Free Music Podcasts: Live Folk-Pop from Antje Duvekot, Coeur de Pirate, Basia Bulat

Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat brings her autoharp, and her band, to the NPR studios. Photo: John Benson

If you're looking for some good singer-songwriter music to listen to, here are a few recent episodes of free podcasts featuring live sets that are worth checking out. All three are female, and all work in the folk-pop genre, but with very different backgrounds and styles.

* Antje Duvekot performs a live set at Acoustic Long Island. The German-born, Boston-based Duvekot is a captivating acoustic singer-songwriter I only heard of a couple of months ago, but she won the Kerrville Folk Festival "Best New Folk Award" one year and has gotten lots of acclaim from some well-known folk artists. Hear Antje Duvekot in a 38-minute performance.

* The Francophone singer who goes by the name Coeur de Pirate is another relatively recent group to me. I've heard a few songs by her now and then on the CBC Radio 3 podcast; now here's a one-hour CBC 2 concert to get a food feel for her. Coeur de Pirate has a sweet sound that's a pleasure to listen to, even if you don't understand the French lyrics. Download the Coeur de Pirate live set here.

* Another artist I discovered through CBC Radio 3, Basia Bulat brought the autoharp back into pop music with her catchy single "In the Night" a few years back. You can hear her play that song and three others in a 15-minute set in the NPR offices (watch the Basia Bulat video here, or stream or download the audio).

Dylan, Basia Bulat, and a Young Mexican Singer on NPR

There have been a number of good music stories and previews on NPR in the last few days. And while they may not be available as podcasts, you can stream them live.

There's a story and sneak preview of Bob Dylan's "Tell Tale Signs," his new two-disc set. Actually it's not so much "new" as a collection of bootleg recordings from the last 20 years. The album comes out on Oct. 7th, and it appears you can stream both discs from the NPR link.

Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat was the subject of an NPR story on Oct. 5th, called "Making the Autoharp Cool." You can hear that story, along with a live session from Bulat and a story on her as one of the artists to watch at the 2008 South by Southwest Festival, at a page that features these and other Basic Bulat stories.

The young Mexican singer Ximena Sarinana was interviewed on Oct. 4th, and though her debut album "Mediocre" is entirely in Spanish, it's gotten rave reviews from critics in the U.S. as well as Mexico, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone. The page also includes a live session from KCRW.