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JD McPherson: From Little Kids To Little Richard

Credit opbmusic.org

JD McPherson performs in Portland for opbmusic.org.

By editor

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 2:55 pm

Call JD McPherson's style a throwback if you like, but don't mistake it for novelty. The former punk rocker and middle-school art teacher crafts a raw and energetic blend of jump blues, rockabilly and early rock 'n' roll on his debut album Signs & Signifiers, recording to 1/4 tape on analog equipment. Still, McPherson is as likely to cite The Smiths or Wu-Tang Clan as influences as he is Little Richard or Ruth Brown.

2:29 pm

Thu June 28, 2012

Knotty Problem Solved: Knitters Won't Call Their Games The 'Ravelympics'

Credit J. Pfeiffer / dpa /Landov

Don't tread on our trademark with those, said U.S. Olympics officials.

By Mark Memmott

Those knitters we told you about who had been asked to "cease and desist" by the U.S. Olympics Committee because they were planning a "Ravelympics" have opted to give the slip to any legal issues.

They're going to call their competitions "The Ravellenic Games," The Oregonian reports.

1:59 pm

Thu June 28, 2012

Second Stage: Vows, 'Winter's Grave'

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Credit Courtesy of the artist

By Emily White

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Winter's Grave

Vows' debut album Winter's Grave arrived to NPR folded carefully in a worn piece of paper xeroxed with hand-drawn artwork. True to it's packaging, Winter's Grave is delicately hand-crafted rather then sloppily home-spun.

Vows is a dreamy, atmospheric band with pop sensibilities from a small town in New Jersey. The album's title track has a satisfying blend of enchanting and eerie sounds. It opens with a vibrant riff that rattles over synth keys but slips into dissonant, creepy organ sounds.

1:38 pm

Thu June 28, 2012

Live From Tanglewood: The Boston Symphony Orchestra

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Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

The Boston Symphony Orchestra opened their 75th anniversary season at Tanglewood on July 6, 2012.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

Picnickers started arriving hours early for this concert; by the time the music started, some 12,00 concertgoers packed the Shed and Tanglewood's grounds.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

Conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi has been a frequent guest conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra recently.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

In an ideal pairing of music of setting, the orchestra played Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral."

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

The all-Beethoven concert began with the Leonore Overture No. 3.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

Dohnanyi's gestures at the podium were mostly very restrained.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

The program for this opening night at Tanglewood on July 6, 2012, replicated the very first concert the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave at their then-new summer home in 1937.

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

The Boston Globe called this performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony "full, open and robust," and praised Dohnanyi for "lean textures kept his Fifth from tipping over into the land of flabby orchestral cliche."

Credit Erik Jacobs for NPR

The weather could not have been more perfect for dining and listening to music al fresco.

By editor

Originally published on Mon July 9, 2012 6:59 am

Seventy-five years ago, an American institution was born: Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a cultural mecca to arts lovers and the musical refuge for generations of young artists.

1:33 pm

Thu June 28, 2012

The David Mayfield Parade On Mountain Stage

Credit Brian Blauser / Mountain Stage

The David Mayfield Parade on Mountain Stage.

By editor

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2:35 pm

Thu June 28, 2012