First Listen: The Arcs, ‘Yours, Dreamily,’

The Arcs' new album, 'Yours, Dreamily,' is out Sept. 4 (Richard Swift/Courtesy of the artist)
The Arcs’ new album, ‘Yours, Dreamily,’ is out Sept. 4 (Richard Swift/Courtesy of the artist)

Here’s a rather long-ish review I wrote for NPR Music’s First Listen series about Yours, Dreamily, the new record by The Arcs.

Don’t know that band? Well, it’s a new supergroup fronted by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the amazing Richard Swift and a bunch of top tier sidemen from Daptone Family and a lot of other stuff. This record is pretty cool — tons of great sounds and soul and R&B and influences all mixing together with some killer attitude. There was a lot to parse on this record, so I sorta went deep and got lost in its pulpy world. But check it out.

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Mac DeMarco Sings In A Rowboat

I’ve shot countless videos of musicians — be it in-studio performances, live concerts, or Tiny Desk Concerts. But one of the most fun things I’ve played a part in is NPR Music’s Field Recordings series. I was there from the get-go when my brilliant, wildly talented colleague and pal Mito Habe-Evans and I took two bands (David Wax Museum and Mountain Man) into the crumbling ruins of Fort Adams at the Newport Festival to play the first two videos that eventually became this series. And I got to take part here and there over the years since.

So it was a ton of fun to be brought back into the fold and work alongside the video team — Mito, Adam Wolffbrandt and Josh Rogasin — to shoot this video of Mac DeMarco. At his house that sits on the bay across from JFK airport in Far Rockaway, Queens. In his rowboat.

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First Listen: Palehound, ‘Dry Food’

Palehound's new album, Dry Food, is out Aug. 14. (Courtesy of the artist)
Palehound’s new album, Dry Food, is out Aug. 14.
(Courtesy of the artist)

I’ve been lucky enough to catch Ellen Kempner perform many times now — solo and with her band, Palehound — and every time I’m blown away by her killer guitar playing and wry songwriting sensibility. Needless to say, I was excited to be able to write about the fantastic new Palehound album, Dry Food, for NPR Music’s First Listen series.

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