Current Music Blog

The CMT awards aired last night, on CMT I’d assume. Being a Southerner myself, I take particular offense to the candy-coated, over produced, horse shit that sounds more like a Hallmark card than a country song they churn out of Nashville and try to pass off as Southern culture these days. I think it’s safe to say, if Waylon were still around today, he’d rather skip an insulin shot than listen to this drivel.

So, with that in mind, let’s mock some pictures from the event…

I’m not sure if Terry Fator knows it, but that’s a brilliant metaphor for the bullshit, pop-country machine in Nashville.

Ted Nugent doesn’t play country music, but he kills lots of animals by hand, so it’s cool.

“Hi Lady! I like your music because your lyrics speak to me on an intelligence and emotional level I can understand.”

Yup, that’s actually the first time you’ve ever seen product placement used to sell overalls. The Feeks (Joey and Rory’s real last name, not a slur) have a deal with Carhartt. No kidding.

What do you mean, it’s not about the music anymore? Also, ummmmmmmm?

Wow, Shawn Johnson has really grown into her country music phase.

Wow, it’s hard to believe, it was just 12 short years ago, when quarterback Kerry Collins called wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad the n-bomb, and now he’s at the CMT awards. It’s amazing how quickly things change…

“Yeah, me neither. I grew up in an upper-middle class family in the suburbs of Michigan, and I started my career as a rapper, but these people still buy music, so whatever.”

“This here’s a song about how people don’t do the same things as they used to and how it’s a damn shame. It’s called ‘Every Song I Ever Played.’”

(more…)

None of us made it to Bonnaroo this year, but we did send our interns J.D. Bray and Reiana Simmons to YouTube to find some good clips from the Fest. Here are their six best clips and their thoughts on them.

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu delivered a memorable show and kept heads bopping as always. She rocked the mic and spit a verse of the NWA classic “Gangsta Gangsta” during her performance of “Love of My Life.” —RS

Animal Collective

Maybe through all of the camera shaking you can see the fireworks? Animal Collective lay down their experimental weirdness, but perhaps a night performance would do the band better justice. At least there’d be a light show. —JB

Nine Inch Nails

See? These guys got a nice set up. Sure, you may not be able to see Trent rock out through the blinding flashes, but at least the lights are coordinated with the beat so you can fall into a fit of epilepsy at precisely the right time. Pretty spectacular nonetheless. —JB

Santigold

The Up-and-coming festival favorite Santigold kept the crowd rocking during her Friday performance. Santigold’s performances of Hold the line and You’ll Find a Way seen in the video prove why she was a highlight of the festival. —RS

Janelle Monae

There is only one word to describe Janelle Monae’s Thursday set: electric.  Janelle wowed the audience, bringing unparalleled energy to the stage. —RS

Phish

Trey Anastasio and crew do a signature jam sesh. What would Bonnaroo be if there wasn’t a jam band hanging around? That said, these guys are certainly skilled musicians. —JB

The Decemberists started out their Hazards of Love Tour this week at The Palladium in Los Angeles on 5/19. They went on at exactly 9pm and played for over two hours. The first set consisted of the entire Hazards of Love “folk opera” all the way through with no talking. At one point Colin commented that they were “singing a lot of songs about dead people.” With The Decemberists you would be disappointed any other way.

Here are some photos I took as well as a setlist.

Set 1:
The Hazards of Love Entire Album

Set 2:
Los Angeles, I’m Yours
July July
Eli the Barrow Boy
We Both Go Down Together
If I Could Only Win Your Love (Emmylou Harris cover)
Yankee Bayonnet
Dracula’s Daughter
O Valencia
Sons and Daughters

Encore:
Raincoat Song
I Was Meant For The Stage

Read more about the Decemberists at Current.com.

Our director/producer Alex Simmons was just up at Lake Tahoe with the Cold War Kids. Before lead singer Nate Willett got sick and the band canceled the exact shows Alex was scheduled to shoot and travel with them to—they’ve only ever put off two gigs out of 500—he snapped these stunning photographs. (And don’t worry, we rescheduled.)

Get more about the Cold War Kids at Current.com.

We got to spend the day with Amanda Palmer for a tiny, secret show in LA. She played a set based on requests from the small audience — about 100 people total who had followed her clues on Twitter to find the venue. We’re working to get a performance clip up on Current.com — the whole event and her inspiration for it will eventually make its way to Current TV.

One mid-shoot panic that got resolved is best summed up by our editor, @pixelflip:

The freakout for male-to-male – or female to female –er, actually 1/4″ to XLR adaptor is over. The @current_music crew MacGyver ‘d sumpin.

In truth we lucked out — a church group that also uses the space where we were shooting had a bag full of cords and one of them was just what we needed to get clear audio off the soundboard. Hallelujah!

Our director Alex Simmons went out to the legendary Glass House in Pomona — about an hour east of LA — to see the Silversun Pickups show last night. It was their first SoCal gig promoting the new album, Swoon, out from Dangerbird Records on April 14, and singer Brian Aubert knowingly asked the crowd how many of them were locals — and how many from Echo Park.

Douglas Cabellero’s interview with the band in 2006 was among the first music stories we did here at Current — back when they were a neighborhood favorite, before they unexpectedly blew the lid off Echo Park & Silverlake’s indie rock scene. (See: Rockville, Ca.)

The band will also play Coachella this upcoming Friday. Listen to the full album at MTV’s the Leak now and tell us what you think of Swoon at Current.com.

Photo: Alex Simmons