Oct. 30, 2020
Some Deep Cuts...
...as found in this week's Inside Track newsletter (yours truly, editor). Delivered to your inbox every Thursday, subscribe here.
- A tale without end: DeVotchKa is joined by Amanda Shires and actress Tami Stronach for a new take on a childhood (some of us, anyway) classic.
- The Cure's Robert Smith shared his 30 favorite 1980s songs, revealing excellent and sometimes surprising taste. SPOILER: No Cure songs included!
- Haim turned in a fully Halloween-themed edition of "3AM" on Seth Meyers' show. Bonus: Robert Pattinson was cast as an "emotional vampire."
- The official trailer for the forthcoming David Bowie biopic Stardust is out. British musician Johnny Flynn stars as a young Bowie.
- The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O teamed with Willie Nelson for a new take on Bowie and Queen's classic "Under Pressure."
- Belle & Sebastian announced a rather large new live album: What to Look for in Summer is the title out Dec. 11.
- There's a new Shane McGowan documentary on the way: Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane McGowan tells the story of the Pogues frontman and is directed by Julien Temple. Here's the trailer.
- The Shins doubled up for their new single on a recent visit to James Corden's Late Late Show. Bonus: James Mercer gives a Broken Bells update.
- Khruangbin has announced a Late Night Tales compilation, which includes their take on a Kool & the Gang classic.
- Elvis Costello put the charm on for Colbert, and also delivered a performance (with Jon Batiste) of the title track from his new album Hey Clockface.
Oct. 26, 2020
Last Week in Coffee
Catch A Cover with Your Coffee on the air every weekday morning around 7:40MT. Here's what we heard this past week.
Monday (10/19): Le Tigre playing The Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited"
Tuesday (10/20): Low Cut Connie playing Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky"
Wednesday (10/21:) Spoon playing The Cramps' "TV Set"
Thursday (10/22): Andrew Bird playing John Cale's "Andalucia"
Friday (10/23): The Walkmen playing Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" (by way of Harry Nilsson)
Oct. 21, 2020
Music from My Waking Life
I’m not going to lie to you: The hours required by a morning radio host are not the hours of a clear-minded person (at least not this mind). There are some things that still stick, however, and I'm lucky to say that for me they're generally of the musical sort.
Waking Life is a monthly smattering of new music that’s making the rounds of my brain, the personal outcome of which is often emotional, intellectual, biological, and/or psychological — even for the big, dumb jams. I've been putting these together for a while now and it's fun to look back at, say, a year ago, or the summer of 2017, or the very first playlist, and be taken for a sort of astral ride. Click below for the latest...
Oct. 19, 2020
Last Week in Coffee
Catch A Cover with Your Coffee on the air every weekday morning around 7:40MT. Here's what we heard this past week.
Monday (10/12): Aimee Mann playing Leonard Cohen's "Avalanche"
Tuesday (10/13): Yuno playing Beach House's "Zebra"
Wednesday (10/14): Cyndi Lauper playing Prince's "When You Were Mine"
Thursday (10/15): Thao & the Get Down Stay Down playing The Clash's "Train in Vain"
Friday (10/16): Devon Gilfilian playing Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
Oct. 15, 2020
File Under: Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
Maybe you didn't have a Mile (Too) High Hank Williams, Jr. cover on your 2020 musical bingo card.... but maybe now you do. Bill Callahan, Bonnie Prince Billy, and Matt Sweeney join forces for this take on the not-necessarily-remembered 1979 cut from Junior, putting an appropriately trippy spin on it with a video to match. Somehow it just feels very 2020.
From the YouTube comments: "I'm picturing Hank Williams, Jr. sitting there watching this in utter confusion." ← He's not wrong.
Oct. 9, 2020
Some Deep Cuts...
...as found in this week's Inside Track newsletter (yours truly, editor). Delivered to your inbox every Thursday, subscribe here.
• Phoebe Bridgers is a record label CEO now.
• The Yawpers' Nate Cook shared some thoughts in the aftermath of his epic, money-raising bike ride from Denver to Tulsa, OK.
• RIP, Eddie Van Halen, who passed away this week after a battle with cancer.
• Watch The Postal Service audition a parade of familiar faces in an endlessly entertaining new PSA video for get-out-the-vote organization Head Count.
• Speaking of entertaining videos featuring a parade of cameos, here's one for Jeff Tweedy's new song "Gwendolyn."
• The Denver married and musical duo Tennis announced a livestreaming performance for Oct. 17.
• The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is presenting Save Our Stages Fest Oct. 16-18. Hosted by Reggie Watts, the virtual fest will feature live performances from iconic venues around the country – the Boulder Theater will host both The Lumineers and Nathaniel Rateliff.
• A fund has been set up for the family of Justin Townes Earle, who passed away unexpectedly last month.
• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs celebrated 20 years as a band with a distanced and closeted take on classic "Maps."
• The Austin City Limits Festival is scheduled to return for real in 2021, but in the meantime this year's version features three nights of archived performances from an incredible lineup this weekend.
• The Decemberists announced a new live recordings series they're calling "Live Home Library." First up, a 2009 performance of The Hazards of Love in its entirety in Royal Oak, Michigan.