NPR: All Songs Considered: Episode 51

From December 08, 2003:

Archived Show: Episode 51

Listen to the entire show

Featured: Youngblood Brass Band

Ethiopian roots music: Abyssinia Infinite
Clarinetist Aker Bilk and Van Morrison
A singing cat from The Weakerthans
San Francisco chanteuse Noe Venable
Stephin Merritt's Magnetic Fields
The Neil Young-inspired Sun Kil Moon

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Not your average brass band, this Wisconsin-based group mixes brash acoustic horns with rap, dj effects and Afro-Brazilian rhythms.

Featured: Youngblood Brass Band

CD: Center: Level: Roar
Song: "Diaspora"
Label: Ozone Music

Listen to "Diaspora"

Watch the slideshow (Requires Real Player)

Visit the official Youngblood Brass Band Web site.

Abyssinia Infinite make experimental Ethiopian music, with the mellifluous voice of Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw, one of Africa's most accomplished young artists.

Abyssinia Infinite

CD: Zion Roots
Song: "Embe Ashafergne"
Label: Network

Listen to "Embe Ashafergne"

On his debut release for the Blue Note label, Van Morrison mixes classic pop with jazz, Celtic swing and Rhythm and Blues.

Van Morrison

CD: What's Wrong With This Picture
Song: "Somerset"
Label: Blue Note

Listen to "Somerset"

This is a song sung from the point of view of a cat trying to cheer up his owner.

The Weakerthans

CD: Reconstruction Site
Song: "Plea From a Cat Named Virtue"
Label: Epitaph

Listen to "Plea From a Cat Named Virtue"

Visit the official Weakerthans Web site.

Noe Venable is part Tori Amos, part lounge singer with a touch of Kate Bush and sampled, polyphonic rhythms.

Noe Venable

CD: The World Is Bound By Secret Knots
Song: "Juniper"
Label: Petridish

Listen to "Juniper"

Visit the official Noe Venable Web site.

Stephin Merrit is involved in several music projects, including the Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, and this group, the Magnetic Fields, which provided most of the soundtrack for the film "Pieces of April."

The Magnetic Fields

CD: Pieces of April (Soundtrack)
Song: "Dreams Anymore"
Label: Nonesuch

Listen to "Dreams Anymore"

If you're a fan of Neil Young's work with Crazy Horse, you'll probably like this debut album from Sun Kil Moon - a collection of often melancholy, elegant dirges.

Sun Kil Moon

CD: Ghosts of the Great Highway
Song: "Salvador Sanchez"
Label: Jetset Records

Listen to "Salvador Sanchez"

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