Youth Lagoon, ‘The Knower’

Youth Lagoon's Savage Hills Ballroom is out Sept. 25. (Ken Kaban/Courtesy of the artist)
Youth Lagoon’s Savage Hills Ballroom is out Sept. 25.(Ken Kaban/Courtesy of the artist)

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.

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Pitch, On Cover Songs

https://soundcloud.com/pitch/bonus-track-cover-songs

Recently, I went into the Moth studios in SoHo to talk with Whitney Jones, one of the creators and producers of the very cool music podcast Pitch. We talked for an hour about one of my favorite topics: cover songs.

And in true radio fashion, about 90 seconds of that was “good enough” to send out into the world. Check out my very brief appearance in this short bonus clip from the podcast!

Diane Coffee Gets The Band Together In ‘Everyday’ Video

Diane Coffee's Everybody's A Good Dog is out Sept. 4. (Courtesy of the artist)
Diane Coffee’s Everybody’s A Good Dog is out Sept. 4. (Courtesy of the artist)

Wrote a little thing on Shaun Fleming’s new music video under his moniker Diane Coffee: “Everyday” from the upcoming Everybody’s A Good Dog. It’s a record that sounds a lot like the Technicolor record collection-pillaging rock of Foxygen, the band Fleming is best known for — and this fun video sorta nods at that with the glam rock moves.

Read that piece over at NPR Music’s All Songs Considered.

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First Listen: Son Lux, ‘Bones’

Son Lux's Bones is out June 23. (Courtesy of the artist)
Son Lux’s Bones is out June 23. (Courtesy of the artist)

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!

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NPR Heavy Rotation: Elvis Depressedly, ‘New Alhambra’

Elvis Depressedly's latest album, New Alhambra, is out now. (Courtesy of the artist)
Elvis Depressedly’s latest album, New Alhambra, is out now. (Courtesy of the artist)

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.

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Sea Cycles: A Dreamy Score For Becoming Lost In Thought

Sea Cycles' new album, Ground & Air, is out June 9. (Courtesy of the artist)
Sea Cycles’ new album, Ground & Air, is out June 9. (Courtesy of the artist)

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.

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