I and Love and You
It’s time to fill you in on the stuff we covered today on our radio show.
Today we started off the show with “Spaceship” by Puddle of Mudd Explore.
Their old guitarist is back. Short, sharp album called “Volume 4: Songs In The Key of Love and Hate”. Check out the song “Spaceship”.
We’re still more than a month away from getting that record. The release date is December 8.
Only nine songs on this album. They didn’t want to corrupt anything with any filler. And if you’re a fan, you’ll want to know that guitarist Paul Phillips is back. He replaces Christian Stone, who replaced Paul Phillips.
Time for news.
ExploreMusic TOP 5 MUSIC NEWS Countdown
5) Sum 41 Working On “Extreme” Album
A quick update on the new Sum 41 album. Progress continues down in Los Angeles. Singer Deryck Whibley promises on his blog that the record will be “extreme”. Not a surprise. He is in the process of divorcing Avril. Actually, we think it’s the other way around.
And this is cool. They’re not going to make the same mistake as they did last time, which is producing the album themselves. They’ve secured Gil Norton, a guy who has worked with The Pixies and The Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World. The guy is legendary and really knows his stuff. Let’s see what he can do with Sum 41.
4) Weezer Find Blankets Too Complicated
Weezer is a band that really knows how to capture the zeitgeist of the moment. They get internet culture. This is why Weezer is selling their own official Snuggie. Just $29.99.
If you don’t know what a Snuggie is, you don’t watch enough TV. Here’s a helpful link.
3) SoundCloud Comes To The iPhone
Best iPhone app Alan’s seen this week. It’s SoundCloud. If you’re a musician, manager or someone in the music industry, you’ll know what SoundCloud is. It’s a way to share and comment on music. Sloan uses it a lot and it works great.
An iPhone version is coming on the 17th. Very handy. Those who have played with it like it. 99 cents. Apparently.
2) Website Peddles “Re-Recorded” Beatles Tracks
You may have heard that a website called www.bluebeat.com started selling digital versions of Beatles tracks for 25 cents each—and you may have wondered if this was, in fact, legal.
The answer is no. Or probably no. Bluebeat has a sneaky (albeit shakey) legal defense. Basically, they say “we’re not selling Beatles songs. We’re selling re-recordings of Beatles songs. That means we own the copyright and we get to do what we want”. You gotta read about it.
Give ‘em credit. They’re ballsy about it. But now the judges and lawyers have waded in with lawsuits and injunctions. Good try, but duh.
1) “Mr. Bono, Tear Down This Wall! Then Build Another One!”
And U2 played a special MTV event in Berlin Thursday night and the whole thing was fraught with unintentional irony. Monday is the 20th anniversary of the fall of The Berlin Wall. That’s the reason the event was staged right along the path of The Berlin Wall. Brandenburg Gate.
So how did MTV keep order? How did they keep people who didn’t buy tickets out of the event? By putting up a two-metre high wall. Oops.
5 SONGS YOU GOTTA HEAR TODAY:
This is another list of songs that will give you a big leap on all your friends. You’ll know about all this stuff and they won’t. And that’s what you want, right?
“Do The Wait” by The Scenics
We’ll start with The Scenics. They were part of the original Canadian punk rock scene in the middle-to-late 70s. They came together in the summer of ’76. Not as famous as Teenage Head, The Diodes or The Viletones, but they did have their moments. They were good enough to open for The Talking Heads. But then by 1982, things had run their course and they broke up.
Earlier this year, two of the principle members went through 300 hours of tape that had been sitting around. And last month, this material was released on a CD called “Sunshine World”. It’s surprising how contemporary this material sounds. Listen to a song called “Do The Wait” and tell me that it couldn’t have been recorded yesterday.
The recording is at least 32 years old.
“Pestilence of Deceit” by The Destro
Next, it’s The Destro. This is brand new. Brutal metal awesomeness with a touch of death and doom. New record called “Harmony of Discord”. Check out a track called "Pestilence of Deceit".
“My Body’s A Zombie For You” by Dead Man’s Bones
This next record has been getting props in some unusual places. Mojo magazine, one of the best music mags in the world, likes it a lot. It’s the self-titled album from Dead Man’s Bones, which is the group headed up by Canadian actor Ryan Gosling.
This was originally the soundtrack of a play he was working on, but it didn’t work out. It’s rootsy and eerie—especially when the children’s choir comes in. Audition a track called “My Body’s A Zombie For You”. The MySpace page is cooler than normal, too.
“Feelin’ Fine” by MV & EE
Next, it’s MV & EE. That’s Matt Valentine and Erika Elder. They’re kinda hippie and hillbilly. And they work hard. They’ve been together since at least 2001—and since then, they’ve released no fewer than 30 albums. Check out a song called “Feelin’ Fine” from their album, “MV & EE and The Golden Road”.
“Rock’n’Roll Song” by Oasis
Finally, some Oasis back to the “Definitely Maybe” album in 1994. Love of the snottiness and confidence of this song: “Rock’n’Roll Song”. Here’s the official video.
ExploreMusic TRIVIA:
Before we get to The Avett Brothers, let’s do an Oasis question. Part of the tension that led to the breakup involved Liam spending so much time on his new line of clothing. What is his new clothing company called?
It’s “Pretty Green”. Now that Oasis isn’t around anymore, he has lots of time to focus on that.
ExploreMusic Feature Item: The Avett Brothers
A few months ago, if someone had asked Alan about The Avett Brothers, he would have gone “who?” He’d never heard of them, even though they have been making records since 2002.
Two brothers from Greenville, North Carolina (Scott and Seth) and their buddy, John Twomey. And for five studio albums and two live records, nothing happened. But then they were found by producer Rick Rubin. And the result is an album that will end up on a bunch of year-end “best of” lists. Our Ira Haberman talked to them about this.
The album is called “I and Love and You”. Here’s the video for the title track.
ExploreMusic Playlist: The songs featured on the radio show today were:
“Spaceship” by Puddle of Mudd
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (live)" by U2
“Do The Wait” by The Scenics
“I and Love and You (live)” by Avett Brothers
That's it for today. I'm outta here. See you tomorrow.
Nathalia
Questions? Comments? Email me @ nathalia@exploremusic.com