I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I keep up with music via NPR, but it's hard to beat the free weekly album previews, or this folkish, fiddle-heavy cover of "Hit 'Em Up Style" by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who were interviewed by Terry Gross today on Fresh Air.

And let me not forget the All Songs Considered archive of live shows, which is also available as a Podcast.

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Here's a novel idea for a music video: Show musicians actually playing, sans gimmickry or cut-aways to the band caught in some sort of brooding narrative.

Musicians Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte of the band Pomplamoose have revived the WYSIWYG form with Conte's refreshing "videosongs" which, by Conte's own rules, must include footage of everything you hear. The popularity of their videosong covers including "Beat It" (see below) has led to enough sales of their original album to make a recording contract or physical CDs moot. Fledging musicians, take note. 

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