Blog: NPR Music: Monitor Mix

Last week, Oprah Winfrey announced her annual "Favorite Things." This year's list is budget-friendly and slanted toward the homemade, and stresses the thought as opposed to the money behind a gift. Examples include a gratitude box, which at first I thought was a family-friendly way of recommending Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg's "D--- in a Box" as the ultimate form of holiday cheer. Alas, this is not what Oprah was implying. Instead of offering up your bits as a means of thanks, Oprah wants you to offer up hand-written notes. Another Oprah suggestion is [...]

Last week, Oprah Winfrey announced her annual "Favorite Things." This year's list is budget-friendly and slanted toward the homemade, and stresses the thought as opposed to the money behind a gift. Examples include a gratitude box, which at first I thought was a family-friendly way of recommending Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg's "D--- in a Box" as the ultimate form of holiday cheer. Alas, this is not what Oprah was implying. Instead of offering up your bits as a means of thanks, Oprah wants you to offer up hand-written notes. Another Oprah suggestion is [...]

Below is an excerpt from a NY Times article about a punk rock auction at Christie's. CBGB's sticker-encrusted urinal is already museum-worthy, and on Monday more detritus from the era of the Ramones and the Clash hurtled its way into high culture, when Christie's hosted its first auction devoted to punk memorabilia. Vivienne Westwood bondage pants, photographs of Lou Reed and Blondie, badges for the Buzzcocks and concert fliers from clubs like Max's Kansas City went up for bid at the decidedly nonpunk hour of 10 a.m. Estimates were as high as $1,500 for an [...]

Greg Kihn. I come back to this song every couple of years. It's a predictable and hardworking tune, yet it somehow manages to transcend its simplicity. Echo & The Bunnymen. One of my favorites. In this live version of the song, the bass is too loud and the whole thing sounds like a British version of The Sonics' "Strychnine." Linda Ronstadt should be more influential than she is -- either that, or not enough folks are 'fessing up to it. [...]

Real fans scream. Real fans cry. If you haven't already seen this video, it's worth checking out: Also, for those who are interested, I wrote a piece about Wii Music for Slate the other day. You can read it here. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us

In the late 1990s, my friend Mary Timony and I started a side project called The Spells. We put out one EP, played one show in Olympia and never did much else. Except that we had plans. We always talked about writing a full-length record, sending song ideas back and forth via computer and recording the album in chunks when we had time -- when we weren't on tour with our other bands. But that never happened. We did, however, manage to start the process. In the summer of 2000, we recorded four songs in [...]

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On Oct. 29, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels took the stage at the Paramount Theatre and announced "the formation of [a] city music commission and [a] collective 12-year strategy to solidify Seattle as a home to music business, musicians and live music." The plan includes building a broader infrastructure to make Seattle friendly for business-related ventures, while aiming for a higher retention rate of musicians themselves, ostensibly alleviating the need for artists to relocate to larger music markets such as Los Angeles, Nashville or New York City. Furthermore, the plan aims to engender the city's residents with a [...]

Right now, I'm reading Francine Prose's Goldengrove , with this wonderful passage toward the beginning of the book: "Nico... with her chalky, disappointed voice. It was strange how she sounded... hollow and checked out, and with a foreign accent that made it seem she was learning the words as she sang them." Aside from reminding me how much I love stumbling upon pop-music asides in the middle of a non-music-themed novel, it also got me thinking about mystery and the mysterious. Nico is a perfect example. No matter how much you've demystified [...]

Is it just me, or was 2008 largely free of musical disappointments? Perhaps I'm still basking in a post-election glow, and this new era of politics is making me forgive (or, more likely, forget) flaws and missteps in other realms, like music. Or maybe it really was a stellar year. There were exciting endeavors by Crystal Stilts, Deerhunter, Fleet Foxes, Black Mountain, Mt. Eerie and Chad VanGaalen, not to mention Santogold, Sic Alps, T.I., TV on the Radio, Okkervil River, Bon Iver and Nick Cave. I could go on and on about the standouts from [...]

In 1997, I heard The Go-Betweens for the first time. In Olympia, Wash., sitting on the floor of a carpeted dining room in the rickety rental house of a friend, the album Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express came through the speakers. Each song was my new best friend. In subsequent months, on tour with my band, I tracked down all of The Go-Betweens' LPs, poring over the mysteries that constitute their sound and their scope. Each album title up through Send Me a Lullaby contained two Ls in the title, and [...]

I arrived in New York City last Friday -- Halloween. Each time I emailed friends to announce my impending visit, their excitement was paired with the borderline-admonishing reply, "How, then, will you vote?" Once they learned that Oregon votes by mail, all amiability was restored. I don't like Halloween -- at least not the way it's been interpreted as an adult-themed party. All the costumes that look sophisticated and clever around 8 p.m. look ridiculous at 3 a.m., when you're drunk. Not removing the clown makeup or your "Jason from Friday the 13th " mask on [...]

There was an interesting story this week on PRI's The World about how AC/DC's popularity in England rises and falls with the economy. Though AC/DC is never wholly unpopular in the U.K. (or anywhere, for that matter), it tends to rise to the top of the charts during times of economic duress. As evidence of this phenomenon, the band's new album, Black Ice , went to No. 1 across the pond. It's a fascinating piece, and you can listen to it here . As music critic Alex Petridis points out, [...]

Two young Swedes go into the woods and record a cover of "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" by Fleet Foxes. Thus proving, yet again, that Scandinavia is a magical place to which the rest of us cannot relate. For a past Monitor Mix discussion on cover tunes, click here. And don't forget to add your songs to the Sounds of Victory/Sounds of Defeat playlist. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us

There's been a fair bit of chatter on blogs and in weekly newspapers about what songs we'll want to listen to if our presidential candidate of choice wins. Conversely, what might we put on to console ourselves in the event of a loss? Keep in mind that there's more going on in this election than Obama vs. McCain. For one, California has Prop 8 on the ballot -- the most expensive ballot measure in the country, with both sides' spending totaling around $60 million combined. Plus, there are countless statewide, congressional and local races, the [...]

On Sunday afternoon, I joined some friends at an event I didn't even know existed in Portland: The Zombie Walk. This being Portland, a lot of the zombies didn't look much different from the crusty/hippie punks one sees around town, but there were crucial differences. Below are images and video from the day. The zombies' "attack" on the Light Rail and on Nordstrom's department store were especially gruesome. I was reprimanded for photographing the latter by an onlooker who described the incident as "vandalism," but I think what she meant to say was "zombie vandalism." I'll let you decide for [...]

"So It Goes," by Nick Lowe/Rockpile, is one of my favorite songs. A friend put it on a mix tape she made me for my 21st birthday, and I've been putting it on mixes ever since. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us

Last Saturday night, I saw Jolie Holland play at the Doug Fir in Portland. I'm a fan of Holland's work, but had yet to see a live performance. Yet this post is not going to be a review of the show; what I want to discuss instead is the idea of special guests. Holland is currently touring with a handful of talented Portland-based musicians. But her guitarist, bass player, and drummer constituted only a few of the tentacles in what was to become a multi-limbed musical beast. With guest backup singers, as well as an accordionist and [...]

From BBC News, Oct.18, 2008: Bee Gees hit could save your life. US medics have found the Bee Gees' 1977 disco anthem, "Stayin' Alive," provides an ideal beat to follow when performing CPR on a victim of a cardiac arrest. A University of Illinois medical school study said it contained 103 beats per minute, close to the recommended rate of 100 chest compressions per minute. Dr. David Matlock said many people were put off performing CPR as they were not sure about keeping the correct rhythm. He said CPR could triple cardiac [...]

The other night, I was sitting around in a motor home with a pink boom box and some cassette tapes. With me was a friend and local Portland DJ who goes by the name DJ Hostile Tapeover. Different from his other DJ persona -- the one called Tiny Vinyl, who spins only 7" singles -- Hostile Tapeover plays cassettes and cassingles, mostly '80s rap and a genre known as freestyle. On this blog, we've spent a lot of time discussing the merits and demerits of vinyl, MP3s and compact discs, but little energy has been spent [...]

This video provides a nice footnote to our rock star discussion of last week: And here's the story: LONDON (AFP) - Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has told his fans in a bizarre online video message to stop sending him fan mail as he is too busy to sign or read it, and it will only be "tossed". "This is a serious message to everybody watching my update right now. Peace and love, peace and love," the musician said. "I want to tell you please -- after the 20th of October do [...]