Junior Boys / Max Tundra – Live @ Canopy Club

I regrettably skipped over my last chance to see Canadian synth-pop maestros, Junior Boys, which would have been Pitchfork Festival a couple years back and their recent album, Begone Dull Care, has been one of my most played albums this year. So, when they trekked through the Canopy Club a couple days back, I made sure I was there. I’m very glad I made the trip, the band provided a wonderful night of (mostly) laid-back, soulful dance tunes and gorgeous, melodic electronica.

The show was opened by English musician and multi-instrumentalist, Max Tundra. I didn’t catch his whole set but what I saw of was very enjoyable.  The glitchy, pop beats he was laying down and his goofy personality reminded me a bit of Dan Deacon (but with an accent). The quirky dancing and use of instruments ranging from melodica to toy microphone was all quite endearing and he ended with a charming cover of Sound of Music’s “So Long, Farewell”. I’ll definitely be checking out more of this guy.

MP3 Max Tundra – Which Song

The crowd for Junior Boys was a bit smaller than I expected but it turned out to be a really good thing as it made for a very intimate show and no one was afraid to dance. Jeremy chatted with the crowd throughout the set and encouraged us to let loose by offering up a free tote bag to person who made a made the biggest fool of themselves dancing (of which Max Tundra was the judge). The band opened with the retro, new wave sounds of “Hazel”, the first single from Begone Dull Care, which was splendid and they continued with a set that mixed new material with a number of songs from So This Is Goodbye and a couple from their debut, Last Exit.

I was very impressed with the sound of the band, which was crisp and well-mixed and the use of a live drummer definitely enhanced the performance. The synths sounded incredible on both the chilled-out melancholy jams like “Parallel Lines” and “Double Shadow” and heavy, club-bangers like “Work” and “Bits and Pieces”. The set closed with crowd favorite, “In The Morning” before the band came out to do an extended version of early track “Under The Sun” which made for a stunning climax. Not a bad way to spend a Monday night, eh?

MP3 Junior Boys – Hazel
MP3 Junior Boys – In The Morning

More artsy B&W pictures after the jump (view the whole set here)…

Passion Pit

Ever since Boston electro kids, Passion Pit exploded onto the scene with “Sleepyhead” (which is the kind of song that starts out awesome and gets better with time) they’ve been showered with hype from the blogs. I can’t think of a more anticipated debut this year than the upcoming Manners. While the first song released by from the album, “The Reeling”, didn’t exceed too many expecations (although it’s not nearly as bad as some people were saying), the other two pre-released tracks are both solid gold.  If there’s any justice in the world, Passion Pit will be the next big thing on the indie dance front (hopefully causing MGMT to slide into oblivion).

“Little Secrets” is another foray into the digital art-pop that the band does so well, the shimmering, retro synths, crazy falsettos, and now with added children’s choir.  It’s got all the playful good-timeyness of “Sleepyhead”, with a slightly less memorable hook. “Moth’s Wings”, though, is the track where Passion Pit really shines. It shows they aren’t content to just be that band you hear at hipster dance parties. The song is quite ambitious, the opening melody is played on mandolin before a big instrumental swell with expansive synths and jubilant piano.  The band pulls off the anthemic pop song very impressively.  By the end of the song you’ve got pounding drums and chorus of “la la las” filling the sonic landscape.  The band stamps it with the emotional resonance that made their early songs such a charm.  So, yea, I’m really digging it. You can count me as one of those who have utterly fallen for this band. Manners comes out on May 19th. Pre-order it here.

MP3 Moths’ Wings
MP3 Little Secrets

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Want to read about more of my PASSIONs? Take a PIT stop at my twitter page! Wordplay! (sorry about that super lame pun)

Newsflashes (Sufjan, Album Leaks, Matt McConaughey, more)

Sufjan Stevens released a old demo track that was inspired by Sofia Coppola on his blog, and explains a bit of his songwriting process.  If you’re a Sufjan fan (or borderline obsessive, like me) it’s pretty much required reading / listening.  The track is not half bad, it’s very simple and quaint, just him and a banjo.  The melody is quite nice; it wouldn’t sound out of place at all on one of his Christmas EPs. Could a new album be in the near future? Please be so.

MP3 Sufjan Stevens – Sofia’s Song

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For those of you dirty pirate types, there’s a lot to celebrate. Stuart Murdoch’s solo project, God Help The Girl leaked as did the first of two Patrick Wolf albums to be released this year, The Bachelor, and the Iron & Wine compilation, Around The Well. I, happily, have a lot of listening to do this weekend.

I’ve listened to God Help the Girl a bit and it’s quite amazing how well Stuart captured the 60’s folk/pop feel with these songs. The jury’s still out though on how much lasting appeal this album will have. Elsewhere, Connor at i guess i’m floating is all over the new Patrick Wolf grab “Hard Times” and read some of his initial thoughts here.

MP3 God Help The Girl – Come Monday Night

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Cracked.com is really on a roll lately, they’ve really perfected the art of list-based, photoshop-enhanced humor.  Here’s one of my recent favorites: Matthew McConaughey’s Next 10 Movie Posters. It’s funny because it’s oh, so true.

Example: Pro Boxer Ed James thought he was ready to fight Vampire Jones, but wasn’t ready for… was falling in love. Matthew McConaughey in Down for the Count.

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I find the whole Flaming Lips controversy over “Do You Realize??” being named Oklahoma’s official rock song pretty hilarious. Reading the blog comments of the curmodgeony Oklahoman’s who haven’t heard of / can’t stand for The Flaming Lips’ antics are pretty great.  Here’s an interesting news story on the matter from newsok.com, scroll down for the comment wars.

MP3 Flaming Lips – Do You Realize??

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Obligatory 30 Rock reference: “Blue writing on green … why?!?”

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If you haven’t been checking out my other writing gig at mtvu.com then you should! Yes, I have to dumb some stuff down for the mass MTV audience, but I also feel pretty proud of some of these articles I’ve written.  Here’s links to my most recent writings:

Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch (video premiere)
Asobi Seksu – Me & Mary
Chairlift – Evident Utensil
The-Dream – Rockin’ That Thing (Remix)
Fanfarlo – Harold T. Wilkins
School of Seven Bells – Half Asleep
Death Cab for Cutie – Grapevine Fires

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Follow me on twitter! You might find I occasionally have interesting things to say in 140 character increments.

The "Go Planet!" Earth Day Mix

Today is Earth Day and in honor of nature and the environment and taking pollution down to zero, here’s a mix of some of my favorite eco-friendly songs. Do your part in saving the world the today by planting a tree or converting your car to run on vegetable oil.  Remember, THE POWER IS YOURS!

MP3 Captain Planet Theme Song
MP3 Neko Case – Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth
MP3 Sufjan Stevens – All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands
MP3 Sea Wolf – The Garden That You Planted
MP3 Fleet Foxes – Blue Ridge Mountains
MP3 Jeremy Enigk – River to Sea
MP3 U2 – Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World
MP3 Cloud Cult – Everybody Here Is A Cloud
MP3 Beirut – Scenic World (New Version)

Track Review: Sunset Rubdown, Phoenix, A.C. Newman

Hey, I’m gonna review some tracks now. Ready, Go!

MP3 Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart

I realize that I’ve become programmed to love everything that Spencer Krug puts out but this song takes the guy’s talents and general awesomeness to another dimension.  It’s amazing how easily he blows away anything on Random Spirit Lover (still a big favorite for me) with “Idiot Heart”. The guitar! The backing vocals! The incredible attention to detail! It absolutely rocks in the most extremest of ways, the song is a complete rush.  The last 60 seconds especially is mind-blowing.  Conclusion: I love this track in every way, download right away if you haven’t already.  Also, I hope that you die in a decent pair of shoes (you got a lot of long walking to do).

MP3 Phoenix – Listzomania

For whatever reason this track didn’t hit me like “1901”, “Girlfriend”, and “Lasso” did at first.  I saw “Listzomania” as a solid opener but not as a first single.  After playing and replaying Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and then playing it again it’s become one of my favorites on an album that has nothing but strong tracks.  The song perhaps best defines the retro/classical guitar pop vibe of the album and it’s all so catchy, dancey, vibrant and inescapably fun. There’s an official video out but I prefer  this brat pack mash-up video made with scenes from “The Breakfast Club”, “Footloose” and “Pretty in Pink”. Fantabulous!

MP3 A.C. Newman – The Heartbreak Rides

I’m a bit late to the party on this one but I’ve really been getting into Get Guilty lately and this song especially.  I think it’s a contester for prettiest song that Newman has ever written (and that’s including NP’s songs).  The melody is subtle but absolutely gorgeous and the simplistic chorus of Newman chanting “Yo Ho!” is really quite brilliant.  The song crescendos to a triumphant climax that features lovely instrumentation fills from strings, woodwinds, and brass alike. Wonderful song.

Commercial Watch: Sigur Ros, Sea and Cake, Unicorns + more

I was watching LOST last week (probably the only show that I still watch live) and I saw indie artists in three commercials in a row and decided it was about time for another edition of “Commercial Watch”.  So just in case, you also use your DVR / Tivo to skip straight to the show, here’s a few of the best songs that those creative types at the ad agencies are selecting for their marketing campaigns.  Includes MP3s and link to video free of charge.

Disney’s Earth: Sigur Ros – Hoppipola

I’ve seen this commercial tons of times in the last couple weeks (and not just on Disney-owned TV stations like ABC and ESPN).  Seems like they’re pushing this Earth thing pretty hard.  They take some cues from BBC Planet Earth / Slumdog Millionaire spots on the song choice, which is fine with me since you’ll never hear me complain of hearing a Sigur Ros song, especially when it’s soundtracking things like baby ducks and polar bears.

Watch Commercial

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Citibank: The Sea and Cake – Jacking The Ball

“Jacking The Ball” is my favorite Sea and Cake song and it actually works really well in the background of this commercial. The ad has lots of people talking about the different ways they save money edited together to make look like one ongoing conversation. Not a bad spot if you ask me.

Watch Commercial

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Crayola: The Unicorns – I Was Born A Unicorn

Ads for children’s products usually have the worst type of Kidz Bop-like songs but not the case for this Crayloa commercial for crayons that make your drawings look 3D.  The song is Unicorn’s classic “I Was Born A Unicorn”. The only problem is everytime I hear this song I start singing UGK in my head.  Wonder why?

Watch Commercial

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Blackberry Storm: Simian Mobile Disco – I Believe

I’m not getting rid of my iPhone anytime soon (or ever) but I do have admit the Blackberry Storm looks pretty cool, and not just because Jim from the Office tells me so.  Here’s an flashy ad showing off some of the smart phone’s features with Simian Mobile Disco’s “I Believe” providing the beats.

Watch Commercial

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Victoria’s Secret: Joanna Newsom – Sprout and the Bean

You would think Joanna Newsom would be just about the last artist featured in an ad, but Victoria’s Secret made it work. Really, what other artist could soundtrack a video of someone frolicking around in the woods in their underwear?

Watch Commercial

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Axe Anti-Dandruff Shampoo: TeddyBears – Hey Boy

Axe has always had some of the worst commercials and their latest campaign continues with the trend. In this installment, a bunch of girls tackle some guy in a night club with bad dandruff and shampoo his hair while the DJ in the club announces how great Axe Shampoo is. Swedish electro band TeddyBears (whose “Cobrastyle” was used to sell Heineken, deodorant, and lots of bad movies) lent their track “Hey Boy” to the ad.

Watch Commercial

Let me know if there’s any other good commercials out there I’m missing.

The Hold Steady / War on Drugs – Live @ Courtyard Café

On one side you have The Hold Steady, one of the biggest touring bands in indie music, who regularly sell out large concert halls and are known for their rowdy live shows and fiercely loyal fan base. On the other side, you have the Courtyard Café, a tiny coffee house located in the University of Illinois student center that regularly hosts acoustic shows and poetry readings and doesn’t even have a website (you hear about a show from the band or from campus posters).

So mixing these two forces together is a recipe for disaster, right? That’s what I thought, but I came home honestly impressed at both the band’s ability to rock a stage that barely fit their sound equipment and the venue’s ability to well, basically get out of the way and let the Hold Steady do their thing, which is providing the absolute best, wildest live show you’re likely to ever see.

I missed most of The War on Drugs‘ set, which is too bad because from what I saw they sounded quite good.  The live show really amplified the noisy reverb part of the band’s sound and they ended with an extended jam version of “A Needle In Your Eye #16”.  Unfortunately, I didn’t catch my favorite song from them, “Taking The Farm” but it’s all good.

While I was waiting for the Hold Steady, I overhead a couple guys in front of me talking about how weird it was for The Hold Steady to be playing such a small room, commenting that the band hadn’t played a venue this size since their Lifter Puller days.  All doubts were put to rest though, once the band took the stage and began playing the riff to “Constructive Summer” and the place exploded with energy.  The band didn’t complain once about venue limitations and rocked out like they were playing the Superdome. The crowd ate it up screaming the choruses at the top of their lungs and thrusting their arms into the air.

The great thing about the band’s set is how different it was from the setlist I had seen a few months before on tour with Drive-By Truckers.  With so many fans following them around the country I can imagine they very much enjoy hearing a different setlist every night.  I was very glad to hear “Party Pit”, “Hornets! Hornets!” and “Most People Are DJs” all of which I had never seen live.  The band chose to skip “Killer Parties” and close with one of my favorite Hold Steady songs “How A Resurrection Really Feels” (also very appropriate close for the holiday) and it was just as amazing as I imagined it would be.

All in all, due to a big crowd in a tiny space everyone got bounced around a bit more than was completely comfortable but the fans seemed to take care of each other and the band obviously did not disappoint.  If you haven’t seen the band live, it’s something you must experience in your lifetime but if you’d rather live vicariously though grab that live album / DVD combo that was just released, A Positive Rage. It’s not the same as being there, but it’s a good representation of their awesome performances and uncanny connection with the fans.

MP3 Constructive Summer
MP3 How A Resurrection Really Feels

Follow the link below to see more pictures from the show.

Harlem Shakes

I feel a bit ashamed that I haven’t blogged about Harlem Shakes yet, I’ve really slept on this album. It’s exactly the kind of in-your-face, extremely catchy indie rock music (often made by artists from Brooklyn) that I absolutely love. Thankfully, Dave at the rawkblog.net suggested I check them out and I’ve been spinning their debut, Technicolor Health ever since. 2009 has really been knocking it out of the park with debuts this year and this is definitely one that’s making a strong case for tops (also see: Cymbals Eat Guitars, Fanfarlo). The album is refreshing, exhilarating, and unabashedly cheerful. It’s definitely of the funnest albums to listen to I’ve experienced this year.

There’s two songs I suggest listening to to get the feel for this album. Firstly, check out “Strictly Game”, a brisk, lively, electro-tinged tune with densely layered instrumentation (including some afro-pop percussion) thrusting the track forward. The spirited melodies and harmonies are an absolute delight, as are the hopeful lyrics of “this will be a better year”. For any other band this would be the catchiest song on the album, but somehow Harlem Shakes top it with “Sunlight”, which is absolutely insanely infectious. The track is crazy danceable, features great some new wave synths, but remains completely grounded in guitar-based indie pop. And let me just re-iterate the chorus is totally freakin’ absurdly catchy. Alright, got it? Good. Now download below and see for yourself:

MP3 Strictly Game
MP3 Sunlight

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I was just notified that the Love Language post had a mislabeled song. The track labeled “Gray Court” is actually called “Providence” (and if you didn’t already download it, you might want to get on that).  Also, Pitchfork gave Love Language a very positive review today. Those guys are always riding my coattails.

Spike Jonze's "Everyone Poops" Trailer

Where The Wild Things has gotten so much great early buzz that writer/director Spike Jonze has already began adapting another ten-page children’s book into film. This time it’s the classic toilet training book for youngsters, “Everyone Poops“. The trailer was released today and like Wild Things this one also features everyone’s favorite Canadian rock collective, Arcade Fire. This movie looks EPIC.

MP3 Arcade Fire – Wake Up (alternate version)

God Help The Girl: "Come Monday Night"

While it doesn’t look like a proper Belle & Sebastian album will be appearing anytime soon, I think this is the next best thing.  God Help The Girl is a project that B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch has been working on for some time and it’s a musical narrative album fronted by an array of voices including some lovely female newcomers (all brunettes suspiciously), Stuart himself, and some other friends / bandmates / special guests. I also should mention there’s also a 45-piece orchestra that plays on the album.

From the couple of tracks I’ve heard so far, God Help The Girl is really going to be beautiful. I feel it’s something I’m going to want to completely immerse myself in.  That’s certainly the feeling I get from first single “Come Monday Night”. Catherine Ireton sings lead vocals on this song (as well as the majority of the album) and her voice is light, effortless, and strikingly pretty.  The strings also stand out on this song, they sound fantastical and dreamlike.  I’m really looking forward to this album.

MP3 God Help The Girl – Come Monday Night

Also, here’s an alternate version of a Life Pursuit‘s “Funny Little Frog” from the album with Britney Stallings on lead vox. Enjoy!

MP3 God Help The Girl – Funny Little Frog

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I did the write-up for Silversun Pickup’s “Panic Switch” video premiere on MTVU.  This was my first big video premiere so go check it out here (and read some of my other MTVU posts while you’re at it).