The Low Highway by Steve Earle
Tent Show Radio: Steve Earle
Steve Earle had two reasons for coming out with this long-planned tribute to Townes Van Zandt now. The first reason is practical. Earle is currently pushing himself to finish a years-in-the-making novel, and he wants to see it in print before the publishing business goes belly up.
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“I’ll admit to being a fair-weather fan of The Meat Puppets since I was introduced to their sound via Too High to Die in 1994. Then, a couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to interview the band. I won’t lie, it was a hard interview. Sometimes those Kirkwood brothers would rather play than talk. They’d rather NOT answer a question someone has asked them 10,000 times. But that conversation made me want to know more about their catalog and career. On April 16th, the Meat Puppets will release their 14th studio record, Rat Farm. I’ve read that Curt Kirkwood wanted each of the songs on this record to be able to stand on their own. And they do! Very well! Their music has never sounded so tight or so focused which is apparent from the lead-off tune, the title track from the record. The harmonies are exquisite, the music is flawless—to the point where it seems like a collection of singles!” - Barb Abney, host for The Current
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English Little League by Guided by Voices
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“Granted, Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices puts out a new record every three days, but being the super fan I am, I’m still always just as excited to hear what he’s cooking up. Clearly, he is never in lack of material or inspiration, and that’s what makes him so interesting to me. The fact that most songs clock in at about 2½ minutes each doesn’t hurt either. Some bands go years between records, but not Bob Pollard! He’ll write eight songs in his sleep and have them out before you can give his last record a proper listen. To me what that says is he has to write music—it isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Can’t wait to hear what he had to write with the newest CD from Guided by Voices, English Little League.” - Mary Lucia, Host for The Current
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NPR: Yeah Yeah Yeahs LIVE at SXSW
The Current: Yeah Yeah Yeahs Return with Ecclectic “Sacrilidge’
Soundcheck: Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Soundcheck
“I’ve been patiently waiting for the new record from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and it’s finally coming out April 16th. The first single from Mosquito, “Sacrilege,” was released in February and the staff of The Current is extremely excited to hear more from the record. “Sacrilege” is a great Yeah Yeah Yeah’s rocker with Karen O’s vocals on top of the gospel choir in the hook. It’s haunting and beautiful. English model/actress Lily Cole stars as the small town jezebel in the single’s steamy video!” Jill Riley, Host for The Current
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“The Terror hearkens back to the harsh, minimal sounds of early Suicide, Silver Apples, these psychedelic yet repetitious tracks.” That’s how Spin recently described an album about to come out by a band that’s 30 years old and has done everything else they can possibly think of to change up their creative process, from making an album that had four CDs that you had to play simultaneously to putting music on a tiny hard drive embedded in a gummy skull! It’s mind blowing, and I have to say inspiring, that they’ve been supported by Warner Brothers all these years, although this one is coming out on Bella Union, an indie created and run by two members of The Cocteau Twins. Another change-up is that their usual optimistic, positive, joyful celebration of life seems to have taken a dark twist, and then stayed there! Steven Drozd multi-instrumentalist of the band said: “There’s a song on the new record, “You Lust,” that’s nine or ten minutes long… There’s a mental effect that you get from repetition over time that you can’t get any other way.” But after doing a lot of collaboration in recent years, with artists ranging from Nick Cave to Ke$ha, band leader Wayne Coyne revealed their reasoning for everything: ” …it needs to be fun.” So don’t get too scared. I’m looking forward to The Terror big time!” - Mark Wheat, Host for The Current
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