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  • Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    Randy Newman was the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. He performed "Losing You," off his latest Nonesuch release, Songbook Vol. 2, which Fallon calls "a beautiful record." Prefix says the new album's "reinterpretations of his classic works offer a chance to hear his material with fresh ears," and the Late Night "performance demonstrates Newman’s famous way with words, but it also shows what an affecting singer he can be." Watch it here, along with a web-exclusive performance of "Short People."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Video, Web, Television
  • Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    k.d. lang will appear on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS tonight to discuss Sing it Loud, her new album with the Siss Boom Bang. "Refusing to be labeled," says the show, "k.d. lang has used her expressive voice to build an impressive music career across genres." lang and the band recently performed songs from the new album before a live audience in an intimate set broadcast on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic yesterday; you can now watch it in full online.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews, Television
  • Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    Chris Thile and Michael Daves are in the midst of their US tour, performing songs from their debut album, Sleep with One Eye Open. The Daily Telegraph gives the album four stars, calling Thile and Daves "a fine vocal duo ... but even more astonishing is their instrumental virtuosity." The Sunday Herald says that "whether they’re working their fingers to the bone or singing their hearts out, this is music of wonderful vitality." Birmingham says "the duo captures the vigorous vibe of the bluegrass jams that originally drew them together and the raucous nature of lives that often inspire such tunes."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, Reviews
  • Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    The Austin City Limits Festival has announced the complete line-up for the 10th anniversary edition of the three-day festival to be held in Austin's Zilker Park this September, and, says BlackBook, "Austin's just showing off now." Among the performers: Randy Newman and Wanda Jackson. Austin 360 includes Newman among the festival's best "gets," placing him at no. 3, just after Stevie Wonder and Kanye West. The Wall Street Journal calls Jackson's new album "one of this year's unexpected treats."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News
  • Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    The Low Anthem performs Phosphorescent's "The Mermaid Parade" in the latest episode of The Voice Project, a non-profit organization that supports women of war-torn Northern Uganda. Watch it here. The band was recorded moments before they played a concert at Boston's Old South Church at which they hit "a high note," said the Boston Globe, with "a galvanizing 90-minute performance that was masterful and even magical at times."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Video
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    Randy Newman performs "Losing You," off his new album, Songbook Vol. 2., on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC. The Observer says: "'Losing You' is a reminder of what a poignant musician Newman can be. Since his self-titled debut in 1968 he has remained in the highest rank of American lyricists, alongside Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell." Songbook is "a reminder of his singular gifts and enviable longevity."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews, Television
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    The celebration of Kate McGarrigle's music continued for a second night at New York's Town Hall on Friday. The New York Times says her "extended musical family and a quietly magnificent catalog" were both featured. She "wrote 20th-century parlor songs: folksy-sounding, latter-day descendants of Stephen Foster tunes, hymns, waltzes and popular arias ... bold and sophisticated, musically and emotionally." Rolling Stone calls the concert "an extraordinarily moving night of music." Entertainment Weekly says: "In spite of the sobering loss, the audience received firsthand evidence that the loving wit Kate personified still lives on through her family."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang recently performed songs from their new album, Sing it Loud, before a live audience at Apogee's Berkeley St. Studios in Santa Monica, California. The intimate set will be broadcast on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic this morning, along with what KCRW calls "a revealing interview" with the event's host, Anne Litt, starting at 11:15 AM PT. lang and the band launch their spring and summer tour exactly two weeks from today in the UK.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    Donnacha Dennehy's Nonesuch debut album, Grá agus Bás, is "a serious exploration of an Irish folk-music idiom, teased out into a range of fresh sounds," says the Washington Post, which describes the title piece as "an ecstatic vision set in a dreamscape of sound" and says Dawn Upshaw, featured on the song cycle That the Night Come, "has another winner here."Audiophile Audition gives the album four-and-a-half stars, calling it "an absolutely mesmerizing introduction" to Dennehy's music. "This music is nearly impossible to describe. You simply must experience it ..."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    Kronos Quartet was in Glasgow, Scotland, this past weekend for Kronos in Glasgow, a mini-festival in which Kronos was joined by special guest collaborators, hand-picked by the Quartet, for an international program of events taking place all weekend across Glasgow's Concert Halls. The Herald Scotland gives a perfect five stars to Friday's main Kronos concert in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which featured "Reich's remarkable multi-layered response to 9/11." STV calls the concert "a triumph ... nothing less than entrancing and massively entertaining from start to finish."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, Reviews
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    Wanda Jackson helped kick off the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's new exhibit, Women Who Rock, in a performance at the Museum's annual spring benefit concert on Saturday. "Jackson got the party started with a feisty set," says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. WEWS calls the concert "a smash hit." Jackson's set was "perfect" and "the exhibit is a must-see," says Huffington Post. "She is called the 'Queen of Rockabilly' but that tag isn't big enough for her pivotal role in music history and in the exhibit."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews
  • Monday, May 16, 2011

    Strange Powers, the documentary that offers an intimate portrait of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, is now available on DVD. Special features include previously unreleased deleted scenes of the band in the studio, on tour, and backstage; official music videos; the official film trailer; and a commentary track with Merritt and band member Claudia Gonson. The New York Daily News gives the film four stars, calling Merritt "one of the greatest American songwriters to emerge in the last two decades."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Film