Monday October 20th 2008, 12:00 pm
Filed under: Give It Away
Posted by: Julia
The Walrus is The Fireman! Paul McCartney is set to release his third electronica album under the moniker The Fireman November 18th. Joined by producer Youth, also of the band Killing Joy, McCartney has written all 13 new tracks on Electronic Arguments, the first album by The Fireman to feature vocals. “Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight” will be the first track on the album.
Monday October 20th 2008, 9:07 am
Filed under: Podcasts
Posted by: Melanie
Born to Irish parents in Oxford, England, Thea Gilmore began writing poetry and short stories in her early teens, and started pursuing songcraft at the age of 16, when she left home to begin working in a recording studio. She’s long been revered in the U.K., having been described as “the best wordsmith of her generation†(The Independent) and “the best British singer-songwriter of the last ten years . . . and then some†(Uncut). Her new record, Liejacker, is the fruit borne of two very difficult years in her life. Julia Clarke will tell you more about what Thea’s been up to in this edition of the Songlines podcast.
What’s with the album’s title? Thea’s site goes into quite an explanation. While you’re there, you can check out her tour dates. She’s out on the road opening for Joe Jackson.
I grew up in Northeast Ohio and was delighted to find this creative plan to split our differences with the other half of the state. Love to know what you think.
Friday October 17th 2008, 9:16 am
Filed under: Podcasts
Posted by: Melanie
Last week, the Songlines crew caught the Pretenders’ CD release party for their excellent new effort, Break Up the Concrete, at the Highline Ballroom. It was an amazing show. The band hit many of the classics, including “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Talk of the Town,” “Kid,” and “Brass in Pocket,” as well as a healthy handful of new songs, which sounded right at home against the time-tested material. Particular standouts were “Love’s a Mystery,” “Rosalee,” and “Boots of Chinese Plastic.”
Chrissie looked and sounded radiant — she’s still got the body of a 20-year-old, and her voice has retained more of its early-’80s character than any other rocker from that era who’s still singing. She was charming and playful with the audience, and shimmied around with delight. The new players wailed, particularly James Walbourne when he stretched out on guitar on tunes like “Thumbelina.”Here’s a shot from the show, courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan:
In case you haven’t had an opportunity to dig into Break Up the Concrete, Julia Clarke offers up a guided tour in this Songlines podcast.
If the financial mess down here on Earth is getting you down perhaps it’s time to look up. A group of astronomers were asked to vote for the Top 10 photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and, in order, here’s what they chose:
#10
The Trifid Nebula is 9000 light years away. It’s a ‘stellar nursery’ where new stars are born.
#9
The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are swirling cores of two emerging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163.
#8 .
Starry Night reminded astronomers of Van Gogh. It is a halo of light in the Milky Way.
#7
The Perfect Storm, a ‘small area’ in the Swan Nebula, is made of hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and other elements.
 #6
The Cone Nebula. The part shown here is 2.5 million miles in length or equivalent to 23 million round trips to the Moon.
#5
The Hourglass Nebula is 8000 light years away. It has that pinched-in-the-middle look because winds that shape it are less turbulent in the center.
#4
Cat’s Eye Nebula.
#3
Nebula NGC 2392 is called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is actually a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star.
 #2
The Ant Nebula is within our galaxy and resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes.
#1
The Sombrero Galaxy, 28 million light years away, was voted best in show. The dimensions of the galaxy are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
The past few weeks have been seriously unkind to the lightning rod Governor of Alaska and it’s clear that Senator McCain needs to consider advice being offered him by conservatives such as George Will, David Brooks and William Kristol to dump her from the ticket. But who would be the right pick to save his faltering campaign? Rosanne Cash has bravely offered to join up and offers a humorously cogent argument for why she’s more qualified than Ms. Palin.
NPR did a great feature on the new Bob Dylan Bootleg Series Vol. 8, Tell Tale Signs.On their site, you can stream either of the discs or individual tracks from the rarities collection.
With production and contributions from guitar masters M. Ward and Marc Ribot, Jolie Holland’s latest effort, The Living and the Dead, is more fleshed-out and textural than any of her previous work. The Be Good Tanyas founder is already revered by fans from Tom Waits to Rolling Stone, and it’s time for you to become familiar with her fine work too. One place you might start? Listen to this Songlines podcast.
Jolie is on an extensive tour through mid-November. Catch her at a theater near you.
You can easily configure your iTunes to automatically download Songlines podcasts. Listen anytime on your iPhone or iPod. Don’t know how? Here are instructions.
  
