Last night in Philidelphia, Titus Andronicus covered Weezer’s Blue Album classic, “Undone (The Sweater Song)”. Cassie Ramone from Vivian Girls was there for lead vocals, as her side project, The Babies, opened.
Patrick Stickles had the guitar solo down to pact, making this a really well done cover:
The Styrofoam Drone is the man who captured the video, and you should check out review that he did for the show. It was very well done.
Lee from Knox Road recommended a band to me a few weeks back, and I finally remembered to give them a listen. He figured I would enjoy a young band from Sheffield called All The Damn Kids. The reason he is most likely because Sheffield is also the home of Arctic Monkeys, my favorite band (like you didn’t know that already!).
He shared the bands debut single “The Books Stop Here” with me. It is coming out as a single with the b-side “Like Seeing A Fox In Daylight” in May. The band was cool enough to give “The Books Stop Here” away as a free mp3 to get people excited, and it certainly worked for me. It’s a heartwarming uplifting indie pop gold.
I did some more digging and found that the band posted a few demos of two songs called “Echoes” and “Like Seeing A Fox In Daylight”. “Echoes” sounds out of this world, really dense stuff. The vocal works is dramatic and seductive. “Fox” is a shuffling tune that is easily described as catchy and very, very, satisfying.
At the end of the day, all you need to know is that All The Damn Kids are an exciting young band that is going places. Their songs are catchy and sound like a long lost best friend that you will gladly welcome back any day of the week. These kids are going places, and we are all in for the ride.
Download the goods below:
[mp3]: All The Damn Kids – The Books Stop Here
[mp3]: All The Damn Kids – Echoes
All The Damn Kids – Like seeing a fox in daylight – Free demo by Ask Me PR
I put off listening to Irish rockers Villagers simply because of my hectic lists of songs/albums to listen to, and artists to check out. Sadly plenty of stuff I would love to check out happens to get lost in the shuffle. However Niall Byrne the excellent music blogger who runs the exceptional Irish music blog Nialler9, tweeted (twice) about Villagers, fully catching my attention. His post about the Villagers live performance of their song “Becoming A Jackel” on Jools Holland lead to me finally understanding why Villagers was starting to build a solid reputation.
Here is why:
I am going to do a full in-depth post on Villagers soon, because these guys need to be recognized. If you are not sold by the live video posted above, you are probably reading the wrong music blog.
I was reading BrooklynVegan, and their post about a potentially new festival caught my attention. Mountrain Man Fest. It would take place at Saratoga Springs on July 24th. The artists that they have lined up are Islands, Health, Phantogram, Real Estate, Eternal Summers, Cults, Woods, Summer Camp, MemoryHouse, Family Portrait, and Yip Yip. Basically, all blog favorites.
Now, I did say that this only has the “potential” to happen. Why? Well, it isn’t…funded yet. The people behind it are trying to raise money via a Kickstarter Page with a goal of a whopping $65,000 by a May 12th deadline. Woah. In order to get a ticket for the show, you need to donate at least $35. It is a good showcase for many great upcoming acts, so if you are around town, you should really consider helping this project out.
I will have the money soon, and once I do, I will donate. You should do the same!
Ed Droste, Grizzly Bear’s frontman, is a talented musician. He also has a wonderful taste in music. I have the utmost respect for anything that he recommends.
Refinery29 seems to feel the same way. They asked Mr. Droste himself if he could throw some sunny songs together for a spring playlist, and what a fantastic playlist it is. It includes WAWSTSF favorites Local Natives, The Morning Benders, Beach House, Jónsi, and more, so you know I’m digging it. There is also tons of stuff that I have just discovered for the first time, so it’s a win-win.
You can grab all the mp3′s for free straight from Refinery. If your doing work or doing some spring cleaning, just listen to the entire thing as one big mp3 playlist.
Mates Of State are gearing up to release Crushes, an entire album dedicated to indie covers. It features an eclectic mix of artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Girls, Belle & Sebastian, and….The Mars Volta. Gonna be interesting to see how that latter comes out.
They gave away their cover of “Laura” by last years indie darling Girls for free mp3 download. It perfectly suites Mates Of State’s style. Listen below:
[mp3]: Mates Of State – Laura (Girls Cover)
Check out the tracklisting at Mates Of State’s website.
Hot Chip recently covered Shakira’s “She Wolf” for Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 show. They take the song and put their spin on it, making it sound as if it is one of their own originals. The band didn’t need to wait for a full moon to cover it, they already had all the tools to do so.
[mp3]: Hot Chip – She Wolf (Shakira Cover)
My question for you: What Hot Chip song would you want covered, and by who?
California themed Best Coast music video for “When I’m With You”. It features Beth in an odd romance with a fake Ronald McDonald, the beach, sunshine, and In-N-Out-Burger. Boy I would die for a burger and some animal fries right about now. My girlfriend, who is from Cali, is gonna love this video.
Watch the Pete Ohs directed vid below. It will get you pumped for summer 2010.
saw it via Gorillavsbear
[mp3]: Best Coast – When I’m With You
If you didn’t know it already, I am a huge baseball fan. I used to play myself as a pitcher/first basemen/center fielder, but arm injuries from pitching killed the dream. I am an avid Yankee fan, and am really happy right now because baseball has returned.
I am posting about this because Death Cab for Cutie played some baseball classics at The Seattle Mariners opening day at Safeco Field. They played the classic baseball songs “Centerfield” (John Fogerty) and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game“.
A Mariners fan recorded both songs which you can watch below:
Saw it via TwentyFourBit
With Record Store Day coming this Saturday, Beach House are giving us a small preview of what you can buy on that great day. They are offering “Zebra” as a free download, and you can stream the brand new/exclusive new song “The Arrangement” which will be included on the release. The 12″ will also include another new song titled “Baby” and a cough syrup remix of “10 Mile Stereo” which was recreated by Beach House themselves.
Only 500 copies were pressed, and they are only available at independent retailers. I am out of luck being in Binghamton. Maybe I will come home this weekend…..
Download “Zebra” & stream “The Arrangement” below:
[mp3]: Beach House – Zebra
Beach House – The Arrangement by Bella Union
