Kate Pierson of the B-52s

b52s

Kate Pierson of the B-52s joins us to talk about the past, present and future of the band. Then Jim and Greg review the new album from Wilco.

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It's no secret that Lil Wayne and his label, Cash Money, are not the best of friends these days. In fact, Cash Money boss Birdman and rapper Young Thug were recently named in an indictment for the attempted murder of Lil Wayne back in April during Wayne's tour in Atlanta. While Thug's manager Jimmy Winfrey was the only person charged with the shooting itself, the incident is yet another installment in the decade old conflict between Weezy and his label. To add to the drama, Wayne sued Cash Money earlier this year for $51 million over losses from the recorded but unreleased Carter V album. Instead of settling the suit, Cash Money has responded with its own $50 million suit against Jay Z’s Tidal streaming service. Wayne's The Free Weezy Album was released earlier this summer as a Tidal exclusive, and Cash Money claims that Jay Z is using the profits in a "desperate and illegal attempt to save their struggling streaming service."

German/Swiss  electronic musician Dieter Moebius has passed away at the age of 71. The Krautrock experimentalist had a prolific career, releasing a total of 17 albums credited to his name in one way or another. Moebius is best known for his work with Harmonia and Cluster, his collaboration with Jim’s old friend Brian Eno. The musician's passing was confirmed by bandmates Michael Rother (of Harmonia and Neu!) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (of both Harmonia and Cluster) on their personal Facebook pages. Eno once called Harmonia "the world's most important rock band," and Jim agrees that the band has influenced the work of many modern rock artists. Jim plays "Dino" by Harmonia to honor the great electronic pioneer's legacy.

Kate Pierson

In 1976, Kate Pierson joined the genre-melding music powerhouse, the B-52s, and the rest is history. The Georgia-based band started out playing at local parties, then clubs in New York and eventually in venues around the world. Their self-titled first album showed their innovation, kitsch and creativity with hits like "Rock Lobster." However, the group reached the peak of their fame in 1989 with the release of their album, Cosmic Thing. Outside of the band, Pierson has collaborated with talented artists like R.E.M., Iggy Pop, The Ramones and most recently, Sia. Finally over 30 years after the inception of the B-52s, Kate Pierson is releasing her first solo album, Guitars and Microphones. She talks about the past, present and future of her career in music.

00:39:55 Review: Wilco

Star Wars

The Chicago-based band Wilco, led by Sound Opinions guest Jeff Tweedy, released a surprise album, their 9th, last week called Star Wars. The band then proceeded to play the ENTIRE album as the headliners of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Jim thinks this album is a return to form, finding Tweedy and company returning to the style of music following Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Summerteeth. He loves the melodic nature of the album and gives it a Buy It. Greg agrees and thinks this is their best album since A Ghost Is Born. He really enjoys the mix of pop sensibility and studio manipulation and distortion. He feels like the band is as loose and engaged as ever and also gives Star Wars a Buy It.

Jim

Jim has never been the world's biggest David Bowie fan, but he does love many of Bowie's less pretentious imitators. Neue Deutsche Welle artist Peter Schilling went so far as to write a synthpop response to Bowie's 1969 classic "Space Oddity," continuing the adventures of that song's Major Tom character. "Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst)" reached the top of the charts in Germany in 1983, and the English-language version went on to become an international hit. It's now featured as the theme song to the new TV series Deutschland 83. Jim loves both the show and the song, so Major Tom now makes his home in the Desert Island Jukebox.

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