Ani Difrancro Live

Ani Difranco's new live solo album, Carnegie Hall 4.6.02, is coming out Tuesday. My wife and I saw Ani in April of last year and she was amazing - I don't know how so much sound comes out of such a little person. Three free tracks from her new album are available here, including the best version of 2 Little Girls I've heard.

Moo

Two years ago I ended my stint as a freelance writer for the Charleston City Paper by attempting a comic strip. As you can see below, it was a failed attempt.

Blogger Web Comments

Google has some handy new Firefox extensions, one of which is Blogger Web Comments (BETA), which lets you know what bloggers are saying about any URL you hit. It seems to work well, but you're not going to want it on all the time. You can download it here.

41 Hours at Wal-Mart

Okay, so my Wal-Mart experience from a few days ago can't compare with this - in the name of research, a college student by the name of Skyler Bartels (cool name) lived 41 hours in a Wal-Mart Supercenter. I was about to pull my hair out after one hour, and Skyler put up with it for almost two days. The kid's made of iron. Full Story

Danielson Famile

One of the most interesting/odd/annoying/addictive bands you'll ever hear is the Danielson Famile. A new album is on the way (one track is available on the Danielson web site), and a documentary about the band/family is soon to be released.

You can find a few more Danielson Famile MP3s on the Paste Magazine downloads page.

Ray LaMontagne

Last night on American Idol (it's like a train wreck that I have to watch), Taylor Hicks covered Trouble, a great Ray LaMontagne song. To download a live version of Trouble and two other tracks, click here.

Paste Magazine, Issue 21

The new issue of Paste Magazine is out and - after one listen - the compilation CD seems solid (see track listing below). I'll listen a few more times and offer some additional feedback later this week, but I can say now that track 12 by Sonya Kitchell is impressive, considering she's only seventeen and sounds like she's been singing blues/soul/folk for decades.

01. conventional wisdom (edit) Built To Spill
02. fraud in the 80’s Mates of State
03. hunger Nicolai Dunger
04. help me, suzanne Rhett Miller
05. yeah! The Golden Dogs
06. cheap guitar Richard Julian
07. skeleton key Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s
08. roly poly The Little Willies
09. h gang (edit) Donald Fagen
10. day like any Amy LaVere
11. oh my Mellowdrone
12. let me go Sonya Kitchell
13. emily, please Luke Doucet
14. anna Ellery
15. liza Wrinkle Neck Mules
16. one man wrecking machine Guster
17. let me in Garrison Starr
18. one more day The Wood Brothers
19. liquid Umphrey’s McGee
20. bread Stone Jack Jones
21. i should get up Teddy Thompson
22. change my night Feathermerchants