Matthew Ryan @ IOTA Friday 3/12

It's been a busy past few weeks, and my posting has been erratic. But one of my favorite acts, the underappreciated Matthew Ryan, is at IOTA tomorrow, Friday, March 12th. Don't miss this wonderful gravelly-voiced singer-songwriter. Here's an old-school clip of him touring Germany back in 1998 performing one of my favorite tracks of his, "Chrome."

"32 Flavors" of Ani DiFranco

Apparently the idiosyncratic Ani DiFranco didn’t play my favorite song of hers, “32 Flavors,” at her recent 9:30 Club gig the other night. So here’s a gorgeous high-quality live version of the track from Sessions at West 54th back in 1997.

Broken Bells

Producer-extraordinaire Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, The Grey Album) has formed another strange collaboration, this time with James Mercer, lead singer of indie-poppers The Shins. For the most part, Broken Bells tracks are melodic with a laid-back vibe and stripped, low-key electro-beat grooves - perfect for chilling in the lounge. The new album will be streaming over on NPR here until its release March 9th. And yes, they’re a “real band,” performing live at SXSW March 17th.

New Marah

Some news from the Marah front. They claim the new album, Life is a Problem will be dropping June 1st. We'll believe that when we see it. In the meantime, another new song has been released, the sweet acoustic "Waiting for a Devil." Get it using the widget above, or on their website here. Maybe it's just me, but I kinda wanted some rollicking rock n' roll...

Jersey Shore Reaction

Hitler reacting to the new season of Jersey Shore not being filmed in New Jersey. This is actually pretty good.