Listen of the week: Lykke Li, White Rabbits, new Passion Pit

I'll probably have a chance to shed more light on these listens later this week, but I wanted to share them now while I'm all pumped up about them.

First, my friend brought over the Lykke Li debut album, Youth Novels, last Friday for a dinner party at my house. I had never heard of this Swedish lady, but my friend promised that I would like her music, and indeed I do. When I asked my friend what Lykke Li sounds like, she told me it's along the same lines of indie electronica like Passion Pit and Peter Bjorn and John, and I was in immediately. The key to the PB&J sound is that Youth Novels was actually produced by Bjorn. I'm blessed to have such a good friend and to live in a world where I can listen to this.

I honestly can't even tell you how many times I've heard about White Rabbits in the past month, but I just tonight heard the band for the first time. The drum intro on "Percussion Gun" is instantly reminiscent of Bow Wow Wow's "Aphrodesiac" and Adam and the Ants' "Kings of the Wild Frontier." Thankfully, the White Rabbits song gets more original as the song progresses, and turns into something I'm going to be giving a closer listen to over the next few days. Check it here:



Lastly for now, the new Passion Pit CD, Manners, came out today. Last night the fellows kicked it SNL digital short style with their CD release party on a boat- yes, they were on a boat! Sweet. I hope to bring you some sort of news about that in the next few days. Til then, I keep listening to Passion Pit on repeat, in between plays of Lykke Li's "Little Bit," and my favorites so far are "Moth's Wings" and "The Reeling." I guess I'm on to something, because "The Reeling" seems to be the new single. Here's the music video released a few weeks ago:

Review of the week: Camera Obscura- My Maudlin Career

Camera Obscura has always been a throw-back to the happier times of pop rock history, but on their new album, My Maudlin Career, they do classic rock’ n’ roll in a way that seems to stand out with it’s back a little straighter than all the other classic rock throw-backs.

Songs like “French Navy” and “The Sweetest Thing” are dripping with sugary sweetness that is very upfront about the album’s pop roots and intentions, with rousing tambourines, keys and strings and beautiful melodies that make the coldest of hearts melt. But then the lyrics freeze everything back up in a way unique to contemporary lyricists, such as artists like Cat Power or Jenny Lewis. “I wanted to control it/ But love, I couldn’t hold it” (“French Navy”), or “I'm going on a date tonight/ To try to fall out of love with you/ I know, I know this is a crime/ But I don't know what else to do” (“The Sweetest Thing”).

Then, there are the hopeless tragedies of songs like “You Told a Lie” and “Away With Murder” that just make you think of The Crystals and the same sort of irony that went along with “He Hit Me.” This is where listeners start to really get a sense that the songs are about the band members and troubles they're having on the road, too: “People have been traveling miles just to hear us sing/ It's a February night and I don't want to feel anything” and “Oh it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on/ Yeah it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on/ I have been lonely too, like you/ I'm just like you.” You start to get a sense that the maudlin career is actually that of the individuals in Camera Obscura.

By the way, “maudlin” is known as an alteration of Mary Magdalene, who is known for weeping often, and the direct meanings are: 1. to be drunk enough to be emotionally silly and 2. weakly and effusively sentimental. To have a “maudlin career” is kind of a wild approach to thinking about a profession. This might mean that someone is a bad actor, or that someone is Britney Spears, for example.

The best insight we’ll get about Camera Obscura’s take on a maudlin career is probably from listening to the title track, “My Maudlin Career,” which starts out with incredibly whimsical keys and builds a steady pace with that heavy dose of cymbals, tambourine, and classic percussion that reminds you of the good old days. There is something very lamenting about the tempo and about the crooning vocals that seem to be weeping in true Magdalene style, via Tracyanne’s Scottish voice. She starts off with typical things about crushes crushing, but then in a delightful play on words she gets into the heart of a maudlin career: “I harbored worried feelings/ Like they were worth protecting/ You say I'm too kind and sentimental/ Like you could catch affection.”

Suddenly, things start to come together, and the album never looses sight of a deeper sense of sadness cushioned by the bubblegum pop music that delivers the sad news. You start to wonder which came first: the idea for the album title or the actual songs and lyrics. Maybe one day I’ll get a chance to ask them this question.

Listen of the week: Camera Obscura

I'll post more in depth thoughts later this week, but for now I just wanted to share with anyone who will listen that the new Camera Obscura album, My Maudlin Career, is absolutely delightful. It's well-rounded, a pleasant mix of old-school pop sound and new-age sarcastic lyricism that as a whole package is a beautiful work of art. Think the Crystals and Elvis Costello meet Fiona Apple.

For now, enjoy this music video for "French Navy." It's the first track on the new album.



Also, Camera Obscura on Twitter: @camera_obscura_

Under a rock?

Well, you must have been if you didn't hear anything about or by The Dodos last year, but just in case, here is the actual video for "Fools." It's pretty BA.

The Dodos Drink Miller Chill? Part 2! And Santogold w/Bud Light Lime

Finally found a video for you of the The Dodos' song "Fools" featured in the newest Miller Chill commercial:



Also, since I saw/heard about this Miller Chill commercial, I've also seen Bud Light Lime commercials (Bud Light's answer to Miller Chill) with the Santogold songs "Lights Out" and "Fine Tune." For now I just have video for "Fine Tune," but I think the ad with "Lights Out" is more artsy.



I wanted to know which of the beers was cool enough to have an alt band ad first, and it seems Bud Light had Santogold on in May 2008. I pretty much always prefer Miller to Bud, and I don't think either of these commercials will really persuade me to pick either Miller or Bud over, say, Magic Hat #9, but I think it's a nice coincidence that The Dodos are in the commercial for the beer I prefer. Now I at least have something cool to say about the beer.

New live Grizzly Bear footage, get excited!

Hi folks, look what I just found:

Slightly sketchy looking video footage (notice the odd look when Chris Bear is playing the drums), but beautiful sounding audio at the same time, of Grizzly Bear playing "While You Wait for the Others," a track from their soon-to-be-released Veckatimest.



Everyone has been buzzing/blogging/downloading about this album for the past two months because the album leaked. Which sucks for G. Bear, and kinda sucks for humanity because it says interesting things about what we've become. These guys are making truly great art and we can't just fucking calm down long enough for them to officially finish it and present it to the world on their own terms? Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly calmly awaiting the release date, because I am way hyped about the album, especially after falling completely in love with Department of Eagles earlier this year.

I need to really get on top of pre-ordering the album on vinyl because within the past week I've turned into a vinyl head. Yes, that's what I've been doing instead of posting on my blog, I've been listening to actual records, and let me tell you- it's been an enlightening experience. I now "get" what people meant when they said that things just sound better in actual record format. How cool that people were right and not crazy! Or maybe now I'm just crazy with them.

Anyways, I'm sure that Veckatimest is one of those albums that is going to be great sounding and then even greater sounding on vinyl, and I think I'm going to have a listening party. Listening parties have become pretty trendy lately, because people can't afford multiple albums/download them anyways, so they need some sort of resource or live listening experience to let them know which albums they would like to either spend their time downloading or money purchasing. But then, they're just fun times when you have a specific album and a particular group of people excited about that album, and you're all listening to it for the first time together. Now, let's all hold hands and sing Grizzly Bear together.

Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest, available for US purchase May 26 via Warp. Preorder on the Grizzly blog.

Nightly Update: The Dodos drink Miller Chill? and Taking Back Sunday take back my heart.

Two things to discuss tonight.

First, I just heard that The Dodos have their song "Fools" featured in a new Miller Chill commercial. This is sort of weird. I met Meric last year and he doesn't really seem like the sort of dude who would want to be in a Miller Chill commercial. He was drinking whiskey and tall boys. It just doesn't seem very "alt," as my homies at Hipster Runoff would say. But then alt=mainstream these days I guess. I don't think they've lost their hipster cred, they still effing rock balls off.

Second, I heard earlier today the new Taking Back Sunday song, "Sink Into Me," and experienced the '00s equivalent to a '60s dad flashback. See, in the middle of my last 4-5 years of hipsterness, it was perceived to be "uncool" to listen to Taking Back Sunday because it was emo and generally not as hip as Animal Collective. It is poppy, and unoriginal, and catchy, and for all of those reasons I loved songs like "Makedamnsure," and because songs like that just made me feel things in song format that I was sure I had felt in my gut long before but had no proper way for expressing.

Because it was uncool, I listened to Taking Back Sunday in secrecy. Well, the new song seems to catch up with me in my current hipster state, drawing on things I love about bands like Tokyo Police Club and joining them back up with the same old familiarity of those TBS songs that got me through lonely and frustrated nights in suburbia. And I guess now I'm in a place where I feel secure enough in my hipsterness to say hey, I know that TBS is mainstream, but I like them, and I'm not mainstream. I just like how it makes me feel, man.

Which is why I've been listening to "Sink Into Me" on repeat for the last three hours straight. The punk guitar riffs blend into some sort of subtle dance beat that is all over the music scene right now, but somehow with TBS this all seems way more genuine than it does with bands like The Killers, Cute is What We Aim For, and all of that other crap. The lyrics are seriously to die for, in a way that is tragic, romantic, violent, sadistic, all at the same time, just like every other TBS song I've loved in the past.

I'd like to be a note
The kind you could sing
But don't because you're shy
That way I'll live inside your throat
And hang from every word you spoke."

I don't care if it's emo, I effing want to listen to it all the time, and I think you should listen to it at least once.

Taking Back Sunday- "Sink Into Me"


The new TBS album, New Again, will be released legally June 2, sooner for leakers, and there should be a music vid for "Sink Into Me" coming out soon. Til then, this is the best I could do to post directly on the site. Check out the TBS MySpace for others.

Live Review: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Last Friday was the show I'd been waiting for since the start of 2009: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Summit (in Columbus, yo). The event lived up to all expectations, save for all of the rain that was coming down outside. Inside, local band Tin Armor started things off with some good energy and a decent crowd, considering they were the first of three bands to play. This was my second time seeing Tin Armor, the first being at the Columbus Alive Bands to Watch in 2009 show back in January. Really nice fellows, and they're nice looking, too.

Then Zaza took over the stage with lots of downtown New York black clothing style going on and super bright white spotlights on the floor of the stage pointing out at the crowd. It was a surreal experience, catering directly to those who like to watch music totally spaced out, either naturally or drug-induced style. The music seems to be highly influenced by Radiohead, circa Kid A, Hail to the Chief (esp. "There, There") and Amnesiac. I highly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone currently into the shoegazing movement (think: m83+Radiohead).

Whilst all of this was going on onstage, I noticed that Kip from the Pains was just hanging out at the merch table with another dude helping him sell the merch, who interestingly had a copy of Moby Dick on the table that he "just started reading while on the road, because it's good reading for starting and stopping." I was a liiiitle shy at this point of the show, so I just talked to Johnny from Tin Armor and then squeezed my way up to the front for the rest of the Zaza set and to get a good spot for The Pains.

It paid off, and I was in the front, allowing these fun photos to be taken:



The show was at first kind of what I'm deeming the stereotypical Columbus hipster show- everyone is all excited for the show, but then you could hardly tell this is the case judging from how everyone just politely bobs their heads to the beat and applauds when appropriate. The music was great and I could feel the energy building to the point where if someone started dancing, the rest of the room would, too. Luckily, Danny J did just that, and dancing ensued for the last 3-4 songs, to the delight of the band. Peggy announced that if anyone knew of any good "keggers" that they should let them know. Cute.

Generals: Kip has a very, very firm handshake. Peggy and her bangs are SUPER cute. Some of the people who are playing/touring with Zaza are also playing with The Pains while on the road. LPs and T-shirts are only $10!

Looking forward to seeing them next at Pitchfork Music Fest in July. Check out the rest of their tour stops here.

Found Friday

I think I'll start doing something on Fridays, like posting something I found throughout the week. For this week, I found a video on Pitchfork today that is one I've been hearing about all week: the new Matt & Kim music video for "Lessons Learned" off their latest release, Grand, in which the couple runs through Times Square first in complete winter gear, stripping down until they are naked. I mean, butt naked, both of them. Then, the police attempt to arrest them, or maybe just grope them, but they make an escape that looks in no way narrow- Kim just eases out of the officers grip, but then...I won't tell you what happens at the end, don't want to spoil the element of surprise.

Matt & Kim "Lessons Learned"


More Matt & Kim.