Wilco loves you, baby.

Wilco's seventh studio album was officially released today. After two listens, it's not as breathtaking as their last three masterpieces -- Sky Blue Sky, A Ghost Is Born and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -- but it is very good.

Listen for yourself and you be the judge.

Wilco [the album] - Wilco

Flaming Lips' Michael Ivins Teases Oklahoma Conservatives

Is the Flaming Lips' Michael Ivins a Communist?!?

First the good news: "Do You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips is now the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma.

Now the back story... during Amy Goodman's interview with John Scripsick on Democracy Now yesterday, they played "Do You Realize?". Goodman was broadcasting from Lawton, Oklahoma. Scripsick's son Brian...

died in a suicide bombing in Anbar province on September 6, 2007. He was just three weeks shy of returning home. Since then, his father John Scripsick has become a leading opponent of the Iraq war here in Oklahoma.

What an appropriate song to play, I thought, and I got teary eyed listening to the lyrics in this new light.

Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun don'-go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

What a beautiful song by an Oklahoma band, and what a lovely sentiment for an Oklahoma father. Then Goodman said:

Flaming Lips, here on Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. This is a headline that’s just breaking from “Rock and Roll Daily,” Rolling Stone Magazine, about this song. Oklahoma will finally name the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” the official state rock and roll song at a ceremony tomorrow afternoon in the psych-rock group’s home state, Oklahoma, where Governor Brad Henry will sign an executive order confirming the selection. This follows a controversial few days for the band. The Oklahoma House of Representatives sought to overrule the Senate’s unanimous vote when the group’s Michael Ivins showed up at the Capitol last month wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the imagery of a sickle and hammer. Lips frontman Wayne Coyne insists the whole thing was blown out of proportion. Ivins didn’t have any subversive intentions, said the “Rock and Roll Daily” from Rolling Stone.

'Didn't have any subversive intentions.' I like that. Anyone who has been to a Lips shows knows better. I recall seeing them at Coachella in 2004 and Wayne Coyne leading 50,000 fans in a chant of "Fuck Bush."

"15 Albums That Changed My Life"

One of the latest memes going around on Facebook goes like this...

Write down the first 15 albums you can think of that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

When I was tagged in this note by my friend Joe, I resisted looking at his list, to avoid being unduly influenced. Good thing I did, because his list was interesting.

U2 - Unforgettable Fire
Cars - The Greatest Hits
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
CSN - CSN
Boogie Down Productions - By All Means Necessary
Cure - Disintegration
Cult - Electric
Doors - Morrison Hotel
Rush - Hemispheres
Grateful Dead - One From The Vault
Bob Mould - Workbook
Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
Radiohead - Kid A
Kruder & Dorfmeister - K&D Sessions

While none of those albums "changed my life," several of these artists did. I included other albums by Rush and Radiohead in my 15 and would have included albums by U2, The Cars, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Cure and The Rolling Stones if the list were 30.

Here is what I came up with, without giving it too much thought:

Seal - Seal [1991]
Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
The Beatles - Revolver
Poi Dog Pondering - Volo Volo
Radiohead - OK Computer
Verve - A Storm in Heaven
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
Morrissey - Viva Hate
Rush - Signals
E.L.O. - A New World Record
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
World Party - Goodbye Jumbo
P.M. Dawn - Jesus Wept

Two days after making it, I think it's a pretty good list. It reflects my musical preferences and personal attachments to particular albums. My list, and others which friends have posted, make me realize that music is especially powerful when you're a teenager and young adult, a time in life when music still has the power to transform and inspire you. I'd like to think that it still can.

I've created a Pandora station seeded with my 15 artists above ("15 Albums That Changed My Life"). I hope you enjoy it.

So what's on your list?

FREE Noise Pop Festival 2009 Sampler (MP3)

"Insound and Noise Pop have teamed up to create a FREE sampler of bands appearing at the upcoming Noise Pop Festival. Download the sampler and get a taste of what the festival will have to offer."

Includes tracks by:

Girls
Les Savy Fav
No Age
A.C. Newman
Cut Off Your Hands
Ra Ra Riot
Rainbow Arabia
Laura Gibson
Deerhunter
N.A.S.A.

Michael Franti & Spearhead's Obama Song (MP3)

"Michael Franti & Spearhead have released a new song called the 'Obama Song,' a tribute to the president elect Barack Obama and a celebration of the hope and optimism that has filled the hearts and minds of the country ever since the words uttered on the campaign trail, 'Yes We Can.'"

Download "Obama Song" here.

DJ Earworm's Mashup of Billboard's Top 25 Tunes of 2008 (Video+MP3)

DJ Earworm's mashup of Billboard's top 25 tunes of 2008 is way more cool than the source material. Kudos, Earworm, for making art out of garbage!

WILCO w/Fleet Foxes (FREE MP3)

From wilcoworld.net:

Such tumultuous times. And in the spirit of giveaways that seem to be sweeping the nation, we've got something free for you. No it's not a pile of cash (sorry) but rather an audio postcard of sorts from a summer's night in Oregon with our friends the Fleet Foxes & a lovely Bob Dylan tune. All we ask is you check the "I pledge to vote in the 2008 Election" button below. If you can spare it, we also encourage you to consider a donation to Feeding America.

FREE MP3 from David Byrne & Brian Eno

I'm looking forward to catching David Byrne & Brian Eno at the Austin City Limits Festival this Friday, especially after reading some of David Byrne's Journal and listening to tracks from their new album, "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today."

In exchange for your email address, you can get a free copy of "Strange Overtones," the album's first single. I recommend it.

I'm streaming the album now and so far I really like what I hear.

"35 Places To Download Free, Legal MP3s - Sorry, RIAA!"

Great guide from downloadsquad:

In the interest of helping our readers stay out of jail and avoid massive fines, here are a bunch of places you can get tunes without fear of finding a summons in your mailbox. There's plenty of good, free, and legal music on the net for you to download.

FREE MP3 from The Verve

Everyone wants their music for free these days. So Richard Ashcroft and the boys are giving their fans what they want.

"Love is Noise," the first single off of the Verve's new album, "Forth," is now available as a FREE 256 kbps MP3 on Amazon.com.

And if that's not enough for you, you can listen to "Forth" in its entirety at Lala.com.

Incidentally, David Fricke gives "Forth" four stars in the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

Two of the best psychedelic rock shows I've ever seen were by this British band, in London and New York, in the summer of 1993, and most of the Verve's fourth record — their first after a decade apart — is a return to that whirlpool-guitar, shaman-song form.

I concur. Come on, now, go listen to it already!

Music Festival Stations on Pandora

I've been an avid Pandora listener since January 2006 when I created my first station, Julian Cope Radio. Just when I thought the site couldn't get any better, Pandora has gone and outdone themselves.

I have found Pandora to be invaluable for discovering new music. Now Pandora has created custom stations for some of this year's largest music festivals, including Coachella, Sasquatch, Wakarusa, Bonnaroo, Pitchfork, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot and Austin City Limits.

I had tried creating stations like these on my own, seeding them with bands in a particular festival's lineup. But it never worked quite right, playing bands that sounded like those playing the festival, but not the bands themselves. These new stations "feature music only from the artists who appear on the bill for each of these destination festivals."

I've been listening to the ACL, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza stations and so far have heard great songs like "Oh No" by Gogol Bordello, "Where It's At" by Beck, "Gideon" by My Morning Jacket, "Angel Sigh" by Spiritualized, "Almost Always Never" by What Made Milwaukee Famous and "Alaska" by Dr. Dog.

I'm hooked. Thanks, Pandora!

My Morning Jacket Live at SXSW (Stream)

The highly anticipated new album from My Morning Jacket doesn't come out until next Wednesday, but you can hear eight songs from "Evil Urges" that were recorded during SXSW Music.

Here is the setlist

• "Evil Urges"
• "Off the Record"
• "Gideon"
• "Highly Suspicious" (this one is funky; as different from Z's material as Z's was from Tennessee Fire's)
• "What a Wonderful Man"
• "I'm Amazed"
• "Thank You Too"
• "Golden"
• "Sec Walkin'"
• "Wordless Chorus"
• "Way He Sings"
• "Aluminum Park"
• "One Big Holiday"
• "Run Thru"
• "Smokin' From Shootin'"
• "Touch Me Pt. 2"
• "Steam Engine"
• "Lay Low"
• "Mahgeetas"
• "Anytime"

FREE Counting Crows iTunes Download

I picked up two free iTunes download cards for "Washington Square" off the new Counting Crows album, "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings." Since I already own the CD, I'm going to give these away to the first two people who send me an email at [dan at festivalfreak dot com] with the Subject Line "Counting Crows."

Korean Baby Sings "Hey Jude"

My sister sent this to me. What's more amazing, the fact that such a young child can sing a song so well, even when the words are not in its native tongue, or that the video has been viewed over 4 million times?

Elliott Smith Speaks From the Grave

I was camping up in Mendocino County this weekend and played the album that Elliott Smith was working on when he died, "From A Basement On The Hill." Someone asked, which album is this? I've never heard it. Another said, it's hard to believe he killed himself. I said, I thought he was murdered by his girlfriend.

One thing led to another and no one was certain of the details, so I made a mental note to look up the story when I returned to civilization. Its been over four years since Elliott Smith died and at least one journalist and a lot of fans, including myself, don't believe that Smith committed suicide. The details in his autopsy suggest homicide. His girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, who called police, seemed all too eager, at least by police accounts, to explain that Smith was suicidal and had a history of drug abuse. Of course, it didn't hurt that his music tended to be dark and introspective.

Who would stab himself in the chest, not once, but twice?

Why would someone misspell his name in his "suicide" note, or did the police just get that detail wrong?

It's easy to over analyze Smith's lyrics, especially on his last album, but I wonder if he's talking about Chiba in "Don't Go Down."

I met a girl/ Snowball in hell/ She was hard/ And as cracked as the liberty bell

And I got her to/ Come on and move in with me/ And I said I'll find a better place/ Where we can spend eternity

But don't go down/ Don't go down/ Stay with me, baby stay

She had a dream/ Woke up in shock/ She had seen/ Her own body outlined in chalk

And I split the scene, the globe's been spun/ And her ghost beamed down to kiss me/ With a message from the sun

As of last October, a judge denied Chiba's claim to Smith's estate. As far as I can tell, nothing else has come of the case.

Elliott, wherever you are, I hope you're resting in peace.

Flaming Lips' "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" in Kraft Commercial

I used to cringe whenever a TV commercial featured a song by one of my favorite artists. No longer. Now I smile, glad to know that the band I like will be heard by others, who may in turn wonder, what is that song? Who is that band? I must buy their new album!

I just saw a TV commercial for Kraft salad dressings that uses the Flaming Lips' "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song." It got my attention.



Note: A friend pointed out that The Flaming Lips have sold their songs for use in several other commercials, including ones for Sync by Microsoft, Land Rover and Dell.

She writes:

i guess i'm sort of a curmudgeon when it comes to the music that i hold dear to me...especially if it's something i've loved for a long time that was rather "obscure"...it makes me sad!! i'm getting better and better (because i sort of HAVE to :p) but, like, the beatles on target ads?? the rolling stones for chase visa?? i dunno...it kind of creeps me out.

strangely enough though, not so with the lips on commercials..maybe because they always have such a big multi-media aspect included in their shows-it doesn't feel as funny??

man, you should have seen how sad i was the ONE time i heard "mountain song" for coors back in the day. yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!

but by that same token, there's tons of music that i don't know that i look for when i hear it on t.v...right now in fact, the new audi commercial has something really kickass! i have to find it still...

have you heard supergrass for the r.v. ad yet??

Nine Inch Nails' "Ghosts": Free Download

Jonny Evans writes for MacWorld:

Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails made $1.6 million in a week through direct sales of the band's latest album, Ghosts I-IV.

The sales included free and paid downloads as well as orders made online for the slew of physical products the band has also made available, including boxed sets and vinyl. A special edition CD is set to ship in April in the UK.

Fans are being offered the first nine tracks taken from the album as DRM-free MP3 files at no charge. If they enjoy these they can also purchase all 36 album tracks in the DRM-free MP3 format for just $5.

Paul Weller's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" on "The Wire"

Last night we watched the season four finale of "The Wire" and I was surprised and pleased to hear Paul Weller's version of "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" used in the final montage. (With all due respect to Dr. John, I prefer Weller's version to his original.)

If you don't watch "The Wire," you should. Its one of the finest shows I've ever seen and worth getting Netflix just to watch it from start to finish. If you already watch it, but haven't gotten to season four yet, don't watch this clip. Its full of the revealing little details that make "The Wire" such a rewarding show to watch.

God, Satan and...

From the Harper's Index, March issue:

Rank of "god" and "satan" among the top Google searches beginning with "who is": 1, 10

Rank of "buckethead": 6

"Hells Angels plotted to kill Mick Jagger"

Here is an excerpt from today's Telegraph:

The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger was the target of an assassination attempt which only failed because the boat the would-be killers were using was swamped in a storm.

The attempt to kill Sir Mick was made by a group of Hells Angels after the infamous Altamont Speedway Free Concert in 1969, which the Rolling Stones had organised and for which the motorcycle gang reportedly provided security.

Meredith Hunter, a black 18-year-old member of the audience, was stabbed and kicked to death by a group of Hells Angels, in an attack captured on film cameras. As a result, Sir Mick allegedly refused to use their services again.

According to Mark Young, a former special agent, interviewed in BBC radio series The FBI at 100, which begins tomorrow, a boat of Hells Angels set out to take revenge on the singer at his holiday home in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York.

"The Hells Angels were so angered by Jagger's treatment of them that they decided to kill him," said Tom Mangold, who presents the series. "A group of them took a boat and were all tooled up and planned to attack him from the sea.

"They planned the attack from the sea so they could enter his property from the garden and avoid security at the front. The boat was hit by a storm and all of the men were thrown overboard. All survived and there was not said to have been any further attempt on Jagger's life."

Just imagine, had the Hell's Angels succeeded, the world would never have known such great albums as "Sticky Fingers" (1971), "Exile on Main St." (1972) and "Some Girls" (1978). Their 1969 masterpiece "Let it Bleed," might still have seen the light of day, but the title would have taken on an even more ominous meaning.