So glad the Sunday visitors got worked up enough to indulge me in my grammar fetish on the post for The Boy Least Likely To. Always love a little crossfire on grammar and prepositions. Keep the comments comin’ … except for the ones rippin’ Matt at YANP. Come on, now.

Anyway, I just counted, and including this here post, seven of my past eight posts involve some sort of radio broadcast. That can mean one of two things: There’s some excellent radio out there; or I’m spending far too much time in front of my computer. Or, maybe both. Yeah, probably both.

What’s there to say about Calexico that hasn’t been said already? As a proud Arizonan, I can puff my chest a little more when talking about Joey Burns and John Convertino, given their Tucson residence. From personal experience of living here for a good 20 years, I can tell you that no other group captures the soundtrack of this state quite like Calexico. As Burns calls it during the interview, “the high lonesome sound.”

He continued: ” … It’s a feeling of longing, sadness, sorrow. But yet at the same time it’s not toally depressing; it’s also uplifting.” It makes living in the desert sound so mystical.

Calexico, live on KEXP, 4/14/06:
1. Yours and Mine (such a great song)
2. Cruel
3. Roka
4. Deep Down

Listen to KEXP.
Stream KEXP at glorious 128 kbps.
Support KEXP.

It’s taken me awhile to come around to The Boy Least Likely To for one seemingly trivial (some might call it “anal”) reason: The group’s name drives me batty.

You see, I’m a copy editor, so I can be kind of obsessive-complulsive when it comes to grammar. The Boy Least Likely To commits a cardinal grammar sin: Almost never should you end a sentence in a preposition. Seriously. The boy least likely to … what? The boy least likely to fly? The boy least likely to sing? The boy least likely to poop? Something. Give me something! Argh! It reminds me of the Sunny Day Real Estate album How It Feels to be Something On. Oh, what would Strunk and White say?

Well, grammar misstep aside, I’m quickly warming up to the group’s wistful and refreshing tunes; Be Gentle With Me is priceless. Plus, they are YANP-approved, so you know they’re good. And I was pleasantly surprised to hear the guys in the group name-drop Son Volt among their current favorites.

The Boy Least Likely To, on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, 4/6/06:

1. Hugging My Grudge
2. I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes
3. Papercuts
4. My Tiger My Heart
5. Monsters
6. The Battle of the Boy Least Likely To
7. I’m Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star
8. Be Gentle With Me
9. Fur Soft As Fur

Well, my ears will have to be surgically removed from my computer headphones because there has been some great radio streaming in the Web this week, thanks to NPR, KCRW and KEXP. This little here performance by Band of Horses is no different.

For starters, I think The Great Salt Lake is rising in my favorites rankings, though it’s still just a tad behind The Funeral. Be sure to check out the slower version of Wicked Gil.

The group has made its way back home to play two shows in Seattle this weekend to celebrate the release of Everything All the Time, which has made the rounds on the blogs and should end up on several end-of-the-year top 10 lists, assuming it’s early-year release doesn’t affect peoples’ memories.

That said, I’m expecting the usual indie backlash in … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …

Band of Horses, Live on KEXP, 4/13/06:

1. The Great Salt Lake
2. Part One
3. Wicked Gil
(Which they dedicate to Mariners starter Gil Meche. I love baseball.)
4. The Funeral

Whew. OK, here’s the last of the Neko Case set on NPR. Pay special attention to the ridiculous banjo work of Tempe’s own Jon Rauhouse on Wayfaring Stranger. I’m telling you, besides playing one of my favorite instruments (pedal steel guitar), that guy is really amazing. He’s worked with Neko, Giant Sand, Calexico and a host of others. We’re proud to call him one of ours.

Today’s random picture brought to you by my 1-year-old niece, Eliot:

Hope everyone is enjoying this set. Major props again to NPR’s All Songs Considered.

Neko Case, NPR Live Concert Series, 4/9/06:

Songs 1-7.
Songs 8-14.

15. Hex
16. That Teenage Feeling
17. Furnace Room Lullaby
18. Hold On, Hold On
Encore
19. Wayfaring Stranger
20. Look for Me (I’ll Be Around)
21. John Saw That Number
Second encore
22. Knock Loud

Before Part II of the Neko Case show that NPR All Songs Considered broadcasted on Sunday, I just have to say thanks. I’m about 99 percent certain that I set traffic records yesterday in both page views and visitors. I’m not sure if it was that link from Dodge (definitely), the Neko stuff (probably) or my abundant supply of wit and charm (um, yeah, probably not) … either way, thanks for stoppin’ by.

To celebrate, here’s a picture of my cat, Sadie, which has nothing to do with anything, except for maybe that Neko’s sometimes-backing band is the Sadies:

On to the music, which includes my Neko favorite, Deep Red Bells, and a cover of Bob Dylan’s Buckets of Rain, for which I am indebted to Hello Gina for so kindly sending me when I once made a passing mention of my adoration for Neko.

Neko Case, NPR Live Concert Series, 4/9/06:

Songs 1-7.

8. Dirty Knife
9. I Wish I Was the Moon
10. The Tigers Have Spoken
11. Maybe Sparrow
12. Margaret vs. Pauline
13. Buckets of Rain
14. Deep Red Bells

Wow. The great folks at NPR’s All Songs Considered have done it again. Just as I was lamenting the fact that I had forgotten to instruct the elves in my computer to record Neko Case’s concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., that NPR was streaming on Sunday night, All Songs Considered already has made it available as an mp3 download.

Once again, this is great for me because Neko is only coming as far West as Austin, at least on this tour. So this is as close as I’ll get to her live, although I’ve seen her a couple of times in the past at small venues in Tempe. She’s tremendous. (Duh … deep analysis, I know.)

An added bonus: Her pedal steel guitar player is (and has been for some time) Jon Rauhouse, a stalwart of the Phoenix/Tempe music scene, not to mention one of the nicest guys around.

As always, I’ve trimmed the one file into separate song files not to discount the value of concert banter but more for ease of navigating through songs. I encourage you to pick up the entire file here. And this is a monster: 21 songs. I might have to do this in three posts.

Neko Case, NPR Live Concert Series, 4/9/06:

1. A Widow’s Toast
2. Favorite
3. If You Knew
4. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
5. Set Out Running
6. Outro With Bees
7. Star Witness (with opener Martha Wainwright)

The incomparable Elbow, which is on a tour of the United States (eight dates plus a stop in Toronto), played for KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic on Friday. The band is playing in Los Angeles tonight at the Avalon, and I pretty much hate any of you that will be going out of sheer jealousy. If anyone is going to a show on this tour, pleeeeease offer up some ideas of how it is. (And, you know, feel free to send a concert T-shirt.)

Anyway, the KCRW set was nothing short of amazing (or as amazing as an in-studio performance can be), particularly because Elbow pulled out a couple of old songs, including one of my favorites in Fugitive Motel. Also, frontman Guy Garvey presents himself as the sort of intellectual, down-to-earth songwriter I imagine him to be. He all but exposes his vulnerability in explaining the great Mexican Standoff as a metaphor for jealousy about his partner’s ex.

Alas, I meant to record the simulcast stream (128 kbps), but I mistakenly recorded a different stream KCRW offers. So I backtracked to record the QuickTime stream. Still sounds decent.

(And don’t think I’m not recording Elbow’s in-studio on KEXP next week.)

Elbow, on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, 4/7/06:
1. Great Expectations
2. Fugitive Motel
3. Switching Off
4. Scattered Black and Whites
5. Mexican Standoff
6. Puncture Repair
7. The Stops