2010 in concerts

I’ve had a pretty amazing run. I started this year unemployed and adrift and have ended the year one incredibly blessed young lady. (ish. ladyish.) I've been lucky enough to have amazing adventures, listen to some fantastic music, get a new job and apartment, and generally raise the shenaniganry bar pretty high. In addition to SXSW, Sasquatch, and Austin City Limits festivals here are the shows I saw this year. Thanks to my favorite people in the world for dancing with me like a crazy person, going camping with a bottle of Woodford, driving through deserts, and taking me on repeated trips to Taco Deli. I seriously have the best friends ever. And Dowks- our bet is still on for 2011.

In No Particular Order:

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
Stars
Phoenix
Musical Autobiography Sketchfest
Matt Nathanson
Fun.
Wheezer/ The Limousines
The National
Mumford & Sons
Arcade Fire at the Greek
Arcade Fire in Big Sur
Robyn
Ratatat/ DOM
Mat Pond Pa
Fools gold
Broken Social Scene
Miike Snow
The Very Best
The xx
The National
Vampire weekend
Passion pit
Minus the Bear
Kid Cudi
Freelance Whales
LCD Soundsystem
Dirty Projectors
The Heavy
MGMT
Massive attack
Deadmau5
Temper trap
She & Him
Drive-By Truckers
Chiddy bang
Washed out
Uffie
Best Coast
Nicky Jean
Cool Kids
The Black Keys
The Strokes
Beach House
Girls
Spoon
Mayer Hawthorne
Broken Bells
Dan Black
Mat and Kim
M.I.A.
Muse
Flaming lips
Pete Yorn
The Morning Benders
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Band of Horses
Cage the Elephant
Talib Kweli

and yes. I'm ridiculous.

Start To Move

And now some music to send the year off right. Having music that strikes that balance of getting people in the mood to dance before dropping them deep into the world of David Guetta is always a fun challenge at parties. Unless its preTurkey cocktail hour with Alli, Weis, and Dowks. Then you just throw on GirlTalk and call it good. But without the assist from our friends Jack, Bullit, and Jameson, here is a couple tracks to transition your night into the dance phase. Happy New Year and cheers to my favorite house dance partiers, drink inventors and coffee-table jiggers

Note: also works well as music to try and recap the night before with friends on the couch. Funny that.

Shell Games

Unlike the illustrious Dowks, I didn't celebrate anything until yesterday and spend most of the 25th drinking whiskey with the grands and working on a puzzle. However, the one day weather delay on Christmas worked out swimmingly for me, with Santa bringing the most epic present ever. So I'm packing a bag for Maui, and to offset any seething jealousy coming from Dowks general direction, here is a new and free download from Bright Eyes. Its apropos cos its called Shell Games and I'm headed to the beach....

Bright Eyes - Shell Games by Pretty Much Amazing

A Christmas to Remember

If the pain of the headache is proportional to the fun had last night (culminating this afternoon), then I had one heck of a time at G & J's Christmas party.  Perhaps free musiks will help to dull the pain.

Enter, The Fall, the newest Gorillaz installment after Plastic Beach earlier this year.  Check it out here, and sign up for the mailing list to get access.  It's one of the first albums to be recorded and mixed entirely on the iPad.  Damon Albarn used 20 different apps (below) to mix and record the album over the 32 day span between their Montreal and Vancouver tour stops - so no studio work here,  but that doesn't seem to impact the quality...

Gorillaz - Detroit by Wewanttobeyoung

If you're a fancy shmantzy iPad owner and mixologist, and want to try stuff like this yourself, this is the list of apps they used to create the tracks:

Speak It! / SoundyThingie / Mugician / Solo Synth / Synth / Funk Box / Gliss / AmpliTube / Xenon / iElectribe / BS-16i / M3000 HD / Cleartune / iOrgel HD / Olsynth / StudioMiniXI / BassLine / Harmonizer / Dub Siren Pro / Moog Filatron

My Oh My!!

Seattle sports teams and I have had a tempestuous past.  The Seahawks were cool until, needing a scapegoat for their disappointing loss in Super Bowl, their ENTIRE fanbase took a personal vendetta against my Steelers.  So yeah, make the playoffs with a losing record this year, see if I care.  Go Black & Yellow!

On the other hand, the only "real" professional team to win a national championship for Seattle, The Sonics, bailed on Seattle for the Midwest.  This has left Key Arena largely empty for the past several years, although our WNBA team, the Storm, have recently done rather well for themselves there.

Then there are the Mariners.  Although they have been mis-rib since I've come to town in 2005, managing only one winning season, still falling short of making the playoffs (69-93, 78-84, 88-74, 61-101, 85-77, 61-101), I've still had some amazing times at Mariners games with the besties.  I love it when their eyes glaze over as they transport themselves back to a better time - 1995, when Griffey was young (which did not, unfortunately, preclude him from being hurt) the Mariners were the talk of the town and Dave Niehaus was electrically, emphatically and emotionally describing the games to a rapt Seattle audience.  

Unfortunately those days are over, and Dave Niehaus recently passed away, marking a sad day for a lot of my own close friends, and a morose nail in the coffin for that era of Mariner baseball.  Thankfully, another local Seattle-ite, hip-hop artist Ben Haggerty, aka Macklemore, teamed up with Ryan Lewis to release a tribute song to the announcing legend.  I heard it and couldn't help but feel like it's fitting.  Brother, Dirty Curty, Timbo, Yoshida, Drewseph (edit: and Jascha) and to all the Seattle Mariner and Niehaus fans...this post is for you.

Merry Christmas a day early from the Dowkstar...

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - My Oh My by Siegs

Lullabies and Love Songs

The first time I heard Nicki Minaj's 'Right Thru Me' I had to do a double take. I really dug the song but it kind of freaked me out that she was rapping over the song El Captain used to blast to get me to go to sleep. I often get nervous when pop songs sample already superb musical works, and switching up my go to lullaby song seemed mildly sacrilegious. To her credit- the song is growing on me, but it won't ever eclipse the badassness that is Joe Satriani. Compare below! (oh and the Nicki Minaj track is a free download....)

Nicki Minaj - Right Thru Me by Pretty Much Amazing

Joe Satriani - Always with me, Always with you by TaffyLafaguz

TRON with Tron

Ok, just got back from seeing TRON with the Tronnonator herself.  We went to the threeD IMAX show, which left me with just 3 words.

Ah. May. Zing.

Yeah, sure, it's cheezy at times.  Yeah, sure, not all the acting is great.  But, how can you turn down a perfectly CGI'd young Jeff Bridges?!  The bike scenes are also tres cool, and make me realize I can't wait for the springtime when it will at last be time for me to get a bike of my own!

Thennnnnn there's the soundtrack.  Daft Punk did a great job - the whole thing is sick.  The two even make an appearance as DJs in the movie (in a pretty sweet sky club on top of the Grid).  If you're planning on being silly and missing the movie, don't be daft and miss the badass beats.  Synopsis is one of my favs

05 Daft Punk - Synopsis by tdubb

Tribute to Friends

I remember back in college, we played a game where we had to rank certain items in order of importance.  If you really know me, it comes as no surprise that "Friends" topped my list.  I am constantly reminded of why this is, whether it's playing late night Halo at Google, hitting up caverns at exclusive Napa wineries, a night out in Seattle, chilling on a Christmas tree lit porch, a slopeside cabin in Crested Butte or even just heading back to the Valley for some good R&R, I have amazeball friends.

While frontman Ryan Tedder intended the song All the Right Moves as a personal diss - they got their break via connections with Timbaland, unlike all the "cool-ass" bands that had to really "work" for it - every time I hear it, I can't help but think about how I am the one with friends in all the right places.  I'm totally ok with getting in on my friend's benefits and hopefully sharing some of my own!

So here's to conquering the world (or just reliving Leo's The Beach), and having plenty of peeps to enjoy it with...

Bah Humbug.

So Christmas is the only time of year I'm guaranteed that all my family will be in one place together. Except this year. Europe decided some snow was grounding flights for the next week and now my TBS is stuck until the 26th. Needless to say, I'm not amused, but am fully prepared to not acknowledge the holiday until my family is all together to celebrate it properly. Until then, I've put a moratorium on the super cool indie Christmas mix I was putting together and will force you to listen to the melancholy and wintery stylings of Sigur Ros instead. So happy Winter Solstice and we can talk about the holiday when I get Tres back.

Sabali

I'm a little obsessed with Amadou and Miriam and apparently they are releasing a remix album next month. I can't find this anywhere else, so go click through to Stereogum's very awesome premiere of Miike Snow's remix of Sabali to enjoy a little warm sunshine on this particularly gloomy day. If this sounds like your kind of thing, go listen to all of The Very Best that Dowks and I constantly talk about.

Something To Roll To

I've been digging Kisses EP for a while and something about this song's hook always makes me laugh. ('I would like to take you out for a nice steak dinner' is pretty funny to a lifelong vegetarian) Regardless of the silly chorus, this song is high on my list of dancing in the car on the way to Napa muzak.

Firecracker This

I'm a solid six months late to this party. But this promo for the Madison Square Garden show is just fun to watch so don't stress it k?

Untitled from Arcade Fire on Vimeo.

I might have had a small musical overdose in the last week. I'm currently recovering from the overwhelming influx of new muzak I have been lucky enough to receive but am putting together a mix for my most beloved as part of their Christmas present. Until then, the lovely and talented Leslietron shared this FastCompany info-graphic and I have been spending way to much time checking it out at work. I promise to clean up my act and come back with shiny new music once I've completed all ten steps.

Via: FastCompany

The Dowks Thanksgiving Mix of Amazeballs

I finally got a mix back from the disreputable Dowks after years of sending him an increasingly questionable collection of mixes (starting with an O.G. mix tape made about the time this photo was taken) I'm picking my top three that I didn't already know about (as hard as it for me not to pick Freelance Whales and M83...) and hoping he won't kill me for posting a photo of him before he could shave. Thanks for all the shenaniganry JD!

1. Lay Lady Lay - Magnet and Gemma Hayes

I really hate the original version of this song. I don't know why. I just do. This one is brilliant and getting added to my Sundays collection of music I listen to when I'm baking, reading, and basically enjoying the last moments of my weekends. Thanks for turning a song I hate into something I really dig guys!

2. Pretty Lights- Drift Away

I've read a ton of references to this awesome DJ, and according to my research, he has even been at some of the shows I've attended over the years and yet somehow he has totally escaped my music library until now. After listening to this song repeatedly, I'm about to remedy this shortcoming posthaste.

3. Baths- Animal

This track is the penultimate electropop groove that I've been obsessing over the last couple months. I can throw this into my Gold Panda, Animal Collective, Caribou three-ring circus and I know it will play nicely with the other DJ types. Bonus points for being from the Bay Areal local label Anticon.

Honorable Mention: Alexander's track 'Truth'. While I knew about the Edward Sharpe side project, I didn't expect how much I would dig this.

The Kids Are Disco Dancing

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it feels like it speeds right by, and other times its amazing how far away things seem. I've always used music as a way to measure time, both specific moments in history (like a cover of 'Friday I'm in Love' by Aqualung, or Jamie Lidell's 'Multiply') and as a barometer of how my musical taste has evolved over the years. Nothing drew that in such sharp relief like Thanksgiving weekend did, when a friend who used to only listen to Jay-Z as far as I'm concerned, excitedly asked me about the Limousine song that popped up on my playlist.

Which gets me to the point of this post. The Limousines opened for Weezer's Time Machine tour on Tuesday, and Matty was awesome enough to let me come to the Pinkerton show with him. Weezer played one song from every album starting at Hurley and working their way back, finishing the night by playing the entire Pinkerton album end to end. The last time I saw Weezer, I was a freshman in college, still figuring out who I was and what I wanted to be. Rocking out on Tuesday, I realized that I still have no idea about either, but I know I've listened to some awesome music with some incredible friends and I'm really okay with not knowing the rest of it.

Internet Killed The Video Star by TheLimousines

2 to the 1

So, yeah, I've been delinquent posting the last two tracks of the awesome mix that Carls gave me for my Birfday.  This is mainly because I've been going to awesome shows and hanging out with Carls and Weezy, gangin up on all kinds of new musiks.  I did come through on a couple mixes for her this past weekend, which we enjoyed over a puzzle and with more than one glass of wine.

I'll post about a couple recent adventures later this week.  For now, I give you the top two tracks on the mix, and then I'm out to catch Passion Pit at the Moore! (which my very cool new roommate was awesome enough to snag me a ticket for) aaaaaand I'm sure Carls'll impress me later with how she got backstage passes to her Weezer concert tonight...

#2

The Ghost Inside, by the Broken Bells

While you may not have heard of the Broken Bells, you've certainly heard of the duo in other contexts...Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) teamed up with James Mercer, of the Shins.  The two of them compose and produce together, but rock the full band on tour.  This song was a hit for me from the first time I played it.  Pretty chill song, with a weird ass Star Wars video accompaniment...



#1

Holidays, by Miami Horror

This Aussie group has been crafting since 2008, but is really hitting its stride today.  This song has a faaaaaaantastic beat and puts me in a great mood.  I had heard some of their mixed stuff, (I Look to You, ft Kimbra), but this song really brought them to the forefront of my musiks world.  hope you dig it too...

Miami Horror - Holidays by mikkelstonefire

1. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
2. Dom - Living in America
3. Washed Out - New Theory
4. The Very Best - Angonde (Johan Hugo Remix ft. Mo Lauci)
5. The Firecracker Kids - Half Light II (No Celebration)
6. Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives
7. Active Child - When Your Love is Safe
8. KiD CuDi - Sountrack 2 My Life
9. Telephoned - O.N.E. (Yeasayer x Gyptian Cover)
10. The Naked & Famous - Young Blood
11. The Streets - Trust Me
12. Ra Ra Riot - Boy (RAC Mix)
13. Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside
14. Miami Horror - Holidays
15. Tunng - Hustle
16. Bloc Party - Letter to My Son
17. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground
18. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
19. Delorean - Simple Graces

Call Your Girlfriend

My obsession with Robyn dates back to 'Show Me Love' being the fourth CD I ever bought at Amoeba Records in the '90s. The final installment of Bodytalk is coming out at the end of the month, and I can't wait to go to another of her shows, it's like going to a dance party in someone's living room where all the guests are cute hipster gay boys. I fully plan on wearing lots of sparkles and possibly a tutu FYI.

3 Call Your Girlfriend by Jon_ALi

HTML5

just follow the directions and watch.  this is the new technologies.  and firecracker kids.

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Numéros quatre et trois

Dans le quatrieme position, nous avons une chanson de The Radio Dept. avec une introduction tres interesante...

"People see rock and roll as, as youth culture, and when youth culture becomes monopolised by big business, what are the youth to do? Do you, do you have any idea?  I think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture."

votre pensées?

The Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire by ganaz

et dans le troisieme position, nous avons, a plusieurs reprises, The Naked & Famous, qui sont de rigueur aujourd'hui, bien sur. Mais, j'ai pris la liberté pour changer la chanson un peu, parce que nous avons vu Young Blood récemment.  Entrer, notre favorite, et l'autre homme du jour, Chiddy Bang.  Pour mon ami, Brett Bretterson, "et....voilà!"

1. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
2. Dom - Living in America
3. Washed Out - New Theory
4. The Very Best - Angonde (Johan Hugo Remix ft. Mo Lauci)
5. The Firecracker Kids - Half Light II (No Celebration)
6. Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives
7. Active Child - When Your Love is Safe
8. KiD CuDi - Sountrack 2 My Life
9. Telephoned - O.N.E. (Yeasayer x Gyptian Cover)
10. The Naked & Famous - Young Blood
11. The Streets - Trust Me
12. Ra Ra Riot - Boy (RAC Mix)
13. ?
14. ?
15. Tunng - Hustle
16. Bloc Party - Letter to My Son
17. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground
18. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
19. Delorean - Simple Graces

(Pardonez-moi pour la manque d'accent, c'est "une chienne" avec cette UI)

Car's Mix

I recently had a quiet birthday, spent in part with Car, down in SF, but one of the more smashing successes of the weekend was a mix I got from her fantasticness.  The album contained a heady mix of new musics for me.  Some more well known groups made it on with new hits (the Firecracker Kids), there were a lot of rising stars (The Naked & Famous - I'm looking at you in particular), and of course, those artists that you're never sure if she heard from her newest hipster friend, or is just something that she pulled off her Pure Moods CD and subsequently dubbed: "Tunng."

Anyway, this mix has been getting me from place to place in the trusty RSX for the past month or so, and I thought, "Ya know, this mix is definitely good enough for a top 5..."  and here we are today.

I think I'll let the tracks speak for themselves, but what I will say, is that the distinction between contender and pretender is quite clear.  I knocked out the first 10 tracks quite easily - while they weren't BAD, they just weren't standouts for me.

The remaining 4 were considerably more difficult, but manageable, and we had to lose some great artists like Ra Ra Riot and The Streets, as well as one of my favorite Cudder songs.  And so, without further ado, I give you # 5 in the 4 spot.

1. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
2. Dom - Living in America
3. Washed Out - New Theory
4. The Very Best - Angonde (Johan Hugo Remix ft. Mo Lauci)
5. The Firecracker Kids - Half Light II (No Celebration)
6. Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives
7. Active Child - When Your Love is Safe
8. KiD CuDi - Sountrack 2 My Life
9. Telephoned - O.N.E. (Yeasayer x Gyptian Cover)
10. ?
11. The Streets - Trust Me
12. Ra Ra Riot - Boy (RAC Mix)
13. ?
14. ?
15. Tunng - Hustle
16. Bloc Party - Letter to My Son
17. Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground
18. ?
19. Delorean - Simple Graces

Look for #s 4 and 3 over the coming week, then I'll wrap up the list with our winner sometime before Thanksgiving, when I plan to grace Car with her very own epic mix.

04 Angonde (Johan Hugo Remix Feat. M.mp3 by cooperativemusicuk

STARS

Sach, Weits, the future Doctor, Lunch, and I are going to the Stars show tonight. While this isn't out of the ordinary, our planning email string about meeting up before, paying people back for tickets, and general concert logistics, has turned into some fantastic comedy. My favorite so far: "Bitches in Tokyo --how much/who do I owe for my ticket? ... in other news, C, Your Ex-Lover is Dead. prepare your Celebration Guns." Now excuse me, I have to go respond to This Charming Man before Wasted Daylight.

Something I Can Dance To

As the wolf pack knows, I've been obsessing over some dance-tastic music lately. Really anything coming out of the Neon Gold label has been pure awesome. The Knocks was my World Series jam of choice, but if I had to choose my song for the rest of indian summer, it would have to be the Naked & Famous track Young Blood.

The Naked & Famous "Young Blood" by OnTheRecord

For our own Weezy F Baby...

I've got a ton of actual real work to do today, but wanted to get this out there ASAP as I've been on a spree recently, grabbing a bunch of new mixes off my fav blogs, which I've been delinquent in keeping up with over the past month or so.

This posting though is an GEM of a throwback that features Big L and Weezy's main man, Jay-Z.  Now this is no "I jumped on the Jiggaman bandwagon early in 1998 with Vol. 2 ish"....this is pre-Roc-A-Fella, straight up Adam and Eve style! We're going back to February of 1995, when a young Hova and the now deceased Lamont Coleman (Big L, RIP) appeared on the Stretch and Bobbito show (early/mid 90's, Thursday night NYC vinyl-only freestyle sessions for the freshest upcoming artists to get some airtime).  The show intros with Big L, then he and Jay-Z trade off a couple times.

In Jay-Z's second appearance at the mic, he notes how he's just gotten "Rap Pick of the Week" on BET, and how his new album has limited distribution, but should be available shortly, as soon as the deal gets signed...um, yeah....this is Jay-Z today.

Big L lays some nasty lines, but Jay-Z clearly steals the show and from 7:55 on, he's nothing less than amazing...

"I'm flowing the fattest, mmmm that is, mmmm, I'm the baddest
No need to explain my name, the only thing that matters
For suckers who bite me, they find I'm a bit much to swallow
You're thinking that's hollow, the rhythm is too rugged to follow
I hit you like bam, biggity bam, bam, biggity bam
Let me take a little breath…g damn
The kid is a wizard"

Enjoy

Big L & Jay-Z - Freestyle On Stretch and Bobbito Show (FULL) (02.23.95) by Peralta Project

Hot Beats = Baller Bets

Apparently, the word is out on Wiz Khalifa. I've been digging him for a couple years now, originally introduced to Wiz by another three letter 412 native, Woj. In fact, Wiz has been getting props from everyone recently, including King James earlier this fall on Twitter: "[Heard] Wiz Khalifa "Mezmorized" while getting a root canal on my tooth. Nice mellow track right there. Good new artist."

Although he's been getting more press recently, Wiz akshully hit the scene when he dropped his Pittsburgh Sound singlay in 2007, a tribute to the Iron City (and of course, himself...as rappers are wont to do).  The Pittsburgh theme is a recurring one for the 23 year old artist.  He recently put out his Black & Yellow single, which apparently, is catchy enough to inspire people to place bets on my hometown sports teams, which is just what Weezy's friend did after hearing this song ($20 on the Steelers to win the SuperBowl is not a horrible bet in and of itself, although perhaps you have qualms about backing Therapist Roethlisberger).  Anyway, I love this track and wish I was sippin' "cleeko" too...

Black & Yellow by Shuttersandsounds

the music video isn't bad either, for those interested...

Cudder 'n Black

Carls recently drug Weis and me to see Dan Black at ACL, where I was only somewhat shocked to see such a great show! The crazy brit tenor has quite the stage presence and following.

Annnnnyway, when I heard that Dan Black had done a collab with Kid Cudi on one of my favorite songs, I said gimme gimme symphonies! This newish version of the song is featured on NBA 2K11, which I guarantee to be a ballin' game, given this excellent addition to the soundtrack.

Dan Black (feat. Kid Cudi) - Symphonies by thevelvet

Oh Happy Days

I got my dream apartment yesterday. In a nice gesture from my favorite wierdos, the Giants made my incredibly fantastic Monday even better by winning the World Series and justifying Al and I's whiskey fueled bender. (Sidenote: Thanks random stranger at the bar who decided that it was good luck when we bought shots in the 7th inning, and continued to buy us whiskey until the Polk street riot happened) And thus, the only music that can match the soaring euphoria of the Best Day Ever(despite the pounding headache) is the dancetasticness of the Knocks. Enjoy the playlist!

The Knocks by The Knocks

fun.

So Mat had last minute tickets to the fun. and Steel Train show last night, which was a pretty great way to celebrate a huge Game 1 victory. I think that the lead singer sounds a lot like Freddie Mercury if he decided to start a little happy pop sounding rock band, and these guys definitely put on a great live show

In honor of the great enigma Sach's birthday, we are going to Mumford & Sons at the Warfield. They walk that fantastic line of folky rock music that I rarely deign to tell people I enjoy (blaming it on vestiges of my old and abandoned affair with Dave Matthews) but still has a special little place in my heart. So onwards into a night of southern food, mason jars full of cocktails, and a band that includes a banjo in its line-up. Oh and here is a new song from them.

Mumford & Sons- Nothing Is Written by fyrhazard

Fools

One of my absolute favorite bands I have had the pleasure of seeing at multiple festivals has to be the Temper Trap. They have such an amazing ability to be both a solid rock show and something a little more atmospherey all at the same time. Peter, Bjorn, & John just did a fantastic remix of Fools which might start challenging Fader as my new favorite Temper Trap song. (Side-note: P, B, &J- please put out a new album soon. Thanks.) Enjoy!

PREMIERE: Temper Trap - Fools (Peter, Bjorn & John Hortlax Cobra Remix) by Pretty Much Amazing

So the last week has been insane, with two Arcade Fire shows (one in which I was front row center in a Big Sur meadow with only 200 other people) and an epic ACL trip with Weis and Dowks that I'm still barely recovered from. So until I can wrap my head around writing about those amazing experiences and coming up with the SAT-appropriate adjective for 'mylifefuckingrocks' I will leave you with the very chill remix of Zero 7 and Jose Gonzalez's 'Futures'. Enjoy and Dowks- start stretching cos you know I always win dance offs....

Zero 7 - Futures (Maur Due & Lichter Remix) by Maur Due & Lichter

International Musiks are hot in Seattle tonight

Miike Snow, Deadmau5 and Holy Fuck are all headlining various locations around Seattle (SoDo, Paramount and Neumos, respectively).  I'm headed to see Miike Snow, but wish I could clone myself for the other ACL performer, Canuck DJ Deadmau5, so I could attempt to duplicate the dance off I had with Car at the Zync stage this past Saturday....or the wondrous Holy Fuck (also Canadian!) that played an amazing set at Sasquatch, and for which I was relatively coherent.

Miike Snow and Holy Fuck have been posted about before, but Deadmau5 is a MUST SEE SHOW when he's in town, so you should get to know some of his stuff.

I pulled his song, Animal Rights off the This Song is Sick Blog...it's a collab with Wolfgang Gartner.  Give it a minute to get going, and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Deadmau5/ Wolfgang Gartner - Animal Rights (Myndset Bootleg) by MYNDSET

500 Days of Summer

While short of 500 planetary rotations, I have to say this has been a truly epic summer of funemployment for me, and the "Mashup" album by My Sick Uncle, called 500 days of Weezy is nothing short of amazing.   Car introduced this album to me off the Pretty Much Amazing blog a coule months ago, but I'm just now getting to listen to it.  And the verdict?  Lil Wayne's lyrics and a veritable smorgasbord of fresh artist beats including Temper Trap, Feist as well as older Simon & Garfunkel tracks, combine for an inspiring mix.

Without a doubt, one of my favorites is the short and sweet Let's Get High, featuring Mumm-Ra's She's Got You High and snippets from Lil Wayne's interview with Katie Couric.  My Sick Uncle pulled a nasty hook from the Mumm-Ra song as background for an intriguing interview where Katie playfully asks pointed questions about Weezy F Baby's drug use and Wayne either answers boldly or evades the question almost entirely.  Quite the dynamic.

One line he dropped strikes me in particular.  When Couric asks "You never think, gee, maybe I should ease up on the weed?"  Weezy replies with the poetic "Never say that.  I'm a rapper, that's who I am Miss Katie, and I am a Gansgta, and I do...what I want.  And I Love to smoke..."

Hear, hear, Weezy.  You be You, and we'll worry about what's in our own cups...


The full album is still available here if you are into Wayne (i.e. you're a member of the human race).

Pop pop ratatat

LP4, the new album from some of our favorite Cudi collaborators, Ratatat, is dope as expected.  Apparently they recorded this around the same time as LP3, but consider it to be a more daring approach to the arrangements...It's still got that same signature feel though, and it should only take a few bars before you're fairly convinced you know it's a Ratatat song, regardless of whether you've heard it before.  Drugs and Mandy are no exception, and are some of my favs.

Ratatat - Drugs by exiart

RATATAT - MANDY by pandorasmusicbox

Never thought I'd say this...

...but I've taken a strong liking to a lot of the stuff on Katy Perry's fall-release album Teenage Dream.  I'm not crazy about California Gurls, but Teenage Dream, Firework and Not like the Movies are all fantastic tracks.  The Teenage Dream vid is super sexy and looks like everyone had a blast making it.  It's off-limits for embedding, but is definitely worth a check out on the youtubes.   Methinks I should sell my car and pick up one of those sick old bmw convertibles, how rad is that thing???

Anyway, I have probably listened to Teenage Dream about 30 times over the past week, so I felt rather lucky when I snared a copy of Kaskade Club's remix that blew me away all over again.
Teenage Dream (Kaskade Club Mix) by ulissespanic_bs

Also, we'll have more on Ratatat's new album before I get into some major shenanigans with Car, Weezy, Les and a bunch of the crew @ ACL this weekend!!!

Trust The Streets

For most of college, I was pretty convinced I should marry Mike Skinner or Jack Allsopp. Both walk that strangely appealing line of being British MC's and DJ's. The Streets and Just Jack as they are known respectively, were pretty much on repeat for me and definitely still hold a special place in my heart. But I'm not moving to Birmingham anytime soon. Sorry Mike.

Trust Me by The Streets by ialas

Misty Morning

I woke up this morning to one of those incredibly grey and misty days this city specializes in, where the clouds are so dense all noises become muted, and time feels like it slows down. This was ideal after the dancetastic weekend I had, so after de-couching my favorite c-walker, and making some coffee, I found my favorite pair of ripped jeans and settled into a morning of catching up on reading and baking scones. This of course requires some solid mood music and today's band of choice is Gold Panda.

Gold Panda is one of those band/producer types that isn't as accessible to the bulk of my friends I have forced him upon recently, but something about his brand of electro feels like a patchwork reminiscent of four tet but with a distinctly moody feel thats all his own. Friend group lack of adoption not withstanding, I'm seriously digging his stuff on a day when clouds are floating underneath the window.

Quitters Raga by Gold Panda

Ratatat and DOM tonight

I'm going to the Ratatat show tonight at the Warfield and while I was already excited to bust some moves there, I just realized that Dom is opening. My local friends have recently accused me of being a little into what they deem 'electro' music, but I think what they mean to accuse me of is a penchant for the synth-pop chillwave movement. Hipster accusations and labels aside, Dom has a reputation for putting on a memorable live show, and with giant hooks like 'It's so sexy to be living in America' who doesn't want to put on their skinny jeans and bust some dance moves? Wish you were here Dowks!

DOM - Living In America by TLOBF

I still haven't decided if this is just a great viral ad for Levi's or something a little more homegrown but either way, the song rocks and this video makes me think of getting and RV and driving across the country with some of my favorite ITA'ers.

SCREAMIN Deal on Ratatat's new album

My buddy Grantus just pointed me to Amazon where they're having a $4 special on Ratatat's new album, LP4.  I am downloading it now, and will have thoughts later this week.

For now, enjoy this vid from their self-titled debut album, Ratatat...

Ambling Alp African Style

I had to bribe Weis to stay up late for the Very Best's set during SXSW last spring. He wasn't siked but by the time the backup dancers started busting moves during the second song, he was sold on the awesome. Not only do they make great music on their own, but they took Yeasayer's already fantastic song and made it uniquely theirs. Check 'em out here

Mark Ronson for President

Un, deux, trois! Bang, bang, bang!

Ronson has been blowing up tracks since his first album came out in 2003.  The Brit has enjoyed success internationally, but hasn't had a big presence in the US.  I have been listening to Mark Ronson for about a year now, and have heard a couple great collabs of his.  One track I recently found on the always delicious et musique pour tous is something that Mark Ronson & the Business International (his new alias) put together with rapper Q-Tip and electro artist MDNR, whom I'll have to look into more...

Check the track, lemme know what you think!

01 Bang Bang Bang (Feat. MNDR and Q-Tip) by eclectricity1

a chilly fall in the northwest?

Snow in Seattle is rare, even in the thick of winter, but as it turns out, the stars have aligned and we'll actually be getting some this October! Ok, perhaps it will be Miike Snow, and not Snow snow....but still cool, methinks, aaaaaaand...my friend Les just let me know there is a ticket waiting for me, one month from today @ the Showbox at the Market.  Thanks Les! (and Kate)!

Actually, the band makes frequent appearances in Seattle, and has performed across the city on several occasions over the past year.  I was lucky enough to make it to one of their shows last year with my friends Sean and Erica.  The crowd was fantastic, and I think it has something to do with the odd persona of the oft-masked Swedish trio, Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Ponstus Winnberg; the masks add to their mysterious stage presence while the ffffffffat beats and light show put everyone in a great mood.

As you can tell, their concerts are great, but don't count out the work they do in the studio.  They've done some work with Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn and John, as well as this excellent remix of Vampire Weekend's The Kids Don't Stand a Chance.  Check them out, you won't be disappointed.


Miike Snow - Vampire Weekend VS Miike Snow - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance by telilys

Pop goes my heart

I would like to think I have unerringly excellent and somewhat hip taste in muzak. But truth be told, I also have a huge love for catchy pop music. Much like Dowk's love of GaGa, I've started really digging Katy Perry's last album. Something about it makes me feel like I'm 16 and driving around in the middle of summer in Triscuit's mustang. Ok let the mocking begin super indie hipster friends.

Re-mixed

I've been digging some very mellow remixes recently from both RaRaRiot and Vampire weekend. Then I found this picture and knew it was meant to be.

Vampire Weekend "White Sky" (Basement Jaxx remix) Alloedit by AllofyaBooshikA

Ra Ra Riot - Boy (RAC Mix) by Remix Artist Collective

Ever since Return to Cookie Mountain was the only CD I kept in my car for a two hour commute to a terrible job in a galaxy far far away, I always associate TV on the Radio Dave Sitek’s vocals with driving away from mind-numbing, soul-suckingness and back into the life I wanted to lead. I'm digging his solo project from the few tracks I've listened to thus far.

Maximum Balloon ft Theophilus by Hypecloud

Summer Anthem

I'm the worst contributer ever. But I have legitimate musical related excuses. Specifically I've been too busy driving visitors around forcing them to listen to my epic summer mix-tape. With that in mind- here is the amazing video to a band I fell in love with during SXSW and has felt like the soundtrack to my spring and summer adventures. I try really hard not to be susceptible to the hipster music trends, but chill-wave has definitely found a warm place in my heart......

Washed Out - "Hold Out" from John Lipari on Vimeo.

Right Above It

Just listened to this new Weezy track for the first time last night, and it definitely get's me pumped for when his new album comes out later this month.  The song features Drake, who is certainly not getting shit confused, sounding sick, as per usual.

Check it out....neow!

Gaga for Gaga

I've had a lot of time on my hands this summer, and have devoted a fair amount of time to the gym. While LA Fitness plays hits radio on the loudspeakers, I've gotta have control. I rock the iPhone without fail, using my Scosche soundKASE, which I pretty highly recommend, although I just saw a Belkin at my buddy's place, and was kinda jelly.

Now down to business, as the title suggests, I am a big fan of Lady Gaga's music.  A lot of it make's great gym music, with two of my recent favorites being a pair off the Fame Monster's "B-Sides."

Paper Gangsta is a pretty upbeat song about in this case....paper gangsters.  While I'm not too sure I know many of those, I love her line "Cause I do not accept any less, than someone just as real, as fabulous"  I'm totally behind that...don't settle for less than you deserve.

Starstruck is the latter of my two gems today.  The whole song is super sexy, but the chorus is really what puts me in a great mood and put some energy behind my swol sesh...

Yeasayers and MGMT Comparison?

I think The World's Best Ever is a pretty fantastic blog.  I've found a number of siiiick clothes, art works and musics over there, and they do a great job of keeping things simple: present awesome shit and let the reader figure it out for themselves whether they agree or not, no real explanation, just badassery.

I was checking them out on the reader when I came across their Madder Red video post (by Yeasayer). The song is pretty clutch, as is a bunch of their other work, but the video?  Well, you'll have to see for yourself.  Kristen Bell is in love with...something, and apparently doesn't have her priorities straight, because she let's her mother stay at home with it while it's spitting blood and pus and essentially dying, which I was unshockingly ok with (you'll see what i mean).



In this case, TWBE threw me for a loop and compared the preceding vid for Madder Red to a "prequel for MGMT's Congratulation video."  I'm not quiiiite sure I see it.  Can someone help me out?

Yikes!

So I have no good excuse why I haven't posted in over a month.  It's been a whirlwind of a summer, and I'm still getting used to this blogging thing.  I have been voraciously consuming a few tracks on the Temper Trap album, and while I've yet to see them live (shenanigans at Squatch and then $80 scalper tix when they came to Seattle have prevented it thus far), I have great hopes for their show.

The Aussie band has been on tour recently, doing shows across the US (Seattle, Sasquatch and Lollapalooza among them).  Interestingly enough, they're meeting up and will be performing with The Pixies in Mexico this October.  Now THAT'S the show to see.

I know Fader and Sweet Disposition (my fav of the two most popular) have been radio hits, but I am diggin on Love Lost.  The song intros with the organ and clapping leads us into to Dougy Mandagi's airy lead vocals and then a great beat laid by the drums and guitar.  The video, featuring at first a solo boy, then group of boys running through the rain, is quite appropes.  The whole song is fantastic to run to - maybe not for tearing up a 100m, but a fantastic three and a half minute portion of your 5k.

Cap Hill Block Party Tonight!

Block party starts in just 2 hours!  There are a bunch of great bands, and I hope I find some cool local stuff before the headliners come Holy Fuck! (yes!)), Yeahsayers and the big boys, MGMT.  I hope MGMT puts on a better show than they did at Sasquatch, as I was kinda disappointed with their energy there.

In case you don't know Holy Fuck!, you should.  My buddy Foxy introduced these guys to me back when I was in the 404.  Lovely Allen is one of my favorites.  Check it!

The Lo-cal Lo-down

So today we've got two awesome bands from Seattle, both of which will be at the Capitol Hill Block Party, near the end of this month (July 23rd - 25th), which I highly recommend attending.  These come on the rec from my girl Ace, who is totally hooked up with the Seattle music scene.  Big up yourself, chica.

Probably best to start with Mad Rad.  Now I'm not saying they're rowdy, but they were temporarily banned from a majority of Capitol Hill, after a run in with Neumo's security.  This energy translates into their music, which spans a number of genres and my itunes lists as "other."  There's a lot of hip hop influence, but that doesn't count out the rock or indie feel to a lot of their songs.  I like the first half of their 2008 White Gold album a bit more than the back-end, with songs like My Product, Superdope! and Glitzerland.

Now we get to Fresh Espresso.  Notice how one of the members looks like P Smoov from the Mad Rad pic above?  There's a reason for that.  Same dude....go figure.  He's paired up with MC Rik Rude (originally in Michigan, now chillin in the Bay) to lay some pretty dope tracks.  I think the Seattle Subsonic guys do a great job describing their unique style:

"they get one hand waving in the air while the other simultaneously strokes the nodding chin"

 Diamond Pistols seems to be the crowd favorite on their debut album Glamour.  While you're at it, check out their tribute to Styx, Vader Rap.  So tight!