Avett Brothers new album is a First Listen!!

until Sept. 12 . . . listen now!  You can also listen to Cat Power's new one (SO excited for this!) and Animal Collective's until this Sunday the 4th.

A quick peek into the music I'm loving right now:

• "This Head I Hold" by Electric Guest
• "I Know Places" from Lykke Li's new one Wounded Rhymes
• "The House that Heaven Built" by Japandroids
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
• "Sixteen Saltines" and "Love Interruption" from Jack White's new one. Not so much the other ones on this disk though. Anyone else listen to this one yet?
• Found this great pianist Nils Frahm, really like his whole entire album Felt.
• The Antlers new Undersea EP

Anyone else find anything great? Beck likes the Japandroids' one and still really loves Kishi Bashi!

First Listen: Glen Hansard's new one

Seems like I never get to this site before they take all the cool albums down, so I thought I'd let you know they're featuring Glen Hansard's new album, Rhythm and Repose right now. He's the guy from the movie Once, and then he was the Still Frames (pretty sure that was the name).

Fiona Apple's new albums up there too, but I have a feeling I'm the only one into that ;). She's got some great, simple, really soulful tracks on there.

 I'm also really loving this new guy Kishi Bashi, a violinist who does some cool things with loops. Here's his Tiny Desk Concert:


And I really love this new song by Regina Spektor, "All the Rowboats".



Well, all I got right now is music from All Songs Considered, so sorry Mike if you already knew about all these! Hope you guys are finding great music out there!

Rome

The new Danger Mouse project Rome is available on NPR First Listen. Rome combines him with the talents of Italian composer Daniele Luppi, Jack White and Norah Jones. I have two of the singles on vinyl (Two Against One, Black) that were released for Record Store Day, and they are great. I'm going to wear it out.

It's only about 35 mins. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin.

Which brings me to Jack's band-mate in The Deadweather, Alison Mosshart. The Kills have a new album out Blood Pressures. Jamie Hince and Alison, or "Hotel" and "W" as there known to there fans, put together another great album. How they can get so much from two people, a guitar and a drum machine, I'll never know. The most impressive thing is how captivating they are live. I caught them at the 9:30 Club a few weeks ago. One of the best sets I've ever seen. "Hotel" might be the coolest guy ever, combine with "W's" never ending sexuality, there stage presence could best be described as salacious. You'd have to use a chainsaw to cut the tension.

Here they are on Leno the other night. My apologizes to Chris, I couldn't cut Hines Ward out of the video. It also looks like they're on Last Call tonight.

The Kills - "You Don't Own the Road"

I've been busy seeing shows. Stay tuned for more.

The Head and the Heart

I know I always start out by saying, "I heard this on my awesome radio station . . .", but what can I say, I heard this on my awesome radio station.

The music director, Danny Preston, runs the morning show and always starts the day (6am) with what he calls "acoustic alarmclock." This past Tuesday was an excellent one, starting off with an awesome version of "The Cape" (that song Matt used in his wedding toast) by Eric Bibb, followed by "Rivers and Roads" by what he called, "a hot new band out of Seattle", The Head and the Heart.

I loved the song immediately, and it kept growing on me. I thought of Mike by about the second chorus, because if you're still into your "low and slow" thing, I really think you'll love this. And then I thought Chris might like it too, and then, of course, I thought of you all, 'cause of the line, "my family lives in a different state"  . . . and "I miss your face like hell". Let me know what you think (video clip below).

Missing you all like hell,
Jen

Gomez: new album soon, free download now

I got Gomez' last album, "A New Tide" on a whim, I just had this feeling I'd like the whole album (I rarely buy entire albums anymore unless I already know and love the band . . .  thanks for that bad habit iTunes . . .) Anyway, I did love it. And surprisingly, so did Matt. The album has variety and yet a steady driving, pick-me-up beat. It's a little poppy, with a little jammy mixed in for good measure. It's unexpected (who sings about an airstream driver?), and fun. And more than anything, completely full of melodies I wanted to hear over and over. I'm still listening to and enjoying it.

So I was excited to hear Gomez will release a new album in June, and even better, they're letting you download a free single from their website (or you can just fill out the form below to download it).

Cheers,
Jen.

My 90's roots are showing!

I know it says Matt posted this, but it's really Jen.

I love love love music. Tonight I got a second to explore a little bit. Here are some developments I'm excited about!

1) REM's new album is being hailed as their greatest since the 90's. You can also listen to it @ First Listen until it's release on March 8. So, REM was the very first band I ever truly fell in love with. I stayed up all night at a friend's sleepover watching MTV just so I could see their "Losing My Religion" video again and again (I grew up without the benefit of cable TV). It was the very first album I ever purchased, the one my dad heard from the next room and came over to say, "what the hell is this?" Their Monster tour was also the very first concert I ever attended. I've loved them so much I've actually enjoyed their past 5 or so releases that most critics have dismissed, but this album is definitely a return to their sounds of the 80's and 90's. Can. not. wait.

2) continuing on the 90's theme, did anyone notice that Trent Reznor, of NIN fame won an oscar the other night? Wow. That was so weird. Does that mean he's gone mainstream?

3) Brett Dennen. This actually has nothing to do with the 90's, but my awesome radio station had been playing his new single "Sydney (I'll Come Running)" from his album Loverboy (2b released April 12) and I LOVE it! So, about 2 months ago Matt and I are sitting in a coffe shop, and this song comes on (not "sydney", another one) and we both look at each other because we think we should know the song but we don't, it just sounds familiar. So I google, and it's Brett Dennen, who we know but we don't, if you know what I mean. We figure out that we do know his "Heaven" song from his last album Hope for the Hopeless, which is kinda pretty and maybe a little folksy. But this "Sidney" song is just fun. Much more rock and . . . I don't know, you know those songs that are great to drive to, and put a smile on your face? like that.

Toodles,

Jen

TV on the Radio's new album drops April 12th and they just released their tour schedule. Would like to try to make it to Cville or Bmore. Considering the limited number of stops i'm a little surprised that they are coming to Cville, but happy none-the-less. Mike, April 26 they'll be in Denver. Here is the tour schedule.

4/08/11 - Electric Factory (Philadelphia, PA)
4/09/11 - Jefferson Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)
4/10/11 - Rams Head (Baltimore, MD)
4/16/11 - House of Blues (Boston, MA)
4/17/11 - Metropolis (Montreal, QC)
4/18/11 - Sound Academy (Toronto, ON)
4/20/11 - St. Andrews Hall (Detroit, MI)
4/23/11 - First Ave. (Minneapolis, MN)
4/24/11 - First Ave. (Minneapolis, MN)
4/26/11 - Ogden Theatre (Denver, CO)
5/02/11 - 4th and B (San Diego, CA)