Delta Spirit live on KCRW

A few weeks ago I was hurredly walking down a crowded DC street at lunchhour when I got a ravingly excited phone call from my friend Bodie. Bodie had just seen new Rounder Records signees Delta Spirit the night before, opening for Matt Costa in Boulder, and was calling to yell at me with delight about how much he enjoyed their set.

The good-natured abuse reminded me of how Delta Spirit had turned in an enjoyable set on KCRW's Morning Become Eclectic last month. Read my previous mention to get to know this band with a growing buzz, then stream their excellent golden indie-country set here:

There is so much more to love than black and white :: Amos Lee on KCRW

I'm sitting in a hotel business center in San Francisco paying 49 cents a minute to hop online real quick using what sounds like dial-up. Awesome. The Noise Pop Festival and related blogger-nerd activities have been an absolute hit this weekend. There's been great energy in the crowds, some surprising new talent, an even waffles for free. Yes, free waffles at the Noise Pop Expo. Pretty sure it doesn't get much better than that.

While I process through some of the new music I've seen, here's what San Francisco makes me feel like singing. The newest live set added to my iPod is from Amos Lee, and it's one that I've been looking for on and off for over 2 years now. Every now and again I would half-heartedly click around on some sketchy torrent site looking for it, find questionable Romanian links, and eventually chicken out and not end up downloading anything. But I wholeheartedly and completely adore the gorgeous honesty in his voice and the stark, soulful way that it shines in a live setting, so when I finally found his set archived on the KCRW site I decided to take matters into my own mp3-ripping hands.

Amos Lee first popped on my radar in May of 2005 while I was travelling to Seattle for a conference. I went right out and bought his self-titled first album (out on Blue Note) and have fiercely loved it since. He's almost exactly my age, maybe one year older, and used to be a schoolteacher in Philadelphia for a time before he struck out with his musical career. For a relative newcomer, he's had some pretty impressive gigs opening for the likes of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, and John Prine. Incidentally, he does a beautifully sad cover of Prine's "Speed Of The Sound of Loneliness" that I truly love.

So it's been me and Amos' music for the travelling portion of this trip to the gorgeous city of San Francisco. Something in his songs makes it perfect for walking around some fresh downtown somewhere, or sitting just looking over the city.

AMOS LEE
LIVE ON KCRW, 3/25/05
Seen It All Before
Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight (watch him do this at Abbey Road)
Bottom Of The Barrel
Give It Up
Dreamin'
Colors
Supply and Demand
Arms of a Woman

ZIP: AMOS LEE ON KCRW

If you want to hear the interview portion, you can stream the whole show here. There was also a very interesting article about him and his 2006 sophomore album Supply and Demand in the NY Times.

M. Ward + Zooey Deschanel collaboration is near :: Four new songs from KCRW!

I'd heard last summer that my #1 artist from 2006 and the honey voiced starlet from Elf (among other projects) were collaborating on a full-length album, but it slipped from my radar for a bit there. Now look, we only have 2 more months to wait! M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel will be collaborating under the name She & Him with an album called Volume One (they are wildly creative in both namings) due out March 2008 on Merge Records.

Recently the duo stopped by the KCRW Open Road program to play several songs together. M. Ward has that humid, scratchy, atmospheric sound that balances out the velvety old-fashioned (sexy) croon of the delighful Ms. Deschanel. This is one highly anticipated album for me in 2008; I am hoping for a higher ratio of original compositions to covers, but I'll take whatever they deal. Listen:

M. WARD AND ZOOEY DESCHANEL
KCRW OPEN ROAD, JAN 2008
Change Is Hard
You Really Got A Hold On Me
Magic Trick
Sentimental Heart


ZIP UP M AND ZOOEY



I'm heading out the door now to see this guy tonight. I am hoping there will be some digeridooing. I'll keep you posted.

Supergrass: Acoustic on KCRW

When you think of Supergrass, it's probable that you think of ungainly muttonchop sideburns, music videos of them romping through a grassy park, and a lead singer who I find reminiscent of the lead flying monkey in the Wizard of Oz. The playful indie-rock quartet from Oxford stopped by the KCRW studios in September of 2004 to record some nice acoustic versions of songs from I Should Coco (1995), In It For The Money (1997) and Life on Other Planets (2003).

It's a harmonic, bright, and thoroughly enjoyable little set.

01. "Funniest Thing"
02. "Late In The Day"
03. "Seen The Light"
04. "Sun Hits The Sky"
05. "Caught By The Fuzz"
06. "Sitting Up Straight"

DOWNLOAD THE SUPERGRASS KCRW SET AS A ZIP FILE

We could live beside the ocean, leave the fire behind

Let's all move to Santa Monica. In addition to the sand and sea, they also have KCRW, which, for being a community college radio station, gets some huge talent and amazing performances on their live weekday AM show, Morning Becomes Eclectic. I added the podcast to my iPod and have been very pleased with the consistent quality and variety of the show.

Here is a sampling of my favorite performances over the years from the KCRW studios.

• Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight, Whiskeytown
• Never Is A Promise, Fiona Apple (man alive, her voice is gorgeous)
• Folk Singer, The White Stripes (Brendan Benson cover)
• The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, The Postal Service
• Eight Days a Week, Dandy Warhols (dreamy acoustic Beatles cover)
• Devil Got My Woman, Beck (honky tonk harmonica from America's favorite tiny hipster)

You can stream a number of live performances on their website, including stuff by Nada Surf, Broken Social Scene, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper, Arctic Monkeys, Jackie Greene, Supergrass, Teenage Fanclub, Keane, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Paul Weller, David Gray, and Sigur Ros. And I had to stop myself there. I could add about 50 more artists I like, just from looking at their list.

Sheck it out. You'll be on your computer for days. Don't blame me for any cricks.