Click here to view the embedded video.

Sometimes when the planets align just right, you get this. The Simpsons celebrated their 500th episode this past weekend by having Alison Krauss & Union Station play the opening theme song. Perfect.

-BB

Fiona Apple is ready to tour again. She’s announced 8 dates including a stop at The Music Box at the Borgata in Atlantic City on March 24th. Tickets go on sale on 2/25 @ 10am. She’ll also perform at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, on March 15. There’s also word that her new album will be out this year. Fiona Apple hasn’t released
anything since Extraordinary Machine in 2005.

-BB

Every Thursday at 7 p.m., John Vettese takes XPN2 listeners for a musical tour of the Delaware Valley on the XPN2 Philly Local show. Here’s a recap of what we heard on this week’s installment. Like what you see? Listen again for an encore presentation this Sunday 2/19 from 7 to 10 p.m.!

7 p.m.

THE KEY STUDIO SESSIONS HOUR

Grimace Federation “Michael, Bobby, Whitney, Britney” (January 2011 session)

Featured session with Acid Kicks
“Real Girl”
“Nothing Is Real When You Sleep At Night”
“Canj”
“The Great Sleep”
“Take My Soul Away”
“Pyramidic Valley”

Purling Hiss “Tape Jam” (March 2011 session)

Lady “Give Me” (April 2011 session)
By Surprise “Realometer” (April 2011 session)

8 p.m.

Lilys “A Nanny in Manhattan” (Better Can’t Make Your Life Better, 1996)

Music For Headphones “Drive Motorik” (Life In Mono, 2011)
Work Drugs “Sunset Junction”(digital single, 2011)
The Swimmers “A Hundred Hearts (Beard-O-Bees Remix)” (digital single, 2011)
Arctic Splash “Denim Tuxedo” (digital single, 2011)
Curly Castro “Flatbush and Church” (Winston’s Appeal, 2011)
The Silence Kit “In Parts” (In Parts, 2011)
Oh! Pears “Under the Olive Tree” (digital single, 2011)

Free Range Folk “Soul Collector” (Soul Collector, 2011)
Andrew Lipke “A New Start” (The Plague, 2011)
Writtenhouse “Puttin’ In Werk” (While You Were Sleeping, 2011)
Turning Violet Vilet “Pink Sky” (Pink Sky, 2011)
She Came Crashing “Doppelganger” (digital single, 2010)
Attia Taylor “Wake Up, I Love You” (digital single, 2012)

DRGN King “Barbarians” (Paragraph Nights, 2012)
Acres of Diamonds “Penultimate” (digital single, 2012)
Ukebox “I Hate Change” (Attack of the Killer Uke, 2006)

9 p.m.

Diplo “Express Yourself (feat. Nicky Da B)” (Express Yourself, 2012)

RJD2 “The Horror” (Deadringer, 2002)
Eat Your Birthday Cake “Wait For It” (Enemies, 2011)
Nightlands “300 Clouds” (Forget the Mantra, 2010)
Buried Beds “Camellina” (Empty Rooms, 2005)

Catnaps “Valentine’s Day” (Boys Drool, 2012)
Chill Moody “What Took You So Long?” (Who Do You Love?, 2012)
Kurt Vile “Freak Train” (Childish Prodigy, 2009)
Univox “Tonight” (Tonight, 2012)
Lightninging “Squiggles” (Like A Kid Would Say, 2012)

Peasant “The Flask” (Bound for Glory, 2012)
Birdie Busch “Room In The City” (The Ways We Try, 2005)
Praise Chorus “The Wall-E Song” (Acoustic EP, 2011)

The Teeth “So Long” (Carry the Wood, 2003)

Tune in next Thursday, February 23, for more of today’s sounds of Philadelphia – including a featured Key Studio Session with anthemic local punks The Menzingers!

Call it their Bona Drag, their Substance if you will. Roanoke Va. eclectic pop combo (and XPN2 faves) Eternal Summers today announced plans to reissue its early discography of 7″s and EPs as the compilation The Dawn of Eternal Summers , available through their label, Kanine Records. In addition to a digital issue, the colored vinyl edition (available this Record Store Day, April 21) will include three bonus covers: The Lemonheads’ “Into Your Arms,” Guided By Voices’ “A Salty Salute” and Neil Young’s “Down To the Wire.” This release is ramping up for Eternal Summers’ sophomore full-length, Correct Behavior, which is being released in June (and was co-mixed by Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes). We’re pretty psyched about this over at XPN2, and we’ll keep you posted on further details as soon as we get them. Meanwhile, download two tracks from The Dawn of Eternal Summers below.

Lightswitch by Eternal Summers from The Dawn of Eternal Summers (via Pitchfork)

Fall Straight Back by Eternal Summers from The Dawn of Eternal Summers (via Pitchfork)

This weekend brings an encore performance at Johnny Brenda’s by The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society: a group of musicians and Fleetwood Mac aficionados from the Philadelphia region formed two years ago to play Tusk in its entirety. This time out, the group is tackling Mirage, the Mac’s mid-80s album known for its lush harmonies and MTV staples “Hold Me” and “Gypsy.” Tomorrow evening on XPN2, band founder Charlie Hall (the bow-tie clad guy in the lower right who also performs with Jens Lekman, The War on Drugs, Silver Ages, and many others) joins John Vettese on-air during the 5:00 hour. He’ll spin a few choice cuts from Mirage, tell us about his co-conspirators – Patrick Berkery (The Bigger Lovers, Danielson), Birdie Busch, Dave Wayne Daniels (The Captiol Years), Brandon Beaver and Eliza Hardy-Jones (both of Buried Beds) – and talk about an album he feels is vastly overlooked in the Fleetwood Mac canon. Tune in at 5 p.m. this Thursday. Feb. 16 on 88.5 HD-2 here in Philadelphia, or at XPN2.org.

-BB

-BB

While attending the recent Grammy Awards as a spectator, Marcus Mumford told Billboard.com that Mumford & Sons are currently working on their 2nd album that they hope will be out this year. (We’ve got our fingers crossed too @ XPN)

Read more & watch Billboard’s interview with Marcus Mumford here.

-BB

Mumford & Sons perform with Dawes @ World Cafe Live in Phila. during the 20 year celebration of The World Cafe.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A number of artists, known well by ‘XPN fans, were winners at last night’s Grammy Awards. Leading the pack: Adele with 6 Grammys including album, record & song of the year. That tied her with Beyonce for most Grammy wins ever by a female artist. Bon Iver captured two Grammys. Foo Fighters won five and The Civil Wars brought home two. Other winners included: Alison Krauss, Levon Helm, Corrine Baily Rae, Booker T, The Tedeschi-Trucks Band & Bela Fleck to name a few.

View the complete Grammy winner list here.

-BB

The sad news just came within the hour: Singer Whitney Houston has died at the age of 48. No cause of death has been given.

Read more here.

-BB