Sophie @ 103.7

According to Rolling Stone, a new movie is due to come out in October about the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain.  Kurt Cobain: About a Son is based on more than 25 hours of previously unheard audio taped interviews conducted with Cobain by noted music journalist Michael Azerrad, who first met Cobain to interview him for a Rolling Stone cover story.

 Sidetrackfilms.com tell us, “In the film, Kurt Cobain recounts his own life – from his childhood and adolescence to his days of musical discovery and later dealings with explosive fame – and offers often piercing insights into his life, music, and times. The conversations heard in the film have never before been made public and they reveal a highly personal portrait of an artist much discussed but not particularly well understood.”

The film features only Cobain’s voice and the visuals are comprised of award-winning cinematography of the three Washington cities in which the artist lived throughout his life.  Also, according to Rollingstone there’s no Nirvana music on the soundtrack.  Rather, the film is set to an emotional original score by Ben Gibbard (from Death Cab for Cutie) as well as a collection of Cobain’s favorite artists including Queen, David Bowie, Mudhoney and Iggy Pop.  The soundtrack will be released on September 11.

Do you have a friend that you have one of those funny nicknames for?  You know, one of those dumb names that you say behind their back and never to their face?  Like Creepy Chris, Long Arms Lenny, Sketchy Drew, or  Hairy Larry?

Here’s my story: I went out to a friend’s dinner the other night with a group of people who I know plus a guy I’ve only met once: Hairy Larry.  I only know him through other people… and he is always referred to as Hairy Larry.  This group of friends always uses nicknames for each other, so I just figured Hairy Larry was an inside joke.  This was my first mistake.  He is hairy, but apparently no one tells him to his face.  My second mistake was calling him Hairy Larry at dinner.  Probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever done.  I wanted to crawl underneath the table and die.

Why are they so cool?  And how did they become so popular?  Ever wonder how they became so glorified in today’s society?  It just doesn’t seem right because in actuality pirates used to be murders, rapists, and pillagers.

The reason I bring this up is because all of the recent attention towards pirates in the media.  Besides all the hype around this summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, there’s a show on CBS (that got canceled, but nonetheless) called Pirate Master that was about 16 modern-day pirates that “embark on a high seas adventure around the Caribbean Island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million.”  Huh.  Wonder why it got canceled.

When I was out on the 4th of July, I encountered a group of Pirates that all had instruments and were singing to people for beer.  That was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.  I will never forget that day.

Doesn’t seem right, but I like pirates.

So have you heard?  Sophie has live DJs!  On Monday July 23, Sophie@103.7 began utilizing live on air talent between the hours of 9am-12 midnight weekdays, 10am-6pm Saturdays and 6am-7pm Sundays.  This was in response to our most prevalent listener request thus far… more title and artist identification with regard to songs we’ve just played.  Tune in to hear enthused music lovers on Sophie such as jt, Tony, Cristy and more!

Plus, we’ve also launched two new weekend features including “Unsigned Sundays” and “Sunday Morning Rehab.”  “Unsigned Sundays” spotlights one song per hour from one of six unsigned artists (11am-5pm) and allows you to vote for your favorite at www.radiosophie.com.  “Sunday Morning Rehab” (8am-11am) will ease you back into the day after a busy weekend, featuring music from the Chill, Ska, Reggae and World genres as well as acoustic sets from your favorite Sophie artists.

Also, stay tuned next week because we are introducing our Tuesday feature, “New Music Tuesdays.”  This new show will include songs from brand new CDs featured on iTunes.

Let us know your thoughts!

New releases this week…

Sum 41 – Underclass Hero

Silverchair – Young Modern

Tegan and Sara – The Con

Johnny Cash – The Great Lost Performance (Live At the Paramount Theatre)

Green Day – The Simpsons Theme (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) – Single

The Bravery – Live from SoHo (iTunes Exclusive) – EP

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – IS IS – EP

Unkle – War Stories

Placebo – Extended Play ‘07

Random thoughts… Where the heck has Silverchair been?  Well, according to VHI.com, after the band came out with Freak Show in 1997 the band graduated from high school, toured the world, and began working on their next album, ”the bland Neon Ballroom” two years later.  After their following album , 2002’s Diorama, the band went on an indefinite hiatus only to regroup early the next year to put on a benefit concert for victims of the prior year’s devastating tsunami.  They soon began working on a new album, which leads us to this week’s new release… Silverchair’s Young Modern.

Has anyone heard their new single Straight Lines?  Check it out on their MySpace page, let me know if you like it and if you’d like to hear it on Sophie.

Rolling Stone put together a list of the top 20 best live bands, based on their audience nominations…

 1. White Stripes
2. Radiohead
3. Pearl Jam
4. Rage Against the Machine
5. U2
6. Metallica
7. Flaming Lips
8. My Morning Jacket
9. The Hold Steady
10. Arcade Fire
11. The Raconteurs
12. Wilco
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. Gogol Bordello
16. Kings of Leon
17. Muse
18. Dave Matthews Band
19. Tool
20. LCD Soundsystem

I’ve seen many of these bands in concert and all of them were amazing.  Flaming Lips are great because they always do crazy stuff, whether it be people dancing on stage in bear/Santa/alien costumes, band members walking out into the audience in a huge, clear hamster ball, or throwing tons of giant balloons and confetti out into the audience.

Has anybody see any of these other bands live?  What bands would you add to this list?  Give San Diego and Sophie listeners insight in the best shows to see around town…

Ever get offered a massage from someone who you don’t want one from and feel obligated to accept?  First off, why should anyone feel obligated to accept the awkward massage, and second of all, why is it so awkward?  Is it a personal space thing, or is it because massages can be seen as an intimate act?  Sometimes when I get awkward massages I wonder, “is this person enjoying this more than I am… because I’m really uncomfortable right now”.  And another thing, if I’m uncomfortable why is the massager not uncomfortable?  What the heck makes the massager so comfortable rubbing and caressing my body?  It’s just so wrong.

That’s my rant of the day.  And yes, I received an awkward massage earlier.

I get it. It’s quick, it’s easy, and you don’t have to actually talk to whomever you’re trying to contact. Most of the time, it works and it gets the job done. But what the heck is up with guys and them text messaging you instead of making an actual phone call? Why do they ask for your freaking phone number if they don’t have the nerve to actually call you? I think it makes them look like they’re too chicken to man up and call you and it’s a turn off. This especially applies to the very first attempt to contact you. I know this may sound harsh, but I’m really big on first impressions, and I don’t think texting is a very good way to contact someone you don’t even know.

Any other ladies have this same experience? How do you feel about it?

According to an article on Billboard.com, “Plain White T’s earn their first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 as ‘Hey There Delilah’ continues its staircase climb, stepping from No. 2. The song has progressed one place each week since it leaped 16-6 in the June 23 issue. In doing so, it unseats Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ after seven weeks at the top. ‘Delilah’ is also Hollywood Records’ first-ever No. 1 on the Hot 100.”

I love this song and think it’s great that it knocked out Rihanna out of the No. 1 spot, especially since it was there for seven weeks!  It’s always nice to see an alternative song dominate the charts like that and make it to the top.  We’ve posted the video for “Hey There Delilah” on our Sophie Pods & Vids page on our website.  Cute video.  Click here to check it out.

Video of the Live Earth concert are available at www.liveearth.msn.com!  Hundreds of Live Earth concert performances are available on video along with artist interviews and exclusive backstage footage.

For those who don’t already know, on July 7, 2007, Live Earth – The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis rocked the house at Wembley Stadium in London.  The UK concert was the most watched live stream, and the peak simultaneous viewership was 237,000!  Popular artists at the show include Madonna, Shakira, Metallica, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“‘July 7, 2007 was the greatest day in the history of MSN. Our Live Earth offering has delivered more than 30 million video streams and reached more than 8 million people around the world, a milestone in online history,’ said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president and chief media officer, MSN. ‘We are thrilled that MSN connected a global audience together for this important issue and invite people to explore the in-depth experience available on MSN, which millions are continuing to enjoy.’”