Root Down in the Shadow

On the blog, I have featured my top music of 2010 & 2011.  This isn't meant to be a billboard top 40 by any means.  But instead the best of music, that I'm listening to, and of course what you should check out.  Looking deeper, about fifty percent of it has roots in a track I first found via a free podcast.  In fact many of the songs themselves were free.  A few years back, after finding the AOL interface podcast (now just the interface) where I found recordings of the Raconteurs, Lady Soveriegn, Decemberist, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ted Leo , and KT Tunstall , I branched out to find more song podcasts, rather than just performances.  KEXP & KCRW , two excellent NPR type radio stations each have a daily song with KCRW's 'Today's Top Tune" and KCRW's "song of the day". Today I'll feature the KEXP 'Song of the Day.' Some gems found include, a favorite of my brother in law with Passion Pit 'The Reeling' and radio mainstays, M

About five years ago, I was gifted my first iPod at a not-so surprise birthday party.  Having the iPod, was the catalyst that lead to today's blog.  It was the spark that pushed me to dig into iTunes and the world of podcasts.  Soon after, I discovered KT Tunstall , Lady Sovereign , and solo Mike Doughty via the INTERFACE podcast (which at the time was audio only, but is now full video and mostly performance).  I spent more time on iTunes and all of its search features.  I had hit the jackpot, now besides the obvious pickup of KT Tunstall's Eye To The Telescope album; I searched for more KT, and found KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza .  The Acoustic Extravaganza contained 10 stripped down versions of KT Tunstall songs.  It is a wonderful package of songs, as it skipped her hits 'Black Horse & The Cherry Tree', 'Other Side of The World, and 'Suddenly I See' including only 'Miniature Disasters'.  Instead it focused mainly on "B si