I’ve programmed my Linux DVR to record as many bands appearing on late-night shows as possible. It’s a good way to find out about new music. Since it’s easy to forget names and such, I’m keeping notes here about things I like, and maybe things I don’t.
- Circa Zero on Kimmel, 2014-04-29: The guitarist reminds me of Andy Summers. Oh, hey, it is.
- MGMT on Letterman, 2013-08-22: Another reminder of how MGMT walks both sides of the line between clever and… stupid.
- Hiatus Kaiyote on Leno, 2013-07-24: OMG, best thing I’ve heard all year.
- Martha Wainwright on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 2012-12-14: Like. Bonus points for wearing a piece of tape that says “gun control”.
- Electric Guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 2012-11-14: Have you got the lyrics written on your hand or something? Whatever, the result is groovy.
- Band of Horses on Letterman 2012-09-19: A good hook, but too short and doesn’t come around often enough, with just one chord filling the spaces in between.
- Grimes on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 2012-08-14: I’m not sure if this is brilliant or stupid. Take away the vocals and it’d sound like Klaus Schulze. I couldn’t understand a single word, which is a plus.
- Need to Breathe on Jimmy Fallon, 2012-08-13: One bonus point for using a manual typewriter as a percussion instrument. Or would that be a keyboard instrument?
- The Gaslight Anthem on Jimmy Fallon, 2012-07-28: Full-on rock and roll.
- Red Wanting Blue on Letterman, 2012-07-18: Very 90’s.
- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 2012-06-05: I… don’t know what to make of this. Original, at the very least.
- Kimbra on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 2012-05-23: Being weird isn’t enough. But it helps.
- Casabian on Last Call, 2012-04-25: Hard. Not metal. At times, almost pompous like prog. Except you don’t hear “oh yeah baby” in prog songs.
- Young the Giant on Last Call, 2012-04-20: Good energy, solid vocals.
- Kiss on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 2012-03-20: Normal speed, doesn’t rock. Time stretch 1.15X, rocks. Smashing your guitar, stupid. Smashing a Flying V, less stupid.
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 2012-03-02: Giant band, one big jam, audience rushes the stage, totally cool.
- Heartless Bastards on the Late Show With David Letterman, 2012-02-22: Dirty, in a good way.
- Robert Glasper Experiment on Letterman, 2012-02-29: Good instrumental bits, but the rapping over it isn’t the best.
- Eric Hutchinson on the Late Show With David Letterman, 2012-02-21: Pretty good & catchy.
- Dr. Dog on Last Call With Carson Daly, 2012-02-17: Good sound, catchy.
- White Denim on Last Call With Carson Daly, 2012-02-03: Nice dynamics and contrast, slow lumbering heavy.
- Atmosphere on Last Call with Carson Daly, 2011-11-11: Rap with a gritty sort of positivity in the lyrics.
- The Airborne Toxic Event on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2011-10-08: A good song with lots of good driving energy.
- TV on the Radio on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2011-10-07: A band with a dude with windchimes hanging from a Telecaster is certainly worth a listen.
- Foster the people on SNL, 2011-10-09: What? No. Well, good hook in the chorus, even if it is about shooting up a school. But still, no.
- Jeff the Brotherhood on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 2011-10-06: Just the right mix of weird, random, silly, serious, good, and a dude eating a sandwich.
- Bush on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2011-09-30: I’ve heard this band criticized for being less authentic than the grunge bands that preceded them, but I like their music anyway. This tune wasn’t as heavy as their earlier stuff, but was still pretty good. I could do without the skinny pants, but whatever.
- Wye Oak on Last Call With Carson Daly, 2011-09-28: Good vocals and guitar, in a noisy folky kind of way.
- Thievery Corporation on Last Call With Carson Daly, 2011-09-24: Would have been better without the vocals, that kind of get in the way of the groove.
- Telekenisis on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2011-09: I like the edgy bassline driving the song.
- Death Cab for Cutie on Last Call With Carson Daly, 2011-09: Pretty good song; I’ve heard this somewhere before, so it’s not brand new.
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2011-09-20: Nasal vocals, say nah.
- Goldheart Assembly, on Last Call with Carson Daly, 2011-09-02, “King of Rome”: A pretty catchy tune.
- Lady Antebellum, on the Late Show with David Letterman, 2011-09-01: This is that sincere sort of music that must be part of the “post-irony” thing I recently heard mentioned on NPR. Solid, but not my thing.
- Neon Trees, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2011-08-26: Pretty much sounds like a Coldplay knock-off to me.
- Interpol, on Last Call with Carson Daly, 2011-08-25: These guys are the sort of band that makes me appreciate the time stretch feature on my DVR. Sped up by 1.5X to 2X, they make a pretty good punk / ska band.
- Fountains of Wayne, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2011-08-25: Not to be confused with Kings of Leon or any other “(plural) of (dude)” band, this is good, fun, nerdy stuff.
- Big Audio Dynamite, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2011-08-24: I’ve been aware of the name for years, but never heard their music. Much more guitar-oritented straight-up rock and roll than I expected. Pretty catchy and good.
- Ra Ra Riot, on Last Call with Carson Daly, 2011-07: After hearing a few cuts by these guys, they’re sinking into my consciousness as being pretty good, in a peppy groovy kind of way.
- Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2011-01-27: One of the sparkliest bands I’ve seen, musically a decent version of what would have been alternative music in the 1980’s, except it wasn’t called that then.
- KT Tunstall, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2010-10-13: Not bad, kind of catchy tune. “Choose my weapon…”