New music

Let's kick this off with a cool video for the alternate version of "Terrible Love." I dig the way it's shot and edited and think the end does a pretty good job of capturing the energy of The National in concert (without actually being there, of course).

• The National, "Wake Up Your Saints," High Violet expanded editions (out now), Troubled Souls Unite
• The Low Anthem, "Ghost Woman Blues," Smart Flesh (Feb 22nd), TwentyFourBit
• PJ Harvey, "Written on the Forehead," Let England Shake (Feb 14th), The Sky Report
• Noah and the Whale, "Wild Thing," Last Night on Earth (March 2011), TwentyFourBit
• The Dears, "Blood," Degeneration Street (Feb 15th), Quick Before It Melts
  

The Low Anthem on NPR

I caught the Low Anthem in December opening for Josh Ritter and got a chance to meet 2/3 of the band after their set. Since that time, they've been on Letterman twice (okay, the second time was a rerun), incorporated a fourth member in the band, recorded material for their third album and secured a bunch of dates for their first headlining tour in the US. Yesterday they kicked off a dozen dates in Europe and this Sunday, they begin The Trala-Lala Radio Hour, a weekly show they're hosting on WOXY. Why can't we all have a two month stretch like that?

NPR's Tiny Desk Concert web-series just posted a pretty cool three song set. They sure do make some beautiful music, even with two cells at the end of their second song, "This God Damn House."

The Low Anthem - 9:30 Club (12/1/09)

I don't think I've ever been to a concert where I've seen the opening band and didn't stay for the main act. But the ticket was free and the car ride seemed better than the walk to and then ride on the metro at 10pm. I did catch the first few songs of Josh Ritter's set (the headliner) and he's no slouch.

There was a decent crowd for the opening band, the Low Anthem. I think this is the third time they've been through the DC area in the past year and a half or so (unfortunately I missed them the first two times). Pretty full sound from a trio... I'd assume the fact that they are currently touring with 15 instruments might have something to do with that. And 1 of those 15 instruments didn't include the cell phone Knox Miller held up to the mic to create a few seconds of feedback at the end of one song. The Low Anthem impressed. And they got a few sentimental points when Jocie Adams broke out the clarinet (I had a crush on a clarinet player in 4th or 5th grade... bitch broke my heart).

NPR has their set from the 2009 Newport Folk Festival.