Saturday, May 23, 2009

Arctic Monkeys photo shoot in NYC


NME has the goods.
the band, of course, is recording their much anticipated third album in the big apple.

Alex Turner is such a pretty boy. *le sigh*



Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San Francisco (Black Session 2/20/06) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #93

I feel like I owe you guys an explanation for the lack of regularity in my postings. A couple of things have kept me from posting often. First off, I was absolutely swamped with school, work and trying to see everyone before I left Berkeley.

Secondly, about a month ago, my computer broke, and I didn't get it back until yesterday. Thankfully, my entire music collection was unscathed (I had most of it backed up, minus most of my bootlegs and covers though). I'd been posting covers, mp3s and other things from cds I had, and stuff off of my mp3 player. To post, I was using my work computer and ones at labs or libraries.

Anyhow, I am going to be lazing around for the next year, as I refuse to do anything productive (this will probably only last for a couple of weeks before my brain gets so bored that it demands that I teach myself another language). I'll be posting a lot, probably mostly album reviews. I just wanted to say thanks for sticking around and reading, I appreciate the continued support from you guys.

as for my Strokes post, I wanted to post a couple of songs from First Impressions of Earth, and I'll explain why first.

Thursday night I went to see Kings of Leon (review is forthcoming) and I met more Strokes fans than I had ever met before in my life. It's really frustrating for me, a HUGE Strokes fan, to never have anyone to talk to about The Strokes. Anyhow, I was talking to this one girl whose favourite band was also the greatest one on earth, about our favourite Strokes songs and I mentioned that if I had to pick one absolute favourite Strokes song it would have to be Ize of the World, and she went "no way, me too!" I find it interesting that everyone calls First Impressions The Strokes' weakest record, because it obviously isn't.

It's loud, it's aggressive, and it's perfect.

Anyhow, after the show, I went to a few parties and ended up smoking at my friend's friend's frat, in a room with Interpol playing. I remarked that I loved Interpol, and then the guy got up, went to his computer, and started playing First Impressions. No joke. Just out of nowhere, it was AWESOME.

so here are two of my favourite Strokes songs ever, Ize of the World and You Only Live Once, the opener that never ceases to give me chills, especially when completely unexpected from a stranger's itunes.

The Strokes - Ize of the World [mp3]

The Strokes - You Only Live Once [mp3]

concert review: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's @GAMH 16 May 2009

Last Saturday night, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s played Great American Music Hall. The eight piece band hail from Indianapolis and really truly go above and beyond in the orchestral pop genre. Their layered sound only increased on stage, and the band’s haunting set left me completely speechless.

From the first song (“A Children’s Crusade on Acid", one of my absolute favourites), however, I noticed that their lead singer Richard wasn’t delivering like I thought he would. He was quieter, not projecting his usually powerful voice. He soon explained that he had lost his voice for the first time in years, and apologized profusely for the state of things. Regardless, the amount of passion which he and his seven band mates delivered was awe inspiring. Richard’s relentless efforts were evident on stage, as he kept massaging his throat and tried his best to hit the difficult notes. It pained me to see him so pained, and I almost hoped that he wouldn’t come out for an encore, for his sake (he did anyways).

To my delight, the band played many songs off of their first prelabel album, The Dust of Retreat, which I had only recently purchased, but fell immediately in love with. Their strongest songs, “Quiet as a Mouse” and “Skeleton Key” come from that album, and the band played both of them. Everything considered, the concert was amazing, and Great American was, once again, the perfect accompaniment to the sonic booming emanating from such a wide array of instruments.
3.9/5

set list (click to enlarge):


Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Quiet as a Mouse [mp3]


The two opening bands were Everything Now and Telekinesis. Everything Now had great energy, but lacked substance. Their music wasn’t interesting and the lead singer wasn’t particularly talented. However, they reminded me a lot of Delta Spirit in their impassioned delivery, which turned a handful of mediocre songs into a pretty enjoyable performance.
2.5/5

Telekinesis, on the other hand, was incredible. The Seattle band reminded me a lot of a more aggressive Jack’s Mannequin meets Death Cab song writing. Their set was flawless, led resolutely by their lead singer, who also played drums. The only parts I didn't like were the acoustic-y intros to some of their songs, which I later found that I LOVED on record. When I picked up their album, everything fell into place as I read the sticker saying “produced by Chris Walla”. I will post a proper review of their album soon, it’s really great.
4.5/5

everything now:


telekinesis:




margot & the nuclear so and so's:




Friday, May 22, 2009

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Strokes Post #91



on my way to see Kings of fucking Leon!!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

new Arctic Monkeys songs are sounding great

bits and pieces of their forthcoming album can be heard in this update video from the Monkeys' drummer Matt

must watch videos: The Libertines reunited on stage

fucking epic.

I love Pete Doherty and Carl Barat so so much. I'm so glad they're back in action

Dark Night of the Soul has been nixed

EMI shut down the entire thing, but Danger Mouse is still releasing the album art with a blank CD-R

according to BBC.co.uk, "Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night of the Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is. All copies will be clearly labelled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'"

many thanks to nateraabe and 2plus2isjoe for the updates

so, without further ado, here you all are:

click HERE to download the entire album

it's what Danger Mouse wants

listen to a new song from Interpol's frontman


head over to SPIN to stream a song called "Fun That We Had" by Interpol's Paul Banks (aka Julian Plenti)

it's not very good. ok, Paul, so you've jumped the electronica bandwagon, and gotten it out of your system. now get your butt back to studio and give us a new Interpol album!

Cage the Elephant on DAYTROTTER


sweet! just discovered this Kentucky-based band last week (thanks to Kiefer), they're GREAT. kind of like a Southern White Stripes

head over HERE to read the article and download the songs

here is a rockin' tune off of their eponymous debut album. it's wicked sweet, and even includes a guitar bit borrowed from Pink Floyd's "Breathe"

Cage the Elephant -Tiny Little Robots [mp3]

here is their lead single:



visit them on MYSPACE

Wednesday Morning Covers


missed SMC this week, so here they are

Gareth Pearson - Time to Pretend (instrumental MGMT cover) [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!]

Cage the Elephant - Psycho Killer (Talking Heads cover) [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!]
I love this. so much.

Honeyroot - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division cover) [mp3]

Noah and the Whale - Girlfriend in a Coma (The Smiths cover) [mp3]

The Dandy Warhols - The Jean Genie (David Bowie cover) [mp3]

Glasvegas - Come As You Are (Nirvana cover) [mp3]

BONUS (x2)

Rogue Wave - On a Plain (Nirvana cover) [mp3]

Franz Ferdinand - Sound and Vision (David Bowie cover) [mp3]

The Strokes Posts #87-90

I'm back!

sorry for disappearing. I graduated (with an English degree from UC Berkeley), had my last final EVER (Proust), and have been in an intoxicated haze of concert-going mania for the last couple of days.

I will post about the Margot & the Nuclear So & So's, Ben Folds and Manchester Orchestra shows soon.

here is something you might find interesting. It's The Strokes performing at a venue called Brownies, three "unknown" songs, and the more familiar "Elephant Song" (also unreleased)

enjoy!

The Strokes - Unknown #1 [mp3]

The Strokes - Unknown #2 [mp3]

The Strokes - Unknown #3 [mp3]

The Strokes - Elephant Song [mp3]