Bob Boilen

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.

The Beach Boys In Concert

Bob Boilen — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:23:00 +0000
Back in early May, I went to the Beacon Theatre in New York City to see The Beach Boys' 50th-anniversary tour. I expected a decent show, but it was so much more than that: It was breathtaking.
Nobody owns harmonies in rock music like The Beach Boys, and all these years later, the band is doing it without brothers Dennis or Carl Wilson. (Brian Wilson is the only remaining brother from the original lineup.) Brian's arrangements remain one of two secret weapons that still make this all work brilliantly well.

Daniel Johnston: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:03:00 +0000
Daniel Johnston is a troubled soul with a talent for writing honest, disarmingly direct songs. Kurt Cobain famously wore a T-shirt with the title of a Johnston cassette on it, while Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips ranks among his many musical admirers. M.

Old Music Tuesday: Ziggy Stardust Turns 40

Bob Boilen — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:29:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8sdsW93ThQ

Song Premiere: Patti Smith 'Fuji-san'

Bob Boilen — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:31:00 +0000
When an old musical "friend" puts out a record, I secretly pray for greatness, as if rooting for a favorite team. These later records often pale in comparison to their early predecessors, but still I listen and try to find something I love.
Banga, the new album by Patti Smith, isn't feeling like the usual. The record has the urgency and imagery that drew me to Horses when I first heard it in 1976.

Watch Neil Young's 'Americana' Film

Bob Boilen — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:44:00 +0000
Neil Young and Crazy Horse have a new record coming out Tuesday. Americana is blistering guitar romp through the classic American songbook, from the 1800s to doo-wop and beyond. Well today we we have a 40 minute film created by Bernard Shakey (Young's alias) filled with the music from Americana.
Shot in silent-film style just a few weeks ago at the Southern California gallery of graphic designer/illustrator Shepard Fairey, the film stars Young as an author who visits an art gallery in hopes of finding illustrations for his new book about great American songs.

Old Music Tuesday: Paul McCartney's 'Ram'

Bob Boilen — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:54:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqlGez8bG40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGaY-fyZl5M