Liane Hansen interviews acoustic guitar queen Kaki King.

Jon Pareles:

U2 is almost alone now among rock bands in its determination to merge lofty ambition and pop impact. With songs that determinedly blur divine and earthly love, seeking grace as often as romance, the band doesn’t pander to vulgar impulses. Yet U2 has no interest in being a hipsters’ cult band; it has always aimed for audiences that can fill arenas, where its music is most at home.

WSUM, Madison’s best radio (streaming limited to UW IP addresses, unfortunately) at 91.7 played a bit of Uncle Tupelo recently….
Don’t miss their “Student Section” sports show Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 6p.m.

17MB Quicktime Video Clip of the Foo Fighters at the Kerry rally, Thursday, 10.28.2004 Madison.

Bruce Springsteen stopped at 508 W. Washington Ave. today, responding to a banner that invited the musician in for a beer. (Disclaimer: I lived at 505 W. Wash many years ago). Via Ann Althouse.

Xeni:

BMW is revving up some vehicle models (including the 330Ci coupe I reviewed) with a new sound system integrated with the Apple iPod. What’s new and cool about this: it’s touted as the first-ever fully integrated iPod/car interface you can drive right off the dealer lot. Costs under $500 as an upgrade to price of the new car. Plenty of aftermarket systems are available to hook your iPod (or other digital music players) to your car stereo, but many of these use your FM radio or a cassette player to interface, reducing sound quality in the process. Here, the sound quality was super-sweet.

Keep in mind that Democrat Pat Leahy and Republican Orrin Hatch are carrying water for Hollywood with the induce act – which would outlaw the iPod. Noah Adams

Robert Siegel talks with banjo player Bela Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer about their unusual musical collaboration: Music for Two” [iTunes]

Noah Adams talks with technology correspondent Xeni Jardin about a new method of digital music trading. Using so-called MP3 “blogs,” music fans trade and comment on songs that are often unusual twists on familiar favorites. A yin to this yang.

David Crosby, from Frontline’s The Way the Music Died:

It changed from being about the music to being about what you look like. And that was a terrible blow to music, because now you’ve got all these people who look great and can’t write, sing or play.