New album cover for Beirut's "The Rip Tide"!

I don't understand why so many bands are opting for simpler covers these days, but at least this one keeps with Beirut's constant vintage theme.

This album should be epic. It's apparently summery and nice, but honestly, even "Mount Wroclai" is nice. I'm very excited for this! The album is called The Rip Tide and it's going to be released in the U.S. on August 30th!

Tracklisting:

01 A Candle's Fire
02 Santa Fe
03 East Harlem
04 Goshen
05 Payne's Bay
06 The Rip Tide
07 Vagabond
08 The Peacock
09 Port of Call

New video for "Surfer's Hymn" by Panda Bear!

Sonic Boom says it's legit so I'm going to believe him.



It's really great. It's so beautiful in it's own abstract way, but it's not inaccessible. The video pay homage to Surfer's who were taken by the sea, and I believe that that gives perfect emotion and meaning to this song. It's really a masterpiece.

SHOW REVIEW: THE DODOS LIVE @ The Bowery Ballroom in NYC 6/9/11

Last night I was fortunate enough to see The Dodos at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. I’m still in awe of what I witnessed last night, so to start off easiest let’s talk about the opening band Gauntlet Hair. Straight out of Colorado, Gauntlet Hair performed about a half hour worth of material that was both funky and experimental with an extreme air of atmosphere. They appealed to me possibly because they were so uncontrollably hipster, and some of their sound was very similar to my beloved Animal Collective. Each member was his own version of hipster, but the drummer was particularly great—he was a man’s man given by his little snarky, but actually funny, comments and his Abraham Lincoln tattoo. My only complaint about them really is that they were way too loud for the venue and the echoey effect for the singer got a little trying after three straight songs using it. After my ear drums nearly exploded, and a half hour of preparation, Meric Long and Logan Kroeber took the stage and ripped right into “Good”. This was the absolute perfect opener for them—the song provides franticness and energetic drum beats that force you into a Dodos-listening mood. As if that song weren’t intense enough, they then plunged right into “Black Night” which pushed the crowd into a manic shouting of “you wanna walk right through IT!” Songs like “When Will You Go” and “Longform” didn’t get quite the same reaction as the aforementioned, but they were still performed with a delicate intricacy that created the exact same glorious power. “Don’t Try and Hide It” was a clear crowd favorite, and that provided for some amusing harmonies where Meric just sang low, but the crowd sang Neko Case’s part during “Don’t try and hide it fight it”. It was at that time of night when someone somewhere shouted “Horny Hippies!” to which Meric apologized for he didn’t have the ability to play it anymore. So, instead they played “Winter”, and I am in no need of an apology. It was absolutely lovely. The same emotion of heartbreak felt through his deep melancholy vocals on the album was transmitted with even more feeling live, if you think that is possible. That lead beautifully into “The Season” which was the most raw-emotion filled performance I have ever seen. It built up beautiful and haunting, leading up to the ever desperate sounding “I CROSS THE SAND WITHOUT YOUR HAND…” It was so poignant and powerful that it brought tears to my eyes. The anger and the sadness were conveyed so uproariously well. They probably knew no other song could ever live up to that, so it was a fairly well-thought out choice to place the overtly necessary “Fools” next. By the end of that set, I have not heard a crowd scream and freak out so loudly as this one did when The Dodos left the stage. It was a completely mutual feeling, shared by every single member of the crowd, that that could not have been it. The encore began with “Going Under” which was a nice, sweet calm down that brought every one down enough to be able to handle the final song, which was a fairly unique choice of “Jodi”. “Jodi” was never a song that really got me going, but after last night, it will be on repeat. It was very entertaining when he began the opening riff, and the whole crowd began clapping along, creating a hoedown kind of mood, inspiring Logan and Meric to each do a little jig. Perfect.

Logan is boss at drumming. The fact that he is able to play for that long and do that much is astonishing. He didn’t seem fazed at any point and rather got better as the night went on. Meric is just as much a virtuoso as Logan was. I could see his lengthy right-hand nails, and it is true that he plays every song without a pick. Whether he was playing a smashing reverb induced wall of noise, or 10 picks-per-second folk guitar, he can create more sound (and interesting ones at that) than most of his peers. They are both absurdly passionate and prodigious musicians that I truly do feel honored having seen. If you can appreciate this fact at all, you will be able to accept the fact that the overwhelming majority of their set was No Color songs. If the only album you like is Visiter, do not see them, though their live show will undoubtedly blow you so far away. It was so worth the current ringing in my ears.

Quote from the night:

Meric Long: "For some reason someone requests that song at every show. I forgot how to play it."
Logan Kroeber: "We still know how to play this!" (In regards to "Horny Hippies", before "Winter")

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Setlist

Good
Black Night
When Will You Go
Longform
Don’t Try and Hide It
All Night
Companions
Winter
The Season
Fools

Encore
Going Under
Jodi
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SHOW REVIEW: JOHNNY FLYNN AND THE SUSSEX WIT LIVE @ The Bowery Ballroom in NYC 5/28/11

Last night, I was fortunate enough to see Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit at the Bowery Ballroom. The show started at 9, with the first opening act, James Mathé, making an appearance. He was one of the best openers I’ve ever seen. He was nothing like you would expect him to be, given that he’s a member of the Sussex Wit. It was a glorious combination of atmospheric/experimental funk and soul that instantly got my complete and undivided attention. He sadly only played five songs, but that was all I needed. Caitlin Rose was the next one up, and I can’t say I liked them. Caitlin Rose herself was funny and between every song spoke to the audience with distasteful charming sass, like after a few audience quips asking "Are you flirting with me?", but they were a country band. If you like country, you would have loved them, but for me they just played about five songs too many. Johnny and his crew came on to set up and tune, and then at a little past 11 they finally came on. They opened with “The Box”, and it was a perfect opener. It’s a song so filled with life and quirk that hearing the full band do it was marvelous. They plowed through “Cold Bread”, so much so that Johnny broke a string on his mandolin, leaving it up to James Mathé to make awkward, but endearing, small talk with the audience. Instead of a trumpet for “Kentucky Pill”, Lillie Flynn played flute, which made it wonderfully bouncy. It was nice and bright, moving the whole crowd sing along. They then played a gorgeous three-song arc of “The Wrote and the Writ”, “Lost and Found”, and “Brown Trout Blues”, all of which reduced the crowd to utter silence. “Hong Kong Cemetery” was done better than the album, with Johnny rotating between trumpet and guitar. They were so good at conveying the melancholy tone, especially with everyone shouting “I’m alright! I’m alright!” over the somber trumpet. The bright middle was made especially bouncy, contrasting nicely with the previous section. “Barnacled Warship” was my favorite performance. Johnny played his violin as he sang, and the whole venue was crooning “I’ll just eat fruit on your doorstep, I’ll just drink pail-fulls of rain” right along with him. You could tell the whole band enjoyed playing it, and that really resonated with me. He informed the audience early on that he was hoarse, and that created an interesting effect on “Churlish May” when he missed a whole verse due to coughing: “I don’t know what happened there!” On the second time around, they still played it brilliantly. “The Water” was one of my favorite performances. “I’m going to play a duet with my sister Lillie”, he said, as they moved next to each other. Don’t tell Laura Marling, but Lillie’s voice is absolutely stunning and, coupled with Johnny’s, was too beautiful for words. As you know, “Been Listening” contains many pauses during the chorus that are just asking to be taken advantage of by the audience. For every single pause, the crowd would scream “Awwww yeah!” or “I love you Johnny Flynn”, and other chuckle causing heckles, which you could see the awkwardness building up in his face while he too was stifling laughter. “Eyeless in Holloway” and “Tickle Me Pink” closed the set with everyone singing their hearts out, moving about, and thunderously clapping in unison. I couldn’t wait for the encore, and boy did they impress: Johnny and Lillie came out and told us that they hadn’t practiced this one or planned to play it, but felt inspired to do so. They played a beautiful rendition of “Amazon Love”, and because I was about three feet away from them, I could see how happy they were to be playing with each other and the look of complete sibling love on their faces. “Leftovers” ended the show flawlessly, with everyone once again stomping right along with the band and chanting “Leftovers is what I want, don’t need no fine cuisine!”

I was thoroughly impressed by this show. The Bowery Ballroom was so intimate, that I felt like a huge connection with the music and the band. I can’t imagine how I could ever feel that at a large venue: it was more of an experience than a show. Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit deliver live. Almost every song was performed better than the album version, and songs like “The Water” and “Barnacled Warship” really made it, as he put it “special”. If you get the chance to, go see him. You will leave more than satisfied with your experience, and I can safely say, it was beyond worth the price of admission. I will never know why more people don’t know about him.

“I probably should prepare something for moments like this, like a funny anecdote about the tour, but I haven’t got any.”-James Mathé, before “Kentucky Pill"

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SET LIST

The Box
Cold Bread
Kentucky Pill
The Wrote and the Writ
Lost and Found
Brown Trout Blues
Hong Kong Cemetery
Barnacled Warship
Churlish May
Howl
The Water
Been Listening
Eyeless in Holloway
Tickle Me Pink

ENCORE
Amazon Love
Leftovers
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New Video for Alsatian Darn by Panda Bear

Panda Bear released his video for Tomboy's Alsatian Darn yesterday!



It's like the part before the songs "Tantrum Barb/Working" on Oddsac. I approve.

Arctic Monkeys release the cover art for "Suck It and See"

Well, this was unexpected. I don't even know what they are going to throw at us next. This moderately random and confusing album is due out on June 6th, so mark your calendars.

ANGLES-The Strokes

Angles-
The Strokes
Label: RCA
4th Studio Album
Status: Out as of 2011
Rating: 3 Feathers

So, remember The Strokes? The ones who long ago came out with those albums with “Last Nite” and “Reptilia” on them and then released that moderately tedious album…what was it…First Impressions of Earth? Oh yeah, that band. After five years of empty-promises for new material, inter-band relationship problems, and several (some questionable) trials with solo work, The Strokes have finally released their arguably-more-anticipated-than-Is-This-It? 4^th album, Angles. The band is actually happy to be a band again, with the many different musical angles being brought in to give us a very easy flowing and different album. This is The Strokes of the modern age.

“Machu Picchu” is instantly catchy with its grooving disco beat, but it sounds absolutely nothing like what you’d expect. The incorporation of harmonies and reggae rhythms shows that they are, at this point, courageous enough to innovate their sound on the very first song. “Under Cover of Darkness” completely takes a step backward, comparatively, but it’s still so different. It’s like power-Strokes. Casablancas almost ironically notes that “everybody's been singing the same song ten years” because it combines all the standard elements of their sound into four minutes, but I must admit, it delivers with every successive listen. “Two Kinds of Happiness” is pleasantly mellow, with light new-wave overtones, but it’s not overtly remarkable. If it wasn’t underpinned by twangy guitar, I can easily say I would never guess this was The Strokes, assuming it was a typical 80s “indie” band. “You’re So Right” is actually utterly horrific. For some disgusting reason they decided to bypass drummer Fab Moretti’s talent and go right for sickening drum machines, along with static guitar that makes it sound like a carbon copy of Julian Casablancas’ “River of Brakelights”. Even “Metabolism” three gigantic steps back by taking the worse half of First Impressions of Earth and reconfiguring it to make a distraught and confused mess. After developing a tremendous migraine, the natural drums and immense bouncing catchiness comes back for “Taken For a Fool”. It’s so outrageously likable and mind-ingraining that you will listen to it multiple times before moving onto the next song. “Call Me Back” is kind of creepy. It’s easily the most experimental Strokes song ever made, with no outright melody or sing-along qualities. If you only like lively guitar solos and passionate singing, this song will destroy your listening experience, but I like it’s eeriness and out-of-placeness. A song like “Gratisfaction” is so overwhelmingly easily comparable to Billy Joel, with an arena epic chorus and instrumentation that work to get a certain type of emotional power from you that only a coliseum-rock song can. “Life is Simple in the Moonlight” is a beautiful closer. The verses have delicate intertwining guitar with light vocals that create a nice bed for the slightly heavier, more desperate chorus to fall upon. It sums up all the changes, trials, triumphs, desperation, catchiness, and twangyness of Angles into a well orchestrated closer.

It might be the out of control high expectations that come with a band like this, but I can’t say I was that impressed. At so many different points, I got feelings of “I heard this before” or “this sounds just like…”, and it was fairly apparent that some songs just lacked any direction. With that said, this album is not bad. It was significantly more welcomed on the first listen than First Impressions was and certain songs (“Under Cover”, “Taken For a Fool”) really pack the typical Strokes punch. I give them boatloads of credit for trying new things, incorporating new genres, and attempting to expand their sound, but I’m going to view this album as a transition. I fear it lacks the lasting quality their first two releases had, and I really do hope that in a year we don't ask ourselves is this it?

"Everyone was here except Julian. I can describe one day where you'd wonder how the record got made and a day where you would think it's the greatest thing that ever happened."-Albert Hammond Jr.

Video for Under Cover of Darkness

Recommendations: Machu Picchu, Under Cover of Darkness, Taken for a Fool, Life is Simple in the Moonlight
NOTE: I will have my review of Panda Bear's Tomboy out very shortly. Thanks a ton for reading this :)