Today's "I Hate Radio" Music News 10/17/2016
Why Music News?
In the recent past, I tried to just send linked tweets to all of the music stories that I liked every day but I always felt like the headline and the link prevented me from commenting on the stories.
So, I am trying this format to communicate the music stories that speak to me every day (instead of just posting the links).
Oh, I am also going to start a podcast soon, more on that as I get it all setup. As you can guess, it will be called "I Hate Radio" which is my response to "I Heart Radio."
Oh, and every Tuesday I put out new Spotify Playlists, this week's playlist is a followup to my Best Albums List called "2016 Best of the Rest" - You can listen HERE.
As always, Explore, Enjoy, and Share Music!
Let Lucy Dacus Take The Wheel
If you read my Top 45 Albums of 2016 list, you know I LOVED Lucy Dacus' 2016 Album No Burden (Egg hunt, Matador).
If you have heard the album you know how great a voice she has and what a great singer-songwriter she is.
So, why not ask her to take the wheel, as WUNC did, to curate some of the songs by other artists that she loved this year.
Cthulhu, a Peter Buck interview, and some R.E.M. Love
Despite my fear that Michael Stipe's beard is a manifestation of the return of Cthulhu, I still love R.E.M. One of my monthly tribute playlists was THIS collection of R.E.M. songs and I have also written of my love for R.E.M.'s album Reckoning.
Well, anyway, all that said, here is a cool interview conducted by Salon.com with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck about the anniversary re-release of Out of Time.
The Most Uncanny Part of Rogue One
Return to a galaxy far, far away with @m_giacchino's incredible music for #RogueOne from @DisneyMusic.https://t.co/SLPfAI4viy pic.twitter.com/Db2qAiCKRP
— Star Wars (@starwars) December 17, 2016
Spoiler Alert, if you haven't seen the Star Wars Rogue One movie yet, stop reading now.
I saw Rogue One last night and mostly loved it (because I am a Star Wars O.G, I saw "A New Hope" 13 times in the theater in Chattanooga as a kid in 1977), but one thing was a bit too "uncanny valley" for me...Throughout the movie, very strange CGI faces (and bodies) of important historical Star Wars characters made appearances (Grand Moff Tarkin, Princess Leia). I found the effect very disquieting.
For me, I guess, you can't go home again, at least not with CGI facial construction.
My only other complaint is that having Darth Vader go full on old-school Jedi (every Jedi trick from the prequels from force push to deflections) mere hours before "A New Hope" is about to start is a bit odd (and sloppy IMHO).
The fan theory has always been that in the time between the Clone Wars and "A New Hope" Sith powers and Jedi powers grew weaker because there were no battles between adversaries with force powers. Seems bizarre for Vader to have all the high-tech mere moments before he has much more toned down (but still awesome) powers in the original movie.
Those are small criticisms, I loved the movie.
And yes, I know this is not about music....apologies.
Wrapping Up
Okay, hope that was enjoyable for you, I always enjoy talking about R.E.M., I am a Star Wars lifer, and I really love that Lucy Dacus album.
What did you think of Rogue One?
Did you love No Burden Too?
What is your favorite R.E.M. album?
Let me know what you think, leave a comment!
