Picks Of The Week: The 88 & Avalanche City
Super quick double recommend this week to make up for last week – April is a very busy time in TV land! Now in case you haven’t noticed, I’m fond of albums. Singles & EPs I have no love for. They’re at best too short to get an idea what a band is all about...
Pick Of The Week: The Shins “Port Of Morrow”
Dear James Mercer, you really are a terrible boyfriend. You’ve spent five years away from the Shins, philandering openly with Dangermouse on the Broken Bells project, which although lovely didn’t quite utilize your songwriting talents, did it? And now you bring us a new album and I suppose you’d like to be back in our...
Pick Of The Week: Delta Spirit
Yes, this recommend is a few days behind schedule. But I did not receive this album until today so it all worked out for the best! I’m already a big Delta Spirit fan, so I’m not sure why it was not on my doorstep the day of release, but I’m just happy I have it...
Pick Of The Week: She Keeps Bees “Dig On”
I liked this record when it came out last year but as time has passed I have become slightly obsessed with it so it’s definitely due for a mention. Just imagine if The Black Keys were fronted by a woman, or if Cat Power became a power rocker. You’d like that, right? It’s only $9...
Pick Of The Week: Yellow Ostrich
Singer-guitarist Alex Schaaf takes his work into expanded territory on Yellow Ostrich’s second album, Strange Land. His first album was a bedroom project but now with a complete band there’s new instrumentation and a much bigger sound that comes from touring everywhere in the last year. Its still quirky, lovable, dynamic, fresh-sounding, and well worth...
Internet Talk Radio Interview
Who knew there was an internet radio show devoted to Castle, and more specifically, the lovely Stana Katic? Well there is, and as Castle’s music supervisor, the show hosts Pam and Sheryl deemed me worthy of an interview. They were totally cool and we had a fun time talking about Castle, music, music supervising, and...
Pick Of The Week: “New Multitudes” by Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames
You had me at “Jay Farrar” … but feel free to throw in two of my other favorite songwriters of all time, Will Johnson from Centro-matic and Anders Parker from Varnaline. And just in case anyone still needs convincing, toss in Yim Yames aka Jim James from My Morning Jacket, because then this record is...
Pick Of The Week: Lambchop “Mr. M”
Lambchop is an odd band, they’ll be the first to tell you. And its not for everyone. There’s not space on this blog to properly explain their quirky sound and outsider path to success but you can read all about it on AllMusic.com. They rarely (never?) misstep, so all their releases are recommended but the...
Pick Of The Week: Heartless Bastards
There’s no lack of buzz on this release and well deserved. I love Erika Wennerstrom’s vocals, her songwriting, her emotion, the production (by Jim Eno of Spoon), the way the record builds from a whisper to a wail, and I don’t know why there is a buffalo on the artwork but I love that too....
Valentine’s Day Playlist
The romantic and sexy editors over at the new Reign magazine asked me to come up with ten songs to make you swoon on Valentine’s Day, it’s a varied list from Billie Holiday to Wilco to James Vincent McMorrow, here you go! Ten Songs To Make You Swoon
Pick Of The Week: Dr. Dog
We love Dr. Dog! Each of their last several albums has reached a little bit in a new direction, their songwriting craft is in peak form, they’re loose and fun without being sloppy or lame. They love their pop melodies and harmonies just as much as their raw vibe and fuzzy guitars, and it all...
Louis Armstrong Sighted On Castle
Even though I’m die-hard indie rock girl, 40s and 50s jazz is a secret passion of mine so working on this episode was quite a thrill! It was fun (and nerve-wracking) to try to find the right Louis Armstrong recording that matched the era as well as the band members we would have on-stage. Kudos...