ah, the glory that is vinyl.

this story is awe-inspiring.

The Strokes Post #161

shivers and tears. that's all I ever get from The Strokes. oh--and joy, ecstasy and euphoria. for the record, they were the inspiration behind my blog name.

Saturday Music Definitions - Lover

I'm 2/3 way through with Lady Chatterley's Lover and it is blowing my mind. DH Lawrence is freaking brilliant.

Frank Sinatra - Lover [mp3]

The Clash - Lover's Rock [mp3]

Blitzen Trapper - Not Your Lover (daytrotter) [mp3]

Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over [mp3]

Eric Reed - Hello, Young Lovers [mp3]
this song is instrumental. I love jazz.

Jimi Hendrix - Little Miss Lover [mp3]

The Static Jacks - Stay a Lover [mp3]
grr, I love this band.

(many thanks to Hippies are Dead for posting the awesome picture above, it's my desktop background. original source HERE.)

Band of the Week: The Helio Sequence

I saw this Oregon based duo (Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel) open up for Minus the Bear at the Fillmore a couple of years ago. What struck me most was their drummer.

When I looked him up, I found out that he was Modest Mouse's drummer circa Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Even now, as I listen to them, the technically proficient, highly evolved drumming is what sticks out.

I'd describe the music as electronic indie rock, but as that label would normally drive ME away, just listen and you'll understand.

The Helio Sequence - Repeater [mp3]
from 2004's Love and Distance

visit the band on MYSPACE

Peter Doherty finally talks to Carl Barat about Libs reunion

"We had a good couple of hours [after the show]," he said. "We were up all night together. It was amazing really. I think we're gonna make a record and tour. Get The Libertines to take it to the next step, next stage."

read more at NME

2010 is gonna be such a fucking epic year for music. The Strokes and The Libertines will be back. I might just die from happiness.

no more Bloc Party?

we can only hope. their music is so incredibly boring I doubt anyone would even notice.

their lead singer said:

"We don't know what the future holds. It's weird, we're out of contract now so... we might take a year off, we might take three years off.... we might never make a record again or we might head straight back in and do a record. We'll see how we feel come the end of this touring cycle."

read the full article on NME

The Strokes Post #160

The Strokes, live at Shaw Conference Center (Edmonton, Alberta) on 15 May 2006

ZIP FILE (entire concert)

12. Hard to Explain
13. Ize of the World
14. Ask Me Anything
15. Vision of Division
16. Reptilia
17. Encore Break
18. NYC Cops
19. Heart in a Cage
20. Barely Legal
21. Is This It
22. Take It or Leave It

it makes me laugh when Jules says "fuck San Jose". that's five miles outside of where I grew up.

must watch video: Cage the Elephant on Letterman

the band performed their lead single "Aint no Rest for the Wicked" last night.
the volume is super low, so go grab your best pair of headphones and then experience a thrilling sensation that precious few bands can deliver.

BONUS:
the band will be playing a free set at Rasputin in Mountain View on August 29th at 2PM. I'll see you there.

Arctic Monkeys Web Broadcast

it was fucking epic. can't wait to see them in concert again. this youtuber was kind enough to upload the whole thing, but most of the videos have been taken down by the man.

entire setlist:
1. Pretty Visitors
2. Crying Lightning
3. Potion Approaching
4. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave cover)
5. Secret Door

UPDATE:
you can download the whole thing HERE

The Strokes Post #159

The Strokes, live at Shaw Conference Center (Edmonton, Alberta) on 15 May 2006

I really love this concert, because Jules connects with the audience really well. he always does, but still. these guys are so great, so nice to their fans.

1. You Only Live Once [mp3]
2. Red Light [mp3]
3. The End Has No End [mp3]
4. Juicebox [mp3]
5. Someday [mp3]
6. Hawaii [mp3]
7. Alone Together [mp3]
8. Walk on the Wild Side [mp3]
9. Electricityscape [mp3]
10. Last Nite [mp3]
11. The Modern Age [mp3]

come back tomorrow for the rest + a zip file.

yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!

I've been waiting for this day forever and ever! I'm not the (patient) type to wait for proper release dates.

take a gander at what I've been listening to via last.fm in my sidebar and if you're interested, click HERE. I uploaded the files, so they're safe. I'm not the selfish type.

it's really, really good. not as good as #1 or #2, but still pure, pure genius. track 5 is one of the best things I've heard all year. like whoa.

a proper review is forthcoming.

David Byrne burns U2

he commented on their over-the-top spending on his BLOG:

"Those stadium shows may possibly be the most extravagant and expensive (production-wise) ever: $40 million to build the stage and, having done the math, we estimate 200 semi trucks crisscrossing Europe for the duration. It could be professional envy speaking here, but it sure looks like, well, overkill, and just a wee bit out of balance given all the starving people in Africa and all."

just another reason to love the Talking Heads man.

Talking Heads - No Compassion (live, SF, '77) [mp3]

The Walkmen are on tour

they are epically awesome in concert. they wayy surpass their recorded sound.

New York, NY Guggenheim 'It Came From Brooklyn' (August 14)
New York, NY Central Park SummerStage (16)
Morrison, CO Red Rocks - Monolith Festival (September 12)
Cambridge, MA Middle East (18, 19) *
Northampton, MA Pearl Street Downstairs (20)*
Washington, DC 9:30 Club* (22)
Philadelphia, PA Theatre Of The Living Arts (23)*
Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse (25)*
Asheville, NC Grey Eagle Tavern (26)*
Nashville, TN Mercury Lounge (27)
Birmingham, AL The Bottletree (29)*
New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks (30)*
Austin, TX Austin City Limits (October 2)
San Francisco, CA Treasure Island (18)

The Walkmen - We've Been Had [mp3]

Josh Homme loves Alex Turner's lyrics

according to this NME article, the reason that the QOTSA frontman decided to work with the Arctic Monkeys is because he loved their lyrics. I guess that makes two of us.

"I was sucked in at first by the lyrics. Alex sounded like a rare poet playing music – he has a special gift for the gab"

"They’re progressing and moving forward trying to change, push themselves and push their audience which I think is rare in a lot of bands today. They’ve just got more relaxed with themselves - they’re comfortable doing what they’re doing. "

Arctic Monkeys - Seven [mp3]

Division Day on tour

I've seen these guys in concert (at Bottom of the Hill ages ago), and they're muy excellente. the lead singer's voice has a quality about it that simply makes you drop what you're doing and pay attention.

visit them on MYSPACE

Division Day - Tigers [mp3]
(the very first song I ever heard by the LA based band)

8/8/09 – San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink/North Point Music Thing
9/2/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland*
9/3/09 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar*
9/4/09 – San Francisco, CA @ Café du Nord*
9/5/09 – San Jose, CA @ Nickel City*
9/8/09 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge*
9/9/09 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern*
9/10/09 – Missoula, MT @ Palace Billiards*
9/12/09 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court*
9/14/09 – Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge*
9/15/09 – Chicago, IL @ Suberranean*
9/16/09 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner*
9/17/09 – Washington, DC @ DC9
9/18/09 – Allston, MA @ O’Brien’s Pub
9/19/09 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
9/20/09 – Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar
9/24/09 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
*w/ Bad Veins

The Strokes Post #158

this warms my heart.

Ray LaMontagne - unreleased demos

Ray LaMontagne is a beautiful man. He is a folk singer with a gorgeous voice and a pure soul. He also happens to be my best friend's favourite musician of all time. Recently, she asked me to find her a handful of his demo albums. These albums all preceded 2004's Trouble, and according to my friend, Ray is "embarrassed" by the raw quality of these pre-label albums, which means he'll probably never make them public again. Thankfully, the internet is a great place, so I found them. One of my readers requested that I post them, so here they are. Enjoy!

Acre of Land (2001) [zip]

Green (2002) [zip]

One Lonesome Saddle, version 1 (2002) [zip]

OLS Sessions (2002) [zip]

Introducing Ray LaMontagne (2003) [zip]

here's a track from the first one:

Ray LaMontagne - Acre of Land [mp3]

BONUS:
Ray recently announced a FALL TOUR

The Strokes Post #157

The Strokes, live at V Festival (Toronto, 10 September 2006)

8. Hard to Explain
9. Killing lies
10. Last Nite
11. Ask Me Anything
12. Ize of the World
13. Barely Legal
14. Reptilia

ZIP FILE (entire concert)

Arctic Monkeys to stream HUMBUG IN ITS ENTIRETY on Thursday

the Sheffield band will be playing the songs from their forthcoming Humbug live as a transmission from their WEBSITE on Thursday at 9PM GMT, which means 1PM PST and 4PM EST

check it out!

Arctic Monkeys - The Bad Thing (demo) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #156

The Strokes, live at V Festival (Toronto, 10 September 2006)
wickedwickedwicked.

1. Is This It [mp3]
2. Red Light [mp3]
3. The Modern Age [mp3]
4. Someday [mp3]
5. Heart in a Cage [mp3]
6. 12:51 [mp3]
7. New York City Cops [mp3]

come back tomorrow for the second half.

Sunday Morning Covers

ZIP FILE

Ray LaMontagne - Vigilante Man (Willie Guthrie cover) [mp3]

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

Beck and Thom York - I'm Set Free (The Velvet Underground cover) [mp3]

LCD Soundsystem - No Love Lost (Joy Division cover) [mp3]

The Beatles - Chains (Goffin/King cover) [mp3]

Jamie Cullum - Lover, You Should Have Come Over (Jeff Buckley cover) [mp3, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!]

Michael Buble - You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby (Bing Crosby cover) [mp3]

of Montreal - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover) [mp3]

eels - I'm a Loser (The Beatles cover) [mp3]

Ben Folds - Such Great Heights (The Postal Service cover) [mp3]

Wilco - Listen to Her Heart (Tom Petty cover) [mp3]

Death Cab for Cutie - Rocking Chair (The Band cover) [mp3]

The Strokes Post #155

I adore this song. I love everything about it down to the fact that it comes after a song called "The End Has No End".