”
Frontman Black Francis said: “The song is about a girl, a girl who plays the bass guitar. It’s got kind of a metal riff which I think that, on occasion, we all really enjoy playing, even though we’re not a metal band. And I wouldn’t be the first to write a song about some gal who plays bass.”
See what you think.
Today at the Morrissey fan site True To You the former frontman for The Smiths has posted an intense essay attacking carnivores.
Here’s some of it:
The world won’t listen
18 November 2013The world won’t listen
I am not ashamed to admit that newspaper photographs in recent days of American TV presenter Melissa Bachman laughing as she stands over a majestic lion that had been stalked and shot dead by Bachman herself left me tearful. Although I have previously felt enraged by the asininity of U.S. congressman Paul Ryan, and political fluffhead Sarah Palin – both of whom also kill beings for fun, there is something especially lamentable about the Bachman smile of pride as the lion – a symbol of strength, heraldry and natural beauty, lies lifeless in answer to Bachman’s need for temporary amusement. The world struggles to protect the rhino and the elephant – both being shot out of existence, yet Bachman joins the murderous insanity of destruction without any fear of arrest. This comes in the same week that Princess Anne condones horsemeat consumption – since she is evidently not content with eating pigs, sheep, cows, birds and fish. Although her slackwitted view is reported with mild surprise by the British media, there is no outrage since the crassness and international duncery of the British so-called ‘royal family’ remains the great unsaid in British print. It is spoken of, of course, but it is not allowed to go further than that. Why does Anne approve of slaughter of any kind? Has she ever been inside an abattoir? Does she actually know what she’s talking about? Similarly, on October 5, the Daily Mail newspaper gave us all an “amusing” report of thickwit Pippa Middleton laughing as she stood over 50 birds shot dead by her friends and herself after a “busy day’s shooting”. We are reminded by the Daily Mail that Middleton is a ‘socialite’, which tells us that she is privileged and can more-or-less kill whatever she likes – and, therefore she does. The sick face of modern Britain, Pippa Middleton will kill deer, boar, birds – any animal struggling to live, or that gets in her socialite way. This is because her sister is, of course, Kate, who herself became ‘royal’ simply by answering the telephone at the right time, and this association allows Pippa’s kill, kill, kill mentality to be smilingly endorsed by the British print media, to which only the mentally deficient could join in with the laughter. The right to kill animals is endorsed by Prime Minister David Cameron who shoots stag whenever he feels a bit bored. In the Queen’s Honors List, awards have been bestowed upon musicians Bryan Ferry and PJ Harvey – both of whom allegedly support fox-hunting. There is not one single instance when an animal protectionist has found themselves knighted or applauded by the Queen. That animals are an essential part of our planet (that they are, in fact, the planet) and must be protected, is a shatterbrained concept to the British ‘royals’. Historically, we all remember Prince William proudly killing the baby deer, Prince Harry bravely giving the thumbs-up as he pointlessly ended the life of a water-buffalo, the Queen loading her shotgun in readiness to shoot birds out of the sky. How terribly regal.
To read more, head to True To You.
Thanks Consequence of Sound!
After a week or so of a teaser page, bobdylan.com has today premiered an interactive video for Dylab;s 1965 classic, “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Take a look here.
Last week I told you about the video series Robert Plant has made documenting a trip to Mali to perform at the Festival in the Desert in 2003. Here’s the second episode.
You can watch part one here.