Strange Currency

Monday, February 2: El Corazon is the 1997 album from Steve Earle, featuring guest appearances from Emmylou Harris, Supersuckers, and Earle’s son, Justin Townes Earle. Listen for selections from this release as well as music from the Grateful Dead’s landmark 1970 release Workingman’s Dead.

Saturday, January 17: Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper is the latest release from former Animal Collective vocalist Noah Lennox, who has just released his fifth album. We’ll hear selections from it as well as from Big Dark Love, the upcoming release by Indiana’s Murder By Death.

Friday, January 9: We remember beloved country music legend Little Jimmy Dickens, who died on January 2 at the age of 94. Dickens is best known for songs such as “Country Boy” and “I’m Little But I’m Loud.” We also remember guitarist Jeff Golub, who died on January 1 at age 59. Golub recorded a number of records in the blues and jazz genres but also collaborated with rock artists such as Rod Stewart, Peter Wolf and Billy Squier.

Thursday, January 1: Listen for selections from Monster Movie, the latest release from Kansas City, Mo.’s The Rainmakers. The band returns to its live roots for this collection of songs about life in the United States in 2014, plus selections from Where The Woodbine Twineth, the sophomore release from the Wichita duo Elliot Road.

Friday, January 2: We highlight our Best of 2014 list with selections from Thompson, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and others.

Music hosts Jedd Beaudoin, Chris Heim, Carla Eckels and Bill Pearce run down the best in music for 2014 - including selections for world, rock, local music, jazz, R&B, gospel, blues, rockumentaries and books about music.

The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Ten Songs by Greil Marcus (Yale University Press)

Greil Marcus is one of our greatest music and cultural critics—maybe even the greatest. In this latest volume he travels the distance between Etta James and Joy Division, Cyndi Lauper, Beyoncé and more for a poetic, thoughtful and incredibly well-paced read.

The Dylanologists: Adventures in the Land of Bob by David Kinney (Simon & Schuster)

Tuesday, December 16: Listen for selections from Barrett, the 1970 album from former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett. It was Barrett’s second and final solo recording and completed with the help of his former bandmates David Gilmour and Richard Wright. After the release of the album the gifted songwriter retired from music and spent the remainder of his life in Cambridge, England where he grew up, mostly painting and largely living in obscurity and poor health.

Tuesday, December 9: Released in 1969 Ummagumma is one of Pink Floyd’s most remarkable albums. One half of the album was recorded live in concert and features staples of the group’s live show from that time, the other half is marked by unusual compositions intended to give each member of the band a voice in the songwriting process. Fans and critics continue to argue about the artistic merits of the studio pieces, though the live recordings are fine examples of a band that had earned a reputation for stellar live shows.

Tuesday, December 2: Listen for music from singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson’s latest release, Yeah OK, I Know. The record spotlights Hutson’s remarkably smart and heartfelt songs. Although listeners will find parallels between Hutson and earlier songwriters he is in a class by himself among contemporary singer-songwriters. We’ll also hear from In Real Time, the latest album from Minneapolis, Minnesota singer-songwriter Chris Koza.

Tuesday, November 25: Sweep The Leg Johnny and Mustangs and Madras were two bands from the last decade that combined elements of punk rock, hardcore along with the sounds of the saxophone. We’ll hear selections from both those acts on this episode of Strange Currency.