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.
Wrote a quick hit for NPR Music’s Songs We Love series about the buoyant Brooklyn punk band, Gold and its song “Wake Of The World” from the band’s self-titled album.
Wrote a thing for NPR Music and All Songs Considered about Krill and its eerie and surreal music video for “Torturer” — a fantastic song from the band’s killer 2015 album, A Distant Fist Unclenching.
I’ve been a fan of Youth Lagoon since his first record, and have written about him several times now. So I was pretty pumped to be able to write about Youth Lagoon’s brand new song “The Knower” from the upcoming album, Savage Hills Ballroom for All Songs Considered‘s blog and NPR Music’s Songs We Love series.
Had the chance to write about one of my favorite artists, musicians — and now bands — Son Lux, a.k.a. Ryan Lott. Now a full band with Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia, Son Lux has just put out another fantastic record, Bones, which I got to hear a preview of last week at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. Spent a lot of time delving into the intricacies and themes of this album, for NPR Music’s First Listen series. Check that out here and go buy this record and see the band live!
Here’s a short thing I originally wrote for WNYC’s Soundcheck about the Brooklyn band all boy/all girl’s song “OK Poncho.”
Continue reading All Boy/All Girl: Timeless And Charming Orchestral Pop
From time to time, I get to contribute to NPR Music’s series Heavy Rotation, which asks public radio stations across the country to talk about some of their favorite songs of the moment. Here’s another one I got to write, on Elvis Depressedly‘s song “New Alhambra” from his latest album of the same name. Check it out and other songs here.
Continue reading NPR Heavy Rotation: Elvis Depressedly, ‘New Alhambra’
Here’s a short thing I wrote to accompany a premiere for Sea Cycle’s song “Diving Bell,” over at WNYC’s Soundcheck. You can read the full thing there if you like.
Continue reading Sea Cycles: A Dreamy Score For Becoming Lost In Thought
Wrote a very short thing for NPR Music about Spoon’s bizarre and dreamlike music video for the phenomenal song “Inside Out,” my favorite song from last year’s They Want My Soul.
Got another opportunity to write about one of my favorite new bands, Joanna Gruesome, for NPR Music’s First Listen series. The new record, Peanut Butter, is sweet and abrasive and loud. It’s great.