Tagged: latenightsounds

To be honest, we're pretty bummed out that Johnny Mathis's label blocked the video of his Leno performance from Tuesday night, but we're prepared to move past it and think positive. Let's look at what we've got, not what we're missing - this week's late-night video visits include a superproducer getting his funk on, a couple of roots-rocking acts straight from tending their beard gardens, an unhinged band of international madmen, and some sweet post-punk-influenced whispers from a secret world. Mark Ronson - Jimmy Kimmel Live! (Oct. 13, 2010) The [...]

Keep you eyes focused on that late-night TV screen and sooner or later you'll see pretty much everything. Sure, you'll see your share of infomercials, obnoxious actors plugging their latest piece of crap, and monologues that are about as funny as an evening with Dick Cheney, but then there's the music. Gospel-soul queens, country twangbangers, dynamic indie-pop duos, they all make their way into your living room, and that's exactly what happened this week. Mavis Staples w/Jeff Tweedy - Late Show With David Letterman (Oct. 5, 2010) The soul-searing voice [...]

We've had themes running through the Top 5 before, but never anything quite so specific as this — can somebody please tell us just exactly what the hell is going on with all these '90s Scottish indie-pop cult heroes popping up on the nocturnal tube over the last week? Not that we're complaining, mind you, but we did find it necessary to throw in a couple of palate cleansers from an outlaw country upstart and a New York City R&B queen, just to keep things from getting too Glaswegian around here! Randy Houser - Jimmy [...]

Here we are again, getting all hopped up over the latest examples of late-night TV's musical offerings, and while this process usually entails making one's way through quite a mixed bag of gems and duds, this week's haul yielded an unusual amount of top-shelf tunes. As it turns out, most of the highlights came from vets who proved they can still bring that special stuff to the stage, be they classic-rock icons or indie-rock pioneers. Step in and see for yourself... Tom Jones – Late Show with David Letterman (Sept. 22, 2010) [...]

Here we are again, getting all hopped up over the latest examples of late-night TV's musical offerings, and while this process usually entails making one's way through quite a mixed bag of gems and duds, this week's haul yielded an unusual amount of top-shelf tunes. As it turns out, most of the highlights came from vets who proved they can still bring that special stuff to the stage, be they classic-rock icons or indie-rock pioneers. Step in and see for yourself... Tom Jones – Late Show with David Letterman (Sept. 22, 2010) [...]

This week's batch of nocturnal emissions from the TV screen includes a couple of famous frontmen from drastically disparate backgrounds going solo, a soul king strutting his stuff, and a couple of punk-pop legends dealing with their legacies in very different ways. Step in and soak up the spectacle, the spirit, and the strangeness... Brandon Flowers - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Sept. 13, 2010) We've had mixed feelings about this Brandon Flowers solo business since we first heard about it - on the one hand, we were sharpening [...]

On this week's leap through the late-night lineup of live music offerings, we wander into everything from an up-and-coming outlaw country king to some dashing disco guys and gals, a batch of psychedelic sorcerers, an earnest troubadour, and some well-dressed post-punk princes. Step on in as we run it all down, but make sure not to trip over Jamey Johnson's beard. Jamey Johnson - Late Show with David Letterman (Sept. 9, 2010) Last time Jamey Johnson was on Letterman, Dave joked that the country star was up for a Grammy [...]

The late-night TV train just keeps on rolling, right through your living room, bring you everything from a fashion type turned crooner to a bunch of stoner-rock space cases, a former chanteuse who traded in her piano stool for a license to rock, and more. Or less, as the case may be. Find out for yourself right here... Karen Elson - Late Show With David Letterman (Sept 2, 2010) You know, with those cheekbones, that long, lean frame, and that ever-so-slightly aloof air, this Elson dame [...]

This week, as we take our whiz-bang tour of what's been popping on our late-night TV screen over the past several days, we find everything from a legendary jazzman tearing it up with some modern-day blues bashers to a pack of indie-rock heroes getting their groove on, and an up-and-coming crossover queen of England bringing her big, stylish sound to the stateside crowd. VV Brown - Late Show With David Letterman (Aug. 5, 2010) Besides knowing how to successfully snare Janelle Monae's stylist, how to stare [...]

Roaming around the late-night lineup over the last week, we've seen some wondrous and bizarre sights. Singled out for your edification this time around, we've got a couple of old masters showing they still know how to get it going, an indie-pop chameleon proving that he remains a freak supreme no matter what direction he goes in, a hip-hop crossover king, and some spaced-out rock 'n' roll astronauts. Jimmy Webb - Late Show qith David Letterman (July 26, 2010) Note to Jimmy Webb: Listen [...]

Well, it seems like all of our favorite late night hosts decided that last week was an excellent time to go jet-skiing in the Bahamas or something, because their shows were all in reruns. But now most of them are back on the beam, and this week's roundup of nocturnal sounds and visions includes everything from classic-rock monsters who can't come back because they never went away to contemporary soul men who know how to give things that classic touch. Alejandro Escovedo – Late Show with David Letterman (July 21, [...]

The ladies rule the roost in this week's late-night TV lineup, from a veteran avant-gardist to a modern-day heroine pushing the boundaries of pop and hip-hop, a surefooted singer/songwriter, and an up-and-comer who harks back to the hard-rockin' '70s. Oh, and a bunch of dusty old dudes from the New Wave era turn up too, tearing the house down in the process. M.I.A. - Late Show with David Letterman (July 13, 2010) Holy crap, that's Martin Rev back there! It turns out this track from M.I.A.'s [...]

Wow, this turned out to be an uncommonly excellent week for nocturnal emissions of cool tunes on the tube. Usually, there are one or two clinkers we'll throw into the mix here just for a couple of cheap laughs (And really, what's the point of living if you can't have fun at the expense of others?). But this week it's just solid sounds from front to back, from sharp-shooting buzz bands to old heroes returning to the fray. Cyndi Lauper/Allen Toussaint - Late Show with David Letterman (June 14, 2010) [...]

This week's late-night lineup offered us an up-close view of a couple of old-school legends strutting their stuff once more, as well as an awesomely eccentric young upstart who seems destined to make her own mark. And to round things out, there's a genre-crossing all-star team-up and a stylistic change-up from a band you might have thought you had pegged up until now. You never know what you'll discover in the world of nocturnal TV tunes. John Prine & Yim Yames - Late Night with David Letterman (May 26, 2010) We've [...]

This week's late-night lineup offered us an up-close view of a couple of old-school legends strutting their stuff once more, as well as an awesomely eccentric young upstart who seems destined to make her own mark. And to round things out, there's a genre-crossing all-star team-up and a stylistic change-up from a band you might have thought you had pegged up until now. You never know what you'll discover in the world of nocturnal TV tunes. John Prine & Yim Yames - Late Night with David Letterman (May 26, 2010) [...]

Among this week's batch of treats from the late-night TV trick bag, it's mostly Old Dogs Die Hard Week, as veterans of metal, post-punk, alt rock and outlaw country come stomping back into our ears and storming out of our screens. Sandwiched in between somewhere, you'll find one young band of upstarts who've been making a big enough noise lately to stand shoulder to shoulder with the elders of the tribe. Slayer - Jimmy Kimmel Live! (May 20, 2010) Okay, it's official. After nearly three decades of head-banging, Slayer has somehow [...]

Soulful anthems lit up the nighttime TV universe this week, as did a top-shelf performance by some grizzled vets who still have plenty of life in them. On the other side of the coin, there was some embarrassing Broadway schlock masquerading as rock 'n' roll, and some equally embarrassing indie-pop japery that wouldn't even make it as Broadway shlock. Ah, the ever-unpredictable world of late-night television, spin the wheel and take a chance. Wilco - Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (April 10, 2010) Another band in Wilco's position - that [...]

This week's culling of the late-night fare turns up quite a disparate crop of characters. We've got a grizzled old country icon, a soul sensation at the peak of her powers, and some up-and-coming indie-rock types, some full of promise, some good enough to get by, and some slightly irksome. But only one of these acts is presented with a bouquet of roses from old smoothie David Letterman, and we'll at least offer you a hint that it's not the grizzled icon. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - [...]

This week's batch of late night musical moments takes us on a breakneck journey from the sublime to the surreal, as street-savvy punk rock makes its way to Broadway, cult-hero indie-poppers go for the brass ring, grunge-era icons return for better or worse, and singer/songwriters brush shoulders with grand-scale popmeisters. It all flickered across your TV screen at one point or another over the last few days, but now you can catch up on what you missed. Dr. Dog - Jimmy Kimmel Live [...]

This week's batch of late night musical moments takes us on a breakneck journey from the sublime to the surreal, as street-savvy punk rock makes its way to Broadway, cult-hero indie-poppers go for the brass ring, grunge-era icons return for better or worse, and singer/songwriters brush shoulders with grand-scale popmeisters. It all flickered across your TV screen at one point or another over the last few days, but now you can catch up on what you missed. Dr. Dog - Jimmy Kimmel Live [...]