Xponentially awesome

Searching for a great mix of indie, new wave, classic rock and everything in between? I recommend the Xponential radio stream from WXPN - the University of Pennsylvania's unparalleled NPR music station. Recently played artists include XTC, KT Tunstall, Cake and David Bowie. Where else are you going to see all those names in one place?

While you're there, check out the concert archives for live sets from Rhett Miller, Martin Sexton, Rufus Wainwright, Andrew Bird, the Guillemots... basically everyone I've been telling you to check out all year.

By the way, this is also where you can hear the "Folk Alley" channel I told you about a few posts ago...

Etown radio archives

My friend Aleka recommended the nationally syndicated radio show E-town to me a few weeks ago, and I have to admit, at first I was intrigued mostly by the name (Cameron Crowe's movie "Elizabethtown" is my favorite movie of all time.)

Their mission statement is a little touchy-feely ("E-town's mission is to educate, entertain and inspire a diverse audience, through music and conversation, to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable world") but the concept is pretty cool - they bring in musicians from a wide variety of genres and give them a stage and a microphone. It's sort of like the unplugged version of Austin City Limits.

If you're in the same boat as I am and none of your local radio stations carry the show, you can listen to it as a podcast on the Web site. Even better, if you register with the site, you get access to past archives, where you can check out live performances from Martin Sexton, Rickie Lee Jones, Calexico, Susan Tedeschi/Amos Lee, Bright Eyes, Cowboy Junkies/Madeleine Peyroux, Buddy Guy... and that's all just this year!

You know I can't resist live, acoustic sets by my favorite musicians.