See you all next semester!

With early morning classes and more responsibilities, I've decided to end Cool Britannia for this semester. Hopefully I'll get a better air-shift in the fall and can continue CB at that time. Until then, thank you for listening! Also, keep an ear out for Sean's new program, The Fridge, Saturday nights on KRUI's online station.

First week back: 26 March 2010

Shark's Tooth, Archie Bronson Outfit

You Overdid It Doll, The Courteeners *new single*

How Soon Is Now, The Smiths

Setting Sun, The Chemicals Brothers

I Am Not A Robot (Passion Pit Remix), Marina and the Diamonds

Weird Science, Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Anarchy In The UK, Sex Pistols

Planet Earth, Duran Duran

Rocket, Goldfrapp *new single*

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, The Beatles

Knotty Pine, David Byrne and Dirty Projectors

It's Thunder And It's Lightning, We Were Promised Jetpacks

Wrong, Micachu

Bathroom Gargle, Late Of The Pier

Science In Violence, The Rifles

Tombstone, The Auteurs

Cupid Come, My Bloody Valentine

The Neighbors Can't Breathe, The Twilight Sad

Open House, Bombay Bicycle Club

Baby Lee, Teenage Fanclub *new single*

Animal Nitrate, Suede

Dance With Me Tonight, Hugh Grant (from the film "Music & Lyrics")

A Certain Romance, Arctic Monkeys

We'll Live And Die In These Towns, The Enemy

Open Spaces, Jonny Greenwood (from the film "There Will Be Blood")

True Love Waits (Live), Radiohead

Last CB before spring break--see you in two weeks!

This morning's tunes:

Cowboys, Portishead

Fine Line, Paul McCartney

Looking Glass, The La's

Pictures of Matchstick Men, Status Quo

One Step Beyond, Madness

A Song for Sorry Angel, Franz Ferdinand and Jane Birkin (Serge Gainsbourg cover in English)

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Florence & The Machine

Leaders of the Free World, Elbow

If You Could Love Me, Edwyn Collins

Red Socks Pugie, Foals

Pop Is Dead, On A Friday

Meddle, Little Boots

Superhuman Touch, Athlete

Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who

It's Not Your Birthday Anymore, Morrissey

Climbatize, Prodigy

Munich, Editors

Fade Away, Oasis

Freakin' Out, Graham Coxon

Solitary Party Groover, Drugstore

The Man Who Would Be King, The Libertines

Set Fire to the Third Bar, Snow Patrol featuring Martha Wainwright

Careless Whisper, Wham!

Sleep Well Tonight, Gene (appropriate, no?)

As the title suggests, next week is spring break, so I won't be in, but Cool Britannia will return with a vengeance on 26 March!

Shaping up to be a good spring/summer: 5 March 2010

New albums galore! This week features Aqualung's latest single, which will be featured on the forthcoming album "Magnetic North." Also, Belle & Sebastian are in the process of recording a new album, and will be touring later this summer. And of course, the new Gorillaz album comes out this Tuesday, but you can stream "Plastic Beach" in its entirely on NPR's website. The video for the first single, "Stylo," was just released, and features a car chase with Bruce Willis. It's probably the most bad-ass thing ever.

You may or may not have heard that the BBC is planning on shutting down 6 Music, the most alternative and eclectic of the Beeb's radio stations. In response, everyone from David Bowie to Lily Allen is releasing statements voicing their opposition. More details here.

In other news, Thom Yorke recently performed three new songs in Cambridge. His American tour will commence next month.

Anyway, this morning's tunes:

I Am The Unknown, The Aliens

Yellow, Coldplay (request)

Who Left The Lights Off, Baby?, Guillemots

Fingertip, Aqualung

Solid Gold, Easy Action, The Fratellis

The Rockafeller Skank, Fatboy Slim

Reality, Electronic

Dumb Waiters, The Psychedelic Furs

Clipping, Mutemath

This Gift, Sons & Daughters

I Shall Overcome, Hard-Fi

Roseability, Idlewild

Turn To The Right, The Killing Joke

Untouchable, Rialto

Fire, Arthur Brown

Cold Turkey, John Lennon

Bang A Gong (Get It On), T. Rex

One Horse Race, Tom Vek

Kingdom Of Rain, The The feat. Sinead O'Connor

Black Steel, Tricky

The Boy With The Arab Strap, Belle & Sebastian

Closet Romantic, Damon Albarn

It's Late, Queen

This week marks the end of Sean's training, but it's been a blast having you, and best of luck on your new show!

Tours! And tunes for 26 February 2010

Everyone's gearing up for warm weather and spring tours. Maybe not everyone, but Massive Attack and Thom Yorke, who's recently announced that his solo band will now be called Atoms For Peace rather than ????. Personally, I thought the latter was catchier. More info on Dead Air Space.

Anyway, this morning's music:

She's So High, Blur

Roxanne, The Police

Silly Love Songs, Wings

An Awful Lot Of Running, Chameleon Circuit

She Found The Diamonds, Get Shakes

Kiss Of Life, Friendly Fires

Cascade, Deluka

Something Hot In A Cold Country, Echobelly (favorite song title this week)

Time, Pink Floyd

Fools Gold, The Stone Roses

She's Lost Control (BBC session), Joy Division

Stockholm Syndrome, Muse

The Bends, Radiohead

Woebegone Wanderers, Wild Beasts

Leave Them All Behind, Whitey

Virtual Insanity, Jamiroquai

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Soft Cell

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (cover), David Gray

Hurdy Gurdy Man, Donovan

6 Underground, Sneaker Pimps

19 February 2010

Dimstar, Gay Dad

Dirrtylicious (Christina Aguilara and Beyoncé cover), Keane

Fuck You, Lily Allen

Heavenly Peach Banquet, Monkey: Journey To The West

Tiny Dancer, Elton John

Father Figure, George Michael

Death, White Lies

Vampire In The Sun, Nine Black Alps

Without MSG I Am Nothing, McLusky

She's Attracted To, The Young Knives

Ooh La, The Kooks

Personal Jesus, Depeche Mode

Rio, Duran Duran

Generals And Majors, XTC

Insomniac, Echobelly

Primitive Painters, Felt

Nightclubbing, Iggy Pop and David Bowie

Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who

To Hell With Poverty, Gang Of Four

Homecoming, Kanye West feat. Chris Martin

The Eraser, Thom Yorke

Flowers In The Window, Travis

6 Underground, Sneaker Pimps

You've Got The Love / Dirtee Cash (live), Florence & The Machine and Dizzee Rascal

Tonight's final track is a live mash-up (from the recent Brit Awards) of "You've Got The Love" and "Dirtee Love," appropriately called "You've Got The Dirtee Love."

On a less awesome note, CNN reports that EMI is planning to sell Abbey Road studios, where the album of the same name was recorded, as well as albums by the likes of Blur and Radiohead. So, if you have a few million pounds lying around, why not purchase a part of modern musical history?

Setlist for 12 February 2010

Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, The Jam

My Propeller, Arctic Monkeys

King Midas In Reverse, The Hollies

A Hundred Times In Every Direction, Vessels

Bathroom Gargle, Late Of The Pier

Everybody's Happy Nowadays, The Buzzcocks

Billy Ocean, Super Tennis

The Hill, Bombay Bicycle Club

The Beat, Elvis Costello

Lovers In Japan / Reign Of Love, Coldplay

Patricia The Stripper, The Wombats

I Don't Not Love You, Flashguns

Three Changes, The Good, The Bad, & The Queen

All The Young Dudes, Mott The Hoople

Child Brides, The Auteurs

F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E., Pulp

Something For The Weekend, The Divine Comedy

We Are The Men You'll Grow To Love, Let's Wrestle

Just Like Honey, The Jesus & Mary Chain

In A Room, Dodgy

Stuntman, Kasabian

The One, Cats In Paris

Step Into My World, Hurricane #1

Lovers Rock, Gentle Friendly

Out At The Pictures, Hot Chip

5 February 2010

I love Florence Welch. And I love the fact that she's recently collaborated with David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. The track (and album) are called Here Lies Love, and are about former Philippenes first lady Imelda Marcos.

This morning's tuneage:

You Really Got Me, The Kinks

Here Lies Love, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim feat. Florence Welch

Where In The World, Goldhawks

Cosmic Castaway, Electrasy (request)

Freakin' Out, Graham Coxon

Cat Attack, Dinosaur Pile-Up

The Bones Of You, Elbow

Sonnet, The Verve

Loaded, Primal Scream

Michael, Franz Ferdinand

Sleeping In, Menswear

Mad Dog God Dam, Elastica

Alright, Supergrass

Alright, Cast

Cheat On Me, The Cribs

In For The Kill, La Roux

Gotta Boyfriend, Frankmusik

Sing, Four Tet

Lovely 2 C U, Goldfrapp

Temptation, New Order

Tempted, Squeeze

Sea Within A Sea, The Horrors

I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover), Bat For Lashes

We'll Live And Die In These Towns, The Enemy

Under Pressure, David Bowie and Queen

News and tunes for 29 January 2010

Oh, Pete Doherty, you silly boy. The former Libertines frontman is in trouble with the law again after showing up to a court date with nine wraps of heroin on his person. That's right. Nine. According to The Guardian, the judge present accused Doherty, of being "either stupid or publicity hungry." As a result, a £750 fine for possessing heroin was added to his previous fines for "drink driving and driving carelessly."

Peter Gabriel, best known in the US for his single "In Your Eyes," is recording an album of covers called Scratch My Back, according to Billboard. The album will include tracks penned by the likes of David Bowie, Elbow, and Radiohead. What differentiates this from other cover albums is that another album, I'll Scratch Yours, will feature the covered artists' interpretations of Gabriel's songs.

It won't be released until 9 February, but Massive Attack's latest album, "Heligoland," is already selling like mad on Amazon. The album, the band's first since 2003's "100th Window," will feature the likes of Damon Albarn, Guy Garvey, and Martina Topley-Bird on guest vocals.

UPDATE: Radiohead's charity concert for Haiti that was mentioned in last weeks entry raised nearly $600,000 for Oxfam. Video, pictures, and more information can be found at Pitchfork.

This evening's set:

No Love Lost (Joy Division cover), LCD Soundsystem

Saturday Come Slow, Massive Attack feat. Damon Albarn

Wallflower, Peter Gabriel

Lights Out For Darker Skies, British Sea Power

Missed The Boat, Modest Mouse

Kingdom Of Rust, Doves

Fascination Street, The Cure

Leftovers, Jarvis Cocker

Make Me Feel Again, Edwyn Collins

Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover), Sparklehorse

She's My Baby, Mazzy Star

Seven Years Of Letters, The Twilight Sad

It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry, Glasvegas

Away With Murder, Camera Obscura

Beautiful Feeling, PJ Harvey

VCR, The xx

"Heroes," David Bowie

The Concept, Teenage Fanclub

Cupid Come, My Bloody Valentine

If We're In Love, Roisin Murphy

1969, Boards Of Canada

Dream On, The Chemical Brothers

Ion Square, Bloc Party

First CB of Spring 2010: 21 January

Gorillaz' highly-anticipated new album, Plastic Beach, will be released 9 March. The album, which features such diverse collaborators as Lou Reed and Snoop Dogg, takes place as the band's animated alter-egos take up residence on an island composed of the "washed up remnants of humanity." The first single, "Stylo," will be released next week, and features Mos Def Bobby Womack, but the discerning ears of regular CB listeners will get to hear it a few days early.

In related news, the Blur documentary/concert film No Distance Left To Run, which was mentioned a few months ago, will be released on DVD 15 February. Trailer and more information can be found at the band's website.

And just in case you're sick of listening to Britpop, and want to explore some jazz/soul/house/dubstep, check out Thom Yorke's program with Gilles Peterson, which aired earlier this week on BBC Radio 1. Speaking of Mr Yorke, Radiohead are playing a benefit show for Haiti this Sunday--more information on their blog, Dead Air Space. In addition, his side project is billed to play Coachella this summer under the cryptic name ????.

This week's set list:

God Save The Queen, Sex Pistols

Stylo, Gorillaz

Acceptable In The '80s, Calvin Harris

Teenage Kicks, The Undertones

Straight To Hell, The Clash

Black And Gold (Sam Sparro cover), Adele

Sale Of The Century, Sleeper

Duel, Swervedriver

Let's Make Out, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (request)

Pure Morning, Placebo

The Drowners, Suede

I Predict A Riot, Kaiser Chiefs

Oh Yeah, The Subways

The General, The Rifles

Time, The Rumble Strips

Calculator, Micachu

If Only The Moon Were Up, Field Music

In The Air Tonight, Phil Collins (request)

Blue Boy, Orange Juice

This Is How It Feels, Inspiral Carpets

Cross My Heart & Hope To Fly, The Courteeners

Jealousy, Pet Shop Boys

X Files Theme, UNKLE

Meeting Place, The Last Shadow Puppets

Radio America, The Libertines

Big House, Thom Stone

You Can't Always Get What You Want, The Rolling Stones

As always, feel free to comment or call the station (319-335-8970) with your requests, comments, or for some late-night conversation.