That One Pop! Gem

Stuck In My Head : Young the Giant, "My Body"

2011-01-28T15:31:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty out of the loop. (That's the understatement of the year, and it's only January.)

For instance : I know next to nothing about this band Young the Giant, other than that they've recently released a record, and that their song "My Body" keeps getting stuck in my head.

And that that's not a proper video. I know that. Here's a more proper video.

And I now know that making "quesadillas" in the microwave is not the best idea I've ever had. My lunch is a gooey, chewy mess.

Hello, world. It's been a while. Here's what I've been listening to.

2010-11-16T16:07:00.004-05:00

The title says it all. I always want to get back to writing on a regular basis, but I just haven't been in-tune enough with what has been going on, music-wise, for the past eleven months for me to write something, or anything, decent. This is probably a bad time to get back into things; every music outlet on the Interwebs is going to be flooded with top 10 lists for the next two months, and this time, it's not just top 10 of the year but top 10 of the decade. Ugh.

Well, in the meantime, here's a small smattering of what I've been listening to lately. None of it is new, but it's all good.

I came across this when somebody posted a comment along the lines of "here's some real talent and body paint" in response to this. (Why is Kim Kardashian even noteworthy, and why is she naked?) Weird, huh? Anyway, "I Am Not A Robot" and "Mowgli's Road" have been getting stuck in my head over the past few weeks.

Speaking of getting stuck in your head, how catchy is that one? I swear I heard this, in its entirety, in a dream last night. Is that normal? Um, they also have videos with the lyrics in Spanish and German.

And now for something completely different. This is the fifth of six videos made for their latest effort, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, which came out in January and I meant to write about and don't think I actually did. I'm not sure how much I like this new batch of videos. This is animated toast, which is either really awesome or really...weird. The animation is certainly pretty, but it reminds me of this, for some reason. They've also done a video with dogs, which I guess goes well with this lot.

Yeah, seriously. Fucking earworm.

Why didn't anyone introduce me to the Posies like, five years ago? I took it upon myself to watch the entirety of Daria and finished up, I dunno', a few months ago. The original version of this song played over the original TV broadcast of Is It Fall Yet?, and luckily that was the version that I came across. It's all I've wanted to listen to since then.

Some Business for you.

2010-01-26T02:48:00.005-05:00

As your local former Ser Biz intern, it is my duty to inform you that disbanded as of I-don't-remember-when SBR band Man In Gray are back with a one-show reunion at Union Hall on 20 Feb. :

Man in Gray
With not-on-Ser-Biz-but-much-beloved-by-them-nonetheless El Jezel and Coyote Eyes (who, if you'll remember, I saw at Northside back in June)
8 pm
8 dollars
21+

There's some other Business going on (upcoming shows and records) that I haven't quite caught up on, so you'll have to wait for that. In the meantime, feel free to download SBR's annual free compilation of last year's releases and hits, The Year In Business : 2009.

Tracklisting :

1) SAADI - "Bad City (Serious Business Remix)"
2) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Me, I Get High on Reefer" (live)
3) The Paparazzi - "The Rococo Tape"
4) The Octagon - "Suicide Kings"
5) Higgins - "What Don't You Want?"
6) Jack and the Pulpits - "Francypants"
7) Rocketship Park - "Spinning Globes"
8) Benji Cossa - "Annie Delia"
9) The Unsacred Hearts - "Fake Kisses"
10) The Two Man Gentlemen Band - "Drip Dryin'(Reprise!)"

You can download the whole thing in a .zip here.

In case you missed out, The Year in Business : 2008 is here and 2007 over here.

So it's a new year.

2010-01-19T03:53:00.002-05:00

I'm sort of ashamed. I've REALLY fallen out of the habit of posting, haven't I? Which means I've fallen out of the habit of listening to new stuff, which means I have nothing to write about anyway, which makes it one big, vicious cycle. I've also been in Paris for four months now and I haven't yet gone to a concert. Not a single one. Not even at La Flèche d'or. This is batshit.

My goals for this year :

1) Keep y'all entertained and work up to posting an average of once per day. (I said "work up to." That's not going to happen this month.)

2) Stop being late to everything.

3) Figure out a way to get into the Pony Pony Run Run (21 January), B.B. Brunes (10 February), and Vampire Weekend (25 February) shows in Paris.

And in other news, Vampire Weekend has released a new record, OK Go has, too (and I actually have my tickets to go see them on the 26th), and I'll actually, ya' know, start listening to stuff and responding to your emails. Promise!

But seriously y'all, somebody get me into those shows and I will love you forever. Please?

IT'S BAAAACK : La Fleche d'Or to reopen on 23 November. Hooray!

2009-11-20T05:27:00.003-05:00

In the interest of full disclosure, I only went to la Flèche d'Or once to see Pony Pony Run Run before they were big enough to fill up une salle like La Cigale, but I didn't even stay for their set because my right ear was freaking out and I didn't know what wrong with it back then. (Which, ya' know, now I'm okay.)

And then I got news sometime back in May that it was shutting down due to "noise complaints." I thought it was gone for good (although this site posits that it was merely closed for soundproofing work) and was incredibly upset as I'd intended to spend every night I possibly could seeing shows there. La Flèche wasn't perfect - for starters, the drinks were terribly overpriced, but I suppose that was to make up for the fact that there was always 100% free entry. Plus they brought together obscure, up-and-coming, and fading bands from France, Belgium, the UK, the US, and more together for shows pretty much every night. I didn't go very often (if at all), but I did find some really great artists (like the aforementioned PPRR and Georgie James, for example) through their line-up.

Well, according to A Nous Paris, la Flèche is set to reopen on the 23rd, having been taken over by Alias and Asterios productions :

I'm not so keen on this whole "plus de sobriété" thing, but I guess if you're reopening a rock club that's been shut down for noise, it's necessary. The other big change : entry is now payante instead of free, which is a bummer. But 8 euros for a show is pretty reasonable and you get a drink along with that, so I guess it works out. Will that prevent me from going as often as I would have were it free? Yes. Do I still intend on making trips out there? Sure. Besides, Alias Productions sponsors a whole bunch of artists that I like, so I'm sure there will be shows I'll want to see.

Evan Dando from the Lemonheads is heading opening night, along with Chris Brokaw, Anoraak, and The Two. For the rest of the upcoming line up, go here.

Stuck in my Head : My First Earthquake vs. MJ, "Billie Jean's Frenemies"

2009-11-11T11:12:00.003-05:00

Way back in July (holy goodness, it's been that long...?), I was sent this video for My First Earthquake's first single of their debut record, Downstairs, called "Cool in the Cool Way." Given that it was released in mid-June, you may or may not have seen already.

It's subtitled "Invasion of the Hipster Bodysnatchers," and while I'm not usually keen on the whole "Those damn hipster kids! What's wrong with them?!" fist-shaking commentary, largely because a lot of those who make such commentary are eye-rolling hipsters themselves, this video seems to avoid falling in that pitfall because 1) it's self-deprecating, not eye-rolling, 2) it hints at the idea that "maybe we're hipsters, too," what with Rebecca's eyes flashing green at the end, and 3) it's damn catchy. I am not averse to damn catchy pop music.

Oh, plus their video for "Sweet Frowns" takes a stab at that favourite hipster girl obsession, Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette :

Wow, that's two videos. Maybe I should have called this a "Nothing's On Telly" instead of a "Stuck in my Head." Back on topic :

So, back when Michael Jackson died at the end of June (link for journalistic integrity and in case you've been living under a rock for the past five months), I feel like a whole load of people did covers and "tributes" and remixes and all sorts of things in his honour, justifiably so. Let's Sexy Fighting mashed up My First Earthquake's "In The Forest With Frenemies" with MJ's "Billie Jean" to get "Billie Jean's Frenemies." I think I had this song on repeat for the entirety of July and August. It's an odd combination ("Frenemies" is about, um, animals fighting and forest fires), but with "Billie Jean" taking a back seat lyrically and lending its slinky beats, it actually works pretty well without feeling ridiculously forced or particularly inappropriate.

Let's Sexy Fighting - "Billie Jean's Frenemies" (My First Earthquake vs. Michael Jackson) [link]

If you're not dancing by now, um. I don't know what to tell you.

My First Earthquake - "Cool in the Cool Way" [link]

Northside Festival, Day Three : The Best Bishop Allen Set I've Seen. Also, Darlings, Motel Motel, April Smith.

2009-11-03T06:29:00.010-05:00

So it's a shame I didn't write this about four months ago, because I simply don't remember much anymore. And also because nobody really cares about Northside anymore, do they? Ah, well, that's what I get for being lazy.

In fact, I wouldn't bother to write about day three if I hadn't seen a fantastic set by Bishop Allen that night. The fact that Bishop Allen was going to play Northside was the original reason for my interest in the festival. It was also the one show I wanted to go to terribly, and the one show I risked not being able to attend - because I'm silly and didn't ask off, I was scheduled to work that night. Heh, oops. After some careful cajoling (ie, asking one of my managers, "Can I please have off work on Saturday, pleeeease??"), things worked out and I was free. (I don't work there anymore, so I really don't care who knows about this, either.)

Right, so. First stop was Spike Hill, yet again, to check out The L Magazine's "NYC Bands You Need to Hear" showcase. I got there late, so the first band I caught was Darlings, not to be confused with the punk outfit The Darlings, although there's a bit of a punk spirit alive in an otherwise pop band. Maybe it's a bit more of a "screamy garage" spirit than a "punk" spirit. Anyway, after their set they announced they were opening that night for...Bishop Allen. Oh. Well, that answered my question of "Who's opening for Bishop Allen...?", but also made me think, "Man, I could have checked out another band instead and still not missed this one..."

Don't quit remember what I did after that. I definitely remember wandering over to Public Assembly, where I caught the tail end of Motel Motel's set. Um, I remember having liked them. I guess Paper Mag said they were "better than Cold War Kids," which is actually the best comparison I can think of right now.

Anyway. Back to Studio B, which I got to way too early and therefore had to sit around for a while, reading and drinking free beer. Oh, noes.

Darlings

First up were Darlings, who hadn't changed in the few hours since I'd seen them last. Ta da!

Bishop Allen

Oh, and of course, Bishop Allen. I'm not exagerrating when I say this was the best performance I've seen them give yet. Maybe that's not super-high praise, as it was only the fourth time I've seen them live. It's probably a lot more impressive when I say something like, "Oh, that was the BEST I've seen OK Go play," because I've seen them a million and three times so if I say "this was the BEST," it really means something. But I digress.

It had a lot do with the fact that it was a hometown show. The last time I'd seen them had been a hometown show, too, but that had a much more relaxed, "We're just playing to our friends and family" feel. Here, Justin pointed out that "we live around the corner from here...a lot of songs were written about places nearby..." That's what spurred them on.

And it wasn't that the band played with unusual enthousiasm, energy, or technical skill. It was the build in the songs and the set that was spot-on. Listen to classic Bishop Allen tracks like "Flight 180" and "The Monitor." There's an emotional build that enhances, or perhaps even creates, the power of those songs. You don't just go from "Once a great ironworks stood at the end of my street..." to "And we're singing la da da da da da da, but what then?" without moving upwards in feeling. The song just wouldn't work without it. And that's what they did so well : balancing and creating the build of emotion within their songs and within the set as a whole. The setlist didn't feature heavily from their recently-released Grrr..., either. I didn't expect that it would, as their set in April was a good mix of new, old, and older stuff, but less than half the setlist was dedicated to their latest record, leaving room for songs like "The Same Fire" (one of my favourite love songs ever), "Like Castanets," "Click" and, of course, "The Monitor" and "Flight 180."

It's hard, after so much time, to really describe what made this such a wonderful performance. Saying, "The build, the build! The build was incredible!" doesn't really point to something concrete that someone who wasn't there might understand. Let's put it this way - you all know that certain Bishop Allen songs ellicit a, um, certain emotional response from me. When I saw them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last November, I cried through nearly half the set. This time, I figured I was over that, but that didn't stop me from being caught in the gut and tearing up a whole bunch. Lame? Maybe. But when the wave of emotion and power sweeps up and over like that, it's hard not to be caught in the swell.* A performance doesn't need to be particularly enthousiastic, cloying, balls-to-the-wall, contrived, or in-your-face to be remarkable. It just requires the right songs played the right way.

And some local inspiration. That's what we got that night. If you weren't there, that's what you missed.

Later that night, I caught the end of April Smith and the Great Picture Show's set at...well, I don't remember where it was honestly. But she was fantastic and cheeky with an incredible voice. I wish I could do her justice here, but that's for another post.

*(Wow, now that's a lame sentence...sorry for the tired analogy, guys.)

Hello, world. I'm in France.

2009-10-26T07:53:00.002-04:00

They won't stop playing this song.

Last time I was here, it was "Smile." Gah.

Ta da. Now that I'm more or less settled, expect some updates. How y'all doing out there?

I'm not dead! I just want brains.

2009-08-04T01:09:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone,

So, without total conscious decision, I somehow decided to take the month of July "off." There's a lot I still want to write about - I mean, there's ALWAYS a lot of stuff I still want to write about - but somehow, things got really bogged down between work and vacation and all that I just didn't feel like sitting down and sussing out what needed to be said and what didn't.

I should be back this month, even if updating will be spotty for the next two - I'm about to move back to Paris in about a month and a half, so life will be hectic 'til I'm settled in there. But I absolutely, positively promise to write. Okay? Okay.

Two updates you can expect soon :

- Northside, Day Three and The Best Set I've Seen by Bishop Allen (mainly done in bullet-form, except the part about Bishop Allen because that'd be criminal)
- My First Earthquake, a video by them, and their MJ tribute / mash-up (Go do your homework and look them up now, okay? Okay!)

Also maybe soon : the new Nightmare of You record, Finding Fiction, and maybe some other stuff.

Love y'all lots,
Katy x

Northside Festival, Day Two : EarFarm at Spike Hill, PTST at Public Assembly (pow wow!, Shilpa Ray, Palomar, and more)

2009-07-01T15:53:00.002-04:00

Day two of Northside featured some show-hopping – well, a little bit of show-hopping. My main focus that evening was EarFarm's showcase at Spike Hill, although I had my eye on a few other shows, too. Unfortunately, my notes on this night are rather meager, so you're going to have to enjoy all the pretty pictures instead.

Before the festival started, members of Coyote Eyes contacted me and sent along some songs, which is a generally lovely thing to do, and so I looked forward to seeing them live. Alas, we got to Spike Hill in time to hear the last three of their set (that commute is a bitch), although I liked what I heard, and Jonathan was enthused – after the all-girl, all alt-folk show the night before, he was happy to hear something rock-oriented.

pow wow! All photos by Jonathan Costa.

pow wow!, who played a whole mess of shows during the festival thereby making themselves the unofficial Northside Fest poster band, were up next, and I really enjoyed their set. After the night before (it had started to wear on me, too), pow wow!'s sunshiney pop sensibilities layered over dancey rock was wholly welcome. I don't have much to say beyond that, but I wish that I'd caught one of their gazillion other shows so that I could.

The Secret Life of Sofia mellowed things out a bit. A lot. The music felt sparser and yet...it didn't. That doesn't tell you much about them, but I definitely liked the last song of their set, "Gone."

After saying "hi" to Matt of EarFarm (hi, Matt!), we headed over to Public Assembly for Pop Tarts Suck Toasted's showcase in hopes of catching Palomar. We were early enough to catch Murder Mystery, and my notes literally read : "<3 Pretty much. Hard to say much beyond that." So I won't.

Anyway, I only have one song from Palomar (their cover of Brian Eno's "I'll Come Running"), which I adore, but I've also enjoyed everything else from them that I've heard online and not bothered to download onto my iPod. It was pretty much based on this one song that I decided to go to this show, and I was actually pretty excited.

I'm not sure it was worth it, though. Vocally, frontwoman Rachel Warren sounded rougher than she does on record – I'm not sure if she had some sort of cold or if her voice differs that much between real life and record. Also, I was put off by the fact that seemed a little...short. Not height-wise. Short to the point of almost being abrasive. It was off-putting. I only found myself enjoying about every other song as well. I hate giving bad reviews (what if it was just a bad night? What if I just didn't know enough of their songs to fully enjoy the set? Is it necessary to know a band's catalogue to enjoy them live, though?), I think, in the end, Palomar is a band I enjoy thoroughly more in mp3 form than onstage. Or maybe I just need to see them again, I don't know.

We wandered back to Spike Hill to catch some of closers Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers' set before heading some. Wow! I love a woman who screams like that, who puts that sort of raw energy into her performance, and it carried over to the rest of the band. I heard later that this band played one of several "impromptu" street shows throughout the festival, and I'm kind of bummed I didn't catch that, or get to stay for more of their set. Jonathan, however, was wearing sandals and sulky that everyone was stepping on his toes and besides, we were tired. So homeward we went.

Coyote Eyes - "Kahlen"
pow wow! - "23 19"
The Secret Life of Sofia - "Moon on the Sea's Gate"
Murder Mystery - "Love Astronaut"
Palomar - "I'll Come Running" (Brian Eno cover)
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers - "Coward Cracked The Dawn [radio edit]"

Also, can I say that Spike Hill, despite its somewhat inconvenient set-up, is my new favourite venue? Any place that bothers to put out a pitcher of water and cups for its patrons get the thumbs-up. Really, it's the little, tiny things that count.

Northside Festival, Day One : Uncensored Interview at Union Pool (Ivana XL, Sharon van Etten, Lisa Li-lund, Emilyn Brodsky)

2009-06-27T00:45:00.001-04:00

All right, so, this is a little late. About two weeks late. Okay, maybe a week and a half late. Still. Sometimes it takes me a while to get my shit together, ya' know? Also, I'm lazy.chrome://foxytunes-public/content/signatures/signature-button.png

ANYway, even though most have moved on and the debates about the interesting debacles of the weekend have more or less ended, here's my coverage of Day One at L Magazine's inaugural Northside Festival.

After hitting the press lounge, getting shoes, and eating pricey-but-tasty burgers (note to schedule-writing staff : burgers =/= barbeque. For future reference.) at Studio B (which is supposedly shutting down for the millionth time – I'm amazed by the propensity of city folk to be like, "OMG NOISE COMPLAINT." YOU MOVED IN NEAR A ROCK CLUB. BUY SOME EAR PLUGS AND DEAL. Obviously things should be reasonable, but really.), Jonathan, my brother who willingly accompanied me to take pictures, and I headed down to Union Pool to catch Uncensored Interview's night of alt-folk.

All photos are by Jonathan Costa. Sorry they're so tiny.

First up was Ivana XL, whom I'd heard of a week or two prior to the show, the main impetus for having gone. She was nervous, charming, apologetic. She talked about how it was her first time playing at Union Pool and how nerve-wracked she was, and then later talked about her planned outfit for the night that had to be nixed on account of the rain and gloom : "I had an awesome outfit planned...it was like, booty shorts." Apparently booty shorts inspire confidence.

Even sans assurance-sparking booty shorts, her raspy vocals, oddly-pronounced vowels à la Regina Spektor, and driven acoustic ditties were enchanting. Yeah, she messed up once or twice, but I like when that happens. Some of the songs started to sound alike after a while, but her lyrics are constantly stellar – in "The King," she declares, "So fuck having babies and staying at home / I'm going to the movies and drinking martinis," sentiments I can get behind. At the end of the night, Jonathan declared her his favourite, and I agreed – shame that she couldn't have performed later in the night.

Between sets, I mentioned to my brother how I was glad to be at a show where I didn't have to wear ear plugs. And then along came Sharon van Etten, with her electric guitar big enough to overwhelm her petite frame and stronger voice. Reluctantly, the ear plugs went it. (That's what you get for being half-deaf in one ear already.) I guess I wasn't inspired to note too much about her performance. I liked her; Jonathan found a lot of her songs to sound the same. Inspired journalism, ta da!

After her first or second song, Lisa Li-lund explained to the audience, "I just finished a record where there's a lot of noise, so now I'm trying to turn them into songs," a task I didn't envy her having to do all by herself onstage.

But what an odd child. Switching between her acoustic and a keyboard, she would be angelic at times, get the audience shouting at other, and then say awkward things like, "You're all like 'blood blood blood!'" at others. Which, um. I don't remember any of us being like, "Blood blood blood!" It was an...interesting insight into her mind. The bizarrerie didn't change the strength of her work, with lines like, "I'm tired of guys who cry before I've even held them once."

The handwritten bill at the door said that François Virot was to be up fourth (I think...), but instead was Emilyn Brodsky. We contemplated leaving before her set (I had to be at work, in Jersey, at 9 am), but I'm glad we stayed, even despite the crazy. She was emotive, manic, and, frankly, weird, declaring early on, "Everyone who's interesting is a little batshit crazy." (She calls herself Emilyn "cupcake punk" Brodsky on her MySpace, if that says anything.) She's the first artist I've ever seen tell off – REALLY tell off, like, "Okay, well, you all just keep talking with your friends while I sing this song...I love playing in loud bars..." – her audience for talking mid-set, which others (read : my brother) found obnoxious and off-putting, but I respected her sentiments. (She had a point – if you want to chat with your friends, go in the other bar. There's two of them.) She talked about getting her period the night before and signing contracts in menstrual blood. Oh, and she burped into the microphone mid-song at one point. So make that emotive, manic, odd, brazen and unashamed, all of which make for an interesting performance, in the very least. But beyond that, I genuinely liked a good portion of her songs, played out on a ukulele (apparently she "couldn't bring herself to learn how to play the guitar"), especially "Ebony (Bread Helps)," a song about a woman whose life is falling apart ("Bread helps with anxiety /...Bread helps when men leave"). Like Mama says, "You can always bake a cake."

Ivana XL - "Happy Birthday"
Sharon van Etten - "For You"

We unfortunately did not stay for Olof Arnalds' set - we decided to head out "early," only to have to sit on the train back home for a million hours. Stupid Amtrak signaling problems. *shakes fist*

Stuck In My Head : The / Les Plastiscines, "Barcelona"

2009-06-18T23:42:00.002-04:00

So the only song I had by The Plastiscines (otherwise known as Les Plastiscines in their native pays) was a remix of "Loser" by Les Petits Pilous that I grabbed from some place around the webbernets and that has seriously been making me dance for...however long I've had it. Over a year, at least, because I put it in this mix a while back.

Anyway, so, Nylon magazine has recently launched Nylon Records because...I don't know why, but they handpicked ces filles to be their first act signed, which makes sense as Nylon seems to be generally obsessed with things that are French, perceived as "hip," and / or both (see also : Phoenix, but that's totally warranted). (Not that I'm saying this is a bad thing, in and of itself...)

All right, point is, The Plastiscines, who seemingly dance around in heels and like to channel Brigitte Bardot, are now "on" Nylon, they've released both an EP and an LP (titled About Love), and the lead single is stuck in my head. That's my whole point. It's catchy. It makes me want to dance. And songs about Barcelona are good for summer mixes. Sometimes I'm not really picky about this sort of thing.

The rest of the above-mentioned LP can be streamed over here.

Tally Hall to play ON A BOAT with April Smith, and I'll miss out.

2009-06-17T21:07:00.003-04:00

So the world seems hell-bent on preventing me from seeing Tally Hall this year. So far, I've missed their Mercury Lounge show because I was too dumb to realise I could have parked somewhere that would have allowed me to take a later train back from the city. Last Friday, they played at the Bell House in Park Slope, and I missed that, too, because I thought it was on Saturday night and also I was at Northside.*

Now, they're playing a Rocks Off Concert Cruise show on 8th July, aboard the Half Moon, which is a Wednesday night and would be fantastic - if I weren't going to be in Florida that week. Bah!

More details :

Wednesday July 08th 2009
Rocks Off Concert Cruise Series
TALLY HALL
APRIL SMITH AND THE GREAT PICTURE SHOW
* ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISE - Aboard the Half Moon
* 7pm boarding / 8pm departure / 11pm return
* $25 adv / $30 day of show
This cruise is onboard the HALF MOON and will depart from Skyport Marina - 23rd & FDR Drive (EAST side). Boarding will begin at 7pm and the cruise will depart at 8pm SHARP. Don't be late - it ain't pretty to be standin on the dock, watching the party sailing away!

More information is here. For the record, I caught the last two songs of the amazing April Smith's set at the Cameo Gallery for Northside (for which Ross Federman of Tally Hall played drums, making it the third time this year I've crossed his path, including earlier that day on Bedford Ave. and at the OK Go show at MHoW where I was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO HIM and couldn't figure out where I'd seen him before - one day I'm going to actually go up to this kid and be like, "I see you EVERYWHERE" and then realise how creepy I sound), and was wholly disheartened that I didn't see more. Seriously, check the girl out.

*Speaking of Northside, I have three days of coverage to, um, cover, but my notes are currently stashed in my brother's iPod Touch and the photos in my other brother's Rebel XT. So when I get both elements I'll be sure to get that posted.

Help Polyvinyl save records, get a bunch in return. It's win-win, really.

2009-06-17T19:52:00.002-04:00

Discovered via Idolator : Indie label Polyvinyl Records - current home to Joan of Arc, of Montreal, and near-and-dear Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - are downsizing - actually, their distributor is, and in order to avoid having 10,000 records destroyed in the process (and / or having them sit around in their office, creating another problem of its own), they're asking you to donate, and in return, they'll send you a bunch of stuff.

What you get varies by how much you pledge :

$5 Pledge gets you:
Mates of State "Two of Us" DVD

$10 Pledge gets you these 2 CDs + 1 DVD:
Architecture in Helsinki "Places Like This" CD
Rainer Maria "Long Knives Drawn" CD
Mates of State "Two of Us" DVD

$15 Pledge gets you these 5 CDs + 1 DVD:
Architecture in Helsinki "Places Like This" CD
Hail Social "Hail Social" CD
Kyle Fischer / Mike Kinsella / Caithlin DeMarrais "Open Ground" CD
Mates of State "Twoof Us" DVD
of Montreal "Icons Abstract Thee" CD
Rainer Maria "Long Knives Drawn" CD

$20 Pledge gets you these 8 CDs + 1 DVD:
AM/FM “The Sky Is the New Ground” CD
Architecture in Helsinki "Places Like This" CD
Hail Social "Hail Social" CD
Joan of Arc “The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc” CD
Kyle Fischer / Mike Kinsella / Caithlin DeMarrais "Open Ground" CD
Mates of State "Two of Us" DVD
of Montreal "Icons Abstract Thee" CD
Raner Maria "Long Knives Drawn" CD
Saturday Looks Good to Me “Cold Colors” CD

$30 Pledge gets you these 13 CDs + 1 DVD:
Aloha “Some Echoes” CD
AM/FM “The Sky Is the New Ground” CD
Architecture in Helsinki "Places Like This" CD
Audible “Sky Signal” CD
Hail Social "Hail Social" CD
Joan of Arc “The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc” CD
Kyle Fischer / Mike Kinsella / Caithlin DeMarrais "Open Ground" CD
Mates of State "Two of Us" DVD
of Montreal "Icons Abstract Thee" CD
of Montreal “The Early Four Track Recordings” CD
Picastro “Metal Cares” CD
Rainer Maria "Long Knives Drawn" CD
Saturday Looks Good to Me “Cold Colors” CD
ZZZZ “Palm Reader” CD

$50 Pledge gets you these 26 CDs + 2 DVDs:
31Knots “Curse of the Longest Night” CD
Aloha “Some Echoes” CD
AM/FM “Getting Into Sinking” CD
AM/FM “Mutilate Us” CD
AM/FM “The Sky Is the New Ground” CD
Architecture in Helsinki "Places Like This" CD
Audible “Sky Signal” CD
Collections of Colonies of Bees “Customer” CD
Decibully “City of Festivals” CD
Friction (ex-Braid) “Discography 1991-1994” 2xCD
Hail Social "Hail Social" CD
Joan of Arc “Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain” CD
Joan of Arc “The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc” CD
Kyle Fischer / Mike Kinsella / Caithlin DeMarrais "Open Ground" CD
Mates of State "Two of Us" DVD
of Montreal "Icons Abstract Thee" CD
of Montreal “The Early Four Track Recordings” CD
Paris Texas “Action Fans Help Us!” CD
Pele “Elephant” CD
Picastro “Metal Cares” CD
Rainer Maria "Long Knives Drawn" CD
Rainer Maria “Anone in Love with You (Already Knows)” CD+DVD
Rainer Maria “Ears Ring” CD
Rainer Maria “Rainer Maria” CD
Saturday Looks Good to Me “Cold Colors” CD
ZZZZ “Palm Reader” CD

So if you donate $50, it works out to like, less than $2 a record. Seriously.

So far, they seem to be doing fairly well - their goal was $1000 by 14th July, and they're already up to $6204 (up about $2000 from when I check this morning).

To donate and score some awesome records, or for more information, you can go here. And let your friends know!

Don't forget, Northside starts tonight!

2009-06-11T15:51:00.003-04:00

The now complete schedule is posted over here.

The kick-off BBQ party (for press and badgeholders only) is tonight, 5-8 pm, at Studio B.

Going to the Uncensored Interview Transatlantic Alt-Folk Showcase tonight at Union Pool? Gimme' a holler and I'll come say "hi."

Sounds Like... : Run Toto Run covers "Sleepyhead"

2009-06-06T01:10:00.002-04:00

Oh goodness.

And I thought the original version was really stuck in my head.

Rachel Schain is playing in Baltimore tomorrow.

2009-06-02T21:39:00.003-04:00

Hey guys,

Just a reminder that I'm playing in Baltimore tomorrow night at 8pm as part of the Ottobar's open mic night. I'm only on for 20 minutes so I promise not to keep you out too late on a school night, and besides, I will definitely be worth the visit.

See you tomorrow!

RSx

Wilmington, DE-based Rachel Schain is one of my best friends, my co-hort, and an inspiration. She'll be making her Baltimore debut tomorrow at Ottobar, and if you're free, you should go support her. In fact, even if you're not free, you should break your plans and see her.

Here's one of her latest tracks, "Rockstar Bitch," live at Mojo 13 in Wilmington :

And here's a rock band, The Promise, doing a cover of the same song :

Phoenix to perform LIVE web concert tomorrow at SFR Studios. Sign up!

2009-06-02T20:42:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, 3rd June, Phoenix will be playing a live set at French mobile carrier SFR's Attention Musique Fraiche! live concert series. The show is at 8:30 pm Paris time (that would be 2:30 pm EST, although the countdown thing on the SFR site is giving me 23 hours to go...weird) and you can watch it live on ton ordi. (That would be "your computer" in English.)

You do have to sign up, however, which you can do by going here and filling out the form outlined in red ("informations obligatoires"; don't worry about the box labeled "informations facultatives") : screenname (pseudo), password (mot de passe), first name (prenom), last name (nom), email, and the captcha phrase given IN LOWERCASE LETTERS (they're being tricksy like that). Then, of course, confirm your email and sign in to the SFR site to enjoy the show.

There's a video interview with Phoenix here as well, but I'm not translating that for you. Sorry.

ETA : So, I'm not really 100% positive as to whether or not you have to sign up to watch the show. That's the impression I'm getting, though it could just be an effort by SFR to get more people to log in to their website. Regardless, better safe than sorry, right? Right.

Athlete are on Fiction Records now, new record out on 4th August.

2009-06-02T20:13:00.004-04:00

Hi all,

As you may know a while back we parted company with EMI Records. We are now pleased to tell you that we have signed a new deal with Fiction Records, the home of Elbow, Snow Patrol, Ian Brown, The Maccabees, Kate Nash and White Lies as well many more. This feels like a great home for us and we're excited to be part of this label.
Lots of love goes out to the people that we have had the pleasure of working with at Parlophone/EMI over the years (you know who you are).
Our Fourth album which is called Black Swan will be released by Fiction on the 10th August.
Smashing, Sorted, right then what's next...
Steve

Athlete are currently on tour in the UK. Tracklisting for Black Swan is as follows:

1. Superhuman touch
2. The Getaway
3. Black Swan Song
4. Don't Hold Your Breath
5. Love Come Rescue
6. Light The Way
7. The Unknown
8. The Awkward Goodbye
9. Magical Mistakes
10. Rubik’s Cube

Outdoor Summer Sessions at Le Batofar start next month.

2009-06-02T19:51:00.004-04:00

Started two years ago, each summer, Le Batofar in Paris has launched a summer series of beginner's workshops on diverse topics, from dance to music to art and other such things. This year, the series is back, running every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in July and August from 6 to 8 pm. For like, five euros.

This year's schedule, above (or as a larger .pdf here), features classes in soul and groove, juggling, hip hop, African dance, graffiti, and d.i.y. clothing customisation.

Workshops are open to all, but it's recommended that you sign up, which you can do by calling 01.53.14.78.73 or emailing actionculturelle@batofar.org. (This, of course, presumes that you can speak and understand French. And that you'll be in Paris, too.)

Do it do it do it.

Stuck In My Head : Pony Pony Run Run, "Hey You" (Mondkopf remix)

2009-06-01T15:35:00.001-04:00

I don't know why I don't read FluoKids more often, because every time I hop over there, I think, "I wish I was writing this blog." Or like, I would have found out that La Fleche was closing down way earlier than I did find out. (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I cannot tell you how HEARTBROKEN I am over that. IF YOU MOVE IN NEXT TO A ROCK CLUB, IT'S GOING TO BE LOUD, OKAY? DEAL. putain de merde quoi.)

Anyway, in one of the two times a year I look at Hype Machine (my blog apparently isn't cool enough to be listed there so like, whatever), FluoKids' post of the Mondkopf remix of Pony Pony Run Run's "Hey You" (I posted the teaser over here) was at the top of the latest post lists. Okay, well, thanks hypem, I think.

Actually, thanks to FluoKids, 'cause I haven't even listened to the whole thing yet, and I love it already.

Pony Pony Run Run - "Hey You" (Mondkopf remix)

Actually, the original has been pretty stuck in my head, too, so, uh, here's the video:

PONY PONY RUN RUN - HEY YOU [OFFICIAL VIDEOCLIP]
by 3emebureau

You Need Pony Pony Run Run is out on 15th June.
Mondkopf just released a new LP, titled Galaxy of Nowhere.

3rd June is No Service Fee Wednesday at LiveNation

2009-06-01T14:43:00.006-04:00

Got the above email from LiveNation detailing that this Wednesday, 3rd June, is No Service Fee Wednesday - for all amphitheatre shows. And presumably only those shows outlined in the above screencap (if, um, you can read that...), although I don't know for sure. Still, if you're planning on attending one of said shows and haven't bought your tickets, Wednesday would be a good time to do that.

Also, I want to write #noservicefeewed. Stupid Twitter.

ETA : Here's a pretty scathing article by the LimeWire blog on the whole we'll-charge-you-crazy-"service-fees"-and-then-like-bait-you-by-getting-rid-of-them-for-a-day thing.

Oh, yeah. Northside's coming up! 11th- 14th June

2009-05-30T14:07:00.003-04:00

I haven't been as good about posting or tweeting as of late, and I apologise - I haven't been feeling well, too lazy, writer's block, blah blah, etc.

It would be remiss of me, then, to come back and not mention the L Magazine's upcoming Northside Festival, a self-proclaimed "a four-day celebration of the independent music and art scene that thrives here in New York City."

The full, official line-up was announced on the 18th, and it's hella' long - I was going to repost the whole thing here, but I have to leave for work in a little while, so you can check that out over here. Instead, here are the showcases in which I'm particularly interested / will probably be making an appearance / would make an appearance at if I could physically be in two places at once, if all goes well. (Fingers crossed, because as excited as I am about this, I forgot to actually request the days off work. Oops.)

11th June

Uncensored Interview presents The Speakeasy: A Showcase of Transatlantic Alt-Folk
with Ólöf Arnalds, François Virot, Lisa Li-Lund, Sharon Van Etten, Ivana XL
Union Pool
Doors @ 7 pm / $10

12th June

EAR FARM presents Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Sister Suvi, The Secret Life of Sofia, pow wow!, Coyote Eyes
Spike Hill
Doors @ 7pm / $8

KEXP presents Wild Yaks, Electric Tickle Machine, CHARLIE!
Europa
Doors @ 7pm

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted presents Brilliant Sweaters, Screaming Females, Sisters, Dinowalrus, Grooms (ex-Muggabears), The Great Unwashed, Home Video, Eula, Palomar, Murder Mystery, The Rabbits
Public Assembly
Doors @ 7:30pm / $10

Kanine Records, Frenchkiss Records & Insound present The Beets, Drink Up Buttercup, Zaza, Sean Bones, We Are Country Mice
with DJ sets by members of The Dodos and Dissenous + Hudson = The Andys (from Insound)
Bruar Falls
Doors @ 8pm

13th June

Hooves on the Turf presents Vandaveer, Sharon Van Etten, Glass Ghost, Luke Winslow-King, Drink Up Buttercup, Gracious Calamity, Afuche
Trophy Bar
Doors @ 1pm / FREE

Bishop Allen with special guests
Studio B
Doors @ 6pm / $17

Music Snobbery presents Les Sans Culottes, Tiger! Tiger!, The Anabolics, Julia Haltigan & the Hooligans
Spike Hill
Doors @ 8pm / $12

14th June

Ponytail with Thank You and special guests
curated by Ponytail
Venue TBD
Doors @ 8pm

Engine Room Recordings presents Murder Mystery, Wakey! Wakey!, Bamboo Shoots, The Bloodsugars, Porter Block
Public Assembly (back room)
Doors @ 7:30pm / $7

Seriously, that's just a few. I'd probably wind up reposting the whole damn list, which I won't, because, well, we covered that before.

$45 badges, which allow you festival-wide access, are still on sale here. You can also volunteer and get in for free.

I really like Passion Pit's 'Manners,' sound like an asshole. Deal.

2009-05-30T13:47:00.003-04:00

I'm going to sound like an asshole saying this, but I'll say it anyway : I don't like jumping on the bandwagon or fueling the hype machine. Yeah yeah, I know, I said it. Deal.

It's pretty unavoidable, though – often I find myself with one foot in said wagon, with or without having meant for it land there. I suppose everyone could argue the same point, but whatever. Such is the case with Passion Pit. I found out about them pretty organically – my friend's brother told me about them. I checked them out. And at the time, I thought, "This is something I could really get into," while the rest of the collective blogosphere collectively went nuts over their debut EP, Chunk of Change. How to reconcile that? By not being in love with it. I hadn't recklessly dedicated my heart to this Valentine’s gift-turned-band because I thought, gasp!, maybe I didn’t really like it all that much while everyone else seemingly did.

And then along came Manners. Oh, Manners. You just might be everything I wish for in a pop record. I know seemingly every other blogger out there is saying the same thing, but allow me to layer on my adulation as well.

I'm a lover of melody, an adorer of hummable riffs and lines, and on Manners, Michael Angelakos and company amped up the pop sensibilities from the get-go. "Make Light" and "Little Secrets" burst in with such poppy enthusiasm, the sort that makes me forget that I have the attention span of a gnat and not notice the fact that the latter clocks in at nearly four minutes, the former at nearly five. The refrain of "Make Light" doesn't even hit until halfway through the song, but the climax is perfect. (I mean, hello, did I mention that I have the attention span of a gnat?)

After the Super Mario Brothers-synths-on-serotonin stomp of "Little Secrets," "Moth's Wings" is almost unexpected, with its more sober, piano-driven lines and heavier lyrics ("Dear friend as you know / Your flowers are withering") that still manage to be eternally optimistic ("Put down your sword and bow / Come lay with me on the ground"). The first release from the album, "The Reeling," turns the club beats and 80s feel back up with a vengeance. (Seriously, I think I heard that riff coming from my parents’ stereo when I was wee, but like, it's cool.) And the next three tracks do the same thing, swimming back and forth between styles and overall sounds : The sparser "To Kingdom Come," with is toned-down falsetto and sad refrain matched with sing-along na-na-nas; the slow-dance of "Swimming In The Flood"; the return to the 90s dancefloor in "Fold Your Hands" that ends with overload. The middle of the disc is mutable in feel yet analogous to itself in a way that works.

And then "Eyes Like Candles." Admit it, the first ten seconds make you want to sing out "I'm not a perfect person" à la Hoobastank circa 2004 (I know I do...), but move past that and we're given sing-songy refrain and horns, a pretty moment to reflect. We're barely past the intro and my heart is already soaring. It's easily my favourite of the record, building upon itself and then backing off to solo guitar before the perfect slide into "Sleepyhead." Oh, "Sleepyhead." This was, inexplicably, one of my least favourite tracks from Chunk of Change, but here's it's the climax of the record, unbeatable, infectious and bursting by in less than three minutes, the shortest track in a record where most songs hit the four-minute mark, and its brevity is its strong suit. It's over before it's even begun, and I find myself constantly hitting "repeat."

The last two tracks, "Let Your Love Grow Tall" and "Seaweed Song," hold their own, avoiding the sense of trailing into nothingness that plagues so many other records, although after the teaming up of "Eyes" and "Sleepyhead," it feels a moment to sit back and relax after the previous nine or ten songs.

Don't let my admiration fool you – it's not a perfect record. Angelakos' vocals aren’t for everyone. Speaking of vocals, when I first heard that the band had gotten a children's choir to sing back-up on some of the tracks (watch the video here), I thought, "Well, that makes sense," yet, as endearing as small children are, I haven’t decided if I love or loathe the effect. It's more toned down, more pop-attuned than its predecessor. But in terms of buoyancy, optimism, and enthusiastic beats, all of which Passion Pit hands out in copious amounts without becoming twee or saccharine, well, you really can’t beat Manners.

Besides, when's the last time you fell in love with someone – or something – completely perfect? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"

Passion Pit are currently on tour in the US support of Manners. Dates include 18th June at The 'Dise in Boston, and the 19th and 20th at Bowery Ballroom in New York, all of which are sold out. All dates are listed here.

Also, if you like this sort of thing, you should totes check out Yes Giantess. I should probably write about them, too.

You're What We Came For : Franz Ferdinand at the Roseland, 5/7/09

2009-05-21T18:53:00.003-04:00

It's been two weeks since I saw Franz Ferdinand play at the Roseland in New York. It's been four months since their third LP, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, dropped. Nine months since the radio edit of the first single, "Lucid Dreams," was released. And more than three years since last I'd seen them live at the Hammerstein with Death Cab for Cutie (what odd bedfellows!) and the Cribs. This review is nothing if not a labour of time and space, if not a study in contradictions.

When Tonight dropped, I couldn't find the words to express my own opinions of it. I could regurgitate what the band has said about the record. (That it's the soundtrack to a night out, filled with dance beats and synths and ending with the acoustic fadeout as the morning comes.) I could regurgitate what Pitchfork has to say on the matter. ("More so than stoking the band's current commercial prospects, Tonight is an exciting record for what it could potentially spell for Franz Ferdinand's future...as it turns out, their return is perfectly timed to remind us that, in a world where UK rock is so uninspired the Brits were forced to make superstars out of Kings of Leon, you really can have it so much better.") Or what my brother had to say on the matter. ("There are no guitars! Where'd the guitars go! I miss their post-punk revival sound.") I agree with all of it.

At the end of the day, while the record has grown on me – I can't stop listening to "No You Girls" at the moment, "What She Came For" makes me shout-along happy, the fat bass of "Can't Stop Feeling" no longer feels like a betrayal of the original version – I still find myself feeling ambivalent. Or perhaps apathetic. Franz Ferdinand and You Could Have It So Much Better were chock-full of singles-ready tunes that may not have created a cohesive whole but could certainly stand on their own. This collection seems to run into each other in a blurry, alcohol-fueled rush. But maybe that's what the band was going for.

So it was with equal parts anticipation and ambivalence that I approached my first Franz Ferdinand concert in three years. Nostalgia reigns in memories of April 2006. I was in high-fangirl mode at that time in my life, but had spent so much time and energy fangirling about other bands that, upon seeing Franz Ferdinand play not once but twice in the same day, I felt I was slapped in the face and promptly reminded of how much I fucking love this band. At the most, I was hoping that would happen again; at the worst, I was eager to see how the new electronic-based tunes would be played out live.

Born Ruffians. Warning that these photos are not my best. ie, pretty terrible.

I thoroughly enjoyed openers Born Ruffians' set. My brother, who has seen them several times before, said they were more sedate than usual. I still thought there was a great vibrancy to their set, even without their being balls-to-the-wall. The vocals caught my attention – as if someone’s gone and placed a wailing folk rock singer’s voice, something you might expect coming out of John McCauley of Deer Tick, in a skinny boy in a garage band and let them have at it. Possibly an odd combination, but given my recent reenchantment with vocals à la Deer Tick, I liked it. Point being, would I pay to see them again? Definitely.

Franz Ferdinand

And then, of course, Franz Ferdinand. The show got a bit fancy this time, adding a keyboard / synth set-up right in center stage and a huge light screen behind them, playing trippy video sequences and projected images of the boys, in lieu of the usual banners of themselves. Nick hobbled onstage in crutches to sit at the keys because apparently he’d gone and broken his foot somehow.

The setlist (as seen in that really dark photo above, if you can read it – "Jacqueline" was not played) was a good mix of old and new, not too heavy on any one record if with a slight (and understandable) predilection for the tracks off Tonight. The songs from their self-titled and So Much Better got their post-punk revivalist searing guitar treatment, and the tracks from Tonight were layered with electronics, and so the band bounced back and forth between the two. (Slightly to my chagrin – I wanted to see the new songs played on guitar, too.) My brother pointed out the emphasis placed on Nick McCarthy, who had plenty of time in his own limelight, versus the other times I've seen them – at the end of "Tell Her Tonight," he declared, "That's the first time I've sang that by myself!" Tempo was obviously, and interestingly, played with – songs that are already slow ("Walk Away") got drawn out into near-dirge territory, others that were already fast ("The Fallen") were sped up to the point of rendering it nearly impossible to sing along. "40 Feet" and "Outsiders," at the end of the main set, were tweaked, drawn out, messed with, filled up with sound as Alex Kapranos (still, I maintain, the sexiest rockstar I can think of) had the crowd chanting back to him in call-and-response. And at the end, good old "This Fire," never one of my favourite tracks on record, but a captivating song when played live.

Speaking of the crowd, quelle horreur. I honestly cannot remember a crowd that made me more unhappy than this one, except maybe for that time I saw We Are Scientists at Irving Plaza and the 15-year-olds decided it was time to mosh into me the whole time. Seriously. At one point, I turned to the screaming girls behind me and demanded, "What are you, fourteen?" The guy behind me took upon himself to (unintelligibly) shouting the lyrics. A fight broke out during "Michael." Really. I'm all for enthusiasm, but that was a bit much. Does that make me a stick in the mud?

At the end of the show, I wound up walking away feeling more ambivalent than I had before. It's difficult to determine if I really didn't enjoy the show because I was too bothered by the people around me, or if I simply didn't enjoy the show that much. Maybe it would help to see it again. Maybe I should follow Franz Ferdinand around on tour instead, just to see. Maybe I was just expecting too much of one performance. Maybe it’ll be better next time.

In that case, I should probably get on shelling out the $52 for their November show in Paris.