Today is apparently the day for me to see new music videos. Here is the latest from m83, "We Own the Sky." The song is pretty sweet, but I got bored after about 30 seconds and wondered off into the Internets with the song still playing, and came back in time for an ending that looks cool but which makes no sense because I skipped the rest of the vid. Will try again later, hope you have better luck with your attention span.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
(Possibly) New Music Vid for 'Young Adult Friction'
This was posted to Pitchfork.tv yesterday, and it seems that it might be something like the official music video for the Pains of Being Pure at Heart single "Young Adult Friction." This song is catchy as hell and certainly sounds like spring to my ears.
The video starts out with main lady Peggy reading a copy of "Ghosts Among Us," and takes on a true Brooklyn-ite house show feel--playing with toy dinosaurs, sitting on couches, apartment lighting, fuzziness, the whole thing screams "hipster." Which I love. There's the vague look of an Arcade Fire video, but the sound is a new pop-punk-lo fi beast and the actual video is much less theatrical. All around, this video seems to really capture the playful at heart vibe that you get from listening to this actual song with only audio to guide you. The video hints randomly at childhood subjects, like toy animals, reading library books, tons of friends cramming onto one couch, and how awkward it was when you first started hanging out with boys AND girls.
Enjoy!
The video starts out with main lady Peggy reading a copy of "Ghosts Among Us," and takes on a true Brooklyn-ite house show feel--playing with toy dinosaurs, sitting on couches, apartment lighting, fuzziness, the whole thing screams "hipster." Which I love. There's the vague look of an Arcade Fire video, but the sound is a new pop-punk-lo fi beast and the actual video is much less theatrical. All around, this video seems to really capture the playful at heart vibe that you get from listening to this actual song with only audio to guide you. The video hints randomly at childhood subjects, like toy animals, reading library books, tons of friends cramming onto one couch, and how awkward it was when you first started hanging out with boys AND girls.
Enjoy!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Yeah Yeah Yeahs update
According to ticketmaster.com, tickets for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show at the Newport in Columbus,Ohio, on May 28 will go on sale at 10:00a.m. this Saturday, May 2, for $23.00.
There was only one price posted on the ticketmaster.com site, so I assume this means it's general admission. You can probably skip the Ticketmaster fees if you get to the Newport, but I would get there early- a lot of people in this city are already excited, and want to save a buck or two.
Heck Yeah!
This just in: CD101 presents the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Columbus, Ohio, at the Newport Music Hall May 28. Tickets on sale Saturday, May 2.
Oh man! I want to be there. Will post prices as soon as I hear about them. Till then watch the latest video for "Zero."
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sounds like Summer
The other day a friend and I were discussing how a piece of music can take on a whole new life when listened to during the transition from winter to spring. It's really a magical experience- listening to songs you loved in the cold months, wearing sweaters, and then one day you've got the windows open, the curtains are billowing, the music is bumping, and it hits you--"ooooh man, THIS is what this is supposed to sound like!"
There are also those albums that make me instantly think of summer, probably because they were first a part of my life during warm times. Both are cool, and lately I've been making a mental note of such bands/songs/albums. To continue with my list post tradition of late, here is my list of Songs that Sound Better During Warm Weather.
John Mayer- "Why Georgia"
To be honest, now adays I don't give John Mayer much time out of my day. But last night I heard "Why Georgia" played somewhere randomly and I was instantly flashed back to the summer when I was 15 and my girlfriends and I first got Room for Squares. One of them got a new Dodge Neon that summer, and it was a big "ironic thing" for us to drive around listening to track 5, "Neon." Yeah, we were cool. We were 15, we were girls, and we went to see John Mayer. Actually, we met his band while we were having lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland before the show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of this MTV2 summer concert series- I think we're on TV somewhere. And, my escalator (going up) took me immediately past John Mayer (going down the opposite escalator), where I took a picture this picture:
Anyways, I heard "Why Georgia" last night and it was the first really warm night of the season, and life just felt like it was all in place.
"Everybody is just a stranger
But that's the danger
In going my own way,
I guess that's the price I'm going to pay every day."
Band of Horses- "Island on the Coast"
This song is great for summer road trips, especially with the windows rolled down. I think it really explains itself and it's summeriness, just give it a listen:
Vampire Weekend- "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Really, any song from their debut self-titled album is summer-ific. However, something about "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" just makes me want to sit around with hipsters in striped bathing suits on a beach drinking PBR. With beach balls and bikes. This song also captures the friskiness of spring in a very...honest way. You'll see what I mean:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- "Gentle Sons"
There's just something epic going on here, reminds me of the same building intensity of waves and of my home watering hole, Lake Erie.
Led Zeppelin- "Gallows Pole"
I got Led Zeppelin III in my freshman year of college at Ohio University. I immediately connected with this Zeppelin album more than others, but then spring time hit, and let me tell you, it hit hard. I remember drinking a lot, studying a lot, all while being in the sun a lot, and being dehydrated at frequent intervals. All the while Zeppelin III was playing in any way I could make it play, whether over real audio or just constantly in my head. This album as a whole is really great when listened to outdoors, especially "Gallows Pole," which has a crazy mystical and almost western/southern film sense to it, and all around sounds heartwarming. Check out this video of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page playing it, with Robert giving a brief telling of the history of the song at the beginning:
Peter Bjorn and John- "Up Against the Wall"
This song is connected to another college memory, this time a not so optimistic one, but one that is certainly reflective of how instrospective and emotional I tend to become when the warm weather of May hits. In "Up Against the Wall" the melancholy, repeated melody is met by the ultimate match of equally melancholy and repeated lyrics, emphasizing the sensual violence often felt in the discontent between two lovers. It seems to be the great embodiment of spring's sexual tension- with utter abandoment and cyclical masochism, "Up Against the Wall" is the perfect song to follow the track immediately before it, "Start to Melt." Someone on YouTube was kind enough to host a video of both songs playing back to back, check it here:
Happy springtimes everybody!
D.
There are also those albums that make me instantly think of summer, probably because they were first a part of my life during warm times. Both are cool, and lately I've been making a mental note of such bands/songs/albums. To continue with my list post tradition of late, here is my list of Songs that Sound Better During Warm Weather.
John Mayer- "Why Georgia"
To be honest, now adays I don't give John Mayer much time out of my day. But last night I heard "Why Georgia" played somewhere randomly and I was instantly flashed back to the summer when I was 15 and my girlfriends and I first got Room for Squares. One of them got a new Dodge Neon that summer, and it was a big "ironic thing" for us to drive around listening to track 5, "Neon." Yeah, we were cool. We were 15, we were girls, and we went to see John Mayer. Actually, we met his band while we were having lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland before the show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of this MTV2 summer concert series- I think we're on TV somewhere. And, my escalator (going up) took me immediately past John Mayer (going down the opposite escalator), where I took a picture this picture:
Anyways, I heard "Why Georgia" last night and it was the first really warm night of the season, and life just felt like it was all in place.
"Everybody is just a stranger
But that's the danger
In going my own way,
I guess that's the price I'm going to pay every day."
Band of Horses- "Island on the Coast"
This song is great for summer road trips, especially with the windows rolled down. I think it really explains itself and it's summeriness, just give it a listen:
Vampire Weekend- "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Really, any song from their debut self-titled album is summer-ific. However, something about "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" just makes me want to sit around with hipsters in striped bathing suits on a beach drinking PBR. With beach balls and bikes. This song also captures the friskiness of spring in a very...honest way. You'll see what I mean:
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- "Gentle Sons"
There's just something epic going on here, reminds me of the same building intensity of waves and of my home watering hole, Lake Erie.
Led Zeppelin- "Gallows Pole"
I got Led Zeppelin III in my freshman year of college at Ohio University. I immediately connected with this Zeppelin album more than others, but then spring time hit, and let me tell you, it hit hard. I remember drinking a lot, studying a lot, all while being in the sun a lot, and being dehydrated at frequent intervals. All the while Zeppelin III was playing in any way I could make it play, whether over real audio or just constantly in my head. This album as a whole is really great when listened to outdoors, especially "Gallows Pole," which has a crazy mystical and almost western/southern film sense to it, and all around sounds heartwarming. Check out this video of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page playing it, with Robert giving a brief telling of the history of the song at the beginning:
Peter Bjorn and John- "Up Against the Wall"
This song is connected to another college memory, this time a not so optimistic one, but one that is certainly reflective of how instrospective and emotional I tend to become when the warm weather of May hits. In "Up Against the Wall" the melancholy, repeated melody is met by the ultimate match of equally melancholy and repeated lyrics, emphasizing the sensual violence often felt in the discontent between two lovers. It seems to be the great embodiment of spring's sexual tension- with utter abandoment and cyclical masochism, "Up Against the Wall" is the perfect song to follow the track immediately before it, "Start to Melt." Someone on YouTube was kind enough to host a video of both songs playing back to back, check it here:
Happy springtimes everybody!
D.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
What? That came out last year?!
Even the biggest music connoisseurs miss things, and I will be the first to admit that there are a few bands/albums/songs from 2008 that I have only stumbled across so far in 2009. I'm as shocked as you are that I hadn't heard some of this stuff until now, but it's never too late to discover the music, and I hope you find something of your own to discover in this list of Things Dana Didn't Hear Until 2009 (and is now in love with). (Part 1)
Department of Eagles.
This video for "No One Does It Like You" is the first for the sophomore release from Daniel Rossen's (Grizzly Bear) side project.
The album In Ear Park came out on October 7, 2008, but it didn't grace my ears until late January 2009. I owe this discovery in large part to my Metromix Columbus producer, Justin Powell, who tried and tried to talk me into seeing DOE when they passed through Cbus in January, but I thought the name of the band sounded contrived so I resisted giving it the time of day. And then I was bored and thought I'd check it out, some MySpacing happened, and I fell in love. Hard. Seriously--I only have one DoE album in my library and already the band has shot up to my 4th most listened to band slot on Last.fm, out of 31572 songs played. Yikes.
The music is a lot like Grizzly Bear, but for me it seems to be what I most love about GB times one million. All of my favorite parts from Yellow House, like Rossen's soothing voice on "On a Neck, On a Spit," are found in an amplified fashion on In Ear Park, especially in songs like my favorite, "Phantom Other."
Passion Pit
I heard about Passion Pit for the first time from Paper Magazine's new blogger spotlight sometime in January or February 2009 and then somehow the band name kept popping up EVERYWHERE. This was in large part due to the fact that Passion Pit was playing an upcoming show in Columbus with Paper Route, and Metromix did a nice front page display of both bands, where I discovered that Passion Pit started originally with one guy's project to make a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. I had a listen and, damn--if I got this EP as a Valentine's Day gift, the guy would get so lucky.
Well, Michael Angelakos (lead singer/keyboardist, aka "the guy who gifted uniquely") sure did fall into some luck, as he was signed to French Kiss and the original gift was released as the Chunk of Change EP on Sept. 16, 2008. The album is full of what might be considered ballads, hidden under a disguise of good dance grooves, electronic beats and Angelakos' falceto, that apparently has no limit as to how high it can go. "Sleepyhead" is the peak of the album, closing it out as the last track, and is the one that I continue to listen to on repeat a few months after I first heard it. Passion Pit was just announced as a part of the Lollapalooza line up for 2009, and there is a full-length set to be released May 19, 2009- this time I'll be waiting for it.
Los Campesinos!
I feel like I really did myself a great disservice by not knowing about Los Campesinos! at all in 2008, when they had a busy year releasing two full-lengths: the debut Hold on Now, Youngster... in February 2008 and their second album, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, on October 27, 2008. That's a lot of music to put out, and the best part is that both albums are extremely solid.
Hold On Now, Youngster... has a slightly more upbeat sense to it lyrically than We Are Beautiful... does, but both albums have at heart a disillusioned perception of reality that I equally respect and identify with. They follow the guide of their band name, which means "The Peasants," and have a shitload of people on the stage (7 members), with as many instruments as people, including a fiddle in true peasant style. The product is anthem rock for the indie kids, and it rocks. Compare: "You! Me! Dancing!" from Hold On Now Youngster... to "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" from album of same name:
You! Me! Dancing!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
That's all for now, but I'll probably have a "Part 2" to this series coming soon...stay tuned, and happy listening!
Department of Eagles.
This video for "No One Does It Like You" is the first for the sophomore release from Daniel Rossen's (Grizzly Bear) side project.
The album In Ear Park came out on October 7, 2008, but it didn't grace my ears until late January 2009. I owe this discovery in large part to my Metromix Columbus producer, Justin Powell, who tried and tried to talk me into seeing DOE when they passed through Cbus in January, but I thought the name of the band sounded contrived so I resisted giving it the time of day. And then I was bored and thought I'd check it out, some MySpacing happened, and I fell in love. Hard. Seriously--I only have one DoE album in my library and already the band has shot up to my 4th most listened to band slot on Last.fm, out of 31572 songs played. Yikes.
The music is a lot like Grizzly Bear, but for me it seems to be what I most love about GB times one million. All of my favorite parts from Yellow House, like Rossen's soothing voice on "On a Neck, On a Spit," are found in an amplified fashion on In Ear Park, especially in songs like my favorite, "Phantom Other."
Passion Pit
I heard about Passion Pit for the first time from Paper Magazine's new blogger spotlight sometime in January or February 2009 and then somehow the band name kept popping up EVERYWHERE. This was in large part due to the fact that Passion Pit was playing an upcoming show in Columbus with Paper Route, and Metromix did a nice front page display of both bands, where I discovered that Passion Pit started originally with one guy's project to make a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. I had a listen and, damn--if I got this EP as a Valentine's Day gift, the guy would get so lucky.
Well, Michael Angelakos (lead singer/keyboardist, aka "the guy who gifted uniquely") sure did fall into some luck, as he was signed to French Kiss and the original gift was released as the Chunk of Change EP on Sept. 16, 2008. The album is full of what might be considered ballads, hidden under a disguise of good dance grooves, electronic beats and Angelakos' falceto, that apparently has no limit as to how high it can go. "Sleepyhead" is the peak of the album, closing it out as the last track, and is the one that I continue to listen to on repeat a few months after I first heard it. Passion Pit was just announced as a part of the Lollapalooza line up for 2009, and there is a full-length set to be released May 19, 2009- this time I'll be waiting for it.
Los Campesinos!
I feel like I really did myself a great disservice by not knowing about Los Campesinos! at all in 2008, when they had a busy year releasing two full-lengths: the debut Hold on Now, Youngster... in February 2008 and their second album, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, on October 27, 2008. That's a lot of music to put out, and the best part is that both albums are extremely solid.
Hold On Now, Youngster... has a slightly more upbeat sense to it lyrically than We Are Beautiful... does, but both albums have at heart a disillusioned perception of reality that I equally respect and identify with. They follow the guide of their band name, which means "The Peasants," and have a shitload of people on the stage (7 members), with as many instruments as people, including a fiddle in true peasant style. The product is anthem rock for the indie kids, and it rocks. Compare: "You! Me! Dancing!" from Hold On Now Youngster... to "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" from album of same name:
You! Me! Dancing!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
That's all for now, but I'll probably have a "Part 2" to this series coming soon...stay tuned, and happy listening!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Papercuts
Today's discovery: San Francisco-based band Papercuts. Very Beach Boys meets Beach House. Check out this video until I have time to do a proper write up:
Thursday, April 16, 2009
New feature, yay!
Hey readers,
I've added a new feature to the end of each posting that allows you to easily let me know if you find something funny, cool, interesting, etc. Please use it up, I love feedback :).
D.
I've added a new feature to the end of each posting that allows you to easily let me know if you find something funny, cool, interesting, etc. Please use it up, I love feedback :).
D.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Greetings from the land of article writing procrastination. Today I will entertain you with my thoughts on The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, not to be confused with notions of a self-help book. This 4-piece Brooklyn-based band has seemingly blown up overnight thanks to a little thing known as Pitchfork (PFork's review, overall reviews on Metacritic), but then also thanks to the band's generally awesome music.
First of all, let’s just take a minute to contemplate the name of this band. It captures in one breathtakingly long phrase the notion that anyone who is inherently good by nature will probably experience some form of disappointment. Because why? Because the world is generally shitty? Because people who are nice get walked on? Because they get their hearts broken? Because of any other number of reasons? Probably yes, to all of these queries.
But then there’s also the sense that this is a totally pop music band name, with “The Pains” being an easy abbreviation that triggers thoughts of The Beatles or the Killers, or The Smiths.
The Smiths is where the thoughts really start going, because the music is so reminiscent of their 1984 self-titled release. The main difference is definitely in the vocals, with The Pains being more anthem-based sing-a-longs, but the same idea of crooning understatedly is at heart in both albums.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart tap into the pubescent stage of their lives for main lyric topics, especially in “Young Adult Friction,” with lines like “between the stacks in the library/ not like anyone stopped to see/ we came they went, our bodies spent/ among the dust and the microfiche.” This is all cleverly combined with the idea of library checkouts being somehow tied to checking a human being out from head to toe. I like it.
If you are in the Columbus area, The Pains are playing at the Summit on May 1, and if you're not in Columbus, check out the rest of their tour dates.
Check out the music video for "Everything With You":
Monday, April 13, 2009
Here We Go Magic
So I should definitely be focusing all of my writing energies right now on my article with a looming deadline, but instead I'm choosing to spend my time sharing my latest discovery with you all.
I'm sitting at Cafe Apropos, where they always have Sirius XMU playing. There are worse things to hear in a coffee shop, especially when you discover that the song you're listening to is by a band you've been reading a lot about but haven't heard yet: Here We Go Magic. The song: Tunnelvision
I first heard about this band a few weeks ago because Edward Droste from Grizzly Bear is way into this band, ergo Here We Go Magic is touring with the Grizzlies this spring/summer. This makes me doubly sad that this tour doesn't make a stop in Ohio, but maybe dates will be added for July and August that are closer to the big O.
So here's what I've found out about this band: First of all, the band name is pretty sweet. I don't even care if it's a reference to Harry Potter or if it's about drugs or whatever, it just makes me smile. It seems that there is one guy, Luke Temple, who does everything on the recordings, but he tours with some other dudes and dudettes (Peter Hale, Mike Bloch, AJ Lambert, Kristina Lieberson) so that there is actually something to experience live.
The sound: To me, I hear looping guitar that seems to hold hands with some toned down Animal Collective songs, but with a sound very very similar to Grizzly Bear at the same time. The tone is rather haunting in a way that hooks me in, and makes me happy that the sounds seem to go in circles and always come back to me. To play the devil's advocate, my friend Kyle says it's not for him because it's "really repetitive, but no energy." So there you go.
The latest self-titled Here We Go Magic record was released in March, and you can see how the critics rate it here.
I'm sitting at Cafe Apropos, where they always have Sirius XMU playing. There are worse things to hear in a coffee shop, especially when you discover that the song you're listening to is by a band you've been reading a lot about but haven't heard yet: Here We Go Magic. The song: Tunnelvision
I first heard about this band a few weeks ago because Edward Droste from Grizzly Bear is way into this band, ergo Here We Go Magic is touring with the Grizzlies this spring/summer. This makes me doubly sad that this tour doesn't make a stop in Ohio, but maybe dates will be added for July and August that are closer to the big O.
So here's what I've found out about this band: First of all, the band name is pretty sweet. I don't even care if it's a reference to Harry Potter or if it's about drugs or whatever, it just makes me smile. It seems that there is one guy, Luke Temple, who does everything on the recordings, but he tours with some other dudes and dudettes (Peter Hale, Mike Bloch, AJ Lambert, Kristina Lieberson) so that there is actually something to experience live.
The sound: To me, I hear looping guitar that seems to hold hands with some toned down Animal Collective songs, but with a sound very very similar to Grizzly Bear at the same time. The tone is rather haunting in a way that hooks me in, and makes me happy that the sounds seem to go in circles and always come back to me. To play the devil's advocate, my friend Kyle says it's not for him because it's "really repetitive, but no energy." So there you go.
The latest self-titled Here We Go Magic record was released in March, and you can see how the critics rate it here.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Karate Coyote and Blastronauts at Outer Sounds
The opening show for Outer Sounds at Oldfield's on High on April 4, 2009, featured Columbus bands The Lost Revival, Karate Coyote, Blastronauts, and concluded with a dance party courtesy of DJ Self Help. I got there in time for KC and stayed through Blastronauts...here is my account.
Some tips for using the slideshow: scroll your mouse over the top of the slideshow frame to see the command options; scroll over the bottom of the slideshow to select individual photos. Click on the larger image of the photo to see information about the picture.
Some tips for using the slideshow: scroll your mouse over the top of the slideshow frame to see the command options; scroll over the bottom of the slideshow to select individual photos. Click on the larger image of the photo to see information about the picture.
A live update
Hello all. I seem to have taken a year-long hiatus without ever intending to, but my musical life has definitely not taken a break in that time frame. Since May of 2008, I have experienced the glory of Pitchfork Music Festival, fallen completely in love with the Fleet Foxes and Department of Eagles, discovered Under the Radar Magazine, totally freaked out at the Radiohead tour, and reached the "30,000 songs listened to" mark on Last.fm. Oh yea, and I received my degree from OU in magazine journalism, relocated to Columbus, and began writing for Metromix Columbus.
This new writing gig (new as in new to this blog; I've been writing for MM since November 2008) has proven to be the perfect excuse for me to delve into the Columbus music community and become involved in a meaningful sense. Check out my Columbus local music guide for 2009 here.
Bands on the guide include:
Super Desserts
Couch Forts
Brainbow
The Hot Damn
RTFO Bandwagon
Any a few more! Also, feel free to look at some follow-up bands I've gotten really into since putting together the guide: the Andy Shaw Band, the Lost Revival and Karate Coyote.
More photos from Karate Coyote coming soon!
D.
This new writing gig (new as in new to this blog; I've been writing for MM since November 2008) has proven to be the perfect excuse for me to delve into the Columbus music community and become involved in a meaningful sense. Check out my Columbus local music guide for 2009 here.
Bands on the guide include:
Super Desserts
Couch Forts
Brainbow
The Hot Damn
RTFO Bandwagon
Any a few more! Also, feel free to look at some follow-up bands I've gotten really into since putting together the guide: the Andy Shaw Band, the Lost Revival and Karate Coyote.
More photos from Karate Coyote coming soon!
D.
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