Vic Chesnutt: Tiny Desk Concert (NPR)

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Sin novedades concretas en torno a su estado...

Cat Power: Live from Washington, D.C. 2006 (NPR)

El jueves a las 21.30, en el Gran Rex, Buenos Aires

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Cat Power is the music of Chan Marshall, a Southern-born singer-songwriter with a soulful, heart-wrenching voice. In a decade-long career, her music has evolved from spare, angst-ridden rock to lush, warm soul, while always intimate and mesmerizing. Hear Cat Power in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.

Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall turned to music after dropping out of high school in Atlanta in the mid '90s. She began playing around town under the name Cat Power and eventually moved to New York, where she opened for Liz Phair and met Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. In 1996 she signed with Matador Records and released What Would the Community Think. Marshall toured for the album briefly and it was received well critically. But after a few months she dropped out of the music scene and reportedly planned to retire from the business all together.

After working as a babysitter and moving to a farmhouse, Marshall found inspiration again and crafted a series of songs that would become the album Moon Pix, released in 1998. She followed it with The Covers Record in 2000, an album with completely reinvented versions of songs like "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones and "I Found A Reason" by Lou Reed.

In 2003 Marshall returned with all-original material for You Are Free, a critically acclaimed album featuring guest musicians like Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl. It was her most polished and fully developed album to date with minimalist, piano-driven songs on love, her struggles as an artist and finding peace in a painful world.

Marshall's latest CD, The Greatest, takes a surprising turn through a hazy world of mellow Southern soul. Recorded in Memphis, Tenn., Marshall had help from veteran artists like guitarist Mabon Teenie Hodges and bassist, Leroy Flick Hodges, known for their work with Al Green and Ann Peebles. The New York Times calls it "the best work of her life."

Cat Power is touring for The Greatest with the Memphis Rhythm Band. Marshall has a reputation for giving sometimes unpredictable live performances. But her current tour is the best-reviewed of her career.

Bill Callahan: Tiny Desk Concert (NPR)

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NPR.org, July 13, 2009 - It's a high compliment to suggest that these three Bill Callahan songs may well implant themselves in your brain, lay eggs and sprout horrifically disturbing dreams at that point when you're banging on the snooze alarm in a state of anguished early-morning half-sleep. After Callahan — a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known As Smog — performed at the NPR Music offices, my own slumber was absolutely haunted by at least one line from each piece he played.

From "Jim Cain": "I used to be darker / Then I got lighter / Then I got dark again."

From "Rococo Zephyr": "I used to be sorta blind / But now I can sorta see."

From "Too Many Birds": "If you could only stop your heartbeat for one heartbeat..."

All three songs are highlights from Callahan's magnificent new album, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, and all three are rendered here in faithful detail by Callahan and his crack team of backing players. The singer is, for obvious reasons, the driving force in these performances — every sound orbits around his deep, detached voice — but all those strings and guitars exude subtle warmth to match Callahan's sly but sneakily empathetic words.

The result is a Tiny Desk Concert that's more serious than most, and at times almost eerily transfixing. Immerse yourself in it, and you may just re-live it in your darkest dreams.

Jim White's Tiny Desk Concert

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NPR.org, November 7, 2008 - Jim White is a storyteller first, a musician second. When I first heard his music more than a decade ago, I felt compelled to call him up. His musical tales were so compelling, I thought he'd make a great storyteller for All Things Considered. White loved the idea, so I asked him for a four-minute tale — an appropriate length for a radio newsmagazine. He turned in a 13-minute story. I asked him to shorten it; he came back with 17 minutes. He never got on the air.

Jim White and I stayed in touch, and still correspond now and then. Ten years later, I still enjoy his music, his descriptions and love of detail. His tales have been much darker in the past, but these days, White says he's trying to be more optimistic. It's a kind of storytelling rooted in his own unusual history: He grew up in Florida in a deeply Pentecostal community and fell in love with the white gospel music he heard. But from there, he took a surprising path to become a full-time musician. He was a professional surfer, a boxer, a fashion model in Milan and a cab driver in New York City. When he finally picked up the guitar and wrote a handful of songs for a demo, the tape found its way to David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, which has been releasing White's music ever since. He just put out a new six-song EP titled A Funny Little Cross to Bear.

White's travels recently took him near Washington, D.C., so I invited him to play for one of our Tiny Desk Concerts. What we recorded turned out to be the longest of all the shows we've done at my desk. I expected no less. -Bob Boilen.