Vlog 024 - Okkervil River | Low Anthem | Gregg Allman | ...

It's been three years since we've heard anything new from Austin country-rock outfit Okkervil River, but on Monday January 10th they popped up on Jimmy Fallon to perform the rowdy and rousing "Wake and be Fine", which will eventually appear on "I Am Very Far" their sixth studio album set for release in May. Helping out on this number are members of the roots, as well as A.C. Newman from the New Pornographers. Rhode Island's Low Anthem followed a typical path to mainstream attention for an earthy American band – they went to England where the folks at Rough Trade records promptly noticed them. "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin" won them plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic. They're set to release their third album in February; viewers of David Letterman's show on Tuesday were treated to a track from it called "Ghost Woman Blues". Gregg Allman had to pull out of the Crossroads Guitar Festival last summer at the last minute because the liver transplant he had been waiting for suddenly became available. (The singer was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2007.) He's back this month, healthy and promoting a new record, which was produced by T Bone Burnett. We give you a taste of it with an excerpt from "Just Another Rider". The Tom Tom Club – Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth's side project – wave released a 30th anniversary record called "Genius of Live", which, as the name implies, is a collection of live tracks and remixes. Their huge 1980s hit "Genius of Love" is a track that has had a long afterlife as one of the most sampled songs of the decade, and their performance of it on Jimmy Fallon on January 11th, reminded us why. 2010 saw a resurgence of interest in new wave provocateurs Devo, who released their focus group approved record "Something For Everybody" in June. The album drop was preceded by a TV appearance on Jimmy Kimmel ("Whip It", April 20th) and then another on the Colbert Report ("Fresh", performed on June 16th). Around that time, a great trade-friendly compilation DVD called "TV Rarities" came our way, ...