Best of the 2nd Quarter 2011 April -> June

Over halfway through 2011 and with the summer here I have had a little more time focus on music. April and May brought lots of great music and lots of new discoveries. That is always a busy music time of year as many bands like to follow up with new albums and tracks after SXSW. June was a little disappointing (or maybe I am just spending too much time stuck on Bon Iver) and July so far has been dry. Enjoy and let me know what your favorites were.

Standout Album from April - June listed in Alphabetical Order. All tracks are for sampling purposes go out and buy the album to support the artists (click on the album name to go to Amazon)!

The Antlers - Burst Apart
I Don't Want Love
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Putting The Dog To Sleep


Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See
Brick By Brick
Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Piledriver Waltz


Battles - Gloss Drop
Wall Street
Ice Cream (Feat Matias Aguayo)


Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
Drover
One Fine Morning


Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Calgary
Beth/Rest


Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Helplessness Blues
The Cascades
Bedouin Dress (Live)


Jeff the Brotherhood - We Are the Champions
Shredder
Diamondway
Mellow Out


Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah
Eleven (Feat. tUnE-yArDs)
Folks


tUnE-yArDs - WHOKILL
Bizness
Gangsta
Powa


Vaccines - What Did you Expect From the Vaccines
Norgaard
If You Wanna
Blow It Up


And 15 more tracks for good measure!
Black Lips - Modern Art
Country Mice - Morning Song
Ema - The Grey Ship
Fucked Up - The Other Shoe
Low - Try to Sleep
Milagres - Glowing Mouth
My Morning Jacket - Holdin On to Black Metal
The National - Think You Can Wait
Panda Bear - Surfer's Hymn
Parts and Labor - Rest
The Raveonettes - Forget That Your Young
Seapony - Blue Star
Sonny and the Sunsets - Reflections on Youth
Thee Oh Sees - I Need Seed
Vetiver - Wonder Why
Weeknd - Glass Table Girls
Yacht - Dystopia

And Other Stuff #5

So before I die, I have three concert dreams:
1. Latitude in England with my whole family
2. SXSW with my wife and the Berciks
3. Primavera and Spain sightseeing with whoever will take me for free.

So this week we get some very cool footage from Spain thanks to Pitchfork attending the Primavera festival.
tUnE-yArDs in Spain
The tUnE-yArDs short song is just surreal with the church, traffic, and soccer crazies.

James Blake @ Primevera Concert in Spain
So I learned that this music is part of his degree for University...how cool.

Cults @ Primevera
Sightseeing and drinking


On top of all the concert and live music footage - Pitchfork also introduced a great new idea: 60 Seconds Left. Check out these bands to get an idea of what it is all about.
The Walkmen - remind me a wrestling a friend of highschool and then suddenly someone gets mad and it gets real.

Battles - funny band, funny cameraman.

Pains of Being Pure of Heart - an indie football fan.


So leave a comment on what your concert dreams are!

Youtube is the new MTV (and other stuff)

The Antlers w/ Neon Indian - Rolled Together (live for Pitchfork) from Pitchfork
Hearing and seeing this track on Pitchfork is really what made me want to seek out other live performances from artists. I don't get to many concerts so thank god for youtube, pitchfork, and the like. Thanks Pitchfork!


The Vaccines - Blow It Up (Later Live with Jools Holland) from Youtube
I'm a sucker for the hype surrounding this band. Can't wait for the US release of this album so I can stop cheating them out of their money by searching out poor quality downloads.


Beach House - Untitled (New song live at ATP 2011) from youtube
Sounds like they have picked up right where they left off with Teen Dream. I'm sure we still have some time till a new album arrives but glad to see they are in tip top shape.


tUnE-yArDs - You Yes You from Pitchfork
I'm sure I am a pig because I find the mustache distracting during the interview, but once the music starts that all fades. The effects pedal work with the drums and loops is cool and the rhythm of the song is boss.


Fleet Foxes - Sim Sala Bim (live on Jimmy Fallon 5/20/2011) from Audio Perv
If you made it this far you are in for a treat - so soothing to start and so rocking to end. AWESOME!

Cheat Sheet #10 2011

Time is of the essence and I don't have any. Busy with lacrosse last week even though we had two games rained out. This week I got two more coming up, but if time allows and I can get them posted I have a bunch of great tracks to bring in spring. Anybody have any suggestions for music that reminds them of spring and the changing weather? Enjoy this week - the only bands posted that I know anything about are Bill Calahan former Smog man and Yacht. The rest of it is brand new to me, so lets see what sticks. If you got the time, become a member and follow me and tell your friends

Bill Callahan - Baby's Breath from Everybody Taste  
His voice and simple accompaniment is so effecting. This is the type of music I now obsess over. A Must buy!!!!!
New album Apocalypse comes out April 19
Band Website

Acid House Kings - Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends from Indie Rock Cafe
A throw off track really. I like to include 5 bands every week so these guys are number five. Swedish pop which that country knows how to do well. Perfect for fans of Peter Bjorn and John or Belle and Sebastian.
Album Music Sounds Better With You out now
Band Website




Typhoon - The Honest Truth from The Kitchen Turntable
A large band with a dynamic sound. These guys follow the credo of making a joyful noise. A discovery through NPR's coverage of SXSW.
EP A New Kind of House out now
Band Website

tUnE-yArDs - Bizness from Oh My Rock
I avoided this when I first saw it posted on blogs because I didn't like the band name with the lower and upper case mix. Just didn't look like a band that takes them seriously. I was wrong - the music is the brain child of Merrill Garbus. She is weird and wacky but serious about making good music. It was the video below from NPR - All Songs Considered that sold me on the music
Album WHOKILL is out April 19
Band Website

Yacht - Dystopia (The Earth Is On Fire) from Everybody Taste
Hot off the blog presses, this track is a great play on the "The Roof Is On Fire" by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three and signals that Yacht will still be around the blogosphere for another 6 months. Another sign they will be around is they are on the DFA label. Only listened to this once, but it sure is catchy.
New album Shangri-La out this summer
Band website

Bonus Video: The Roof Is On Fire by Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three

Bonus Video: Fire Water Burn - Bloodhound Gang