Bob Boilen

Do You Have A Favorite Record Label?

Bob Boilen — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:51:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT5A3Ikosj4

Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:03:00 +0000

There's something endearing, old-timey and almost vaudevillian about Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale — even the way they bill themselves as "Buddy and Jim." Both veteran musicians are in love with country music in all its many forms and influences; their music incorporates the blues and bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and a good deal of craft.

Buddy Miller is the guitar player to hire if you're playing heartfelt, not-so-shiny country-rock songs.

First Watch: Gary Clark Jr., 'Numb'

Bob Boilen — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In the seven months since Gary Clark, Jr. released his major label debut, Blak and Blu, he's played for the President at the White House with Mick Jagger and blues legend B.B.

Ólafur Arnalds, Live In Concert

Bob Boilen — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:41:00 +0000

How can music be happy and sad at the same time? Listen to Olafur Arnalds and you'll hear it. Depending on your mood, the tone changes, and a song that may have been uplifting one day sounds like an elegy the next. It's spacious, undeniably beautiful work. Much of the music performed in this concert, recorded on April 18 at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City, is drawn from the Icelandic musician's recent album For Now I Am Winter.

Song Premiere: Sharon Jones' Explosive 'Retreat'

Bob Boilen — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:24:00 +0000
If this song had just the tubular bells at the top and then that Motown guitar riff, I'd have been hooked and happy. But then, along comes Sharon Jones, the brilliant, powerful soul singer, and the song explodes. "Retreat!" is the perfect marriage of singer, song and band. A lot has happened to Sharon Jones and Bushwick's brilliant professors of soul, the Dap-Kings, in the three years since they last recorded. They played the Apollo, the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House and SXSW.

First Watch: The Handsome Family, 'Woodpecker'

Bob Boilen — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000
The Handsome Family, the wife and husband duo of Rennie Sparks (vocals, bass and banjo) and Brett Sparks (vocals, guitar and keyboards), love telling stories, and they've been doing it in song for 20 years. A new album, Wilderness, is out May 14, and "Woodpecker," a song from the album, tells a fascinating tale about Mary Sweeney, who, in the 1890's, was known as the Wisconsin Window Smasher.

First Watch: Femi Kuti, 'The World Is Changing'

Bob Boilen — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:11:00 +0000
"'The World Is Changing' is groove with a message." That quote, a pretty good summary of the music of Femi Kuti in just nine words, comes from Juan Gélas, the creative director of a new video for Kuti's new song. Femi Kuti is a saxophonist, trumpeter, keyboard player and singer and songwriter. The son of legendary afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, he carries on the tradition of mixing Nigerian beats along with jazz and a healthy dose of politics.

Meet Until The Ribbon Breaks: Stark Music Paired With Enigmatic Images

Bob Boilen — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:40:00 +0000
Pete Lawrie Winfield makes music as Until The Ribbon Breaks, stark music with a good deep vibe; Massive Attack or James Blake would be good touchstones. Until The Ribbon Breaks doesn't have much music out yet, but "Pressure," a new song, has urgency. "'Pressure' was written at a time of upheaval and transition for me," Winfield writes. "I was sleeping at my studio and had no idea what I was going to do next.

Vampire Weekend On New York, Souls Of Mischief And The Secrets Of Its New Album

Bob Boilen — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:25:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weAsC-VTPw8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4xr2665JOk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mDxcDjg9P4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_AeEjN8Xvs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwaAEQcQE0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX46e4GtlXM

Father Figures: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:03:00 +0000
In a small, packed Washington, D.C., living room late one December night, I heard a cacophony of horns, keys, drums and guitars that simply floored me. It was brash, zany, brainy, scary and danceable. At the end of a long year of amazing live music, this would turn out to be one of the most memorable concerts I'd seen.
I walked up to Adam Schatz, the man behind the saxophone and chief instigator in Father Figures, and told him his band needed to play the Tiny Desk. How this music would translate to the brightness of day — to say nothing of a busy office — was hard to anticipate.