ray's back...

after the gossip in the grain left for the UK Ray LaMontagne is starting his tour back in the U.S. come April...ticket presale begins feb. 3rd

the new flo rida makes me blush

Hello Iowa City bar scene...meet Flo Rida and Katy Perry in "Right Round." Maybe they're just talking about a dance move?

The Mountain Goats to Play IC

The Mountain Goats will be playing at the Mill on April 3rd for the Mission Creek Music Fest. Woo!

Death Cab For Cutie W/ Cold War Kids and Ra Ra Riot

04-15 St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkings Auditorium *#
04-17 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom *#
04-18 East Lansing, MI - Breslin Events Center/Michigan State University *#
04-19 Waukesha, WI - Van Male Fieldhouse/Carroll College *#

Country's Next Big Thing

The song "Chicken Fried", by The Zac Brown Band is quickly becoming the next "big hit" in country music. The song doesn't start until around :50 seconds in, but enjoy the lovely harmonies around 2:25 mins. Look for this to be a huge sing along at the bars very soon. I actually heard it at Summit on a Thursday night before break, and yes, sadly I was at Summit on a Thursday.

Zac Brown Band   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

The Oscars Approacheth...

As the Oscars approach, I find myself about as interested as I ever am, which is not entirely interested or disinterested. Just sort of "meh," as the kids say. I think part of the reason is that they will throw in nominations that I can pull for and believe in, but in the end it's always those same rubes that end up in those voting booths, breaking my heart every time. The same rubes that choose cheesiness of the most grandiose scale and give it an award...

...over things like this.


Sorry, 1998. Only Michael Scott was happy about that one.

Try not to smile

found it on perez hilton?

Conchords Live at Amoeba Records

- YANP/BBWH

No, you girls never know (How you make a boy feel)

No, you boys never care (How you make a girl feel)



Franz Ferdinand - Tonight, Franz Ferdinand

This song is my new dance jam, and while I know this weak acoustic youtube video doesn't do it justice, it is the best I can legally do. If you want to listen to the full band version find me in the SCOPE office where I will be pushing Franz Ferdinand's new cd on everyone all day long.

Take This To Your Grave (Pressed on Blue Vinyl)

Take This To Your Grave (Pressed on Blue Vinyl)

sorry for posting this somewhere when it is possible no one else wants this record on vinyl. still, if you understood how hard this has been to get you would understand my enthusiasm.

Thanks to Zac Lucera for the heads up/ immediate phone call

Album Alert: Two Tongues (Say Anything and Saves The Day)

Stream a clip of every song here!

Album Alert: M. Ward

Singer songwriter Matt Ward (The Him part of She & Him) has a new album on the way and it is quite good, especially if you dig She & Him. He also has some pretty strong guest credentials (Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Jenny Lewis, Cat Power).

Stream the new album hold time over at npr

Listen to the presumably first single below



and as Zooey Deschanel guests on this song it's only fair I show the trailer for her new movie. Weird side note the director of (500) Days of Summer has directed tons of music videos and no previous movies. Hope it has a killer soundtrack



thanks to Brown Bear for the heads up!

Album Alert: Andrew Bird

The new Andrew Bird lp Noble Beast is streaming on Myspace. If you like what you hear pick it up tomorrow at either the Record Collector or Real Records.

Free Iron and Wine Acoustic Demos

Alternative takes of songs from The Shepherd's Dog

SXSW 09

My oh my what a list of bands.

Notables after my first scroll through:
Diplomats of Solid Sound
Kevin Devine
Port O'brien
3Oh3
Ace Enders
Cursive
Explosions in the Sky
Grizzly Bear
Ra Ra Riot
Head Automatica
Wild Sweet Orange
You, Me, and Everyone We Know

Why I love Lil Archie in a nutshell

This is exactly why I am obsessed with David Archuleta. He is so amazingly awkward/talented and Entertainment Weekly describes him and this performance in a flower shop as "slightly creepy with a twist of awkward." That is what I aspire to be in life and he is living the dream. YOU ALL NEED TO WATCH THIS. It is hilariously good.

Free Decemberists

Hey there's a free download of "The Rake's Song" on The Decemberists website. What does everyone think?

Goodnight, Rose

According to RA's blog The Cardinal Cave, he will no longer be creating music or blogging. He is currently working on two new books in addition to Infinity Blues which hits stores in April. (Great poems, I loved it.) It's hard to put into words the exact reasons for this end, but he explains it all here(I wouldn't have posted the whole "letter" to his fans but he took it down from his blog just a few hours ago. Good thing obsessive Bob saved it). So grab your best Whiskey and have a few drinks for someone who created a crazy amount of albums with such beautiful writing.

PS. This would have been a much more depressing post if I didn't believe he will be back with more music someday. So in the words of Ryan, "Be patient oh the past is just a memory and heal,
Heal your vines you'll heal inside eventually."

From Ryan's Blog:

me- 34-a non smoker and happy, for the first time in my life.. i am excited to finish this wonderful time i have had with the cardinals and whatever new adventures may come after march. atlanta will be my last venture with the band and i am grateful for the time we have had and maybe someday we will have more stories to tell together. i am however ready for quieter times as i think it is very evident i am struggling with some balance and hearing issues.
also, no drama or anything but i am okay to step back from all of this right now and i think i did enough manic blogging when i felt alone and isolated during the last few years of travel. these last few years were the hardest i can remember and the most rewarding but i have loved ones to care for now and i am lucky i have been given a chance to turn around and see just what i am capable of as a friend and as someone who is not gone forever every year- it rendered me incapable of things i needed to be to myself and others- and my schedule sometimes never ended when the shows did- and some of that was my doing. and i lost someone i loved, and i lost myself.
that changed. i got to know just who i am in this little spell of time here recently. and change is the nature of the world and i naturally embrace that.
i won't be blogging here anymore either- but not for effect- it just is not being kind to myself- i need a life that is mine- i need to grow up and grow in to who i have subtly been working back towards since i stopped all that nonsense and i know also no matter what i choose to do in the music world, because i chose to do things my way and never lie i will always be viewed as an "asshole" ( i hear and have seen things in the past) and i am not, and i know the truth and i know who i am.
also it is kind of ridiculous to blog as i am a musician and anything i say here just gets reprinted at some point out of context. i say NOT FAIR but it doesn't matter what i say anymore or what is fair anymore really does it- the 21st century media has it's own rules about what is true and what is not. it is not a life- not one i want to live anyway and i don't really care to participate in narcissistic over-indulgent behavior anymore- that was never my intention- i just wanted to fight for my right to make music and to be given the benefit of the doubt. now, because i have stood up for myself and fought for myself i am labeled all kinds of awful things. well, i will walk away now and it will not matter what anyone say's. there are other things i can do in this life, other ways to be creative and to try and help others and be expressive without being demonized for attempting to gain the same things any other human being desires- love- friendship- understanding- and being able to express yourself without constant fear of being mistreated for speaking up
i have friends to make, brand new books coming (two of em' not counting that one already printed and on it's way out there and i LOVE writing....yay!) and a whole lot of living and learning to do.
i am excited to step away. i lost more than anyone will ever know (hearing, someone i loved, my sense of dignity, a never ending losing battle with stage fright and now my hearing and balance due to an inner ear issue- people accusing me of not being sober when i am suffering tremendous pain and nausea from my inner ear symptoms- people accusing me of theft (THEFT- ....awful) and this is not much of a life, not glamorous like those ridiculous video's a long time ago television played and no it is not monetarily as rewarding as people would like you to believe and yes, it is soul destroying. especially when you spend your life trying to write about the really difficult stuff and you stand there losing your way and people yell at you like you were in a circus. when it was your dream to matter and you realize one day, it never mattered- i mean, i am a punch-line and a footnote in what is worse to yell at someone besides "free-bird". i mean, i lost. and it's okay because i seriously snuck some pretty neat idea's in there in the work when i was making those mistakes or they were being made by others. this business is no science.
andf you know, whatever this is- it's not my dream. and it is a punishing thing to endure when you are getting worse and worse- it's not my dream, my dream was to try and tap into that energy i saw watching Minutemen vcr tapes when i was just a little shit in NC of mike watt's crazy shaking leg and his electric fingers- or how sonic youth droned into beautiful clouds those guitars shaking, kim and steve rattling the pulsing lines into feverish thudding imaginary subway cars racing through my heart- and how it felt to just let go and static up a riff and find the sweet spot- but getting yelled at for just being a songwriter- to be called so many horrid things because i chose to love music so much, and also to look for peace and balance in my life- that is not kindness and just not my thing. at least not now.
and i loved somebody. and i let others decided if that was okay and that was wrong and i was wrong and no one should deny themselves or others love or understanding because people don't get it. that was an awful mistake. i always make big mistakes. it's like i let myself learn that because that was a role, a niche' i filled that make sense to a loud voice of strangers who would never really play a real part in my life.
never become that if you choose this path- if you go this route with your art. never listen to those loud dissatisfied bystanders who only want to see you fail because that will be entertaining for that moment. hold fast to your dreams, hold faster to your heart and never step out of the light of that love that made you whole. i did. and i know better now. and better late than never i suppose.
but i am okay now. i see a peaceful way to better days now. i am healing. and most importantly i feel loved and i have learned to treat myself with that same curiosity and lover that i have been lucky enough to feel and to learn to let guide my life. love is the great teacher and i am happy to be learning now. happy to be listening to that over this never ending painful ringing. this is the great lesson of my life. for once i want to be dignified in my study and in one place long enough to hear and understand without my pride or my lack of faith in myself leading me further away from things i need to know once and for all.
this is the real work now. the rest is something else entirely.
quitting smoking was a good step and i am happy i also am just now beginning to understand how important it is i take better care of myself in every way right now. hell i am even beginning to sleep a little and i can feel the things good and bad that i did not have time to feel when i was running towards a new oblivion of work, hoping somehow someday what i did would be accepted and maybe that would make me feel loved. how foolish.
that is not love. love is being accepted for who you are. love is taking care of yourself and caring for others and dreaming out loud when it matters. not chasing rainbows. not hoping for some eventual collective sigh of approval which will never come. how did i ever think in those terms? i always knew better. thank goodness i know now how to be honest with myself.
anyway, enjoy these shows ( i will enjoy them immensely and i will miss them just as much) and know that i am not abandoning anyone, not the cardinals and not the fans, this is just something i need to do now, and that i loved playing music in the cardinals and hell, even before i was in a place to try and learn to be well, music was my life source- and cardinals was such a heavy crush and a real dream...i honor it too much to have any regrets right now, i am just proud.
maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness and if music is your dream, or if just dreaming is your dream, may you find your way through the rough patch with ease and i hope you let go and it takes you all the way there-
loving kindness to all.
R

High Five!

New Beirut

Sooooo happy. My five day weekend is just about to kick off and I couldn't think of a better way to start. Managed to not thoroughly embarrass myself while speaking in class AND a new Beirut song + video. The song is "La Llorona" (the weeping woman in English) and will appear on his March of the Zapotec EP which is due out next month. According to Stereogum, the song was inspired by "the legend about a woman who killed her children then herself after she was rejected by a man and now spends her time as a weeping ghost, wandering in search of the kids." Neat.

Mates of State featured on ABC

ABC did a special recently documenting Kori and Jason as they toured around with their two kids in tow, all across the country. Much like their blog Band on the Diaper Run, the special documents this unique kind of childhood their two children, Magnolia and June, have while growing up on the road. You can watch it here (so cute!)

Davy is Streaming

Check out Coconut Records' new album Davy on MySpace. You can stream the whole album. And you can look at pictures of Jason Schwartzman. Win - win.

Eat Your Heart Out, Carter Beauford and Matt Tong

Devotchka to Play Des Moines

First Fleet Concerts announces that Devotchka will be playing in Des Moines at People's Court on March 18th at 7pm. Tickets are $20. Yay!

Guess I'm Just Blog Crazy Tonight...

...but you need to know about this group. Jupiter Rising is definitely someone to watch out for this year. In the past, their sound was a little more average synth-pop but now I can sense that the male/female duo is verging on slightly more artistic music, judging from the sound of "Tres Cool," a song that can even make a white kid from Iowa think he actually is cool, if only for a second.

CB and Rihanna together at last (at least musically)

My favorite musical pairing is together at last! MTV is reporting that a song titled "Bad Girl" has leaked online (though when I searched youtube everything was disabled). Apparently an arch-nemesis of mine, Jerry Bruckheimer, needed a song for the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and through producer Polow da Don he got better than he ever could have imagined. Even though I still haven't heard the tune, I'm sure the mixture will be even better than the Rihanna "Umbrella" remix that Chris Brown appeared on a few years ago. And it most certainly will be better than the "Shopaholic" movie.

Big Day For GaGa

Not only does Lady GaGa have the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 today, but a few other noteworthy things have happened. MTV named her a Female Pop Rookie of 2009 (well, duh!) and you can read about that here. She also is stepping out of the Pussycat Dolls opening shadow and has now announced her first ever headlining tour in America, where she is headed to Chicago's House of Blues on March 24. Keep up the hard work!

New FOTC Album On The Way

New album from the quirky Kiwis set to drop April 14, via Sub Pop. Equally quirky songstress Sia is said to supply some of her sultry singing on one of the songs (yay alliterations!).

Lady Gaga on Leno...in Pantyhose

Congrats to ya boy, Clark.

Lady Antebellum's leading man Charles Kelley was just recently engaged. This is probably as exciting as being nominated for Best New Artist for the 2009 Grammy's.

GDB on Kimmel, also Bob Mar cover

T Swift on SNL.... not impressed :(

An Eluardian Instance

Of Montreal ~ An Eluardian Instance (2008) Dir: Jesse Ewles from jesse ewles on Vimeo.

Video for "An Eluardian Instance" by of Montreal.

Hype Machine users should definitely check THIS out.

For Bobby...

Ryan Adams on the Black Cab Sessions can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.

Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack

As the awards season starts to get into full swing, it is always important for us to watch the music categories for the films. I had the pleasure of seeing Slumdog Millionaire (an excellent movie by the way) while I was in Chicago recently and was blown away by not only the filmmaking, but the soundtrack as well. It was at the same time heart-pounding techno while still maintaining its Indian heritage. Two standout tracks, the opener "O...Saya" and the finale dance number "Jai Ho" helped the film grab the Best Composer award at last nights Critics Choice Awards. Here's a taste of "O...Saya" which gets help from a SCOPE fave M.I.A. to add that global hip hop touch to the Bollywood sounds.

For Anyone Doubting Her Talent...

Lady GaGa continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. With the acoustic reinterpretation of her excellent dance tune "Poker Face", GaGa shows any naysayers that her vocals are for real and are in no need of producers special touch, though that's not always a bad thing. I enjoy this arrangement almost as much as the original. Hope you all enjoy.

Benjy Ferree - "Fear"

This just seems like a song some of y'all will probably like, thought it worth posting.

Benjy Ferree - "Fear"

Antony & the Johnsons' "The Crying Light" Up For Download RIGHT MEOW!

You can pre-order the sure to be excellent new Antony album right now by CLICKING HERE. You get a free download of the album immediately, and the CD will ship on the official release date. PLUS, you get a bonus track. Sounds a helluva lot better than some bs DRMed itunes to me...

Blihtzen Trahhhhper

I know katie. has this band covered (she already offered up a free download, she introduced me to them, etc.) but p4k tv just put up the video for "Furr" and I had to steal her thunder.

Dashboard Confessional is still good

I'm not sure who justin is but there is a clip of a new Dashboard Confessional song on his website and I am digging it.

Lets see how long these last...

Being we haven't had too many posts over the long holiday break, I figured I'd throw these vids up here. They continue to get taken down from youtube, but if you can get a chance to watch them while they're here I think it's worth it. Enjoy...maybe...