I’ll be reviewing Wilco’s show yesterday at the 9:30 Club shortly (hint: It was spectacular), but in the meantime, you might be interested in streaming tonight’s second show there. Wilco came out at 9 PM EST, so if you see this post soon, you won’t have missed much. If not, then you can listen to it in the archives. I’m listening right now and it sounds great. The way that they are able to reconstruct their songs is amazing. Be expecting more posts up on the site soon.

Wilco – You Are My Face

Wilco – What Light

So the banner above didn’t come out that great, and I have no idea how to use Photoshop, but me and my friend Chris, the Chris who has started writing for the blog, are going to continue to have a web radio show from Sunday’s 2-4 EST on WVAU.org. We are excited and hope you will take the opportunity to check out our show. We will be playing some music that we posted on the blog as well as lots of music from bands that we haven’t yet featured. It should be an enjoyable show, and you can even listen to our awkward air breaks. We’re still learning the equipment so there might be some little goofs here and there, but overall, our plan is to have a kick ass show.

To stream, all you have to do is click THIS LINK. Or the banner above. Or the one on the left. Whatever you prefer. We will be logging the songs we play, and you can see what we played HERE.

We would really appreciate if you take the time to listen. You can find some great new artists by listening to our show, and also, it’s great to have in the background if you have any work or cleaning to do. Also, you can talk with us during the show on AIM at RadioWVAU and request songs. Hope to see you soon. Thanks.

David

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – December 1963 (Oh What A Night!)

Live cover:

My Morning Jacket – December 1963 (Oh What A Night!)

I was just recently made aware of Billy Bragg’s fascinating “Jail Guitar Doors” program. The initiative basically gives inmates musical instruments, with the idea that it will give them a hobby, other than, say, killing people. So far, the re-conviction rates of those who have participated in the program is only 10%-15%, opposed to the 61% national average in the UK. Truly impressive. Music plays a significant role in our lives, and our western society, including corporations, has done a relatively good job recognizing the importance of music in our over scheduled lives. I think we need to continue supporting music programs at public schools, and ensure that schools with less government funding have the necessary means to sustain these programs. Unfortunately, the schools with the least government funding are often in neighborhoods were crime is most persistent. Sure, the program may be a little expensive, but so is locking a person up for 80 years. This way, maybe we can help avoid needless crime, and perhaps even get a good band or two out of it. The Independent just recently covered a story on “Jail Guitar Doors,” and I highly recommend you read the article. When they interviewed Bragg he said:

I never ask the prisoners I meet why they are inside. When I’m with them, I’m dealing with them strictly as individuals. What they did to get themselves in here in the first place is none of my business. I don’t want to judge them on that, not least because they’ve been judged on it already – they’re banged up, aren’t they? And anyway, these instruments aren’t presents, they’re a challenge, a challenge for them to try to make something of themselves. My hope is that they will see this as an opportunity to take that first step on the path back to society.

I believe the program “Jail Guitar Doors” is only a UK run program. I am not personally knowledgeable about specific organizations in the US that have similar programs, but am sure they exist. If any one has any information, either for donating instruments to schools or prisons, or wherever, please leave a comment below– I will update the post. I care about this issue, not only because I think it’s important to help prevent crime, but also because I think everyone has the right to explore music, and their inner passion. I’m not particularly good at any instrument, but it’s not from a lack of opportunity. Right now, I play the guitar a little, and like playing, but over the years I have dabbled in the Saxophone, Piano, and Drums. If you are on this site you obviously have a deep passion for music as well. It’s just interesting to think about how lucky we all are, and question what would have happened if the musicians we treasure were born under different circumstances where they didn’t have access to instruments.

Mermaid Avenue:

Billy Bragg & Wilco – California Stars

Hello everyone,

So I have a few things I would like to quickly bring up. The first thing is irrelevant to most of you, the second is a favor I need to ask of you. The third is “the best of Indie Muse”–Mp3’s that hopefully you will like. Indiemuse.com has been here for a while, but some of you are newcomers. For those of you who don’t have time to go through all of my first band posts, I want to aggregate some of the Mp3’s so you can have a listen. If they are on this site, it means we endorse them. We don’t post for quantity–we post for quality. We want Indie Muse to be a place where you can come if you have similar music tastes, and find music that you will hopefully like. We aren’t hot shots who think we are so cool or more “expert” than you in regards to independent music, because we run a music blog. We simply love music and want to share our tastes.

1) If anyone has extra Wilco tickets for either night (February 26 or 27th) at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, please let me know. Those of you who have visited the site before know Wilco is my favorite band, and I’ve been following them in Chicago for a long time. I still haven’t washed my hands since shaking one of them with Jeff Tweedy, while he sang “Hummingbird.” But yeah, getting tickets has been a disaster. I won’t bore you with the details.

Wilco -  More Like The Moon 

Wilco – Radio Cure (live-kicking the television)–brilliance at its finest. This live version makes me want to weep. I can’t believe I missed this show in Chicago. Please, if you have extra DC tickets I can purchase. You will be my savior.

2) Musicfloss.com. Do you like the domain name? Not as a replacement domain for this blog, but for a little music website I’m working on. I can tell you a little bit more about it later. But the domain name..if you can offer any feedback, it would be greatly appreciated. Your opinion really matters to me here. Don’t worry, it’s not a site that sells dental floss that plays music, although that would be a good idea. I just want to know if it’s catchy, easy to remember..non-offensive. Thank you in advance for your help.

3) Like I stated earlier in this post, I like every song we put on Indie Muse. But these five are some of my older favorites..and I posted them back in 2006, when I first started the blog. Expect more “recaps” in the upcoming weeks. If there is an artist that you like here, type their name into our search on the left hand sidebar to see the original post.

Gary Jules – No Poetry

The Weepies -Gotta Have You

The Scourge of the Sea – Waterwings

Jeremy Messersmith – Beautiful Children

Ugly Casanova – Hotcha Girls