Few artists can lay claim to making even 20 albums during their careers - but when you're on your 33rd effort, you've made it to an elite group. So how is Bob Dylan's muse holding up?
The Musicheads consider Bob's latest, "Together Through Life," on this week's show, in addition to the new one from Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band ("Outer South") and the latest from White Rabbits, "It's Frightening."
Finally, I pose the question, "Who's a lyricist that deserves more credit than he or she usually gets?" My guests are Mark Wheat and Mac Wilson.
Musicheads airs every Tuesday at 10 p.m. CT on 89.3 The Current
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Comments: 26
I also believe you would be hard pressed to find a station that plays more artists from Canada than the Current. Several have been discussed fairly recently on Musicheads. (Sam Roberts, AC Newman, Metric)
At least we agree on Mr. Tweedy!
But, yes, the Current could use more music from Canada. Just the other week, I drove to Canada to see a musician who should be popular here. I wonder why he’s not, because he's great! I've sent his albums to radio stations around here, even (including the Current). Sometimes it is hard to listen to a station when they're playing some sub-par music and one could just turn on their iPod instead. (I listened to the Current the other night and heard too many auto-tuned voices, which I don't think are all that fresh or interesting.)
Joel Plaskett is the musician I went to see in Canada the other week. I'd guess since he hasn't gotten any airplay in the Twin Cities (to the best of my knowledge), he deserves waaay more credit as a lyricist than he usually gets around here.
It's fantastic that the Current plays the Sam Roberts Band, and I'd like to hear more. Some songs off of their earlier releases would be good to hear around here, too. Intriguing lyrics.
Another musician from Canada who is underappreciated as a lyricist is Mike O'Neill. (Also because he's never played around here.)
There are so many good bands out of Canada, and I really feel our Twin Cities music stations are letting us down in this area. (I secretly think they're not out there scouting around for the best music.)
KEVIN GILBERT: The man was a brilliant lyricist.
DANIEL GILDENLOW (Pain of Salvation) as well. He's praised among the progressive rock circles, but nobody knows how compelling a lyric writer he is outside those people.
At my age and in retrospection, there are two lyricists who deserve more credit than they have been given: Jack Tempchin and Gram Parsons. I could ad several more; shall I go on?
Ever heard of Steve Poltz?
I'm going to toss Dave Wilcox in the ring. Not lame, folky American Dave Wilcox. My vote is for gritty, raw Canadian Dave Wilcox. If you don't know who I'm talking about, do yourself a favor and look him up.
Granted Oasis are massive rock star in England and do OK in the states, but, nobody seems to give Noel Gallagher is proper due. The songs he writes are hits for a very good reason!
Wow! This discussion got kinda juicy! I'm glad to see others are being critical of the Current. I'm a contributor, but I've been quite skeptical of the Current over the last year and a half. It seems like everywhere I go, I hear people make the same complaints that I do. The Current has become much more commercial, and has steadily declined into a "safe" station for "safe" music, while turning its back on the local scene. We hear too many of the same songs over and over again, and too much of it *sucks.* The Current claims to be all about local music, but then plays nothing but Tapes n' Tapes and Jeremy Messersmith. I mean, seriously?! Jeremy Messersmith sucks, and I don't see why everyone is on this guy's jock. He's just another Elliott Smith wannabe.
Sometimes we are lucky enough to hear Dillinger Four, but I often wonder if that's just because the Current knows that "local music" wouldn't be complete without it. But whens the last time anyone played Off With Their Heads? Or Building Better Bombs, Grotto, The Cardinal Sin, or Birthday Suits?
Specifically, the Current has completely turned its back on *punk rock,* and not just in a "local" sense. Anyone at the Current would claim they play plenty of punk - but take a look around. What do we hear? All we get is the "classic punk," the stuff that's stood the test of time and is therefore "safe" for a wide audience. The Current probably thinks it's Radio K's job to play the "bold stuff," but everyone knows Radio K has a very limited audience, and the Current has gained the attention of a very large group of people. The current has utterly failed in its obligation to bring great new music to the public at large.
I don't know if the folks at the Current realize this, but there's A LOT of people out there who listen to punk, but feel they're isolated from the rest of the contemporary music scene. Just spend one night at the CC Club and ask people what they think of the Current today!
There's no doubt - punk rock has changed, but too often people look at punk today and all they see is a bunch of whiny emo high school kids, thanks to bands like Sum 41 and New Found Glory. Ugh. The general music-loving public is unaware of how much great NEW punk is out there *because* stations like the Current think punk is "too risky" and blow it off.
That's nonsense. Not only is there a world of great new punk rock out there, but it's socially relevant AND radio-friendly! Serious punk today still has plenty of pop-sensibility. Against Me! sold out First Av, and Current-favorite Ted Leo opened! How come Against Me! doesn't receive regular rotation? What about Hot Water Music, Strung Out, or The Living End? What about Thought Riot, Dropkick Murphys, Sugarcult or Dwarves? Why not Lagwagon, The Donots, or even some very early Replacements instead of the usual poppy stuff?
It's not enough to just give us the occasional Ramones, Descendents or John Doe and say you're playing punk. There's better stuff out there, and the masses need to hear it.
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I guess this leads me to the band that immediately popped into my head when I saw this week's question about great lyricists: *The Lawrence Arms*, from Chicago.
I listen to a lot of music. I've never heard anything like these guys before. NEVER in my life have I heard punk rock with such brutal honesty, soul, rage, humor, torment, eloquence and wit all rolled into one band. Period. Neither do I think any other band in my life has affected me personally the way The Lawrence Arms have. I've never connected with a band the way I have with these guys.
The Lawrence Arms are a trio with songwriting and lyrical duties made equally between Brenden Kelly on bass and Chris McCaughan on guitar. Kelly has the scratchy voice of an ashtray soaked with Old Style, and represents the more sick, perverted "guy" mentality, filled with funny quips and pop culture references, but often tells stories of failure and self-destruction with a working-class mannerism filled with juxtaposition strikingly similar to Isaac Brock.
Chris McCaughan, on the other hand, has the voice of a tortured soul, clear and unquivering, but with all the pain and torment of a guy too smart for his own good, let down too many times, trying desperately to find a connection in a lonely city where only the ghosts of Kafka, Sartre, Joyce and Lao Tzu can bring comfort. McCaughan's lyrics often show a haunting internal struggle with his own existence and the world around him, and is brutally honest about his past relationships falling apart, while making references to hisorical obscurities like Elhajiman Young and Mikhail Bulgakov. Not only would Alex Trebek be proud, but might also be referenced to on a humorous note typical in this band.
Put together, The Lawrence Arms make punk rock that doesn't even pass for punk rock. Instead of aimless protest songs, these guys sing about hanging out with buddies and drinking. Instead of juvenile romantic angst, these guys give you the horror of late nights alone with only beer and cable TV to keep you company. They sing of everyday subjects that anyone has surely experienced and with which they can connect. And they do it with all the rage and fury that comes with someone who's been alone too long and let down too many times by life. But they also do it with a humor that rivals that of Dillinger Four or NOFX, and I have to believe they are aware this helps to not take them too seriously. They also wear Chicago on their sleeves.
The Lawrence Arms are more self-aware of their place in punk than any other band I've heard. They're on Fat Wreck Chords, but were banned from the Warped Tour for protesting the Tour's greed and commercialism while on stage. Then they made a song about it. Their lyrics have become increasingly existential, with a message of moving forward and forgetting the past, no matter how gripping it can be.
These two guys never cease to amaze me, and give me something real to feel, and I'm not alone. They sell out the Triple Rock Social Club on a regular basis, and have a huge underground following of die-hard fans across the country. So why doesn't the Current throw them into rotation?
I've been waiting a while to see someone like Darren above express dissatisfaction with the Current, because bands like The Lawrence Arms and so many others deserve a station to take the initiative to give them a chance with a wide audience. I hope someone at the Current takes notice of this, and starts throwing more NEW punk into regular rotation.
It's only fair, and the ears are out there. Just stop in to the CC Club...
Thank you Dan Qualy!!!!! I am a die-hard fan of The Current. I'm a member and will (hopefully) be for as long as it is a radio station. I'm not sure this is the place to discuss the music the current has or has not been playing recently, I feel like people at the current should consider listeners thoughts. BUT, I can't think of another place or way to express my thoughts so that at least Bill can see them as well as other listeners. So here goes my rant about the current:
The Current seems to be playing a lot of the same songs over and over and over again. I thought that's what commercial radio stations do, and I think that targets people that listen to 93X or Cities 97. But I think that people that listen to The Current like variety. For instance, On Wednesday May 20th during Mark Wheat's shift he played Frank Sinatra followed by P.O.S, which was followed by M. Ward. I heard that and that made me think, "Wow, what a great station" there are plenty of other times where The Current really shines but in the past 6 months-to a year, which is when I've been listening to it as much as I can, I can't help but notice hearing the same song or same artist more than once in the same day. When the new Death Cab album came out about a year ago they couldn't stop playing the four songs or five songs they were allowed or wanted to play over and over and over. That bugged me, and I’m a pretty huge Death Cab fan. Then when the self-titled Conor Oberst album came out it seemed that whenever I turned on the radio I heard "Danny Callahan" or "Cape Canaveral."
I noticed this most just before the new Lily Allen album came out. I remember looking at The Current's daily playlist in either late January or early-to mid February and seeing that they had played the (now hated by me) song "Everyone's At It" 4 times in one day. That is way too many times. I liked that song when I first heard it but after hearing so many times on the radio and getting the new Lily Allen album I now hate it. Now that I think about it in late February-early March they couldn’t stop playing Fleet Foxes “Quiet Houses” which came out many months before that time.
The Current has introduced me to basically every band I listen to in the past 2 years and I am really grateful for that.
I really like the new-er feature on the website that let's you see everything that the station plays mostly because I like to see how long ago they last played something. It's been almost 2 years since you've played anything by the indie-punk band You Say Party! We Say Die. Did I just hear the word punk? Speaking of punk music, D4 needs to be played on the current way more than they are and what about Against Me!? How could you possibly be missing them. I see that there are a few song you play by them but your missing more than half of their catalog!!!
Los Campesinos! is one of the few bands I haven't discovered via The Current. I clicked on a related video on YouTube and found them. When I searched them on The Current's catalog I was disappointed to see that they only played stuff from their EP that came out almost 2 years ago. I was happy when you guys started playing 2, (yes only 2) from their most recent release "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" earlier this year, sorry, your too late. That album came out in October and has been raved about in every indie ‘zine and website as far as I can tell (I pre-ordered it) and you guys seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that they released another album earlier in 2008 (which is my opinion is a lot better) and has their most popular songs on it "Death To Los Campesinos!" and "You, Me, Dancing" which disappoints me to the max.
I remember when the Current was advertised before it was a station it was supposed to play lots of world music and basically everything you could think of. (I could be wrong about this, just how I remember it) It seems to me that it is for the most part a now and indie rock top 40 with a little bit of rap and occasionally classic rock or Johnny Cash.
I do like that you guys play some new mainstream rock stuff, before listening The Current I was pretty turned off by anything that was mainstream and I was sort of obsessed with listening to indie music and being “indie.” Last year the new Coldplay album came out and thanks to you guys I am now a big Coldplay fan, also I notice that you are now playing the new Green Day single which turned me on to them and their new album. If it weren’t for the current I wouldn’t be listening to so much variety.
Another artist The Current is totally oblivious to is a fellow named Daniel Lanois. He has been making un-classifiable music for more than 2 decades. He is a hugely known producer and has produced countless U2 albums including the new one, Bob Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind” and has worked a lot with Brian Eno. Some of his music is very radio-friendly and some is not but he has 9 different albums out and not one of his songs is played on The Current. Come to think of it he’s Canadian too! Most of his albums aren’t on obscure labels and he isn’t very hard to find.
That is one 13 year old’s opinion of 89.3. I’m not sure how much of an impact we can have when we voice our opinions about The Current, (especially me, someone not able to go to a 18+ concert.) but it’s worth a try.
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Now for the question of the week:
Caroline Smith is an amazing singer/songwriter and deserves a lot of attention. Her new album should be on a major label and sold everywhere because it’s just that good.
Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie is a pretty good songwriter too. I don’t hear much praise on his lyrics at all.
I think that Bob Dylan is one of the best lyricists of all time, including on his new songs (sorry Mark Wheat) just listen to the 11-minute epic “Desolation Row” from Highway 61.
I gave up listening to music radio a long time ago, for all the same reasons. Though I do listen to some talk radio. I do listen to the "musicheads" pod cast. And they have turned me on to some cool stuff. I'd say the Obits are definitly punk, and they kick ass. Dan is a riot, I take notes from these blogs as well, because I always want something new to listen to, its how i get high. I'm definitly going to check out The Lawrence Arms.
When I think of great lyricists, I always though Dave Pirner, of Soul Asylum, worked especially hard at it. But In my opinion their "Let your dim light shine" album sort of derailed their momentum. John Hiatt on his "All of a sudden" album was also brilliant. I think he has close to 20 studio albums under his belt.
Bill, Steve, Mark, Mary... *cough* Are you guys gettin' all this?
I mean, I can't be TOO hard on the Current...this Block-rockin' Weekend thing has been great. But on the whole, you guys should take note.
Thanks, Mark D. and Eliot. I'd say the Lawrence Arms might be something you need to discover in chronological order, like I did. Maybe not, I dunno...but three albums that the Current should check out are:
Ghost Stories (2000) - Early stuff from their Asian Man Records days. Much grittier, but still very melodious. Key tracks: Turnstyles, The Old-timer's 2x4, Light Breathing, and Here Comes The Neighborhood (a good song for Lake & Hennepin).
Apathy and Exhaustion (2002) - Their debut on Fat Wreck, this is by far their most polished up and clean-sounding, and probably the most radio-friendly. Key tracks: Porno and Snuff Films, Boatless Booze Cruise Part 1, "I'll Take What's In the Box, Monty", Right As Rain Part 2, and Abracadaver.
The Greatest Story Ever Told (2003) - Quite possibly the greatest album I've ever heard, and I mentioned it a few weeks ago on this blog when we were talking about album sequencing. Lyrically, it's probably the least-typical of this band, but also brilliant! Key tracks: The Raw and Searing Flesh, On With The Show, Chapter 13: The Hero Appears, The Revisionist, The Disaster March, and basically the whole rest of the album, which is good because those schmucks at the FCC might not allow some of these songs...
Glad to see SOMEONE's paying attention! Let's pick up the slack, Current.
For the record, I'm a sustaining member and I would LOVE to hear more punk on the Current. New punk, old punk, anything with a message and an attitude problem. However...
"...trying desperately to find a connection in a lonely city where only the ghosts of Kafka, Sartre, Joyce and Lao Tzu can bring comfort"
That's where you lost me. Right there. Seriously Dan, you're trying way too hard. I was on the fence about your post until you tossed in the gratuitous literary references. I can only assume they are an attempt to boost your own credibility by trying to sound smarter than the average contributor.
I also have to question the extensive product placement. Are you trying to indicate that you're not just posing, or are you somehow affiliated with the CC Club, the Triple Rock, Fat Wreck Chords or The Lawrence Arms? If that is the case you should come clean up front, so we readers can place your words in their proper context.
In my opinion your article, while obviously well thought out, would have retained far more credibility had you completely omitted the second half (Ode to the Lawrence Arms). Alternately, you could have waxed poetic about a local punk band instead, since the Current's neglect of local punk was your original argument.
Finally, I would just have to say, "too wordy". However, props for spelling "a lot" correctly. That's one of my personal pet peeves.
My overall impression is that you're trying to learn how to write music reviews, and using us as your test audience. That's cool. And that's why I've tried to supply constructive criticism. I hope you find it useful.
Going on a wide spread here.
Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy.
Not very popular in the states, but well known in the UK.
and whoever said Weird Al...woot!
Dylan...argh...just returned from lving in Northern MN...and we had Dylan days. It got real tiring real fast.
Weird Al--definitely.
Martin Gore of Depeche Mode.
Interesting. This is a blog called Musicheads, FOR "musicheads." We discuss music, we criticize music, and we praise music. And if someone is a very good writer trying to give a good description, suddenly they're trying to be a "music critic," attempting to sound smarter than the average contributor?
Trever's post strikes me as a bit hostile. While the subject is music, you're accusing someone of whom you know nothing. Who am I? I'm a forklift operator and part-time student from Uptown. Okay, NOW place my words into proper context.
So why don't YOU "wax poetic" about a local punk band? I'd love to hear it, and I'm not being sarcastic. The current's neglect of local punk is not my argument and you know it. This week's question is about great lyricists, and I'm bringing up a punk band that gets no airplay that happens to be from Chicago, not here. So what's the problem?
"...trying desperately to find a connection in a city where only the ghosts of Kafka, Sartre, Joyce and Lao Tzu can bring comfort." Um...that's not me making up stuff. That's real. The Lawrence Arms actually make references like that, and their liner notes have the footnotes to prove it! Pretty cool, eh?
It only shows that there is punk rock out there that is just as smart and thoughtful as any indie-rock, folk or hip-hop song heard on the Current. But most don't know about it because stations like the Current, who have the freedom to bring better music to a wider audience, snub it off just because it's punk. And if one wants to make a change, the DEMAND for better punk must be made aware. Therefore, I cite The Lawrence Arms as an example of better, smarter punk available to the Current, while also discussing their lyrical style as part of this week's question about great lyricists.
So, is that constructive enough for you? Anyone else you'd like to judge?
I stand by my statements 100%.
Aren't we all here to be "music critics"? We discuss, criticize and praise music, I believe that makes us all "music critics".
Now, I certainly didn't mean to sound hostile in my previous comment, so I apologize for giving you that impression. Also, I don't think I accused you of anything. My intent was to point out instances of ambiguity and apparent bias which I, as a reader, felt undermined the credibility of your comments. Comments which I generally agree with, except for the paragraphs about the Lawrence Arms, as I don't know them from Adam. But now I'm going to go look them up. Thank you for pointing them out to us.
Whoa, this topic did get interesting!
Eliot, I'm impressed with your "13 year old's opinion"! Well said.
It's odd. Why would the Current play the same songs over and over when they've never once played the fantastic song "Too Delightful" by the Flashing Lights? Or "Blue Blue Heart" by Bic Runga or "Greeting Card Aisle" by Sarah Harmer? Or "Brother Down" by Sam Roberts? Or (to mention the bands in my previous post) "Are We Waiting" by Mike O'Neill or "Snowed In" by Joel Plaskett? Or reach way back and play "Badger" by Let's Active or "Bachelor Kisses" by the Go-Betweens? Okay, now I'm just being a jerk and throwing out examples of songs never played by the Current. I'm totally abusing my online playlist access privileges. Sorry. (I love that online playlist, and I ought to say here that I'm often pleased with the treats the Current plays.) But I wish the Current would play these songs. It would be cool.
I recently became a sustaining member because I do think that the Current reaches out to listeners through this Gather group and through the online playlist/requests. I appreciate that very much. If I donate to a station, I want them to be making a creative effort to draw in listeners (more donors for sustainability) to hear good music. In the best of worlds (to me), the Current would make more efforts to play listener requests that are outside of the catalog. So many "must haves" (to my mind) are not even represented in the Current's catalog. I don't understand how music selection at radio stations works, but it seems to be some old-fangled model of "we tell the listeners what they want to hear, because we're the ones who know music." That probably used to work fine in the days before multiple online music sources and the iPod -- the Current has heavy competition not necessarily from other radio stations but listeners' own vast, portable music collections. Maybe I'm just stating the obvious. I sometimes do that.
Also, I used to be into punk, but that was years ago. Punk is good, but in small doses. Unless it's Flipper. Play all the Flipper you want, and I'll be there.
Joe Strummer, Capatin Beefheart, D. Boon, Nick Cave, "Snake" Belanger, Liz Phair, Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams, Roger Waters, Tom Gabel, Bernie Taupin, Jello Biafra, Keith Morris, Ian Mackaye, Chris Cornell (until 1995), Tori Amos, Richard Hell, Jim Carroll, Kris Kristofferson, Shane MacGowan, Mos Def, Chuck D, MF Doom, the Last Poets, Sam Cooke, Glen Danzig (for humor's sake), LL Cool J, and Tom Waits.
...and John Doe, Woodie Guthrie, Roger Miller, Michael Stipe, and Paul Westerberg.
Amy Rigby, Edwyn Collins.
Meric Long