More new stuff from Best Coast coming at you. Yesterday Beth tweeted that she had a new song for us to listen to, and now it’s here. It’s called “Sunny Adventure” and it’s a perfect song to get you through the dullness that January weather brings.
Here’s a new song from The Mountain Goats called “Damn These Vampires”. It’s going to be on their new album All Eternals Deck, due out March 29 via Merge Records.
This is a very good song that has only gotten better with more listens. Is John calling out the Twilight frenzy culture in this song? Take a listen:
Last night Indian Rebound, Toro Y Moi, and Cloud Nothings played a sold out show at Mercury Lounge. It was good to finally catch Indian Rebound in action. These boys can really play live. All the songs found a new life live. They sounded fleshed out and a lot fuller than they do recorded, which is always a good sign. The band introduced us to some new songs such as “Josephine” & “Baby Blue”. Indian Rebound may be young, but they can bring it like the rest of them. If you haven’t already, check out some of their tunes. Your going to be hearing a lot more about them someday.
Toro Y Moi played before and they had the whole crowd dancing. Their songs are even more danceable live. He played a few new songs from his upcoming album, Underneath The Pine. I would totally pay to see Chaz play live again any day. His set was a lot of fun. Cloud Nothings followed him and kept the energy going. Oh boy do they have a lot of energy going. Perfect set of rowdy garage rock songs. Can’t wait to hear that debut. Philip Seymour Hoffman also opened and played an interesting set that ended with Noah undressing to his underwear.
Overall, not a bad way to spend a Wednesday night.
Emay is an artist that I blogged about a lot last year. He’s one of the freshest new minds in hip-hop, and I think he deserves the attention of the masses. I know I am far from a rap connoisseur, but I know a special artist when I hear one. Emay is one of those. He breathes hip hop in a fresh sense of pure mind a soul. This kid loves hip hop and he has a message to tell us. It’s up to us to listen.
Last year we saw various projects from Emay, but now we finally have his first full project. It comes in the form of a mini LP titled Mind Altering Dynamics. It’s 8 songs of smart rap that everyone should hear. After one listen I’m greatly impressed. I can’t wait to dive deeper and to see what else I can discover.
Check out the stunning opening track from the LP, “Because Winter”, which features guest vocals from Lowell Boland.
Foo Fighters are coming back with a new album this year. They just released a teaser of the albums opener track “Bridge Burning”. It’s a short snippit, but it sounds like they are on the right track.
I also found this amazing cover that they had at their soundcloud page. It’s their take of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”. When The Foo Fighters are on, they’re really on. This is one of those times. It was a b-side on their My Hero single. I can’t believe I didn’t hear this until now:
Smith Westerns have a lot of talent. They’re a great live band who are perfect for an intimate venue such as Brooklyn’s Glasslands Gallery (which they easily sold out). It was the record release day for their new album Dye It Blonde (read my review here). My only fault with the show was that it certainly didn’t feel like a special show. There was no mention of the album even coming out, and I don’t think their set was any different than normal.
I can’t get mad though, Smith Westerns aren’t the type of band who cares about that stuff. They don’t interact with their crowd, or have the most dominating stage presence. Whatever man. They just want to bring the rock. And you know what, that’s fine. Some songs they absolutely brought , but others left me wanting more (All Die Young). Their young kids and they’re not perfect. For the most part the band was on fire and had the crowd going nuts. I had a lot of fun and that’s the point of rock ‘n roll, right? Give them a few more years and their live show will probably be beyond incredible.
Ducktails played before them and were very, very, impressive. I haven’t given them as much attention as I should have, but that’s certainly going to change now. I’d see them again in a heartbeat. Bass Drum Of Death and Sundelles were the other two opens. Bass Drum Of Death were pretty excellent. Just two guys playing some mean garage rock. I’d keep an eye out for them for sure.
I posted the setlist and photos below:
Check more photos out, including some of Ducktails, after the jump:
According to Rolling Stone, The Strokes highly anticipated 4th album is titled Angles. Guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr. said it’s titled Angels because, “It’s what the record sounds like. It comes from five different people.” This was the first time that the band recorded an album as a collaborative effort, instead of letting Julian take most of the creative control like he did for their previous albums.
“Undercover of Darkness” is likely to be released as the first single. Rolling Stone called “Taken for a Fool,” and “Life Is Simple” “reassuring displays of the Strokes’ feral-garage dynamics”. They also called it the bands best album since Is This It? because of “The stylistic depth and progressive excitement in those crisscross guitars, the tightly wound rhythms and Casablancas’ dry trademark croon.”
I hope that this album is as legendary as it should be. Rock and roll needs The Strokes. Be sure to read the full article over at Rolling Stone. It’s a good read.
NYC is one of the best places to see live music. It’s pretty hard to argue against that. Whenever I see the lineup announces for the festivals outside of NYC, it’s a rare moment that I’m truly envious. Now that we no longer have All Points West (R.I.P.), there’s no convinient festival for New Yorkers.
The lineup for Coachella 2011 has made me very jealous. Arcade Fire, Kanye West, and Kings Of Leon headline. Then you got The Strokes, Animal Collective, The National, The Black Keys, Interpol and the truly unexpected return of Death From Above 1979. That’s truly amazing. Then as you go deeper into the bill you got acts like Crystal Castles, Sleight Bells, Cut Copy, The Chemical Brothers, Bright Eyes, Empire Of The Sun, Duran Duran, The Morning Benders, Ariel Pink, Klaxons, The Drums, Broken Social Scene, The Radio Dept., Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, Foster The People, Chromeo, and Duck Sauce. That’s not even half of it…
Are you kidding? That’s quite an amazing lineup. I’m actually seriously considering going this time. That lineup is too good to pass up. Who is with me?
The project of Tennis came to be when Denver, Colorado’s Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore sailed across the east coast together. They lived on a sailboat for nearly a year and decided to soundtrack their experiences on the sea. They released a few songs last year to the delight of music lovers everywhere. It’s not hard to get into Tennis. They make highly accessible music that is a modern take on retro sounds.
“Take Me Somewhere” is a charming opener that displays what Tennis is all about. You wouldn’t be wrong if you thought that Cape Dory was an albums from the hey-day’s of the 1950′s or ’60s. Alaina Moore’s airy vocals are easy on the ears, and this is a perfect fit for the throwback sound that Tennis emulates so well. Sure, Tennis isn’t making the most original music, but what they lack in originality, they make up with their ability to charm with pop styling.
These are 10 songs that are easy to love, and even easier to play over and over. Isn’t that what made the music so great in the ’50′s & ’60′s?
It’s hard to deny the two and a half minutes of pop glory packed into “Marathon”, a song that I haven’t stopped playing since last year. The guitars are tuned with a warm wholesome twang similar to the Walkmen. This vintage sound gives the band its edge. Tennis are successful in their attempt to turn back the clocks and make old fashioned music sound good again. Many bands have tried to do it over the past few years, and not many do it as well as Tennis.
“Cape Dory”, “Marathon”, and “Baltimore” all sound sharper compared to the early versions that we heard last year. They’re solid offerings, but the real star of this album is “Pigeon”. It’s the most intimate offering from the band, and it may just be their most charming moment. It’s a side of Tennis that I would love to hear more of. It’s the understated simple beauty that this world needs more of, and “Pigeon” rises to the challenge.
Cape Dory is an album that you will love the hell out of in the summer when it has time to dance freely in the warm summer air. Grab your friends, sit by the water, and take a trip down to Cape Dory.
This is as solid of a debut that you can ask from a band like Tennis. Not every album needs to be a game changer. Sometimes we just need an album that we can rely on. I don’t think I’ll have any problem playing this album over and over this year.
You know what, sometimes that’s good enough for me.
