Concert Review: Warped Tour

This isn't going to be as long as you think it's going to be. Just a quick top three and a couple honorable mentions from punk rock summer camp.


BEST PERFORMANCES
1. Say Anything
Max Bemis owned this one, with many of the 20,000+ concert goers stopping by to watch. His performance was frenetic and passionate, reflecting many of the band's lyrics. The six song setlist was diverse and incited a circle pit during one song, a dance party during the next.

2. Cobra Starship
If you know anything about me, you know I've resented this band from day one because it is not Midtown. That said, their inclusion on this list should be taken as a high compliment. Believe it or not, this was the roughest crowd of the day with a nonstop gaggle of preteen girls flying overhead and into the arms of pit security. The performance was fun and pure pop. Kudos to Gabe Saporta for making the "Snakes on a Plane" gimmick work this long.

3. Anberlin
Even though they apparently don't play my favorite song "Stationary Stationery" live EVER, they gave a solid performance. The band was voted as the "energizer band" band of the day which allowed them to play an additional ten minutes. They used it to play new stuff which sounded great. Definitely get their new album which is out this fall.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
The Academy Is...
If you've been checking up on their myspace, you've already heard three songs off the forthcoming Fast Times at Barrington High and know that they're waaaay better than any of the crap from Santi. William Beckett's messy vocals and boring stage presence proved the band members couldn't be further from their days at BHS and are looking a little worse for the wear.

BIGGEST SURPRISE
Katy Perry
I saw the reigning pop princess and liked it. Girl knows she got a good thing going with her over-sexed persona and took every minute on stage to play it up. She looked like a living blow-up doll, bouncing around the stage in short shorts and a halter top. The performance was energetic, her voice sounded great and she knew how to work the crowd. Plus when her cherry chap stick wears off America's listening ears she can fall back on the money and fame of boyfriend and Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy who introduced her onstage.

Blog Exclusive: SCOPE announces My Morning Jacket concert!!

You're reading it here first!

My Morning Jacket

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

7:30 PM

University of Iowa Recreation Building

***Tickets go onsale Monday, August 4, 2008!***

A portion of each ticket sold will be donated to the University of Iowa Flood Relief Fund. Follow the jump for complete concert information.

SCOPE Productions is pleased to announce the upcoming My Morning Jacket concert on Tuesday, October 7th at 7:30 PM in the University of Iowa’s Recreation Building. One dollar of the ticket cost to be donated to the University of Iowa Flood Relief Fund.

This historical event will be the first concert ever held at the Recreation Building, located just northwest of Kinnick Stadium at 930 Stadium Drive. Parking for the event is available either in the Kinnick Stadium parking lot or surrounding hospital parking ramps.

My Morning Jacket is an indie rock group whose unique Southern rock-country-jam band sound gained respect and admiration from both critics and listeners alike. The band’s eclectic and distinctive musical style set it apart from the typical indie crowd and helped skyrocket it into the ranks of music elite.

Recently, the band was featured as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, performing songs from the latest release, Evil Urges, including the hit single, “I’m Amazed.” The band has also seen exposure in other outlets, nabbing covers of Spin Magazine as well as Billboard, and was named “Best Breakthrough Artist” in Rolling Stone’s Best of Rock issue. My Morning Jacket’s live performances have also made headlines, such as the band’s groundbreaking four hour jam at this year’s Bonnaroo music festival.

Tickets for the concert go on sale at 10:00 AM on Monday, August 4th and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com, Phone Center: 319-363-1888 and all Ticketmaster outlets. All tickets subject to Ticketmaster fees.

Persons with disabilities are encouraged to call (319) 335-3041 for special seating accommodations. For additional information regarding SCOPE Productions, please visit www.scopeproductions.org. For press inquiries, contact Clark Bradshaw at (319) 335-3395 or clark-bradshaw@uiowa.edu.

Flying Solo

After the Dresden Doll's summer release of Yes, Virginia, Amanda Palmer is shooting right back at us with her first solo album that is set to hit stores on September 16th; titled Who Killed Amanda Palmer. In the past couple weeks, she has been putting out some crazy videos with her new songs, you can check them out here, and get excited for the upcoming release. 

Ampersand


Astronaut


And the latest video: Runs in the Family


Enjoy!

PS: for all Iowa/Chicago area kids, she is will performing September 8th in Chicago, you can find tickets here.

24 Hour Party People

I was just recently told about this movie called 24 Hour Party People. It is about Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records, and the bands he was involved with (such as Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, etc). First off, FANTASTIC movie. Even if you aren't that into the above mentioned bands it's a pretty funny movie. Not only is it entertaining but it also gives great insight into the whole Manchester scene during the 80's. If you like good music, good movies or both, I highly, highly recommend this film.

And here is the rest of it.

Iowa City Concert Announcement To Be Made Tomorrow

Kings Of Leon Home Movies

The album comes out September 23, which means you all get to look forward to about two more months of KOL updates from me. Deal with it. Here we have what appears to be the first in an installment of videos of the Followills at their home studio, recording Only By The Night. In it, you'll see mustaches, angry golfing, Jared on a scooter (just decided that Jared and I are now in a scooter gang together), Caleb doing physical therapy on his hand (which he broke while in a fist fight with brother/drummer Nathan), handclaps, headbangs, handballs, ATV riding, cigarette smoking, drinking and driving (golf carts), Caleb in a robe, lots of cussing, and (as expected) impossibly cute girls just walking around. I really do love these boys.

New STARS Song

Stars released their thoroughly enjoyable album In Our Bedroom After The War just a little bit ago, but it seems they're ready to give us something new. If you head HERE, you can stream the new track, "Why I Want To Save You." Not really breaking down any creative walls, but it fits well within the typical Stars sound.

thanks to MOKB for the tip.

Side Project: Person L

Sad that the Starting Line broke up? Wish that you could get Kenny Vasoli vocals with a slightly different musical direction? If so, Person L could be the side project for you!





Haven't had time to sift through the entire album yet but from what I've heard it's a little scattered. Then again that makes sense when reading Vasoli's own description of the project.

Person L is collaborative musical effort founded by myself, Ken Vasoli. Person L was started as an outlet for me to experiment with a variety of influences, genres and musicians. With the exception of myself the members of this band will be constantly revolving and the sound will continually evolve and adapt. What will never change is the motivation I have to explore the limits of music and myself. I hope you enjoy what we come up with, and with that I proudly present Person L

It's good to see one of my favorite pop punk contributors continuing to make music. Stream and judge for yourself over at their purevolume page.

Craaawwwwlll

Don't forget that today's the day y'all can grab a free download of KOL's "Crawl" off the band's website HERE. The band said it would have some political leanings on this album. For the most part, I'm taking the band's word for it, as the vocals are often indecipherable without looking at the album booklet (although on "Crawl" I can make out "crucify the USA," so it sounds like they're being honest). Aside from that, this song rocks sort of like a "Black Thumbnail"/"McFearless" hybrid and shows once again that Jared Followill (the bassist) is more and more becoming the most essential ingredient in the Kings' heavier sound. Damn that kid can play.

Dr. Adams turns to Poetry, Art

Ryan Adams is not only working on his 10th full-length music album right now, but sources say he has signed a deal with Akashic Books to release a book of poems. The date of this release is uncertain, but his website also states he will be having a show to display his various art work. Hopefully this will take some attention off of his Courtney Love problems of late... Recently Courtney Love blogged on her myspace that Ryan Adams stole $858,000 of her daughter's Cobain inheritance to make his album "Rock N Roll" Her rant was written very poorly and could not be understood at parts. As evident here, Courtney states, "Ryan Adams worst record and one of the worst records i can think of in rock and roll history ironically called'Riock and Roll '... yeah you listen to this shit im listening to my i tunes on right now who names a record 'Rock n Roll' what assholes do that? ... with these trebled up guitars my bandmate said sounded like 'really horrific rem on steroids' all treble and compresssion and shit wirtten songs - but so what?". I'm sticking with my man Ryan on this one, especially after she has called out at least three other celebs in the past year for hurting her, including Madonna.

John Mayer - Proving Guitar Legend Capabilites

I know I'm biased. I know you're tired of my John Mayer posts, but let's just all pretend I'm not obsessed with John Mayer and that I got dragged to this concert against my own will, and see where that gets us, ok? Have a little faith in me. 

I think all of Chicago, including many fellow SCOPErs, would agree that John Mayer rocked the house. 

His guitar playing at this show was the best I have seen. The set list was a  mix of everything, hits including "Say", "Waiting on the World to Change", "No Such Thing", and "Bigger Then My Body"; a few covers like Tom Petty's "Freefallin'", Cream's "Crossroads", and Van Halen's "Panama"; and songs from his current album Continuum. The covers at the show were fantastic. Mayer puts a spin on these covers, typically taking the vocals down an octive, but also let his lead guitarist David Ryan Harris take over vocals on "Panama" and focused on rocking out. Songs like "I Don't Trust Myself (with Loving You)" which is typically 4 minutes long, were streched out to a 12 minute song with insane soloing and bluesy jams. The dynamic and range of this set really showed off Mayer's love for all kinds of music, and his ability to pull all types of songs.

The entire show can be downloaded here. (It's a great quality and 100% legal taping, by the way). Even if your not a fan of John, I suggest you check out the show solely for the guitar playing, and lack of Your Body is a Wonderland, mind you.

(((if you sort of/almost respect me for my musical comments above, please stop reading)))

Commenting about alissa marie.'s post from a while back--JM did get a sleeve.  I know this for a fact because I saw it. In person. The whole thing. I mean, he wore a tank top. Then he took it off at the encore. I'm just saying. I was melting from the lawn seats. 

The Week in New Music for Tuesday July 29th

With so much new music coming out every week, keeping track of all the releases can become a little overwhelming. Feel free to stop over here at the SCOPE blog every Sunday for an extensive (although not exhaustive) list of the week's upcoming releases. And for those in the Iowa City area, be sure to support local businesses and pick up your brand spanking new music at Real Records (a phenomenal record store with an extensive collection of new and old CD and vinyl, located on the corner of Linn and Market) or the well known Record Collector (located near the corner of College and Linn)

Coolio "Steal Hear"

Alice Cooper "Along Came a Spider"

Richie Havens "Nobody Left to Crown"

Rick Springfield "Venus in Overdrive"

Andre Williams "Can You Deal With It?"

Young Jeezy "The Recession"

Concert Review: MGMT

It finally happened. Today I made the pilgrimage to Brooklyn to see none other than my much beloved MGMT. After an entire school year of blasting what has become the theme song of my life, "Electric Feel" ad nauseum in the SCOPE office, I was ready to see what happens when you take the indie buzz band out of the blogosphere and put them on the stage for a real performance.

Answer: they fall flat on their faces, nearly breaking those oh so perfectly placed wayfarer sunglasses.

I'm not saying the band sounded bad because they didn't. They gave a CD quality consistent performance which ultimately became their downfall. The stage show was nonexistent: five scowling hip-hip-hipster cartoon characters phoning in songs for just over an hour. They were literally too cool for their own concert; aloof, unconcerned and concealed behind sunglasses and under technicolor tunics and headbands.

The concert was a pathetic testament to how the speed of blog buzz is slowly killing the art of the live performance. Of the 6,000 people attending the concert, I didn't see one person actually singing along to any of the songs off Oracular Spectacular beyond the three that have been celebrated online. This leads me to believe very few people in attendance even own the entire album. In a sense, blogs are creating a new generation of one hit wonders: those bands featured and forgotten online with the click of a mouse.

And what of "Electric Feel?" Let's just say the dance party portrayed in the song's video is false advertising. I have given more energy to performing this song during many a SCOPE concert after party. The synth was thin, the vocal screechy, my heart broken.

The stand out song was "Kids," the last of the encore. It was performed by only two band members, neither playing instruments but singing along with a prerecorded backing track. The fact this makeshift karaoke was the best of the set was sadly ironic. The fact the crowd members were jumping and screaming "control yourself, take only what you need from it" at the band they will undoubtedly forget about when the next big blog thing comes around was even more sadly ironic.

I think the band should trash live performing all together. All they need to do is stay in their Brooklyn studio apartments and make catchy electro-pop dance songs that I can throw away when I sober up the morning after dance parties.

Kelly, This Post Is For You

Dear Kelly,

I heard a new Kevin Devine song and thought of you. It's a political cut, soaked with a sense of urgency. It's a cry for help that is begging for a helping hand. It's an I told you so with a what the fuck do we do now.

I'm not sure whether it was his facial hair, sense of style, or impassioned voice that made me think of you but bottom line you might be brothers separated at birth. Either that or it's 2 in the morning and I am off my rocker.

See for yourself:



Love, TC

P.s. When I imitated your tight jeans it was mostly out of jealousy

Kings Of Leon Album Update

Xfm has announced that my favorite southern boys are set to put the song "Crawl" from upcoming album Only By The Night (to be released in the US on September 23) up for download on the band's website on Monday, July 28. Not sure if the download will be free, but I'm guessing it will be. Xfm also says that the album's first proper single will be a song called "Fri On Fire." Getting psyched.

My New Obsession(s)

The title has two references. The first is the great video and song for Chromeo's new single "Momma's Boy." The other obsession is the show this was featured on, FN MTV with host Pete Wentz. Both are definite breaths of fresh air to music and you can't fault them for that. Chromeo's electronic sound is clearly influenced by a personal fave, a-ha's inventive 80's song/video "Take On Me." And the show FN MTV brings exactly what MTV has been missing recently -- actual music. It's live, exclusive, showcases the top current acts in music and is something great to watch on Friday night before going out with friends.

Check Chromeo's video out here: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1518072&vid=260007

You Should Really Know

They sure put the "OH!" in their name. 3OH!3 is a great band that mixes and mashes up all genres of music until you don't know what to classify them as: something I consider a good thing. Their sound ranges from electronic, to hip hop, to alternative punk and though some may compare 3OH!3 to moderately similar Metro Station, I feel like 3OH!3 has more of a real grasp on music knowledge, with a hint of playfulness added in. Do yourself a favor and check out "Don't Trust Me" from their just released album, Want, and just try not to like it. (If you are going to Warped Tour they will be there too.)

Conor Oberst Trades His Bright Eyes For A Trip To The Mystic Valley

So our very own Bright Eyed Fool was kind enough to give you a heads up on Conor Oberst's soon to be released album, humbly titled Conor Oberst.

BAM!




Well the time has come for the label to stream the entire album here and here(choose the latter if you don't want to deal with a pop-up rhapsody player). This is either because the album comes out August 5th or because it has leaked online. Again, I've chosen the second of the two options.

I personally feel like the album is a well needed transition from Cassadaga but I'll let any fans out there make up their own minds.

Recommended tracks: Cape Canaveral, I Don't Want To Die (In The Hospital), NYC-Gone, Gone, MOAB, Milk Thistle

Grizzly Bear Premiere (Another) New Song On Late Nite

Grizzly Bear continue to dominate my heart with these dreamy pop tunes. I absolutely adored "While You Wait For The Others" and now they follow up with another number, just as strong, called "Two Weeks."
This next album is gonna be one for the books.

Iowa City Concert Alert: Sunset Rubdown at the Picador!

Spencer Krug (co-frontman of unbelievably awesome Wolf Parade [who, by the way, killed it at their Chicago House of Blues show a couple weeks ago]) and his band of music makers will be bringing their particularly engaging brand of spastic indie rock to Iowa City's the Picador on October 2. Enjoy the carnival freak show of a song that is "Up On Your Leopard..." and the slow burner "Winged/Wicked Things."

Sunset Rubdown - Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of You Feral Days

Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things

Cover Me! National Product does the Smashing Pumpkins

Sorry I can't do a two for Tuesday, but I figure one is better than none, so here goes:

So I stumbled on this little gem while surfing the interwebs today. National Product, an Orange County based pop-punk-rock-alt-metal group (think My Chemical Romance meets some other band you hear at Hot Topic when you're cruising the aisles for a new hair color) has an interesting take on the epic Smashing Pumpkins masterpiece Disarm.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about the cover until I heard it. I won't say it's better than the original, mostly out of fear of being struck down in my sleep by Billy Corgan. But I will say this: It is very good. Stripped of most the obtuse instrumentation and Corgan's wailing voice, National Product's version is a straight forward acoustic rock ballad. Granted lead singer Danny's voice isn't as impressive as Corgan, what NP did with the harmonies more than makes up for it (forgive the cheesy video):

May City, Iowa May Have What It Takes For Nashville

Shawn Mayer of May City, Iowa is one of four singer/songwriter finalists on the NBC reality tv hit Nashville Star. At only 21 years old, she is trying to make a name for herself in country music. Judge Jeffrey Steele stated, "Your original song "Im Not Looking Back" could easily be cut right now by a Faith Hill, Martina McBride, or Sara Evans." The song is about her struggles leaving her boyfriend behind in Iowa to persue her dream of becoming a Country Star. Tune in next Monday for the season finale to see who will be the next star of country music.

Read on, and check out who I think deserves the title of "Nashville Star" .... I believe Gabe Garcia has the most talent in this competition and should be crowned Nashville star. Here is a video of his latest performance of his original song.

Devendra Makes A Video. Natalie Portman Helps.

So finally we have the music video that allegedly sparked the romance between folk music's freakiest hero and Hollywood's most respectable babe. The video's pretty out there. Feels sort of like an Indian version of an episode of Italian Spiderman. Check it out after the jump. .

I'll try, but I'll never be a gentleman

Tokyo Police Club either loves making music videos or are trying desperately to break through on mtvU. Either way, we get treated to the fourth video from TPC's latest album Elephant Shell. While it's not as good as some of their other videos (Tesselate, Your English is Good, and In a Cave) it serves as a perfect reminder to listen to one of my favorite albums of 2008. Plus it reminds me of red light/ green light. See for yourself after the jump.

Graves - Tokyo Police Club

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me

What do these two reality stars have in common? Read on and see...

I'll be the first one to admit I enjoy watching occasional episodes of The Hills. I don't know what the appeal of it is, considering none of the people on it really have much of a reason to be famous...but sometimes I find it entertaining. Apparently, one of the stars of the show, Heidi, is attempting to move into another industry. As I was surfing iTunes today, I saw a link to a song by a certain "Heidi Montag." That name seemed oddly familiar to me and then I realized. It's Heidi from The Hills. I doubled checked the name on Google because I just could not believe she is really attempting to get into the music industry now; but I am disgusted to announce that yes, my fellow blog readers, it is confirmed that Heidi really just put out a song called "No More."

Even worse, I just found that another reality show star "sings." Tila Tequila. Yes, ladies and gents, Tila Tequila. I'm not hating on her show but my god, music? Actually, I really shouldn't even compliment what she is throwing on iTunes with calling it music.  Her songs are as follows: "I Love U," "Paralyze," and "Stripper Friends." I liked "david1978pdx," an iTunes user's, reaction to her music. "Nude model Tila Nguyen is now a rapper? Her filthy squeaky screaming rant can only be called rap because it rhymes and is put over a chintzy beat." I couldn't agree more. It makes me sick that these people are trying to make music off of their reality tv fame. It's one thing if they were actually talented, but this is really nothing of the sort.

Where did rock n' roll go?

There is a new viral marketing campaign out there and it is begging the question "WHERE DID ROCK N' ROLL GO". Normally I'm not one to help spread the word of something I know nothing about but I can't stop listening to the battle cry that is the sample song. If you have some free time check it out at the aptly named http://www.wheredidrocknrollgo.com/ keep faith.

The Hold Steady Hit Up Letterman

Last night the Hold Steady stopped by to say hi to David Letterman and lay down a pretty rocking performance of "Sequestered in Memphis."

For those of you in the Chicago-land area, you can catch them and a poop-load of other great bands at the Pitchfork Festival this Saturday. Hopefully we'll see you there.

mr. mcmahon is finally finished

news short of the day:

according to jacksmannequin.com, The Glass Passenger will be ready to preorder july 30th on the band website.

those who preorder the cd will recieve a free "Miss California" bonus track.

im ready.

Their Love is Like the iPhone...Everyone Wants It

I'm sure most of you country fans have heard of Heidi Newfield's song "Johnny & June" and non-country fans can surely guess who it's about. That's right, the Man in Black's relationship has inspired a great song from the former Trick Pony singer. This is a great start to her solo career and the song is heating up the country charts, possibly poised for crossover success like many of her genre's peers have been doing. The song features great lines like the hook "I want a love like Johnny and June" and "When you're gone/ I wanna go too". A little fun fact: Newfield actually knew the couple for about the last five years of the Cash's lives, which helps the song feel much more honest and personal.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=woxYkcRYE7E

Cover Me!: Seabear Does "Teenage Kicks"

I'm guessing most of you haven't heard of Seabear yet. Seabear started out as a one-man folk-pop band from Iceland, and is now a seven-man folk-pop band from Iceland. Seabear is also awesome. They have a ridiculous knack for being able to turn any tune into dreamy, worry-melting, bedroom sized songs that surprise you at every corner with little sparkles of lyrical genius ("human skin can be hard to live in"). Seabear's most recent effort, The Ghost That Carried Us Away, is one of my favorite albums of all time. For reals. Here, the Icelanders take their tried and true formula and apply it to 80's UK punk band the Undertones' song, "Teenage Kicks."


Seabear - "Teenage Kicks" (Undertones cover)

The result: pure gold, baby.

Incubus Guitarist Takes A Break...Just For A Bit

That's right. Yet another selfish rockstar taking time off from the band so that he can do the things that he wants to do. This time it's Incubus' Mike Einziger, and he's taking a break from laying down schizophrenic guitar riffs in order to study music composition at Harvard. No big deal. It has also been hinted at that singer Brandon Boyd will be pursuing some sort of art education as well. The downside is no new Incubus material for at least another year or so. The upside is that, whenever that new album does drop, we can anticipate some badass cover art and symphonic/orchestral arrangements.

Bassist Gordon Moakes Leaves Bloc Party...Just For A Little

So one of my favorite thrummers out there, Bloc bassist Gordon Moakes, has announced that he will be skipping out on Bloc Party touring duties for the next few months in order to be close to home, as his wife is expecting to give birth to their first child sometime this summer. This means that Gordy will NOT be with Bloc Party at Lollapalooza OR their Chicago House of Blues show on the second of August and will be temporarily replaced by Daniel Lindegren, aka Tommy Sparks. This comes as a great disappointment to me, but I don't hold it against the band or Gordon. Rockstar dads are pretty badass. Responsible rockstar dads, however, are the badassist (that sounded pretty afterschool special-y).

(via NME)

Cutest Human Being EVER

My adorable bone just exploded. 

I Love The 80's...In An Unironic Way

Last spring I was cruising the blogopolis and stumbled upon a song by Sam Sparro called "Black & Gold," which I downloaded for no other reason but hoping to find the unintentional new theme song for Hawkeye tailgates. This, it was not. However, it was a tasty little 80's-throwback jam with a sort of "Tainted Heart" feel. Quite delicious. I gotta tell you, based on the songs I've heard (all of them), I'm sprinting to the storage space to get out my zuba pants and hi-tops so that I may fully enjoy some of the best 80's-inspired dance jams I've ever heard. Checkout the video for the phenomenal Calvin Harris-y "21st Century Life" and a download of "Black and Gold".

DOWNLOAD: Sam Sparro - "Black and Gold"
"21st Century Life"

The Week in New Music for Tuesday July 15th

With so much new music coming out every week, keeping track of all the releases can become a little overwhelming. Feel free to stop over here at the SCOPE blog every Sunday for an extensive (although not exhaustive) list of the week's upcoming releases. And for those in the Iowa City area, be sure to support local businesses and pick up your brand spanking new music at Real Records (a phenomenal record store with an extensive collection of new and old CD and vinyl, located on the corner of Linn and Market) or the well known Record Collector (located near the corner of College and Linn

Blackmore's Night "Secret Voyage"

Delta Goodrem "Delta"

Ace Young "Ace Young"

Bajofondo "Mar Dulce"

Elisa "Dancing"

David Banner "Greatest Story Ever Told"

The Hold Steady "Stay Positive"

Lloyd "Lesson in Love"

John Mellencamp "Life, Death, Love and Freedom"

Nas "Nas"

O.A.R. "All Sides"

Wire "Object 47"

Randy Travis "Around the Bend"

ABN "It Is What It Is"

New She & Him Video: "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"

So I love Zooey Deschanel as an actress, and I found She & Him's Volume 1 pretty enjoyable. But the She of She & Him just always seems so uncomfortable whenever she's doing something musical. Granted, I've only seen this music video and a late night talk show performance or two, but still. I guess I just assumed an actress would be comfortable in those types of performance situations. Take the jump to check the new vid out and judge for yourself.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

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new "my drive thru" video

Julian Casablancas, Pharell Williams and Santogold just released a music video for their Converse promo song, "My Drive Thru," a song we introduced you to early this summer...MORE




While the video's visually interesting, it just doesn't seem to fit with the song's jubilant summer anthem beat and feels more like an advertisement (big surprise) rather than an artistic visual interpretation of the song. No matter, Casablancas' appearance alone has me salivating for the promised 2009 release of The Strokes' newest album.

Stick with it until Santogold's solo during which she clearly steals the show from the boys, yeyah gurl.

The Higher's got me On Fire

The Higher has got me on FIRE, the small time punk band from Las Vegas has been cutting its way through the college scene throughout the US after its second album release last year entitled 'On Fire.' Their beats are fresh, their vocals are clean, and their riffs are mean. The sound of the Higher would be like if Chris Brown and Fall Out Boy were playing chicken in bmws and neither one of them turned...and they had their radios blasting. Their sweet mix of lulling acoustic melodies and "give me another jello-shot" bass licks can appeal to the whole family. Am I turning punk? Would you be "turning punk" if you started listening to the Higher, No. I'm just not narrow minded, like Jesus said, my enemy, is my neighbor, and noise to you, may be music to me.

The Higher's hit single "Insurance" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTFbWYXajC4

Cover Me!: Two For Tuesday!

Two cheeky British bands, the Kooks and the Last Shadow Puppets, stopped by Jo Whiley's show to record covers of Coldplay's "Violet Hill" and Rihanna's "S.O.S.," respectively, and they both sound pretty decent (which, considering the Kooks' less than stellar stabs at Ace of Base and PBJ, is a relief). Give em a listen and judge for yourself.

The Kooks - "Violet Hill"

The Last Shadow Puppets - "S.O.S."

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Pants Off Dance Off, comin' in hot!

After a long and much needed hiatus, the Pants Off Dance Off series is back, and hot damn am I pleased to be bringin' it back with this lil' guy. This jam hasn't had too much blog circulation...yet, so I'm hoping it gets the love it deserves, because I've listened to it five times in a row already and it's leaving me feeling really really awesome inside. Like maybe a really cute Disney squirrel has climbed into my belly and is rubbing his fuzzy tail all over my heart.
Passion Pit - "Sleepy Head"
Yeah. That's it.

New Bloc Party Single/Video: "Mercury"

Oh boy. Just watch the video and then make the jump for my ramblings.

. So Kele Okereke's obsession with dance music and club culture have been growing ever more apparent as time goes on (see "The Prayer," "Flux," and almost every recent interview with Kele). But even with those other dancier songs, Kele & co. would keep the guitars blazing, or at least maintain a fairly high attention to big hooks and strong melodies.

On the new single "Mercury" (from the album in progress, which is being produced by both Epworth [Silent Alarm producer] and Lee [A Weekend In The City producer]), Kele seems to throw caution to the wind and indulge all of his heart's dance music desires. And, being probably the biggest Bloc Party fan ever, I'm a little nervous. I'm all for a band's musical growth, but it seems here that it's more of an indulgence of Kele's changing musical tastes than a whole band progression (not sure what guitarist Russell or bassist Gordon are doing on this track [if they're doing anything], and I'm not sure how drummer Matt likes splitting duties with a drum machine). I'm also wondering how this could possibly be recreated in the live setting without heavy use of prerecorded parts.

Not gonna hit the panic button on the whole album just yet, but I'm hoping the band doesn't swim around in this area of the pool for too long...the water's looking a bit murky.

P.S. The cultural/social/political commentary that the video is trying to make is beyond me.

Pharrell Williams & the Strokes?? Say It Ain't So.

The grapevine is a-rustling and the message boards are lighting up, and the general consensus seems to be a collective and disgusted "ugh". That ugh is a result of the news that Pharrell Williams has been jonesing for the role of producer on the Strokes' fourth album. Not sure whether that will come to be or not, but I'm hoping for the latter. I don't think any N.E.R.D. or Pharrell material has ever really been that strong. To be honest, William's collab with JT on his first solo album is really the only truly appreciable thing that comes to mind (for me). While I do think that the Strokes need some fresh blood to take things in a different direction, I'm not so sure that Pharrell is the way to do it.

New Fleet Foxes Video: "White Winter Hymnal"

Thanks pitchfork.tv.

M.I.A. now Missing In Action

Just a few days after canceling her upcoming European Tour, British Art Rapper M.I.A. announced her retirement from the music industry, at the ripe old age 30. The news was delivered to a shocked crowd at this years Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee. What prompted the glam goddess to call it quits you ask?. In an New York Magazine article she explains:

"I’m an artist and it’s really difficult when you become the art, and you’re like, ‘Look at me!’ every day," she said. "I was never supposed to be like that. I’m eight things [painter, film director, musician, etc.], and I’ve figured out that you can get pleasure from being all of them, and that’s great. But I don’t want to be the thing. And that’s what touring is." She went on. " Music is about people," she said. "It is a party. But I never became a musician because I wanted to be famous, or I’m an extrovert and stuff like that. The touring part came last. Like, I already signed a record deal, put my record out, and did everything. My first-ever time standing onstage singing was already six months into my, like, contract and stuff, which is unheard of. No one does that. But I was just really petrified. It scared the shit out of me."

She later went on to say that she will now be concentrating strictly on her art. But If you want my opinion...which you do, My money is on her pulling the old "Jay-Z Bait and Switch" stay out of the spot light jusssst looong enough to hype the reunion tour.

Oh M.I.A. don't you see? when there was only one set of neon stiletto pumps in the sand.... it was then that i was carrying you....

Mexican Musical Duo Steals Show

I took a recent visit up to Milwaukee for Summerfest and came out one happy customer. Tom Petty w/Steve Winwood was the featured act, but my roommate and I decided the $110 street tickets just weren't worth it. Instead we were mesmerized with a breathtaking performance by Rodrigo y Gabriela. The pair from Mexico City played to a huge crowd at the Briggs & Stratton stage. Their fast, rhythmic, guitaring was out of this world and had event security walking through the aisles picking up spectating jaws. This clip is a great example of what I was able to witness, and please watch it until the end if you are not familiar with these two...


*Other bands/musicians I was very impressed with that you should check out:
Ari Herstand - playing at the University of Iowa Sept 18th
The Cocksmiths
Chris Koza
And if you are into reggae, Roster McCabe.
And here is the rest of it.

The Week in New Music for Tuesday July 8th

With so much new music coming out every week, keeping track of all the releases can become a little overwhelming. Feel free to stop over here at the SCOPE blog every Sunday for an extensive (although not exhaustive) list of the week's upcoming releases. And for those in the Iowa City area, be sure to support local businesses and pick up your brand spanking new music at Real Records (a phenomenal record store with an extensive collection of new and old CD and vinyl, located on the corner of Linn and Market) or the well known Record Collector (located near the corner of College and Linn).

Age of Rockets "Hannah"

Beck "Modern Guilt"

Danger Radio "Used and Abused"

Albert Hammond Jr. "Como Te Llama"

Hit The Lights "Skip School, Start Fights"

The Melvins "Nude With Boots"

Ron Sexsmith "Exit Strategy of the Soul"

STS9 "Peaceblaster"

Sunny Day Sets Fire "Summer Palace" 

One Last Reminder...

Don't Forget About the 80-35 Music Festival in Des Moines This Friday and Saturday With Top Acts Such as Ingrid Michaelson, Andrew Bird, The Flaming Lips, Jakob Dylan, and The Roots at the Main Stage as Well as Many More Great Artists!!

Heads Up: New Cold War Kids

So this past weekend I bought my ticket to see fall CWK in Chicago (which falls on the same day as the Kooks show in Chicago, so I decided to make it a concert weekend and see the Kooks earlier in the week at People's in DSM), and wondered when we, the adoring public, would get any whiff of the new album. I got my answer today, which came in the form of a minute-long audio/visual teaser. The accompanying song sounds AWESOME, and there's even a little 1.24 second clip of them at Lollapalooza (look for the scene where the camera is behind the guitarist holding a maraca and you can see the pointy white tents...I was there...no big deal). The new album should be out sometime in September.


Sidebar: this video footage leads me to believe that there will be a DVD accompanying this release at some point.

Concert Review: Hot Hot Heat @ Sunset Strip Music Festival

So two weeks ago Kenny and I moved into our (his) new apartment in West Hollywood. We've been blessed with a wonderful location, as it now takes both of us under 20 minutes to get to work, and traffic is never nearly as bad as it is on the 405. But that's not the best part about the new place: We now live less than a block from the Sunset Strip, and that means shows every night.

Kenny and I were lucky enough to spend last Friday at a VIP booth in the back of the Roxy for the pop rockers Hot Hot Heat...more

They were loud, they were fun, and best of all, they brought the house down with their catch hooks and sing-a-long lyrics.

More on them in a moment. Before venturing to the Hot Hot Heat set at the Roxy, we spent some time in the Key Club, watching the openers for hellogoodbye. First up were the Arizona band Good With Grenades. A slightly harder rocking group with a frontman that could really belt.

Next, Kenny, (SCOPE Alums) Ryan Knipp, Adam Brille, and I sat back and watched one of the bands Brille reps, The Hatch, perform a short set. If you end up checking them out, and notice their lead singer looks familiar, it's because he's Michael Keaton's son. Knipp, who'd moved out to LA only a week or so before, and I, had our first real "Hollywood" moment, when Batman elected to stand next to us for most of the show.

After briefly talking with the Hatch's guitarist, Jessie, we headed down to the Roxy to check out the Hot Hot Heat show. We caught the very end of the Deadly Syndrome set, and I must say, from what I saw, I wish I would have headed down earlier. They ended their set in true rocker fashion, with all four band members donning drumsticks and slamming away in unison on a single trap set.

Finally came Hot Hot Heat. Their show was energetic, fun, loud, and intense. The stage was decorated with dozens of large white ballons, cardboard cutouts (a cowboy and a horse, both donning a zorro mask), and a giant "Hot Hot Heat" banner. Their frontman, Steve Bays, really knew how to hold a crowd, and was jumping up and down on amplifiers and running around in circles about the stage. They played just about any song you'd ever heard of (including "Bandages", "Psycho Killer", and "Goodnight, Goodnight").

Here's my favorite song of the night, the catchy sing-a-long "Psycho Killer":

New Album Watch: Conor Oberst Solo Effort

So this is something that has been mulling around in my head for quite some time. I heard rumors last year of Oberst seperating ties with the Saddle-Creek label, his band (Bright Eyes), and embarking on the strange and uncomfortable world of solo touring. Of course these rumors have been around for years (what is Bright Eyes anyway, besides a front for Conor's creative expression?) But it troubled me when I was told this by a friend of mine who actually knows Conor.

Well, I decided shortly after hearing this (I think it was October, possibly September, of last year) that I would just have to wait and find out what was going to happen...more

Well, there's some truth to the report, and some inaccuracies. First, yes, Conor will be releasing his debut solo effort (Conor Oberst) on August 5th. Second, yes he will be releasing it outside of the Saddle-Creek label. However, fear not Bright Eyes fans. Conor has already come out and said that he is not breaking from Bright Eyes. Their rough and long touring schedule (pretty much constantly for the past 8 years, with small intermittant breaks to record albums) has worn on the band, and so they were given some time off to spend with family, while Conor headed to Mexico to do even more soul searching.

While in Mexico Conor teamed up with guitarist Taylor Hollingsworth and bassist Macey Taylor (coining the pair the "Mystic Valley Band") for a project that turned into a full length album. The album will be released, as I said earlier, on August 5th, out of the Merge Records label.

Aside from TC and I, I'm note sure who will really be interested to see what direction Oberst takes this solo effort, but I figured I'd give everyone in SCOPE land a heads up on what was really going on with Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst.

Two songs are available via Oberst's website, and from the preview, it's a folk-country-blues sound similar to I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, yet less depressing.

unleash the superstar inside you

I just saw this ad on TV and was so confused I had to do a little digging. Apparently it's the first part of a new Absolut Vodka promotional campaign called "In An Absolut World" which will focus on the bold and creative ideas of celebs. I thought this first installment was just plain confusing. For more Kanye-related "Absolut World" check out www.bekanyenow.com. Do you think such a bizarre campaign is going to sell more vodka?

new jack's mannequin song

Here's a live video of a new song from Jack's Mannequin, "Swim," presumably off their new album The Glass Passenger which will be out this fall. Not too crazy about the trite lyrical metaphor in this one, but I'll give the rest of the new material the benefit of the doubt.

Amy Winehouse Disses Kanye, Punches Fan

If you've done your usual blog searching the past two days, you have probably seen some news about Amy Winehouse's Glastonbury performance, in which she opened for Hova himself, Jay-Z. She struggled with a fan,

AND

sang "At least I'm not opening for a cock like Kanye."

Quite the show, Amy. Kanye responded by saying NOW he's "really made it" if Amy Winehouse hates him.

Wait, didn't you already know you had made it Kanyeezy??