Stephen Thompson

First Listen Live: Queens Of The Stone Age, '...Like Clockwork'

Stephen Thompson — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:41:00 +0000

Queens of the Stone Age's first album in six years follows an unusually chaotic stretch for the band: Lineup and label changes, frontman Josh Homme's lengthy stint in the hit supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and what Homme calls "a manic year" all inform the brooding, stormy sound of ...Like Clockwork.

We Get Mail: Can You Build The Perfect Cover Song?

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:28:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiH6Dtwz-aU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQJaXwGPlg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8HOfcYWZoo

We Get Mail: How Can A Vinyl Lover Start Over From Scratch?

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

We get a lot of mail at NPR Music, and amid the ironic promotional cassingles is a slew of smart questions about how music fits into our lives — and, this week, how a regretful fan of vinyl records can re-create her discarded collection.

Kirsten Elbourne Mathieson writes: "I'm big-time regretting getting rid of all of my record albums years ago. Any advice for someone starting from scratch with vinyl after all these years?

Cayucas: Sunlight In Song Form

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:37:00 +0000
If you've ever been poolside on a hot day, you know what it's like to have your senses bombarded with leisure; to feel the sun radiating and shimmering off everything around you. Watch the first few moments of this Field Recording, with its bobbing inner tubes and lounging vacationers, and you can practically smell the spots where chlorine meets concrete. We filmed the band late one morning at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs — a setting that also produced an eager dancer, assorted rubberneckers and one particularly agreeable dog.

We Get Mail: What To Do When You've Burned Out On Your Favorite Music

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:09:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MMXjunSx80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBw777jRqbM

We Get Mail: Should Parents Try To Get Their Kids Into Great Music?

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:17:00 +0000

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

Jittery Jams: 10 Songs For Coffee Lovers

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:52:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb5qqoQgPlk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVGXcjM9SOQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUx5z9O2ZGk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WfQN_M1pQc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZk2LYsBIi8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRxS7Q64xUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFURd_EOIuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzMS_YrgFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk_wVO7NBMQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oqXVx3sBOk

We Get Mail: Do CD Hoarders Need An Intervention?

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:37:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=karPYs22ACc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXWbMu4PtpE

We Get Mail: When Someone You Love Likes Music You Hate, What Do You Do?

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:48:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3kYzkbZPto

Harvey Danger's Sean Nelson Returns With A Plea To 'Make Good Choices'

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000
There'd be nothing wrong with "one-hit wonder" status if the term didn't suggest some sort of creative limitation; if people didn't assume that one hit means only one good song. But for Sean Nelson and Harvey Danger, the 1998 smash "Flagpole Sitta" has had a way of overshadowing the superior but less widely heard material that followed.