Category Archives: Uncategorized

07.05.09
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Secondhand Sunday: The Sleepy Jackson ‘Vampire Racecourse’

This edition of Secondhand Sunday features a band that I sort of forgot about, The Sleepy Jackson. The video for ‘Vampire Racecourse’ really reminds me of my mid college years. I listened to a lot of The Sleepy Jackson on the way to class. It just felt right. Of course now, singer Luke Steele is in indie rock outfit, Empire of the Sun which has pretty much surpassed The Sleepy Jackson in terms of popularity. Both bands are very different, but are nonetheless incredible.

Watch The Sleepy Jackson’s ‘Vampire Racecourse’  from their 2003 album, ‘Lovers’.

07.03.09
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‘Indie-pendance’ Day Mix!

Ah yes its already the 4th of July tomorrow and let the picnics  begin. The crew here at Modern Mystery put together a mix for your ‘Indie-pendance’ day. Whether you are heading to the beach, barbecuing some hamburgers or getting drunk by your pool, we hope you listen to it on your celebration. We tried to keep the songs ‘summer’ feeling. That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Animal Collective-Summertime Clothes (Dam-Funk Remix)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band- 15 to 20
Empire of the Sun- We Are the People (The Golden Filter Remix)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Young Adult Friction
Passion Pit- Moth’s Wings
Sunset Rubdown-Idiot Heart
Little Joy- No One’s Better Sake
Yacht-Summer Song
Wavves-Gun in the Sun
Pepi Ginsberg (Featuring The Spinto Band)- In My Bones
Los Campesinos!- How I Taught Myself to Scream
Takka Takka- The Takers
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- Think I Wanna Die
MGMT- Time to Pretend

07.02.09
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The Morning Benders Prep New Album

Some lovely news this week from camp Morning Benders. The band is set to release their second full length titled ‘Big Echo.’  The album was recorded after the brief winter tour this year with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. ‘Wow’ to say the least. Though there is no official release date for the record, we are sure it will be out on +1 Records by the end of the year, by early next year (according to singer Chris Chu). The Morning Benders are also taking their show on the road for the first time to Europe this summer along with a handful of shows in the West Coast (even one with Beach House). The band will be playing a few festivals in the UK with Lily Allen, Wilco and Grizzly Bear, a lineup not to be missed!

Check out The Morning Benders track titled ‘Hand Me Downs’  on their MYSPACE

Tour Dates:

UK/Europe Dates:
Aug 11 2009   8:00P
Dublin Castle 
London

Aug 12 2009  8:00P
Old Blue Last 
London

Aug 13 2009  8:00P
The Boogaloo 
London

Aug 14 2009  12:00P
Way Out West 
Göteborg, Sweden
http://www.wayoutwest.se/

Aug 15 2009  12:00P
Oya Festival (John Dee) 
Oslo, Norway
http://oyafestivalen.com/

Aug 30 2009  12:00P
SF Outside Lands 
San Francisco, CA

Sep 19 2009  8:00P
MusicfestNW Berbati’s Pan (w/ Beach House!) 
Portland, Oregon

07.01.09
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New Wavves Video “No Hope Kids”

Fresh from the infamous ‘meltdown’, Wavves is back with a new video in tow. ‘No Hope Kids’  is a rather charming video actually.  No frills, just music. Some may say that Wavves is a bit overrated, but you have to dig deep to fully enjoy this band if it’s not your type of sound.

Directed by Pete Ohs (Fiery Furnaces, Arcade Fire, The Unicorns) the video is filled with clips of their European tour and their life on the road. A little bit of fresh air from camp Wavves. 

06.28.09
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Secondhand Sunday

We’re starting something called ‘Secondhand Sunday’ around here. To give you a brief overview, basically we are digging back in the vaults of indie music videos from years ago. These can be as old as say, a Sloan video from 1992 or as recent as an Of Montreal video from 2005. Its all about remembering those great songs that some of us have forgotten. A blast from the past if you will.

To start off our first Secondhand Sunday, we are posting a video of Phantom Planet’s ‘California’.  Lately I personally have been on a PP kick,going back listening to their older stuff as well as getting into Jason Schwartzman’s most recent project as Coconut Records. When I first saw the video for ‘California’ I remember it was right when our Cable company started giving MTV2 out for free. This is also a time when MTV2 actually played nothing but music videos. The tune was in heavy rotation at the time and I couldn’t get enough of it. It is one of the defining songs of my college years.

06.27.09
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A Tribute to Michael Jackson

Losing Michael Jackson yesterday has already spawned tons of cover songs by other bands. I guess it is the most flattering way you can be remembered.  Who ever thought this would happen so soon. You can’t help to respect the man’s talent and passion for music, amongst other things.

I remember being a little kid in the 80’s and having Michael Jackson dubbed cassettes from my older cousins. We used to moonwalk across the living room and we even started our own little ‘fake kids band’ with our instruments imitating his songs. I also have video footage of my cousin Chris moonwalking in the background of a 1980’s Christmas day (don’t let him know I told you that!)  I wasn’t the biggest Michael Jackson fan in the world, but he did indeed change the face of music and quite frankily, one of my first tastes of ‘real music.’

One of my favorite that I heard today was a cover of ‘Billie Jean’ by an up and coming band called The Lost Fingers, a jazzy little trio from Canada.

Rest in peace Michael, you’ll be missed.

Enjoy this lovely cover of ‘Billie Jean’  by The Lost Fingers HERE