Monday, October 25, 2010

Esben and the Witch - "Marching Song" (Official Video)

First official single by 'Esben and the Witch' on Matador.

City Arts Fest - Day 4 - Esben and the Witch & Foals @ Neumos

Day 4 of City Arts fest came with some serious decisions to make. Big Boi & Foals playing at LITERALLY the exact same time? Oye. I was very much set on seeing Foals until a few different voices of reason made a good point in saying "When are you ever going to see Big Boi again? It's not like Outkast tours, um, EVER" And although I'm not the biggest follower of Outkast, and thus Big Boi, it's definitely one of those things that you just have to see at some point. So the decision was made...I'll get there early and stand around waiting to see if they'll let me in since I only had the wristband and not the guest list wristband for that show. As I'm sure you've deduced by now (maybe it was the title of the blog) my attention span for waiting in lines - especially in the rain - got the better of me. I think I lasted a whole 10 minutes before deciding to get back in my car and drive up to Neumo's. Damn, if I was glad that I did.

The opening band, Esben and the Witch was definitely not something I'd heard of, or taken the time to even look up prior to the show. However, halfway through the first song I was texting a gang of folks about them and trying to find something, ANYTHING about them on Wiki. Not the easiest thing to do since it seems these guys are THAT new. I scoured the interwebs a bit yesterday and found out that this 3 piece band touring w/ the Foals just signed to Matador and released their first single for them, last week.
Esben & the Witch

Esben and the Witch


Foals promptly went on at 11 and went hit for hit between "Total Life Forever" and "Antidotes". It sounded amazing, their energy was on FIRE, the crowd was INTO it for sure. It was exactly what I was expecting and hoped for. 'Total Life Forever' is definitely on my top 5 albums for 2010 and I am so glad I decided to go see this show.
Foals

Foals

Foals

Foals






Getting ready to attack the drum


Saturday, October 23, 2010

City Arts Fest - Day 2 - Cat Power @ 5th Ave Theater

This was my first event at the 5th Ave Theater and first time seeing Cat Power. It's taken me a while to get into the singer/songwriter thing so I really don't know much about her. The first time I had any kind of interest in her music was a tequila filled Cinco de Mayo at the Cha Cha when I first heard "Free" playing in the bar. Her voice is unmistakable and the show was definitely something I'll always remember. I'd heard about her stage fright but witnessing it firsthand was a little shocking. The near 2000 person crowd was as silent as you could possibly get for that size. Between each song there was at least a 3 minute pause with only a few whispers, or a random folks yelling "You can do it" in some attempt at comforting her. I couldn't help but wonder why on earth this chick even wanted to continue to be in the spotlight if she was THIS uncomfortable. Selfishly though, with a voice like hers, I am glad she does.


Thursday, October 21, 2010

City Arts Festival - Day 1 - Macklemore, Brother Ali, & Blue Scholars


Mash Hall opening up the show


Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - killing it

Macklemore

dance party alterego


Brother Ali

Brother Ali

Blue Scholars

Blue Scholars

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The XX - Crystalised (Dark Sky Remix) (FULL)

Dark Sky = definitely something to keep on the radar. I'm speechless.

Jamie XX - Far Nearer

Solo effort on it's way out from 1/3 of the XX, Jamie. Hitting us with a little calypso steel drum action, but still very much keeping the restrained progression that we know and love from the XX.

Dig it.

Jamie xx - "Far Nearer" by vinylandvodka

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Blue Scholars - Lumiere

Amongst the dozens of XX remixes this one is far and away the most impressive. The XX is something I hold very near and dear to my heart and though I'm a pretty huge fan of most remixes, I've hated literally all of them...especially the Biggie vs XX mixtape. Weak, sloppy, and not even close to doing either Biggie (RIP) or the XX any justice. Leave it to Sabzi to be patient enough to use the right amount of the original sample in order pay a proper homage to the XX Intro. Geo's flows are never anything but exceptionally articulate, and this is no exception. Yet another reason to really get behind our hometown hero's.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Die Antwoord - Evil Boy

For those of you out of the loop on this, I'm truly sorry I'm the one to bring this to your attention. It's taken me quite a few go's to really get what the hell these guys are all about so bare with me. Being from South Africa, these guys had epic proportions of hype in the UK early this year. I suppose with the Grime scene what it is over there, it's not that big of a surprise that a sound like this trashy hip hop was so big early on. So somehow with only a self released EP in 2009, they made it onto the Coachella bill in April. Naturally, with a spot there the bloggeratizi & who's-who of LA media were all over these guys. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2010 year end lists galore showing these guys as one of THE MOST hyped bands on the Internet. To put it lightly Die Antwoord is f**king weird...yes, that is lightly which has definitely added to the attention.

Don't expect to fully understand any of their songs, interviews, or blog posts as most of it is in Afrikaans. And even when they are speaking English its so full of African slang you'd be hard pressed to really get it. I watched my first Die Antwoord videos with 2 S.Africans who were literally crying on the floor laughing while I just stared in disgust at how disturbing it all was. I was forwarded this video this morning from the same friends and am still staring in disgust. The difference is now I'm starting to drink the kool-aid. It's got the whole reggaeton, MIA (Mad Decent) vibe going, it's totally trashy and not trying to be anything but that. I could continue, but really, you should just watch this. Good luck.


EVIL BOY (official) from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Arch Cupcake - "Rubix Dude"

Yet another reason why I love KEXP, John in the Morning, and my iPhone. During my drive into work this week I heard this track in the background during one of John and Cheryl's many plea's for donations during their Fall Membership Drive. I emailed from my iPhone app about the track and John answered me immediately...damn near mid sentence. I LOVE YOU KEXP!!

If you like - DJ Shadow - dig this.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Best of La Blogotheque

This website is a little hard to navigate if you're not familiar with it so I'm gonna post some highlights because it's that big of deal. If you wanna get heavy into it go here to peruse all the 'Take Away Shows'.

Grizzly Bear was the first video I ever found on La Blogotheque. I was doing Sasquatch Prep (circa 2009?). I immediately sent it to my brother in an email stating nothing but the sentence "Now THIS is f**king talent". This video and their set at Sasquatch has spawned a pretty intense obsession with all things Grizzly Bear.



Pheonix has a pretty epic video on here that's too good not to show even though I've retired this song/album for fear of over playing. It's pretty amazing that in such a massive tourist destination, in their OWN town, with a camera crew in tow, that so little people stop and take notice. Though, it IS Paris after all.


Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

The Walkmen - (Other vids from La Blogotheque)

Sometimes, on a Monday morning you are mad at the world to be awake and going to work. And sometimes on a Monday morning, you turn on a video so goddamn beautiful that you're pretty sure you have the best life ever. And sometimes, both of those emotions happen in a 5 minute period. I've never been a Walkmen fan and not really sure why, though a friend and fellow muzo like myself, has been a SUPERFAN of theirs for years now. The day I stumbled across this video I emailed her to two separate email accounts (work and fb) with only these words. "Getting involved, Katie...GETTING INVOLVED" I strongly advise playing this next Monday.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The Morning Benders - Virgins (for La Blogotheque)

For those of you who don't frequent the La Blogotheque site, I strongly encourage you put it into your rotation. I have found that these videos are nothing but the highest caliber of artists putting on one helluva show. The films put together are stunningly shot, artistic without being pretentious, and downright awe inspiring. This weeks video features a new track from Cali indie pop band, The Morning Benders, is yet another solid from La Blogotheque, and a surprise to yours truly since I hadn't heard they were putting out a new album yet. They'll be in Seattle on Monday 10/18 if you want to see them for yourself.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Mark McGuire - Brain Storm (For Erin)

Mark McGuire, one third of Emeralds, also has a solo project. I've heard one or two tracks on KEXP randomly. I really like he's equally focused on the guitar as they creepy, ethereal electronics underneath. Should be a good show tonight.

Emeralds - Now You See Me

Emeralds is opening tonight at Chop Suey for Caribou. Super spacey, almost anthemy at times....definitely a journey.