Been awhile since I’ve dumped some links. This time I seem to have a whole boatload…So let’s get to it then.
Tag: Song of the Day
Best Song I’ve Heard All Day — ‘This Is War’
(part 929 in a 1001 part series)
One of my favorite new music discoveries this year has been the duo Houses, who’s album All Night was one of my most heavily played albums from about October on. As I said in my recent Song of the Day write up, their minimalist electronic music is dark, hazy and yet completely blissful and emotionally cathartic.
So I was happy to find — albeit belatedly — that they recently released a new song, “This Is War,” on the site Alternative Apparel. This one eschews the electronics and samples for a dirgey piano, washed out guitar lines and haunting vocals that build to climactic peak that recalls The Antlers, The National or Deerhunter. Apparently a holiday song, here’s what Houses’ member Dexter Tortoriello writes about the music:
Holiday songs are often about snow, gifts or family – all of which are happy and nice – but when you stop and think about it, most holidays are based around very serious events. Christmas is, at its core, a recognition of the birth of one of the most famous and controversial figures in history. His birth and life are a truly incredible story in themselves, regardless of your personal beliefs. The song is about that very first Christmas day. It’s a haunting yet beautiful melody; we chose not to use the electronics that we’re known for on this song and opted instead for a more traditional composition. It seemed fitting.
Needless to say, it’s great. Check out the video below:
Reblogging: More NPR Music Links
Another update of links.
In addition to all the videos I produce for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series, I have recently taken over as a producer on NPR Music’s Latin alternative show Alt.Latino. The most recent show from last week was dedicated to the diverse sounds of Chile.
You can also listen here:
And for past shows I’ve produced check out:
Alt.Latino: Old-School Disco And Brand-New Styles
Alt.Latino: Rock Innovators To Hear Now
New Music For Fall From Alt.Latino
More NPR Music links after the jump.
Continue reading Reblogging: More NPR Music Links
NPR Song Of The Day: Warpaint, ‘Undertow’
Here’s a short thing on L.A. rock band Warpaint’s song “Undertown,” from its new album The Fool, for NPR’s Song of the Day. Read the piece here.
Reblogging: Another NPR Link Update
It’s been awhile since I had my last link dump of articles and videos and projects posted over at NPR Music and NPR.org. So here goes.
Reviews and Blog Posts:
— First Listen: Superchunk, ‘Majesty Shredding’
— First Listen: Blonde Redhead, ‘Penny Sparkle’
— First Listen: Jesca Hoop, ‘Hunting My Dress’
— All Songs Considered blog: How ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Rocks Out On Both Page And Screen
— Song of the Day: Lower Dens: A Blissful Swarm Of Feedback
Video work:
— Ana Tijoux: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed and edited)
— Brian Courtney Wilson: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed and edited)
— Lawrence Arabia: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed)
— Peter Wolf Crier: Tiny Desk Concert (edited)
— Frazey Ford: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed)
— Mavis Staples: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed)
— The Holmes Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert (edited)
— Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed)
— Villagers: Tiny Desk Concert (filmed and edited)
Oh yeah, and be sure to check out the new podcast I’m producing alongside NPR’s arts and entertainment blog Monkey See. It’s called Pop Culture Happy Hour and features Linda Holmes, Trey Graham, Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon discussing all things television, movies, comics, books.
Here’s the most recent one:
— Pop Culture Happy Hour: Emmys, ‘Runway,’ And General Misanthropy
Reblogging: NPR Linksplosion
Been awhile since I’ve dumped some links in for things I’ve done. Away we go…
— Song of the Day: School Of Seven Bells: A Spacey Dance-Pop Hymn
— All Songs Considered blog: Five Great Cover Songs From 2010 (So Far)
— Jason Moran: Finding Sound, Then Making It His Own
— A Blog Supreme: More Moran Motion Pictures Please
— Los Campesinos!: Tiny Desk Concert
— Gogol Bordello: Tiny Desk Concert
— ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: Tiny Desk Concert
— A Blog Supreme: Where Was The Jazz At Bonnaroo 2010?
— NPR Music: Live From Bonnaroo webcast and coverage
— The Mynabirds: Tiny Desk Concert
— Zuill Bailey: Tiny Desk Concert
Reblogging Update: Antlers, Besnard Lakes, more
Here is yet another post highlighting some links to a few things I’ve contributed to over at NPR Music:
— The Antlers: Tiny Desk Concert — Helped shoot and edited\produced the video for this beautiful set.
— Laura Veirs: Tiny Desk Concert — Edited\produced this video of a very preggers Laura Veirs. Great, warm show.
— Song of the Day: The Besnard Lakes: Filling The Room With Sound
— Sparklehorse Singer Mark Linkous Remembered — Helped put this page together and selected all the music.
— All Songs Considered blog: Dorks Gather For Listening Party — In which I am mentioned and briefly talk about the RPM Challenge.
— Culturetopia Won A Gracie Award! — This is a weekly arts and entertainment podcast I produce and it really is quite great. Check it out if you haven’t tuned in.
NPR Song Of The Day: The Clientele, ‘Harvest Time’
Some time ago — way back in October — I thought the new record by The Clientele, Bonfires on the Heath was durn good, so good so that I wrote a review of it for NPR Music’s Song of the Day. I even compared the band to a Polaroid picture. Then we got distracted with end of decade coverage, end of year coverage and a mountainous heap of other work. And I forgot I had even written this. Well it’s live now. And the song “Harvest Time” still sounds pretty good to me. Very “fall” sounding. Take a listen and read the review here: The Clientele: Pop On A Polaroid
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: The Clientele, ‘Harvest Time’
NPR Song Of The Day: John Vanderslice, ‘Too Much Time’
Here’s a new Song of the Day essay, looking at John Vanderslice’s “Too Much Time” from his new album, Romanian Names. To read the full review and hear the song click here!
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: John Vanderslice, ‘Too Much Time’
NPR Song Of The Day: Papercuts, ‘You Can Have What You Want’
Here’s a new Song of the Day essay about Papercuts’* song** “You Can Have What You Want” from its new album, You Can Have What You Want. To read the full review and hear the song click here!
Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: Papercuts, ‘You Can Have What You Want’