For a Monday morning, we've got a bouncy bit of indie-pop. With a laissez-faire horn bassline and a little bit of cowbell (and wait, are they relying that heavily on a clap track?), Lake's "Blue Ocean Blue" is the slappy-happy end of the pop spectrum. The lyrics, that's a different story. "Always looking to obscure the most beautiful things/well, I guess that is your right/unexplainable emotions
Bloc Party's new record, Intimacy hit the digital retail world yesterday and it's huge. A near perfect combination of Silent Alarm and sophomore effort, A Weekend In The City, Intimacy might be the best rock album of the year. But most of that is riding on the last six-minutes and 33 seconds. The song is called "Ion Square," track 10. It's the album closer every record should have. It's about
Passion Pit is a party. A little absurd, a little unrefined, but most good social events are; and this is that, a social event. Most of the crowd know something on the order of three songs from this band. A smaller, but not to be forgotten, subset have only heard one. If this audience is being honest, they came here to hear "Sleepyhead." The show is sold-out. A few lucky super-fans talk their
When Kele from Bloc Party went on RadioOne in early July to debut the band's new single "Mercury," he mentioned the album might make it out around the turn of the calendar. Well, fast-forward that time table. It'll be out on Thursday, the 21st. The band becomes the latest to surprise fans with a digital release, well in advance of the physical album release on October 28. This tactic, "the
Well, folks, we have a late entry into our singles of the year contest. It's been a synth-heavy affair and frankly, we have no regrets- sort of like a Saturday at Arrow. We debated not considering this song because it was technically written and released in 2007, but it only recently got distribution in America and so we're going to throw it into the crazy bag of cats that is our song of the
"Black Hole" is an indie-pop single in two movements. It unobtrusively opens with pensive lyrical imagery and the sound of paper ripping. If we're supposed to feel futile, it's working. By the time The Silent Years get around the second-stanza crusher, "Thought I saw someone drowning in the crystal waters of Lake Michigan/I threw 'em a life preserver but preservation is only temporary," you
In a new running feature on 32ft, we'll be making no apology for a prolonged absence. Really. Not even a little. But thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for linking up to the Bloc Party review. And thanks to the commenters for claiming the show (and more specifically, I) sucked. Well, I'll tell you this (anonymous) commenters and then we'll move on: try to care about something and not in an ironic sense
Bloc Party takes the stage with a false challenge. Lead singer, Kele Okereke says, "you know, New York, we're coming off some of the best shows of our career. You don't want to let Philly best you now?" Sure the band played Lollapallooza over the weekend but Philly? Telling a hungry New York crowd that Philly brought the noise is a bit like telling a speeding dump truck that there's a Kia at the
Today is August 5 and The Airborne Toxic Event album is descending on music retailers like an infectious cloud. I know the kids aren't really into buying records these days. I know most bands only have two good songs. And I know that we're all too cynical for our own good. Which is why it's so important that you find a way to listen to this album. From album opener "Wishing Well," to the massive
A few months back we featured I Was A Cub Scout and then announced their demise. It wasn't pretty. I fell in love with the band just in time to be crushed by their break-up. Thankfully, both members of the band are still making music, albeit under different titles. The closest to the Cub Scout ne0-Cure aesthetic is Omes. It's bouncy and vocally a little rough (although, he is rumored to have
"You just have to see her. You just have to see her. You know that she'll break you in two." Airborne Toxic Event (ATE) lead singer is intoning these lyrics as the band tears through radio-ready single, "Sometime Around Midnight." The image of a beautiful breakdown isn't anything new. In fact, lyrically, it dates back to Frou Frou's "Let Go" and the tectonic Garden State Soundtrack. It's the idea
The Killers' lead singer Brandon Flowers insists they never left. And to be fair, Sam's Town was far better than anyone gave it credit for. It wasn't Hot Fuss and it wasn't the best album of the last 20 years but, you could argue that "When You Were Young" was the best song of late '06-early '07. Well, the band is back. Two nights ago at the Highline Ballroom the band played a (SURPRISE!) show
This doesn't quite fit the title of "late to the party" because Mates of State have been a favorite since sometime in 2004 (which actually was two albums late to the party but no one is keeping score). For the purposes of this project, we'll file them under "just getting around to it now." Or "just in case YOU missed it." Elitist, I know. Mates of State are out promoting (something like) their
If you look down at the stage, you can see the Friendly Fires set-list. God, it's very nicely typed and it has eight-songs on it. Look at that font! The subtle curvature, the palatable contrast. Is that squid ink on a white 8 and 1/2 by 11? Or is it bone? It might even have the date of the show on it. The whole thing is a little overwhelming. Their tour manager might as well be Pat Bateman. But
We've been on The Wombats for a few years now. Frankly, we're not sure if we would have made it through living in New York without their seminal, if obvious, "Moving To New York." We were at their second show in the United States. MGMT opened and The Wombats killed them. But the 'Bats record hasn't amazed and part of the reason is the massive, frenetic sound they pursued. We rarely think less is
This is a hard conversation to have. Ra Ra Riot is a band that I've had an unhealthy thing for since I saw them two winters ago at an ill-conceived industry showcase. Their first proper LP is coming out on August 19 and lead-single "Dying Is Fine" is about to appear at the end of this post. To say I wanted a lot for this record is saying too little. I wanted a lot a lot for this album. Ra Ra
Indie bands have been courting arena rock in a flirtation we haven't seen since 5th grade. "So ... I mean, do you want to ... like ... I don't know ... .... date? Like go out? Forget it ... I shouldn't have said anything. " Too often people are afraid to ask for exactly what they want and too often little bands are afraid to admit just how big they might want to be. But sometimes, sometimes
Greetings from sunny San Francisco and only a few days removed from LA. This past Saturday we had the pleasure of catching The Long Winters, Say Hi (formerly Say Hi To Your Mom) and Thailand at Spaceland in LA. That's a lot of proper nouns. It was a night of reconnection. Kids from work, kids from high school, kids from college, all running into us at some kind of coincidental speed. The
Album release shows are always a little fun. The band always has their crowd in the house and they've been pulling and promoting the show for weeks. You imagine that an email with the following subject heading was probably sent out to a list of friends, acquaintances, and fans: "If there is one night to come out and support us, this is it." They've put a ton of work into their album and, frankly
The streets are warm to the touch and the mosquitoes are taxiing for landing on your forearm like Goose's F-14 in Top Gun. It's certainly the middle of summer and The Acid House Kings are always a dose of sonic sunshine. "This Heart Is A Stone" is so sweet sounding you might miss the lyrics which are so sad it's almost unbelievable. They reflect hope in the face of almost unspeakable failure.
32ft/Second
No Church In The Wild
CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME"
Nas - Daughters
The Rains of Castamere by The National
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Avicii – Two Million
Yellow Magic Orchestra edit from Chrome Canyon
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
