Category Archives: Uncategorized

02.23.09
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Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band New Album

It has been less than a year since Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band released their first record. Actually its only been about 6 months as of right now. We all know that Conor is one of those guys who just churn out the tunes, but I don’t think any of us were expecting a follow up release so fast.  The band already displayed new songs on their last tour proving that they were still in the writing mode. Oberst and the boys will release ‘Outer South’ on May 5th on Merge Records, and yes, it has 16 tracks of new material which includes “Nikorette”  which they performed on Conan.  No doubt it will sound a lot like the first record, but that is what we love about it. Anything that Conor touches is pretty much gold.

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band are stopping at Coachella this spring, and have announced a few West Coast tour dates.

Thu-Apr-09 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Fri-Apr-10 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
Sat-Apr-11 Aspen, CO Belly Up
Sun-Apr-12 El Paso, TX Barnett Harley Davidson (Hands of Love & Hope Benefit)
Mon-Apr-13 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
Tue-Apr-14 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
Wed-Apr-15 Pomona, CA Glass House
Fri-Apr-17 Indio, CA Coachella Music & Arts Festival
Thu-Jun-18 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Watch Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band peforming “Nikorette”  on Conan.

02.19.09
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The Miniature Tigers * Mercury Lounge, NYC * 2-15-2009

This past Sunday, February 15, The Miniature Tigers dropped into the Mercury Lounge in New York City and were welcomed to a packed venue. The word about the Mini T’s is certainly spreading, and the Modern Mystery crew couldn’t be happier and more excited about this fact. The band who is currently on the road with Mr. Ben Folds, have been doing a few one off shows as headliners when they have free time on the tour.

The Miniature Tigers play like old pros. They are flawless onstage and certainly astonishing to hear. Charlie Brand’s voice is remarkable, and hits every single note, soft or loud. Darren Robinson (guitarist from the hiatus Phantom Planet) is a nice addition to the band almost like he has been playing with them from the start. Lou Kummerer was stellar on bass and tamborine duties, and drummer Rich Schaier is a total badass when it comes to drumming. He is also incredible on the keys and harmonies as well.

The band had everyone in the room dancing and I think we can all agree that The Miniature Tigers are one of the most fun bands out there. The band played some of my personal favorites such as ‘Cannibal Queen’, ‘Tell it to the Volcano’ and ‘Last Night’s Fake Blood’ which I was very excited to hear. Not only did they play a good amount of songs from ‘Tell it to the Volcano’, which came out on CD officially yesterday, but they also played a few new songs. New songs already? Yes! I can’t wait until The Miniature Tigers comes back to New York City again! Its a show you surely do not want to miss. Check them out when they come to your town. The band will be on the tour non stop until the end of March.

 You can check out their tourdates on their Myspace.

More pictures from The Miniature Tigers at the Mercury Lounge after the Jump.

02.18.09
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Lily Allen ‘The Fear’

I’ve never been a fan of Lily Allen. Not because  I didn’t like her music, but basically because I never had an excuse to listen to her. Sunday night while coming back from The Miniature Tigers show (review up this week!), I picked up a copy of Spin to read on the train ride home. It was the only half decent thing lying around. Miss Allen was on the cover and I thought I’d give her a chance.

Lily opened up about boys, drugs and alcohol and how she was trying to ‘better herself’. From there I kind of grew a respect for this sad girl trying to make her life normal. Yesterday I had caught her video for ‘The Fear’ which is off her newest record ‘Its Not Me, Its You’.  Both video and song are very intriguing. ‘The Fear’  seems like it ventures away from the last record and I must say, the song sounds very sweet. The video matches it with pastel colors, dancing boys and balloons. Lily Allen, I think you’ve got a new fan.

Watch the video for ‘The Fear’

02.14.09
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Conan O’Brien’s Last Musical Guests: The White Stripes!

Yes, Conan O’Brien moving to The Tonight Show has its ups and downs. First off, we get him at an earlier time. Nice. But the bad news is that he is moving to California to do the show. Bummer. Conan is doing a nice little send off on March 2nd with his last musical guests and friends, The White Stripes! Conan and the band have a pretty good history together. They did a week of performances on the show a few years back and Conan appeared in their video for ‘Denial Twist’. I guess they are a match made in heaven. Here’s to Conan and his new beginnings.

Watch The White Stripes’ (w/ Conan) ‘Denial Twist’

02.12.09
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Slow Club ‘Me and You’

Commercials always seem to capture me. When I get a good song stuck in my head from one it doesn’t leave me alone until I find it. This is currently the case with Slow Club. You may have heard them in the new Lays Potato Chip commerical which is the weirdest way you can possibly say you discovered a new band. Slow Club is a 2 person group made up of Charles and Rebecca. They’re also from the UK. They have a lot of indie pop in them and are a bit similar to Bishop Allen when they slow it down a bit.

Check out Slow Club on Myspace

02.09.09
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Annuals at Bowery Ballroom *1.28.2009

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Annuals are just getting started with their fierce U.S. tour and they already play the new tracks from their newest release ‘Such Fun’ like old pros. I’ve seen Annuals before (hell I’ve even recorded them once at a show in Brooklyn) but the Annuals Bowery show was just incredible to say the least. Did I mention they have a light show thing going on now? Usually I don’t like those sort of things but Annuals had me truly intrigued. 

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As a drummer I was pysched to hear a sweet little drum intro as a bit of an opener. Its always great to hear. For a band with only two full lengths under their belt, they gave the New York crowd their money’s worth. Annuals played for about an hour and a half of new material as well as some older stuff from ‘Be He Me’  even with some EP stuff mixed in. The band plays with such intensity on stage that they manage to even blow their own recorded work out of the water. Killer, right? 

Annuals

My personal favorites of the night is when the band played ‘Hardwood Floor’ and ‘Carry Around’ which I will always consider the two songs that standout to me the most out of all of their recorded work. Chances are Annuals are coming to your town soon so it should be in your best interest to check them out. Bands like these are far and few between. Catch them while you can.

-Bry

Check out Annuals on Myspace

*Note: Sorry my pics are not the greatest kids. I was just having too much fun*