Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Jones Street Station & Great Divide in DC tomorrow night!


Just a quick note to let everyone know that two rock bands I adore - Jones Street Station (pictured above) and Great Divide - will be playing at DC9 tomorrow night (Thursday, Aug. 25th!). Be there or be square and if you don't live in the DC area, I'll be posting pictures and a show recap, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

New Florence + the Machine!

Today Florence's new single came out (at least on iTunes). It struck me as actually pretty different from her previous work - not quite as dark or stormy but still with complex layers and some shadow. The chorus reminds me of a hymn/worship song, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. I first saw it in video form and while I don't think the video is necessarily that well-done, I do like that we get to see pieces of Florence's personality and artistic process shine through. Check out the video below and download the song on iTunes!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

New Reptar video and tour dates


The upbeat Georgia-area based indie band Reptar announces new tour dates with Phantogram. They also just released a vibrant and colorful new video for their new single "Rainbounce." It really fit their upbeat yet funky sound.


The New Dates
September 15 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX
September 16 - Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Austin, TX
September 17 – House of Blues – Houston, TX * ^
September 19 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA *
September 20 – Beacham Theatre – Orlando, FL *^
September 21 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA *^
September 23 – The National – Richmond, VA *^
September 26 – 9:30 Club – Washington DC *
September 29 – House of Blues – Boston, MA *^
September 27 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY *
October 1 – Sound Academy – Toronto, ON *
October 2 – Newport Music Hall – Columbus, OH *^
October 4 – The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN *^
October 6 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN *^
October 7 - The Aquarium - Fargo, ND
October 9- Showbox at the Market- Seattle, WA*
October 10 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC*
October 15 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
October 18 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA
October 23 – Chicago, IL – Metro **
October 24 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon **
October 26 – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave **
October 27 – Omaha, NE – Waiting Room **
October 28 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre **
November 01 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s **
November 02 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore **
November 03 – Santa Barbara, CA – Soho **
November 04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box **
November 05 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent **
November 08 – Dallas, TX – The Loft **
November 09 – Austin, TX – Mohawk **
November 10 – Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds **
November 11 – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon **
November 12 – Birmingham, AL – Workplay Theatre **
November 13 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade **

http://www.facebook.com/reptarmusic
http://www.myspace.com/reptarathens
http://reptarmusic.com/

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Raise Your Voice! to support public broadcasting


170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting is a terrible name for an activist group, but at least it's to the point. It also promotes a cause that's very dear to me. And, courtesy of ANTI- Records, they've assembled a great lineup for a compilation you can get free by signing up for the campaign with your e-mail address, which I encourage you to do.

Raise Your Voice! features Tom Waits, Wilco, Lost in the Trees, Neko Case, Dr. Dog and more. The marquee track in my mind is "Progress" by Booker T. Jones featuring Jim James of My Morning Jacket; the video's embedded above. It's apparently from Booker T.'s album The Road from Memphis, which was released earlier this year. Who knew?

If supporting causes isn't your kind of thing, here's a mariachi band serenading a beluga whale.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Electric Picnic




In September 2009 I went to End of the Road festival and it was awesome. Their line up for this year is excellent and I was pretty psyched about it, but the one thing that was missing 2 years ago, still seems to be absent this year. The missing element is late night fun and by this I really mean loud music after all the bands have finished which you can dance your ass off too. Actually it's not even that, it lacks bands which you can dance your ass off to during the day, or some headliners which will get you moving rather than moping.
Then, joy, I came across Electric Picnic, a short hop over the Irish Channel lies the emerald isle, and within it the joys of a festival with all the incredible indie and folk names which will be gracing EOTR's stages, plus the likes of Underworld, Pulp and The Chemical Brothers to name but a few.
If this wasn't enough, which is should be, they have somehow managed to get Public Enemy to play, and if that wasn't enough, The Undertones will be playing their eponymous debut album in it's entirety, which means I can jump around like a madman to 'Teenage Kicks' whilst hearing it live.
It's honestly a ridiculous line up. If I was making a 'dream festival' line up, it wouldn't be too dissimilar to this one.

All this means I get to post The Undertone's 'Teenage Kicks' video and dance around my bedroom. Awesome



Monday, August 1, 2011

"The Pornographer" - Parenthetical Girls


I thought I posted this a long time ago, but looking back, it appears I did not. This is my current musical obsession of the moment. A bit of a grittier sound for the Parenthetical Girls, it's down right rock and roll. It's from their EP, Privilege, Pt. III, that was released in March (hence I thought I posted it forever ago), but months later and I'm still listening to it on repeat - it's particularly great when driving.

The Pornographer [mp3] - Parenthetical Girls ( Amazon / iTunes )