Roots

Roots/John Legend covering Arcade Fire's "Wake Up". A bit funkier than the original but not quite as good.

Kanyeezy

Check out the new Kanye song, "So Appalled", on this website.

Brandon Flowers

Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, has recently released his first solo album, Flamingo. I've just given it a once over and I really enjoyed it. It really doesn't sound all that much different than the stuff he's done with The Killers which, in my opinion, is a very good thing. Check out "Only the Young" below.

Ingenuity Fest

For all you Clevelanders out there, this weekend is Ingenuity Fest! It's a weekend long festival of art, music, cinema and theater. It's located on the lower level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge that connects Ohio City and Downtown. I'm super excited to go see Zee Avi tonight and will most likely be popping in and out to see other shows throughout the weekend. Here's the link to the website for the festival. There you can find parking information, a schedule of events and a layout of the venue. Below is a video of how to get to the festival. Hope to see you all there!

Stripped Down

Just found a video of one of my favorite Ra Ra Riot songs stripped down. "St. Peter's Day Festival" is a tremendous song and it's shown in all of its beauty in this performance. I particularly love the lyrics of the second verse. The lyrics to said verse and the video are below.

If the heather is wet then
I might be accustomed to walk
It might bet he way that we talk
The river and the rock that fell there
It all falls apart

When I arrive
Will you wake if I open the door
A tone that was taken before
The cusp and the fjords we wade through
It all falls apart

Infadels

I found this jam on my old iPod that I've been using to rock out while showering. This is a catchy tune from The Infadels that I originally found via and Indie Rock Playlist torrent that I used to download every month.

Mayer Hawthorne

My buddy Todd has been hounding me to write about Mayer Hawthorne for awhile now. Todd, here it is. This dude definitely has a funky vibe for a white dude. Check out the videos below.

Also, I'm going to see Best Coast tomorrow with Jocelyn (if I'm not still sick or if I didn't get her sick yesterday). Check out their website here and listen to this jam. They are going to be in Cincinnati and Columbus later in the week. All of you readers that are in the southern part of the greatest state in the union have no excuse not to see them!

Jenny and Johnny

Two members of Rilo Kiley, lead singer Jenny Lewis and guitarist Johnathan Rice, have teamed up as a duo and released the album, I'm Having Fun Now. While I think Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight was really good, I prefer the more basic sound of the duo as opposed to the full band. If you like She & Him, you should definitely give this album a once over here.

In completely unrelated news, I just stumbled upon my copy of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky and have been listening to it a lot recently. Below is my favorite song from the album. Note: Be prepared to be amazed by Nels Clines' brilliance.