Wrote about “The Passenger,” a song from supergroup Floratone — comprised of Bill Frisell, Matt Chamberlain, Lee Townsend and Tucker Martine — for NPR’s Song of the Day essay. To read the full review and hear the song go here.
I wrote a short review of Dan Deacon’s bonkers song “The Crystal Cat,” from his album Spiderman of the Rings, for NPR’s Song of the Day. To read the full review and hear the song go here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Dan Deacon, ‘The Crystal Cat’
Here’s a review of “I Need A Friend,” a song from Small Sins’ album Mood Swings, for NPR’s Song of the Day. To read the full review and hear the song go here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day, Small Sins, ‘I Need A Friend’
I first discovered Jesca Hoop nearly two years ago, as an intern for All Songs Considered — and selected one of her demo songs for Open Mic. (That series was later retrofitted for the daily Open Mic feature and podcast, and later, as Second Stage.)
Hoop’s new album, Kismet, is pretty great all the way through, maybe one of the best new artist debuts this year. So here’s a short write up about the song “Havoc in Heaven” for NPR’s Song of the Day essay. To read the full review and hear the song go here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Jesca Hoop, ‘Havoc in Heaven’
Wrote about The Brunettes’ new song “Her Hairagami Set” from its album Structure & Cosmetics for NPR’s Song of the Day. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: The Brunettes, ‘Her Hairagami Set’
Here’s a piece I wrote about Dirty Projectors’ completely reinvented cover of “Rise Above” — the classic punk anthem by Black Flag — for NPR’s Song of the Day. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song of the Day: The Dirty Projectors, ‘Rise Above’
Here’s a piece about Bowerbirds’ song “In Our Talons” from its album Hymns for a Dark Horse for NPR’s Song of the Day. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Bowerbirds, ‘In Our Talons’
Here’s another piece for NPR’s Song of the Day about Imperial Teen’s song “Do It Better,” from The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Imperial Teen, ‘Do It Better’
Most may recognize Jesse Harris’ name as one of the songwriters who co-wrote for Norah Jones’ runaway smash debut, but he’s also a fantastic songwriter in his own right. Harris also wrote all the songs for the the upcoming film “The Hottest State” based on a novel by Ethan Hawke. Many of his songs on the soundtrack are performed by the likes of Cat Power, M. Ward, Feist, Willie Nelson and so on.
Here’s my short piece on Jesse Harris’ song “You And Me” from his album Feel, for NPR’s Song of the Day. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Jesse Harris, ‘You And Me’
I saw Joan as Police Woman open for Andrew Bird about a month ago at Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club, and despite the rather inattentive and talkative crowd — which can ruin a quiet performance — she held it together and put on a great performance. Here’s a short piece about the title track to her album Real Life for NPR’s Song of the Day. Check out the song here.
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Joan As Police Woman, ‘Real Life’