Live from George, Washington

If you're anything like me, the music part of the summer music festivals sounds great, but the heat, crowds and camping is enough to make you barricade yourself in your air-conditioned apartment for three months. Thanks to NPR, those of us with nature aversions don't have to miss out on last weekend's Sasquatch Festival in George, Washington (yes, it's really called that.) NPR has archived many of the live performances on this page.

I'm particularly excited about Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Iron and Wine, and Sharon Jones, but with so many to choose from, you're bound to find something you love. Enjoy!

Cameron Crowe on Bob Dylan

Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday. To honor the man who transformed popular music, Rolling Stone devoted an entire issue to him, including a piece on the "70 Greatest Dylan Songs" in honor of his milestone birthday.

My favorite Dylan song, hands down, is "Buckets of Rain":



And who did Rolling Stone tap to do the write-up on my favorite Dylan song? Why, my favorite filmmaker, writer and music lover - Cameron Crowe! You can read the full write-up on his website here. Cameron is insightful and eloquent, as always, but I particularly love the simple way he explains his love of this song: "Any room I’ve ever played it in has changed as a result." I feel exactly the same way.

Where Soul Meets Body

I fell in love with Death Cab for Cutie the same way I fell in love with Wilco: at first I heard them in passing and thought they were totally nice, but we ended up going our separate ways. And then, years later, I woke up with one of their songs turning pages in my brain over and over again, so I looked them up again and fell madly, deeply, passionately in love.

I am eagerly awaiting the release of their newest album at the end of this month (see previous post), but while we wait...

Today for one day only, you can download their debut album Plans at Amazon for only $3.99. This includes arguably their first hit (if you can call any of their impeccably crafted songs "hits"), Soul Meets Body, as well as the darkly liminal I Will Follow You Into the Dark. I think my favorite from this album might be Crooked Teeth, however: