Music & More

One of the best things about music as compared to other forms of artistic expression is that it has that unique ability to completely knock you off your feet and form a direct connection to the brain without the conscious mind being able to predict, control or explain it. And in some extraordinary cases, the experience gets better with repetition. From the first couple of times I heard Melody Gardot play live, I knew that she was good, but neither of those performances nor her excellent first release, the EP Some Lessons (2005) could have prepared me for what was in store on her first full length CD, Worrisome Heart (2006) , released on Tuesday November 7th. The first clue came on Monday August 7, 2006, when Melody played a date at a small Philadephia jazz club called Ortlieb's Jazzhaus with an exceptional jazz band mixing songs from Worrisome Heart with some killer covers and despite her physical limitations, Melody did three stunning sets running past midnight and the magic of...

It's over! WXPN 's countdown of the 885 Greatest Artists of all time as voted by the xpn community ended at 7pm Monday October 23rd with the final entry, #1 - THE BEATLES . The only thing better than listening to the countdown was simultaneously listening while reading and participating in the xpn discussion boards . The thread with the most fun was the running commentary on the Comment on Current Artist thread. Also check out xpn's staff and artist picks , and xpn's music blog . My picks w/full discussion are here . Coverage of the first three days of the countdown can be found here . Coverage of the middle portion of the countdown is here . The party finally concluded Tuesday when Helen Leicht devoted her entire airshift to playing The Beatles from 10am to 2pm as she celebrated her 30th anniversary on Philadelphia radio. The four hours went by in a flash and the Beatles (and Helen) never sounded better. Helen's anniversary tribute continued Tuesday night at the P...

We're in the thick of WXPN 's countdown of the 885 Greatest Artists of all time as voted by the xpn community. You can keep track of the artists already played by clicking here . If you're not in the WXPN broadcast area, you can listen to the online stream here . The only thing better than listening to the countdown is simultaneously listening while reading and participating in the xpn discussion boards . The best dialogue is on the Comment on Current Artist thread. Also check out xpn's staff and artist picks , and xpn's music blog . My picks are here . Coverage of the first three days of the countdown can be found here . Monday 10/16/06 - Day Eight The countdown resumed with #341 at 6am, still at two songs per artist, David Dye broke under #300 shortly after 4pm after World Cafe, and concluded with #285 at 7pm. Lots of folks mixing it up today for some great fun on the bulletin board, with the most derision reserved for Enya #311 , Dan Fogelberg #308 , Bon Jovi...

Wednesday 10/11/06 - Day Three Countdown playback today ran from #698 at 6am to #579 at 7pm breaking only for the national portion of World Cafe, 2-4pm. A mini-controversy hit the discussion board before most folks had even awakened when Aaron Copland #697 was represented with the song "Banu" instead of possible choices such as "Rodeo", "Appalachian Spring", or "Fanfare for the Common Man" (which would have been my choice). When Mike Oldfield checked in at #686 with Tubular Bells (1973) , it was kind of sad to note that this music seems to be known only as the theme from The Exorcist , in fact one discussion board poster lamented the lost opportunity to finagle the results a few places to make this tune come in at #666 . No complaint here, but I would have found it really cool had they played the complete side one that begins with the familiar theme and ends with an exuberant finale with all the instruments introduced by Viv Stanshall of the ...

From director Kevin Smith on last week's Ebert & Roeper to Ken Tucker in the latest Entetainment Weekly , the reviews are unanimous that the current Battlestar Galactica television series is the best written, most intense drama series currently (or maybe ever) on network television. Season three debuts tonight on the SciFi Channel and is not to be missed. Here's the Ken Tucker review: Battlestar Galactica (Season 3) Reviewed by Ken Tucker When it comes to science fiction, I'm an agnostic: I have no use for everything from Star Trek to Stargate, and prefer to ponder the stuff, if at all, in print form (yay, Tom Disch; boo, Harlan Ellison). Nevertheless, Battlestar Galactica gets to me as much as any serialized drama on the air. There are no actors in stupid alien makeup, no cornball comic-relief characters. The worst the series gets, as far as mumbo-jumbo sci-fi lingo goes, is that the people in this outer-space future constantly say ''frak'' instead ...

The votes are in and are being tabulated for WXPN 's listener survey to determine the 885 Greatest Artists of all time. The on-air countdown starts Monday. The format for the playback has not been announced yet, but there's always some great radio when xpn breaks format for these countdowns. If you're not in the WXPN broadcast area, you can listen to the online stream here . The 885 artists list by design will include a huge selection of artists, much larger than either of the last two countdowns which each included multiple songs or albums by a given artist. Things could very well sound a little nutty on Monday at the bottom of the 885; I'll be glued to my radio for the duration. Check out and participate in the xpn discussion boards which always heat up during the countdown, with real time critiques, reaction and tears as the results are revealed. Also check out xpn's staff and artist picks , and xpn's music blog . My picks are here . Listen and enjoy!

Mindy Smith gave the listeners of WXPN and NPR.org a nice preview of her new album due next month during her Free at Noon concert broadcast live today from the downstairs stage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Long Island Shores won't be released until October 10th but the set included a healthy sampling of songs from it, all seeming on first listen to feature the same exquisite melodic songwriting that made One Moment More (2004) such a remarkable debut album. Her band consisted of Lex Price who also co-produced the new album, on guitar and mandolin, and James DiGirolamo who added some really tasteful keyboards and accordion to the mix. The arrangements were delicate and beautiful and meshed perfectly with Mindy's voice and showcased the amazingly great sonic capability of the sound system at the World Cafe Live downstairs venue. The WXPN Free at Noon concerts are now being archived for on demand listening at NPR.org , so you can have a listen anytime. Here is the setli...