I've just finished jotting down all of the stuff that I saw at SXSW, and it appears that I saw almost 50 bands. 47 different acts, to be exact. I knew that watching live music from noon past midnight for 3-4 days straight would allow for a lot of action, but, damn. 47 bands almost seems impossible to me now that I look back at it. I don't think I ate a single proper meal all week, and I know that didn't have more than four hours of sleep on any night. If my brain is [...]

And so after some two months plus of planning, the (first) big day finally arrived - Hot Freaks was here. I was equally excited and nervous about it for obvious reasons, but now that it's half in the bag, I can say quite honestly that I'm really pleased with how it went off. Let's recap. Small Sins (Toronto, ON) @ The Mohawk Patio - Small Sins had the rather unenviable task of kicking things off bright and early to an audience made up mainly of people working the show. But [...]

Dear friends, 1. This song, this vocal is like a perfect short film. Economic, honest and true. Two people say goodbye. One promises that they'll see each other soon but will they really? Have they missed their chance? Dearie's whispery little voice is both rueful and tender. The hesitant delivery behind her casual words makes her sound like she can barely contain her disappointment. Listen to her " Oh well... " sigh, it's the sound of regret. Blossom Dearie Song [...]

This lovely building is where I have been imprisoned this last week. And the most depressing thing is that I actually tried to get started early on my papers for this term. Somehow, no matter how much I plan ahead, it always seems like torture trying to meet the deadlines. I figured I better post some songs so people would know I'm not dead. The following songs have been hanging around in my "listen" folder on my desktop for a couple of months. The Jay-Z remix is via siik [...]

If there's anything I have learned in 23 long years on this planet, it's that any collection of music is designed to give a false impression of oneself. Here's mine. 1. "Be Mine" - David Gray "I like anything that even remotely resembles the second coming of The Police ." 2. "Say It Right" - Nelly Furtado "I'm down with mine peeps. Holla! Did you bring the croutons?" 3. "I Bet It Stung" - Tegan & Sara "I'm [...]

*M. Cashmore & Antony-How God Moved At Twilight ( mp3 ) ( web ) *Bright Eyes-Tourist Trap ( mp3 ) ( web ) *Willy Mason-When The River Moves On ( mp3 ) ( web ) *Eric Bachmann-Carrboro Woman ( mp3 ) ( web ) *Nellie Mckay-There You Are In Me ( mp3 ) ( web ) *Rob Crow-I Hate You, Rob Crow ( mp3 ) ( web ) *The One AM Radio-In The Time We've Got ( mp3 ) ( web )

Sadly we missed the performance last night, BUT, LUCKILY, Pop Drivel saw it and recorded an MP3 for our listening pleasure! According to PD, Nellie looked amazing last night and 'sounded fabulous'. Would we expect anything else? Man, Letterman is getting all my faves the last few weeks.... Oh, speaking of Nellie, is anyone going to her 2/1 BAM show with Joan Osborne, Suzanne Vega & Laurie Anderson? That should be a great one! MP3: Nellie McKay - Happy Flower (live on Letterman)
Just as Nellie McKay falls off the radar, she works her way back in with a late show appearance, and looks and sounds fabulous. Last night she refreshed her status as a blip on Letterman. ...and a couple of weeks ago, she had NPR's Song Of The Day . Nellie McKay - Happy Flower (Live on Letterman 1-22-2007) (mp3) Own the Pretty Little Head 2-disc set.
The music blog community, and, hell, the world in general, lost a kind soul over the weekend. Sean, writer of the music blog Kill Your Co-Workers , was tragically killed in a fire at his apartment early Saturday morning. His identity as the person who died in the fire was finally confirmed today, and thus, it has finally hit me that he is gone. I first met Sean in September 2004 at a WOXY "board bash." Sean, known on the boards as JSpaceman, was one of the first WOXY boarders I met at the bash [...]

It's another week , another bout with The Shins , as their album Wincing the Night Away finally sees it's release this week. This time around, Letterman (Tuesday) gets the honor and they'll feature background vocals from Viva Voce 's Anita Robinson (who also sang backup for them on their recent Saturday Night Live appearance .) Viva Voce is opening for The Shins on their US tour starting February 8 (in Minneapolis, MN.) Elsewhere, [...]
Check this montage of Caruso's CSI: Miami opening segment one-liners: He very well may have perfected the art of the "sunglass-slide-on-speak-and-s mirk". Nelly McKay - "David" mp3 buy

Let's see how this goes. Day 4's winner will receive The Beatles Capitol Albums V.2 (4cd) boxset. It includes all of the albums listed above in both mono and stereo. All of these tracks are from This Bird Has Flown: A 40th anniversary tribute to Rubber Soul Fiery Furnaces- Norwegian Wood(This Bird Has Flown) Ben Lee- In My Life Nellie McKay- If I Needed Someone Again, if you'd [...]
In compiling this list, I tried to not overthink it. As I drove home from work, a few clear choices came to mind: "Talk on Indolence" by the Avett Brothers, "Stop Thinking" by the Mysteries of Life, "You Blanks" by Portastatic. Some came to mind as I perused the 2006 playlist in my iTunes library: "Face of a Faith" by Nellie McKay, "Black Sweat" by Prince," the remix of Wolfmother's "Woman."
Well it's finally here, after much debating and changing and rearranging my top 25 albums of 2006. Most likely it should be called favorite 25 as it's all subjective anyway, and if I did it again next week it would most likely change. I'm sure everyone will find something to agree or disgree with here, but these are the ones that spent the most time in my cd player.iPod,etc. They are the ones I enjoyed listening to the most. All in all it was a pretty good year for music. So, kick back and enjoy, add a comment if you [...]

Well it's that time of year again, make a list, check it twice, find out who... oh you know the rest. While I continue pondering over my choices for the best albums of 2006 I'd thought I'd give you some of my picks for the best singles, or should've been singles of the year. To avoid the typical ranked from worst to first I've sorted them by length from shortest to longest, because isn't a single really about the making the biggest impact in the least amount of time. So without further ado here's the first 10 songs [...]
100 Years (in Ten Jumps) 2006: Rev. Tom Frost, You Belong to Me. Nellie McKay, Long and Lazy River. Nico Muhly, Honest Music. The Coup, My Favorite Mutiny. TV On the Radio, Dirty Whirlwind. Matthew Shipp, Module. Bob Dylan, Nettie Moore (live, St. Paul). Sonny Rollins, Stairway to the Stars. Jerry Lee Lewis and Merle Haggard, Just a Bummin' Around. There is a rumor among the marines in

As strange as it may sound, I can't help but feel some pity for the executives at Columbia Music. After all - when they dropped wunderkind Nellie McKay at the end of last year following a very public and snippy tiff over the release of her second album Pretty Little Head (they wanted it a 16-track single disc, she insisted on a 23-track double-disc), it looked to be another case of majors trying to stifle a creative soul who would have no part of it. [...]

Daniela Rossell - Untitled [RicasYFamosas: PaulinaOnHerFathersDesk] (2000) I found out today that Phillip Morris, convicted corporate racketeer , profits off my daily breakfast of Grape Nuts, the Philadelphia cream cheese on my bagel, my constant snacking on Cheese Nips, my occasional "ethical" statement of choosing Boca Burgers over factory-raised animals, and my nostaligia-fueled bias towars Miracle Whip. The operative word here is "choice" and the operative concern is how impossible it is to make choices in daily life without supporting [...]

Download : Viva Voce We Do Not Fuck Around Download : Built to Spill Revolution Download : the Walkmen Many Rivers to Cross Download : Damien Jurado What Were the Chances Download : Robert Pollard Supernatural Car Lover [...]