New music

Stream PJ Harvey's Let England Shake and Bright Eyes' The People's Key (among a few other albums) before their Feb 15th release over at NPR.

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."

Hooray Friday!

- New music:

• Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, numerous tracks, Cardinology (Oct 28), I am Fuel and Bag of Songs
• Vampire Weekend, "Ottoman," Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist soundtrack (out now), Stereogum
• Ray Lamontagne, "Meg White," Gossip In the Grain (Oct 14), Stereogum
• The Killers, "Human," Day & Age (Nov 25), Stereogum

- Eddie Vedder covered Nick Cave's "Ship Song" and NIN's "Hurt" while soloing it in Chicago. Still bummed I missed him when he came through DC (ironically, the LOML and I were in Chicago). Anywho, have a listen to both at I am Fuel.

- If you couldn't make it to the Austin City Limits music Festival, but still want to peek in from time to time in the comfort of your own home, bounce over to the AT&T Blue Room. The schedule includes Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip, Yeasayer, The Fratellis, Drive-By Truckers, Against Me!, The Raconteurs and Okkervil River just to name a few.

- Bon Iver played a 3-song set in NPR's World Cafe.

- I had to include this after my admission the other week that my first CD was the Batman soundtrack. Spike has the 10 worst songs that hit #1. And at #9... "Batdance" by Prince. Oiy.

Hooray Friday!

- Stream The Vines' latest effort, Melodia out July 19th. Thanks to MOKB for the K.

- Merge Records is making three M. Ward demos available for download. I am fuel alway with her fingers on the pulse.

- If you don't make your way over to NPR's music section periodically, you are missing out. Besides Monday's Fleet Foxes concert at the Black Cat, you can also stream recent gigs from Jim James (solo acoustic in Austin, TX) and Shearwater. Put that in your pipe...

Hooray Friday!

- New Beck kids! "Chemtrails" is the first single from his upcoming album. While I'm not a huge Beck fan, it sounds pretty solid.

- P-fork has a handy guide to this year's festivals. Yet another year of me not attending one of these. I'm thinking it ain't ever going to happen.

- Death Cab for Cutie performed "I Will Possess..." on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thanks to the Music Slut.

- If you haven't heard Attack & Release yet, you're missing out. The Black Keys swung through NPR studios and performed 3 songs for World Cafe. You can also check out their concert at the 9:30 Club on All Songs Considered - can't believe I missed it.

- More NPR goodness with Hot Chip on World Cafe. October can't come soon enough, when these cats roll through through DC again...

Hooray Friday!

- If you haven't been to NPR is a few weeks like myself, prepare yourself for sensory overload. All Songs Considered has a shitload of concerts up to include Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, My Morning Jacket, Yo La Tengo, The Whigs, Vampire Weekend and more. Enjoy!

- Check out some new music to include Wolf Parade's "Call it a Ritual" and MMJ's "Evil Urges" on MOKB. There's a Scarlett Johannson track on there, but I'm staying away from that one... don't want to tarnish her hotness.

- A new Nine Inch Nails track is available for free on their website and I am fuel.

Hooray Friday!

Sorry for the late post, but I got sucker punched at the bar last night. Okay, I had no plans to do this last night anyway, but I figured I'd use the black eye and split lip I'm now sporting to my advantage.

- My Morning Jacket covered The Velvet Underground's "Head Held High" at SXSW and An Aquarium Drunkard has the video.

- Feist and The Constantines got together and gave us their take on the "Islands in the Stream". I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan. But it's a free country - take a listen for yourself at I am fuel.

- Eddie Vedder, you tease! Everyone knows he's going to be great live... including him. So he only schedules seven dates. And doesn't even venture away from the West Coast. But thanks to I am fuel, you can stream/download his Berkely concert and read a detailed review.

- Three times a charm for I am fuel. Tracks and a review from the Springsteen concert in San Jose.

- I am fuel had a busy week. The National covered the Boss' "Mansion of the Hill". Yes please.

- Speaking of the National, A Skin, A Night is their DVD to be released on May 20th. Ultra 8201 teases us with the trailer.

- NPR's All Songs Considered previews the upcoming releases. And from the looks and sounds of it, it's going to be a good Spring.

- Check out Tapes 'n Tapes performing "Hang Them All" on Conan this week. I need to dig into Walk It Off statim. Only 2 weeks until their concert at the 9:30 Club - hells yeah!

- Vote for the greatest rock 'n roll band ever. Cool concept, poor execution. NME has taken on task, but it's too time consuming. How many bands are there to rank? When I was asked to rate Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, I called it quits.

Hooray Friday!!

- Man, these Radiohead guys really know how to use the internet. If you happen to be around a computer at midnight on New Year's, check out Current TV. From their website:

Radiohead will join us to play an exclusive live US TV performance of their new
album "In Rainbows" on Current TV, all commercial free. The pre-recorded
performance will include all of the tracks from "In Rainbows" plus some "other
bits" as Thom says.

If you have already made plans, don't fret - Current will archive the show for future watchings on their site. Thanks to P-fork, who also posted the teaser videos. If I had only 1% of their creativity...

- Looking for some new music to sink your ears into? NPR's Second Stage has the best unknown artists of 2007. Metro D approved Yeasayer is on the list... other than that, I've heard of Le Loup, but only because they're from DC.

- More best of 2007 lists (when will it end)... NPRs Bob Boilen, Tom Moon, Will Hermes, Robin Hilton, and Meredith Ochs. Also Let's Sexy Fighting.

- Pearl Jam Christmas Single anyone? Check out I am fuel for the stream.

- Dig, Lazarus, Dig is the latest effort (out in March/April) from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Check out the teaser on Brooklyn Vegan.

Hooray Friday (a day late)!

- The soundtrack to the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There (out Nov 21st) looks almost as intriguing as the film itself. 2 discs full of Dylan covers by artists such as Cat Power, Iron and Wine, Jeff Tweedy, Mark Lanegan, Stephen Malkmus, Jim James, and non other than John "F-ing" Doe? Count me in! I am fuel provides the tracklist and a taste of what's to come with a little ditty from Eddie Vedder and the Million Dollar Bashers before the Oct 30th album release.

- Same blog, different goodness. I am fuel also hooks us up with mix of favorites from EPs. I haven't given it a whirl yet, but with the likes of Wilco, Ambulance LTD, Bishop Allen, Iron and Wine, Oasis, The Black Keys and Pete Yorn getting some love, I definitely will.

- It seems like I'm always singing the praises of NPR and there's a reason for that. World Cup Cafe from WXPN has an interview and a 4-song studio performance of Iron and Wine's Sam Beam posted. Get after it!

Sorry for the shortness of this, but I'm hung-over..

Hooray Friday!

- An Aquarium Drunkard has My Morning Jacket covering Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and a few Steve Earle tunes worth checking out.

- NPR continues to give me live music to stream while wasting the days away at work. The past week was a barn-burner with Josh Ritter, Jose Gonzalez, Okkervil River, Animal Collective and Iron and Wine getting some love on NPR's Live Concert Series. Looks like Spoon and the New Pornographers will be popping up in the next few weeks as well. Stay tuned...

- I've never been a Smashing Pumpkins fan, so their pseudo-reunion meant next to nothing to me. Reviews of their current tour are average at best and MOKB doesn't hold back either. I like the way they went about it though - they blasted the Pumpkins, but then gave some suggestions to improve the show. Not that Billy Corgan is reading, but still.

- The Flaming Lips are projecting a March release for their latest experiment, the film Christmas on Mars. If this is going to be anything like their concerts, you might want to start preparing your brain for sensory overload directly. Thanks to You Ain't No Picasso for the report.

- If you don't know what I'm talking about when I refer to the Flaming Lips concerts, check out the pics on MOKB from the Monolith Festival. The post also has a few tracks, to include their cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam".

The National – these guys are scary good

Let me start by stating that I don’t go to hundreds of shows a year. I don’t want to start this blog off and give the wrong impression. I attend 10-20 shows a year – don’t get me wrong, I’d love to go to more but considering the fact that I’m fairly exhausted this morning, 1 or 2 a month is enough for this guy.

I decided to drive to the 9:30 Club instead of hopping on the Ghetro mainly because of The National wasn’t scheduled to come on until 10:15. I didn’t want to have a repeat performance of when I saw them at the Black Cat in October and have to leave early in the set to catch the last train. This turned out to be a great idea – not a lot of traffic and a nice, cool breeze made for a pleasant ride. It also gave me a chance to give the new QOTSA album an honest listen and I’m digging it.

I went to the sold-out show without a ticket. No, I didn’t tell anyone that I didn’t have a ticket for a few reasons: 1) I had a good feeling that I’d be able to buy a ticket from someone there, and 2) I didn’t want to jinx myself. After about 15 minutes of standing out front of the 9:30 Club, a lady offered up an extra ticket for face value. With my cat-like reflexes, I snagged it up before anyone else knew what happened. Thank you blonde bombshell for being my damsel in distress… but sorry, I’m taken.

The show was absolutely incredible. Setlist? Sorry, but I have no idea. They opened up with “Start a War” and didn’t look back from there. I read in a blog recently (sorry, I can’t remember which one) that “they just get it.” And that they do - in a major way. I don't think a lot of people knew exactly what to expect, but The National gave their all and by the end of the night everyone was grateful for having experienced it. Don’t believe me? Check the concert out for yourself on NPR here. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

As for the Boxer vs. Alligator debate between me and Lilbabyjesus… you win. I’m a changed man (still an ass-man though).