This blog is a celebration of good music. Stop by for frequent updates, reviews and a new 1 hour radio show published every Monday. Do you like The Shins, Spoon, Wilco, Of Montreal, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Kings of Leon, Calvin Harris, Justice, The Beatles, Radiohead, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Jack Johnson, Andrew Bird, Modest Mouse, Devendra Banhart, White Stripes or the Arctic Monkeys? You're in the right place;)
This weeks episode is pretty diverse, everything from dirty blues and jazzed up funk to uplifting folk and the the worlds best whistling pop song-writer. Below you'll find the complete playlist as it aired.
The first song, Andrew Birds "Oh No" has been floating around on the net for some time now and it the leading song on the Illinois songwriter's new album Nobel Beast. It's set for a February release and he'll be touring and previewing tracks off the new album all this month even making a stop off at the famed Carnegie Hall..
Mason Jennings gets the double play on this weeks episode. "Memphis Tennessee" is a great example of his awesome harmonica skills, while the religiously open minded "I Love You and Buddha Too" just plain rocks. Mason just posed a video on his website of him playing the song live with buddies Matt Costa and Jack Johnson. Here it is below.
And MGMT may be hitting the big time (and slowly becoming less cool) they did one thing that I liked. They released a single, but not one meant for standard radio. It's a nearly 14 minute long epic tune that reminds me of Bowie. All the stations that love "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel" won't go anywhere near this track, and that's why I just had to play it. The album art is below.
I hope you enjoyed this weeks episode and suplimental information, and remember don't find the music, let the music find you..
Today, June 14th was the kickoff of this season's Central Park Summerstage series and featured some awesome bands... The line up was Canada's Born Ruffians and New York natives Kid Sister and then Vampire Weekend. Because the show was free, and the first of the summer I knew it was gonna be packed, so i showed up a full 2 hours early thinking I'd get a pretty good spot in line... Well there was probably a good thousand people already there baking in the sunlight as the line snaked about 100 yards down the sidewalk and then 100 yards back to where the front of the line was. That's were I was at, the back near the front. This ended up working to my advantage, for about an hour later the line started to move and my side simply ran and mashed into the very front of the line causing mass chaos and a truly unorganized line.
At 4 on the nose Andrew W.K., who was hosting the event came out to intro the band and got caught on his own microphone and ate the shit right off the bat. Right then I knew it was gonna be a good day. After a short and utterly useless introduction Born Ruffians took the stage. Shortly after cloud cover relieved the masses of the blistering heat of the early afternoon and few songs in the fans started feeling a few small raindrops plunk on the top of their heads.
Bassist Mitch DeRosier exclaimed, "would you guys welcome the rain? Would the rain be a good thing for you? We'll do our best to rain-dance for you..." and then they kicked into "Barnacle Goose" from their debut album, Red Yellow and Blue. Check out the video I shot of the song (and proposed raindance) below...
Well damnit, whatever they were doing worked because as you can tell, the rain continued even stronger by the end of the song and it didn't let up. By the time the Ruffians launched into their final song (and lead single) "I Need a Life" the event staff cut them off early due to dangerous lightning. Mother nature then decided to take out all of her rage on the concert goes in Central Park that fine afternoon and it poured rain. And i mean POURED. an inch or two in a half hour poured. They hadn't officially canceled the show yet, but hundreds of fans started to leave the park. For fear of my camera/cellphone/ipod I took cover in a luxurious portapotty for a few and called the Mrs. for a weather check. The rain was gonna continue all night, so sadly I gave up on trying to see the wonderful (although overhyped and now overplayed) Vampire Weekend and figured they would be back soon enough.
I was just happy that I got to see the Born Ruffians in all of their glory and it didn't cost me a cent! After this tour date the Canadian 3 piece is off to their homeland for a string of gigs and then who knows. I hope they come back to NY soon.
Here's thier newest music video, check it out...
And of course your fiendly neighborhood blogger is hosting a promotional copy of their new album Red, Yellow & Blue here. Give it a try you won't be dissapointed.
That's right, I have a new short form video podcast called The Playlist: Artist Profiles. The first one is with Jon Natchez of Beirut and the second is with Christian Hjelm of the Danish band Figurines. They're on Youtube now, give them a watch~
On last weeks episode I announced that the Raconteurs wanted to release their album as soon as possible, and by that they meant 7 days! So this week Jack's Detroit buddies hit the double play. The title track from their new album, "Counselors of the Lonely" is a total rocker... and the second song, "You Don't Understand Me" has Mr. White hitting the keys for a rollicking classic rock ballad.
AND I had the distinct pleasure of talking to Christian Hjelm of the Dannish rock band, Figurines for next weeks episode of the show. If you can't wait for next weeks highlights I have posted my complete unedited conversation with Christian. I spoke to him in Denmark so there is about a 4 second delay, which in my opinion makes the interview even better! Also to get help get my listeners psyched out I'm playing an awesome Figurines song on this weeks show called "Hey, Girl". You're gonna love it.
And finally I have a cool handful of international dance tunes to kick off the show. After a sweet RAC remix of Albuquerque natives The Shins, I have for you the Belgian electro-rockers Goose, a french producer who is called DANGER, and a song from the late great UK rockers, Simian. For cool remixes of a bunch of bands check out the Remix Artist Collective, go here to explore it yourself.
The American Museum of Natural History is a cool place to hang out with friends, have a couple of beers and dance the night away. Wait, that doesn't sound right? Unless you're talking about the One Step Beyond brought to you by Flavorpill. Last Friday about a thousand New York hipsters and indie kids lined up to see one of todays best electronic acts, Simian Mobile Disco perform live at the museums planetarium, and let me tell you it was one of the coolest shows I've ever been to.
The planetarium from outside
Naturally the show sold out, and the Mrs. and I were in need of some tickets. Fans were lining up down the block, but no one seemed to have any extra tickets. To make matters worse, there were another 6 or 7 people walking around looking for tickets too. But, after hanging by the street and asking people as they got out of their taxis for extra tickets we found someone who had some friends cancel and was willing to part with her extra tickets. As soon as we got in there was a massive dinosaur in the lobby and a driving beat could be heard echoing off in the distance. As we ascended to the space exhibit / dance floor we were treated to the history of the universe along the hand rails and a stunning view of the planetarium. All around the floor were displays of supernova's exploding, scales to find your weight on different stars and planets and a host of exhibits to look in and peer through. The show was 21+ so you could get yourself a beer or wine for the reasonable price of 6 dollars (!) and after almost 2 hours of the warm up DJ, the main act was ready to hit the stage.
"I Believe" live at the American Natural History Museum
The place exploded and the energy was through the roof. Maybe that's because we all had a couple of hours to put some drinks away, but none the less the sound was perfect and the lights were blinding. Among the crowd sits a massive 14 ton Meteor and it was crazy to see the security guards watching to make sure some drunk 20 something didn't run face first into it, or any other expensive museum exhibit. There was only limited room on the floor, and fans who got there late had to watch from the ramp or tables set up around the edge of the makeshift venue.
The view from above
The guys rocked it until 1 in the morning and left everyone completely satisfied with a slight ringing in their ears. To me the most interesting part of the show was just watching these two DJ's work together to create their beats like mad scientists on a mission to get everyone bumping and grinding at once. The two of them would twist a nob here, unplug a cord from one deck and link it to another trading off thick dance beats with their signature wall of sound ambient noise. There was no crowd banter or obvious transitions into songs. You would be nodding your head one moment and then slowly but surely the song would morph into another great SMD song.
The duo will be over seas for the next couple of weeks, but will be back in the US by May with a stop at the Coachella Music Festival. Here is the band's music video for The Beat, and also a live version of the song they did for KEXP/New York Noise a few days before the museum gig.
Episode 36 has some classic tunes by Devendra Banhart and The Kinks, brand spankin new music by The Epochs and Tapes 'n Tapes not to mention a double shot of tunes by the British popsters, Field Music and an awesome tune by the Raconteurs. Speaking of Jack White's "supergroup" of good friends from Detroit, they revealed today (in the image of the Radiohead In Rainbows idea) only one week out that they are releasing a new album. The 4 piece was quoted as saying they wanted to release the album as soon as possible, and they meant it. They just finished mastering the album last week and sent it to cd and vinyl to mass producers today. The album hits stores and digital download sites on March 25th with no promotion or early single. Oh it's oh so nice to be in the digital age.
Devendra Banhart, my freak folk hero, has a pretty cool new feature on his site: a dress up devendra doll. The site lets you choose from a variety of items from ripped jeans to tie dye socks. There is even another half naked man you can give as an accessory. Here is what my doll looks like...
So indie lovers and listeners I'm pleased to announce that J Stuart, the lead singer of the Brooklyn 5 piece band The Cloud Room is my featured guest on Episode 33. He lets us know the inside info on the band's new fake 7 inch single, told me about the house fire that almost destroyed the bands new Please Don't Almost Kill Me EP and tells me about his favorite lyrics and songs throughout the bands catalogue... Plus I'll play on the show BRAND NEW tunes from She & Him, Devotchka and Moldy Peaches front man Adam Green plus more. Check it out!
For your Listening Pleasure, La La Losing MP3 from the Cloud Room EP, Please Don't Almost Kill Me
And for your viewing pleasure here is the music video for the bands hit single "Hey Now Now"
So, Menomena are one of the hippest most creative bands around, and their last album "Friend & Foe" put them in a league all their own with each member playing multiple instruments and recording lush, epic songs based on a self created looping system. While digging through some Menomomena demo's and b-sides for this weeks show I saw a song called "Sista Social Theme". With a little research I came up with this lo-fi video from back in 2000 of the band playing on a local access Portland TV show called Sista Social, and this host is eccentric to the max. Very animated and it's a blast to watch her hang out with a young Menomena (shortly before their first album "I'm the Fun Blame Monster" came out) for a full 30 minutes! The 3 piece plays their cover of the Sista Social song for her, they talk about the album being a flip book, for a short time they awkwardly sit with the host while part of their album is played and finally end with a cool live perfromance of an old song called "Rose" with an encore of Sista getting on the drums and busting out a freestyle rap with the rest of the band... bizarre. Check it out it's a trip!!!
Jon Natchez is the guy with the beard playing the French Horn
Jon is a woodwind / horn / ukulele / fill in the blank player for Zach Condon's 9 piece indie orchestra better known as the band Beirut. He came on the show to chat about the bands ties to New Mexico, a favorite tour stop he did in Amsterdam and he told me about some of his favorite beirut songs and gave me some meaning behind some of the tunes... Check it out! Plus I have first plays on new material by The Mountain Goats and Jack Johnson, not to mention more new stuff by the Helio Sequence and School of Language.
Enjoy. ~D.D.
Here is a taste of the Beirut experience. This is the First Take Away Show with the band playing the song "Nantes" in France.
