Animal Collective team up Keep Company!

Yesterday, after a long time of hearing about it, KEEP Company released the special addition Animal Collective shoes, available at their store in Los Angeles, on their website, and at a few selected locations around the globe! All the proceeds go the Socorro Island Conservation Fund, which you can learn about through their website. The shoes are designed by all four members of Animal Collective, and they are really cool, especially the one Deakin made.

Here's a picture of the boys wearing their own Keeps:
Keep also made some shirts to go along with the shoes which were designed by Avey Tare's sister Abby Portner. They are extremely cool.


They also decided to release a very limited addition cassette that features new original songs, one done by each member.

The track listing is:
Geologist’s Jailhouse
Avey Tare’s Call Home (Buy Grapes)
Deakin’s Country Report
Panda Bear's The Preekness

Why'd they design what they designed?

“I’ve always liked camouflage patterns and I’d be lying if I said the idea of blending into the environment and becoming invisible didn’t excite me a little bit.” — Noah Lennox

“My design was inspired by three things - a doodle I often draw based on an image of a shark I saw on a beach closed sign, a birthday card Abby Portner made me a while back that had sort of a wall paper feel to it, and having to get clothes for my kid. I just thought about how psyched I would be when I was a kid to have had sharks on my shoes and how psyched my kid will be to wear a pair if he ends up liking sharks. So basically I wanted to make a shoe for him and I decided to combine the above three things.” — Brian Weitz

“I realized that many of my friends are unaware of what is down there. Telling friends how psyched I was to have seen Yellow Fin Tuna, I also realized that though they have eaten Yellow Fin, [most people] have no idea what tuna look like. I thought it would be cool to represent tuna in some way that I thought looked sweet and would want to wear.” — Josh Dibb

Arctic Monkeys announce the name of their 4th album.

Suck It and See

What is happening. I give them credit only for the fact that a song like "Brick By Brick" can only go on an album with such an atrocious title. The tracklisting for the album is a boatload of fun too:

01 She's Thunderstorms
02 Black Treacle
03 Brick by Brick
04 The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
05 Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
06 Library Pictures
07 All My Own Stunts
08 Reckless Serenade
09 Piledriver Waltz
10 Love Is a Laserquest
11 Suck It and See
12 That's Where You're Wrong

I'm looking forward to hearing "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala", the seemingly inspirational "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", and "Piledriver Waltz". This is going to be terrifyingly interesting.

Show Review: Bright Eyes live at Radio City Music Hall 3/9/11

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Bright Eyes at Radio City Music Hall. Wild Flag, an all girl group from Portland, Oregon, were the first to play, and they were pretty good. I’m usually not a fan of all girl groups, but they had an edge and really packed a punch. Superchunk went on second, and for their age, I was very happy with the fact that they were still punk, and that the singer’s voice was unique. I’m going to be honest, I don’t know either of their music except for what I saw, but I recommend both of them. After about 2 hours, Bright Eyes finally showed signs of coming out. They opened by playing Denny Brewer’s slightly haunting speech that began The People’s Key. Hearing that alone, I lost it. I don’t have much memory of it, the tears and the shaking overcame me: Conor Oberst was real, not just this voice I've pouring over for so many years. After a perfectly done "Firewall", they moved into the ever danceable “Jejune Stars”. He then greets us kindly, informing us that the next song contained some graphic sexual content and that necessary ears should be covered and people should leave if they feel uncomfortable, then breezed right into a beautifully done “Take It Easy (Love Nothing)”. He introduced “Hot Knives” the same as “Take it Easy”, and said, “I wonder who made this setlist cuz it’s really gross.” That’s one thing about this event, he spoke between almost every song, and every single one of his speeches contained something quotable, clever, or downright inspiring. The night kicked up for me when they surprised us with an epic two song run of “An Attempt to Tip the Scales” and “Padraic My Prince”, both of which reduced me to pure tears. I can safely say, even songs I wasn’t too fond of like “Arc of Time” were performed so magnificently that I now will have them on constant repeat. The final leg of the set consisted of “Bowl of Oranges”, “Old Soul Song”, “Poison Oak”, “The Calendar Hung Itself”, and “Ladder Song”. I don't know how my heart kept beating. I cannot ever hope to express in words how ecstatic and uncontrollably blown-out-of-my-mind I was. They all expressed such great emotion that I know translated to every person in that audience, especially the exposed and pure “Ladder Song”, where Conor sang and played piano up there alone. I couldn’t help but get teary eyed when he sang “Doesn’t it just make you wanna cry?” No surprise, they ran out of time to do their normal 24 song set, so the encore was only three songs, but I’m not complaining. “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” was the final "graphic sexual content" containing song, and it was done very nicely, but it probably could have been more dramatic. “Road to Joy” destroyed every other song performed. Right before they were to perform it, Conor, some how, broke his amp and his back-up amp, but that did not take away from it all. It’s a gloriously grand song to begin with, but hearing him scream “I’M WIDE AWAKE IT’S MOOOORRRRNNIN’” live just solidified my concert memory as perfect. Hearing the first chords to “One For You, One For Me” provoked tears of joyous sadness, for it marked the end of not only seeing one of my favorite bands live, but possibly the last time seeing Bright Eyes as a band live in New York.

I would recommend in a heart beat seeing Bright Eyes live, but I would only suggest it to those who recognize his older stuff and his lesser known material for I felt like I was the only one around me who knew songs like “Padraic My Prince” and even “An Attempt”. I really had hoped to see “Four Winds”, “Something Vague”, and the ever gorgeous “Lua” live, but I can’t say I have any real complaints. They are a great band, and I feel very privileged that I was able to see remarkable musicians like Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Andy Lemaster perform in such a respected and grand setting.

Quotes from the Night:

“I’m giving up apologizing for lent.”-Conor Oberst

"If you had told thirteen year old me that Superchunk would be opening for my band at Radio City Music Hall, I would have laughed in your face, kicked you in your shins, and told you to go to hell."-Conor Oberst

.......................................
Setlist:

Firewall
Jejune Stars
Take It Easy (Love Nothing)
Hot Knives
An Attempt to Tip the Scales
Padraic My Prince
We Are Nowhere And It’s Now
Shell Games
Approximated Sunlight
Arc of Time
Triple Spiral
Cleanse Song
Trees Get Wheeled Away
No One Would Riot For Less
Beginner’s Mind
Bowl of Oranges
Old Soul Song [For The New World Order]
Poison Oak
The Calendar Hung Itself
Ladder Song

ENCORE
Lover I Don’t Have to Love
Road to Joy
One For You, One For Me

.......................................

Video for "Trees Get Wheeled Away" from the night.

Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes Release New Songs...

This week should have been excited: Two of my absolute favorite bands released new songs. I am less than thrilled, however.

Arctic Monkeys' new song is called "Brick by Brick". It sounds nothing like anything they've ever done, and it's darker and more "rock" oriented than past stuff, but it's almost like they took all the bad elements of Humbug and went to town. And I loved Humbug.



And The Strokes released also released a new song. A few weeks ago, they released the song "Under Cover of Darkness" and it was great. It was what we expected from The Strokes, but fresh and bouncy. However, the song they just released called "You're So Right", and to quote Hipster Runoff, it sounds "like someone dropped an ipod in a toilet". For some ungodly reason they used a drum machine instead of Fab's magnificent talent. It's the awful parts of Phrazes for the Young all digustingly processed into a horrific 2 minutes. If you enjoy this, your music taste needs medical attention.


Do you agree that it is "River of Brakelights"?

Show Review: Interpol live @ Radio City Music Hall 2/17/2011

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Interpol live at Radio City Music Hall. Before the show, they were playing random music that compliments their sound, and one of the songs was Caribou’s “Odessa”, which left me and my group dancing. Alone. School of Seven Bells were the opener, and they were fantastic. Their atmospheric, experimental sound was a perfect compliment to Interpol’s style. Their single “Windstorm” was done brilliantly. I’ve been a fan of Interpol since Antics came out, and my favorite song of all time happens to be “Obstacle 1”, so, needless to say I was very excited and anxious to see them. After 45 minutes of waiting following School of Seven Bells, the lights finally dimmed and my friend and I jumped up screaming. Paul Banks greeted the audience with a “Howdy!”, then proceeded dive into “Success”, as predicted. It was very nicely done, and only got me more pumped for the rest of the concert. It really didn’t take much to put me into frantic mode, for after “Success” they launched into a wonderfully brilliant sequence of “PDA”, “Evil”, “Hands Away”, and “Barricade”. It slowed a bit for “Rest My Chemistry”, but even that was executed grandly and emotively. After that, it’s kind of a blur of overjoyed happiness (and crying) and blood-curdling screaming because from “Narc” to “The Heinrich Maneuver”, it was nonstop mind-numbingly excellent song after breathtakingly gorgeous melody. I felt like I was having heart failure during “Stella Was a Diver”. Just soaking in that moment of everyone simultaneously yelling “STELLA! OH STELLA! STELLA I LOVE YOU!” was beyond powerful. They closed their set with “Obstacle 1”, my favorite song to ever exist. I was reduced to tears. The whole beginning set was one of the most beautiful things my ears have ever heard and the encore provided the most perfectly gorgeous end possible. A song like the “The New” is so painfully beautiful live, but the only thing it was lacking was Carlos D., for their new bassist doesn’t provide the same presence or showmanship. Quite possibly the most inspiring performance of the night was the closer, “Not Even Jail”. Note: My group were the only ones standing in our section, let alone dancing. “Slow Hands” and “Evil” didn’t motivate people to move from their seats, but it was “Not Even Jail” that had everyone standing and ferociously clapping. I’ve never, in all the concerts I’ve been to, seen such a large group so in sync and into a song.

If you are a huge Interpol fan, not a casual fan, I would suggest you go see them. This concert has changed my life. Interpol are a magnificent band that makes agonizingly beautiful music, and if you are in deep appreciation of this, their live show will move you to tears of utter awe and joy. I know for a fact I will be seeing them the next time I can.

Setlist:

Success
PDA
Evil
Hands Away
Barricade
Rest My Chemistry
Narc
Say Hello to the Angels
Lights
Summer Well
Stella was a Diver and She’s Always Down
NYC
Heinrich Maneuver
Memory Serves
Obstacle 1

ENCORE
The Lighthouse
The New
Slow Hands
Not Even Jail

"I wish we could play here every night."-Paul Banks

LCD Soundsystem and their last show

A few days ago, LCD Soundsystem announced that they were going to have their last show ever on April 2nd at Madison Square Garden. Any and all fans of the band were falling over themselves at this prospect, and for a venue that can accomodate most of the bands fans, choosing Madison Square Garden was only a logical choice. But yesterday, when the tickets went on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster, seemingly every fan who just wanted a ticket or two did not arrive at their goal. Apparently, scalpers, in droves, somehow got a hold of the large majority of tickets, and the show sold out absurdly quickly. This left to the only other option of Stubhub where you could find tickets for the low price of $40,000.

Needless to say, James Murphy, the main guy of LCD Soundsystem, was not pleased. Last night he published a wonderfully expressive and very worth your time message on his website. He has graciously decided to play 4 shows, from March 28th-31st, at Terminal 5, which he says "will include most if not all of the songs we play at msg."

Tickets for these dates go on sale on February 18th and I hope all the fans who try get their tickets.

Panda Bear and The Strokes released the artwork for their albums!

This is the cover art for Panda Bear's Tomboy and it's absolutely glorious and beautiful. It comes out on April 12th.

And this is the cover for The Strokes album Angles. I think it's, um, homely. It should be a very fun album. You can also listen to the song "Under the Cover of Darkness" on their website and on iTunes. Angles is due out on March 21st.