Check out this awesome 360° video of Magic Giant from SXSW!

Our sister company, Experience360, made this awesome 360° video of one of Magic Giant's performances at SXSW and just launched their YouTube channel. Look around and dance with the audience as the band rocks out!

While you can view it Chrome or Firefox and scroll around with your mouse, it's best used with your YouTube app on iOS and Android devices so that you can use your phones accelerometer to look around. If you have Google Cardboard, YouTube on Android is compatible!

Holy Ghost Tent Revival and E-S Guthrie at Rockwood Music Hall

This past weekend I caught Holy Ghost Tent Revival and E-S Guthrie at Rockwood Music Hall. Holy Ghost's set was disappointingly brief but tore the house down nonetheless, as expected. Guthrie played another powerful set as well, and I managed to get a decent video of "Daydream," one of my favorite tracks of his (available for download in an earlier post). He'll be back at Rockwood every Sunday evening in May, playing at 6pm.

KaiserCartel - Secret Transit

Hello dear readers! Em here. I've been absent from the blog for a while - I was in the beautiful country of Peru! But I'm back now, and I'm very pleased to have a review of my favorite Brooklyn due KaiserCartel's new album to share with you for my comeback.

For those of you familiar with KaiserCartel, you will probably be a bit surprised by their new self-released album, Secret Transit, which came out on June 8th. Whereas their previous albums will relax you with their hauntingly beautiful harmonies and placid music, this album is going to have tapping your foot and bopping your head to their spunky rock 'n' roll tunes. And whereas I always associate their songs with a kind of melancholy, many of their new songs are full of simple, sweet, romantic lyrics such as "Around You" (about wanting to be around "you") and "Stella," which has lyrics about leaving "the light on for you, just in case you come back late." Of course, there are still a few songs reminiscent of their old sound, like the down-tempo, longing "Mine Field," and the gentle, yearning "The Wait." Some of you may remember this video, but for those who haven't seen it, here's an exclusive video of KaiserCartel behind-the-scenes writing "The Wait" last summer. It's evolved a lot since that session, so I find it really interesting to look back.

Ready To Go [mp3] - (Amazon / iTunes)

Tour Dates (more to be announced):

06/15 Evanston, IL @ SPACE w/ Jeremy Messersmith
06/16 Iowa City, IA @ The Mill w/ Jeremy Messersmith
06/17 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center w/Kid Dakota
06/18 Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi’s w/Jeremy Messersmith
06/21 London, UK @ The Green Note w/Treetop Flyers
06/23 BBC Late Night, 94.9 FM – 11 pm
07/06 St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House – supporting Kate Miller-Heidke
07/07 Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s – supporting Kate Miller-Heidke

07/09 Dubuque, IA @ The Lift
07/14 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
07/16 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios – opening for LeRoy Bell
07/17 Seattle, WA @ High Dive
07/19 Los Angeles, CA @ Hotel Café
07/20 Los Angeles, CA @ Echo – opening for Grand Archive
07/22 Colorado Springs, CO @ Shugas
07/23 Ft. Collins, CO @ Road 34
07/24 Denver, CO @ Hi Dive/Underground Music Showcase
07/27 Chattanooga, TN @ JJ Bohemia
07/28 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
07/29 Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
07/30 Pittsburgh, PA @ Schenley Plaza/WYEP Event
08/29 Keene, NH @ Armadillo Burrito/Acoustic Sundays

Interview with Marc Collins of Nouvelle Vague!

So I finally got YouTube to work and finally got this video uploaded, so here it is! Not my best work since it's just a straight up interview with no footage to cut between (plus it was noisy at Webster Hall!). But anyway, those of you Nouvelle Vague fans out there might find it interesting, and Marc was a really nice guy.



Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more exclusive behind-the-scenes videos!

Rocky Votolato

This past weekend I was able to see a special "living room" concert by one of my favorite artists, Rocky Votolato. Anticipating a larger tour next spring with the release of his new album "True Devotion," Rocky mentioned at the show that he wanted to play in front of smaller groups of us diehard fans to remind him why he does what he does. Luckily for me, I was there to hear it.

Rocky Votolato is a Texas-born, Seattle-based singer/songwriter with a style all his own. His voice is gravelly and soft, while his lyrics are real and powerful. Overcoming a year-long battle with depression during which he essentially never left his apartment, Rocky makes his comeback with an album his label, Barsuk Records, says contains "deceptively simple, peppering impressionistic narratives with moments of lyrical wisdom that can knock the wind out of you."

So until February 23rd, enjoy these next few tracks and a video of a new song called "Fragments" that he played at the concert.

Alabaster [mp3] - (iTunes)
Goldfield [mp3] - (iTunes)

And, if you happen to live near one of his remaining living room shows, I would highly recommend it, you won't be disappointed. You can get tickets here.

Dates:
Fri/Nov-06 NYC / Midtown Manhattan
Sat/Nov-07 Amherst, NH
Sun/Nov-08 Boston, MA (Sold Out)
Mon/Nov-09 Brighton, MA (Sold Out)
Tue/Nov-10 Providence, RI
Wed/Nov-11 Connecticut (Sold Out)
Thu/Nov-12 Hamilton, NJ
Fri/Nov-13 Philadelphia, PA
Sat/Nov-14 Philadelphia, PA

EXCLUSIVE KaiserCartel behind-the-scenes video!!!

Today it is my pleasure to announce a new facet to the Guilt Free Pleasures blog - video! Since I am a filmmaker by occupation, I thought it was about time to put my skills to use here and I'm hoping to create one behind-the-scenes video each month. Our first video features Brooklyn duo KaiserCartel. I spent a few hours with them while they went about their day and put the finishing touches on some new songs, so here is an exclusive sneak peak at some new material and their song-writing process:

Season Song [mp3] - (iTunes)

Also, KaiserCartel is coming out with a 5-song EP on September 1st, so be on the lookout for that! Those in Minneapolis should catch their show THIS Thursday at the Bryant Lake Bowl. Details on their myspace.