Music From Phoenix, FlyLo, BSS

Wow, lots of new, free music today!

Second Stage: Sam Reynolds

From Friday

Second Stage: Flotilla

New this week from Second Stage: Flotilla.

Broken Bells: 'Tough Set Of Judges'

Little kids put Broken Bells to the test:

The Weekend's Never Over

Starting a new tradition of releasing a different b-side every Friday, free to download for one week only.

Click to get the first one:

From Behind The Tiny Desk

Click to read more...

There Is Really Some Fantastic Stuff Going On At NPR Today

Though I didn't write this, I came up with several of these puns.. Dad would be proud.

Free Downloads From Elliott Smith Reissues

Kill Rock Stars makes two tracks available, including remastered "Last Call."

OK Go Convinces Label To Allow Embedded Video

Very interesting... click here to read more.

MC Guru Comatose After Heart Attack

Sad news about the Gang Starr MC.

More New Material From Thom Yorke

He sure is busy these days... click here to read more.

Lots Of Blog Posts From the Past Week

Second Stage: Hope For Agoldensummer


Thom Yorke's Band Has A Name, And Is Touring With Flying Lotus!

Second Stage: South China

More exclusive videos from Local Natives here.

Video: Local Natives Leak 'Honey'

I stumbled across this video today. It's a homemade movie from Local Natives bassist Andy Hamm. It's evocative and visually interesting, but bizarre nonetheless. Click here to read my ASC blog post on it. The video is below:

Speaking Of Elliott Smith

I'll pretty much post anything E. Smith-related. Click to hear Cymbals Eat Guitars' cover of "Ballad of Big Nothing".

Academy: "No Singing Allowed"

Wrote a blog today about how the Best Original Song performances were nixed from the Oscars this year. Click here to read it.

Second Stage: Man/Miracle

On my first day back in the office after a week of being snowed in, I was able to do a little piece on a band from my home turf, which was fun. I've seen them play before with Tempo No Tempo at the Rickshaw Stop in SF, and they put on a great show.

Click here to read my Second Stage feature on Man/Miracle.

Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, SnOw My God, Trust Me, I've Heard 'Em All...

I'll begin with this, from last weekend:


We thought we had snow.

Then I'll show you this, from yesterday, when we opened up the door to our balcony, to find that nearly 2' had accumulated since Friday evening (that's my roommate, fellow intern, and partner in crime, Bryce):


And that takes us up to today.


The residents of Washington, D.C. let out a collective grunt this morning. Some were struggling to dig up their cars, while others just turned over in their beds, cherishing one more much needed snow day. In case you didn’t know, Washington D.C. got about an entire winter’s worth of snow in 24 hours this weekend, setting records that hadn’t been broken for 90 years, according to some.



Three other interns and I hiked around the U Street corridor this morning, talking to residents, salesmen , and restauranteurs about how the blizzard treated them this weekend. We got some great little snapshots, all of which will probably go up on the Intern Edition Blog, which launches this week (check back, hopefully soon that will be a link that you can click to see the blog). After talking to Andy Shallal, owner and proprietor of well-known D.C. restaurants Eatonville and Busboys & Poets, and after crossing paths (quite literally) with a nice French family at Meridian Park, we took the tape back to NPR to mix it down and see if there was something worthwhile in the interviews.

I departed from our little group to make my way home. I headed to my usual bus stop, only to find it surrounded by snow. There was no way that the bus could have reached the little gazebo on the sidewalk, so I climbed out onto what was probably technically probably an enbankment, but, for my own purposes, I will call a mountain. This mountain separated the narrow thoroughfare that is usually 11th St. from the pedestrian walkway blazed along the side of the road. I stood out like a sentinal. It probably looked pretty dramatic to the passing vehicles, which I utterly towered over, even the SUVs. I turned back to see my little bus stop, which looked like it had been made for dolls.



A strange bus (not one that I usually ride) rolled up, and I hopped (down) into it. It was going the right direction, so that was enough for desperate times like these. The driver was a very friendly young guy named Tony, who told me how to get home in exchange for little idealized factoids about California, which I provided with zeal. I stopped by Safeway on the walk from where the bus dropped me off, only to find what seemed more like a bombed out warehouse.





Shoppers listlessly wandered almost empty aisles, trying to figure out what kind of meal you could piece together with soda, cream cheese, and Pillsbury Doughboy rolls. Everyone seemed to be leaning on their carts for support, as if the weight of weathering the storm was finally beginning to have its effect. I can’t lie, I was feeling the same way. I waited through a long checkout line of customers who seemed to all be buying Fanta, Pepsi, or Liquor, and then wandered home, down the little pathways and through the sludge, tired and cold, but happy.

U2, Broken Bells, and Preservation Hall

Three recent blog entries from the past week:

You've Never Heard U2's 'The Joshua Tree'??

New Video For Broken Bells' "High Road"

My Morning Jacket & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

My First Second Stage Pick: State Champion

Click the picture to read more:

Today's News from the ASC blog -- two Haiti benefits:

Radiohead @ The Music Box on Sunday night


Spoon offers up two live concerts for a donation

Peter Gabriel is doing an orchestral covers album of some indie rock bands that you know and love. Click here to read my blog post from Friday.

Meet Me On The Balcony

I compiled a list of Haiti Benefit Concerts happening this week.

Also saw these guys at the Black Cat this evening -- they're going places for sure.

Grow Till Tall

Blogged today on the death of Kate McGarrigle, folk singer extraordinaire and matriarch of the McGarrigle/Wainwright musical dynasty.



Also did a little piece that coincides with today's show on Sigur Ros frontman Jónsi Birgisson. It's about the side project.

Jónsi mixing Animal Arithmetic from Jónsi on Vimeo.

Waiting For Something

"My life's weird dude, it's like... pedal to the metal or, like.... nothing. You could either say that somebody has a window of time where they have the opportunity to do what htey do creatively, and do it well, or some people say that you have a certain amount of songs before you dry up or whatever.. I tend to think that its a certain amount of time. I'm racing time constantly. A lot of it's the fear of death, too, I know i'm not going to be able to make records when I'm dead, but I'm not dead now, so I want to make records." -- Jay Reatard

A Short Documentary About Jay Reatard (not for the faint of heart):

Waiting For Something - a short documentary about Jay Reatard

Jay Reatard | MySpace Music Videos

K'naan on Austin City Limits Tomorrow

K'naan and Mos Def will be featured on the first all-hip-hop episode ever:

Supergroup

Slightly overshadowed, and understandably so, by the death of Jay Reatard, this post went live today: Build Your Own Supergroup.

And rest in peace, Jay.

Is Making Music Too Easy?

A poll that I wrote for All Songs: has cheap technology watered down music? Click here to check it out.

Busy busy busy.

The Knife To Release Opera Album

Here's my first little blurb for the All Songs Considered Blog. Click the link to read on:

Can you feel The Knife?

Please Secure Your Own Mask Before Helping Others

I gave a big, friendly grin to the guy in the Cashmere sweater. He probably wasn’t used to getting looks like this from us poor folk as we marched solemnly through his spacious cabin, past the curtains, into Economy Class. His reaction was priceless. I gave it another try, this time to the large, balding man in a suit. The same perplexed and uncomfortable look crossed over his face. He cast his eyes down to his magazine.

Yet somehow we were a notch above all the other passengers who had to endure the hardships of the Economy Class. Before, when I slipped the man at the gate my boarding pass, instead of beeping once like for everyone else's, his little emachine beeped twice when It scanned my ticket. I was ushered to the desk where my parents and I were arbitrarily given $150 worth of upgrades. That’s right – emergency exit row seats.

When I got to my seat, I stretched out my legs (pretty far actually), and decided it would be good to review the literature on how to rescue my fellow travelers in case of an emergency. The flight attendant approached to interrogate all of the exit row occupants:

“Are you willing and able to help in the case of an emergency?” -– we all sort of muttered quietly in response.

“I need oral confirmation,” she demanded abruptly. Like school children, we all chimed in obediently, “Yes.” No need to tell her I was half blind and my mom had a bum leg.

Then we were in Minneapolis. It was like this:


On the second leg of the flight, I realized that this was the first time that I’d ever bought a one-way ticket. As someone who doesn’t travel super often, I started wondering if, in general, is the fact that you’re buying a one way ticket is a good thing, or not? On one hand, It means you’re off on an adventure – you don’t know when you’ll be back, you’re going with the flow. Or maybe it means that there’s just not enough left wherever you came from to bring you back any time soon. I’d like to think that it’s the former.

No One On The Corner Gets Swell Like Us

Last night, Plan 9 Productions performed their first show as a duo, thereby christening the Movement Oasis. The Oasis, located in an industrial park off of Piner Rd. in Santa Rosa, is an Aikido Dojo by day with ambitions to double as a venue for musical performances and dances in the future.

The Future is precisely where you'd expect to find the Beats From The Mothership series that Plan 9 showcased last night. It was an intimate affair, but I doubt that any who attended came away disappointed. Sudman and D-Funk traded off, seamlessly slinging an arsenal of samples and snares, bringing their original compositions to life with improvisatory embellishments and interludes, always keeping the steady hip hop and dance grooves going. For a first show, the performance was impeccable. If anyone has a party that they want DJed, I would definitely recommend calling on these guys.



They've also made a live recording of the entire show available for download.