Second Stage Twin Tigers: 'Red Fox Run' May 30, 2008 Athens, Georgia band Twin Tigers may have only been around a short time but they are already getting recognized as yet another great band to come out of the well-known music town. "Red Fox Run" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90993803/91007406" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
"Red Fox Run" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90993803/91007406" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
James Carter's Music in the Moment Fresh Air May 30, 2008 Saxophonist James Carter says he titled his new album Present Tense because "it captures where I am now." The album features Victor Lewis on drums, D. D. Jackson on piano and Dwight Adams on trumpet. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead offers a review. James Carter's Music in the Moment Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90988916/91001741" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
James Carter's Music in the Moment Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90988916/91001741" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Song Of The Day Minus the Bear Finds Humanity in 'Alien' May 30, 2008 Minus the Bear's mystifyingly titled "I'm Totally Not Down with Rob's Alien," from the newly remastered and reissued 2004 EP They Make Beer Commercials Like This, houses a gorgeous, warmly rendered reflection on alienation and the bliss of youthful solitude. 'I'm Totally Not Down with Rob's Alien' by Minus the Bear Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90987926/90988167" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'I'm Totally Not Down with Rob's Alien' by Minus the Bear Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90987926/90988167" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Second Stage The Slant: 'The Human Animal' May 29, 2008 The Slant 's sprawling album Old North crafts fully formed and concise songs rooted in folk and indie rock, colored with satisfying peaks of noise and distortion that leave the listening wanting more. The Human Animal Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90906229/90941091" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
The Human Animal Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90906229/90941091" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Second Stage Fields of Industry: 'Point of Contention' May 28, 2008 You won't hear any cymbal crashes, rumbling drum fills or guitar riffs on Fields of Industry's latest CD, Two Dogs, A Television. Though a number of tracks take cues from rock (the group often sounds like The Velvet Underground), it's an almost heartbreakingly spare album, steeped as much in folk and country as in shoegaze and psychedelia. Even on the more charged songs like "I'm Not Afraid of a Fight" and "Toybox," the only percussion heard is a gently rapped tambourine. "Point of Contention" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90909969/90909538" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
"Point of Contention" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90909969/90909538" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
On Turf Talk's 'West Coast,' Hyphy Grows Up May 28, 2008 On his sophomore album, West Coast Vaccine (The Cure), the Bay Area rapper transforms the boisterous, slang-obsessed hyphy style of hip-hop into a darkly reflective take on the genre's diverse past.
Song Of The Day Ghostly and Ethereal, Bon Iver Finds Catharsis May 28, 2008 As dark as it gets, "Skinny Love," with its unforgettable steel-guitar hook, is too gorgeous to function as a true downer. Shout-along fodder for melancholy late-night drives, it announces Bon Iver as a budding powerhouse, not so much promising as fully formed. Skinny Love Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18331318/18164282" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Skinny Love Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/18331318/18164282" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Second Stage The M's: 'Pigs Fly' May 27, 2008 Chicago-based psych pop group The M's open their latest album, Real Close Ones with the aptly named "Big Sound," a thundering track with gritty guitars, rumbling bass, blaring horns and distorted vocals. It's an immediately catchy kick-off to a sonically ambitious collection of songs that channel classic T. Rex, with the more experimental sounds of Olivia Tremor Control or Elf Power. "Pigs Fly" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90866881/90867021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
"Pigs Fly" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90866881/90867021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Song Of The Day The Semi Colon Serves Up a 'Nigeria Special' May 27, 2008 As The Semi Colon's "Nekwaha Semi Colon" progresses, the group's chanted, Fela Kuti-esque vocals elbow through a Cuban-tinged 4/4 Afro-pop beat, while an acid-blues guitar smacks them all with licks straight out of the Haight-Ashbury underground. Nekwaha Semi Colon [Igbo] Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90848307/90845362" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Nekwaha Semi Colon [Igbo] Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90848307/90845362" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
In a Soulful Return, Al Green Lays It Down May 27, 2008 Lizzy Goodman from Blender magazine discusses the week's new album releases, including a spectacular soul record from Al Green. Also discussed: new discs from Usher, Spiritualized, Cyndi Lauper and more. In a Soulful Return, Al Green Lays It Down Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90840260/90840206" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
In a Soulful Return, Al Green Lays It Down Listen Toggle more options Download Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90840260/90840206" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
World Cafe Eli 'Paperboy' Reed Delivers Soul XPN May 26, 2008 Blue-eyed soul virtuoso Eli "Paperboy" Reed may have grown up in Massachusetts, but he conveys the heart-wrenching emotion of Southern predecessors such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. Am I Wasting My Time Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90850355/90828758" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Am I Wasting My Time Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90850355/90828758" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Song Of The Day Shearwater's 'Rooks' a Chiming Pop Charmer May 23, 2008 The band's new album is dark and graceful, intermittently rocking, and uniformly excellent, making it an ideal showpiece for a band five albums into its career, yet still largely unknown on a grand scale. Best of all is the sort-of title track "Rooks." Century Eyes Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90740088/90742250" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Century Eyes Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90740088/90742250" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Second Stage Mt. Wilson Repeater: 'Out Country Way' May 22, 2008 The music of Mt. Wilson repeater sounds like it's about to swerve off a cliff. The songs lurch drunkenly into the night with rambling, off-kilter rhythms, glitchy digital textures and the occasional, dizzying slide guitar. The band says it sounds like "chimps smashing laptops for birthday cake." Whatever that means, it all makes for some delicious ear-candy on the band's self-titled debut album, out now on Eastern Fiction records. "Out Country Way" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90734437/90742930" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
"Out Country Way" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90734437/90742930" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Song Of The Day Nada Surf: Five Minutes of Feeling Good May 22, 2008 Nada Surf singer Matthew Caws has one of the kindest voices in rock, but "See These Bones" finds the band opting to dispense its feel-goodery through a heart-swelling arrangement that builds power as it progresses through five glorious minutes. See These Bones Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17988379/17973892" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
See These Bones Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/17988379/17973892" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Second Stage Nick Jaina: 'Bicycle' May 21, 2008 While Nick Jaina's previous release, The 7 Stations was a jangly folk-pop record, his new album, Wool is a more foreboding collection of acoustic songs that seem to drift in on the ether. They crackle and buzz with haunting undertones made of bowed cymbals and resonating bells. It's a beautiful mix Jaina says is best listened to while drifting off to sleep. "Turn on some white noise, like a humidifier. Don't feel bad if you fall asleep before it's over." "Bicycle" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90685685/90697374" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
"Bicycle" Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/90685685/90697374" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">