If You Like Arcade Fire...

Check out Tapes N Tapes from Minnesota and the Annuals from North Carolina.

Tapes N Tapes

Annuals

Listen to Annuals, Dry Clothes and Tapes N Tapes, Insistor.

Annuals on

Annuals at amazon.com

Tapes N Tapes on

Tapes N Tapes at amazon.com

James Blunt Runs Over Foot

From Yahoo News:

Police are investigating reports that James Blunt ran over someone's foot as he was leaving a party, then drove off, authorities said Tuesday. The alleged victim told police his foot was injured at a party Saturday around 1:50 a.m., police spokeswoman Martha Garcia said.

When asked for comment James Blunt crying, said:

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we drove on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

Modest Mouse

Its been almost 3 years since Modest Mouse released Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Their new CD, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, comes out 3/20. Blender Magazine named Modest Mouse "the 25th reason to love 2007" because of this up-and-coming new CD. Johnny Marr from The Smiths joined the band last year and co-wrote many of the songs so you can definitely hear his influence on WWDBTSES. Watch Dashboard. Listen to Dashboard.

Modest Mouse on

Modest Mouse at amazon.com

The Frames

Dublin, Ireland based, The Frames have been a favorite of mine for awhile. Their performance at Lollapalooza 2006 was one of the best of the entire festival. Early last year they received Esquire Magazines "Best Import" award, which was given to Coldplay the year before. Their CD Burn The Maps was number five on the New York Times best CDs of 2005. Their newest CD The Cost came out today in the US and it lives up to the hype. Listen to Star Star live. See Caution To The Birds live. (For those of you who know me, I make a couple cameo appearances in this video shot by AT&T. See if you can find me.)


The Frames on

The Frames at amazon.com

Arcade Fire on SNL

I'm sure this will be pulled soon so if you missed SNL this weekend because you have a life, check out their performance of Intervention.



He has "Sak Vid Pa Kanpe!" on his guitar. I was curious so I googled it. It looks to be a Haitian proverb meaning - an empty sack can not stand. I found this on a church free lunch program so apparently they take the proverb literally.

Arcade Fire on

Arcade Fire at amazon.com

Dick in a Box

I was in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and we crashed a party thrown by a HUGE software company. They had an open bar, good food and great door prizes (we actually won 2 door prizes - awesome considering we weren't invited). If you asked me we earned them, the party was filled with stuffy genius types that despite the open bar couldn't seem to break out of their shells. The DJ they hired was really good so we started a dance revolution and by the end of the evening I had danced with 95% of all women in attendance. We crashed their party, drank their booze, danced with their women and won the 2 best door prizes. You couldn't have asked for a better night but alas it was just starting.

The party ended at 11 but the DJ asked us to go to his next gig at a club a few blocks away. We stayed and danced at the next club till they closed and the last song the DJ played was Dick in a Box. I couldn't believe everyone in the club knew the words but we shouted "one, you cut a whole in the box..." right along with the rest of the drunkards. If anyone knows who the DJ was that night, I'd be happy to post his contact and gig information .

If you haven't heard or seen this its from SNL. NSFW or small children.

Midlake

Sundays seem to be the only day I can relax. I get up, make breakfast, drink coffee, read The New Yorker and listen to something mellow. One of my favorite new CDs is The Trials of Van Occupanther, by Midlake. The Trials of Van Occupanther has a mellow 70's folk-pop sound derivative of Fleetwood Mac. From Denton, TX, Midlake has been playing with their sound since the formed in 1999. They started off jazz/funk, then went in a Radiohead like direction and finally this vintage pop sound. They have continued to grow and "find" themselves artistically. I hope this is them because this is a great CD. Listen to Roscoe.

Midlake on

Midlake at amazon.com

NIN Leaks or Ingenious Marketing?

Supposedly these Nine Inch Nails tracks from their upcoming CD, Year Zero, were found on flash drives in men's bathrooms in Lisbon, Portugal and Madrid, Spain.

Survivalism

My Violent Heart

Me, I'm not

NIN on

Cool iTunes Plug-In

This easy to install plug-in adds a calendar to your iTunes then adds concert dates and times from the bands in your music library. Download iConcertCal.

The Apples in Stereo at Little Brothers

Columbus loves them some Apples. I got my geek on last night with The Apples in Stereo performing to an enthusiastic crowd at Little Brothers. These nerd rockers were very fan centric, bringing up a superfan on stage several times to sing and play tambourine. Everyone there appeared to be having an awesome time and they played a long set of mostly songs from their newest CD New Magnetic Wonder. I was one of the few people in attendance that didn't know the words to songs that were only just released about 2 weeks ago. If you get a chance to see them live don't miss out.

The sound of the new CD is a mix between the Beatles and Weezer and covers such geek topics as energy, gravity, the Pythagorean theory. It is the first release from Simian Records, a label formed by Elijah Woods.

The Apples in Stereo on

Watch Same Old Drag:

Paolo Nutini

Listening to James Blunt reminds me of that scene in Tommy Boy when Chris Farley and David Spade are singing Superstar by the carpenters and crying. If you wanted to give James Blunt a chance but every time you hear one of his songs you feel like smacking him because he sounds like a whiny bitch then try out Paolo Nutini's debut CD These Streets. At 20, the Scottish Paolo, covers some of the same themes but he has more of an Otis Redding sound to his voice. Listen to New Shoes.

Paolo Nutini on

Brand New

Brand New are EMO kids all grown up. The Alternative Press has labeled them the Radiohead of the US. I don't know about that but their newest CD The Devil and God Raging Inside of Me is pretty damn good. The title comes from a friends description of his schizophrenia. Listen to Jesus.

Brand New on

My Morning Jacket

Top 5 Live Albums of all time:

The Allman Brothers Band, Live at Fillmore East
Nirvana, MTV Unplugged
The Who, Live at Reeds
Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive
My Morning Jacket, Okonokos

My Morning Jacket are one of my favorite bands. Their CD Z was incredible. Their double live CD Okonokos is amazing amazing amazing amazing. If you love live music, if you love jam bands, if you love guitar solos, if you love great lyrics, you'll love My Morning Jacket. In the most recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, their guitarist, Carl Broemel was listed as one of the modern guitar gods. An Indiana native, he graduated from IU and will return to Indianapolis this weekend to perform solo at Club Spin. Listen to Gideon live. (If the whole song doesn't play when you click, keep refreshing until it does. Trust me you want to hear the whole thing.)

My Morning Jacket on

Cold War Kids

One of the best CDs of 2006, the Cold War Kids' Robbers and Cowards is a must buy for indie rock fans. Their sound is very bluesy and stripped down. Listen to Hang Me Out To Dry.

Cold War Kids on

The Decemberists

"Progressive indie folk pop" the Decemberists make both catchy pop tunes and sweeping ballads often about historical events. If you are a fan of "The Colbert Report" you may have seen them on the guitar challenge with Stephen Colbert. Released in October of 2006 Their CD The Crane Wife was on almost every critics TOP 10 of 2006. It was produced by Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla and their first major label release. Listen to O Valencia!.

The Decemberists on

Bright Eyes

I'm a huge Bright Eyes fan, Conor Oberst is a great song writer with an unusual voice. His new CD Four Winds is more folksy than his last double release and will be available for purchase March 6th. The Bright Eyes song "Tourist Trap" will be the daily download on KCRW's "Today's Top Tune" and featured for 24 hours on Thursday, February 22. Check it out at www.kcrw.com. Listen to the title track for the new CD, Four Winds.

Bright Eyes on

Mika

Mika, born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Lebanese mother and an American father, was forced to move to Paris during the Lebanese civil war. He later moved to London and attended the Royal Academy of Music but dropped out. As a child he was taunted and teased and called a typical fag with child bearing hips. If Freddy Mercury and Elton John had a baby that was raised by ABBA he would be Mika. His debut CD, Life in Cartoon Motion will be available in the US at the end of March. Listen to Big Girls.

Mika on

The Apples in Stereo

They're going to be at Little Brothers Thursday 2/22 come see them perform and check back Friday for my thoughts. Until then if you haven't heard them yet listen to Energy.

The Apples in Stereo on

KIngs of Leon

Kings of Leon is the most underrated and under appreciated band in the US. They are huge in England but haven't really caught on here. For fans of KOL thank the brits for keeping them in business. Their newest CD, Because Of The Times, is being released April 3rd. Buy it Buy it Buy it. Listen to On Call.

Kings of Leon on

Tori Amos

Tori is releasing a new CD, American Doll Posse, May 1st, with a massive worldwide tour to follow. Until then listen to a live version of Landslide.

Tori on

Brett Dennen at The Basment

GREAT performance by Brett at The Basement Friday night. His CDs, So Much More and Brett Dennon are great but he's so much better live. I have to admit at first I was shocked by his appearance. Brett is VERY tall a little chubby and well he's practically a giant to be honest. When he's not performing he seems to be socially awkward but as soon as he starts the music transforms him into a confident charismatic dude. Listen to Ain't No Reason.

Brett Dennen on

Amy Winehouse

She's just starting to get play here in the U.S. with her single You Know I'm No Good and her CD Back to Black, won't be available here until March but she's making headlines in the UK for her music and her antics. Winehouse likes to party and we can't blame her but she seems to be held to a different standard than her male counterparts appearing almost weekly in the gossip columns for her hard partying ways.

Amy has a soulful voice and the sound of this CD could best be described as 60's girl group gone wild. Watch the videos below until you can buy the CD.

Amy Winehouse on


Rehab



You Know I'm No Good