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May 16, 2007
Shorties
24 Hours Vancouver interviews Bo Madsen of Mew.
24: What is the music scene like in Denmark?
BM: It used to be really bad. The '90s kind of revolved around Aqua ("Barbie Girl"), the Danish music equivalent of ham and was not great, but it's actually become pretty cool the last few years. There are a few Danish bands that got signed abroad in America. That really sparked a willfulness, and a belief in a career that's bigger than just inside Denmark. Right now, it's really good and we can compete with the Swedes.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram profiles local radio station KZPS, which ditched its classic rock format in favor of a format that "straddles the lines of old-school country, alt-rock Americana and Southern-fried rock."
Film critic Roger Ebert reminisces about author Studs Terkel.
The Baltimore City Paper profiles the Baltimore music collective, Wham City, and in particular, Dan Deacon.
He's also become the first member of Wham City to reach MP3-blog readers and tastemakers outside of Baltimore. It's still early, but Spiderman of the Rings has the potential to be a sleeper hit with the large slice of the indie-rock audience that doesn't go to "experimental" shows in firetrap lofts. Despite retaining the triple-shot techno tempos and frisky electronic noise, it's Deacon's most focused and pop-friendly record yet--listen and you will pogo. Plus the guy is always on tour, and all it takes is one look at Deacon--dressed like he was mauled by the discount rack at Goodwill and with a stage presence somewhere between a mad scientist and a grand mal seizure--to think his show is the greatest thing you've ever seen.
The Times Online lists the top 160 books for teenage boys.
The A.V. Club interviews Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.
AVC: When did you write your first song?
JT: Probably when I was about 14 or 15. I don't think I played the guitar for very long before I started writing. In fact, I think I always thought of the guitar as the vehicle to be able to make some musical idea up. The only appeal to learning more chords was having more chords to put into songs. I never got too wrapped up in becoming technically good. So writing songs happened pretty simultaneously with learning how to play the guitar.
The Nation profiles the Simpson's as the show's 400th episode nears.
Metromix interviews LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy.
Your records get so much praise. Are you tired of being called a genius?
Never! I'm a narcissist so I don't get tired of it at all. It just feels like all is right with the world, finally, after my parents didn't understand me. [Laughs] No, it's very sweet. I think I've just become more aware of how things work, so it doesn't really affect me very much.
John Davis of Georgie James talks to the Washington Post about the band's signing with Saddle Creek.
"It seemed like a really good home for us since I've known some of the people there for years, they have a great track record for music, I like Omaha and lived there for a year when I was a kid and they were genuinely interested in the music we're making," Davis said. "It's a label that makes you feel like the possibilities are infinite and that you're free to make the music you want."
Aaron Dessner of the National talks to the Village Voice.
Springsteen evidently loves the National, by the way. "We hung out with him one night after this Nebraska tribute," Aaron recalls. "One thing he talked a lot about was, as your audience grows, you've gotta figure out how to play to the people in the very back, standing up. I remember thinking, 'That's pretty irrelevant advice for us right now.' I think he had a skewed idea of how big we are. Now it's all coming true."
WXPN's World Cafe profiles singer-songwriter Andrew Bird.
NPR's All Things Considered examines the Courtney Love-Linda Perry collaboration.
Love says that Perry's ability to produce a wide range of music — from glossy pop to string quartets — gives her traction in the competitive boys' club of rock 'n' roll. Perry comes across as edgy and dark, but she has a need to write commercial hits — the kind that rebuilt the career of Christina Aguilera.
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