La Blogotheque have been working their magic again and managed to film The Low Anthem in the middle of the Great Hall at Grand Central Station:

Writer, musicologist, archivist, singer, DJ, filmmaker, record, radio and TV producer, Alan Lomax was a man of many parts. Without him the history of popular music would have been very different. Armed with a tape-recorder and his own near-flawless good taste, Lomax spent years travelling the US, particularly the south, recording its heritage of music and song for posterity, bringing to light the talents of performers ranging from Jelly Roll …

I imagine that most listeners that tune into our Roots stream will be familiar with the name Cara Dillon. I caught up with her recently for a relaxed chat about where she is now with her music and to reflect back on her last album “Hill of Thieves” which was released last year. Hill of Thieves has been making big impressions across the globe and pulling in new fans to …

Film Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s latest movie, “Micmacs” has just been released, which for those that enjoyed Amelie (French Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated) can expect another whimsical movie set in a surreal and fantastical world.

JOHN GRANT, former singer/songwriter with Bella Union cult favorites THE CZARS, finally returns in April 2010 with an extraordinary debut solo album made with MIDLAKE. Everyone has a favorite band or singer they reckon is subject to criminal neglect. That John Grant’s effortlessly rich, expansive baritone, couched in typically heartbreaking, lush melody, hasn’t found a wider audience many would consider a crime. But no longer. Because Grant’s first solo album …

Listen to our latest mix. Inspired by memories of a journey I took when I was 17 years old which I was reminded of recently. The mix includes new artists to the Frukie stream: Arran Arctic, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Allysen Callery, Cherbourg, The Cinematic Orchestra and more.

The official release of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Draumalandið (Dreamland) is today! This is an original-soundtrack album from the film Dreamland, with music written for a + 20 piece chamber ensemble and electronics. The recording features Nico Muhly (arrangements, piano, celesta, harmonium), Sam Amidon (vocals, banjo, guitar) Ben Frost (electronics),

Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg insists that you don’t need a PhD to love his band’s new full-length, The Golden Archipelago. Sure, it was inspired by a yearlong trek around remote islands like the Falklands, Tierra del Fuego, the Galapagos and New Zealand’s Chatham Islands.

Tune Yards caught my attention a while back when 4AD released a video of Meril Garbus performing in studio. I’m not going to post it again…but I was hunting around the net to find out what Tune Yards had been up to and came across this live footage at Cargo this week.

It’s always good to hear from artists that are well loved by listeners and Karine Polwart is certainly one of them. She’s been a little bit quiet for a while on news and this newsletter brings us all up to scratch:

I happened upon Keston Cobblers’ Club on myspace recently. After watching this video I think you’ll agree that they are something very special and are certainly worth keeping an eye on as they are bound to get very popular!

An explorer, ecologist, and folk hero, Jonathan Meiburg is the Jacques Cousteau of indie-rock. A former graduate student with a specialty in geography and ornithology, the Shearwater frontman named both his Austin, Texas-based band and their critically-acclaimed 2008 album Rook after types of birds, and his gorgeously pastoral music examines nature with a scientist’s eye.