frontier ruckus

i suck. life's been soso (cr/l)azy lately, but here i am with my current folky/bluegrassy obsession (seriously, i think i was born with banjo juice in my bloodstream). these guys aren't new. they've been around for about 3 years and rolling stone magazine referenced them as “an act to see at bonnaroo 2010”. it dawned on me that i haven't shared my love for them to you all. frontier ruckus warm my heart. it's so nice to listen to people's experiences and the things that shape them instead of songs about making love in the club and what not. you should know i'm not 65 years old, though i do recognize sound like a nana. take a listen to nerves of the nightmind.


listen if like: cadillac sky, trampled by turtles, banjos & harmonicas

p.s. how awesome is this video?

p.p.s. don't be concerned if i start dressing like a cowboy.

p.p.p.s. they are playing at mercury lounge this thursday.

later gators.

Givers UPDATE

They are playing Bowery Ballroom tonight, get on that shit! Also of note, Bear Hands and Foster The People. Badabing.  NY I heart you.


CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

throwback thursday: happy birthday, tupac!

today is (would have been) tupac's 40th birthday. it's weird that i know that, right? i can't remember if i put deodorant on this morning, but i do know tupac's birthday. typical. in line with throwback thursday, here is some real rap.

taking back sunday is still a band?

ohhh no they di'ent! taking back sunday is releasing a new album?! yup, you heard right. where the hell have i been? taking back sunday was the bee's knees when i was 18. i'm pretty sure every mix tape/cd i made from 2002-2003 had a TBS song on it. i also feel confident that my AOL profile quote was something emo-y of theirs too...probably "you could slit my throat and with my one last gasping breath i'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt". oh man, that totally happened. WHY? i feel like a super duper loser now. oh well, GOOD TIMES. so, let's now re-visit the fact that they have a new album coming out june 28th. i'm listening to some tracks right now and all i have to say is "............". i just can't take them seriously (mainly because they have to be like 50 now and i keep picturing myself listening to them on my disc-man). sidenote: i am going to have so many hardcore TBS groupies sending me hate mail now. sorry in advance, but i just can't.

here's a track of their soon to be released self titled album. later ya'll.

Givers give me happy thoughts

Holy shit Raja (aladdin tiger. get with it children of the 90's), I can't believe I haven't blogged about Givers yet. You know that book The Giver? If Givers were in that book, they would be like, the happy warm-you-up-sunshine memories and not the shitty painful asshole-why-did-you-give-me-that memories. They are rapidly becoming the new 'it' band, sure to star in random mobile phone commercials and coming to a hippy music festival near you. With glowing write ups for both their debut EP and their most recent record, In Light (released like a week ago, legiiiiiit) popping up in places like TIME, Stereogum and PASTE Magazine, it would be unwise of you to ignore these bouncy joy bringing smile givers.


Check em out if you like: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, and being joyful. Thats not a band, listen to them if you like being happy assholes.

Givers - Up, Up, Up by The Windish Agency

This post is about Annuals.

Annuals. The band with the name similar to how much we update our blog. Speaking of, we are so sorry but its been REALLY busy up in hurr, like reeeal busy. I have consumed so much coffee in the past two weeks that I'm dreaming about being drafted by the Yankees (I hate the Yankees) and shaking like an awkward 10 year old giving a presentation. So while kicking so much caffeinated ass at our big-girl jobs, we have neglected you, our sort of faithful readers. 

So, since I still am that busy, I'm going to hit you with some short and sweet tunage today. Some old, some new, some just because it popped onto my ipod and I think you should listen to it also. Starting with Annuals here, a much blogged about indie band from North Carolina. They have a quirky sound a bit reminiscent of Ben Folds Five, a soft Anthallo sounding piano, and sometimes a quiet Grizzly Bear/Benoit Piolard thing going on (as in "Dry Clothes" off their latest album).


Listen if you like: Augustana, Ra Ra Riot, Grizzly Bear, Morning Benders, Animal Collective

If you like 'em check out: Alvin Band, Anthallo, Benoit Piolard, Sunfold (Band of Horses-esque, these ones) and Miniature Tigers

Annuals - Count The Rings - 05 - Hardwood Floor by souterraintransmissions

Annuals - Count The Rings - 04 - Hair Don't Grow by souterraintransmissions

Bedouin Soundclash

Bedouin Soundclash is really confusing to my brain. They're a Canadian reggae/ska band that I discovered in my hippie beach livin' Miami days. Well color me surprised world, Canadian? Doesn't your head hurt just reading that? Supposedly if you say Canadian reggae enough times out loud, a rasta loses his dreads... so lets not do that, but lets listen to them and eat a pot brownie. Maybe thats inappropriate, lets listen to them and eat a regular brownie.

The boys are playing Mercury Lounge tonight if anyone in the NYC area is interested, and there's a weird bar uptown that imported sand for their RAYGAE party after. I dont know what the fuck raygae is or who the hell wants to go uptown but whatevs. Get your freak on New York.

Bedouin Soundclash - Brutal Hearts (ft. Coeur de Pirate) by BallgameTracks
When The Night Feels My Song - Bedouin Soundclash by sincelastdecember

Whatchu Think Wednesday: katemaher

whatchuuuu thank? this wednesday's guest blogger is katemaher. she enjoys getting bit by foxes, singing celine dion songs at karaoke and being my sister (she really enjoys that). here we go....


Hi all. So, Tuesday night, we saw Other Lives, that delightful 5-member band hailing from Oklahoma that cm discussed in her May 2nd post. I didn’t know much of this band going into the show, but I now know that they are pretty incredible. Their sound is deep, melodic, and extremely soothing. Also, every band member plays approximately 56 instruments. Okay, I’m exaggerating. But seriously, when we walked into Mercury Lounge, the stage was filled with guitars, violins, cellos, tambourines, drums, keyboards, trumpets, antlers with baby bells etc. Psh, showoffs…just kidding. I love them.

Admittedly, I am no music guru, but the show was really all I could’ve wanted. It was fun. It was emotional. It was powerful. My favorite moment came when the band played the album’s title track, Tamer Animals. This is partly because I work at a zoo, but mostly because it’s such a gggggreat song. It made me want to sway, and let my hair down, and close my eyes- all of which I did. And when I opened my eyes, every person at the show had also dipped into their own little happy place, taking in the beautiful sounds and moving lyrics.

Mazes and heat wazes. Like waves. I tried.

have a creepier album cover guys.

Adding to the category of bands-that-are-reincarnated-from-the-90s comes the April release of Brit band Mazes' new record, A Thousand Heys. What do you need to know about it? Its good and it sounds like Everclear. That and they "get off trains and wave like Beatles at JFK", so they cocky bitches. Now excuse me while I go wilt in a hot and humid corner.

Check 'em out if you are into: Everclear, Splendor, The Smashing Pumpkins, The 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack


Surf And Turf/Maths Tag - Mazes

cuckoo chaos: the band or my brain? you decide

forgive me for neglecting you, my friends! i was away for the weekend working on my uneven sunburn, drinking beer, not sleeping and laughing with good friends. now that i have sort of assimilated myself back into reality with my sunburned lobster hands (or claws-whatever you prefer), i figured i'd write some semblance of a post to let you know i am still alive. you're welcome. i know you were all concerned. i'm in a beach cruiser/ray ban/cut off jean shorts/bonfire on the beach kinda mood (probably because i can still smell the 5 inches of sunscreen continually applied every 5 minutes from this weekend) so here's a jam for you. it's like vampire weekend's horchata mixed up with diplomat's son except it's not vampire weekend. make sense? probably not. i have snow globe brain right now. listen and enjoy.

post script: how awesome is the name of this song? it was probably decided in some stoned game of mad libs.

CuckooChaos-JesusFlagAmericanFish by NYLONmag

Walk The Moon broke my iPod.

Although this Cincinnati band released their first full length album, I Want! I Want! in 2010, I just found out about them... and from Esquire nonetheless. I should be fired. But, barring any veto of my blogging services, I wanted to make sure it wasn't another year until you, our wonderful readers got to experience them as well. May I introduce, Walk The Moon..

Oh 4am, I think I might just stay up all night. Have you got a light?

Lanu is an Aussie producer/guitarist who's recent album Her 12 Faces has a few tracks featuring lead vocals by our girl Megan Washington, and if you've read anything Ive ever written then you know I loooove her. Although Washington is what caught my attention, the few songs I've heard certainly hold their own. Theres a few on the album that feature her, and this one "Beautiful Trash" is just so damn catchy it's already been touted as one of Starbucks picks of the week (the horror). The song's a chipper and cheery/floaty/bouncy walk down the street and see things turn into cartoons type of jam, and theres a lot of lyrics about cigarettes. Like a lot. Start your weekend off on a confusing, latte-nicotine-cartoon-world sort of note and check out the video below.

Shows Shows Shows, for New Yorkers only (maybe Jersey or CT too)

Hello loooovaaaahs. Ew. Get that out of here. Anywho. Summer in NYC is the BEST for seeing amazing shows. We don't even realize how lucky we are until we say, take a train to Boston and find that the only band playing in the near future is Owl City. Yeah, the firefly dudes.

While you gag about that for a minute, use the pain as fuel to help you remember that for 10-30 dollars you could see a band up close in personal that may, by next summer, be selling out Madison Square Garden at 130 bucks a head. Now go to your laptop and think about what you've done. 

The Knocks, knock me out

The Knocks are an electronic music duo hailing from the big apple (the lower east side at that). They produced their early stuff in a home studio aka apartment then opened their own big kid place, HeavyRock Music. Then they played at clubs and shiz, and now they are big and touring with Ellie Goulding who you may remember from a Top 100 post a few weeks back blah blah.

You may have heard "Make It Better" or "Dancing With The DJ" or one of their other million remixes, either way if youre into electro/remixy shiz then they are the way to go. They also seem to have a thing for music of the early 60's and hit up quite a few temptations covers that don't at all suck.

Check em out and insert a bad pun about knocking on your door here.


listen if you like: chromeo, girl talk, chiddy bang, remixes galore


sidenote: if you listen to any of these, check out a snippet of "Dancing With The DJ" and then the campire acoustic version, which is the most interesting transition from electro to guitar strumming I've ever encountered. The Daft Punk/Ellie Mix is also amazing, and super mellow comparatively.



Dancing With The DJ ( Monsieur Adi Remix) - The Knocks
Dancing With The DJ (Campire Acoustic Version) - The Knocks
When You've Got Music (Feat. The Knocks) - Chiddy Bang
Knock On Wood (Temptations Cover) - The Knocks
There's Something About Us Under The Sheets (Ellie Goulding vs Daft Punk) - The Knocks

Throwback Thursday! Family Roadtrippin'

today is throwback thursday and i just had a serious case of nostalgia. this weather makes me think of never-ending car rides with my family en route to some awesome vacation my parents planned for us. my dad would put on his favorite cassette tapes and we would all sing along (i'm talking belting out the words clark griswold sing along style) with the windows down and the sun on our faces. at the time it was super lame because let's face it, anything that was not new kid's on the block was well, stupid. in hindsight, my parents were really awesome. i hope i make my kids listen to all my music when they grow up and they learn to hate me because i won't let them listen to whatever garbage is out there. enjoy your 1994 maher family road trip.

Summer Tuneage Part One

Yet another year in which we arrive here at June with no sign of our friend spring anywhere. My guess is the bitch spent the whole winter drinking with the rest of us and is still nursing a major hangover. Whatever, I don't judge. However since we've skipped right from, thank-god-its-50 to I-might-literally-be-melting, we figured you could use some summer bbq tunes to help you become one with the heat waves radiating off the pavement. Theres a little something for everything, so check out my super short descriptions for a better idea of what you might like.

Go forth and grill. 

I Go I Go I Go - The Wave Machines    < --- Peppy alternative indie pop
When They Fight, They Fight - Generationals <----- Sounds like the Cults, read: 50/60s vibe
I'll Never Leave You - Rogue Wave <--- Mellow guitar acoustic with croon vocals
Son Of A Gun - Oh Land <--- Pulse-pounding pop reminiscent of Florence and her machine
Party At The Beach House - Hoodie Allen <--- Kid Cudi compared Hoodie Allen channels 90's cali rap
Spread Your Love - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club <--- Meat grilling rock tune
Animal (Mark Ronson Remix) - Miike Snow <--- Snow, meets Ronson, meets reggae, meets remix
The Box - Johnny Flynn <--- Bluegrass, guitar strumming, ho-down with your ho-self
Easy Street - Sean Bones <--- You think its going to be reggae, then its a white dude. Whatever its beachy
The Man In Me - Bob Dylan  <--- Duh.