Episode 2 picks up where episode 1 left off. I play some tracks from artists that will be touring thru New York City in the coming months (with a couple of exceptions). Play list below with links to buy the albums and tickets. Enjoy…
Florence and the Machine – You’ve Got the Love (record | tix)
Los Campesinos! – The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future (record | tix)
Four Tet – Sing (record | tix)
Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire (record | tix)
Sleigh Bells – Beach Girls (record | tix)
Kid Cudi – Do it Alone (mixtape via Muzjiks Radio)
With laid back stoner beats, introspective lyrics and instrumental interludes, Cudder’s mixtape is the best thing I’ve heard so far this year. Maybe it’s because it’s such a departure from the electronic, soul and rock music I’ve been spending so much time with lately, but it’s stacked from start to finish and it’s a tape that’s equally appropriate for headphones or as background music. Check out the opener, “Do It Alone” below or click here to stream the entire demo. Shout out to Muzjiks Radio.
Frightened Rabbit has announced the release of their third LP, Winter of Mixed Drinks, due out in early March. They have two new tracks from the record streaming at Fat Cat’s site. Video of them performing one of them, ‘Nothing Like You’, below. You can also stream (and buy) their first single and b-side here. If you haven’t gotten into this band yet, I can’t recommend them highly enough. Incredible songs, endearing personalities, great live shows, a dedicated fan base, constant touring and a steady output of new music. Buy their previous records here. Review and video of their performance at Maxwell’s last fall here.
Their tour will include SXSW and Coachella and will bring them coast-to-coast including Webster Hall on April 28th. Get on it. All tour dates after the jump.
The Knife has announced that they’ve recorded an opera soundtrack based on Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species with help from Mt. Sims and Planningtorock called Tomorrow, in a year. According to the Rabid Records website, “They extensively researched Darwin related literature and articles, with Olof attending a field recording workshop in the Amazon to find inspiration and to record sounds.”
Ummmm…that’s awesome. Stream the album in it’s entirety here and grab a free download of the opening track “The Colouring of Pigeons” below. Pre-order the album here. It’s due for release on March 1.
The Knife – The Colouring of Pigeons
Karin’s description of this track is printed after the jump.
New feature here on the Raptor…Blackraptor Radio, a downloadable podcast. I play some new tracks from bands that are coming thru NYC on tour in the coming weeks. I’ll tell you where they’ll be, talk about their new albums and basically embarrass myself. Anyway, this episode features new stuff from Hot Chip and Yeasayer and several others including a great remix that closes the episode. The playlist makes up for my amateur skills as a jock. Enjoy.
Playlist:
Yeasayer – O.N.E. – from Odd Blood
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Roll Up Your Sleeves – from These Four Walls
Hot Chip – We Have Love – from One Life Stand
La Roux – In for the Kill – from La Roux
Little Boots – New in Town (Golden Filter remix) – from New in Town (remixes)
Pictureplane – Day Glowwed – from Turquoise Trail
Phoenix – Lisztomania (DSL remix) – original track from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Thanks for listening. Let me know what you think. Future episodes to follow.
Links to buy tickets and albums after the jump. Support live and recorded music.
Lady Gaga’s show at Radio City Saturday night (1/23) was a stunner. The stage was wrapped in giant LED screens that allowed for dramatic scene changes, lighting effects and videos. When the screens were lifted, they revealed GaGa’s band (drums, guitar, keys, etc.), a nice surprise. Midway through the show, she did a segment on a smoldering grand piano, playing “Shameless” and a cabaret version of “Poker Face” complete with a stiletto-stomp of the keys and custom NYC lyrics referencing her start as a waitress on Cornelia Street. It was this portion of the show that showed her as a true musician: big vocal pipes, deft piano playing and brilliant song writing.
The rest of the night was a dramatic GaGa affair with multiple costume changes, dance routines with a dozen costumed dancers, fake blood, moving set pieces and song after song that had the sold out crowd dancing with passion. This is not bubblegum pop. She brings an attitude, an edge and a uniqueness that her fans obsess over. She has the talent and the creativity to push the envelope a lot farther than Madonna. Let’s hope she has the longevity. Remix below. More pictures and videos after the jump.
Telephone – Lady GaGa feat. Beyonce (Crookers Remix)
In one of the most unexpected marriages imaginable, CNN and Vice have teamed up to present two series on CNN.com: Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs and Vice’s VBS.TV on CNN.com. To celebrate, a party was thrown last night (1/19) at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, trailers of each show were shown (both looked very watchable) and then the Handsome Furs played about a 35-minute set.
Handsome Furs is Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade) on guitar & vocals and his wife Alexei Perry on drum machine, synth & knobs. They brought together catchy beats, intense vocals, sporadic guitar fuzz, feedback and an entertaining chemistry throughout the night. Their songs range from punk, to electro, to rock, to anthems…and they’re almost all very good. Their energy on stage was relentless with Alexei dancing until she collapsed into a heap on the stage at the end of every few songs. If you don’t have it already, pick up their latest album, Face Control and see them next time they come thru. They play Maxwell’s tonight (1/20). Tickets here.
UPDATE: Check out Episode 1 of Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs here.
Handsome Furs – All We Want Baby, is Everything
Lots more pictures after the jump.
Wow. Tickets here.
From Coachella.com…
This year’s COACHELLA will feature a variety of options to make the concert experience an enjoyable one. In addition to expanded camping options–including car, RV and traditional tent camping– COACHELLA will allow, for the first time, in-and-out privileges for all attendees. Festival goers will once again have the ability to purchase 3-day festival tickets and various onsite camping options via an easy layaway payment plan.
I’ve never been a real Vampire Weekend fan. It’s not that I dislike the band, I just can’t get excited about them. My lady loves them though, so when I saw they were playing a block from our place, I took her out. We had seen them before, once at a Witness benefit at Roseland and once at last summer’s All Points West. I always kind of feel neutral after seeing them and last night (1/18) was no different. It was mostly 3-minute pop-ditties, with high-pitched guitar licks and sharp vocals leading the way. They did bring out a string quartet sporadically throughout the show, three violins and a cello. While it definitely made for a fuller sound on ‘M79′ early on in the set, their sound was non-existent the rest of the night, disappointing.
It took a full change of course to provide a winning song. For ‘Taxi Cab’ (from their new album Contra) the drummer (who was great all night) set up a drum machine at the front of the stage, the keyboardist went to a seated keyboard set to a fragile-piano sound and the bassist played a stand-up bass with a bow. The high-pitch of Ezra Koenig’s guitar and vocals was absent, opting for a more mellow sound…easily the best tune of the night. That set-up was then abandoned the rest of the set.
I was definitely in the minority with my views on this show though. The crowd was enthusiastic all night. They were younger than most crowds I see at shows. They sang along during several songs and screamed after many of them. They bopped around when the band announced that it was time to dance and they responded when the band told them it was time for crowd participation. Sigh.
Sidenote: I ran into Peter Silberman and Darby Cicci of The Antlers in the balcony. I found it odd that a band with such a polar opposite sound/vibe would be fans.
Stream ‘Taxi Cab’ below. A couple more pics after the jump. The band played United Palace Sunday night and plays Bowery Ballroom tonight (1/19). All three shows sold out.
Over the past year and half, three Scottish indie bands have become three of my favorite new bands. Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks all put out incredible records that impacted me in ways most don’t. It’s the kind of music that makes you (me) want to share it with everyone you know so they’re no longer missing out. It’s raw and the songs are played and sung in a way that is so emotional that you know how invested they are in every note and lyric.
We Were Promised Jetpacks have just announced their first US headlining tour and have dates coming up at Bowery Ballroom on February 11 (tix) and at Knitting Factory (Brooklyn) on February 15 (tix). All tour dates after the jump. Have a listen to the opening track ‘It’s Thunder and It’s Lightening’ from their album, These Four Walls, below and see if you can keep yourself from playing it a second time. This is what I love about music.
