Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard get engaged

According to various internet sources Zooey Deschanel (She & Him, Actress) and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) have gotten engaged. Here's to hoping this indie couple collaborates on music in the years to come.

She & Him

T-Pain Explained

Lounge Act : Bowerbirds

While looking through the WOXY Lounge Acts archive, I came across Bowerbirds. They have toured with the Mountain Goats after catching the eye of John Darnielle and more recently with Bon Iver. If anyone caught the awesome video that khutch posted of Bon Iver's Sarah Siskind cover, it was Bowerbirds who accompanied Bon Iver. Anywho, this is from last August, and is only 2 of the 3 members, but it blew me away. You can listen to individual tracks but I recommend listening to the whole thing to catch the interview that discusses their tour with Bon Iver. The Raleigh, NC band knew Justin Vernon from his Raleigh days, where their bands played together. The lounge act is also available for download. I especially love the unreleased track "Teeth of Life."

http://woxy.lala.com/blog/2008/08/20/lounge-act-recap-bowerbirds/

Check out the whole archive as well. There are TONS of amazing live sets that all include interviews. Some recent ones include French Kicks, Daniel Martin Moore and Horse Feathers. ALSO. Passion Pit will be making a stop at the Lounge on January 29, 2009 at 3pm.

Listen To Some New Animal Collective

CLICK HERE to get taken to hype machine, where you can stream two new tracks from Animal Collective's forthcoming Merriweather Post Pavillion. I heard the studio version of "Brothersport" a month or so back, and it's great. "Daily Routine" is just as great, and follows the "tropicalia-trance" formula that seems to be the theme for this album. But the real standout of the trio of tracks is "My Girls," a very sweet song in which Panda Bear/Noah Lennox sings of his only desire: to be able to provide for his wife and daughter ("I don't mean to seem like I care about material things...I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls...I only want a proper house"). Awww....<3 you indie-rock dads.

Whale, Wail, Wale.

Nothing screams suburban rap more than a mixtape about seinfeld. No wonder I like it!



and rapping over Justice? I'm sold

william fitzsimmons

my new favorite song is by william fitzsimmons. his soft, sweet voice is perfect for some easy listening or a sleep playlist.
itunes was giving away free indie playlists, so i figured i would download it and wow was it a good decision. he's great.

check him out for yourself! my two favorite songs by him are after afterall and if you would come back home.

heres if you would come back home::



if you enjoy this, search "if you would come back home" on youtube and youll find a sweet acoustic version.
enjoy & happy new year readers :)

p.s. check out his sweet beard.

Lykke Li messing around with SCOPE favorites

Lykke Li, the swedish born singer, has just come out with a cover-mash-up of Kings of Leon's Knocked Up which can be found here.

There is also a very poorly shot, yet incredible, rendition of her own Dance Dance Dance with back up and instrumentation with the Bon Iver boys. So here's to a little sensory pleasure for your holidays.

Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) Album Alert

A couple of new tracks off of Dan Auerbach's solo debut album. Sounds a lot like the Black Keys and in no way is that a bad thing.

Dan Auerbach - I want some more
Dan Auerbach - The Prowl

Top 30 Concerts of 2008

Here's to the lost hearing, the dehydration, the lists I was left off of, the stolen press pass, the encores, the sex-on-fire-hot bass players, the rain delays, the lighting designers, the songs they didn't play, the travel buddies and My Morning Jacket because ten songs doesn't constitute a real concert in my book even though they were awesome.

30. Ok GO
29. Gym Class Heroes
28. Radiohead
27. The Academy Is...
26. Athlete
25. Quietdrive
24. Anberlin
23. Panic at the Disco
22. Counting Crows
21. Spoon
20. MGMT
19. Motion City Soundtrack
18. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
17. Paramore
16. Rooney
15. Ben Folds
14. Katy Perry
13. Augustana
12. Cobra Starship
11. Kings of Leon
10. Coldplay
9. My Chemical Romance
8. Death Cab for Cutie
7. Wilco
6. The Kooks
5. Feist
4. Vampire Weekend
3. Say Anything
2. Jimmy Eat World
1. Bon Iver

Now I'm lookin' at you 2009...

Parker will you take, my...

I doubt Parker reads this blog, but it's Xmas eve and my boy, DRAdams is singing about the holiday and Parker....enjoy Park, if you're listening...

Magistrates...New Music?

NME, the notorious UK hype mag, had a list of bands to watch out for in 2009, some of which I had heard of, some of which I hadn't. Because of NME's love of early (and often undeserved) hype, it's tough to know what's worth looking into. But my interest was picked by the description:

"Influenced by Prince, Talking Heads and David Bowie, Essex foursome Magistrates claim to have a 'masterplan to infect the world with a dirty groove like some out of control STD.'"

Hard to argue with that. I'm not really sure how new they are but I'm guessing fairly new, which is probably why this is all I could really find by them so far, but it is definitely worth checking out. Feels kind of like a less produced Sam Sparro (meant as a huge compliment).

Magistrates - "Make This Work"

You can click HERE to be taken to a pretty great video for the song.

"Gran Torino" and Cullum get Golden Globe Nom

Jamie Cullum proves yet again just how good he and the rest of the British brigade's (Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele, etc.) return to classically-influenced jazz and soul are after receiving a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Original Song category for the Clint Eastwood film "Gran Torino" with a track of the same name. The soulfulness of his voice deserves all the recognition that it gets and "Torino" does an excellent job showcasing his vocals and building to a powerful climax (thats what she said). You can find the song on his myspace page right here. Cullum of course came to U.S. mainstream fame earlier this decade with the hit "All At Sea" and has since proven his talent with his excellent live performances.

"Comparisons are easily done"...

So I discovered that the standout ballad from Katy Perry's album "One of the Boys" has been given a makeover. Much earlier this year, before she had "Kissed a Girl" and liked it, she had released a "Thinking of You" video that was pretty average and low budget. Now that her label is in full force behind her, there is an updated video (much higher quality for the song if I do say so myself) that most people will not know had an illegitimate twin that died at birth (awkward description but I hope you get the idea) since she was not near as popular before "Girl." Here's the older video so you can see for yourself:


You can find the new one HERE starring that guy on Kyle XY who doesn't have a belly button.

Blunt Parody

Not sure how I ended up getting to this video, a little Holiday cheer...enjoy with a beer.

The Fray on Kimmel

Finally found it! Can't get over how good they sounded. I guess they had time to practice with their sophomore album coming 4 years later.

KOL on Pancake Mountain

I think it's like Yo Gabba Gabba. Either way, that kid in the green shirt has obviously been stealing my moves.

Psych!! More Double Posting

Fleet Foxes do "English House" on Conan.

Phaseone Has Got It Going On

GvB has been at the forefront on this character and I'm way obsessed with these reworked jams, particularly the "Heavy Water" one. Not that the Panda Bear "I'm Not" edit isn't good, but the original version is sort of unbeatable.

Phaseone - "Heavy Water"

Phaseone - "I'm Not"

This is also an exclusive SCLOG post. I've received some complaints (*coughshannoncough*) regarding "double-posting." It seems some people are afraid this is some sort of competish. It is not. And if it were, BROWN BEAR WANTS HONEY ain't never scurred.

FOTC Season 2 Premieres Online

FINALLY! Funny or die has the Season 2 premiere of Flight of the Conchords. Finals week just got a little better.
The viewer is huge and won't fit completely on the blog so...
WATCH IT HERE.

of Montreal covers Petty

The newest cover from of Montreal is "American Girl" by Tom Petty. They wrapped up their NYC show last night with it. Check it out HERE. You Ain't No Picasso also has an archive of 67 covers by of Montreal from "The Final Countdown" by Europe (which I wish they had played at the show I went to... Yay Arrested Development!) to "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" by Spinal Tap to "More than a Feeling" by Boston. Check all of those out HERE. They really showcase of Montreal's musical range and talent.

The National Going Back Into the Studio

Billboard reports that the National are well into the writing process and plan on heading back into the studio in April to begin working on the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Boxer.

The National - "Fake Empire"

The National - "Mr. November"

Hold Steady In Iowa City

April 7th maybe? Playing at the "Gargoyle"? I dunno. Check HERE.

MySplice III

Stereogum and team9's third annual MySplice is out. They've mixed together some of the most popular songs of this year along with some older hits. These are actually pretty good. Not up to Girl Talk standards, but still entertaining. My favorites are the Lykke Li/Cyndi Lauper track, the Kanye/Rolling Stones track and the Blondie/of Montreal track. They're available for download here.

MySplice III

1) "Britney gets Bloc-ed" - (Britney Spears "Womanizer" vs Bloc Party "Mercury")
2) "B.F. meets T.I." - (Ben Folds Feat. Regina Spektor "You Don't Know Me" vs T.I. "U Don't Know Me")
3) "Good After Time" - (Lykke Li "I'm Good I'm Gone" vs Cyndi Lauper "Time After Time")
4) "Albert and Katy Sitting in a Tree" - (Albert Hammond Jr. "GFC" vs Katy Perry "I Kissed A Girl")
5) "Debbie does Montreal" - (Blondie "Call me" vs of Montreal "Id Engager")
6) "Bang on A Milli" - (Lil Wayne "A Milli" vs The Breeders "Bang On")
7) "Lockdown Shelter" - (Kanye West "Love Lockdown" Vs. The Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter")
8) "Disturbed Youth" - (Rihanna "Disturbia" vs Beck "Youthless")
9) "Killer Mirror" - (The Killers "Human" vs Arcade Fire "Black Mirror")
10) "Crystal Holiday" - (Crystal Castles "Magic Spells" vs Naughty By Nature "Holiday")
11) "The Sound of Roses" - (Human Highway "The Sound" vs Guns N' Roses "Paradise City" vs Stone Roses "Waterfall" vs Extreme "More than Words")

Free Jason Schwartzman

Jason Schwartzman has been one of my favorite actors for quite some time. I just love him. And I just got word that his musical project Coconut Records is coming out with new album Davy on January 13th. I know that actors making music is usually a HORRIBLE idea (Scarlet Johanson, Joaquin Phoenix, Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx to some extent, etc.), but this is truly an exception to the rule (as is Zooey Deschanel). You can download the excellent Sea Wolf-y sounding "Microphone" for free from HERE.

ABSOLUTELY check out this disco-tinged banger from the last album. This song just makes me want to go out and drink apple-tinis and cosmos and dance and be a great big flirt, for realzzz!!

Coconut Records - "Nighttiming"

(ctrl/right click to download)

Also check out this OC-y song from his last album.

Coconut Records - "West Coast"

(ctrl/right click to download)

BONUS

Sea Wolf - "You're A Wolf"

(ctrl/right click to download)

FREE MUSIC!

Make sure you all pick up the free Eric Hutchinson video for "Rock and Roll" on iTunes this week!

Take A Break From Studying and Dance A Little

Nothing helps a rundown study session more than a little break with some up beat music to get those toes tappin'. And for those of you who are as obsessed with Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead" as much as I am will deeply appreciate this. It's a remix of the song and it's more dance-able than the first which, until now, I didn't think was possible. So take a break from those books and get your body groovin!

Passion Pit-Sleepyhead(Street Lab Remix)

Jumping on the CB Bandwagon

First Chris Brown gets the American Music Award for "Artist of the Year," now Billboard names him "Artist of the Year" as well. What can't this man do??

yum.

Bon Iver's new EP Blood Bank is looking like its going to be breathtaking...

Check out the song "Blood Bank":
http://www.imeem.com/people/ijmhNJG/music/wvk3at5A/bon_iver_blood_bank/

I'm already obsessed.

Speaking of Rolling Stone...

Rolling Stone just recently released their top fifty albums of the year and for some of them I was a little surprised and others I was pleased. The most impressive thing about this list is that within the past year and a half, SCOPE Productions has brought six (if you include Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes' solo album) of these fifty list-making bands to the UI. I think that's pretty sick, if I do say so myself. Mind you, two of them are in the top five. Hell yes.

Check out the list for yourself and comment with your thoughts. Any ideas of albums that should have made it?

50 No Age - Nouns
49 Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
48 Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
47 Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
46 The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
45 Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
44 The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
43 Nas - Untitled
42 David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
41 AC/DC - Black Ice
40 Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
39 Taylor Swift - Fearless
38 Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line
37 Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
36 The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
35 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
34 Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
33 Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
32 Jamey Johnson - The Lonesome Song
31 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
30 Duffy - Rockferry
29 Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
28 The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...
27 Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
26 Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch
25 The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
24 Girl Talk - Feed The Animals
23 Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
22 Jackson Browne - Time the Conquerer
21 Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
20 Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
19 Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part 1 (4th World War)
18 Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
17 B.B. King - One Kind Favor
16 Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
15 The Black Keys - Attack & Release
14 Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - Cardinology
13 Blitzen Trapper - Furr
12 Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
11 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
09 Metallica - Death Magnetic
08 Beck - Modern Guilt
07 Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
06 Santogold - Santogold
05 John Mellencamp - Life, Death, Love and Freedom
04 My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
03 Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
02 Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs:The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
01 TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Thoughts on Rolling Stone's Top Singles of 2008

Rolling Stone released their Top 100 Singles of 2008 last week. I feel like I lose faith in Rolling Stone a little more each time I read an issue or their website. I was way disappointed that Beyonce grabbed the number one spot with "Single Ladies", but then the image of Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake dancing on SNL came to mind and I felt a little better. I was actually extremely surprised to see Blitzen Trapper's "Furr" at #4. Blitzen Trapper is one of favorite bands, but I think #4 is actually too high of a ranking for this track. I couldn't really comprehend Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" being # 88 or Lil Wayne's "A Milli" at #84 (but don't worry, "Lollipop" was #5). My least favorite song of the year, Kid Rock's Lynyrd Skynyrd copying "All Summer Long" was placed at #18 and the equally annoying "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry at #20. It was, however, nice to see Kings of Leon, Conor Oberst, Beck, the Raconteurs, Sam Sparro and My Morning Jacket on the list. But that's just my opinion.

The top ten singles were:
1) Beyonce - "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
2) Santogold - "LES Artistes"
3) MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
4) Blitzen Trapper - "Furr"
5) Lil Wayne - "Lollipop"
6) Beck - "Gamma Ray"
7) Estelle feat. Kanye West - "American Boy"
8) Morning Jacket - "I'm Amazed"
9) Coldplay - "Viva la Vida"
10) T.I. - "No Matter What"

Check out the other 90 HERE.

Blitzen Trapper on Conan performing an acoustic version of "Furr." (sorry the picture is terrible)

GaGa Gets Pollstar's Attention

My favorite female performer is Lady GaGa and apparently Pollstar agrees that she is legit. Check out this article that starts off with comments like this: "In the world of music, there are singers, and then there are entertainers, those artists who seem to have it all together – songwriting, singing, dancing, choreographing, set and costume designing, you name it. Lady GaGa falls squarely into the second category."
It then continues on to this:“She gets it. She is the whole deal. She completely gets what she has to do and she’s willing to invest her time, her energy, her sweat – work ethic is not an issue here."
I think she has a unique perspective and her live performances are evidently incredible. Plus her pop lyrics are creative, fresh, and tongue in cheek to say the least.

Here's the sexy video for "Poker Face" and you should all also check out her video blogs. Priceless.
http://www.ladygaga.com/player/default.aspx?mid=3156

Here's the Hotstar article about GaGa.
http://pollstar.com/blogs/hotstar/archive_/2008/12/12/hotstar540.aspx

my heart is still an idiot

Hello, introspection. I found the song that sums up my first semester: "Consolation Prizes" by Phoenix.

Check out the sweet video below.

indie au revoir

stereogum says goodbye to the 2008 breakups.

Looking for a Christmas Gift? (For me)

Stumbled upon a website with a christmas deal for all you vinyl collectors.

Buy two get one free.
and good lord are there a lot of great albums.

for the pop/punk fans...

this wonderful new gadget on itunes called genuis plus my inability to focus on studying has allowed me to find a bunch of new music lately. my most recent find is cross your fingers by the summer set. it reminds me of a combo of the starting line, rocket summer, and metro station...

and yes. the kids in the band do look like they're five.

BIG NEWS!!!

Chris Brown has just recorded a song with Tim McGraw! He said he wanted to go a little more country. Hmmm...I'm all ears!
http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1601267/chris-brown-has-recorded-a-track-with-tim-mcgraw.jhtml

I Know You Will All Probably Hate This

Here's Sugarland's new video for "Love," their new single. It showcases the group's excellent live performing. Enjoy!

Sugarland
 
More CMT Music
 
More CMT Music Videos

Margot Takes It Away, My Breath That Is

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's did a take away show for La Blogotheque in San Fransisco. It was absolutely haunting with the band on a hill and the city lights behind them. They performed three of their songs of the newest album "Not Animal" but the most memorable by far was "As Tall As Cliffs". Take a look for yourself.


Margot and the Nuclear So & So's - As Tall as cliffs - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

I don't know about you but I love to put on a paper mask and dance

Peter Bjorn and John are coming out with a new album next year and they decided to give us a little taste. Here's their video for "Shut The Fuck Up"

Get Excited. Coming in January.

Hot Cizzle's Top Nine

Without further adieu...

9. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst



I was incredibly happy when I got this album this summer. I would probably characterize this cd as Conor Oberst shifting toward a style similar to Ryan Adams.

"I don't want to die in the hospital. I want to be gone gone to New York City."



Recommended tracks: I don't want to die in this hospital, NYC - gone, gone, MOAB, Milk Thistle, Souled Out!!!

8. Sun Kil Moon - April



Slow, repetitive, and haunting. Also beautiful.

Recommended tracks: Heron Blue, Blue Orchids, Lost Verses

7. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes



The only winter music that can compete with Bon Iver. Not my favorite of the year, (lost interest for a good three months, then picked it back up) but definitely near the top.



Recommended tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Blue Ridge Mountains, Ragged Wood

6. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III



So this is the token rap album. I don't listen to rap very much and didn't listen to Common, Nas, Q-Tip, or any of the other rap releases this year. That being said, I loved this album and had to put it in my top 10 list. If you had been in the car with Scharfenberg and I, you would have heard us singing along to a milli and would understand the appeal.

Recommended tracks: A Milli, Mr. Carter, Dr. Carter, Phone Home

5. of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping



This album probabaly made the quickest impact on me. I hadn't been introduced to Kevin Barnes's glam-sex-pop-rock before and I'm glad I finally found him. Plus their live show was incredible.



Recommended tracks: Names too long to remember, album is just a cd full of glam-sex-pop hooks and snippets.

4. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

I stumbled upon BYOP maybe halfway through the year and boy am I glad that I did! It is pretty much Paramore meets gritty teenage garage rock.



Recommended tracks: The Kelly Affair, Twisted Nerve, Bummer Time, Becky

3. Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow, and Blue



Jangly in all the right places.

Recommended tracks: Barnacle Goose, Little Garcon, Kurt Vonnegut, Red Elephant

2. Girl Talk - Feed The Animals



Greg Gillis may not have created the most artistically valued music but he did create the years best party. Also Ben Dover, Ben Dover, Ben Dover, Bend Over.

Recommended tracks: "No Diggity" sample, Set it Off, No Pause, Give Me a Beat, In Step

1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago


Not much needs to be said. A beautiful and timeless album. That and he partied with us.



(Thanks to La Blogotheque)

Recommended tracks: Blindsided, Skinny Love, re: Stacks, Flume, For Emma

He's Just So Magical

I can't get enough of Bon Iver, he serenaded me to sleep last night and puts me in a trance on a daily basis. He also happened to play a sold out show in New York last night with The Tallest Man On Earth. For an encore he played a song by Sarah Siskind called "Loving's For Fools". If you haven't heard it yet, do yourself a huge favor and take listen. It's one of the most gorgeous songs I've heard.

M83's Top 10 Ablums of 2008

1.Chairlift-"Does You Inspire You"
2.MGMT-"Oracular Spectacular"
3.Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes
4.Vampire Weekend-"Vampire Weekend"
5.Hercules and Love Affair-"Hercules and Love Affair"
6.Cut Copy-"In Ghost Colors"
7.No Age-"Nouns"
8.Free Kitten-"Inherit"
9.James Blunt-"All The Lost Souls"
10.Sun Kil Moon-"April"

I'm personally soooooo excited to see Hercules and Love Affair and No Age up on this list. But was anyone else thrown by seeing James Blunt? Anyway, what's your top 10?

Stereogum's "Gummy" Awards

Stereogum recently polled readers and has now released some BEST OF 2008 results. Some of the results surprised me.

BEST ALBUM OF 2008
1) Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
2) TV on the Radio Dear Science
3) Bon Iver For Emma Forever Ago

Some disappointments for me were the ranking of Beck's Modern Guilt at a mediocre #18 and lower yet was My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges at #21. Even more depressing was the Raconteurs' Consolers of the Lonely at #33 with one of my new favorites, Blitzen Trapper's Furr, right behind. I was also surprised to see Death Cab's Narrow Stairs ranked relatively high at #14. BOO, Stereogum Readers.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF 2008
1) Radiohead "House of Cards"
2) Gnarls Barkley "Who's Gonna Save My Soul"
3) of Montreal "Id Engager"

BEST LIVE ACT OF 2008
1) Radiohead
2) of Montreal
3) My Morning Jacket

of Montreal beats Radiohead any day. Kevin Barnes hung himself on stage for god's sake.

INDIE ROCK CRUSH (FEMALE) (prepare yourself for disappointment, Kappy)
1) Zooey Deschanel (She & Him)
2) Jenny Lewis
3) Feist

INDIE ROCK CRUSH (MALE)
1) Kevin Barnes (of Montreal)
2) Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend)
3) Conor Oberst

WHOA. Jack White didn't even make top ten?! Not acceptable. P.S. Ryan Adams was #7.

MOST OVERRATED ACT
1) Vampire Weekend
2) MGMT
3) Kanye West


What do you think? What were your favorites this year and who do you think should have taken the glory??

Spot On

Check out Entertainment Weekly's list for the Most and Least Stylish Musicians for the year. I think they got it perfect!

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20162677_20164091_20242343_14,00.html

More trouble for Coldplay

These guys just keep running into trouble with their song "Viva La Vida" off of their newest album. They have already been accused of ripping off the song from another band, Creaky Boards, which got a lot of attention after the band posted a Youtube video exposing the similarity between the two songs. Now Coldplay is getting sued by renowned guitarist, Joe Satriani, for stealing his song "If I Could Fly". Here is a video of Joe's song compared to Coldplay's song. What are your thoughts?



and for good measure the video of the Creaky Boards song.

John Mayer Covers....Everyone.

One year ago, John Mayer recorded a concert live from the Nokia Theatre in L.A. This concert was special, however, because it combined the three aspects of his music, an acoustic set, a set with the John Mayer Trio, and a full band set. This is where he first debuted his now popular cover of Tom Petty's hit "Free Falling." Last night, John Mayer revisited the Nokia Theatre, but this time by himself. While I was not at the show, it is available to be streamed off of Mayer's website. When looking over the setlist, there are several songs that are not Mayer originals. In fact almost half of the songs he played were half his own and half a cover. 

He started the night off with Prince's "Little Red Corvette" into his song "Stop this Train." Next he played his song "Belief" into Marvin Gaye's song, "Inner City Blues (Make Me Want to Holler)", which he has covered before on a previous live cd. The third song of the night was a rare Mayer original, "Hummingbird", not to be confused with the song Mayer sang with B.B. King on his 80 record with the same name. 

Next was his creative transition from his old song "Comfortable" into "Free Falling". Then Mayer played "I Heard it Through the Grapevine", made famous by Marvin Gaye, to the beat of his  friend Kanye West's most recent hit, "Love Lockdown" into into his song "Vultures". The covers stopped for a while towards the middle of the set, Mayer played some more rare, old acoustic tunes, "In Your Atmosphere" and "Sucker" as well as hits "Waiting on the World to Change" and "Your Body is a Wonderland". 

The covers resume towards the end of the set and into the encore, with Radiohead's "Karma Police" in a medley of old Mayer tunes, then another common Mayer cover, Cream's "Crossroads" into the John Mayer Trio's hit "Who Did You Think I Was". Next was "Gravity" into "I've Got Dreams to Remember", an Otis Redding song that Mayer recorded with Buddy Guy a few years ago. The last song of the night was Coldplay + Jay-Z cover of "Lost+" into radio hit "Clarity".

WHAT A SHOW. Only thing that was slightly disappointing was the lack of new material. I haven't heard a new Mayer original in probably over a year. He seems to be really into covers lately, he even played a Frank Sinatra song on David Letterman on Thanksgiving. 

 

 

I'd like to start this one off by saying "Live and love"

So I've been on an incredible Okkervil River kick the past few weeks and feel the need to share them with anyone willing to listen. I know what you are thinking, "But TC, You've written about them twice before! Their new album isn't topping year end lists like you said it would! Plus your title isn't even from their most recent album! You have me all confused." First, I got a little overexcited about The Stand-Ins. It's good but in hindsight a little short and slow (the pace of a few of the songs causes me to turn off the album halfway through). Second, I quoted a song off of their last cd because I stumbled upon a brilliant explanation of the song John Allyn Smith Sails on hypemachine and I just had to pass it along. Third, this band falls into the category of folk and indie (via my roomates definitions) so read no further if said definition excludes you from digging the song. Here is an excerpt:

Sheff’s take on every story is subtle and artful, beautifying the facts with flowering wordplay while still remaining true to the actual events themselves. The epitome of his masterful approach is exhibited in “John Allyn Smith Sails”, the closing track off of 2007’s The Stage Names, and a first person view of the suicide of acclaimed poet John Berryman.

And the rest:
The consequence of sound explains the last track off of Okkervil River's The Stage Names

p.s. the song is at the bottom of the above link. Listen to it while you read the article.

Every Song Kanye Ever Sampled (I dunno if it is really every song)

I'm an unashamed Kanye fan, so I naturally thought this video (of side-by-side comparisons of the sampled song and the finished product) was pretty cool. But even non-fans should be able to appreciate the insight they get into the creative process of hip-hop and the range of interesting music that Kanye samples from and puts his own unique touches on as well as the incredible debt that all hip-hop artists owe to classic rock, R&B, gospel, symphonic and pop music from decades past.

Get Ready for the Blood Bank

Bon Iver's new EP "Blood Bank" is now available for pre-order here. Here is the review of the album from Jagjaguwar. The four song Blood Bank collection continues down the path forged by 2008's critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago.From the title track's remembrance of the winter warmth we seek, to the summer love tribute of b-side gem "Babys," Bon Iver's snow-blanketed harmonies live across the seasons. Both expansive and intimate, these four songs explore the darker and lighter natures of the seasons and what they signify, and offer a dynamic glimpse into the natural energy and refined craftsmanship that characterize Justin Vernon's music. I don't know about you guys but I personally cannot wait.

new cobra starship "kiss my sass" video

This new vid from Cobra Starship makes me hate the band slightly less for stealing frontman Gabe Saporta from Midtown. It's pure fun and appears to be partially shot last summer during the group's stint on Warped Tour. In the spirit of that show, this one's dedicated to my lovely roommates; one for getting knocked unconscious during CS's set and not really caring, the other for coming thisclose to losing her shit when ordering a g & t next to sexy guitarist Alex Suarez in beer heaven. And I guess both of you for not telling anyone when I crashed (cough) the car while listening to this song.

COBRA STARSHIP - Kiss My Sass

Grammy Nominations...

I guess I'll be that guy who comments first. What does everyone think of the Grammy nominations tonight? Obviously I enjoy the fact that a bunch of my faves (including guilty pleasures) were recognized such as Chris Brown, Lady Antebellum, John Mayer, music from WALL-E, Lady Gaga/Sam Sparro/Hot Chip in the Dance category, Kings of Leon, Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco, Jason Mraz, and the ridiculous yet so necessary Best New Artist nom for Jonas Brothers. Im glad these artists got acknowledged for doing great work in their respective fields even though they are not all the typical serious alternative musicians. Congrats!

but if you kissed me now i know you'd fool me again

Wham!'s "Last Christmas" is my favorite holiday song because, well, it's amazing. The video, however takes the song to a new level of Christmas cheer for a variety of reasons:

-prevalence of the over sized parka/leggins look
-playful use of tinsel
-longing glances across the holiday dinner table
-George Michael feigning heterosexuality while frolicking in the snow (this was, after all, pre-the whole Santa Monica public bathroom incident)

Enjoy! And haaaappy early holidays!

If you were in the office today, you'll understand. Enjoy.

Ryan Adams never stops.

Ryan Adams just released Cardinology with the Cardinals, but he is already back in the studio working on his next solo album. YAY! Right now, the working album title is Dear Impossible. According to Billboard, Adams is tracking demos for about a dozen new songs including "Firefly," "So Quiet, It's Loud," "Goodbye Sunshine," "Universe Size Arms," the title cut, "Please, Hold On," "Souls Full of Holes," "OK, I Surrender," "Wild & Hopeless," "Kaleidoscope Eyes," "Your Name Here," "Mirror-Gold," "The Lights" and "Lost in Space." Get excited!

In his blog, Adams talked about how the Cardinals feel about his upcoming album.

"Songs need seasons. So it's springtime for these. The guys, my BFF's in the Cards, all gave me way thumbs up on almost all of them so I figured why not get the working model down now."

Songs need seasons?? What a poet!

Winter Passing

MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS TO ME! The Academy Is released a new single today titled Winter Passing. After being slightly disappointed with their summer release of Fast Times at Barrington High, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a catchy holiday tune that goes a little something like this:

You said, "For all I thought I’d ever need,
It's hard to face the holidays without.”
Well, I’ve left my last message on your machine.
It's hard to face the holidays when you’re looking for the words to say.
When you're looking for the words to say.

So you’ve found a friend.
You spend all your cold nights with him,
But if I was there,
Then I’d wonder why you still wear my jacket
Closed with traces of my scent.

Oh William Beckett, you slay me.

I wish all of Fast Times would have been as good as this. It is on sale on iTunes, and because it was just released today, I could only find a YouTube video of a recent performance.

Our Fearless Leader

So Ryan Snider, the General Manager of SCOPE, failed to mention to the rest of SCOPE that he was proclaimed the Student Leader of the Month last April. For this lack of knowledge I have decided to let it be known to all of the internet community that he has received this award. I found this out by noticing the PLAQUE on the wall outside our office the other day...shame on your Ryan for keeping this a secret...