It’s no surprise that we at Shore Fire are big fans of NPR but their website is getting bigger and better every day too! You can get lost for hours surfing their site… I mean I don’t, not at work at least. They just added this great new jazz blog A Blog Supreme and check out this cool video feature they did on the history of the boombox.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e84hf5aUmNA]

The corresponding radio piece is available here.

And if you have yet to discover Monitor Mix by Carrie Brownstein (yes Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney) it’s a must.

I love Black Sabbath just as much as the next guy… well maybe not as much as this guy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1faoreMaZQ]

P.S.: This is how Carrie Tolles was feeling inside as she snapped photos with My Morning Jacket members at the Morrison Hotel Gallery exhibit opening yesterday.

I had an awesome time at Coachella this past weekend. Way too much to get into detail (Its definitely possible to go back in time, do it all over again and see a completely different lineup of bands. So much to see!) so I decided to do a little awards list:

Loudest band: My Bloody Valentine. Though The Hold Steady had my ears ringing for a good 24 hours.
Band that should have been turned up to 11: Black Keys. Just not loud enough on that main stage.
Artists that made me dance the most: MIA
Artists that made me the saddest: The Cure. So that’s a job well done for them.
Band I had never heard but am now obsessed with: Dr. Dog, The Aggrolites
Best use of pyro: The Killers
Best hat: Conor Oberst

Best stage props: NASA

Best art instillation:

Best dressed: These guys

This morning as I waited on the subway platform for the A train at Hoyt and Schermerhorn Streets, I was distracted by a man singing at the top of his lungs (and out of tune) The Temptations’ ‘Ball of Confusion’ which presumably was playing through his headphones. What happened next I found both odd and beautiful. Another man, a total stranger to the lead singer, walked right up to the first man, gave him a pound, and finished singing the line. They went back and forth, line for line for a good minute before wishing each other a good day and walking off in different directions.

Was it the awesomeness of the song that made this odd event occur? Or was it the relevance of the song’s lyrics today that brought them together?

And the beat goes on.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BJOXopGW8g]

Diana Krall squeezed in a lot of activity in the last two days including a stunning performance taped for Letterman where she resembled Veronica Lake in a gorgeous black down (check it out this Friday, April 3rd) and a live performance on Regis & Kelly this morning.

But the highlight was definitely a free live performance with her amazing quartet of Anthony Wilson, Jeff Hamilton, and Robert Hurst and a 36 piece orchestra with Alan Broadbent conducting at the beautiful Winter Garden in the World Financial Center.

Check out this crowd! The police even had to turn people away.