J J Bullock Have we officially christened a "song of the Summer" for 2010 yet? Do we even have enough of a monoculture anymore that a consensus on such a thing is even possible? If so - or if not - I would like to nominate "Zorbing", the lead track and single from Beachcomber's Windowsill , the debut album from Oxford, England's Stornoway . It's a simple but instantly catchy tune about the metaphorical joys of rolling around London in a giant hamster ball - I think - that's [...]
[What a weekend ahead. Festivals, great big shows, great small shows, George Michael's birthday ... There's a lot to mention here, so follow along.] Two festivals that have plenty of you buzzing: ☛ Electric Daisy Carnival , today and Saturday at Exposition Park and the L.A. Coliseum. [ Set times here .] ☛ Vans Warped Tour , today at the Home Depot Center in Carson and Sunday at Seaside Park in Ventura. [Set times aren't announced until morning of show.] [...]
June 1st will see the return of Minipop , in the form of the new Automatic Love EP. This is the first release from the indie pop band since 2007's A New Hope . Minipop - "Like I Do" (from A New Hope ) Automatic Love will be celebrated on June 25th at the Rickshaw Stop (8:30 pm, $10), where Minipop's headlining performance will be preceded by locals the Trophy Fire and LA's Chasing Kings . [...]
Tanner: Finally getting an early start to the day, I along with everyone else in Austin, was greeted with overcast, breezy, 45 degree weather. I made my way downtown at about noon hoping to capitalize on the 'Free BBQ' that was advertised by the Filter Magazine day party. I had yet to check out their festivities thus far despite having a solid lineup. I was only disappointed to find out the 'Free BBQ' was burgers and hot dogs that appeared to have been purchased by the hundreds. I am not sure how they can get away with [...]
( Flickr ) South By Southwest / Austin, Texas / March 15-22, 2010 ( Flickr ) Took me a little bit longer than I would've liked but I finally went trough all the pix I took at SXSW and here's what I believe to be the best ones in the bunch. The list of artists/bands I was fortunate enough [...]
Phil Harder Did anyone see this coming? I certainly didn't. This question, of course, is only relevant to those of a certain age/era for whom the name, " Bettie Serveert " still means something. To everyone else: get off my lawn. Aside for the unfamiliar: the Betties were the Netherlands' finest rock export since Golden Earring and a staple of '90s college rock with three albums on Matador full of crunchy guitar pop and Carol Van Dijk's expressive vocals. Entering the 21st century, they explored side projects and [...]
And so it begins. Every year, we listen to mp3's of every band scheduled to appear at SXSW. We then present you with an A to Z preview of the bands that we think should earn your attention. Whether you're coming down to SXSW (recommended!) or just looking for new music, there's no better time of year. There's a variety of music here, so buckle up for some different sounds. We'll be previewing two letters per day, which'll take us right up to SXSW Music Week. Then we'll give you our picks for the "Ten bands you must see at [...]
With South By Southwest only 17 days away (hellz yeah!), posts about this amazing live music hootenanny will increase in frequency. There's the annual podcast I put together to give you a taste of what I believe to be the best bands coming to Austin to give us all musicgasms, that'll be posted this weekend. I will also do a [...]
[ Minipop - Ask Me A Question ] Ok shy kiddos. do IT. I need like 2 or 3 more questions and its a done deal. I've gotten some good ones already. that was nice.
/via + Minipop - Someone To Love + Velvet Underground - That's The Story Of My Life (Closet Mix) + Elvis Costello - Taking My Life In Your Hands + David Byrne and Brian Eno - Life is Long
The most common advice these days is "to give a little to get a little," which the San Francisco music community is showing full understanding of with Friday's Recession Proof Party. The Independent and Leather Feather will host a cover-free evening of live music with Tornado Rider , LSD and the Search for God , Minipop and DJ Audrock - and the first 50 attendees will receive a complimentary show poster. Friday's bill covers the bases for most on a budget, from succulent shoegazy pop - LSD is undeniably a [...]
Selection for Day 3 (March 20): Alela Diane I realised I've been going through a folk phase lately, constantly listening to music by talented acts such as Laura Marling , Laura Gibson and William Elliott Whitmore . Now, there's Alela Diane to add to the list. Her second album has received plenty of accolades in the music circles, and for obvious reasons so. "White As Diamonds" conjures an image of [...]
Liam Henry It's really of no surprise whatsoever that I misread the offer tied to pre-orders of Sky Larkin's debut album The Golden Spike , which I reported on a couple weeks back . I had thought that by committing to the purchase, you'd immediately get MP3 downloads of both the album proper and the live recordings of the same songs. As it turns out, you just get the live set. But that's okay, because February 9 isn't that far off and the live version of [...]
I was pleasantly surprised today when I checked out the ol' Daytrotter . You may remember we interviewed San Francisco's Minipop last month and they just did a session this week. So, it's nice to see that Daytrotter is riding BFD's coat tails. I really think it's about time that someone did. The good part about their particular session is that of the four songs they recorded, three are unreleased tracks, including their take on The Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt. 1." If you [...]
Short(er than usual) post today. Here's something awesome listen to... Downloadable: "Nashville" (box.net mp3) by Minnesota shoegazers Gospel Gossip Guilt Ridden Pop page is here . Amazon MP3 page is here . eMusic page is here . Consider CLICKing - The band that should be playing the inauguration... here . [ hint ] - Watch: "It's Hard to be a White Boy in 1992" (youtube) by Hot Cha Cha - This [...]
I recently got to do a Q&A with Matthew Swanson from one of my favorite-ist bands, Minipop . They hail from the great Bay in San Francisco, CA and their album A New Hope has been a constant in my CD player for the better part of this year. I first heard about them via an article on Spin.com that was highlighting acts at the 2008 SXSW conference. They had a single to download called "Like I Do," I swear to got I listened to that damn song like 10 times in a [...]
Well, the bad news is that the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation benefit show scheduled for this Friday at The Independent has been postponed. In its stead, though, there's a FREE " Recession Proof Party " starting at 9pm that features a similarly-excellent lineup we can definitely get behind. Minipop ( Feature Podcast ) and Vin Sol are still playing (with Minipop now headlining), and they'll be joined by The Botticellis ( Feature Podcast ) and [...]
So at the suggestion of my roommates, I went ahead and uploaded the new version of iTunes for the Genius Playlist feature. I decided to give it a try and see what it could do. I based it on Anthem In's "Down" and posted the results below. The list has links for the songs I could get away with posting among the full 25 song list. Anthem In - Down Grizzly Bear - Knife (Covered by CSS) The Republic Tigers - Fight Song Mew - [...]
Back from tour and ready to start work on a new album for 2009, Rogue Wave is slated to headline an incredible all local bill at this year's D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation Benefit Concert over at The Independent on Friday, November 7th. All money raised from this show will be donated to the Foundation which was created to honor the life of D.A. Taylor who died from meningitis as a teenager in 1995. Minipop , who we featured earlier this year , and Vin Sol will also perform. [...]
If I'm not mistaken I believe San Francisco indie quartet, Minipop, closed out my South by Southwest 45+ band experience earlier this year in Austin. This picture was taken at Bourbon Rocks during the SFxSXSW party on March 15 around 1:30am in the morning as Minipop put the capper on the big show. Like I Do is the first track on Minipop's last full length album, A New Hope , which was released late last year on independent, Take Root Records. The song is a lush offering of dream-pop and comes to animated [...]
Chromewaves
Buzz Bands
The Bay Bridged
kata rokkar...
A Good Day For Airplay
The Dumbing of America
Achtung Baby!
I Know That I'm Right
Bona Fide Darling
GIMME TINNITUS
Instrumental Analysis
Insomnia Radio: Daily Dose
![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Chromatics: “Into The Black”
Download: The Violet Lights - "Sex and Sound"
Sunday Means Eight Of The Best
Listen: Burial - Kindred [EP]
Introducing a Mix of New Irish Music #10 Vantastival Special
