The Awesomeness of NPR Music

I recently signed up for NPR music's email newsletters so they would send me their "song of the day" and updates from the show "All Songs Considered". Little did I know what I had stumbled upon. NPR is a hotbed of great music. I added a link to their site to the Useful Links area of the blog for this reason. "All Songs Considered" streams live concerts that you can listen to fully or download for free online. Some on the list include: Ra Ra Riot, Radiohead, Tom Waits, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and the Raconteurs. On May 11, I got to hear Animal Collective at the 9:30 club in DC. Dan Deacon will be streamed on the 17th. World Cafe is featuring TV on the Radio May 18. But, one of my favorite findings is the "Exclusive First Listen" series, where they let you hear an entire album before it is released. Most recently, they sent me an email to listen to an album "Dark Night of the Soul". This album is a collaborative effort among Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, and Director David Lynch. Artists featured on the album include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils. Everyone should give it a listen...I think it's great. Thanks NPR! And, what would a post about NPR be without mentioning to please consider giving to your local NPR station. It's money well spent.