Angus & Julia Stone

Siblings Angus and Julia Stone's sophmore album, Down The Way, is pure folk sweetness. Angus' vocals could be compared to Colin Meloy of Decemberists at times, while sister Julia channel's Corinne Bailey Rae - together it's reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkle and The Swell Season's simplistic poetic harmonies.

Download:
Paper Aeroplane

www.myspace.com/angusandjuliastone

If I WAS going to SXSW

Yet another year is passing by that I am not going to go to SXSW....sigh.

IF I was GOING, here are some of the bands I would try and attend. Some I have seen, some I have wanted to for years....If you are going, go and enjoy them for me.

Holly Miranda
Black Angels
Temper Trap
Toro Y Moi
Band of Skulls
Russian Futurists
Voxhaul Broadcast
Local Natives
Metric
Fanfarlo
Broadcast 2000
Princeton
Mayer Hawthorne
Neon Indian
White Denim
Miike Snow
Walkmen
Adam Green
Spoon
Frightened Rabbit
Dr. Dog
The Veils
Findlay Brown
The XX
Bajofondo
Oh No Ono
Jeremy Jay
Born Ruffians
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
The 88

Harlem

Texas garage band Harlem bring lo-fi goodness to your collection. I checked them out, played them for a fellow coworker, and he liked them so much he made them a music video that should be released soon. Silly fun with a flip camera, as silly fun as they are to listen to. On par with San Francisco band Girls or youngin's Smith & Western.

Download:
Friendly Ghost

http://www.myspace.com/harlemduh

She & Him

Volume 2 is finally out! My girl crush Zoey Deschanel and M.Ward have finally released their second album together of nostalgic tunes. He plays, she sings. She plays, he plays, they sing. Together they write, together they make beautiful melodies and cover oldies worthy of being new again.

While I primarily love her in movies where she sings (Elf, Yes Man) and other she doesn't (500 days of Summer) - her style and sweet voice are so adorable you just want to put a bow on it.

Download:
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here

http://www.sheandhim.com/

Shout Out Louds

I think when I first heard of The Shout Out Loud's, was around the time that Say Hi To Your Mom and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah all came out. I remember a friend mentioning these band names over IM and I was so confused what she was trying to telling me. I was clapping my hands and saying "yeah", I was like, ok, sure - I'll say "hi" to my mom. You want me to shout out loud? Well, I have since falled in love with their past albums Our Ill Wills and How How Gaff Gaff, and now their latest album Work has sealed it for me.

I just adore the Swedes. How is it that such a small country with such cold weather and creators of Pipi Longstocking could bring such great music to me? (I digress, but I was a HUGE Pipi fan...and even she too had a great catchy song!)

Ok. So if you are a fan of Swedish bands, (Jens Lekman, Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn & John, The Knife, The Teddybears, The Cardigans, etc etc) and you REALLY love Phoenix - well then You'll fall hard like their song for their latest effort. Asked by someone which songs out of the album did I like and I stated rattling off the numbers on the cd...it turned out I listed about all of them. Muah - can't wait til they come so I can dance and sing with them. Happy happy, joy joy.

Download:
Walls
Fall Hard (Passion Pit Summertime Radio Remix)
Tonight I Have To Leave It

http://www.myspace.com/shoutoutlouds

Princeton & Kisses

So long overdue. I have been talking about posting about Princeton for months now, that it almost felt ridiculous to do anything - but that wouldn't be right as I have really taken a liking to this local Santa Monica band. What pains me is that they had a residency for the month of February at Spaceland and I missed 4 Mondays. I was busy with work. Oh, and they would go on at 11PM on a Monday. Sorry boys, I'm just unable to do that for you. Too old I guess for these youngsters who all grew up on Princeton Street in Santa Monica. Cuter? Lucky for me, and I better fricken make it this time, to their show with Active Child at The Troubadour, another favorite I blogged about.

Their Sound naturally caught my attention with their Jens Lekman-like sound...or if Jens wasn't born in Sweden, but instead in Southern California.

Oh, and if you happen to love their hand clapping pop songs like I do, check out Kisses, from Princeton's singer Jesse Kivel and girlfriend Zinzi Edmindson.
http://www.myspace.com/blowkissess

Download:
Calypso Gold

http://www.princeton-band.com/music/
http://www.myspace.com/princetonmusic

Broken Bells

Broken Bells in two parts.

Part one: Experiencing the listening party of a lifetime...or at least of 2010. On a rooftop in downtown LA, Music Supervisor's and a select few of other music guru's gathered to take a listen to the release of Broken Bells. A drive in/laser show complete with 3-D glasses and a station for people to snuggle in their car to tune into, and chairs for those wanting to sit under the stars and gaze at the swirly images accompanied by the bands release. Apparently they gave out limited edition lithos....I didn't get one. WAH.

Part two: A week later performing their second show for the album, (first time was at the Bootleg Theater for friends and family). But, I got lucky enough to score myself ONE ticket to their sold out Troubadour show. Aside from the chatty Cathy's around me (rude), they were solid with a backdrop of psychadelic images inspired from their album cover. THAT time I picked up their print, not numbered. Double WAH. Oh, but they did hand out matchbooks with their logo. Not a bad gift with purchase.

The project with Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shin's, has different peaks and valleys. Some songs resembling a song Air would have produced, to mysterious tracks that could have come off of The Last Shadow Puppet's album to a song Thom Yorke could have released. A magnificent album getting lots of attention.

Download:
The High Road

Buy Stuff:
http://www.sonymusicdigital.com/broken-bells/pages/5437030/

http://www.myspace.com/brokenbells

Holly Miranda

Boys, this girl likes girls. So don't get too swept away by her beauty and her gorgeous voice and think she's yours. Detroit girl, and now Brooklyn girl, Miranda's newest album, The Magician's Private Library is dynamic with lush songs to go to sleep to.

My favorite track of the album is Forest Green, Oh Forest Green. Her sound feels like a cross between Sia, Florence & The Machine and Thao Nguyen.

Download:
Forest Green, Oh Forest Green
Waves

http://www.myspace.com/hollymiranda
http://www.themagiciansprivatelibrary.com/

Spoon

Last night Spoon played a "secret show" at El Cid. I have never been to El Cid...and I have never been to a "secret show". I'm never on top of hearing about secret shows and acting on them...that sort of information tends to miss me usually. Thankfully the label let me know it was happening - so I was able to have two firsts in one night, and it was great fun.

Transference is officially available to the public to buy as of today, but last night music insiders and fans got a peak at what the fuss is all about for their latest album, following the success of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. This time around there is less of the horns and claps, replaced with an echo effect. There are some gems on the new album - and while I only own three at the moment, they deliver what I want from the 16 year old band.



Download:
Is Love Forever (live)
Written In Reverse (live)

http://www.myspace.com/spoon

Hockey

The last time I saw Hockey they were opening at The Troubadour for The Friendly Fires. The young band had us dancing...and when I saw them on Saturday headline at Spaceland, that was all I wanted to do. Dance.

In reading reviews online and trying to find out more about them than their Oregon roots, I keep seeing comparisons to the Strokes. ???? There's a bit more Phoenix mixed with LCD Sound System - new wave pop songs with an electronic back beat that take you on a wild roller coaster. They start big, dipping low and taking you back up. There is never a lull. With each twist and turn their songs have an energy that lead singer Ben Grubin conducts his audience into a frenzy with. He's flamboyant light, sporting a feathered earing,and his high pitched voice that makes me wonder is he even old enough to have hit puberty?

http://www.myspace.com/hockey

Sonic Youth

The '90's returned yesterday for 2 hours, and two encores last night at The Wiltern where Sonic Youth played. Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and the rest of Sonic Youth rocked the stage with their grungy fuzz noise that increased in volume throughout the show so that by the end of the night everyone went - did it get louder??! I heard one guy in back of me say loudly "Oh my god" cause he was in grunge heaven.

There were no complaints after the show except for the heckler. The "Play Goo" guy. PLAY GOO he kept screaming. PLAY GOO. Play Goo guy was standing right in front of me and looked like he stepped out of Clerks with his stringy hair and foot long goatie that was braided. I am NOT joking. Goo, the title of the 1990 album, and song titled "My friend Goo". I don't think they played it.

Am I a magnet for jackasses at shows? At the Julian Casablancas show I was standing next to a group of Frat boys who kept boo-ing. AND at the Jarvis Cocker show the heckler that kept screaming PLAY PULP was standing in back of me. Why do people go to shows and get so demanding? If you want to hear something specific, go put the album on at home. You go to a show to see the band perform as they are. If you don't like it, please don't go.

But if you are like me and my friends - we really dug the show. My favorite tracks from the newest album, The Eternal are Antenna and Anti-Orgasm.

http://www.myspace.com/sonicyouth

Download:
Sacred Trickster

Active Child

I didn't expect to be so connected at first listen to Active Child. Sent to me for consideration in a future spot, I gave it a go. The sender mentioned the album had gotten a few nods of approvals from Sterogum, Guardian and RCRDLBL, and the album wasn't coming out til April. Amazing - naturally this buzz sounded very enticing.

So What's I'm about to share with you is Active Child. Moody atmospheric tracks blending tones of some of my favorites - Joy Division/Interpol, Animal Collective and Bon Iver. Click away to the links below to download some of the tracks - It's not on playlist.com yet, so I can't add it to my player, but you can listen yourself in your itunes after you click on the free downloads. You can thank me later.

The most surprising part of the band to me is that he's from LA. Know what that means for me and all of you LA fans? More opportunities to catch him live. Too bad I noticed this evening that he was playing at Bar Lubitsch. That would have been a great space to see him.

rcrdlbl
stereogum
http://myspace.com/activechild

Surfer Blood

OK. I posted about Surfer Blood two weeks ago. I professed my love for the album. I did.

Naturally, I had to go see them play at The Echo even though I swore no more shows there. Their sound there has turned me off to great bands in the past....but I just HAD - TO - GO, and I am so glad I did!

I changed my mind on who they remind me of. I'm revising my original notes. I still think they have a little Modest Mouse but more Weezer mixed with Silversun Pickups and a dot of Vampire weekend.

These young guys are going to be big with more shows. They are so catchy! It was their first time in Los Angeles, and it was the lead singer's 19th birthday - what a way to celebrate. My favorite touch of the show was when they brought the big drum down to the audience and gave sticks to the fans to drum with. Loved it. Hoorah!

Julian Casablancas

On August 12 NME announced information on Julian Casablanca's solo tour. I remember reading this quote from Casablancas: "Ideally, I'm going to try to put on some over-the-top, amazing, Disney shows." Naturally, I was intrigued to find out what that meant.

Albert Hammond, Jr. and Fabrizio Moretti (Little Joy) already have released albums outside of The Strokes, and they are distinct. Casablancas who was the primary writer for The Strokes, is the only one of the bunch to have maintained the The Strokes sound.

So - the show - awesome. I was so curious what this Disney like show would be like - and it wasn't about animal costumes like The Flaming Lips - but it was more like a large art installation continuously changing in the background, setting a look to Casablanca's demanding vocals. Instead of a encore performance, Casablancas announced they were taking a 10 minute intermission - when they returned there was a costume change from black leather to white suits and a whole set change. That was a first!

While the Palace theatre downtown was decadent in it's own time - the owners have let it down. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics of the old building or the beginning of the tour but Casablanca's vocals were especially muffled and buried under the instrumentation.

One thing is for sure - the show as a whole was a entertaining piece to watch, even though the frat I guys I was next to kept yelling BOO.

www.myspace.com/juliancasablancas
http://www.juliancasablancas.com/

Julian Plenti

Julian Plenti is Paul Banks of Interpol. In his solo album Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper, Banks has not abandones his Interpol sound. It's familiar yet a bit more simplistic in some of the lyrics - sometimes a bit too simplistic and repetitive. What makes Julian Plenti so appealing is his voice. It's so distinct and controlled. It's a solid album I just became so aware of the minimalism in the lyrics when I saw him live. The best part of the show was the encore. Not because it was the end, but he sang a verse of Let It Snow and then covered America's Horse With No Name. Try not to think about it and just enjoy it.

Favorite songs - Only If You Run, Fun That We have, Games For Days, Girl On The Sporting News, Madrid Song, No Chance Of Survival, Only If You Run, Unwind

Download
Fun That We Have
Games For Days

www.myspace.com/julianplenti

The Big Pink

The Big Pink has a big sound. No joke. Loud. My first instinct on the original posting a few months ago held up. The dark, gothic like band was just as large and present as I imagined they would be. For their first official tour in the US, the band kept the stage dark with dramatic back lights to enhance the songs. Overall good show, but the band delayed making the crowd anxious and then waited until the last song of the night to play their hit Dominos.



Download:
Velvet
Dominos
Too Young To Love

http://musicfromthebigpink.com/
http://www.myspace.com/musicfromthebigpink

Vampire Weekend - Cousins Video

Landon Pigg

Seeing Landon Pigg was not on my radar two weeks ago. I had no idea who he was, nor had I ever heard of him. I was dying to see Whip It, and there he was. This adorable guy playing opposite Ellen Page. I developed a school girl crush on him. A week later I received an invite to see him play at The El Rey...and well...I had to see him live. I still hadn't even heard his music. As I started researching his album and listening to the tracks, I heard a very familiar tune - Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop from the AT&T spot that has been in heavy rotation. Even though that spot plays like crazy with such a memorable track, I still liked it. So, the adventure of finding out about Landon Pigg continues.

I find out that a new friend knows him from growing up in Nashville, so we went to the show together, and yes girls, he is just as dreamy in person as he was in Whip It. Sigh. His set was short and sweet, but he worked it. Chatting up the audience asking what they want to hear - Rock or Folk...and he decided to split up the set.

Influenced by Rufus Wainwright, The Beetles and Radiohead....I heard some Bono in his vocals. It's sweet. I enjoyed it.

Tracks I like from the album: Blue Skies, A Ghost, Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

Download:
A Ghost


http://www.myspace.com/landonpiggmusic

The Mountain Goats

When I told my parents I was going to see The Mountain Goats my dad asked me if that was a title of a movie..um, he was confusing it with Men Who Stare At Goats. A few differences..like The Mountain Goats were actually enjoyable!

The Mountain Goats have been around since 1991. And they have proven they aren't going anywhere. Once known as a lo-fi band they are now growing as a full band, even incorporating a violin into songs and their stage set.

Their live set was long. I'm not going to lie. And their newest album The Life Of The World To Come isn't in my top list, but the history of their work still holds a dear place for me. AND - they happen to have a great stage vibe which is a huge plus for me. Seeing too many shows I really appreciate the effort a band puts in to connect with their fans. Front man Darnielle works the audience into a giggle fit with his stories of how his songs came to be, and just really seems to feel at home on that stage, even though they appear like they are the nerd crew that happened to stumble upon a very cool group of listeners.

Download:
Genesis 3:23

http://www.myspace.com/themountaingoats

Wale

With influences like Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z,Rakim, Camp Lo, Mark Ronson, Common and Digable Planets among many others, Wale is making a splash with music geeks everywhere. Seriously - he is getting written up from everything from rap magazines and blogs to the indie music reviews and The New York Times. The Washington, D.C.-based rapper Wale (pronounced "wah-lay") was born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin.

It's hearing a album like this that makes me want to incorporate more rap into my music diet.

My favorite tracks: 90210, Chillin, Let It Loose, World Tour, Momma Told Me

Download Some Of His Mixtape Gems:
Back To The Feature
Mixtape About Nothing


http://www.myspace.com/wale