Tame Impala

As I stood in the crowd with the rest of the Shaky Knees festival folk, waiting for Tame Impala to hit the stage, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had heard of them before, I had never listened to them, but since it was the only show happening, it was the last show of the festival, and the person I was with highly suggested them, I stood there anxiously waiting for the Aussies to take the stage. And they were awesome! I won't say they were mind blowing, because I honestly didn't know what I was watching. I mean, it was incredible, but it was the first time I had heard most of the songs, so I couldn't fully appreciate what I was hearing.
How I wish I could go back and re-live that show now.
About a month or two ago, I finally bought their first two albums. Currents, Kevin Parker's third installment as Tame Impala was just about to come out at this point and I kept hearing and reading nothing but excited anticipation about it.
As I put in the first album, called Innerspeaker, and the song, "It Is Not Meant To Be" came rushing at me, I knew this band was going to be important to me. And I didn't take that album out of my CD player for the next month. Literally. I think I only took it out because Currents finally came out. That was about a month ago now, and I just now took it out because the new Maccabees came out. Priorities.
I was never one for classic rock, always sort of associating it with the 80's music they play on the radio station. I failed to remember that classic rock was from the 60's and 70's too, and the sounds of bands like Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd, I'm actually pretty fond of. Innerspeaker has a new wave Led Zepplin stadium sound that you have to turn up loud. The first time I heard of them, they were described to me as psychadelic rock, and that is the only way I would phrase the sound of their first two albums as well.
With many songs sounding like they're from another era, there are also songs that just rock. A few come off very Black Keys-esque, while others surrender more of a slow jam or groove that builds and fades throughout the songs. A few even remind me of late Beatles. And the most amazing part of listening to it, is knowing that Kevin Parker is playing everything that you're hearing. He produces his own albums too, but tours with a full band who make sure to sound even better than the album does.
After being obsessed with Innerspeaker and Currents, I never really got a chance to get into the second album, Lonerism. And although it's still a gem of an album, it's just not quite as memorable as the first or third. However, the songs "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," from that album, were probably the most famous songs before the latest album came out and "Let It Happen" came into our lives.
So let me talk about Currents. I'm not gonna lie, after it got all of the hype it got from literally everyone, upon my first listen, I honestly wasn't that impressed. "Let It Happen" was good, it had a very strange movement in the middle where it sounds like a record getting stuck, that I wasn't too fond of at first, and the album was darker and much more R&B, and I was disappointed. However, I didn't give up on it. I can get funky fresh, and that's just what the album turned out to be. And once I accepted that this album was in fact, not Innerspeaker, (and why the heck would I want it to be??), boom, obsessed again.  "Let It Happen," the disco driven single and first track is 8 minutes long, but you never want it to end. And the rest of the album follows suit. The fourth track, "Yes, I'm Changing," never fails to make me tear up (for reasons, all of the reasons), and the next track, "Eventually" starts out with such a bang, I always get music video face to it as well.
My new favorite track at the moment is the funky, "The Less I Know The Better." If there is a song that you should go listen to right now, it's that one. Just try not to dance to that bass line. It makes my life.
They are the band I tell everyone about, and I wish I could share my love for them with the person who introduced me to them, and made me see them at Shaky Knees, but that's neither here nor there. If there is a band you should check out this week, check out Tame Impala. You will not regret it.

Songs that are groovy baby, yeah:

It Is Not Meant To Be
Desire Be, Desire Go


Solitude Is Bliss
Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
Elephant
Let It Happen
Yes I'm Changing
Eventually
The Less I Know The Better
'Cause I'm A Man

"But baby, now there's nothing left that I can do, so don't be blue, there is another future waiting there for you."

Tokyo Police Club

So, I looked. And I have not written a post about Tokyo Police Club yet. Which is absolute blasphemy. Who am I and what am I doing with my life? Oh yeah, getting a new job that's what! Sorry it's been awhile folks, just finished the first week at my new gig. A publishing company called Elsevier that I am just loving so much. It's awesome sauce. But enough about me, back to my favorite four Canadians! Besides Mucca Sorenson from whom I get my Canadian love/blood from. She was the ultimate Canadian. Enough about Canada! (But I gotta represent my 25%!)
I found TPC in a rather round-a-bout way. Their song "Nature of the Experiment" came on a compilation album called Canadian Blast, I kid you not, from I believe the delightful people who bring you Q magazine. This was a long time ago. Right when they were just starting out, and their rollicking 7 song album A Lesson In Crime, all about robots taking over the world, was just what 16 year old me wanted to hear all day every day. Literally. I love that album so much. It's only 15 minutes long. There is no excuse, go listen to it right now. (My favorite part is how they sing about it being 2009 as the year the robot apocalypse takes place.)
Pretty soon after, their second album Elephant Shell dropped and if possible I loved it even more. To this day it is one of my top 10 favorite albums. A great go to, for me, it's nostalgic and relevant at the same time, reminding me of rainy high school/college days and being so excited about discovering new music. I'm listening to it right now and it never fails to put me in a good mood. "In A Cave," one of my favorite TPC songs ever, gives you obscure images of traveling, wearing elephant skin, and growing up backwards, Benjamin Button style. Visuals so bizarre that I just loved them for their obscurity. "Nursery, Academy," which is about being in an insane asylum, I'm pretty sure, (Dave, if not, correct me on that one) is a great song nonetheless. And even though the lyrics are out there, the music is catchy and upbeat. The album flows together nicely and is short enough to listen to all at once and not get bored or overwhelmed, "Tesselate" and "Your English Is Good" being the most accessible songs. Although not necessarily my favorites from the album, they are usually my choice if I'm making a mix for someone. And while TPC have two other albums, Elephant Shell will forever be my favorite.
So, taking a stroll through Best Buy, yes, this was when Best Buy actually had music, and not just that, good music, I suddenly came across Champ, the third album by Tokyo Police Club. Now this was the days before social media was really that much of a thing that I cared about, so I had no idea that this album existed. It was like Christmas day. And while I wasn't as taken with it as I was with Elephant Shell, there are some gems on that album. Take the song "Bambi," for instance. Whatever kind of effect they use on that song, I want it in my life all the time. I cannot listen to that song while I'm walking, I get my music video face on and that just can't happen in public places. The album, not quite as pop-y or catchy as the former, is quite possibly more put together. Ideas come full circle and songs even blend together, the sound staying very similar to the gloriousness of their second LP. It's not an album I usually listen to, but when I do, I'm always glad I did, and I'm always surprised by it. I forget how good it is. I think that's the only difference, it's not quite as memorable as Elephant Shell. But it is still a very good, solid album.

A few sad, silent years went by and somewhat recently the boys released their fourth and latest album Forcefield, which is sort of like Tokyo Police Club on steroids. It's bigger, louder, more intricate, more produced, more put together, more electronic and pretty freaking awesome. The 8-minute opener, "Argentina (Parts I, II, III)" rolls through movements of sound, almost like a symphony, leading right into the simple, summer song, "Hot Tonight." My favorites, well, no, the whole album is good. It's definitely different from the indie rock sound that their first three albums perfected, but as times have changed and music has changed, especially in the indie rock scene, they made their transition into the pop/electronic groove smooth and admirable. But I'm a sucker for a pop hook and anything TPC does, so there might be some bias there...now just to see them live!!
Dave, since you liked my tweet about my last post that was about your solo album, and obvi since we're besties now, can you and the boys please come to Missouri? I would love you forever. Oh wait, I already do.

Songs That I Get Music Video Face To:
Nature of The Experiment
I wanted to try to list the songs from Elephant Shell, but I literally can't decide. Just listen to the whole thing.
Breakneck Speed
Bambi
Gone
Frankenstein
Miserable
Tunnel Vision
Through the Wire

"All my hair grows in, wrinkles leave my skin, but still, don't fade, I'll be back again when the tide is in some day."

Dave Monks

So if you haven't heard of Tokyo Police Club yet, get on that. Have I written a post about them? I honestly can't remember, and I'm a little too lazy right now to look. If I haven't, it's gonna happen. Anyhoo, TPC has always been one of my favorite bands. Hailing from Canada, I discovered them on a Canadian compilation album (oh yeah I did) and fell in love with their song, "Nature of The Experiment." Four albums later, they are still fantastic, but as I was saying, this post isn't about them. It's actually about the vastly different EP that the lead singer, Dave Monks, just released. It's awesome. Here's why.
Tokyo Police Club has been one of those bands that has evaded me. I have never seen them live and I am itching to. I'm thinking I'm going to have to travel far and wide now, but oh, I will do it. Lately in their live shows however, Dave has been performing a rather slow acoustic performance of their song, "Tesselate." The band members leave the stage and it is just him and his guitar singing a rather upbeat pop song in a different style. It was these performances that Dave says inspired him to create his new EP All Signs Point To Yes, the singer-songwriter take on his otherwise eccentric style of indie rock.
The lyrics, more straight forward in their verse, urge listeners to follow him through a move, a break up, longing, real human emotions that are catchy to sing along to, and stray far away from his earlier forms of dialogue, that literally make no sense. The EP is more accessible to the average listener and stripped down to match.
Using mostly piano, acoustic guitar, a nice falsetto that he has discovered and honed, some bass and light drums, the six song EP, the complete opposite of Tokyo Police Club's first 7-song album all about robots taking over the world, flows together like a light breeze. Perfect for the time of year it was released in.
And not that the EP has a lack of rhythm, upbeat tracks like, "Hearbeat Blues," contrast nicely to the slower single, "Gasoline," but still feel relaxed.  The EP sounds like what I would assume a nice summer day feels like. I've never had one, I always had swim practice or work, but maybe that's why I'm drawn to the sound. It makes me reminisce for a time where everything is warm and easy. Even though Monks is constantly singing about heartbreak. I guess that's the beauty of music.

Listen to it!

St. Vincent

Hello internet.
Sorry it's been awhile. I've been going through some personal stuff and wasn't really in the mood to write. But today I woke up and thought it was time to get going on a new post, even if three weeks too late. And what I love most about this blog is that it's about music. Something that can never let you down, something that doesn't wake up one morning and decide that it's "not interested in your relationship," anymore. If anything music takes that and says, okay, now here's a list of songs to get you through your stuff. Listen to how many people have been in your shoes and have written a killer song and come out okay. Music is proof that everything is going to be alright. And so for this post, I wanted to write about a very special experience for me. It happened when I wasn't going through stuff, but it still changed my life.
Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, played at The Pageant in late May. I got to the venue excited, and stressed about my spot in line, not really knowing what I was about to see, but knowing that it was going to be like no show I had seen before. I had read many articles about her live performances and even watched her do a version of "Rattlesnake" on Letterman, so I was very excited to actually witness one in person.
I always knew she was beautiful, but for some reason when she walked out and the lights hit her, she seemed almost ethereal and unreal. I stood second row, right smack dab in front of her, and it felt like I was looking at something so much bigger than myself. Like she was literally shining on me.

The performance started, robotic and electronic. Her and her keyboardist, another rocking female, did choreographed movements to the songs while they weren't playing. And then they would lose themselves in their guitars and the entire place would go mad. Annie Clark is very seriously one of the best guitarists I've ever had the privilege of ever seeing. By far the best female, and she could definitely hold her own for the top ranking ever. Her fingers flew across the neck faster than I could even process, and yet everything was precise and fluid. She didn't even look like she was holding her fingers down half the time, she would just flutter her fingertips and the guitar would do her bidding. It was beautiful to watch. And awe inspiring, as a female, to watch her command the stage.
I've seen a lot of shows in my day, of course I've seen Paramore three times, I've seen Metric, I've seen Tennis, I've seen other female led bands, but it's a rare thing. And none of those females ever really played anything besides keys. To see a woman shred a guitar, and look so feminine was one of the most incredible things I've ever witnessed. I almost got emotional at one point because it was just so cool. Especially for a person who has always tried to be in a band. As a female, it's really hard to make it in music. I've tried and decided that I'm going to have to do it all myself. So to watch a woman do that for herself and win a Grammy and be incredible...it made me proud to be a woman, and it motivated the hell out of me.

She played every song I wanted to hear except one, but I figured she wouldn't play it at all, so it was no big surprise. There was even a moment where she messed up the beginning of a song and laughed and started again, screaming "You gotta love live music," into the mic. Her set wasn't perfect, it was raw and loud and rollicking and a rock show. There was a point where she threw her guitar into the crowd, and then proceeded to faint on stage. An interesting dynamic between choreography and improv dueled itself the entire hour and a half.  It was all fantastic.
I walked out of The Pageant, holding my new St. Vincent shirt (of course) and knowing that I had just witnessed something very special, and very important.

Shaky Knees

Shaky Knees!! What a weekend. Good food, good jams, what most people would consider good weather (although I prefer the rain myself) and good company. The whole trip went unusually smooth.
Being a pretty new festival, only the third year that it had been put on, it wasn't as vastly huge and overwhelming like Governor's Ball was, or Bonnaroo that Stephen attended last year. The crowds were big, but maneuverable, and pleasant. At least for the shows we went to, no one was rowdy and we always got an amazing spot, if you walked up about half an hour before the band started. To me, it was the sign of a good line-up, no one really stood for hours waiting for a certain band to play. Everyone saw everyone, and it was easy to predict when the crowds would come, so after a day of experiencing the festival, we had a good idea of where we wanted to be and when we had to leave to get a good spot. The span of the venue wasn't miles long either, so that was a nice change. But the line-up, in my opinion, was the best one this season.
Now, that could be because The Strokes were there, and they're my favorite band of all time, and I'm biased. That could be a thing, but even on the days where we considered our schedule "light," we still wanted to see four or five shows that day.
We stayed at the W Hotel, they had a deal with the festival goers, and it was a beautiful modern skyscraper that was in the heart of Midtown Atlanta. The first night we walked to find food and felt totally safe, basking in an area that felt young, creative and full of life. It was a short 1.3 mile jaunt to the festival everyday. We decided to walk because we didn't want to deal with taxi's and busses and it honestly never felt like we were walking a mile. We tried to go down a different street everyday to see more of Atlanta and it was a really neat experience. If we ever go back, we have a mental list of all of the restaurants we want to try.
And then finally, Friday afternoon around 12:15, a giant Zeus-like mascot greeted us and we walked through the gates of Central Park and into Shaky Knees!
Friday was Strokes day, so of course, me being a nut case, I was already stressed, but we had a lot of other bands to see, and while there were already people at the front of the big stage ready and waiting for the long haul until 9:30 that night, I let them have their fun, sun-soaked day (and not the kind you're thinking of when you're on the beach and having a good time, more like, "oh my god, I can feel myself drying out and becoming jerky type sun-soaked." Atlanta was !$#%ing hot!), and we went to go find some lunch.
As we returned from the food truck with our chicken caesar wraps, (I have a sensitive stomach, so I made Steve go to all the bland food trucks for lunch, I'm sure he was thrilled about that) we sat in the grass and listened to the first band of the day, Surfer Blood. Their upbeat, but beach-wave sound was the perfect start to the festival, playing a short set that left you wanting more, but excited to get started with the day. After they finished we walked across the park to see Black Pistol Fire. I knew one song by them and I thought Stephen might enjoy their raw guitar sound. And what a set! Who knew that just a two-piece could have so much energy and make so much noise. A drummer and a guitarist/vocalist, they rocketed over the stage drew a large crowd. Their song "Blue Eyed Commotion" is featured on a Verizon commercial, I believe, and I would highly recommend checking it out, especially fans of Jack White.
The next band on our list was Tennis, a dream-pop group that we have been listening to lately. And with a sound from the 60's and a look from the 70's, their music filled the tent with a groove that had everyone swaying. (The lead singer wore a top that plunged to her navel and with any more grooving we could have had an accident, but she was stunning nonetheless.) For fans of Best Coast (who was also at the festival), I would give Tennis a try. The make you want to go back in time and drink soda out of a glass bottle.

We had a little break after Tennis, so being British at heart, I made us sit and watch the beginning of The Kooks set. Having known about them since their first single, I never got super into The Kooks, but could peg those vocals as them anytime, and once they had played "She Moves In Her Own Way," which I was stoked that they actually played, we made our way across the festival again to line up for Kaiser Chiefs!
During the hour that we waited for the set to be built, we had a side view of the Mac Demarco set. He is an up-and-comer who is probably going to be everywhere very soon. More dream-like strange than dream-like pop, his music wafted over the audience. Personally, and maybe this was because I could only hear the left side of the stage, I wasn't that impressed with his performance. The vocals were sloppy, and even Stephen said he was a very laid back performer, but he drew an enormous crowd that ate up every second of his set. Regardless of his performance, he is one to watch, so get on that bandwagon.

Next up was Kaiser Chiefs! A band near and dear to my heart since high school when I first heard, "I Predict A Riot." Their album Employment  was the first vinyl record that I owned, (brought lovingly back from England by my father along with The Killer's, Sam's Town) and to boot, we were front row! I honestly couldn't believe my luck, and they were just as brilliant as I thought they would be. Opening with "The Angry Mob," and introducing themselves to American fans by putting on a fantastic, yet utterly English, performance. For people who love political, British rock with a dash of ridiculousness, listen to the Kaiser Chiefs, and love them. You all know their song "Ruby."
We had a much needed break at this point, we caught part of Wavves set, a rollicking group with a DGAF attitude that had people actually moshing in the front, and we went to get food before The Pixies played.
The unfortunate thing about Shaky Knees was some of their decisions with the schedule. Maybe it couldn't be helped, but scheduling The Strokes immediately after The Pixies, to me, seemed like a terrible decision. Especially when The Pixies are one of Stevo's favorite bands. Luckily, however, I have the best boyfriend in the universe and after the first 45 minutes of The Pixies set, he let us go down and get our spots in front of the big stage. The Pixies were good, not a band I'm super familiar with, but I could still appreciate how much they rocked and respect how much of a figurehead they are for modern day rock. But even the greats can mess up and it was quite comical when they completely stopped one of their songs because the lead singer went into the chorus too early. They apologized and went right back into the song, but it gave us amateurs hope.
The 45 minute wait for The Strokes was excruciatingly full of anticipation and anxiety. We weren't super close, but we could have been a lot worse. I could see the stage perfectly if I held my head just so, and if nobody moved, but overall, I was really happy with where we were. And then finally, after waiting 10 minutes past when they should have come out, the lights went down and my 5 favorite men walked out on stage and went instantly into my favorite song in the entire world, "Reptilia." That was a magical moment, I didn't cry this time!

The more I read about the set they played, the more excited I am that we got to see it. I got to hear them play their Comedown Machine single, "All The Time" for the first time ever, apparently they had never played it live before, and we got to hear them play Room On Fire's "You Talk Way Too Much" for the first time since 2004, Julian exclaiming, "we haven't played this song in a loooooooooong time," before jumping right into it. Surprisingly enough, they didn't play "12:51," but played a much older and rare set, even playing "Is This It," and many songs off of their first two albums. The set was completely different than the first time I had seen them play in New York. They looked so much more relaxed, and Julian kidded with the crowd, while Nikolai looked bored and Albert rocked a bright red jumpsuit. If I could live forever at a Strokes concert, I would. I tried to take in every second, but like all good things, it was over much too quickly. The first day at Shaky Knees was an up roaring success, and we trudged back to the hotel room and crashed, the moon watching over us from our view of the Atlanta skyline.
SATURDAY
Day two of Shaky Knees was hot. And the day we forgot to put on sunscreen. It did nothing for our morale though which was still at an all time high from the day before, and even more excited about a day that was instantly not quite as stressful, but that was still going to be as awesome. The morning was much the same, we got our coffee/teas and strolled to the festival, deciding to listen to a few of the first bands of the day as we walked through the park. One we really enjoyed was Hey Rosetta! I haven't looked them up since we got back yet, but their full sound caught our attention and we sat and enjoyed the end of their set. Saturday afternoon we had more time to kill than the previous day and we grabbed our food and hung out in the shade before Real Estate. This prompted us to witness one of the most bizarre and yet original sets I'd ever seen. The band playing the big stage was called Mariachi El Bronx, and they were literally a mariachi band with a rock twist and sung in English. They were super fun and you could tell the crowd standing and watching them was having the time of their life. I kept hearing about them for the rest of the day as we went to our shows.
The first band that we had scheduled to see that day was Real Estate. And let me tell you, during that set, I don't think I've ever been more relaxed and in the moment. A generally mellow jam band, Real Estate played for an hour and chilled everyone out with their soft beats and guitar tones that hovered over you like the soft breeze that we desperately needed. We were very close to the stage for their performance, which I was happy about, and the band helped build and tear down their own set, being very personable with the crowd and just making me love them even more.
Now came the stressful, if you can even call it stressful, portion of the day. Built To Spill and Interpol played back to back, and it was another Pixies/Strokes situation, without quite the caliber. Unfortunately, Neutral Milk Hotel played at the same time Interpol did, so we had a tough decision, but Interpol being one of our favorite bands, won out in the end. It helped too, that Stephen had just seen Neutral Milk Hotel in Springfield the week before. We stayed for about half of the Built To Spill set, roasting on a hill in the sun. (My face is still peeling from that day.) And after it seemed like they were only going to play songs mainly from their new album, we went to the stage that Interpol were going to play on and got a fantastic spot. The hope of the day was that they would play "Stella was a diver and she was always down," a song that they had played at Governor's Ball, but that they hadn't played on their new tour and at the other festivals they had just been to. But we hoped and in the end it turned out that they played a set full of older songs, staying away from their third and fourth album and only playing the three singles off of their newest one. They ended up playing "Stella" instead of "NYC," and it basically made our festival. And while an hour wasn't near enough time for them, we thought, their set was still one of the highlights of the whole trip for us.

After Interpol was finished, I let Steve take the reigns of the rest of the trip. None of the other bands that were playing that night or Sunday were really that close to me, and it was an amazing experience just being along for the ride and getting to hear great music. While we got food, ZZ Ward blew up our ears in the tent, and then we walked over and watched the last good part of Wilco's set, something that I am so glad I got to see. Such a classic and just extremely talented band to watch. They played the song that Stephen hoped they would, and they even played over their time limit, but nobody left the crowd. We both wondered why they didn't get to headline the festival, and thought they should have, but The Avett Brothers got that privilege and after Wilco finished we found a nice spot on a hill and watched them play.
The Avett Brother's were good; great performers, their energy was high and their mannerisms very entertaining and almost silly to watch. There is something about seeing a cellist run around the stage holding his cello to his neck and playing it at the same time that you don't forget easily. They were a little too country for my taste, but a great headliner for the area we were in. Personally, I will probably never get into their music, but I can understand now why so many people do.
SUNDAY
I woke up Sunday morning asking myself how it was already Sunday morning and the last day of our trip. Time flies when you're having fun was an understatement. But we still had a whole day and I was going to cherish every second of it.
Our first stop when we got to the festival was to get an outrageously expensive, but delicious pretzel dog, and then we snagged spots on a hill to catch The Mowglis play. A pop group that could make even the most depressed people happy, their set was fun and upbeat, the vocals a little sub par, but made up for with charisma and catchy tunes. It was a fun way to start the day.
After the most delicious lemonade with agave, we watched the first half of Frank Turner's rallying set before we took our places for the Dr. Dog show. Frank Turner, an English songwriter, was very fun to watch. He was extremely funny and his songs made you feel like you were in a pub singing old drinking songs about the good old days. If you haven't heard of him, give him a listen, you won't be disappointed.
 Dr. Dog was the trump card of the day. Stephen wanted to see their entire set, so we walked over and again, got an amazing spot pretty close to the front. I had only heard one song by them, but I was eager to hear more, and I was not disappointed. As a band that tours almost constantly, they have really ironed out the kinks. Their set was fantastic and groovy and absolutely a joy to hear live. And they played the one song I knew! Having just released a new album, they played most of that with a few oldies thrown in and a cover of Architecture In Helsinki's, "Heart It Races" to finale. A favorite song of mine, and a cover that I wish was actually recorded because it was incredible to hear.
Once Dr. Dog finished we pretty much had artists we wanted to see for the rest of the night, so we had to make a few sacrifices. Panda Bear was next and since his music is entirely electronic, he didn't really do much except stand in front of his computers to sing. We stood in line for coffee during his set and could hear it perfectly, we didn't feel like we had missed a thing. After coffee and Panda Bear, we walked over to hear Ryan Adams play, another up-and-
comer (although we found out that he has been making music for a long time), and an artist that Stephen has been getting really into lately. The first song he played was the one that Steve wanted to hear, and luckily Panda Bear's set ran short so we had time to walk over and hear all of it. Things at the festival just kept working in our favor and we couldn't ask for anything more.
Tame Impala, an Australian, psychedelic rock group, headlined the last night and brought a close to the wonderful festival. We stood in the crowd and let their waves of sound wash over us. I don't think I've seen so many people crowd surf at one show. Their music, not hard, but not mellow was the perfect way to send everyone off. They weren't even going to do an encore, but when they left the stage the crowd went so wild that they came out and played one more song. As Mugatu says, "That Tame Impala is so hot right now." (We practically quoted Zoolander the entire trip, so I had to throw one in there, it just felt right.)
All of the artists at Shaky Knees kept saying the same thing. "You've got a really great thing going down here, Georgia." They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and the crowds were supportive and fun to be in. It took everything I love about seeing live music, and made it better than ever. The experience is one that I will never forget, and it's a festival that I could see myself going to for years to come. It was over much too quickly, but never disappointed.

"We are the angry mob, we read the paper everyday. We like who we like, we hate who we hate, but we're also easily swayed."

Interpol

This week is an exciting one. In about 5 short hours the man will be here and tomorrow we will be on our way to Atlanta for the Shaky Knees festival! Next week I'll do a big write up of everyone we saw and how it was, but this week I actually had a request from Stevo to write about Interpol. We're seeing them on Saturday, so it comes at just the right time.
I remember the first time I heard Interpol, it was their song "Obstacle 1" and it was playing at a bar I was in. I didn't get into Interpol until way later in the game, usually mistaking them for Kasabian, whom I'm honestly not a huge fan of. How I made this mistake, I will never know. (And I should probably give Kasabian another chance, high school Dee wasn't as eclectic.) This happened with Editors and The National too, but that's a whole nother thing. (#mybrain) The song "PDA" quickly followed, and I went and bought the album Turn on the Bright Lights the next day.
Even though I was out of college, their dark, repetitive sound brought me instantly back to the days of early high school when The Strokes dominated my whole musical existence. I didn't stop listening to the album for months, and quickly bought their other three. I quickly took to Antics, it being very similar, and from there my love for them grew. Their third album, while not as memorable is still a good, solid album. Their fourth...hmmm. So they just released their fifth album called El Pintor, and with a sigh of relief, all of the old Interpol sound was put back into it. I was lucky enough to catch them at Governor's Ball, where they played "All The Rage Back Home" for us, and it rocked.
It's honestly hard to describe Interpol, because I almost like them more for the feeling they give me when I listen to them, than the actual music. Whenever I listen to them, I'm transported to a time where I was young and extremely excited about finding new bands. When I listened to Turn on the Bright Lights for the first time, I got that feeling back. I hadn't found a band that had made me that excited in a long time, and for that they will always hold a special place in my heart.
When we saw them at Gov Ball, it was after leaving the Foster The People show early. Which I don't regret whatsoever. They played "Houdini," I was happy. And when Interpol came on stage, dressed to the nine's, I was glad I hadn't missed a second. They played a long time, performing a few songs from their then upcoming album, but mostly hitting the greats from their first two, like "C'mere" and "Hands Away." And being in New York was special as well, it was a home show for them, and the crowd was great. It was an interesting experience. Interpol puts on a great show, if you're familiar with their music. Not that they would be boring if you didn't know their songs, they're just not ones to interact with the crowd. The music, and their talent speaks for itself, and if you're a huge fan like me, it's everything you could want, but I could see it being hard to get into if you were just watching.
They finaled with "Stella was a diver and she was always down," the song extending to well over 10 minutes as they just stood and jammed with each other. And right when you thought it was finished, it suddenly dawned on you that they hadn't played "PDA" yet, which they ended up finishing the set with.
Writing this post is making me so excited for Saturday. I'm sad we're going to miss Neutral Milk Hotel, for they play at the same time, but I would give anything to see them again, and now I get to. So next week I'll probably have a better more detailed description of their set. Until then beloved readers.

Songs that dominated my musical existence:
Obstacle 1
NYC
PDA
Stella was a diver and she's always down
C'mere
Evil
Pioneer to The Falls
All the Rage Back Home

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

As the tenth anniversary approaches for one of my favorite band's debut album, I thought it no better time than to write about it. As obscure as they come, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah came on the scene with their self-titled album in 2005. A raw, gritty, country twang overlapped with acoustic indie guitar riffs, CYHSY paved the way for folk/rock acts like Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket. And although they never had quite the following as those other two acts, they still remain a hidden gem amongst the depths of the indie scene.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah opens with the jumpy rhythm of a carnival organ, Alec Ounsworth's bright vocals inviting you to "clap your hands" as the notes chop away. It's a short ditty that leads into "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away," a better testament to what the album actually sounds like. The song is easy and calming, fast but not upbeat. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon, as is the whole record.
And as the album rolls along like a good road trip, at first it's hard to overcome Alec's strange tone quality. The music is like warm water, that his voice cuts through like ice, and although I'm probably making this sound like it's a bad thing, it's what makes their music so memorable and interesting. And it's what drew me to their sound in the first place, besides the obvious fact that Daniel Radcliffe liked them, and of course at the ripe young age of 15 I had to like everything he did, so that when we met, he would think I was cool.
It's the perfect summer album, casual, reminds you of farms, ya know, and it flows altogether like one giant song broken up into 12 movements. Some just instrumental like "Sunshine & Clouds (And Everything Proud)," that sounds like children laughing, and some like "Heavy Metal," the most upbeat, catchy and standout song on the album.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is about as country as I get, they use just the right amount of harmonica, and I don't mind Alec's drawl when it's backed by guitars that don't twang. Like Zero 7 on of my previous posts, they are one of those bands that sound nothing like anything else I own, and they are perfect for when I crave that variety. (And no one has usually ever heard of them so they are awesome when you're trying to out-hipster someone, you're welcome.)
Obviously in the three albums that have come out by them since, their sound has grown and they've experimented, especially on their second album, the electronic Some Loud Thunder. They actually released their fourth album Only Run, last June and it featured a melting pot of their first three albums, even a collaboration with The National's Matt Berninger, on it. (That song is called "Coming Down" and it's awesome, by the way.)
But despite of their growth, I will always hold a fond nostalgia for the self-titled. None of their other albums quite grasps the flow and warmth that makes up that record. Right now the band is on tour celebrating the tenth anniversary of it. I don't think they're coming anywhere near St. Louis, so sadly I probably won't catch it, but they are printing the album on vinyl for it, and you know I'm going to be making a trip to the record store for that. Because let's face it, I actually live at the record store. What?

Songs that will make me sound cool to Daniel Radcliffe:
Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away
Over and Over Again (Lost & Found)
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
Heavy Metal
Blue Turning Grey
In This Home on Ice
Gimmie Some Salt

Sufjan Stevens

Monday was no ordinary Monday. Instead being terrible like it usually is, Monday, April the 20th brought a lot of good things: a visit from my boyfriend and a Sufjan Stevens concert at the Peabody Opera House. Now, I don't honestly listen to him that much, I know, I know. Blasphemy. But it's not for lack of not wanting to, I just never got around to it. I know how legendary he is, however, so I bought tickets because, well why not? He was half an hour away.
As we raced to the show, I got more and more excited. Partly out of actual excitement, and partly because we weren't sure whether the tiny etched "7:00" on the ticket meant doors or "7:00" meant Cold Specs, the band that was planned to open the show. And as we pulled up, and got a pretty good parking spot for downtown St. Louis, if I do say so myself, the general assessment was that we hadn't missed a thing.
We took our seats in the beautiful opera house, hipster kids surrounding us in waves of facial hair and thrift store outfits, and as I looked up at the dome of the theatre, and its bear emblem traced in white light, the auditorium slowly faded to black and a man with a blue cap stuck in his back pocket walked solitarily to the piano. As he started to play three chords in a slow and steady rhythm, more people walked to the stage and the sound grew and grew. When it reached its peak, the man slowly got up from the piano and walked to the front of the stage, grabbed his guitar and at the very peak of the sound, everything grew quiet and he played an intricate picking melody.
Suddenly, high definition screens in a pattern of elongated hexagons behind them began to show home movies and my first two thoughts were, "wow, that is quite the elaborate set for the opening band," and "wow, that guy is immensely good at guitar for the opening band."
When he opened his mouth that's when I knew, well after "wow, that guy sounds exactly like Sufjan Stevens." Apparently "7:00" had meant the beginning of the show and we had completely missed Cold Specs. Sorry Cold Specs! I'm sure you were great.
Having only heard about two songs off of his new album, Carrie & Lowell, I had no idea what the show would be like. We all sat in our seats and Sufjan never spoke to us, it was more of a performance than a concert. But it worked. His soft melodies and acoustic rhythms were more for sitting than for dancing. The one time it got a little upbeat was when he did an electronic version of "All of Me Wants All of You," which I wish was a version I could buy because it was spectacular.
He played the new album, almost entirely in order. Once he had finished playing most of the album, he finally spoke to us and gave a long prayer about how death will occupy all of us, and to live each day fully alive. After, he played a few beautiful songs from Illinois and Michigan and then started what would be the initial finale of the show. The song had no lyrics, but started out slow, and pulsed almost like breath. Disco balls slowly lowered and the screens in the back started emitting rainbow colors that faded in and out. About every minute the song grew faster and faster and built and built until the entire theatre was a swarm of sound, light and color. It was almost overwhelming, but such an experience, and so different than the memoir we had just listened to. As the song eventually ebbed, the band stopped playing and waved goodbye. We all stood up and didn't stop clapping and cheering until he came out again, to play a four part encore.
Throughout the entire set, what amazed me the most was how accurate and perfect his performance was. It sounded so similar to the recordings, it was almost unnerving, but it was all live.
Two hours after the man with the cap sat at the piano to play those first three haunting chords, Sufjan thanked the crowd and returned to his spot at the piano. The first three chords he played now were ones that everyone knew, even me! As the band jumped into "Chicago," the entire place cheered and sang along, much more willing, now that the songs weren't so delicate. And after a second standing ovation Sufjan and co. walked modestly off the stage.
If you have a chance to see him on this tour, I would highly recommend it. He is truly one of the most talented and interesting performers I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. So do it! And get his new album too, and all of his other ones, because, you'll all be proud of me, I've been listening to him just about nonstop ever since, and they're all amazing.
SO DO IT.

Until next week, peeps.

Zero 7

The first time I heard Zero 7 was probably when the majority of the population did, as we watched Garden State. The jazzy, yet mellow "In The Waiting Line," gave the perfect backdrop for the drug ridden scene that Zach Braff presents in his film; the song almost psychedelic, but with feet planted firmly on the ground. It was quickly after that I picked up two of their albums, When It Falls and The Garden.

Zero 7, made up of two Brits, Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker, and a smattering of guest performers, make jazz electronica a thing, and a thing we didn't know we were missing. Their album When It Falls, more electronic, goes back and forth between soft acoustic/synth ballads and upbeat instrumental orchestrations that would have just been hindered with words. No two songs sound the same, but the sound never changes. (Believe me, it's great driving music.)

Their album The Garden, is probably their most upbeat and whole. The jazz influence is most evident on this one with many big band sounds and arrangements. It also has the most impressive vocal lineup of their discography, pulling in acts like Jose Gonzalez and Sia Furler, better known now as the masked pop diva, Sia. Her unique vocals give Zero 7 the powerful balance that the instrumentation needs to be complete. Instantly recognizable, her voice almost fits better with a jazz band behind her than a pop synth group, which is more of her style now. She is still equally as impressive in her new endeavors, however.

While Sia sings a few tracks on When It Falls, one being the better known "Speed Dial No. 2," most of the female vocals are done by Sophie Barker and Tina Dico, their voices floating above the softness of the melody underneath them with a light and airy tone, a little more fitting than Furler's, for the mellow album.

Aside from the vocals, part of the reason Zero 7 are so impressive are for their instrumentations and the arrangements they have on the album without vocals. To this day, they are like no other group that I listen to, or have heard of. It's like a great movie soundtrack that you actually want to listen to without context of a scene in front of it. The duo actually formed an experimental instrumental project called Ingrid Eto after their release of The Garden, and before they made their fourth album Yeah Ghost. It would definitely be worth taking a listen to.

That being said, if you need something to help you get to sleep or space out tonight, I would highly recommend soothing your soul with this group. In the meantime, I have two more albums by them that I need to pick up, and I'm sure they are super rare and hard to find. (If you guys ever see any of their vinyl, please let me know.) Happy hunting!



Songs to drive to:
Home
Passing By
When It Falls
The Space Between
Speed Dial No. 2
Throw It All It Away
The Pageant of the Bizarre
You're My Flame
This Fine Social Scene
Your Place
Crosses
Waiting To Die

Wednesday

So this week is a busy one for me, trying to get everything together for my move this Saturday. And apart from learning the sad fact that the new Maccabees album doesn't come out until August, I made a playlist to get me through the rest of the week. Feel free to peruse and utilize at will, and don't judge the guilty pleasures.

Wednesday

1. David Byrne & St. Vincent - Who

2. Deep Sea Diver - Always Waiting

3. Feist - My Moon My Man

4. The Elwins - Off The Wall

5. Calvin Harris - Pray To God (Feat. Haim)

6. The Maccabees - Marks To Prove It

7. Cub Scouts - Do You Hear

8. Friendly Fires - White Diamonds

9. Little Comets - A Little Opus

10. Peter, Bjorn & John - I Know You Don't Love Me

11. Washed Out - Don't Give Up

12. Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better

13. The Strokes - The End Has No End

14. The Temper Trap - Rest

15. The Answering Machine - Cliffer

16. The Decemberists - The Perfect Crime #2

17. Yellow Ostrich - WHALE

18. Young The Giant - Eros

19. Zero 7 - The Space Between

20. The Antlers - Hotel

21. St. Vincent - Human Racing

22. Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship

Julian Casablancas + The Voidz

Sorry I missed last week! Last Wednesday night I found myself watching a hilarious movie by the name of What We Do In The Shadows. Everyone needs to see it. Seriously, we laughed literally the entire movie. But I'm back now and super excited to write this week's post.

Since The Strokes are my favorite band, of course I'm going to think that anything Julian Casablancas does is brilliant. This record is no exception, and quite possibly his masterpiece. I really do feel that Tyranny is the record he's been wanting to write his entire career. Quite the collage of sound, the record rollicks from quick synth beats, to harsh guitar, to the sounds of old radio shows, a lot of the time in the same track. Fans of his first solo album, Phrazes For The Young, this record is not that endeavor.

Truth be told, this record isn't quite as solo as his previous project. Teaming with the group The Voidz, he creates a sound much harder than The Strokes, much more complicated and political, but with the same guitar styles that I truly think make up my soul's sound. The two tracks that strike a resemblance to The Strokes would have to be the album's hauntingly beautiful, 11-minute first single "Human Sadness," and the dance-y "Dare I Care," which is my personal favorite from the album.

As one of my friend's frankly put it, as we listened to the album in my car one day, "it doesn't really make sense." And if we're going to be honest, sometimes it doesn't. The guitar will be playing a melody completely erroneous to what's under it. "Human Sadness" is a symphony, going through different movements of sound to come full circle to a quiet end, but shaking you up along the way. And while I love it, many people criticized it when it came out. Personally, I just think he created a record a few years ahead of its time.

I was fortunate enough to hear them play live at Governor's Ball. I didn't know what I would expect, but I hoped he would come out with a blazing "11th Dimension." The show we saw was quite different. Since he was with The Voidz, he didn't touch anything from his previous record, and this was before Tyranny came out, so I stood there in New York City, amongst the biggest Strokes fans in the world, and no one knew a single word or a single note that any of them played. I vaguely remember them playing "Where No Eagles Fly." I mean, the chorus is Julian yelling "meat, predators eat meat!" It doesn't just leave your head. But, oh, how I wish I could hear it again now that I know the album.

Tyranny is an electronic whirlwind, and not one for the weak hearted or lover of dance beats. Take "Father Electricity," for example. The song is a ball of energy, almost seeming to stimulate all five of the senses, but it doesn't lack musicality or catch. It layers rock synths over African drums, and it does it well. And personally I believe that "Xerox" actually sounds like a xerox machine. If that's what they were going for, then they nailed it.

My personal goal is to learn most of the words to the album, but it's a doozy. Julian is famous for his muffled vocals and forgetting the words onstage in his performances, but you literally can't understand a single word he says on this album. I've even tried following the official lyrics and I'm not convinced he's actually saying some of the things I'm reading. But the vocals just blend in with the tumult of sounds and act as the roof to hold all of them in.

Julian strove for perfection on this record, and you can tell. Every song is like a puzzle piece with nothing out of place. From start to finish, the album is long, but you don't want it to end. It just makes me so excited about what he can do next.

"Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field, I will be meeting you there."

Songs that sound like my soul:

Take Me In Your Army
Human Sadness
Father Electricity
Johan Von Bronx
Dare I Care
Nintendo Blood

Wye Oak

The way I see it, Wye Oak are the most underestimated indie duo on the scene right now. Five albums down and I've hardly seen their names at any festivals, any tours, anything. I only just discovered them a few months ago with the help of my boyfriend, and with how incredible their newest album is, I can hardly see how.

The joined forces of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner make up the only members of the group, miraculously playing multiple instruments all at once for their live performances and sounding just like their recordings, if not better. The fifth album, Shriek, more electronic than the previous albums, comes across bold, clean and ethereal, with Jenn's vocals ranging octaves and forming into beautiful melodies that hover over dark, sometimes heavy beats. You go from the sweet, melodic title track instantly into "The Tower" which rages a bass line that continues throughout the song. The transition isn't jarring, however, just enough to push it into the heaviest song on the album, "Glory," that hints electronica riffs enviable of Julian Casablancas.

If I had one criticism for the album, it would be that the lyrics are so muffled you can hardly understand them, and this is only a bad thing to me because I really like to sing along with it and I feel like an idiot singing basically made up words and vowels. (It's actually a really nice effect, it gives the melodies much more attention, although, if you read the lyrics they are as beautiful as the music underneath them.)

Wye Oak's song "Civilian," (from the album of the same name) put them on the map appearing in shows like The Walking Dead and the movie Safety Not Guaranteed (a personal favorite of mine and one that I need to go watch now because I didn't realize they had a song in it until I started writing this post).  With a heavy folk influence, it's different than anything they released in Shriek, but still paves the way into what the album becomes. It's the band's masterpiece thus far and it needs to be heard. And that's why I'm writing a blog post about it, so my millions of readers will see and listen! (Insert silly emoji face here, because, well, maybe someday.) But in all seriousness, give this record a spin, it might be my favorite of 2014. (Julian and the Voidz doesn't count because he's always a trump card. It's the same as me not even counting the Harry Potter movies in my favorites. Am I getting off topic? I'll talk about Julian next time.) Moral of the story, listen to Wye Oak, all of their albums, not just Shriek, and then yell it off the mountain tops and tell all your friends too, because this band needs to blow up.

"This morning, I woke up on the floor thinking I had never dreamed before."

Songs my boyfriend showed me:
Before
Shriek
Glory
Sick Talk
Logic of Color

Civilian

This is a video of them performing for KEXP radio station. It features them playing a full set, and you get to see Andy play drums and keys at the same time. WHAT?!

Belle and Sebastian

While Belle and Sebastian have only been in my life a short while, (I've known about them a long time, of course, the sheer number of their albums overwhelmed me until I had a tad more pocket change) their newest album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance, has struck a chord with me like none of the others have. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of upbeat and clean albums. I like raw sound, their old albums have a charm of their own of course, but there is something about a certain level of production that my ears are fond of. Or maybe because the album has almost a 1960's vibe that makes me want to solve mysteries (don't know why) and dress like Twiggy. 

Yet, the album takes on many more genre's. There is the straight up disco jam "Enter Sylvia Plath" alongside the song "The Party Line," which sounds like it should be played at night clubs (or the night club that is my commute at least), whilst "The Everlasting Muse" sounds like a cross between "The Girl From Ipanema" and an Irish (they're Scottish) drinking song. (It's awesome, trust me.) The album has a dream-like theme that hangs over it, none of the lyrics really make that much sense, but the music takes over and they don't have to. The tones are soft and a bit muffled, especially on tracks like "The Cat With The Cream." I think I completely lost myself the first time I heard that song, which wasn't good because I needed to be paying attention to my GPS. 

The sheer amount of instrumentation is clear on this album, the use of strings make some songs sound more like a symphony than a pop song, and it's clear that Belle and Sebastian aren't going anywhere anytime soon. With this and the new movie musical God Help The Girl written by the leader of Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch, they're proving why they're the biggest little indie group around. 

"A subtle gift to modern rock, she says be popular, play pop, and you will win my love."

Songs to solve mysteries to:

The Party Line

The Power of Three

The Cat With The Cream

The Everlasting Muse

Play For Today

Today (This Army's For Peace)

Catfish and the Bottlemen

(PS: Sorry for the shoddy camera work. CATB finishing "Kathleen" at The Firebird in St. Louis)



So...

It's been awhile! Sorry gang! A lot has changed in this past year, including my move to St. Louis, getting settled in and doing some soul searching. And a lot has happened musically while I was away. One of the things I love about St. Louis is how available shows are. Amazing artists come through all the time and my modest paycheck can't quite keep up with them. 

But a few months ago, a friend recommended I check out Catfish and the Bottlemen. Their name sounded familiar, I believe I had seen them on the line-up for Governor's Ball (which was absolutely fantastic and too long of a tale for this post) but I had never heard them. Hailing from a small town in Wales their EP "Kathleen and the Other Three" hooked me in from the first listen. It made me nostalgic for my high school days of listening to obscure indie Brit-pop like The Kooks and The Answering Machine, a more mature-harder sound, but all that British finesse and slang I love so much. (I may or may not have started interjecting the word "deffo" into my everyday vocabulary, sans their song "Pacifier.")

Their LP, The Balcony, implemented all four songs from the EP and rounded out the album with catchy riffs and profanities, even slowing down a notch in the middle to find the soft acoustic treasure  that is "Hourglass," amongst all the ruckus. When I found out they were coming to The Firebird, I bought tickets immediately.

After grabbing a shirt, a free packet that the merch girl was handing out (there were condoms inside) and dancing like a fool to the music they were playing in between sets (apparently no one there knew Earth Wind & Fire's, "September" because we were literally the only ones getting down) the lights went down and the four lads from Llandudno took the stage.

The show was small, but lacked neither intensity, nor performance. The entire crowd knew every word a little to the astonishment of the lead Van McCann who could utter almost nothing but thanks to us. They played only an hour, but with high energy, and with a feeling that they were really enjoying themselves in this little bar near downtown St. Louis, where everybody knew their name.

They finished the set much like their album, with the wailing "Tyrants." A personal favorite of mine and one that did not disappoint live. After Van hung his guitar from the rafters, the band walked off and through the crowd, no doubt to go sell out another venue. They've completely taken England by storm and aren't far behind on the US horizon. With album two confirmed to be on the way, I would jump on this band before only the yard seats are available.

Catchy tracks you should catch:
Homesick
Kathleen
Cocoon
Pacifier
Rango
Tyrants