La Sera

Like the Vivian Girls? You should give La Sera a listen.

La Sera is a new band that features Katy Goodman, the Vivian Girls' bass playing vocalist. The group started forming back in February of 2010 and also features Jenn Prince (guitar, vocals) and Jonathan Weinberg (drums, vocals, keys).

In numerous interviews Goodman has said that her inspiration sprung from an attraction to early pop hits from the 1950's and you can hear it in songs like "Never Come Around" (in addition to a 60s flair). It's very Vivian girls (go figure - it is a side project after all) but wth a much less aggressive sound.

La Sera - "Never Come Around"

I just simply love the layering of tambourine, guitar, and ethereal vocals. Another track that I'm loving is "Hold" - it's slightly morbid, but it's a song about hugging each other to death (which doesn't seem like an awful way to go...).

You can expect a full length, self-titled album from La Sera on February 15, 2011 from Hardly Art.



La Sera's La Sera Tracklisting:
01 Beating Heart
02 Never Come Around
03 You’re Going To Cry
04 Sleeptalking
05 I Promise You
06 Left This World
07 Hold
08 Under The Trees
09 Devils Hearts Grow Gold
10 Dove Into Love
11 Been Here Before
12 Lift Off

Playlist: The Winter Mix

Happy Holidays to everyone and soon Happy New Year!

I love the holidays - don't get me wrong - but some things I can't handle. I drove home from school to New Hampshire for some skiing. Needless to say it was a long drive, but 4 states and a solid 8 1/2 hours later I finally made it. But for some reason I was determined to listen to raido the entire time. I drove back December 23rd, so this was a bad decision because that meant a whole lot of Christmas music. I'll be honest, if I have to listen to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" again there will be major problems.

So for those of you who love themed playlists (I know I do - my favorite time of the year is when I get to play halloween music on my radio show) here's one full of blizzards and hot cocoa and warm fires.

Au Revoir Simone - "Fallen Snow"

Banjo or Freakout - "Frosty the Snowman"
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "In This Home on Ice"

Elliot Smith - "Angel in the Snow"

Emancipator - "Soon It will Be Cold Enough to Build Fires"

Galaxie 500 - "Listen, The Snow Is Falling"

Helios - "Mountain of Ice"

Low - "The Last Snowstorm of the Year" (live)

Laura Marling - "Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)"

Los Straightjackets - "A Marshmallow World"

Mumford and Sons - "Winter Winds"

Ra Ra Riot - "Winter ‘05"
Regina Spektor - "20 Years Of Snow"
+/- (Plus Minus) - "Snowblind"
The Main Drag - "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter"
The Walkmen - "While I Shovel the Snow"

White Stripes - "In the Cold, Cold Night"

Plus the East Coast is currently being attacked by a blizzard. The winter music is necessary.

Breaking Artist: Harlan Pepper

Do you ever have a day when you wake up and everything just goes wrong? Say your alarm doesn't go off and you miss class, or you have to dig your car out from an encasement of snow, or you ate too many delicious grapes and feel slightly nauseous. Maybe, just maybe, it's a day of all of those options and more.

So when I go into my email and find a bunch of spam about how I've won a large sum of money from some dead relative and another email about the possibility of a little magic pill that can make everything bigger and better, I worry that checking my email is going to make everything even worse in Morgan's terrible, no good, very bad day.

Well, thank you, Harlan Pepper. Your picking banjos, rich vocals, and full sound have made my day (which I thought was just going to stay awful) into a good one.

Hailing from Hamilton, Canada, the four piece band isn't too far out of high school, but their sound, both musically and lyrically, make them sound like they've had years of experience under their belts.

Comprised of Jimmy Hayes (guitar, pedal steel, harmonica), Dan Edmonds (banjo, keys, vocals), Thompson Wilson (bass, vocals), and Marlon Nicolle (drums, vocals), these guys have taken folk and combined it with the best parts of blues, country, and rock, perfectly mixing soulful organ pianos, head shaking harmonicas, and creeping guitar licks.

On the band's website they write that, "We grew up listening to music on dusty record players, and hissing radios. Those sounds have been channelled into these songs. It’s an album that we think encapsulates our love for raw roots, rock country, blues, and folk music, seen through our own 21st century kaleidoscope." And I couldn't have described their sound better if I tried.

Feel free to check out their song "Great Lakes" below:
Harlan Pepper - "Great Lakes"

Is that a Phonograph?

Up in the sky!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
Actually, it's an iPod dock that looks like a phonograph!

I love the things that you can get on the internet (not that I could afford it anyway, but just look at it).

The company selling them, Science and Sons, calls this wonder the Phonofone III.

According to their website, "The Phonofone III is an elegantly designed passive amplifier crafted from ceramic and designed explicitly for iPhone. This clever device amplifies the volume emited from an iPhone internal speaker roughly 4x (approx. 60 decibels)."

The dock became available November 25th and thy are (as of right now) only selling 50 of them.

It's pricey ($195 Canadian), but it's awesome to look at. They have some other cool stuff at heir website too. Check it out!

I'm Still Here!

Excuse me, it seems that I just dug myself out of all of the work I've been doing. Whew!

This is ridiculous - I only did three posts in November. It's sad really. Now let me not rant and rave because while I am doing a lot of work I'm also trying to have a lot of fun. I just didn't think that meant I would ignore this blog as a result.

Interested in what I've been doing this semester? Here's one thing I'm really proud of from my anthropology class:

College Students and Music

See, it really is all about the music!

There are some changes to the title page - it was a group project and I took out all of our names/our professor's name (and the date for some reason). It was really interesting to do, especially the interviews.

Keep an eye out - by the end of December I'll having another paper up from that class about (drum roll) music blogs and the record industry. I love college!

Who knows...late December did I say? Why, that could be the post right after this one, but I certainly hope not *shudder*

Hello December!

Wow. I never thought I'd be saying this, but I hope I am just missing a lot of stuff that is coming out this month. Talk about slim pickings...Yet this tends to happen in December every year because hey, that's how the music industry works.

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

December 7th
Adam Lambert - Take Two
Anika – Anika
Celebration - Hello Paradis

Charlie Wilson - Just Charlie
Christian Kane - The House Rules
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (Soundtrack)
Deadmau5 - 4×4=12
Duffy - Endlessly
Einstürzende Neubauten - Strategies Against Architecture IV (Physical Release)
Hinder - All American Nightmare
Jessica Simpson - Happy Christmas
Natasha Bedingfield - Strip Me
Plain White T’s - Wonders of the Younger
Redman - Reggie
Robin Trower - The Playful Heart
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP (physical Release)
T.I. - No Mercy
The Sorrow - The Sorrow

December 14th
9th Wonder - 9th’s Opus: It’s A Wonderful World Music Group
Ciara - Basic Instinct
Crystal Bowersox - Farmer’s Daughter
Diddy and Dirty Money - The Last Train To Paris
Michael Jackson - Michael
Nas - The Lost Tapes: Vol. 2
R. Kelly - Love Letter
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - III/IV
Tank - Now Or Never
The Damned Things - Ironiclast
Young Jeezy - TM 103

December 21st
Avant - The Letter
Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now (digital release)
Ghostface KIllah - The Apollo Kids
Hex Hector - Allura
Jamie Foxx - Best Night Of My Life
Keri Hilson - No Boys Allowed
Keyshia Cole - Calling All Hearts

Cowlick

Until I read their email (that's right, you can submit to Ruined By MTV and I will eventually read it) I will admit that I had never heard of Cowlick. Thanks for the email guys!

Cowlick started one day in February 2006 when brothers Dylan Hudecki (formerly of By Divine Right and Junior Blue) and his younger brother Jackson Hudecki (Alive & Living) recorded some improvised bedtracks in a studio in the country. They later added friend Ian Parker and Cowlick was complete.

I am really loving their track "Wires." Full of handclaps and fuzzy guitar riffs, what's not to love?

Cowlick - "Wires"

There are so many genres influencing Cowlick's sound, anything from indie rock to folk to psychedelia to hiphop to funk to noise rock or experimental. I think that's why I'm really loving their music. Tracks like "Radio" have bluesy, thick guitar melodies; "White Russians" features Lee Reed and has true hip-hop beats and a wonky bass; "Conflict of Interest" has folky guitar strumming and (what sounds like) a lap steel guitar.

With Wires, their second album, just released this past August and a wonderful remix of it already available through their website, I'm looking forward to hearing more about Cowlick in the future.

Playlist: Daylight Savings

So today is Daylight Savings Time - don't forget to set your clocks an hour back! But then what do you do with that extra hour? How about listen to some music?

Arcade Fire - "Wasted Hours"

Belle and Sebastian - "Sleep the Clock Around"

Harlem Shakes - "Sunlight"

Irma Thomas - "Time is On My Side"

Matt & Kim - "Daylight"

Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today"

The Postal Service - "Sleeping In"

Rogue Wave - "Good Morning"

The Apples in Stereo - "Sunndal Song"

The Beatles - "Good Morning, Good Morning"

The Chambers Brothers - "Time Has Come Today"

The Maccabees - "Precious Time"

Ukulele Loki's Gadabout Orchestra - "Daylight Savings
Vetiver - "More of This"
We Were Promised Jetpacks - "Moving Clocks Run Slow"
Whitley - "Lost in Time"

I love extra hours in the day!

Hello November!

Well hello there November! What's that you say? No, I'm not just waiting for Thanksgiving turkey. But you know if it wasn't for Matt And Kim, N.E.R.D., Kid Cudi, Les Sins, The Radio Dept., The Tallest Man on Earth, Tobacco, and Bombay Bicycle Club that might be the case. Or, you know, cranberry sauce.

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

November 2nd
7 Walkers [Garetful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann & Papa Mali] - 7 Walkers
Autumn Defense [Wilco's John Stirratt & Pat Sansone] - Once Around
Barn Owl - Ancestral Star
Black Dub [Daniel Lanois] - Black Dub
Brian Eno - Small Craft On a Milk Sea
City Champs - The Set-Up
Dark Party - Light Years
Destroyer - The Archers On The Beach [EP]
Devin The Dude - Gotta Be Me
Diplo - Blow Your Head Volume 1: Diplo Presents Dubstep
Elliott Smith - Introduction to...Elliott Smith
Elvis Costello - National Ransom
Games - That We Can Play
Good Charlotte - Cardiology
Horse Feathers – “Drain You” 7”
Huey Lewis & The News - Soulville
Jason Aldean - My Kinda Party
Kelly Rowland - [Title TBA]
Koen Holtkamp - Gravity/Bees
Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas II You
Matt And Kim - Sidewalks
Mini Mansions - Mini Mansions
N.E.R.D. - Nothing
Neil Diamond - Dreams
Pitbull - Armando
Sharron Kraus - The Woody Nightshade
The 1900s - Return of the Century
The June - Green Fields and Rain

Violens - Amoral
Weezer - Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition Reissue)

November 9th
Aaron Neville - I Know I’ve Been Changed
Alter Bridge (Myles Kennedy & Creed members) - AB III
Botany - Feeling Today EP

Cassandra Wilson - Silver Pony
Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
Cradle Of Filth - Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa
David Banner/9th Wonder - Death of a Pop Star
Einstürzende Neubauten - Strategies Against Architecture IV (Digital Release)
Eleven Tigers - Clouds Are Mountains
Fenn O'Berg - Live in Japan Part One + Live in Japan Part Two
Fern Knight - Castings

Former Ghosts - New Love
Gary War - Police Water EP
Gary Wilson - Electric Endicott
Gregory and the Hawk - Leche

Julie Christmas - The Bad Wife
Justine & the Victorian Punks - "Beautiful Dreamer" b/w "Still You" 12''
Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager
Les Sins (Toro Y Moi) - “Lina” 12”

Marsha Ambrosius (Floetry) - Late Nights & Early Mornings
Maserati - Pyramid of the Sun
Natasha Bedingfield - Strip Me
Nightlands - Forget the Mantra

Orange Juice - Coals to Newcastle (Box Set)

Place Of Skulls - As A Dog Returns
Reba McEntire - All The Woman I Am
Shigeto - Full Circle

Supersilent - Supersilent 10
Supersilent - Supersilent 11 (Vinyl Only)
Susan Boyle - The Gift
Suzanne Langille & Neel Murgai - Wild & Foolish Heart
The Big Pink - Tapes
The Concretes - WYWH
The Greenhornes - ****
The Orb and Youth - Impossible Oddities

The Parting Gifts - Strychnine Dandelion
The Radio Dept. - Never Follow Suit EP
The Tallest Man on Earth - Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird (Physical Release)
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt EP (Physical Release)
Tobacco - LA UTI EP

Tyvek - Nothing Fits
Underoath - Disambiguation
Various Artists - Tradi-Mods Vs. Rockers: Alternative Takes on Congotronics

Weekend - Sports
Wyatt/Atzmon/Stephen - For the Ghosts Within

November 16th
Annie Lennox - A Christmas Cornucopia
Bjørn Torske - Kokning

Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws
Bruce Springsteen - The Promise (compilation of unreleased songs from Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions)
Bryan Adams - Bare Bones
Cassidy - Cash
Crushed Stars - Convalescing In Braille
Curren$y - Pilot Talk II
D'Eon - Palinopsia
Deerhoof/Physical Forms - "Hoofdriver" 7"
Faun Fables - Light of a Vaster Dark
Hellmouth - Gravestone Skylines
Japandroids - "Heavenward Grand Prix" 7"
Josh Groban - Illuminations
Keith Urban - Get Closer
Kid Rock - Born Free
Lee DeWyze - Live It Up
Loreena McKennitt - The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Nelly - 5.0
Norah Jones - …Featuring Norah Jones [collection of collaborations]
Pink - Greatest Hits…So Far!!!
Pink Martini - Joy To The World
Rascal Flatts - Nothing Like This
Rihanna - Loud
Sharon Van Etten - "I'm Giving Up on You"
Stereolab - Not Music
The Pipettes - Earth vs. The Pipettes
The Russian Futurists - The Weight's on the Wheels
The Shipping News - One Les Heartless to Fear

November 22nd
Akon - Akonic
Daft Punk: Tron - Legacy OST
Darkwater - Where Stories End
Grinderman - "Worm Tamer" 12''
Justin Bieber - [Title TBA] – Acoustic
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Ke$ha - Cannibal [EP]
Kevin Eubanks - Zen Food
Killing Joke - Absolute Dissent
Lloyd Banks - H.F.M.2 (Hunger For More 2)
My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys
Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday
Robyn - Body Talk
Royksopp - Senior
The Alchemist - Gutter Water
The National - High Violet (Expanded Edition)

November 30th
Aeroplane - We Can't Fly (U.S. physical release)
Black Eye Peas - The Beginning
Chrisette Michele - Let Freedom Reign
Eric Benet - Lost In Time
Flo Rida - Only One Flo (Part 1)
Jazmine Sullivan - Love Me Back
Ron Isley - Mr I
Soulja Boy - The DeAndre Way
Steve Wynn - Northern Aggression

Playlist: Happy Halloween!

Here are my 13 (I know, such a spooky number) favorite Halloween songs. Enjoy! There are plenty of witches, werewolves, zombies, and vampires to go around!

Beach House - "Tokyo Witch"

Beck - "Scarecrow"

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Satan Said Dance"

The Flaming Lips - "Convinced of the Hex"

Friendly Fires - "Skeleton Man"

Jay Reatard - "My Shadow"

Manchester Orchestra - "Wolves At Night"

Modest Mouse - "Spitting Venom"

Ra Ra Riot - "Ghosts Under Rocks"

Say Hi To Your Mom - "These Fangs"

Spoon - “The Ghost of You Lingers"
Starlight Mints - "Pumpkin"
Sufjan Stevens - "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"

Plus I figure the extra boost of free music will help the fact that I've only posted nine times in October. Now that's spooky...

Sonny & the Sunsets

It's pretty hard to not love Sonny & the Sunsets, what with their vintage-style west coast pop and all.

Although Sonny & the Sunsets was formed in 2007, they didn't release their debut album Tomorrow is Alright until August 2010. It's interesting though - the band recorded the album on a classic 1970's 388 Tascam tape.

This track makes me think of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and you all know how much I love them!
Sonny & the Sunsets - "Lovin' On An Older Gal"

Fun fact: Sonny Smith works out of an office in the back of his friends' surf shop. How cool is that?



Sonny and the Sunsets' Tour Dates:
10/26 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall #
10/28 Portland, OR Holocene #
10/29 Vancouver, BC Cobalt #
10/30 Seattle, WA Neumo's #
10/31 Spokane, WA Stage 54 #&
11/02 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge #
11/03 Denver, CO Bluebird #
11/05 Dallas, TX Granada #$
11/06 Houston, TX Mango's #
11/09 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room #
11/10 San Diego, CA Casbah #
11/11 Los Angeles, CA Echo ^
11/12 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex *

# = w/ Best Coast
& = w/ No Joy
$ = w/ Deerhunter & Casino Versus Japan
^ = w/ Tennis
* = w/ The Pains of Being At Heart

Blonde Redhead Tour Dates

Blonde Redhead has just finished up their tour of both Europe and China, and they're returning to the road October 15th for their first North American tour in over two years.

Support on most of their tour comes from Pantha Du Prince, who recently released his third album, the wonderful Black Noise, through Rough Trade. Pantha Du Prince has remixed Blonde Redhead's song "Here Sometimes" which you can download below:

Blonde Redhead - "Here Sometimes" (Pantha Du Prince remix)

Blonde Redhead's U.S. Tour Dates:

10/17 - Toronto ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/18 - Detroit MI - Magic Stick
10/20 - Newport KY - Southgate House
10/22 - Chicago IL - Vic Theatre
10/23 - Milwaukee WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
10/24 - Minneapolis MN - First Avenue
10/25 - St. Louis MO - The Pageant
10/27 - Nashville TN - Mercy Lounge
10/29 - Atlanta GA - Variety Playhouse
10/30 - Carrboro NC - Cat’s Cradle
10/31 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club
11/01 - Boston MA - Paradise Rock Club
11/03 - New York NY - Webster Hall
11/04 - New York NY - Webster Hall
11/14 - San Diego CA - House Of Blues
11/15 - Pomona CA - Glass House
11/16 - Los Angeles CA - The Music Box
11/17 - Los Angeles CA - The Music Box
11/19 - San Francisco CA - Warfield Theatre
11/20 - Portland OR - Roseland Theatre
11/21 - Vancouver BC - Commodore Ballroom
11/24 - Seattle WA - Showbox (at the market)
11/26 - Salt Lake City UT - The Depot
11/27 - Denver CO - Ogden Theatre
11/29 - Houston TX - Warehouse Live Studio
11/30 - Dallas TX - Granada Theater

New Fences Music Video

It'll never get radio airplay in its true form, but I can't help but like this song.

Fences - Girls With Accents

It's the hooks - I can't help it!

Feel free to download below:

New Music from The Moondoggies

It's been a while since the Moondoggies had any new music, but luckily that's changing. On October 12th, the Moondoggies will be releasing their new album Tidelands.

While the band’s 2008 debut Don’t Be A Stranger won over fans for it’s easygoing mood, Tidelands catches the Moondoggies at a more contemplative and mature moment. But don't worry, their music will still be full of great harmonies and catchy hooks.

Check out their single “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity” below:

The Moondoggies - "It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity"

“It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity” truly is a stomping but solemn song, marked by the somber and pensive tones found throughout Tidelands.

Tidelands is now available for pre-order at the Hardly Art website, and they will be sending out a bonus Moondoggies cassette with preorders while supplies last. This limited edition tape features their 2009 Record Store Day EP on one side and their 2010 “You’ll Find No Answers Here” Tour EP on the other, and includes a free download of both releases.

Check out the tracklisting for Tidelands and tour dates after the jump!

Breaking Artist: Voxhaul Broadcast

I haven't done any "Breaking Artist" segments in a while, so I knew I had to truly find a breakout artist. Good thing Voxhaul Broadcast will not disappoint.

Voxhaul Broadcast hails from sunny Orange County, California, and they can't hide that upbeat flavor in their music. The four-piece indie rock band, made up of David Dennis (guitar, vocals), Anthony Aguiar (guitar, organ, backing vocals), Phillip Munsey II (bass), and Kurt Allen (drums) just recently signed with the Agency Group.

Their debut full length, Timing is Everything will be released sometime in early 2011. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Tom Biller (Silver Sun Pickups, Seawolf, Liars) with additional production from Chris Thorne (Blind Melon), Timing Is Everything is a culmination of everything this band has been working towards. A mix of r&b, rock, and soul, they still somehow stay true to their original sound (the band recorded and mixed their 2008 debut EP Rotten Apples live AND in one day). With influences ranging from James Brown and Al Green to The Beatles and Donovan, it's hard to not have undeniably catchy beats.

Check out their song "Leaving on the 5th" below. "The track is about meeting someone who you know you'll have to say goodbye to the next day and making the most of the time you have with them," says guitarist and keyboardist Anthony Aguiar.

Voxhaul Broadcast - "Leaving on the 5th"

Voxhaul Broadcast has showcased at SXSW, CMJ, Sundance, Noisepop Pop Fest in San Francisco, and has been featured multiple times on Daytrotter.

Here's hoping that we get to hear more about them in the future!

Oholics

I feel like I've just time-traveled in the Delorean back to the 1960s. This six piece band definitely knows how to create psych-twinged, lush, experimental pop.

Check out "Lose It" below:

Oholics - "Lose It"

I love it. It must be the sitar.

For the Music Geek in All of Us (Creepy as Hell Edition)

I. Am. Freaking. Out. Why, you ask? Oh, read on. Read on.

Music has always been a way to express yourself, and much like how extremely (extremely) "gangsta" (yes, I did just use quotes) rappers pour a 40 for their homies, there's a whole new way to pay tribute to the dead. And it's a bit messed up.

That's where And Vinyly comes in.

Imagine: maybe it's been due to old age or maybe a terrible parachuting accident, but you've died. Instead of a traditional burial or having your ashes spread at sea, you could be turned into a vinyl record. Your ashes can be pressed into an actual, playable record. And there you are - immortal.

Basically, the ashes are sprinkled by a person of your choosing and baked onto a 24-minute disk, which can either be left as simple pops and crackles ("the minimal approach"), or grooved to play your last will & testament, a favorite song, or a personal message in your voice.

It gives a whole new meaning to the "death metal" and "soul" genres, doesn't it?

The average ash-load can be spread out to thirty records, which, if you so desire, can even be sold under the in-house label (R.I.V. - Rest In Vinyl) at stores around the world. People could buy your ashes and play you on a record forever.

What?

Hello October!

There is so much to look forward to this October! The Corin Tucker Band! Tim Kasher! Antony And The Johnsons! Badly Drawn Boy! Belle And Sebastian! Sufjan Stevens! Keller Williams! Kid Cudi! !!! (oh wait - that was August...maybe I just have to tone down the excitement).

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

October 5th
Abandon All Ships – Geeving
Alain Johannes - Spark
Allo Darlin’ - Allo Darlin’
Amusement Parks on Fire - Road Eyes
Apache Beat - Last Chants
Bring Me The Horizon - There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret
British Sea Power - Zeus EP (digital release])
Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Clinic - Bubblegum
Dark Dark Dark - Wild Go
David Archuleta - The Other Side Of Down
Down - Diary Of A Mad Band [Live CD/DVD]
Dustin Wong - Infinite Love
Guster - Easy Wonderful

Gonjasufi - The Caliph's Tea Party 

Idlewild - Post Electric Blues
Joe Satriani - Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards
Julius C - OK, OK
KT Tunstall - Tiger Suit
Legendary Pink Dots - Seconds Late for the Brighton Line
Leland Sundries - The Apothecary [EP]
Mark Ronson and The Business Intl - Record Collection
Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern
Middle Class Rut - No Name No Color
New Collisions - The Optimist
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - History of Modern


Pimp C - The Naked Soul of Sweet Jones
PS I Love You - Meet Me at the Muster Station
Raul Malo - Sinners & Saints
Royal Baths - Litanies
Shadow Shadow Shade [formally known as Afternoons] - Shadow Shadow Shade
Soft Landing - Soft Landing
Sun Araw - Off Duty
Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
The Avett Brothers - Live, Volume 3
The Corin Tucker Band – 1,000 Years
The Creepshow - They All Fall Down
The Gurus - Closing Circles
Tim Kasher (of Cursive) - The Game Of Monogamy
Toby Keith - Bullets In The Gun
Tom Zé - Studies of Tom Zé: Explaining Things So I Can Confuse You
Tricky - Mixed Race
Truckasauras – Quarters
Various Artists - Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home
Waka Flocka Flame - Flackavelli

White Hills: Stolen Stars Left for No One EP

October 12th
All That Remains - For We Are Many
Antony And The Johnsons - Swanlights
Badly Drawn Boy - Part 1–Photographing Snowflakes
Banjo or Freakout: Way Slow

Belle And Sebastian - Write About Love
Big Search: Lay of the Land
Blank Dogs: Land and Fixed
Blue Water White Death: Blue Water White Death
Breathe Owl Breathe: Magic Central
Callers: Life of Love
Celtic Thunder - Celtic Thunder Christmas
Cheyenne Marie Mize - Before Lately
Cloud Nothings - Turning On
Dar Williams - Many Great Companions
Darius Rucker - Charleston, SC 1966
Die Antwoord: $0$
Doug Paisley: Constant Companion
Envy: Recitation
Florence and the Machine: "Dog Days Are Over (Yeasayer Remix)”
Franz Nicolay: Luck & Courage
Gangrene [The Alchemist and Oh No]: Gutter Water
Gold Panda: Lucky Shiner
Hauschka - Foreign Landscapes
Holy Sons: Survivalist Tales!
Houses: All Night
Idle Times: Idle Times
Indigo Girls - Holly Happy Days
Jane Birkin: Di Doo Dah (reissue)

Kedl Winter: Apple Core
Kelly Stoltz: To Dreamers
Less Than Jake - TV/EP
Lil Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being [Digital release Sep 27]
Liz Phair - Funstyle [CD release]
Meat Beat Manifesto - Answers Come In Dreams
Peter Gordon: The Love of Life Orchestra
Purling Hiss: Public Service Announcement
Silje Nes: Opticks
Simian Mobile Disco - Is Fixed
Sister Hazel - Heartland Highway
Starfucker: Julius
Styrofoam: Disco Synthesizers & Daily Tranquilizers
Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz
Suuns: Zeroes QC
The Band Perry - The Band Perry
The Beets: Stay Home
The Black Heart Procession: Blood Bunny/Black Rabbit EP
The Black: Sun in the Day Moon at Night
The Dead C: Patience
The Foreign Exchange - Authenticity
The Foreign Exchange: Authenticity
The Fresh & Onlys - Play It Strange
The Orb featuring David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) - Metallic Spheres
Various Artists: From the Land of Ice and Snow: The Songs of Led Zeppelin
White Moth: White Moth
Wilson Phillips - Christmas In Harmony
Wolf People: Steeple
Yann Tiersen (Composer of Amelie score) - Dust Lane
You, Me, And Everyone We Know - Some Things Don’t Wash Out
Zola Jesus: Valusia EP

October 19th
A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Autumn, Again (digital release)
Belfi/Grubbs/Pilia - Onrushing Cloud
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964
Darkstar - North (UK Release)
Dwarr - Animals (reissue)
Ejigayehu “Gigi” Shibawbaw - Mesgana Ethiopa
Elton John & Leon Russell - The Union
Erland & The Carnival - Trouble In Mind EP
Eskmo - Eskmo
House - All Night
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Acme + Acme Plus (reissue)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Orange + Experimental Remixes EP (reissue)
Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown
Kisses - The Heart Of The Nightlife (UK release)
Liars - Proud Evolution EP
Liz Phair - Girlysound + Funstyle
Mount Eerie - Song Islands Vol.2 (physical Release)
Mt. Desolation - Departure
Phantom Band - The Wants (digital only)
Rod Stewart - Fly Me To The Moon…
Shakira - Sale el Sol (The Sun Comes Out)
Sugarland - The Incredible Machine
The Extra Lens - Undercard
The Phantom Band - The Wants
The Philistines Jr. - If a Band Plays in the Woods...?
The Soft Boys - A Can of Bees (reissue with bonus tracks)

The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight (reissue with bonus tracks)

Various Artists - Radioclit Presents: The Sound of Club Secousse

October 26th
Apparat - DJ-Kicks

Avey Tare - Down There

Bryan Ferry – Olympia
Coliseum - Goddamage
Comic Wow - Music for Mysteries of Mind Space and Time
Dâm-Funk - Adolescent Funk
Deluka - You Are The Night (digital release was September 28th)
Diamond Rings - Special Affections
Gary Wilson - Electric Endicott (digital release)
Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - Acoustic Sessions
Juliette Commagere - The Procession
K.C. Accidental - Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub / Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills
Keller Williams – Kids
Kermit Ruffins - Happy Talk
Kid Cudi - Man On The Mon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow
Lesbian - Stratospheria Cubensis
Lyrics Born - As U Were
Pepper Rabbit - Beauregard
Seeland - How to Live
Small Black - New Chain
Sun Airway - Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier
Sun City Girls - Funeral Mariachi
Taylor Swift - Speak Now
The Octopus Project - Hexadecagon
The War on Drugs - Future Weather EP
Timmy's Organism - Rise of the Green Gorilla
Various Artists - Wah Do Dem OST
Viktor Sjoberg - Breakfast in America
Warpaint - The Fool
William Ryan Fritch - Music for Honey and Bile
Wolf & Cub - Science & Sorcery
Wooden Wand - Death Seat

Another Reason to Love Deer Tick

If you haven't heard, Deer Tick is going to be auctioning their 2009 tour bus ("The Flagship") on eBay to raise money for Pakistan flood Victims.

According to the Government of Pakistan, some 17 million have been affected by the flooding. U.N. Undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, has called the floods "unprecedented."

"The situation over there is so critical, but it seems that very few people are aware of it," said Deer Tick frontman John McCauley. "Maybe it's the stigma with that part of the world, I'm not sure. Either way, we feel really strongly that people should be more aware of the situation and hopefully we can help with that."

The auction will be held on eBay and will last for 3 weeks. The eBay page for the auction can be viewed here.

"At Oxfam America, we are lucky to have some of the world's most amazing artists support our mission and campaigns," said Bob Ferguson, Senior Advisor of Music Outreach for Oxfam. "We're very pleased that Deer Tick has joined that group in advocating on behalf of our flood relief and recovery efforts in Pakistan."

Deer Tick will also be accepting donations for Oxfam at its merch booth each night during their upcoming US tour. If you can't make it to a show but still wan to donate, feel free to visit Oxfam's website.



Deer Tick's Tour Dates:
10/06 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
10/07 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *#
10/08 Greenville, SC - Fall For Greenville *
10/09 Auburn, AL - Bourbon Street *
10/10 Birmingham, AL - Zydeco +
10/11 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks +
10/12 Houston, TX - The Bronze Peacock Room @ House of Blues +
10/13 Austin, TX - Emo's +
10/14 Laredo, TX - Old No. 2 +
10/16 Tempe, AZ - Sail Inn +
10/17 San Diego, CA - The Loft / UCSD +
10/19 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey +
10/20 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom +
10/21 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom +
10/22 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret %+
10/23 Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo +
10/24 Seattle, WA - Neumos +
10/26 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
10/27 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
10/28 Omaha, NE - Bourbon Theatre
10/29 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
10/30 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
10/31 St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway !
11/02 Washington, DC - Black Cat
11/03 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
11/05 Providence, RI - AS220
11/06 Providence, RI - AS220 (matinee show)
11/06 Providence, RI - AS220 (late show)
11/10 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/11 Boston, MA - Royale
11/12 Newport, RI - Newport Blues Café
11/13 Newport, RI - Newport Blues Café

* = w/ Jason Isbell
+ = w/ J. Roddy Walston and the Business
# = w/ Blitzen Trapper & Malcomb Holcolmbe
% = w/ Phosphorescent
! = w/ Band of Heathens

We Got You Covered: I Can Change

I really love covers! Whether they sound exactly alike or the covering band puts a whole new spin on it, they're just fun no matter what!

Check out See Green covering LCD Soundsystem's "I Can Change" below:



Oh covers, you make me so happy!

New Matt & Kim Album Cover and Tracklisting!

Here it is, the Sidewalks album cover:
And tracklisting:

01 Block After Block
02 AM/FM Sound
03 Cameras
04 Red Paint
05 Where You're Coming From
06 Good for Great
07 Northeast
08 Wires
09 Silver Tiles
10 Ice Melts

Is that a "Silver Tiles" remake? We'll have to wait and see!

Hopefully you've heard their single, "Cameras." If not, check it out below:

It's like the 1940s had a love child with old school hip hop and spoon fed it electronica!

Don't forget - you can hear the full album before it's released on November 2nd. Listening parties will be held at every venue before every show on Matt & Kim's fall tour. The music starts when the doors open!

New Music Tuesday: Azure Ray

I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays mean that there's wonderful new music being released into the world, music like Azure Ray's Drawing Down the Moon.

Azure Ray is an indie duo from Athens, Georgia made up of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The band started in 2001, but Azure Ray disbanded in 2004. Taylor and Fink have both since (besides reuniting obviously) released solo albums on Saddle Creek Records.

Azure Ray's sound is sparse and understated, with intimate lyrics, elements of alt-country, folk, Americana, and the occasional minimalist electronica. While their music is ethereal and breezy, the duo's tracks are never fully stripped-down. With harp, bass, cello, oboe, violin, bassoon, and drums, their sound is truly multi-layered.

Download the first single, "Don't Leave My Mind," via Saddle Creek.

“Don’t Leave My Mind” is simply beautiful, all warm vocals and electronic pulses. Swoon.

And don't forget, you can check out all the music being released today in Hello September! And let me tell you, picking the one album to check out for September 14th was pretty hard!

Multiple Eargasms

Yeah, you read that right. And they were fantastic!

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to get the chance to go to two amazing concerts. And the best part? Both of them were in upstate New York. When did that happen? When did upstate New York become the cool place to go? More on that another time. Back to my amazing weekend!

Friday: Vampire Weekend with Beach House and Dum Dum Girls

When you think about it, Vampire Weekend is considered, well, to be "indie darlings." What Friday night was was very un-indie indeed. I loved the crowd at this concert - it was made up of anything from drunken frat boys to hipsters sweating it out in their flannel plaid in early September. Not to make fun (hey - I'm somewhere in between and I'll admit that I went with some of my frat boy friends whilst wearing plaid) it just goes to show that you can truly be appreciated for your music. Dum Dum girls got the crowd started, Beach House mellowed everyone out, and Vampire Weekend kicked ass.

Vampire Weekend - "Giving Up the Gun"

Beach House - "Norway"

Dum Dum Girls - "D.A.L."
Saturday: Passion Pit with Busy

I went for Passion Pit (and didn't even know anyone was opening for them). At times it was like being in a dream - a synthesized electronic one. Even though this was my second time seeing the Boston-natives, I have decided that I'm going to encounter the same problems with this band every time I see them: the sound levels will never work in Michael Angelakos‘favor. That's just what happens when you have a falsetto. But that being said the music itself was surprisingly similar to their actual recordings, and the band certainly knows how to work a crowd.

Plus, they performed my favorite covers!

"Dreams" (The Cranberries) by Passion Pit

Either way, it was a fantastic weekend, and now I'm frantically trying to catch up with all of my work. Totally worth it though.

We Got You Covered: Bad Moon Rising

I'm really loving this cover from 8mm. It's funny that the husband wife-duo self-describes themselves as a "trip-hop flavored pop-rock band." All I hear is folk, but hey, it works for me.

8mm - Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)

Ra Ra Riot's Tour Dates

I just can't seem to put down Ra Ra Riot's new album The Orchard. And out of all of the tracks, I'm really loving "Boy."

Ra Ra Riot - "Boy"

It's a wonderfully hook-laden pop jam - case closed.

Don't miss them while they're touring!

Ra Ra Riot Tour Dates:
09/18 - Geneva, NY - Cracker Factory (Three Stories Benefit)
09/21 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09/22 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
09/23 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
09/24 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
09/27 - Northampton, MA - Pearl St.
09/28 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
09/29 - Providence, RI - The Met
10/01 - Boston, MA - Royale
10/02 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10/03 - Pittsburgh, PA - Diesel
10/04 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
10/05 - Chicago, IL - Metro
10/07 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
10/08 - Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
10/11 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
10/12 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
10/13 - Crystal Bay, NV - Crystal Bay Club
10/19 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
10/20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Music Box
10/21 - San Diego, CA - Belly Up Tavern
10/22 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
10/24 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbits
10/26 - Austin, TX - Emo's
10/27 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
10/28 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre
10/29 - Little Rock, AR - Rev Room
10/30 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In
11/01- Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theatre
11/02 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade. Hell Room
11/03 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
11/04 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
11/05 - Washington, DC - 930 Club
11/13 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore
11/17 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall
11/19 - Saskatoon, SK - Louis' Pub
11/20 - Winnipeg, MB - The Garric

* Opening For Devo

Pallers

Sometimes you forget that it's possible for a song to make you feel completely and totally relaxed and want to get up and dance at the same time. That's exactly what Pallers does with "The Kiss." I want to sway along with the sweeping synths, and the unfolding and hypnotic electronica just keeps building into pure bliss.

Pallers - "The Kiss' Up"

Enjoy!

New Music Tuesday: The Acorn

Out of all the music coming out today, you should really get your hands on The Acorn's new release No Ghost. Trust me, you won't regret it.

No Ghost is the Acorn's triumphant return with a set of catchy and layered songs. There seems to be two sides to their sound – on one hand there’s the subtle harmonies and fine tuned guitar lines commonly found with classic folk bands – on the other hand the Acorn find a raw edginess in their sound that just screams indie.

One song I really love is "Restoration." Those clicking drumsticks and pinch harmonics just hit the spot! Check out their video to "Restoration" below:


Clearly I'm a sucker for stop motion videos this week (and, er, Canadians) but hey, can you blame me?

So there it is! Happy Tuesday everyone! And don't forget, there's a whole mess of music coming out this glorious September. If you want to check out the entire list feel free to head over to Hello September! now.

See Green

It is such a beautiful day here in upstate New York, and let's face it, these days are hard to come by! I'm about to go enjoy the day, but first I wanted to share this video by See Green with you. The music just makes me feel ready to enjoy this gorgeous weather.

See Green - "Get What I Want"

Isn't it a cool video? I love the stop-motion!

Playlist: Summer Mix 2010

Can we just ponder for a minute?

The only question I can seem to keep asking myself over and over again is simply this: where did summer go? And as we all know there is no simple answer. Instead it's back to school and tests and papers; late nights talking and watching the sunrise. Sure, there's a lot of work, but at least it's back to being surrounded by college students, and quite frankly I wouldn't have it any other way.

But I had a great summer full of beach days, sticky ice cream cones, and bonfires. So if I ever need to pretend that I'm basking in the sun on the beach instead of stuck inside the library studying in a snow-filled Rochester, I know exactly which songs to turn to:

The Apples in Stereo - "Told You Once"

B.o.B. (feat. Haley Williams) - "Airplanes"

The Black Keys - "Tighten' Up"

Janelle Monae (feat Big Boi) - "Tightrope"

Kele - "Everything You Wanted" (RAC remix)


Local Natives - "Airplane"

Mumford & Sons - "Little Lion Man"

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

Sleigh Bells - "Tell 'Em"

Tobacco (feat. Beck) - "Fresh Hex"

Vampire Weekend - "Giving Up the Gun"

I figured all the free music would make up for the lack of posts. Enjoy!

Hello September!

I think this is my most complete list to date, and to be fair I'm not leaving anyone out - even if you couldn't pay me to listen to the album (I'm looking at you, Selena Gomez). So here it is, literally every album I could find coming out this September. If I'm missing any feel free to leave it in the comments section below!

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

September 7th
Electric Sunset - Electric Sunset
Gasoline Silver - Gasoline Silver
Helmet - Seeing Eye Dog
Interpol - Interpol
Jerry Lee Lewis - Mean Old Man
Kid Rock - Born Free
Kirsten Price - Brixton To Brooklyn
Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 2
Sam Prekop (The Sea And Cake) - Old Punch Card
Sara Bareilles - Kaleidoscope Heart
Teddy Thompson - Bella
Tera Melos - Patagonian Rats
The Acorn - No Ghost
The Clientele - Minotaur
The Thermals - Personal Life
Unicycle - Mirror, Mirror

September 14th
Azure Ray - Drawing Down The Moon
Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth: Remixed
Bilal - Air Tight Revenge
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
Brandon Flowers (The Killers) - Flamingo
Chilly Gonzales - Ivory Tower
Chromeo - Business Casual
Clare Burson - Silver And Ash
Emmett And Mary - Emmett And Mary
Grinderman - Grinderman 2
James - The Morning After The Night Before
Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
Jimmy Edgar - XXX
Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
Kim Richey - Wreck Your Wheels
Les Savy Fav - Root for Ruin
Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
Little Beirut - Fear Of Heaven
Lizz Wright - Fellowship
Lonely Drifter Karen - Fall Of Spring
Megafaun - Heretofore
Michelle Branch - Everything Comes And Goes [EP]
Nellie McKay - Home Sweet Mobile Home
Of Montreal - False Priest
Olivia Newton-John - Grace And Gratitude Renewed
Olof Arnalds - Innundir Skinni
Prince Rama - Shadow Temple
Rah Digga - Classic
Randy Houser - They Call Me Caddillac
Robert Plant - Band Of Joy
Screaming Females - Castle Talk
Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
Superpitcher - Kilimanjaro
The Charlatans - Who We Touch
The Drums - The Drums
The New Czars - Doomsday Revolution
The Vaselines - Sex with an X
The Walkmen - Lisbon
Trey Songz - Passion, Pain And Pleasure
Underworld - Barking
Weezer - Hurley

September 21st
A Classic Education - Hey There Stranger [EP]
Abe Vigoda - Crush
Anberlin - Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place
Black Twig Pickers - Ironto Special
Drunken Barn Dance - Grey Buried
Flying Lotus - Pattern+Grid World
Frankie Rose And The Outs - Frankie Rose And The Outs
Future Islands - Undressed [EP]
Giving Tree Band - The Joke, The Threat And The Obvious
How to Dress Well - Love Remains
Hundred in the Hands - Hundred In The Hands
Jason Simon - Jason Simon
John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!
Laetitia Sadier - The Trip
Liza Minnelli - Confessions
Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man
Margot & The Nuclear So And So - Buzzard
Maroon 5 - Hand All Over
Matthew Herbert - One Club
Maximum Balloon[TV On The Radio's Andrew Sitek project] - Maximum Balloon
N.E.R.D. - Nothing
Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
Santana - Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time
Selena Gomez & The Scene - A Year Without Rain
Shit Robot - From The Cradle To The Rave
Siobhan Fahey - Songs From The Red Room
Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up...
The State - Comedy For Gracious Living
Vincent Minor - Vincent Minor
You Say Party - Remixxxx
Young Scamels - Tempest File 13
Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give

September 28th
Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man
Combichrist - Making Monsters
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Doobie Brothers - World Gone Crazy
El DeBarge - Second Chance
Eric Clapton - Clapton
Gin Blossoms - No Chocolate Cake
Gucci Mane - The Appeal
Ice Cube - I Am The West
Ingram Hill - Look Your Best
Jagged Edge - Lay You Down
Jeezy - TM103
Jimmy Eat World - Invented
Kenny Chesney - Hemingway’s Whiskey
Lazerbeak - Legend Recognize Legend
Lil Boosie - Incarcerated
Mark Ronson And The Business International - Record Collection
MSWhite - Squares
Neil Young - Le Noise
No Age - Everything in Between
Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn
Phil Collins - Going Back
Seal - 6: Commitment
T.I. - King Uncaged
The Corin Tucker Band - 1000 Years
Tired Pony - The Place We Ran From
Twin Shadow - Forget
UNKLE - The Answer
Women - Public Strain
Young Jeezy - TM103

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010

Ok, I'll admit that I have never even heard of the Fun FUn Fun Fest, but with a name like that how can you go wrong? And with bands like MGMT, Bad Religion, The Hold Steady, Dirty Projectors, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Best Coast, Deerhunter, Kaki King, RJD2, Wavves, and Yelle I'm thinking that you simply can't.

The only problem is that I would never be able to go seeing as how the festival is November 5th, 6h, and 7th at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas.

For more information (and tickets if you can go!) check out their website: FunFunFunFest.com.

Here's the full line-up:

A-trak
Appleseed Cast
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Bad Religion
Best Coast
Big Freedia
Black Congress
Black Nasty
Butcher Bear and Charlie
Cap'n Jazz
Cold Cave (doing a live visual projection show)
Crew 54
Crocodiles
Dam-Funk
Deakin (of Animal Collective)
Deerhunter
Delorean
Designer Drugs
Devin The Dude
Devo
Dirty Projectors
DJ Bird Peterson
DJ Nick Nack
Dominique Young Unique
Dum Dum Girls
Dwarves
Eagle Claw
Floor
GWAR
Hatred Surge
High On Fire
Indian Jewelry
Invincible
Jean Grae
Jeff The Brotherhood
Junius
Kaki King
Kylesa
League of Extraordinary Gz
Magic Kids
Man Man
Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos
Mariachi El Bronx
Mastodon
MGMT
Monotonix
Mother Falcon
Municipal Waste
OFF!
Os Mutantes
Peelander Z
Pharoahe Monch
Polvo
POS
Power Trip
Ringworm
RJD2
Royal Forest
Slick Rick (performing "Great Adventures Of")
Snapcase
Strike Anywhere
Suicidal Tendencies
The Briggs
The Bronx
The Casualties
The Gories
The Hold Steady
The Vandals
Toro Y Moi
Valient Thorr
Wavves
Weird Al Yankovic
Woven Bones
Yelle

For the Music Geek in All of Us

Okay let's be honest - everyone's a little geeky. Maybe you secretly love Star Wars/Star Trek/some sort of space movie. Maybe you have mastered the rubik's cube. Maybe you can create a website using only html. But usually we try to pretend that there is absoluely nothing geeky about us. Think about it. As a kid you'd do anything to avoid being called a geek. Well live in shame no more!

Admittedly geeky, but totally awesome. That's the only way to describe GeekUnique. Billed as "geekery for the masses", GeekUnique has "one-of-a-kind iPhone/iPod docks and other cool geek schwag." This includes anything from old video game cartridges to controllers.

And if you're a music geek (yes, that counts too!) some of the iPhone/iPod docks are made out of vintage 8-Track cassettes including Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan, Billy Joel's 52nd Streetlife Serenade, and Boston's Don't Look Back.

Check out some of their iPhone/iPod docks here!

New Jens Lekman!

Oh hey, a free (and new) Jens Lekman song: "The End of the World Is Bigger Than Love."

It's been a while since Lekman's 2007 release Night Falls Over Kortedala. I don't think there's a nice way to say "about time!" but I'm happy to have the new track! Lekman is working on new recordings, but his manager notes, “There’s not much to talk about at the moment as we’re not sure when it will be finished.”

"Forced to Love" Music Video

So trippy, but I love it!


Oh, Broken Social Scene...

New Music Tuesday: Sarah Blasko

Oh this girl has got soul!

This Tuesday you should check out Sarah Blasko's new album As Day Follows Night. This Australian crooner knows just how to use her voice to make her music emotional and beautiful. As Day Follows Night has already won her the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) for Best Female Artist. Produced by Bjorn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn & John), the album uses an eclectic palette of organic instruments to create a solid folk-based album.

Check out her song "All I Want" below.
Sarah Blasko - "All I Want"

I love her almost whispery vocals and the light strokes of the drums in the background!

They love her down under in Australia, and I think everyone here in the states could fall in love with her music too. Don't you?



And don't forget you can check out all of the albums being released not only today, but this month, with Hello August!

DJ-ing 101

Anyone want to teach me how to DJ? Cause videos like this totally make me want to learn!


Seriously though, how cool is that?

Free Music from Spin

I love when Spin gives away free music!

Click here to download 15 tracks from Spin's August issues, including Department of Eagles, Henry Clay People, Jaill, Menomena, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Tame Impala, and Villagers.

Thank you Spin!

New Music Tuesday: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

Let's be honest - I could tell you the one album you need to check out today is Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, but you're going to pick it up anyway (and if you weren't planning on it well then go stream it - seriously). But the whole point of New Music Tuesday is to help you find some music you might not necessarily buy from the store (or iTunes or however you get music) anyway. So all that being said, you should somehow get your hands on Where The Messengers Meet by Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band is composed of Benjamin Verdoes (guitar and vocals), the multi-instrumentalist Traci Eggleston-Verdoes (Verdoes’ wife), Marshall Verdoes (drums and Benjamin's brother), and friends Matthew Dammer (moog, guitar) and Jared Price (bass).

The band's name is a mouthful, and in a way their music is too. Hear me out - everything feels urgent and energized - but somehow it works. At times there is a lot going on from song to song, and the band takes their noodling guitar lines and complicated chunks of bass in all kinds of directions on Where The Messengers Meet. There are bouncy verses and blitzing choruses, tumbling notes and thick cymbals bridging to more stripped-down hooks. It's not punk rock, new wave, garage rock, or any other tag you can think of. Though elements of those sounds exist, they're just buried under the energy. But like I said, it works.

This band clearly can’t sit still, and as you listen, you won't likely be able to either.




Where The Messengers MeetTracklist:
01 At Night
02 Leaving Trails
03 The Roof
04 Hurrah
05 Not To Know
06 You Were / I Was
07 Gone Again
08 Bitter Cold
09 In A Hole
10 Cadence
11 Messengers
12 George Clark

Coolest Drum Ever!

Can you just look at this for a second, it's amazing!

It's a drum lamp! Tap the drum and it turns on, another tap and it turns off. Sensitivity control stops other noise from activating the light.


How cool is that? It would be awful if someone thought it was to a real drum set and broke it (especially since it's $850 without shipping from New Zealand, and no, that's not a typo).

Hey, if you have some sort of rich benefactor go crazy! Here's the link to buy. The site has a lot of cool (slightly more affordable - it depends) things too - anything from t-shirts and key chains to other lamps and wall decals.

Hello August!

August is going to be an amazing month: Arcade Fire! Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin! Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band! Klaxons! Jenny & Johnny! The Weepies! As always, here's to another great month of music!

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

August 3rd
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Autolux - Transit Transit
Bambara - Dog Ear Days
The Black Crowes - Croweology
Buckcherry - All Night Long
Bun B - Trill O.G.
Candy Claws - Hidden Lands
David Dondero - # Zero With A Bullet
Dax Riggs - Say Goodnight To The World
Dr. John And The Lower 911 - Tribal
El-P - Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3
Ferraby Lionheart - The Jack of Hearts
Gaelic Storm - Cabbage
Gov't Mule - Mulennium [live]
Grip Weeds - Strange Change Machine
Katie Melua - House
Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Where The Messengers Meet
Rose's Pawn Shop - Dancing on the Gallows
Rusty Anderson - Born on Faith
Ryan Star - 11:59
Shapes and Sizes - Candle to Your Eyes
Squeeze - Spot The Difference
Wavves - King Of The Beach

August 10th
Black Label Society - Order Of The Black
Blake Shelton - All About Tonight
Bottomless Pit - Blood Under The Bridge
Budos Band - The Budos Band III
Cam'ron - The UN: Gunz N' Butta
Colour Revolt - The Cradle
Drums - The Drums
Emily West - Emily West
Gasoline Silver - Gasoline Silver
Grand Lake - Blood Sea Hippies Are Dead
Jon Spencer Blues... - Year One
Kathryn Calder - Are You My Mother?
Killola - Let's Get Associated
Landing On The Moon - We Make History Now
Mike Posner - 31 Minutes To Takeoff
PVT - Church With No Magic
Reporter - Time Incredible Holocene
Sarah Blasko - As Day Follow Night
Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill
Titles - Dirt Bell
Toadies - Feeler
Unearthing - Unearthing (EP)

August 17th
American Hi-Fi - Fight The Frequency
Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
Camu Tao - King of Hearts
Chief - Modern Rituals
Chromeo - Business Casual
Ciara - Basic Instinct
David Gray - Foundling
Filter - The Trouble With Angels
Hey Monday - Beneath It All
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
John Mellencamp - No Better Than This
Just Surrender - Phoenix
Kem - Intimacy
Last Felony - Too Many Humans
Megan McCormick - Honest Words
NOFX - The Longest (EP)
Peter Block - Peter Block
Peter Salett - Addicted to Distraction
Shannon Whitworth - Water Bound
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let it Sway
T.I. - King Uncaged
Trace Adkins - Cowboy's Back In Town

August 24th
Brad Laner - Natural Selections
Coin Under Tongue 0 Reception
Eels 0 Tomorrrow Morning
Fantasia - Back To Me
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Hawk
James Blackshaw - All is Falling
Jenny Wilson - Hardships!
Jesse Harris - Through The Night
Klaxons - Surfing The Void
Land Of Talk - Cloak And Cipher
Maximum Balloon [TV On The Radio's Andrew Sitek project] - Maximum Balloon
Mogwai - Special Moves [Live]
S. Carey - All We Grow
The Sword - Warp Riders

August 31st
10 Years - Feeding The Wolves
Alain Johannes - Spark
Carl Broemel [My Morning Jacket] - All Birds Say
Disturbed - Asylum
Goo Goo Dolls - Something For The Rest Of Us
Heart - Red Velvet Car
Jenny & Johnny [Jenny Lewis & Jonathan Rice] - I'm Having Fun Now
Lyfe Jennings - I Still Believe
Last Nights Vice - Perfect Little Noise
Magic Kids - Memphis
Portico Quartet - Isla
Sonny And The Sunsets - Tomorrow Is Alright
Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder
Terrible Things - Terrible Things
The Weepies - Be My Thrill

New Music Tuesday: The Shimmies

This New Music Tuesday you have got to check this band out! They are a rockin' indie garage group from California, and they're called the Shimmies.

Their new release, titled To All Beloved Enemies, is like a wonderful combination of Grizzly Bear meets Fleet Foxes meets a Jeff Buckley-fronted Band Of Horses. High-arching guitar build-ups, resonating vocals and drum skins hit like they’re going out of fashion make their To All Beloved Enemies sound like a truly genuine and emotional take on well-written rock music.

The four-piece indie rock band consists of brothers Jimmy Galloway (guitar and vocals), Sean Galloway (guitar and vocals), Stephen Galloway (bass) and friend Jack Gingerich (drums). The band describe their music as “home-school rock”, with big emphasis on home and rock.

Check out their track "Judas" below:
The Shimmies - "Judas"

The song is wonderfully layered with beautiful harmonies, piano and guitars with some great distorted riffing and solos.

Don't forget, if you want to check out all the new music released this month take a look at Hello July!

New Blonde Redhead

Yay! New music from Blonde Redhead!

The New York trio will be releasing new music this fall with their album Penny Sparkle. The album was recorded between Stockholm and New York with production duo Van Rivers and the Subliminal Kid (Fever Ray, Glasser) with Alan Moulder.

You can download the album opener, "Here Sometimes," from the band’s website now.

Keep an eye out, the new album will hit shelves September 14th.

Lee Butcher

I don't know about where you are, but it has been raining a lot in Massachusetts! Well, this seems like perfect rainy day music to me.

Lee Butcher - "The Acrobat"

Maybe I've just been in a folk mood lately, but something about "The Acrobat," a track from Butcher's newest debut All in Good Time really hits the spot.

Enjoy!

New Music Tuesday: Frazey Ford

If you want to see the other options feel free to peruse Hello July!, but this week you definitely should check out Frazey Ford's new release Obadiah.

If the name sounds familiar, that's because the singer-songwriter is a member of The Be Good Tanyas. And if you’re a fan of the new folk sounds of the Vancouver group, then you’ll absolutely love Ford's debut. Frazey’s voice can handle soulful melodies and easily offset twang and back porch sing-alongs. Without a doubt, Obadiah is a collection of charming and soulful songs. She’s more than just another talented folk singer.

And you can download the single "Firecracker" below for free!

It's just folk the way it should be!

What Would You Do With Only 1000 Minutes of Music?

This is another cool thing to enjoy on your (hopefully) relaxing Sunday.

The website is called Tympanogram, and it's creators, Andy and Dave, had one cool idea.

The idea is simple – we’re both stranded with an mp3 player that never needs charging and can never be updated again. These players hold exactly 1000 Minutes of music – bit rates and file size don’t matter.

It must be hard (but fun) to do! I can't imagine only taking 1000 minutes of music. My iPod currently holds weeks of music in it, let alone minutes! Neither of them have decided what they will do with all of their minutes yet, so you can still follow along with Andy's list or Dave's list (or you know, both).

Cruel Black Dove

I really love this song! It's chock full of blues, a crunchy rift, and thick layers. It's been stuck in my head for days!

Cruel Black Dove - "Love Song"


Hopefully you enjoy it too.

The Fun Theory

This is cute in so many ways!



We have one of these at the Museum of Science in Boston, but I wish it was everywhere (like in the subway) too. It was always my favorite part of the museum as a little kid.

Check out TheFunTheory.com for a lot of other great videos (my other music related favorite being the Scratch Mat. As the video creators put it, "Most people enter a building without cleaning their shoes, often resulting in dirt all over the floor.
Could this nuisance be removed by making the activity fun to do? We think so.") The site's actually pretty cool. It's dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better.

A Letter to Kele Okereke

Dear Kele,

How are you? I hope all is well. Now, I understand that you are going solo. I understand that “Kele” is not Bloc Party, but I still don’t know what to do here. I’ve been with you since the start with the Bloc Party EP, welcomed your crunchy guitars in Silent Alarm, felt that incredible emotional connection in A Weekend in the City, and I even stuck by you through Intimacy when fans said that Bloc Party had moved in a new direction (and not necessarily in the best of ways).

Kele, I'm not totally against the more electronic direction. I think it's important for you to do it, but I still don’t know exactly what to think with The Boxer. And although I understand that this is a solo album and has absolutely NOTHING to do with Bloc Party (and I am glad that you are is experimenting with your own sound), I can’t help but have certain Bloc Party-esque expectations.

In a way at the end of the day I’m glad that you got this out of your system. I guess I’ve been expecting this, Kele. You’ve been acting out for a while now. Somehow you went from guitar frontman to king of the dance floor. I saw the signs, but I let them slide because at the time the crunchy guitar rifts and the electronic elements worked. In almost every interview I’ve read you always talk about how you love dance music and how you wanted to release a dance album. (That and that “I never listen to indie anymore, I find it boring.” Pot. Kettle. Black. But we can save that for another time).

From the opening 10 seconds of “Walk Tall
” I realized that we needed to sit down and talk. It was a cry for help from the start. I’m listening to the lyrics, Kele, and I understand. “Rule number three, forget where you've been,/ Cut your ties to the past and wave them goodbye.” But maybe that’s not the best road to go down, friend. And either way, let’s face it: you’ll never fully be able to separate yourself from Bloc Party.

My favorite thing about you has always been your voice, Kele, and what do you do? In “On the Lam” you change the pitch of your voice (your beautiful voice!) into something unrecognizable and processed. The emotion feels gone. Stick to what you know, and we both know what an amazing voice you have. Like in “Tenderoni” ou really showcased your vocals, but I liked the music better when Bodyrox did it.


I feel like “New Rules” had promise, but you should have kept it simple. On one hand the plucked strings are beautiful, but the repeating sample of a robotic telephone operator repeating the phrase “please hang up and try again” ruined it for me. “Rise” could have been a standout track as well. The song used dance beats without being cliché, and then, out of nowhere, the gem is ruined by female vocals chanting “I’m taking over.” Kele, you could have handled those vocals!

As for “All The Things I Could Never Say
” - well I honestly don’t know what to think about it. The song has some beautiful layering, but I don’t know how to feel about the female vocals. Maybe it’ll grow on me.

Kele, I’m sorry for being so negative. I hope you aren’t mad at me and we’re still good friends. All these comments aren’t meant to be harsh or mean that I hate the album. I actually enjoyed “On The Other Side.” It was a win win really – I still got a forceful guitar rift (even if it is sampled) and you got to make a dance track with exotic percussion like claves and agogo mixed with a rumbling synth bass. “Yesterday's Gone
” is another track that meets me somewhere halfway with the synth melody and the beat shifting to an R&B pattern. To be honest, I think it would have fit perfectly on Intimacy.

I also really thought you did a great job with “Unholy Thoughts.” The brooding track made me think of “Hunting for Witches,” one of my favorites. And then I also really enjoyed “Everything You Wanted,” probably because it also sounded similar to Bloc Party. This could even be the second single! I’m digging the kiddie piano, that’s for sure, and the chorus is simple but perfect. “Everything You Wanted” really brings Boxer's best elements together all at once: mournful lyrics, a massive chorus, and real feelings that work with the electronic background.

I can tell you had fun with The Boxer, Kele, that’s for sure. It seems like you were able to do all of the things stylistically that you were trying to fit into the last Bloc Party album. But at the same time each song was such a hodgepodge mish-mash of styles and influences. It feels like you were trying to cram way too many (electronic) genres into one record. You had a rave with your computer, sampling synthesized backing yelps, annoying samples of automated phone messages, and every other shiny plaything in the toybox. But can we go back to Bloc Party now?

Hopefully by getting the chance to finally make the dance album that you always wanted you will be able to create a more focused Bloc Party album in the future. I know that I would sincerely appreciate it.

Forever Yours,
Morgan

New Music Tuesday: The Chap

It's the first official Tuesday of July! How exciting! To check out all of the albums being released this month check out Hello July! But if you don't want the overwhelming list, well New Music Tuesday is here to help you figure out which album you must must must listen to for the week. And for this week you should really check out Well Done Europe by the Chap.

I'll admit that I had never heard of the band before, but when it comes to the Chap's new release Well Done Europe, well I am liking what I am hearing! As the Chap puts it, "[the album] contains 12 top notch pop tunes about love and death and bars and arts funding and stuff like that. there are also several i-phone solos and at least one guitar solo." Ahaha I love that there is an iPhone solo. I'll have to find out which track that's on.

Check out their catchy single "We Work in Bars" below:
"We Work in Bars" by The Chap

It's the group's fourth album, so I'll have to check out their earlier stuff as well. Enjoy!



Well Done Europe Tracklisting:
01 We'll See To Your Breakdown
02 Even Your Friend
03 We Work In Bars
04 Obviously
05 Gimme Legs
06 Well Done You
07 Nevertheless, The Chap
08 Pain Fan
09 Torpor
10 Maroccan Nights
11 Few Horoscope
12 Chalet Chalet

New Music From Carl Broemel

This is exciting news!

Apparently Carl Broemel (guitarist from My Morning Jacket) is going to release a solo album! His solo debut, titled All Birds Say will hit shelves August 31st via ATO Records.

The album will be a contemporary folk album, feauting instruments like the auto-harp, pedal steel, and dobro. What makes For All Birds Say even more interesting is the fact that Carl Broemel's father, Robert Broemel (a former musician in the Indianapolis Symphony) contributes clarinet, baritone sax, and bassoon to the record.

Tracklisting For All Birds Say:
01 All Birds Say
02 Life Leftover
03 In The Garden
04 Carried Away
05 Enough
06 Heaven Knows
07 Questions
08 Different People
09 Sunday Driver
10 On The Case
11 Retired

Hello July!

Holy shiz, there will be a lot of releases this July! I don't know what I'm most excited for, there are so many options. Here's to another great month of music!

Note: Unless noted, the release dates are all for the U.S.

July 6th
Au Revoir Simone - Night Light
Fol Chen - Part II: The New December
How To Destroy Angels [Trent Reznor, Mariqueen Maandig and Atticus Ross] - How To Destroy Angels [EP]
Kelis - Flesh Tone
Ed Kowalczyk [Live] - Alive
Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite
Robert Pollard - Moses On A Snail
The Chap - Well Done Europe
Thieves Like Us - Again & Again

July 13th
Admiral Riley - I Heart California
Crowded House - Intriguer
Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul
The Love Language - Libraries
Tony Lucca - Rendezvous With The Angels
The Maine - Black & White
M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\
Mystery Jets - Serotonin
Panda Bear - Tomboy
P.S. I Love You - Starfield
School Of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire
Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises
Wavves - King of the Beach

July 20th
Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles From Memphis
Department Of Eagles - Archive 2003-2006
Frazey Ford - Obadiah
The High Confessions [Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, Chris Connelly of Ministry, Revolting Cocks] - Turn Lead Into Gold With High Confessions
Honor Bright - Action! Drama! Suspense!
Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement
Max Richter - Infra
These United States - What Lasts

July 27th
Best Coast - Crazy for You
Dean & Brita - 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests
Menomena - Mines
Red Wanting Blues - These Magnificent Miles
The Shimmies - To All Beloved Enemies