Stephen Thompson

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

Café Tacvba, Live In Concert: SXSW 2013

Stephen Thompson — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:03:00 +0000

A playful, electronics-infused Mexican rock band, Café Tacvba found itself in an unusual spot on the Stubb's stage at SXSW on March 13: namely, bookended by Nick Cave and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, both of whom roll around seductively in far seedier corners of rock 'n' roll.

Jason Molina, A Folksinger Who Embodied The Best Of The Blues, Has Died

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:07:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gBaolYCbyE

Baby Bands, Pop Stars And Room-Filling Joy: What To Expect At SXSW 2013

Stephen Thompson — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:50:00 +0000

Listen to Stephen Thompson's conversation with Audie Cornish on All Things Considered by clicking the audio link.

The South by Southwest music festival kicked off Tuesday with the first of five straight nights of music overload: The clubs, makeshift music venues and front porches of Austin, Texas, were overrun with little-known discoveries-in-waiting and big names alike, as well as tens of thousands of fans who have flocked to the city in search of epiphanies.

Finding a prevailing trend at SXSW isn't easy; the festival is like 50 events in one, so it's possible t

Sunday, 8 p.m. ET: Spend Grammy Night Staring At Screens With Us!

Stephen Thompson — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:49:00 +0000

With the conclusion of Sunday night's ceremony, Linda Holmes and I have now live-blogged fully one-eleventh of the Grammy Awards' 55 annual incarnations. Below is our original post and an archived live blog of the telecast:

For the fifth straight year, whether we're marveling at Taylor Swift's capacity for surprise or trying to figure out what to type during the combined 37 minutes of Bruno Mars performances, we're here to serve your reading-along needs.

Black Prairie: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:46:00 +0000

The charming roots-folk band Black Prairie got its start as an outlet for The Decemberists' Chris Funk and Nate Query, who wanted an outlet for some of their rootsy, mostly instrumental string-band wanderings.

Hail To The Chipmunks: A Holiday Classic Re-Revisited

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:22:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rnPHlOHb7g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ_9bL7i-Zs

Anaïs Mitchell: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Her voice is soft and sweet, her guitar work deft and evocative, but Anaïs Mitchell is a songwriting storyteller first and foremost. Robbed of a gift for melody and poetry, Mitchell would probably (and may yet) write some tremendous novels.

First Watch: Ben Sollee, 'Unfinished'

Stephen Thompson — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 17:03:00 +0000

Ben Sollee is a classically trained cellist whose forays into Americana have led him to work with Abigail Washburn, Bela Fleck and Daniel Martin Moore.

The Tallest Man On Earth, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2012

Stephen Thompson — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:15:00 +0000

Kristian Matsson, the smallish Swede who performs under the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth, sings, plays guitar and occasionally takes a turn at the piano. That's all there is to his act: no backing band, no frills. Heck, he barely needs amplification, given the volume at which he performs. But that right there — the gigantic force of his delivery, the percussive hyper-dexterity of his playing — is part of what makes him so magnetic on stage. On paper, he's just another poet strumming a guitar.

Beth Orton: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:03:00 +0000

English singer-songwriter Beth Orton is one of the best-known practitioners of a subgenre in which folk songs are set to electronic beats — it's a sound she employed to popular and powerful effect throughout the late '90s and early '00s, on hit albums such as Trailer Park, Central Reservation and Daybreaker.

Sara Watkins, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2012

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 21:48:00 +0000

Sara Watkins isn't the flashiest of singing stars, but she's already carved out a remarkable career: She got her start as a kid with Chris Thile and her brother Sean in the heavily decorated, platinum-selling Nickel Creek, and has since gone on to perform with The Decemberists, Ray

Spirit Family Reunion, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2012

Stephen Thompson — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 14:34:00 +0000

The last band to open for Levon Helm before his death earlier this year, Brooklyn's Spirit Family Reunion crafts a sweetly ramshackle Americana sound that's part secular gospel revival, part folk ramble.

First Aid Kit, Live In Concert: Newport Folk 2012

Stephen Thompson — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 21:28:00 +0000

The young Swedish sisters in First Aid Kit got their break when their cover of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" became a gigantic hit on YouTube, attracting three million views and many comparisons to, well, Fleet Foxes.

The Milk Carton Kids: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:52:00 +0000

The history of folk and pop music is littered with gorgeous intertwined voices: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Jayhawks' Mark Olson and Tom Jones performed at the NPR Music offices in 2009, it felt like an exercise in cruelty: His Tiny Desk Concert took a larger-than-life icon, a superstar for whom intimacy is implied but impossible on a huge stage, and shrunk him to where every bead of sweat could be seen. Young English folksinger Laura Marling, on the other hand, lives for that sort of intimacy.

Brandi Carlile: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:39:00 +0000

It's possible to place countless movies and TV shows within a very specific time frame based on whether they feature certain songs: Baja Men's "Who Let the Dogs Out," Smash Mouth's "All Star" and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home" all provide a form of pop-cultural carbon dating, as well as signifiers of a tone that's both specific and universal.

Kelly Hogan: Tiny Desk Concert

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:03:00 +0000

The reliable backup singer who seizes the spotlight is the stuff of entertainment-industry fairy tales, but Kelly Hogan hasn't actually had to labor in obscurity.

First Listen: Norah Jones, 'Little Broken Hearts'

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Audio for this feature is no longer available.

Norah Jones' debut album, 2002's Come Away With Me, sold so many copies — roughly 20 million worldwide, making it one of the best-selling records of the previous decade — that she's seemed fairly liberated ever since, especially once expectations of future blockbusters settled to something more realistic.

First Listen: Spiritualized, 'Sweet Heart Sweet Light'

Stephen Thompson — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Audio for this feature is no longer available.

For Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce (a.k.a. J. Spaceman), life is a swirl of ecstasy and impending collapse; of the intertwined hunger for divine redemption, human connection and hedonistic escape. His songs find him teetering on the brink of a fall from grace at all times, grateful to have been kept alive even as the abyss awaits.