Now that the semester is well on its way, we at WPGU have tried to settle back in to kicking out the latest and greatest jams. I hope to provide frequent updates with information about the new music we’re most excited about playing and I’d love to receive any comments about these songs or recommendations for songs you think we should be playing.

Here’s the newest stuff to listen for on WPGU:

1. Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place

2. Jason Collett - Out of Time - This song is off Jason Collett (Broken Social Scene) ’s fifth solo effort, Here’s To Being Here. It starts off with a cool, slow, Dylanny swagger and the chorus is catchy as hell.

3. Rivers Cuomo - Blast Off! - After Weezer’s Blue Album was released, Rivers wrote a rock opera set in space. Nyerd. The album was never released but a few songs made it onto Rivers’ solo B-sides and rarities album. If you’re still wincing from “Beverly Hills” this song will alleviate the pain.

4. Bon Iver - Skinny Love - I am admittedly a huge sucker for acoustic songs, but I think this one really stands out. I definitely recommend giving it a listen right now.

5. The 1900s - When I Say Go This band is on Urbana’s own Parasol Records. Their new album, Cold & Kind, is really effing good.

Stream WPGU

Kind of hard to start with anything that tops that headline. The dates and venues for Radiohead’s North American tour are still up in the air, but they released the list of cities they would be playing on their Myspace. Looks like they’ll be playing in St. Louis and Indianapolis, as well, so at least the odds of getting tickets look a little better this time around. I don’t know why they don’t just make a stop at the Canopy on their way through… More to come as soon as I hear about it. Get excited!

WPGU107.1 is recruiting staffers for basically every one of its departments right now. There will be two info nights for those interested in working for WPGU and the Illini Media Company that will be held on Thursday, Janurary 17th and Wednesday, January 23rd. Both meetings will begin at 7 PM and will take place in the Illini Media Center (5th and Green - the building with the DJ Studio and Apple store in it).

If you have any interest in becoming a DJ, making commercials, promotions, marketing, sound engineering, or music in general, you should definitely come check out one of these info sessions.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Rockband me looking almost as moody as real me.

Can’t say that 2008 is off to the best start, what with U of I being savagely beaten like a red-headed stepchild on national television and tomorrow’s forecasted high of 7 degrees. Even so, I have little to complain about, for I now have ROCKBAND. If you’ve had a chance to play the game, I’m sure you understand this last week’s lack of postings from me. Playing drums to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is a cathartic experience. Listening to your friend’s attempts to sing “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys is devilishly entertaining. And those are just a couple of the gems on Rockband’s monster tracklist.

And so, here is a Rockband themed playlist for your listening pleasure. Here’s to hoping I’m allowed more than one ubernerd posting per year.

1. Pixies - Wave of Mutilation
2. Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock
3. The Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again
4. David Bowie - Suffragette City
5. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
6. The Strokes - Reptilia
7. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s - Maps
8. Weezer - Say It Ain’t So

(Added 1/3/08 - Conan O’Brien sings “Sabotage.” Golden.)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day,
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bow’d my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

1. Chuck Berry - Run, Rudolph, Run
2. Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
3. Jimmy Eat Wolrd - Last Christmas
4. Coldplay - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
5. The Vandals - Oi to the World
6. Blink 182 - I Won’t Be Home For Christmas
7. David Bazan - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
8. Albert King - Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’
9. Feist - Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming
10. The Pretenders - 2000 Miles
11. Jimmy Eat World - 12.23.95
12. Belle and Sebastian - The Twelve Days of Christmas

Happy Christmas to all,
Matt

2008 is looking up to be a great year for music. With Ambulance Ltd., Cat Power, Wolf Parade, The Strokes, Coldplay, and Phoenix (just to name a few) all set to release new albums, how could it not be? I recently came across a downloadable live concert of another fellow who is set to release his first full-length solo album within the next few months - Mr. David Bazan. Any fans of Bazan’s former band, Pedro the Lion, will notice a few old favorites on top of the six BRAND NEW songs he played on his last tour. There’s also some really funny Q+A with the audience and an awesome cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

For a live show, the sound quality is great. Check it out HERE.

Hope everyone’s finals aren’t too too miserable. Here’s a playlist of cozy, soft, warmth to help you forget about how caffeinated you are. Excelsior!

1. Belle and Sebastian - Century of Fakers
2. Fiona Apple - Across the Universe (Beatles)
3. The Beta Band - Dry the Rain
4. Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
5. Cat Power - Lived in Bars
6. City on Film - I’d Rather Be Wine Drunk
7. Sunny Day Real Estate - Every Shining Time You Arrive
8. Murder By Death - Holy Lord, Shawshank Redemption is Such a Good Movie!
9. Chopin - no. 4 in E Minor
10. The Books - Read, Eat, Sleep

AT METRO

Dec. 21 - Office w/ the 1900s - Office, which started out of Chicago, is a sort of up-and-coming indie band that people went nuts over at SXSW earlier this year. I’ve only heard a few songs, but they’ve been good. Should be a fun show. And it’s only 10 bucks. Have a listen.

Dec. 23 - Spitalfield - From what I understand, this is the band’s last show ever. If you missed these guys when they played the Canopy Club this could be your last chance to relive that rough patch just before your 16th birthday.

Dec. 27 - Mustard Plug - If you asked for checkered crew socks for Christmas… then I guess you probably already have tickets to this. Be careful skanking on those icy sidewalks, you crazy ska kids.

NEW YEARS EVE - An Unbelievably Expensive Evening with Spoon (& Special Guests) - Don’t get me wrong. I love old Spoon, I love new Spoon, but 80 Dollars! Unless the special guests are Johnny Cash and Elliott Smith I’ll be at home roasting chestnuts on an open fire and drinking Nagasakis. (Half eggnog, half sake.)
Also, you’d think all that extra ticket money might go towards an open bar or awesome decorations or something, but you’d be wrong. I went to see Alkaline Trio at last year’s New Year’s Eve show and definitely left feeling more than a little ripped off. There’s probably no better way for a Spoon nut to spend their New Year’s, but those are the only people I’d recommend this one to.

AT DOUBLE DOOR

Dec. 11 and 12 - The Lemonheads - A really underrated band from the 90s. These guys were broken up for almost ten years but are back and touring. You may know them from their cover of the Simon and Garfunkel tune “Mrs. Robinson” or from some of their hits - “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You” and “Into Your Arms” come to mind.

Dec. 15 - The Verve Pipe - I still stand by my belief that “The Freshmen” is one of the best songs ever. To be honest, I didn’t know that these guys still played.

NEW YEARS EVE - A Slightly Less Expensive Evening with ….Poi Dog Pondering? You crazy, Double Door. Hey Spoon fans - at least you know Poi Dog Pondering aren’t the special guests.

AT SCHUBAS

Dec. 14 and 15 - The New Amsterdams - Matt Pryor (of the Get Up Kids) continues to prove that he is incapable of writing bad music. I’ve been a fan of this band for years. These two shows are a great chance to see an extremely talented band in an intimate venue. Listen here.

Dec. 30 and NEW YEAR’S EVE - Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s w/ Catfish Haven - If you haven’t heard Margot’s “Skeleton Key” you’ve been missing out. Also, a Catfish Haven live performance is truly something to behold. Does anyone else remember the homeless-looking backup gospel singers they had with them when they were here for Pygmalion?

Jan. 4 - Is She Weird Is She White (Pixies tribute) and The Teenage FBI (Guided By Voices tribute) - Even if the bands suck, think about how cool the crowd is going to be!

Georgie James had me at hello with my first listening of their single, “Need Your Needs.” At the time I had no idea that the group was initially formed by John Davis (recently deceased Q and Not U’s wizard of a drummer) with Laura Burhenn (also an accomplished singer and songwriter). On their debut album, Places, Davis takes care of all of the drumming and guitar work and Burhenn lays down all of the piano tracks. The pair trade off the role of lead vocalist, something that has become less uncommon with recent indie bands but, even so, Georgie James find a way to make everything about their music their own. This band has a genuinely cool dynamic about them – they write fun, surprising pop music that will bounce around inside your head for days.

Give them a listen!

Look Me Up
Need Your Needs
Long Week

Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
I was always one to criticize the deification of Bob Dylan, but this album has me all but converted as of late. There’s just so much meaning and emotion and urgency in every song - things I often find to be lacking in most modern music. The jagged edges of his voice and the slightly off-pitch melodies that had so often put me off on many other Dylan songs make the songs on this album even better for some reason. “Tombstone Blues” sounds like the American addendum to the Book of Revelations. “From a Buick 6” has a defiant swagger about it that makes you want to pick up your step to walk in time or press that gas pedal down just a little further. Every song on the album is rock solid and the stuff of legend. Highway 61’s significance is unfathomable. It should be seen as a prerequisite for anyone interested in rock ‘n roll.

Tombstone Blues

Cold War Kids – Robbers and Cowards
I’ll admit that lead singer Nathan Willet’s high, piercing voice made getting into this band a little trying at times, but somewhere down the line it all just came together for me. So many of the things that are so closely linked to the origins of rock ‘n roll, such as blues and jazz, are clear and identifiable on this record. This band has a way of sounding stripped down and complicated all at once. This ‘evolution through devolution’ songwriting approach makes Cold War Kids one of the most unique of the rising indie bands. Their influences range from the Velvet Underground to Radiohead, Bob Dylan to Billie Holiday. I especially recommend the songs “We Used to Vacation,” “Passing the Hat,” and “Hospital Beds.” Cold War Kids will be playing Chicago’s Metro on December 7th.

We Used to Vacation