Npr

I doubt that I could attend two more different shows than when I saw Wild Flag and The Civil Wars last week in DC. One was loud, raucous, and distorted while the other was quiet, pure, and crystal clear. Shockingly, given my predilection for loud, upbeat shows, I actually preferred The Civil Wars. Wild Flag I didn’t even know Black Cat had a second floor venue, but I guess that’s where the larger shows take place. Unfortunately it comes at the expense of the nicer bar downstairs and the intimacy of the smaller room. Wild Flag is just too big to play that room, I guess, but the upstairs room just feels colder and less fun (that could also be because I was right below an a/c vent). ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“I thought about posting a picture of Rob Corddry instead, but I think we’d all much rather see Malin Åkerman. (Image used courtesy of Gage Skidmore)”] [/caption] Movies The Wrong Side of Town - Danielle’s parents were watching the tail end of this terrible wrestler movie. It was pretty awful, so I read a Batman comic instead of paying that much attention. ...

This is kind of old, but it’s still pretty good. The Civil Wars in a Tiny Desk Concert, folks. Enjoy!

NPR’s Alt Latino has revolutionized my music space and I love it. I get all kinds of acts that aren’t even mainstream in the Latino community, like Gaby Moreno, who has a stellar voice (she really flaunts it in the third song). Enjoy.

Yeah, this happened a looong time ago, but I only just heard it during NPR’s coverage of the Newport Folk Festival and I fell in love with The Civil Wars.

NPR does it again by turning me on to the funky sound that Raphael Saadiq effortlessly pumps into my eardrums. Enjoy.

I stopped listening to hip hop back in 2003. If you asked me then, I’d probably say that it stopped being any good around then. Reality probably aligns more closely with a teenage counter-culture attitude that started to manifest not long after I hit my Junior year of high school. I’m not complaining too much; I mean, I shifted into a pure alternative rock mindset and I exposed myself to solid music from the 90s and 00s, but here I had gone and cut myself off from an entire genre of music that I deemed too mainstream. ...

Thanks to last.fm, I can tell you what my personal favorite music of 2010 has been! Top 10 Artists of 2010 1. The Beatles (989 listens) The re-release of the entire catalog reinvigorated my love for The Beatles as I more thoroughly explored their catalog and loved songs I’d never realized were by the Fab Four. Heaping praise on The Beatles is almost ridiculous, so I’ll leave it at that. ...

Sean Lennon and his girlfriend Kemp Muhl are The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. I like their sound. Very cute and understated and he reminds me of John in a lot of great ways. I mean, that “Thank you very much” after “Jardin Du Luxembourg” had me thinking he was John for a second. Top marks to the second song they play, “Shroedinger’s Cat”. “Dark Matter” is pretty awesome too. These two will be in Arlington in January. Come see them with me. ...

At the age of 24 I fear that I’m approaching an age too old for going to the shows of bands I love. With that in mind, I’ve resolved to catch as many as I can over the next year or so before I become the creepy old guy in the back who can actually drink. Last night I went to see April Smith And The Great Picture Show, a fantastic band with a sharp 1920s and 1930s sound that I heard about on All Songs Considered on NPR. The moment I heard April’s powerful voice singing in the podcast I knew that I had to see her live. She did not disappoint. ...