My New Favorite Show & TV On The Radio

In case you missed it, MSNBC premiered The Rachel Maddow Show this past Monday (9 p.m. ET weekdays). I can think of no one that I would rather have a show. She is tough, intelligent, witty, and best of all, unashamed to be a liberal. Wonky and wonderful. The thing I absolutely love about Rachel is that she will stand up to anyone, and she has the intelligence and insight to more than hold her own.

I have been a fan since the inception of Air America Radio when she co-hosted Unfiltered along with comedian Liz Winstead, and Public Enemy's Chuck D. Every Friday, they would devote some time to the discussion of music. They would choose songs to play and discuss or host musicians and bands. Their show was my first introduction to TV On The Radio. I was familiar with the band only by name. Fast-forward to today. I am counting down the days until the latest TV On The Radio record, Dear Science, drops on September 23. TVOTR has been at the forefront of indie music since they burst onto the scene earlier this decade. They defy boundaries mixing elements of jazz, a cappella, and fuzz rock to name just a few. Most impressively, the are able to replicate their sounds live. Below are two tracks; the first, "Wolf Like Me," is one of the standout tracks from the bands second album, Return to Cookie Mountain and the second, "DLZ," is one my favorites from the upcoming album.

Wolf Like Me (mp3)

DLZ (mp3)

Website | MySpace

Okkervil River's "The Stand-Ins" Out Today

Okkervil River landed on a lot of year end lists last years with The Stage Names. Today, Will Sheff and crew release The Stand Ins, a record mean to append the The Stage Names. It is Sheff again at the top of his game as a singer-songwriter and another beautiul offering by one of today's best bands.

Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979 (mp3)

Website | MySpace

One of the really cool things the band did in the run up to the release was to solicit other musicians to perform the songs and submit videos which have been posted on the Okkervil River YouTube Channel. I hope you enjoy one of my favorites, "Blue Tulip" peformed by Bon Iver.

Catching Up

Funny how things go. I had been in a real funk as far as new music goes (and really busy) so I really haven't bothered posting anything in a long time. Then, a few weeks ago I noticed that more recent and new stuff was getting queued up quite regularly. So I figured it was about time to jump back into this. Here are a couple of tracks from recent releases that I've been digging.

Albert Hammond, Jr. released his sophomore record, ¿Cómo Te Llama? in July. It is every bit as good as The Strokes in my opinion.

GfC (mp3)

Website | MySpace


Muy Cansado! I'll be honest, I don't really know a lot about this Massachusetts trio. Their debut album, Stars & Garters, showed up in my mailbox a month or so ago, and I finally got around to giving it a spin. However, I can say that it is an exciting and impressive debut of driving rock filled with hook after hook. Personally, I hear a lot of different influences, but you really should judge for yourself.

Telemundo (mp3)

Website | MySpace