Flight of the Conchords

Flight of the Conchords is composed of two New Zealand comedians; but their latest release is nothing to laugh at. Their latest self-titled album reached 3^rd on the Billboard top 100 on release week, surpassing Ashlee Simpson You may recognize the Flight of the Conchords, Bret and Jermaine, from their hit HBO show, also entitled “Flight of the Conchords”.

Their show is about the folk duo trying to make it big in New York City. The show is a fictionalized version of the band. The show consists of Bret and Jemaine trying to get gigs and writing songs. Their faithful, only, and slightly stalkerish fan Mel follows the two around. Every thirty-minute episode features about three songs. Sometimes these are in the form of music videos and other times they are just singing to each other or other characters.

The album features 15 songs that have been featured on their show, including “Leggy Blond” and “Robots”. The songs are quirky and funny. They contain lyrics such as “The humans are dead/ that right they are dead/we took poisonous gases and we poisoned their asses” (from “Robots”). I would suggest viewing the show before buying the album. Most of the songs wouldn’t make sense without seeing the episode first.

The duo is going to be on tour this summer, making a stop in Milwaukee on May 11. However, this show sold out in a matter of minutes.

Keep a look out for the Flight of the Conchords, both in the record store and on HBO.

National Record Store Day!

This past weekend (April 19) was National Record Store Day! No, it is not a hallmark holiday or a Sony music holiday at that! It is a day where record stores get together and try to remind people that records still exist and so do the stores that sell them. It seems as though music lovers flock to the Internet and new technology searching for that perfect tune, but they forget they can walk right down the street and find the same tune.

Record stores celebrate this national “holiday” by providing concerts in the store, discounts, and freebies. I participated in this venture on State Street in Madison, WI. I got a few cds at a nice discount as well as free stickers and buttons. This was a nice day to go out and celebrate that record stores do exist and it is important to support them.

I have always enjoyed going to record stores. They let me release into a new world and leave all my problems at the door. One nice thing record stores have to offer, that Internet venues don’t, is it’s the personalities. Once you find a record store you dig, stay with it! Make friends with the staff members. They are also music lovers—just like you. Often they will clue you in on what new releases are good and which to avoid.  They may be able to offer you discounts (this usually depends on how loyal and long you’ve been a customer though).

Remember, National Record Store Day is only one day a year, but your local record store is open everyday.

Lollapalooza

    The sunny warm weather reminds us that summer is coming. To some that means packing up the sunscreen and heading towards the beach, but for music lovers it means summer music tours and festivals. This year’s Lollapalooza line up sounds amazing and a lot of the bands have been played on my show as well

    Lollapalooza is a relatively new festival. Perry Farrell started it in 1990 as a farewell concert for Jane’s Addiction. After a good turnout and excitement from music fans the tradition of the music festival continued. It ran annually from 1991 till 1997. It then started up again in 2003. The festival has been called the Woodstock of the 1990’s.

     The festival used to travel all summer, but now it is staying in Chicago and it isn’t moving anytime soon! The city of Chicago signed a contract with the festival for $5 million to keep the festival there until 2011.  Chicago is an idle place for this type of festival. Sometimes you need a break between 72 hours of straight music. In Chicago you have enough to keep you entertained! You could head over to the museums, check out Navy Pier, or possibly shop on Michigan Ave.

     This year’s leading bands include: Radiohead, Wilco, Bloc Party, Flogging Molly, Cat Power, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, and more! These bands complement each other relatively well. They are all either alternative or indie music. This is a great opportunity to explore new bands while enjoying the city of Chicago and bands you already know you enjoy.  

     The festival will take place August 1-3 at Grant Park in Chicago. The tickets are a little pricey ($190 for a 3 day pass in advance and $205 for a 3 day pass at the door). One way to cut back on the price of tickets is to volunteer. If you volunteer for a 4 hour shift one get access to the festival for the day you work, plus they throw in a limited edition staff t-shirt.

Meloy in Wisconsin!

Do you like The Decemberists? If you do you will not want to miss Colin Meloy’s solo tour. Colin Meloy is the front man and songwriter for The Decemeberists, and prior to joining that band he was the front man for Happy Cactus and Tarkio. His solo sound is very similar to the Decemberists; it is the alternative, rock, and folk music mix. I have not heard very much of his solo material, but The Decemberists’ music is in my opinion very good and catchy. Some songs can last upwards of 12 minutes and others last only 2 minutes. Their lyrics, mostly written by Meloy, are fun, catchy, and mostly upbeat. You will find yourself wanting to sing along. If you like the Decemberists you will enjoy Meloy solo.  This will be Meloy’s third solo tour. The previous were in 2005 and 2006. The main reason for this tour is to promote his new album “Colin Meloy Sings Live!”, which is a recording of his 2006 tour. If you have ever been to one of his concerts before you know how he sells a special EP for concert goers only. This time is no exception. He is selling a 5 track EP “Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke”. Just like the title suggests, Colin will be covering and re-harmonizing Sam Cooke’s songs. From what I have heard the concert should be a lot of fun and upbeat. Don’t miss your chance to get the special EP and see Colin Meloy LIVE!!!

His 2 Wisconsin shows:

April 22, 2008             The Pabst Theater               Milwaukee

April 23, 2008              Barrymore Theater                   Madison

Jens Lekman in Madison

Jens Lekman performed this past weekend in Madison, WI and Milwaukee, WI. I went to the Madison show, which I heard from other reviews was the one to go to. The show opened with The Honeydrips, a one man band with his laptop. He stood still and sang along to his laptop. It was strange at first, but once the audience warmed up to him the music was good. Meanwhile, a bat had entered the auditorium and was flying around the stage. The Honeydrips just continued to keep playing without flinching.

Jens began playing a little after 9pm and played an hour and half set, longer than his Milwaukee set. Right away he opened with “I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You” and “The Opposite of Hallelujah”. He played the majority of his new album and a couple of his old favorites. All the songs were outstanding performed live. I had my fears that he was not going to be that great live, but he proved me wrong.

One song he did exceptionally well was “Postcard to Nina”. Jens explained the entire back-story, so much so that he forgot the actual words to the song for a minute and his band had to help him out. This song is really good once you know the back story. It turns out he really did go to Berlin to pretend his gay friend’s, Nina, boyfriend for dinner with her folks. I can not do the story justice. I know there is a live version of “Postcard to Nina” on youtube.com

He continued to play one encore performance. At this point the audience got up at danced for the first time. They were allowed to get right up to the stage-about 5feet away from Jens!  For the patient few who stuck around Jens came out and played only requests! Unfortuntely, I had left at this point.

Jens’ violinist is originally from Madison and she had her family in the audience, which he pointed out to the crowd. She was really good and one could tell she was glad to be back in Wisconsin playing a show.

Jens Lekman’s concert was probably one of the best concerts to hit the Madison stage lately, and hopefully he will come back soon.

Fund Drive 2008

WSUW’s annual fundraiser is quickly approaching! It will take place April 10-17 around Whitewater, WI. Throughout the week you will find a lot of fun and entertainment–it is definitely not the week to say “there is nothing to do in Whitewater!”. There will be daily Guitar Hero contests held in the UC, concerts at local bars, live radio locations, bowling, and a station open house.

It is important to help raise funds for the campus radio station. Many think that tuition helps fund it, but it doesn’t.  We do get some funding from the University, but it only covers our costs. We have the annual fund drive to raise funds for new equipment, cds, and promotional tools. Each semester there are over 200 student volunteers at the station and each help out a great deal. It is important to help the station out, so we can stay on the air. You can either make a donation by dropping it off at the station (behind Anderson Library) or you can use paypal on our website www.wsuw.org.

Make sure to come out a support the station. Check the station’s site for a complete schedule!

New Music Now!

    People constantly are asking me how I discover new music. There are multiple ways to go about this treasure hunt. One way is to go to the websites with music downloads and choose an artist you already enjoy. Once you choose the artist a list will must likely pop up informing you of other artists you may enjoy. Another way to go about this treasure hunt is to go to your favorite band’s web page and see who their influences are. The best way to find new music is to look at magazine’s which offer complementary CDs with purchase, such as Paste and MOJO. These magazines tell you a bit about the artist as well as letting you listen to the music. Just as with any treasure hunt you will dig up a lot of rocks and dirt before you reach the gold.

Ruckus.com

Most people associate legally downloading of music with itunes.com. I will admit I was one of those people. 99 cents a song seemed like a good deal as opposed to a jail sentence and/or fine. Last week though my friend introduced me to Ruckus.com. It is a free legal way to download music and it is only available to college students. It was launched in 2004 at Northern Illinois University and has been serving the college community ever since.

You do need to register on the site to be able to access the tunes, but it is completely free for students. Alumni and faculty may purchase memberships for $8.99 a month. You just need to submit your school e-mail (so they know you are a college student) and a few other demographic questions. It is only compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista and uses protected WMA and WMV format.

They have millions of songs available, including the latest hits and new releases. I went on automatically trying to stump the site with “rare” bands, such as “The Feeling” and “The Decemberists”, but no luck! Not only did they have the rare bands but they also had EPs and live albums that cannot normally be found at your local record store.

The only problem I see in the service is the lack of ability to burn it or import the music to portable music devices. Once you download the music you are limited to only listening to it on your PC. After adjusting to this, the site turns out not to be so bad. You can listen to an entire album on the site before deciding if you want to purchase the whole album or just a song or two from a vendor like itunes.com. It ends up saving you money in the long run because you won’t waste your money and bad music.

Ruckus.com has been sailing under the rader for some time now, and it is time to let other college students know about the site. Go tell your friends and enjoy the free music while it lasts!

Good Luck Chuck

Movie soundtracks have always fascinated me. When you like the movie, the soundtrack is good and when you hate the movie, the soundtrack usually is bad. I know there are a few exceptions to this rule. The music in the film plays such an important role; however, most of this is subconscious. How often do you watch a movie and recognize there is a song playing in the background? For me, I’m usually wrapped up in the movie that I forget there is background music going on. When you listen to the film’s soundtrack though you are instantly reminded of the movie itself.

“Good Luck Chuck” is a film about a guy (Dane Cook) who is cursed. Everyone girl he goes out with marries the next guy she date. Except this time, Dane Cook has found the perfect girl (Jessica Alba), and he does not want to let her fall into the trap of the curse.

One movie soundtrack that I have really enjoyed lately is Good Luck Chuck, it has a fun vibe to it. On this week’s show I included two songs from the soundtrack: “Love It When You Call” and “I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow”. The director of the film asked the Flaming Lips to compose a new song for the end of the film. They came back 24 hours later with Super Rainbow, which is the perfect song for the film. It has the upbeat, springtime feeling the movie gives off. The Feeling was also asked to rework “Love It When You Call”. Originally, the lyrics say “love it when you call…but you never call at all.” This chorus does not really apply to the plot, since the opposite is happening. They are calling each other all the time. So, The Feeling reworked a guitar rift in place of “but you never call at all”.

The Good Luck Chuck soundtrack is a great warm weather soundtrack and you should expect to hear more of it on Songs For A Sonic Youth!

March 3, 2008 show

Here was this week’s playlist.

1) Dear Prudence: Across The Universe

2) Love It When You Call: The Feeling

3) Revolution: The Beatles

4) Radio Nowhere: Bruce Springsteen

5) Song For Mya Goldberg: The Decemberists

6) I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow: Flamming Lips

7) Not Crying: Flight of the Conchords

Right Between The Eyes: Garbage

9) Fake Friends: Joan Jett

10) Oh Yoko!: John Lennon

11) Let’s Call It Off: Peter, Bjorn, and John

12) I Don’t Like Mondays: Tori Amos

13) Teenage Riots: Sonic Youth *REQUEST*

14) Folk Singer: Brendan Benson

15) Hospital Beds: Cold War Kids

16) Hummingbird: Wilco