Robin Hilton

Robin Hilton appears in the following:

Sylvan Esso Performs 'Wolf' Live With Megafaun, Lambchop, Others

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Last fall, Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn was commissioned by Duke University and Alverno Presents in Milwaukee to put together a special concert with some of his favorite artists and collaborators. The result was a two-night stand that featured Sanborn and Sylvan Esso singer Amelia Meath performing alongside members of Sanborn's ...

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Allah-Las, 'No Werewolf'

Monday, July 28, 2014

At first glance, there's not much to the new video for the song "No Werewolf," from the Los Angeles garage rock band Allah-Las. But the longer you watch, the more mesmerizing it becomes.

The video opens with a simple spinning wheel in stark black and white. A hand appears, and ...

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Drum Fill Friday, With Interpol's Sam Fogarino

Friday, July 25, 2014

This week's guest Quizmaster is Sam Fogarino, drummer for the band Interpol. The group is set to release its latest album, El Pintor, in September. It's Interpol's first new record since 2010's self-titled release. Can you identify the songs he selected from just a few seconds of drumming?

As always, ...

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Jenny Lewis Stands Out With 'Voyager'

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

All Songs Considered features "The Voyager," the new album from Jenny Lewis, a singer known for complicated, emotional lyrics and vivid storytelling. It's part of NPR Music's "First Listen" series.

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Drum Fill Friday, For July 18

Friday, July 18, 2014

This week's puzzler for careful listeners has a little something for everyone, from jazz and classic rock, to punk and thrashing metal. It also features several fills listeners suggested from previous puzzlers. So, as always, if you know a fill (or intro) or drummer you'd love to see featured in ...

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How Do Our Near-Wins Motivate Us To Keep Going?

Friday, July 18, 2014

Not everyone can win the gold medal, and historian Sarah Lewis says that's a good thing. It's the near-wins and bare losses that truly motivate us to master our destinies.

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The Polyphonic Spree, 'Hold Yourself Up'

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

There are worst fates than the one offered in The Polyphonic Spree's new video for the song "Hold Yourself Up." A man dies and wakes to find himself in another realm where beautiful women, beaming with joy, dance and sing, uninhibited, alongside their charismatic leader Tim DeLaughter. By the ...

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Why Smartphone Breaks At Work Aren't Such A Bad Idea

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

In that cubicle by the water cooler you see him: your employee, on your dime, tilted back in that pricey Herman Miller chair, his personal smartphone in hand. Judging by the furrowed brow, you'd guess it's a hot game of Words With Friends.

Which do you do?

1. Chastise him.

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Drum Fill Friday, From Eternal Summers' Daniel Cundiff

Friday, July 11, 2014

This week's drum fill puzzler comes courtesy of guest Quizmaster Daniel Cundiff, percussionist for the Roanoke rock band Eternal Summers. The band's latest album is The Drop Beneath.

For Drum Fill Friday, Daniel picked cuts by some of the artists who've influenced his own work over the years, from smooth ...

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Christina Vantzou, 'VHS'

Thursday, July 10, 2014

You'll want to dim the lights for this video to accompany "VHS," from composer Christina Vantzou. The title implies a primitive digital universe. But in Vantzou's world, it's more of a void — a pitch-black emptiness where a lone figure chases her own barely perceptible reflection.

An avant-garde classical and ...

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Drum Fill Friday: Fourth Of July Edition

Friday, July 04, 2014

This week we celebrate our nation's independence with drum fills (and one intro) from songs that say "America, we love you!" Some may be more blatantly patriotic than others, but all capture, in some way, the spirit of freedom that unites and binds us.

As always, if you have a ...

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Christina Vantzou, 'Strange Symptoms'

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

The new video from composer Christina Vantzou, for the moody ambient piece "Strange Symptoms," will take you away. Vantzou's nirvana-inducing sounds emerge, bloom and fade away in less than a minute-and-a-half, as a figure stands motionless behind a curtain of slowly cascading water, her face distorted by the sun-dappled ripples.

...

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Broken Twin: 'No Darkness'

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

It's hard to see the hope that glows dimly in the vaporous sounds of Broken Twin's music. But it's there, pulsing delicately in the beautifully spare arrangements and haunting voice of singer Majke Voss Romme.

In a stark new video for her song "No Darkness," Voss Romme draws a circle ...

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Drum Fill Friday, With Mike Kinsella Of Owls

Friday, June 27, 2014

This week's guest Quizmaster is Mike Kinsella, the drummer for the bands Owls, Joan Of Arc and Cap'n Jazz and a singer and guitarist in Owen and American Football. When I first took a stab at identifying the fills and intros he selected I was immediately reminded that sometimes ...

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Cold Beat, 'UV'

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

San Francisco's frenetic rock group Cold Beat pummels the senses in this strobe-lit new video for the song "UV." Directed by frontwoman Hannah Lew, the candles, chains and band members flicker behind a throbbing, multi-colored strobe light as drummer Bianca Sparta, deadpan behind a pair of sunglasses, slingshots the band ...

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Sylvan Esso, Live In Concert

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

"It's the dreamiest of scenes," Sylvan Esso singer Amelia Meath sighed as she looked out over the sold-out crowd at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club. Wearing six-inch platform tennis shoes and an all-black jumpsuit, Meath gyrated and pumped her fists, urging the crowd on. Meanwhile, the other half of Sylvan ...

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Drum Fill Friday, For June 20

Friday, June 20, 2014

This week we're back to a mix of classic rock and pop, with a few (relatively) recent loves of mine thrown in. As always, if you have a drum fill (or intro) you think should be included in this weekly puzzler, let us know in the comments section, or via ...

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Ages And Ages, 'Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)'

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

"In a lot of ways, I feel like this is the way our music is intended to be: inclusive, communal, and all together," Ages And Ages front man Tim Perry tells us in an email about his band's new video for the song "Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)."

The tear-inducing ...

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Sean Rowe, 'Madman'

Monday, June 16, 2014

Despite its name, "Madman" has more bounce to it than much of Rowe's earlier work. But it implies you'd have to be nuts to choose a life on the road.

"It's like I'm some kind of a bearded salesman," Rowe says. "But instead of vacuum cleaners I'm selling all these ...

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