Franz Ferdinand, why do you never get old? A bit like the video for ‘Do You Want To?’ from the last record, their newest video for ‘No You Girls’ is in the same vein. Very artsy, very trendy. Coincidently the new video is coming out the same time as their Ipod commercial is about to drop (for the same song.) Perfect timing. The video features a lot of dancing girls in leotards and capes, colorful of course. The boys in the band don’t seem to give them even the slightest glance. Hey, its all about the music right?
The Modern Mystery crew has a severe case of the’ Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’ fever. Not that you couldn’t have figured that out by our name, but we have it more than ever. The SSLYBY boys are currently on a short tour that stops in New York City on April 9th at the Mercury Lounge. What’s after that? Well according to Phil Dickey, a new album is on the way with a tentative release date for late summer/early fall. Surely a more lengthy tour will take place after that where they’ll make all the stops.
Yesterday we had come across an amazing performance of ‘Modern Mystery’ that the band performed on Laundro Matinee late last year. Could this band possibly get any better? Enjoy!
Standing outside of Other Music in New York’s East Village (in the freezing cold), the line grew waiting for the highly anticipated Bishop Allen instore. On the release day of their third album titled ‘Grrr’ the band and attendees had a glimmer of excitement in their eyes. Waiting to hear the new record, Bishop Allen treated the crowd to a load of new tracks, along with some old classics.
With the room so packed you couldn’t even move, it didn’t stop us from having a stellar time. I noticed something last night in Justin Rice that I haven’t seen with many other singers (as odd as this may sound). He has a great ability to truly connect with the audience. He looks in their eyes like he is talking directly to each and everyone of them. He’s having a conversation with them. A lot of singers don’t do this I’ve noticed, and quite frankily, this impressed me.
Bishop Allen played some brilliant tracks off of the new record like they’ve been playing them forever. ‘Grrr’is a nice progression from their prior work, but does not by any means lose the integrity and sound that Rice, Rudder and company bring into every piece of music they write. That’s the kind of thing that makes a band timeless, and Bishop Allen is the definition of that.
Check out more pictures of Bishop Allen at Other Music after the jump
*Stay tuned in the next few days for our Bishop Allen Justin Rice interview. Hint: He likes playing the woodblocks…alot*
Every now and then we come across a new band that blows us away completely. Case and point, meet West Virginia’s own The Demon Beat. This three piece band blend rock with a whole lot of soul that will have you out of your seat dancing.
Singer Adam Meisterhans’ voice is unbelievable, and has a bit of southern howl to it. With influences from everything such as the Black Keys to Jimi Hendrix, The Demon Beat manage to combine everything they love and make it there own. Each song just gets better and better. Be especially sure to check out the track ‘I’ll Be Your Man’, one of the most phenomenal tracks I’ve heard in quite a while. This is one band to look out for.
The Demon Beat is currently on tour. You can check out their Music and Tourdates on Myspace
Chicago’s own Joan of Arc are set to release their newest record titled Flowers on Polyvinyl, June 9th. What the new album will sound like? Well I guess we’ll have to wait and see at the moment. Frontman Tim Kinsella (and the one and only permenant member of the band) stated in a press release that “I think it’s harder fora band to make a tenth record, than it is to make a first record; there is more freedom to be daring, but there is also your own standard to live up to and surpass.”
On Flowers the band made an effort to make sure that all of the songs flow into each other, and apparently they have pulled it off perfectly. The album is about life, death, and rebirth, hence that is where the title came from. Joan of Arc is one of the most interesting bands out there. Quite frankily, you never know what Kinsella and crew are going to do next.
It seems to have been so long ago since Grizzly Bear released ‘Yellow House’ but the band is back in full form with their newest record, ‘Veckatimest’ which will be out on May 26th on Warped Records. It seems that the new record is actually more brilliant than the last according to sources (Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold has called it “the album of the 00s.”) Who knew they could really top it? Of course the album has already been leaked, and though Grizzly Bear really isn’t too keen on that happening, they have learned to accept it.
The band wrote on their blog this week:
Hey all,
So yeah, we are kind of bummed this leaked so early. We know it’s not the 90’s anymore and times have changed, and we’re super grateful for all the support people have shown us on the blogs and internet, but we were kind of hoping it wouldn’t happen this soon.
Ultimately we feel like we put out a great album and hope people enjoy it, and we really hope people take the time to pre-order and support the good one-and-a-half years it took to write and record it.
I promise you the album art for both CD and vinyl is going to be gorgeous. And a bonus: all vinyl people will get a high quality download coupon with their purchase.
Leaking is a tricky subject; as we all know, I’ve had my run ins with the law O__o (Hi, Mr. Sheriff!) I have conflicting opinions about it, as it’s really complicated, but ultimately it saddens me that a bummer-quality version of Veckatimest is going around. Please consider putting your energies into a pre-order or into waiting till May 26 for the album the way we intend it to be presented.
Not to get all mushy, but we definitely put a lot of love and work into this one and are just excited to hit the road and tour it again.
Ok, there! Got that off my chest.
Warm regards.
Its kind of a hard situation since the album isn’t due out for another 3 months, but is not the first time.
Grizzly Bear will also be hitting the road this Spring so be sure to check them out on tour.
05/24 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
05/25 – George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
05/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
05/28 – NYC @ Town Hall
05/29 – NYC @ Town Hall
06/01 – Washington DC @ 930 Club
06/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
06/03 – Boston, MA @ Berkley Performance Center
06/04 – Montreal, QUE @ Le National
06/05 – Toronto ON @ Phoenix
06/07 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
06/08 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
06/09 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk- Chumley
06/11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle
06/12 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
06/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle (With TV On The Radio)
06/15 – Dallas, TX @ Grenada
06/16 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
06/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
06/21 – San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
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