Archive for April, 2009
Sufjan Stevens Sings About Sofia Coppola
Over the weekend Sufjan Stevens shared with the world that he is very nostalgic. Stevens came across a few old demo tapes of his from college and decided to share one of them with the world. The title? ‘Sofia’s Song’, which is literally a song about Sofia Coppola. This borders on flattering and weird, but you can already tell that he was brewing something special. Equipped with banjo he came up with the song claiming that Sofia was his ‘imaginary confident’ when writing songs in his early days. I guess everyone needs to be inspired by something. The tale of his name and early music career was posted along with the song on his label, Asthamatic Kitty, along about the journey of his songwriting process. This is a great listen and read for any Sufjan fan, obsessive or otherwise.
Download ‘Sofia’s Song’
Bound Stems, ‘Happens to Us All Otherwise’
In the past 24 hours, I have become completely obsessed with the Chicago five piece called The Bound Stems. A band that I have discovered on an itunes Podcast of all things. Its really easy to become increasingly interested in this band, which I hate to say, broke up last year after their second release ‘The Family Afloat.’ Sad to say the least, but the band played Lollapalooza, Daytrotter, and South by Southwest amongst other things. Disbanded or not, this is a band worth listening to. It reminds me a bit of Conor Oberst if he started writing really happy songs all the time.
Download the Bound Stems ‘Happens to Us All Otherwise’
Check out Bound Stems on their MYSPACE
Of Montreal Get Unplugged (Again) and Cover The Beatles
As much as I adore Of Montreal’s new songs in their original form, there is something about the feeling of Kevin Barnes and BP Helium performing the songs acoustically. We’ve been seeing this for a while from the band, as they are no strangers to these kind of performances. Every song they strip down just seems so beautiful and raw. Barnes and Helium have stopped by 89.7 WTMD and 90.7 WFUV (New York shoutout, what?) on the current tour to provide us with great versions of ‘Beware Our Nubile Miscreants’, a new song ‘Coquet Coquet’ and a cover of The Beatles ‘I’m So Tired.’ Of Montreal, is there no end to your greatness?
On a side note, I seem somewhat distracted by BP’s new moustache. Who isn’t?
‘Beware Our Nubile Miscreants’
‘Coquet Coquet’
Cage the Elephant ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’
Sometimes late night music videos capture my attention. Case in point, Cage the Elephant, a band that has been surrounded by a ‘great big buzz’ lately. The Kentucky five piece who started gaining attention in the UK before they even broke out here, have been making waves with their first single ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’. The tune sounds like the love child between The White Stripes and The Black Keys, both flattering comparisions. Blending a bit of soul and blues into their rock and roll vibe, Cage the Elephant is already on their way to being the next ‘big thing’.
Check out Cage the Elephant’s video for ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’
Tourdates and More Music over on their MYSPACE
Great Lake Swimmers, ‘See You on the Moon!’
Thanks to Tunesontv.com, it makes it so easy to find out what song is playing in a commercial….something that used to take ages to find. Last night I saw a car commercial (for Honda Insight) for the catchiest song I’ve heard in a while. To my surprise when I looked it up, it was actually a band I knew! I thought it sounded familar, but hey I was tired. The Great Lake Swimmers had landed the gig with ‘See You on the Moon!’ and I was really surprised to find this out. Another Canadian secret but hopefully not for long. This is definatly a song worth checking out.
The Great Lake Swimmers are currently on an international tour. Check out the dates on their MYSPACE
NYC Popfest Update: Suburban Kids with Biblical Names Added to Lineup!
UPDATE: This afternoon, NYC Popfest announced that Suburban Kids with Biblical Names will be the closing performers on Sunday night. Just to give you a heads up, they’ll be performing Sunday, May 17th at 11pm. Where? The Cake Shop of course. This thing just keeps getting better and better.
Check out SKWBN on their Myspace
Read the full details of the show down below from our earlier post today.
New York City Popfest 2009
Its getting on that time of year again when the NYC Popfest invades the area. The lineup, like past years, is nothing less than awesome. The event takes place from Thursday May 14 to Sunday May 17th, which ends as an all day event at NYC’s Cake Shop (we love that place!).
Amongst the bands performing this year are Casper and the Cookies, Pants Yell!, Burning Hearts, The Icicles, The Radio Dept., Boy Genius and more. The Friday night show at Don Hill’s and the Saturday night show at the Bell House will also have an ‘Indie Dance Party’ after the bands play. Hey, even us indie folks have to dance sometimes, right?
We’ve already got our tickets and are most excited about seeing Georgia’s own Casper and the Cookies on Sunday night. Little factoid for you; Jason Nesmith the singer and guitarist of Casper used to play in Of Montreal.
And speaking of Casper and the Cookies, if you want to be involved with something exciting that afternoon send us a message or comment. We could use your help. Its going to be an afternoon of filming fun. (secret for now but we’ll let it out eventually!)
Learn more about NYC Popfest and buy tickets on their MYSPACE
NYC POPFEST 2009 LINEUP
Thursday May 14th
Venue: Cake Shop
Tickets $ 10
Knight School (NYC)
Soft City (NYC)
Dream Bitches (NYC)
The Metric Mile (NYC)
My Teenage Stride (NYC)
THE BALLET (NYC)
* * * * * * * * * *
Friday May 15th
Venue: Don Hills
Don Lennon (NYC)
The Tartans (CA)
( band T.B.A. )
Liechtenstein (SWEDEN)
CATS ON FIRE (FINLAND)
+ Mondo Indie Dance Party
* * * * * * * * * *
Saturday Afternoon FREE show!
Saturday May 16th
Venue: Cake Shop
Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies (PA)
Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (MI)
The Hat Company (OH)
Strega (NYC)
* * * * * * * * * *
Saturday May 16th
Venue: Bell House
Tickets $16 Advance / $ 20 DOS | 18+
Computer Perfection (MI)
Eux Autres (CA)
The Secret History (NYC)
Pants Yell! (MA)
THE RADIO DEPT. (SWEDEN)
+ Indiepop Dance Party
* * * * * * * * * *
Sunday All-Dayer
Sunday May 17th
Venue: Cake Shop
Boy Genius (NYC)
A Faulty Chromosome (TX)
Very Truly Yours (IL)
The Smittens (VT)
Rose Melberg (CANADA)
Afternoon Naps (OH)
The Drums (FL)
The Icicles (MI)
Casper and the Cookies (GA)
Burning Hearts (FINLAND)
Download Little King from Casper and the Cookie’s upcoming album, Modern Silence.
The Morning Benders, ‘Heavy Hearts’ Live
The Morning Benders was one of our favorite new bands of 2008, and still Talking Through Tin Cans is in heavy rotation almost a year after it’s release. Is there a catchier record out there? Not that we know of.
The word on the street is the band is already in the process of recording their second album titled Big Echo that may be out by this year’s end. Nice. The Morning Benders are one of those timeless bands. They have a bit of 60′s vibe to them and the most brilliant harmonies we’ve heard in a long time.
I believe we have shared this months ago, but rewatching it today made it seem so new. Its our video of The Morning Benders doing their rarely performed song ‘Heavy Hearts,’ at their Puma Instore at CMJ 2008. The Morning Benders were also the first band we made cookies for….
Check out the video on our VIMEO page
Check out our Band Interview page for our talk with The Morning Benders.
The band is also doing a few dates with John Vanderslice in May
5.17.09 The Partisan (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.27.09 Velour (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.28.09 Kilby Court (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.29.09 Hi-Dive (w/ John Vanderslice)
Lollapalooza 2009, We Want to Go There
Lollapalooza’s 2009 lineup has recently been announced, and with 130 bands, it leaves little room to complain. Start saving up now for August’s shows in Chicago which includes such bands as Of Montreal, Kings of Leon, Beastie Boys, Cold War Kids, The Killers, TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, Decemberists, Neko Case, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, Chairlift, Los Campesinos!, Crystal Castles, Santogold and so many more. This is perhaps the best Lolla lineup we’ve ever seen.
The tickets run about $190 for all 3 days. Pretty sweet deal if you ask us. See you there hopefully!
For more information go to www.lollapalooza.com
The Miniature Tigers on Daytrotter with 2 New Songs!
Its always kind of nice to hear one of your favorite new bands are already cranking out new material. The Miniature Tigers stopped by our beloved Daytrotter.com to perform songs off their first and recent record Tell it to the Volcano along with a couple of new songs. Sometimes, I tend to think that The Miniature Tigers are not human. Maybe they were created by a mad scientist in a petri dish with one ultimate goal: to rock. Their Daytrotter performance is one word: PERFECT and is actually my favorite to date. Charlie Brand’s vocals are impeccable and the Mini T’s blend perfectly together even when stripped down. I can’t urge you enough to check them out!
Download The Miniature Tigers Daytrotter Session HERE
The band will also be on tour this spring with Kevin Devine. Check out their MYSPACE for the complete list of tour dates.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin * Mercury Lounge, NYC * April 9, 2009
Ah there is nothing like springtime when your favorite indie pop band rolls into town. The Mercury Lounge in New York City last week was packed for the highly anticipated Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin show, and we expected no different. Blending recent songs from their second release Pershing and their first Broom, the band did not miss a beat. I’m not sure I’ve personally ever seen a band so flawless, so ‘dead on’ with every little note. Even when Phil Dickey’s cowbell started moving around and giving him trouble, he may have laughed, but it didn’t bother him one bit. When John Robert Cardwell broke a guitar string mid song, he just kept going and smiled. Kids, that is what real rock and roll is about. Enjoying every second of it. Even though the SSLYBY boys haven’t been around for an extreme length of time, they play better than any band their senior I’ve seen.
John Robert’s voice is just as perfect onstage as on the records and the same goes for when Phil takes the mic. The blending sounds of Phil, Will Knauer and Jonathan James are nothing less than brilliant. The band is really meant for each other because they manage to compliment the other players so well. Thats a rare find.
Some of the night’s highlights were Anne Elephtant, Glue Girls, Think I Wanna Die, We Can Win Missouri! and of course, Modern Mystery (hmm why would we like that song?! It was really sweet of the band to play it for us!) They also played a few new songs for the upcoming record, one in particular called ‘All Hail Dracula’. You can’t even imagine how good this song is.
If you haven’t seen Someone Still Love You Boris Yeltsin live yet you are doing yourself a horrible deed. In other words, jump on the bandwagon! Do yourself another favor and pick up their records. They will change yr life…or at least impress the hell out of you.
TONS of more pictures after the Jump
Watch Video of ‘Modern Mystery’ at the Mercury Lounge
Video from wingedfeetxc on Youtube. hehe note our little point from Phil at the end of the song 
New Feist Video, ‘The Water’
Still living up the success of ‘The Reminder’ Feist is now back with a 15 minute mini movie titled ‘The Water’. The film was written by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and stars David Fox, Cillian Murphy, and Miss Leslie of course. Drew had interviewed Cillian Murphy for Under the Radar and apparently the two have been friends ever since. Leslie is also hinting that she would like to do a bit of acting herself (in movies), but who knows if it will actually happen. Oddly enough, its also not Drew’s first directoral effort.
You can download ‘The Water’ HERE
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