On this day in 2000 Mount Hekla, in Iceland, erupted. This was the last time Iceland's most active volcano actually erupted, but in January 2010 there were reports of patches near to the summit not covered with snow and the lava chamber pressure had reached levels similar to those of Feb 2000. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders referred to this volcano as the "Gateway to Hell." Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:23 AM
0 comments
On this day in 1938, Miami opened its first drive-in movie theater. Invented in 1933 by Richard Hollingshead, the very first drive-in debuted on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey. Hollingshead received a patent for his idea in 1933, but it was later repealed. Without a patent to hinder them, copycats began opening up drive-ins all across the country. By 1938, most metropolitan areas had drive-in theaters. The drive-in craze would reach its peak in 1963 when 3,502 theaters were in operation across the U.S. Today we have a live recording of the song Drive by R.E.M. If you notice, Michael Stipe flubs the lyrics a bit at the 3:02 mark... it's sorta funny.
posted by Sean at 12:01 AM
0 comments
The Magnetic Fields are playing tonight (and tomorrow) at the Town Hall here in Seattle. They are currently on tour supporting their new album, Realism. I think my favorite song on the new record is You Must Be Out Of Your Mind. That may be because it sounds sorta similar to All The Umbrellas In London from the Get Lost album, which is also one of my favorites. See you at the show!
posted by Sean at 12:10 AM
5 comments
Last week Cori was in the studio rockin' the accordion on the new Math & Physics Club album. Today we have a live recording the song Movie Ending Romance by Math & Physics Club. Enjoy!
posted by Sean at 12:27 AM
1 comments
On this day in 1930 the ninth planet Pluto, was discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh. However, in August 2006, the International Astronomical Union announced that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet, due to new rules that said a planet must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." Since Pluto's oblong orbit overlaps that of Neptune, it was disqualified. Today we have an acoustic version of Welcome to the Planet by The Thermals.
posted by Sean at 12:09 AM
2 comments
If you happened to be in Fargo, North Dakota on this day in 1999, then I'm sure you know this as the day The Rolling Stones came to town. It's true. The Rolling Stones performed at the Fargodome on this day in 1999, and North Dakota has never been quite the same since. Today we have the song Tallahassee Bop by Slow Down Tallahassee.
posted by Sean at 1:04 AM
0 comments
In 1977, Blondie played almost every night of this week at the Whisky A Go Go. The first couple nights they shared the stage with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the rest of the week, they opened for The Ramones. This was Blondie's L.A. debut. Today we have a live recording of the song Denis by Blondie.
posted by Sean at 12:03 AM
0 comments
The UK band Horowitz has released a new 7” on Cloudberry Records featuring two songs, How To Look Imploring and “The Drunks are Writing Punk Songs." Are we the drunks? I’m still not sure. In any case, it’s a great single worth checking out. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 1:02 AM
3 comments
On this day in 1990, underdog Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, in 10 rounds at a boxing match in Tokyo, Japan. Three days later, the band Crayon would practice together for the very first time in Bellingham, Washington. Despite the fact that we did not know how to write songs or play instruments, we decided prior to that first practice that our band name would be Crayon when Jeff, Brad and I discovered that we were all fans of The Pastels. “Crayons come in pastel colors don’t they? Alright then, we’ll call our band Crayon.” Most of that afternoon was spent making nonsensical noise/instrumentals in Michael Griffin’s living room using borrowed gear. Occasionally, Brad or I would sing over this noise. We were young and naive, but to our ears these were songs in the making. Brad had the forethought (or misfortune) to record much of this event. Today we have an actual recording of Knee-High Susan from that Valentines day in 1990. WARNING: This is terrible.
posted by Sean at 12:05 AM
10 comments
On this day in 1996, world chess champion Gary Kasparov lost the first game of a six-game chess match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second. The game had lasted three hours. Kasparov ultimately won the match with three wins, two ties, and one loss. An estimated 6 million people worldwide followed the action on the internet. In 2003, Kasparov battled another computer program, "Deep Junior." The match ended in a tie. Kasparov retired from professional chess in 2005. Today we have a great song called Fun by Sourpatch from the album, Crushin' released on HHBTM Records.
posted by Sean at 1:05 AM
0 comments
Tonight… Tender Trap, Darren Hayman, Hexicon and Moustache Of Insanity will be playing at Barden’s Boudoir (36 Stoke Newington Road) in London. Rumor has it Darren Hayman and Amelia Fletcher are going to be performing a few duets from the Hefner days. How can you miss that?! Today we have the song I Did It! I Won! I'm The Winner! by Moustache Of Insanity.
posted by Sean at 12:07 AM
2 comments
Have we talked about Shrag? I'm loving this song Hopelessly Wasted.
posted by Sean at 12:05 AM
1 comments
Jens Lekman will be celebrating his 29th birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Jens! Today we have a super lo-fi version of A Postcard To Nina. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:10 AM
3 comments
On this day in 1980 The Ramones released their fifth album, End of the Century. It was produced by Phil Spector. After Spector became interested in the band, he offered to produce an album for them. Joey Ramone was a huge fan of Spector's early work, including albums by many girl groups like The Crystals and The Ronettes. The result was a departure from the bands' original punk rock formula. In an attempt at more mainstream success, the songs on End of the Century were more "produced" and longer in duration. The album reached number 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and number 14 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the band's highest-charting album in both countries. Today we have the song I Can't Make It On Time from the album End of the Century.
posted by Sean at 12:03 AM
0 comments
On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their chartered plane crashed in Iowa a few minutes after takeoff on a flight headed for Moorehead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error. Today we have (Using Buddy Holly's Ghost as a) Parachute by Fishboy.
posted by Sean at 1:50 AM
1 comments
On this day in 2007, two Bellingham bands, The Trucks and No-Fi Soul Rebellion played at the Jules Maes Saloon in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. Today we have the song Titties by The Trucks.
posted by Sean at 12:04 AM
1 comments
On this day in 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up while entering the atmosphere over Texas, killing all seven crew members on board. Prior to his mission, Space Shuttle Pilot Willie McCool contacted the band Weezer to let them know that he planned to take a picture of himself holding the group's self-titled debut album while in orbit. He even invited the band to witness the shuttle's launch at the Kennedy Space Center on January 16. Unfortunately, no one from the band could make the trip to Florida to attend. Weezer released a statement after the disaster that read: "The Weezer community extends its deepest condolences to all the families of the crew of the STS-107, and trust that those seven brave souls are now at peace."
posted by Sean at 12:08 AM
0 comments