Good evening all! Hope you’re having a fab Friday and have a glorious weekend to look forward to. We certainly do. Naturally there are some great shows on the horizon, and we’ve also got some brilliant new music to listen to too. … Continue Reading
We have a saucy rapper, lovely indie rock band and a disco legend to serve up for you on this Friday! … Continue Reading
We’ve got some classics and some sprightly new stuff for ya this week!
Seminal punk band The Buzzcocks will be playing through their first two albums “Another Music In A Different Kitchen” and “Love Bites” at Black Cat in Washington, D.C. on May 11.
2009 Flaming Lips & Stardeath and White Dwarfs – Borderline from George Salisbury on Vimeo.
Stardeath and the White Dwarfs are joined to Flaming Lips by blood (Wayne Coyne being the singer’s uncle), the road (the Dwarfs are opening for the Lips on tour) and by music (they’ve collaborated a fair bit). Here’s a lovely example of the latter, the two bands covering Madonna’s “Borderline.” It starts off rather mellow and sparse but about halfway through breaks out into true Flaming Lips (and Stardeath) style and builds tremendously from there. Stardeath and the White Dwarfs play The EARL in Atlanta with All The Saints on May 12.
There’s nothing like a classic bit of new wave on a Friday. This time it’s courtesy of The B-52s, with “Rock Lobster.” They play the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater on July 24.
Here’s what I’ve been grooving to this week:
The Constellations – “Setback”
THE CONSTELLATIONS | MySpace Music Videos
Hometown heroes (from our neck of the woods in Atlanta) The Constellations are set to take over the world this summer. They’ll be taking on a huge tour starting this month, and will be making a stop at Atlanta’s Drunken Unicorn with Hockey on March 23 and at DC9 on May 3.
Drunken Unicorn, March 23
DC9, May 3
Florence and the Machine is an act that has featured in this feature before, with Dizzee Rascal at The BRITS, but it seemed fair that she got her own spot, especially since her videos are so visually stunning, matching her phenomenal sound.
Many of us have been positively giddy at the release of the new Vampire Weekend record. The video for “Giving Up The Gun” cements our giddiness. The band is touring the country (most shows are sold out) and we’re selling tickets for the Official Vampire Weekend Afterparty on Saturday, April 3 at DC9, with the band’s bassist Chris Baio, who DJs simply as “BAIO,” DJing.
Here’s what we’ve been grooving along to recently.
Mathis Hunter – Gathering the Hopeful Gamblers from Petrichor Inc on Vimeo.
Mathis Hunter has been a part of the Atlanta music scene for years now, lending his musical wiles to bands like The Selmanaires and Noot D’Noot, both of which will be playing at his CD release party tonight at The EARL.
Gorillaz are finally back with a new record, and not a moment too soon. New single “Stylo” has Mos Def and Bobby Womack featuring, and the video has Bruce Willis as the usual bad-ass. Can’t get much better.
I’m guaranteed to get in a giddy dancing mood every time I hear Hot Chip, so thank goodness their new record One Life Stand is out. Hopefully they’re boogie their way over to our neck of the woods soon for a show.
Here’s what I’ve been digging over here at TA HQ lately:
Janelle Monae – I’m pretty sure I’ve gushed about Janelle before, because that’s just what you have to do the second you hear her. Now she is finally getting ready to release some new stuff, and this gem (featuring OutKast’s Big Boi) will have everyone shaking on the floor when she takes the stage. She’s playing Black Cat March 15 and Smith’s Olde Bar April 5 and 6. Tickets are on sale now at Ticket Alternative.
Massive Attack – back with a new record, Heligoland, which will be reviewed here soon, Massive Attack have given the world this incredibly creepy, dark, cool video for the first single “Splitting The Atom.” Classic reggae singer Horace Andy lends his vocals to part of the song, giving it an even more foreboding tone.
Florence & The Machine and Dizzee Rascal – Over in Brit-land, 2009 pretty much belonged to Florence & The Machine and rapper Dizzee Rascal, who teamed up for a stellar performance at this week’s BRIT Awards (kind of like a cooler, more manic British version of the Grammys). We’re hoping to see Florence over here stateside soon, though we wonder if the Yanks will ever be ready for Dizzee’s ultra-English style of spitting.
For those who got stuck in the bad weather for the Acoustic Christmas show presented by Electric 94.9/Z-Rock 99.3 in Kingsport, Tenn., we have some good news for you. From the show's promoters:
Acoustic
Christmas/We The Kings Makeup Show Details
If you purchased or won tickets to
the Electric 94.9/Z-Rock 99.3 Acoustic Christmas show on December 18, 2009 you
are invited to a special We The Kings all acoustic make up show.
There are no tickets for sale or to
win for this show, only those who purchased tickets or won tickets
originally are permitted to attend.
Thursday January 14,
2010
Doors Open: 6:45 – Show Starts:
7:30pm
•You may attend this show whether or
not you attended Acoustic Christmas on December 18.
•If you chose the
will-call option when you purchased your tickets you may still pick those up at
will-call if you have not yet done so.
•If you have lost your original ticket
you may bring a valid ID bearing the name of the purchaser/winner to will-call
to enter the show.
•If you have transferred or purchased a ticket from a
friend or other person without purchasing through TicketAlternative we will have
no way of verifying you are a ticket holder if you have lost your ticket. The
original purchaser/winner must appear at the will-call window with valid ID.
•This show will not be made up if
weather or other circumstances occur whether or not the show is
held.
More details can be found here: http://www.electric949.com/
It's the first Three Picks of the Week … of the year. Hurrah! And to celebrate, here's a delightful trio of videos to put you in a chipper mood, ready to take on 2010.
The Guillemots are already a name that brightens my mood, and now Fyfe Dangerfield (another amazing name) is embarking on a solo career. This beautiful bit of orchestral pop sweeps and swoons with a shining light just like the best of British pop music does. And from the sound of the other songs from the album, the whole thing is going to put an entire country in a better mood. Could this floppy-haired young man be the next Robbie Williams for the Brits?
With an odd mix of bebop jazz and hip psychedlic indie rock. The Fiery Furnaces melt away the icy moods of any listener. They're also playing Little Rock's Revolution Music Room January 26. Tickets are on sale at Ticket Alternative.
Sondre Lerche isn't only a Norwegain dreamboat, but he also lights up a room with his nuggets of indie pop sunshine. He'll be touring the U.S. in the next few months, stopping at The EARL in Atlanta on February 11 and Rock and Roll Hotel in D.C. on March 5. Tickets for both shows are on sale at Ticket Alternative.
Little Tybee recently played one of our monthly showcases, which we hosted with our sister site Atlanta Music Guide, called DRINKSHOP Live at the W Atlanta Downtown hotel. I'd hate to classify them as just indie folk, because they bring so much more to their music creating delightful vignettes that are just waiting to be eaten up by the masses of hipsters and middle school kids alike. Think of a mellow Dave Matthews Band being led by Badly Drawn Boy. Beautiful stuff. They're playing at The EARL January 14 with Adron, and tickets are available at Ticket Alternative.
Sweden's Soundtrack of Our Lives have always thrilled me both live and on disc with their somehow modern take on pure '60s sweet psychedelic garage rock. Hugely excited that they're coming back stateside, but massively disappointed that they're not playing my hometown of Atlanta. Still, they will be playing the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. on February 18 with Nico Vega. Tickets are on sale at Ticket Alternative.
Bobby Birdman fits wonderfully in that quirky world of keyboard and blips looped together by a smooth voice and adorable melodies. More mellow than Hot Chip and MGMT but just as charming, he's one of my favorite new finds.
Another fabulous trio of videos, freshly picked by yours truly!
The Slackers lovely soulful and sweet version of ska keep the genre hip 'n' cool. And they're off on tour again, stopping at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C. on January 28. Get your tickets now at Ticket Alternative.
Sometimes your punk and new wave classics need a shot of smooth French bossa nova. That's where Nouvelle Vague come in. And lucky for you they're about to tour. They're planning a tour right now so watch this space for tickets!
ça plane pour moi, performed by Jenia Lubitch
Nouvelle Vague | MySpace Music Videos
The Cribs maybe be one of the coolest band in Yorkshire right now (Wakefield to be exact). We obviously like them (check out the review of their latest record, Ignore the Ignorant, over on Atlanta Music Guide), and are pretty happy that they're going to be playing Atlanta's EARL on January 20, with their latest member, a little-known chap called Johnny Marr. Tickets are on sale now at Ticket Alternative.
Since they don't seem to like people imbedding videos from the new record, here's an oldie but a goodie from the band's 2005 record, The New Fellas.
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