Blog: i rock i roll

Honestly I had no idea what to expect from Everything Everything's sold out show at Bowery Ballroom last night. This band is so Manchester it hurts my brain. And I mean that in the best way possible, trust. There were so many epic three part harmonies, so much falsetto it was like a falsetto blitzkrieg. Their music has this intensly bi-polar quality to it - one second it's cooing, shrieking, wooing and the next it's melting your face off. I don't even know a better descriptor than that. [...]

I had a chance to see the Joy Formidable live at SXSW this year but I was too busy running around a venue working to actually watch the band. This is/was definitely a shame, as they are an excellent live act and I did happen to spy singer Ritzy backstage before hand rocking a dress with some seriously bling-ed out sleeves. The cutest - Ritzy is it - second only to the girl who fronts CHVRCHES who you just want to put in your pocket and keep her there FOR-EV-ER that's how uber adorable she is. I wonder if those [...]

I'm a simple girl with simple needs. You give me two cute Australian musicians with top-notch dance-pop-electronic sensibilities and you've got an A+ winning combination. And the combination of those two elements currently equals the Adalaide hailing brotherly musician-duo of Atlas Genius who just released their new album "When It Was Now" last week. I was impatiently waiting for it because I'm impatient like that when I just know things are going to be stupidly good (and it is). They are also on tour now with Imagine Dragons (another catchy band who had a [...]

Incase you are somehow unaware, one of my favorite bands, Frightened Rabbit , released a new album yesterday called Pedestrian Verse . IT IS VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY GOOD. Please listen to it. A lot.

THIS IS SO CATCHY. The catchiest. Huzzahhh. And can I just say that there has been a serious lack of indie dance music in my life for a while. All of my Spotify playlists have been so melancholy it's a wonder my friends are more worried for me. I'd like to dance my way right out of this dreary time of year and with this new Foals album Holy Fire out February 11th the timing couldn't be better.

I'm sure my reasons for posting this track from the band's forthcoming album are self-explanitory, but what a wonderful 2013 treat. Long overdue boys! Can't wait to hear the rest.

This year was a bit of a game changer for me in a lot of ways. New job, new living situation, and fairly significantly, a new way to listen to and consume music. Spotify is great and I'm a big fan, but it has also somehow makes a Year End Album list... difficult to compile. I really didn't listen to a TON of albums in full this year, but did discover a lot of new artists that I love so I suppose it's a bit of a toss up. Maybe the more significant problem is that, [...]

Anyone familiar with Joe Hawley as a musician, creator and friend will know that there is certainly no one quite like him and subsequently there is no album quite like Hawaii Part II . The self-release, released today on Bandcamp after a mysterious weeks-long countdown finally reached zero, never really settling on a particular genre and rather serves a journey for your auditory senses with no roadmap in place. And this journey, delivered from a collective group of artists that came together under a Japanese moniker that translates to "Miracle Musical," is pretty stellar. [...]

Hooray! New Ra Ra Riot tunes from their upcoming full-length album "Beta Love" out January 22, 2013 on Barsuk Records. It's the band's first release as a four-piece and I'm really liking the shift to a more electronic sound here. I think it compliments the string section they are known for nicely - definitely a band who are growing up and coming into their own. Beta Love track listing below and a tour is forthcoming including a January 25th stop at Webster Hall and probably an appearance at SXSW. [...]

• Barsuk Records - Ra Ra Riot "When I Dream"

My friend Donald directed this video for the band American Authors - he's pretty talented and so are they so give it a watch would ya? Aside, I'm still probably going to get around to doing a fave albums of 2012 list before the end of the year, so STAY TUNED.

I've been a fan of Matthew Daniel Siskin for a while now (I mean obviously, given I basically cried on the radio when his previous band LEVY broke up). Really excited that he has found time these days between designing websites for people you may have heard of like Beyonce to create a new musical project, Gambles . Check out the video above and get more from Gambles including info on their first show at Moma PS1.

I was insanely thrilled to catch Frightened Rabbit last month at Bowery Ballroom where the band was in excellent spirits and top form as they entertained fans on their final tour stop before heading back into the studio to complete their new album. That much anticipated release, Pedestrian Verse , will be released on February 5th in the US on Canvasback/Atlantic. Track listing below - expect to see these lads back on our shores down at SXSW 2013 for sure. [...]

Sometimes re-reading old entries on this blog is something akin to time travelling to another vodka-soaked dimension also known as my 20s. Did I say sometimes? I mean ALL THE TIME. Like did you know I djed an afterparty for the Faint in 2005? I mean, apparently that is a think that actually happened! Weirdness. In addition to that kind of nostalgia trip, reading these blog archives is like revisiting a time capsule of bands that I really REALLY loved that - with few exceptions - do not exist anymore. Anyone know what White Light Motorcade is up to these [...]

One of the definite highlights of our CMJ day party on Tuesday was You Won't - who played a truly fantastic and intimate set to a very packed upstairs lounge. While there was even a "minor" bass amp malfunction in the middle of their set that thankfully didn't create too much of a fire hazard and it didn't seem to faze them at all. With a declaration of "fuck electricity," the duo claimed atop tables in the center of the room and launched into an acoustic performance of "Who Knew" that I won't soon forget. Definitely a band [...]

Oh CMJ, it is the time of year for you again. While as an overall experience you certainly seem to have lost some of your lustre in recent years, you still stand as a nice week every fall where we see our old friends, where week-day drinking is totally acceptable (particularly in the form of Piano's liver enemy #1 margaritas), where a small handful of bands find the recognition they deserve and where - come Sunday - exhaustion reigns supreme. This year I once again teamed by with my friends at Battering Room and [...]

I do not even know where to BEGIN with this new video from Milagres for 'Glowing Mouth.' There is so much happening here that I inexplicably want to go buy gold sparkle hotpants and a crystal ball RIGHT NOW with an urgency that cannot be explained. Or can it. Killing me.

All I have to say is "sweet stache, bro." Okay and also this reminds me of something I really would have enjoyed in the late 90s back when I was somewhat more emo. But I do also enjoy it now so I guess some things never change. Fang Island's sophomore album, Major, is out now on Sargent House and here are some tour dates for you: FANG ISLAND Summer 2012 Tour: 08/13 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress *! 08/14 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad *! 08/15 El [...]

It is not a secret thing that I have been an obsessive/fan over the band Beat Radio for um... pretty much forever or at least as long as this blog has been in existence. There are countless reasons for this, not the least of which is the great emails that I receive from singer Brian. Every time they land in my inbox I get super excited and then I click on the email and get MORE EXCITED. This morning's email was no exception, as it gifted me with this awesome cover of Japandroids single "The House That Heaven [...]

Aaaaaaaaaand it's awesome, which should be a surprise to approximately no one. Or just take from this choice bit straight out of their press release: A swaggering glam strut about a cocky jock playing the jerk, 'Elephant' is Tame Impala at their confident (and of course cosmic) best. It's a wild space rock safari and the lift off point to planet Lonerism. Fasten those seat-belts! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Being in your 20s in New York City was, for me at least, all about trying to find the proper balance between work time and playtime. And when tackling such an exciting and challenging feat in this city especially and one tends to pick up a few "necessary" vices - staying up late, sleeping past noon, boozy brunching at 4, substituting finger foods at random events for actual meals, dating the wrong guys, all that jazz. I'd like to think - or at least I HOPE - that having passed the big 3-0 with a solid job, relationship etc. etc. [...]