I had my iPod on shuffle this morning on my ride into work and a band I hadn't listened to in a few months popped up. Low vs. Diamond's 2008 self titled debut album was a pretty solid collection of songs but the Killers-esque "Don't Forget Sister" stands out as the best track. Other good tunes by Low v. Diamond include "This Is Your Life" and "Heart Attack". They have yet to release their plans for the future, but in the meantime enjoy a CD101 Columbus exclusive performance of "Don't Forget Sister".
While listening to some music while studying for the CPA today, I came across "Oh Josephine" by The Black Crowes. I listened to this jam incessantly at this time two years ago. It brought back a lot of good memories from what was an excellent spring quarter (minus the whole mono thing). I had a really hard time finding a video of the whole song that was pleasant on the ears. Below is the best I found.
Lastly, I was informed this weekend that the color scheme and layout for the blog isn't perfect. I plan to play around with different formats and make some changes so stay tuned!
Sorry to bother you again about BOH, but they're streaming their album (on vinyl nonetheless) online at this website. Everything I've heard so far sounds really good so far. Check it out at http://www.livestream.com/bandofhorses
Also, the dude that's in the stream looks a lot like Steve Turk with facial hair. Thoughts?
I came across an old mix tape I made in high school and was reacquainted with The Beta Band. Their 1998 release The Three EP's was so epic that Radiohead said they wanted to make a Beta Band record to follow what would end up being the best album of the 90's, 1997's OK Computer. The greatest song off of The Three EP's is a 6 minute song named "Dry The Rain". This song was made (semi) famous by John Cusack in High Fidelity.
Also, I want to give my good friend Pete a shout out. He's back in the states after spending the past 9 months teaching English to students in Nantes, France. I can't wait to slam beers with him this evening.
fun. is the new band of former Format lead singer Nate Ruess. Their 2009 debut album, Aim and Ignite, was a bit of a letdown for me. There are glimpses of genius on the album but I don't see Nate every topping his first major release, The Format's Interventions and Lullabies. Below are my favorite songs by fun. and The Format.
Is the daughter and brother of singer/songwriters Loudon and Rufus Wainwright, respectively. Her raspy voice and simplistic instrumentation reminds me a lot of a female Bob Dylan. Below is her song, "Bloody Mother F*****g A*****e". This song is actually about her father, whom she said, "..wrote songs about his children instead of raising them." To read more about their tumultuous family, click here. And thanks for the jam Brooke.
I just started studying for my CPA exam this afternoon and I've been listening to a lot of Norah Jones while reading these exhilarating passages. I had forgotten how awesome she was until Sabo started talking about how badly he wanted to see her live. Below is one of my favorites by her, "Wish I Could" off of 2007's Not Too Late.
I also thought I'd share an awesome picture from the weekend. This picture is of Doug, myself, Brooke and Eric (from left to right) after the show on Saturday. Thanks to the strangers that made sure we had a perfect picture!
I had an amazing weekend thanks in large part to my great friends Eric Sabo and Brooke Bockelman and their TFA Bay Area associates. I was privileged to meet a bunch of very interesting and accomplished individuals with whom I hope to keep in touch. The show on Saturday was amazing. I raided Brooke's computer for music so I should have some crazy new tunes popping up on here in the near future. For the time being, I'll leave you with one of my favorites from the weekend. I wish I could recreate the scene of Sir Lancealot, one of TFA's finest, "gettin' it" to this song but the youtube video will have to suffice.
My vacation tune for the weekend is "Beach Comber" by Real Estate. They're a band from New Jersey that reminds me a lot of a more laid back Foreign Born. Check out the song below, I especially like the instrumental bit that starts off with the guitar solo at 2:50.
First things first, I went to a concert on Tuesday night with my buddies Colin Quinn and Tom Haas. We saw the Crash Kings and they were actually a lot better than I thought they were going to be. They're a three piece band and they play without a guitarist. It's just a dude on the piano belting out the high notes, a guy getting funky on the bass and a Travis Barker wanna-be on the drums. Below is their single and best song, "Mountain Man".
The next song is "California Waiting" by Kings of Leon. It sort of sums up my mood right now and I'm also going to Cali so it's fitting. (Check out Caleb's sweet ass haircut in the video).
From the brilliant minds behind Briney Spear's "Toxic" comes the band Miike Snow. Their 2009 release Web is an interesting mix between indie pop, emo and upbeat dance. Check out the song "Animal" posted below.
This probably isn't mind blowing to any of you out there, but Brooklyn's (finest) TV on the Radio is an outrageous band. They rock out pretty hard while painting vivid pictures with their poignant lyrics. Posted below are my two favorite songs of theirs that I've been listening to again recently. Enjoy.
I was sent a link last night to a pretty cool website by my friend Lindsay. The site has the same basic premise as this blog, to publicize good music that is often overlooked by the masses. I really enjoyed this tunes in this post, check it out.
Also check out their post about Discovery. They're a pretty cool band that's a collaboration of two bands I've talked about previously in the blog, Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot . The music you should hear's post leaves out two of Discovery's best songs, "Orange Shirt" and the trippy cover of Jackson 5's "I Want You Back".
I mentioned last week that I was going to write about the new She & Him album, Volume Two. I loved their 70's pop influenced debut album, particularly "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" and was very excited to hear their latest effort.I finally put it on my iPod last night and dreamed of lead singer Zooey Deschanel all night in anticipation of hearing her soothing voice to brighten my morning. I was so underwhelmed while listening to it today on my commute to and from work that I instead am going to write about two similar artists that I believe are much better.
Camera Obscura's 2009 release, My Maudlin Career, is a great album from front to back. It was one of my favorites last spring as it rarely left the CD player in my car. My favorites from the album are "French Navy" and "The Sweetest Thing". Most of the tracks off this album are sappy love songs with interesting twists, quirky lyrics and great vocals. I especially like the horns on the closing track, "Honey In The Sun".
Another really good band with a similar sound is Providence's Death Vessel. I know what you're thinking, but Death Vessel really doesn't live up to their name. I first heard about them while they were out on tour with Fleet Foxes (if you click on one link in this whole post, it should be this one. Seriously, click it. NOW!) in the fall of 2008. Their 2008 release, Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us, is quite an impressive album. My favorite tunes on this CD are the folk and bluegrass inspired "Obadiah in Oblivion" and the calm and soothing track "Jitterkadie". Fun fact about Death Vessel, although the lead singer looks and sounds like a woman, it's actually a man.
Sorry for all the links, but hopefully you enjoy the songs!
Band of Horses just released their first single from their upcoming album. It can be found at the band's website. If you like that song, check out someothers from their previousalbums. I think this band's about to blow up. They were recently covered on some horrific MTV show that I'd undoubtedly watch if I were still in high school and are opening for Pearl Jam on their upcoming tour.
I'm in Indianapolis for the weekend for the Final Four with my Pop and my father. It should be a really fun weekend and it could get a bit rowdy in Indy if Butler takes home the title. I'll post some pictures from the weekend when I get back on Tuesday.
Radio Moscow is a band I stumbled upon while on Pandora last fall. I really don't know too much about them, but I do know that they're really freaking good. They remind me a lot of the aforementioned Black Keys and some earlier Kings Of Leon stuff.
Their album Brain Cycleswas released almost a year ago now and features some absolute classic tunes. There's no doubt in my mind that if this album was released in the late 60's or 70's, it would've been an absolute smash, but in 2009 it can't even make it on the radio. Anyways, so good tunes include "The Escape", "Hold On Me" and my favorite "No Good Woman".
The live versions of these songs are much more appeasing, at least for me, because the singer sounds much better live than on the record. The entire record has some distortion thing going on with his voice that makes him sound like a robot. I was relieved to find that he can actually sing when I found some videos of them live.
Lastly, I just added my cousins blog to the links page on your right. He's a badass photographer and a super cool guy. Check it out.
