Not at SXSW? Listen to the Shows from Your Computer

BuzzSugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:30:00 -0700

The sprawling South by Southwest festivals are in full swing in Austin this week, with the music portion of events kicking off today. Can't be there? Do what I'm doing and listen online, courtesy of the newly supercool NPR Music.

NPR is webcasting four concert programs from SXSW starting tonight. Tonight's lineup includes performances by Jonathan Rice and REM, while Thursday's all-day broadcast includes Yeasayer, Jens Lekman, and Vampire Weekend. Thursday night's program includes sets from Yo La Tengo and My Morning Jacket, and the program ends Friday with another afternoon lineup including The Weakerthans and The Whigs. In addition, some individual performances will be webcast by individual NPR stations, including She & Him's Friday afternoon show.

Some NPR stations will be carrying all or part of the lineup on the radio (go here to see if yours is one of them), but here's the best part: All of the NPR Music concerts will be archived, so you'll be able to listen to them -and, perhaps, even download them - anytime you want. Nothing like a little SXSW in your pocket, right?

Rock Out with NPR Music

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:28:18 -0800

Still think NPR's uncool? Wait till you see the new NPR music Web site, which just launched this week. I've long been a fan of NPR's All Songs Conisdered podcast, but this site takes that show's coolness to a whole new level.

Here are some of the many things I got sucked into on my tour through the site:

An extensive archive of live concerts - many of them available for download - from the past two years, including Lily Allen, the New Pornographers, Wilco, and Rilo Kiley.
Live streams from several of the more rockin' NPR stations, including Seattle's KEXP, as well as audio streams from classical, jazz, and blues programs.
A new music blog from Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney.
A ton of lists - who doesn't love a good list? - including five great new albums from Africa, 11 overlooked releases of 2006, the 40 worst lyricists in rock, Yo-Yo Ma's current playlist, and more.
Project Song, a venture in which a songwriter has two days to craft a tune from scratch. Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields was the first to take the challenge.
A convenient way to find all of NPR's musician interviews, music news, and reviews.

If only they could loop in Morning Becomes Eclectic from KCRW, I'd be a truly happy gal. But even without that, there's enough here to keep me (and my iPod) busy for months!

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