As part of the Revolve Film and Music Festival Mitch Easter and Don Dixon (who worked on R.E.M.'s first two full length albums and EP) will be conducting a panel discussion on the making of Murmur at the Garage in Winston-Salem next month. More info below. Revolve Music Night Featuring the making of R.E.M.'s Murmur record: A conversation with producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon followed by Lyrics 101, live performance by Don Dixon with autographed copies of his new lyric book available and a performance by Magnapop (original line-up from Atlanta GA). Friday, May 22nd @ 8 PM / $10 The Garage Winston-Salem, NC The Garage Mitch Easter Don Dixon Magnapop In relation to the publication of his new Lyrics 101 book, Raleigh News & Observer music writer David Menconi has links to more info on that and a new interview with Don Dixon on his On the Beat music blog here.

As can be seen from that recent Floyd documentary VH1 Classic has been airing I think there was far too much there for any of the parties to just let things slide. As one of the commentators noted you could see the body language between the members when they finished up their performance at Live 8. Thankfully they were able to at least get that performance under their collective belts before Rick Wright died. I'd much rather see something like that which was driven by pure emotion (and the persuading of Bob Geldof) than groups like the Eagles who regroup purely for the monetary aspects.

Discuss

I have no idea what it was now but it sure got everyone here in a tizzy. Much like offhand remarks made by others such as Leno or Craig Ferguson about Plant/Zeppelin (which were very clearly meant in jest), many saw it as an opportunity to make a mountain out of a molehill.

In this age of the download and internet leaks, actually walking into a store to buy a new record is becoming a thing of the past but for those of us that still enjoy shopping in record stores, who's albums must you buy on the first day of release? I'll probably think of some more later but for now my list looks something like this: Bob Dylan Southern Culture on the Skids James McMurtry Ryan Adams Jason Isbell Chris Knight David Lindley Nada Surf Paul Westerberg Jimmy Buffett Caitlin Cary Tres Chicas John Prine Gourds Guy Clark Patterson Hood Frog Holler Pearl Jam Drive-By Truckers Robert Plant Slobberbone/The Drams R.E.M. Mary Gauthier Wilco The Minus Five Patty Hurst Shifter Donna the Buffalo Todd Snider I included Ryan Adams but I don't think I bought his latest album on the day it came out but I have purchased all of his other records on the day of release. There are some artists such as Neil Young who's albums can be kind of spotty so I wait them out before buying them.

Since the poster that started this thread asked for bands instead of artists that's what I went with. I don't really consider Bob Marley and the Wailers to be a solo artist but a band. They were the Wailers for many years and then they became "Bob Marley & the Wailers". That's when tension was caused within the group and founding members Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston left. After Marley died they continued to tour as "The Wailers" but obviously haven't been nearly as successful as they were when Marley was alive.

As with most everything these days I believe it's all moving to the web. Sites like YouTube leave a lot to be desired quality wise and due to copyright issues lots of videos have been removed (and/or had the sound disabled) but there's also new sites such as Hulu that are hosting full length movies for free. Not long ago I also found a complete Drive-By Truckers concert that had been posted online. Not only was it professionally filmed but it was in HD with excellent sound quality. Unfortunately that site (FabChannel) has since gone offline. I still don't think MTV was all that great even in the early days. At least it never really lived up to what I would have hoped for as far as 24 hour music programming is concerned. As far as their programming now that is purely a ratings move, same thing for VH1 which is nothing more than so called "realtiy" shows these days as well. That's when MTV2 came around but it too quickly went to shit, plus I believe it's only available on satellite. There is VH1 Classic but as the name implies, it's mostly devoted to older material. Still there is some very worthwhile programming on there from time to time.

I got into the show and was an avid viewer, I'm just saying there wasn't any one performance I found all that memorable whereas there are other programs where a certain artists' performance stands out in my memory (Stones on SNL, R.E.M., Dire Straits, Peter Tosh, etc. on Letterman). As far as diversity, I'd say The Midnight Special featured a pretty wide range of music. I don't rule out picking up the DVDs someday but it's not something I'm in a real rush to do.

It is the first time ever. I've just noticed a lot of folks complaining about having to buy all of the Beatles CDs again as though there have been other remasters.

Patterson Hood Interview

10th Anniversary of Slim's in Raleigh this weekend. The first night is the VibeKillers w/ The New Heathens and Spanking Charlene. The second night is the Yayhoos (Dan Baird, Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, Keith Christopher & Terry Anderson), the first band to ever play there.

Not that I think Kiss is the best band ever (I don't) but not everyone is going to share the same opinion about who their favorite artist is. I'm a big Zep fan but they're not my favorite.

I confined my list strictly to bands, if both artists and bands are allowed my list would come out a bit differently.

Same here, there's nothing in my collection I'm ashamed of.

Isn't this the first time their entire catalog has been remastered (legally)?

I watched it back then but I just don't see what was all that great about it. As I've already mentioned, I have fonder memories of performances I saw on programs such as SNL, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, In Concert, Austin City Limits, etc. I was just a toddler when the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show, that to me would be something worth writing home about. Not that anyone's putting The Midnight Special in that category, mind you but there's really nothing I recall seeing on there that really stands out in my memory. I recall Alice Cooper doing all of Welcome To My Nightmare on ABC's In Concert, The Edgar Winter Group on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, seeing Elvis Costello, Frank Zappa, the Rolling Stones and tons of others on SNL but can't say I really remember anything of that caliber on The Midnight Special. As for music programming on television back then it was pretty limited. These days there's still Austin City Limits, Soundstage, Later with Jools Holland and similar programs. It's still few and far between but I don't see it as being any worse than it was in the 70s. Of course, there's been MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic, CMT, TNN, etc. but very few of those channels ever lived up to their initial promise. There have been moments though like MTV's Rockumentaries, Unplugged, 120 Minutes, Postmodern MTV, VH1's Storytellers, Legends, Behind the Music, Classic Albums, etc. CMT also ran a very well done documentary on Southern Rock as part of their American Revolutions series. Likewise, VH1 Classic has their Rock Docs series.

My favorites change on a daily basis but for now: Beatles R.E.M. Grateful Dead Bob Marley & the Wailers The Replacements

Fans of Sonic Youth are "shoegazers"?

Sounds more like a difference in opinion from two parties that are already warring factions anyway. The other big factor is the source, The NY Post, which is pretty much the equivalent of The National Enquirer. What kills me is how people will let stuff like this change their opinion of a band. Even if it's true it doesn't change how I feel about Duane Allman or the Allman Brothers Band. Same for Bun E. Carlos and remarks he supposedly made about Bonham. I'm still a Cheap Trick fan and always will be. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including those folks who may be critical of Led Zeppelin.

Review of his new poetry book Infinity Blues from Durham, NC's Independent Weekly: That Ryan Adams has a poetry book says a lot about us ... and too much about him

Younger Crowd Digging Vinyl's Sound

The Huffington Post has posted the final installment of the Dylan interview with Bill Flanagan: Bob Dylan Sounds Off On The Origin Of His New Record, Parlor Music, Dr. Dre, And Who His Songs Are About ...and, it looks like some sad news for Theme Time Radio Hour, not only one of the finest things to happen on satellite radio in years but radio in general: Bob Dylan's 'Theme Time Radio Hour': His time might be up

Never even knew this poster existed until just the other day. Apparently it came from someone who purchased the collection of R.E.M.'s guitar tech Mark "Microwave" Mytrowitz who passed away last year:

I feel the same way, it still hasn't quite dawned on me. Yeah, it's though her music was right there under my nose the entire time but I just hadn't picked up on it yet. A friend that recommended her also suggesting catching her shows at Shakori Hills on either Thursday or Friday but that was out of the question. It wasn't after I purchased her CD on Record Store Day that I even noticed she would be doing an in-store there later that afternoon so I did get to see her and the Midnight Shivers live after all.