My Morning Jacket

I think it is safe to say that the staff members at WTMD are music junkies and wouldn’t be here if we weren’t. I mean junkie in every sense of the word. That’s right — if the tunes were taken away from us, you would see us wandering the streets in our 89.7 shirts with a pair of headphones on, itching, with a crazed look about us. Well, on second thought, maybe not to that extreme, but it would be tough for us to not be around music. It’s also fun to come to work and talk about the show we went to last night and how the band played our favorite songs — which sounded great.

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Airborne Toxic Event

WTMD Top 15 for the Week of Nov. 9

1. Ray LaMontagne, “You Are the Best Thing,” 16 plays
2. Butch Walker, “The Weight of Her,” 9 plays
3. The Dears, “Berlin Heart,” 9 plays
4. The Fireman, “Sing the Changes,” 9 plays

Paul McCartney is singing again with The Fireman. The project is a pairing of the former Beatle and musician and Chinese Democracy producer Youth. This third album, Electric Arguments, is the first to feature vocals.

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Adventure

From today’s b, the paper

Several years ago, Benny Boeldt started making music as Adventure. The music itself sounded eerily familiar to the soundtracks of early Nintendo games. He signed to Carpark Records and released a self-titled debut earlier this year.

Is it true you don’t even play video games? Did you play them growing up?
I like video games, but I don’t really ever play them. When I was growing up I did. I mean, Nintendo, Sega, Playstation and Nintendo 64.

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From today’s b, the paper

Meiko grew up in rural Roberta, Ga., where she started playing guitar at age 13. But, stage fright kept her holed up in her room strumming songs to herself. Eventually, she followed her sister out to California and after waiting tables at the songwriter’s Mecca, The Hotel Cafe, finally found the courage to perform. MySpace success led to “Grey’s Anatomy” placements and some high-profile champions. And while her melodic, airy voice serves as the cozy centerpiece to clever takes on relationships, there’s enough complexity and shadows to intrigue on her self-titled debut.
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“music lover” is one of the broadest titles a person can give himself, because we all love music in some capacity. One person may only know a few songs, but he knows them so well that when the first few notes are played, he knows exactly what is about to come and could win a radio contest any day of the week. Another person may follow a band for every leg of their tour and sell grilled cheese sandwiches just to make it to the next stop.
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Matthew Sweet @WTMD

Pop rock musician Matthew Sweet made an appearance today at WTMD for a special in studio recording and interview. You can here his acoustic performance as well as Q&A session with John Mathews on WTMD’s Afternoon Drive today between 4 and 7. Sweet will be performing tonight at the 8×10 in Baltimore in support of his newest album ‘Sunshine Lies’, which was released in August.

A new face, but a practiced musician, Butch Walker has been associated with Pink, Bowling for Soup, Fall Out Boy and many others for his writing and producing skills. Next week he’ll release his own voice on Sycamore Meadows. Expect a rootsy, funky album with gutsy lyrics. Walker checks in at No. 2 on this week’s WTMD Top 15. Read on for the rest.

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For several years, Sandy Asirvatham was a writer first and foremost, but when one of her projects started to stall, she turned to jazz piano. She wrote and recorded an album called Memoir, which came out last year and earned her critical praise. Asirvatham discusses dark themes on the album but delivers them with upbeat melodies and tempos.
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When you think of Ryan Adams, a lot of things come to mind, from his early career with country outfit Whiskeytown, to his solo effort Heartbreaker and his collaborations with The Cardinals, with whom he’s released five albums in the past three years.

The alt-country songwriter seems to have an endless flow of ideas and his latest release with the Cardinals, Cardinology, has an effortless feel, a testament to Adams’ sobriety and to the closeknit camaraderie of The Cardinals.
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The Cure’s Robert Smith {thanks, AP}

The Cure — 4:13 Dream
Obsessed, not depressed, Robert Smith brings on the 13th album from The Cure. 4:13 Dream reprises the beloved dense, trippy, arena-ready double-guitar onslaught.
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