Feeling Rapturous

Happy Independence Day! The Rapture is coming out with another album in October!

PItchfork got the exclusive interview which reveals that the band - a dance-punk foursome from NYC, as they've been called - has worked with a plethora of producers on this forthcoming album, including Danger Mouse himself. What they've said that is especially encouraging is that the album is much tighter than "Echoes" - their 2003 release - which is great to hear because while "Echoes" had some great great tracks that really pushed the limits, there were also several tracks that couldn't hold the interest. But these guys mix some serious vocals, really strong bass and some cowbell (yes, more cowbell) to produce tunes that translate well on stage as well as on your stereo (I saw these guys at the Bowery last fall - phenomenal).

They will be touring in the states in the fall, after they do a few dates this summer with Daft Punk in Japan (ah! why don't I live in Tokyo?!?!). I'll post again when they release the dates.

Read the Pitchfork article here: http://pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/Exclusive_The_Rapture_Reveal_New_Album
Checkout the new single from The Rapture here: http://www.myspace.com/therapture?

Speaking of added dates, definitely worth noting that the Scissor Sisters have been added to the Village Voice Siren Festival in two weekends in Coney Island. The fabulous Jake Shears, Ana Matronic and Baby Daddy join other great players like Art Brut, Stars, and Tapes n' Tapes for the day long event.

Check out the full lineup and schedule for Siren here: http://www.villagevoice.com/siren/index.html

3's company

yo yo yo -

Got three new bands to bring everybody's attention to, and I'm just gonna get right to it.

So I'm tentatively thinking I might've hit upon a hidden gem with these guys as there's no mention of them in pitchfork or on spin.com. The deal is this: they are a duo from London that combine influences of scratchy guitar with electro-funk of other Brit poppers like New Order. The first single off of the album, "Drink to Moving On" is fantastic - catchy, different, fun but with an edge, something you can really get into. After a quick scan I can confirm that other songs off the album are equally good and unique, especially in the U.K. punk-saturated world. A classic? Not sure, but definitely up for heavy rotation. www.grand-national.net

Also on the complete novice tip are this foursome, The Hard Tomorrows. A more traditional sound full of light guitar melodies, soft bass and vocals that transition into stronger choruses, I predict they could be a good up and coming band on the indie circuit. They've got all the makings of something bigger than just local bars - and the lead singer I think has a bit of Dave Grohl in him. The single off their not-yet-released album is called "Put Yourself Out," and just so happens they are opening up for Run Run Run (from California - also pretty good) at Pianos on Friday night. They are also doing several dates in DC this summer. Oh, and PS - they have a pretty cute little blog on their website, www.thehardtomorrows.com.

Final band is a bit bigger than the above three, having toured with a couple of major festivals. The deal is this: they are an 11 piece (yes, 11 piece!!) African influence soul-funk band from the 5th borough, i.e. Staten Island. They met as kids at a community center and have been playing together ever since - something really easy to tell because their sound is so tight. The songs are really fun, highly musical and sound like a dance between instruments (horns, bass, piano, everything). Definitely recommend them for anyone looking to branch out a bit from the indie/rock circuit - these guys will display some serious musical talent.

New Yorke

Last Wednesday Radiohead played their final show in NYC to a sold out house in the theater at Madison Square Garden. Although it's already been reported every which way I still wanted to take the time to recount this experience, if only because it's stayed with me for the past 5 days in a way that few shows have.

Radiohead released their first album Pablo Honey in 1993. 13+ years later this band has evolved in ways so few other bands have. They've gone from their original guitar heavy above par rock (i.e. Creep) to produce two of the essential rock albums today (The Bends and OK Computer) in the late 90's, only to take a steep path to experimental computer generated sounds in Kid A and Amnesiac, only to reintroduce more traditional sounds back into Hail to the thief.

The truth is that there are very few bands who have withstood that kind of personal change and come out on the other side a whole and completely cohesive group. Thom Yorke is obviously the most visible of the group, an icon for anyone who's ever felt weird, outside of the norm, perhaps lonely and afraid. My friend Bridget astutely noticed that during the opening band, the Black Keys, you could just feel the angst in the crowd waiting to see Thom. It's as if he is that social pariah who took his alienation and turned it into a crowd of "better, happier" fans. Besides Thom's utter fame as one of the greater musicians of our time, Radiohead is above and beyond a band of guys who stand behind one another. Their music flows and dances between instruments in perfect time, playing off of each other, off of Thom's vocal versatility, and off of the crowd. You literally could not sense an ounce of tension between them, and as an ultimate show of support at the end of the set they all got up and clapped for one another. That is not something you would see at another show. Ever.



Perhaps as a result of their cohesiveness Radiohead can, in a mere 2 hours, take a crowd around the world with their music. The range of songs is unlike any other - going from hard hitting punk to far fetched PC generated pieces to Thom alone under a spotlight. And the crowd at the Theater held on for dear life throughout the entire ride from one song to the next. Just as much as they embraced No Surprises did they wail and sway to the new songs (they played about 6 total, one in particular that caught my ear was "Bodysnatchers). There wasn't a person who walked out of MSG unaffected by the set (including a friend of mine who got to see this show as her first ever Radiohead experience and who subsequently looked like she was walking on air afterwards).

The two hour set flew by in about 30 seconds, and no one I was with was ready to leave. Besides the music, I will make a note that MSG has a gem of a venue hidden inside it with the Theater - they are smart enough to not oversell the GA section, so you can easily see the band from within 20-30 feet without getting crushed (important for a vertically challenged soul such as I).

Finally, as perhaps the icing on the cake, Thom takes time to post on their website about their tour, with little thoughts and pictures. Pretty funny one went up this weekend about the rumor that a Bush daughter was at show #2 at MSG. Link to read that entry is here.

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

If I think of any more talking points about this show I'll add them over the week.

P.S. For anyone who tried to post a comment earlier but didn't want to register, that's all gone now, so post away!

Rare birds

Okay, so as you all know I recently got a new computer = new ipod = way too much time exploring the outer reaches of the internet and the music it has to offer, including the following:

- New music podcasts, specifically Indie Feed and KEXP song of the day.
- Celebrity playlists on itunes.

Podcasts
First things first - I'm totally loving Indie Feed and KEXP song of the day. It's free music (you just have to listen to a little intro at the beginning of each podcast) and a great way to get a sampling of new bands already screened by music-freaks like ourselves (or at least myself). On KEXP, recent bands featured include Band of Horses, Calexico, Stars of Track and Field, The Go! Team, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Minus the Bear. KEXP also hosts podcasts that go further than just a single song, like the Live Performance Podcast which delves into interviews and performances with artists like We Are Scientists (yes, I'm still obsessing over them). Finally, they have an hour long session each week about "Music That Matters," which I think is a grittier NPR "All Songs Considered."

For those of you still just interested in a song a day, Indie Feed has been gracious enough to put together a selection of daily feeds that cover an array of genres - everything from Rock/Alternative to Electronica/Dance to Hip Hop or Folk. Yesterday's featured a fun, We Might Be Giants-esque band called Golden Daughters.

Both of these can be found on iTunes in the Podcast section or at the following URLs:
http://kexp.org/podcasting/podcasting.asp
http://blindingflashes.blogs.com/indie_feed/

Celebrity Playlists
So, I know these have been around for a while, but I just took the time to check them out. And just in case you are wondering, here are some of the gems I've learned:

1) Jack Black still wishes he could wear flannel to the premiere of Nacho Libre. He loves Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Soul Asylum, Pixies and Sebadoh. Awesome.
2) Dave from Widespread Panic shakes it up with songs from Dungen and The Mars Volta.
3) Bo Bice wants more cowbell in his life.
4) Pink promotes girrrrrl power via 4 Non Blondes, Mazzy Star, Indigo Girls and Liz Phair. Excellent.
5) Mandy Moore listens to Sufjan Stevens and Imogen Heap. I'm shocked, Really. On the floor.
6) Most assaulting information: Jerry Bruckheimer listens to 50 cent, Usher and 3 Doors Down. Yuck.
7) Best playlist I saw thus far was from the freaking kids from the Harry Potter movie, who highlighted songs from Arcade Fire, The Futureheads, Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs), The Libs, Hope of the States, and The Streets.

These things are way better look into people's lives than the papparazzi. I mean, how much do you love knowing that Liv Tyler sings out loud to Gloria. A+ Liv...

I'm seeing Radiohead tomorrow night so no post, but will report back on Thursday and let you all know that seeing Thom Yorke live is better than world peace.

A final piece of info: Eagles of Death Metal are going to be at Roseland on June 22, playing with Peaches. Josh Homme takes it down a notch from Queens of the Stone Age and has some fun with EoDM. Their last album Death By Sexy received pretty good reviews, and I've heard they are even better live. Tickets go on sale Friday!

www.myspace.com/eaglesofdeathmetal (their website kind of blows, check em out at myspace)

Gray Zone

Pardon the large gap between posts - last week consisted of a bday and a bachelorette party which meant less time to put thoughts to paper (or in this case, keyboard). But this week should provide lots of new posts as I've come upon a few new bands and various tour schedules to pass along:

First: the Raconteurs are coming to New York again this fall, playing at Roseland on 9/26. I missed them the first time around but feel compelled to spread the word about this appearance.

The Raconteurs are Jack White's new band - and I think what great about them is that he is extremely adamant about making sure that people know this is not his "side project." They are a fully formed foursome that have quite a distinct sound from the White Stripes, and I really can't fault Jack for wanting to make sure that fans are aware of that before making an unfounded assumption that the Raconteurs and White Stripes are two of a kind.

I think it's more applicable to say that the two compliment each other. While from the same cut as the Stripes - chock full of scratchy guitars and an omnipresent set of drums - The Raconteurs take the music in a different direction by adding in a well placed bass and a backup guitar (not to mention additional vocals). In addition, White takes a back seat at the Raconteurs, letting lead vocalist Brendan Benson do his thing. And you know what? Benson is really good. In Broken Boy Soldier (from the album of the same title) he almost has a Robert Plant feel, and Steady As She Goes (the first single) is both rough and completely lovable at the same time.

Also helping to distinguish the Raconteurs is the fact that they are based out of Nashville, TN. In my experience I've found that the scene there can breed some really amazing artists who have influences not just from the standard indie-post-punk floating across the Atlantic from the UK, but also from the folk and country bands who have been in Nashville all along. Plus, Jack White has a baby now, and that's gotta throw him for a loop.

Tickets to see the Raconteurs at Roseland go on sale Thursday June 22 at noon on ticketmaster.
www.theraconteurs.com
www.myspace.com/theraconteurs

P.S. Totally aside, I saw Mr. Brownstone last night. And they were just as sweet as I remember. Yesssss.

Ahead of the curve...

So, my sister just pointed out to me the NYTimes review of Tapes today... I'm glad I beat them to the punch with my 11:59pm post last night, phew!

The review is rather cute and glowing though. You can read it here. Tapes is playing again tonight at Bowery, but the show is sold out.

In other news, Doves just went back into the studio to record album #4. No release date yet, but I'm hoping sometime in the fall/winter. Fingers crossed it should be great, as their last LP, Some Cities, was one of the U.K. post-punk anthems of 2005.

Will keep you all posted on that.

Life is good

Life is good for two reasons for me today:

1) I got a new computer. It is a macbook. And it is essentially the sweetest product in the history of man.



2) I got a chance to see tapes 'n tapes on Sunday night at the Bowery. The foursome from Minnesota definitely lived up to the hype with an uppity, unpredictable, and excitable set to the crowd of about 500 fans. These guys kind of came out of nowhere with their tremendously inconsistent album, The Loon. Each song is different and you can barely understand any of the lyrics, yet perhaps because of those two features the short 41 minute compilation is on major repeat on my ipod. (I can't decide if I'm still trying to figure out what they're saying or just given up and created my own lyrics - either way if you happen to know what the hell is being said during The Iliad please let me know).

The inconsistency is part of the fun in listening to tnt - in their songs you can hear influences from everywhere, including The Zutons, CYSHY, Modest Mouse and probably a little Shins thrown in there (and I swear even a little 90's throw back to Rusted Root).

Bonus to the show - one of the opening bands was pretty good. Another foursome from Modesto, California named Cold War Kids. They definitely were an unpolished cross between Interpol, MM (again) and The Rapture, but they had that early "I wrote this song in my parent's garage" potential. Plus some pretty endearing fans in the mix.

Tapes 'n Tapes are headed across country now on tour - look for dates at www.tapesntapes.com.

Cold War Kids website can be found at www.coldwarkids.com.

From light to heavy

This week came across two bands from totally different ends of the spectrum, but both worth mentioning.

On the light side, learned about the Lylas by way of Music For Robots earlier this week. This quartet from Nashville, TN popped on the scene in 2003, and since then has already put out 4 albums. Their most recent lp, "Lessons for Lovers" is picking up traction with the critics and fans outside of the dirrty S, and for good reason. Their breezy tunes are sort of like what you might expect a drive up the Pacific Coast to sound like. It's basically a really lovely set of tracks with an easy mix of guitar, lightly scratchy vocals, and some great instrumental touches that pull the songs together nicely. Definitely some strong influences from The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkle, Nick Drake and perhaps even some Pink Floyd...?

Lylas don't look like they're coming anywhere up north anytime soon, but for those Nashville natives (like my sister, who obviously is reading this blog religiously and wants to go see all the shows I recommend).

Band website here.
Myspace page here.

Other band I caught up this week is called "I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness." I'm pretty sure that even if these guys weren't good (which they are) the name itself is awesome enough to warrant checking out their CD.

Luckily enough though they are pretty good - as previously mentioned they are quite a bit harsher than Lylas. More like a cross between Interpol, Mogwai with some Marilyn Manson thrown in (but really just a touch of Marilyn, they're morbid but not crazy).

The band is from Austin - a great music town that really takes influences from every music-walk-of-life. So even if they are on the rougher end of the spectrum, you can see that they've been wise enough to listen to a wide range of genres and let several artists permeate their repertoire. Regardless though, they've got quite a bit of angst and use heavy bass to emphasize their emotional state.

These guys are coming to NYC - playing at the Bowery on 7/19.
Band website here.
Myspace here.

Have a great weekend!

Karen O rocks my world

NY'ers -

FYI, tomorrow tickets for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sonic Youth (yes, that's right, they're still together and touring) on 8/11 at McCarren Park in Brooklyn go on sale.

Besides the fact that their sophomore album, Show Your Bones, is chock full of great tunes (including a remix of "something like a phenomenon") everyone should get a chance to see Karen O in concert at least once. She's the kind of rock icon who thrashes around on stage, uses her throat as a volatile instrument and loves connecting with her fans. The last time I saw her everyone was talking about how she inserted the entire microphone into her mouth when singing Art Star - pretty f*cking $$$.

The band itself has undergone a lot of troublesome times - Karen and her guitarist have been on the outs for a while, and it's possible that this could be their last album together. (For all interested in more on "Behind the Music - Yeah Yeah Yeahs" there was a good article about it in Spin last month) So all the more reason to go out of your way to see them in August.

Above photo of Karen courtesy of Bridget (my expert - and tall - concert photographer friend).

Yeah Yeah Yeahs tickets on sale through ticketmaster tomorrow.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs website here.

Unlocking the keys

Today's little gem of information comes by way of Pitchfork. Logging on to get the day's info I got two pleasant surprises:

1) The Black Keys are releasing a new album in September (on Nonesuch - the NPR label).
2) They will be the opening act for several East coast Radiohead shows (including the one I'm seeing at MSG. Apparently I'm the last one to know this, but am excited nonetheless.)

For those not familiar with the Keys, they are a duo from Akron, Ohiiiiizoooo (LKG - shout out!) that sound unlike most music acts today. Their routes stem from heavy blues influences, but integrating much more guitar and scratchy vocals. Funnily enough, the Keys sound like they've been around the block several times, but in reality they're just two skinny dudes from Ohio.

Their previous two albums "Rubber Factory" and "The Big Come Up" have been staples in my collection for quite a while now. The songs range from slow and calculated to quick and uppity tracks that you can dance to.

Check out some of their music at myspace here.
Band website here.

Memorial Day Round-Up

Hi friends -


so after several days sans a post I am throwing together a mishmash of thoughts on different artists/pieces of information I picked up:

1) This weekend, the NY Times featured an article about possibly the coolest archive I have heard of: Michael Ochs, a former music PR/agent, has a collection of thousands of photographs of rock n' roll musicians. Compiled over the past 30 years, he's got everyone from Gladys Knight at 8 years old to ZZ Top with no beards.

Ochs makes money by licensing these images out - recent ones appear in Gap ads and on CD cases everywhere - but he is pretty adamant that he does it just for the joy of having the archive. I'd like to petition him to making it open to the public one day - although that would probably be the complete demise of my productivity.

Check out the article here.

2) In case you haven't heard, French indie group Phoenix has officially burst onto the scene with their second album (technically third if you don't count their live album, which I don't). Their soft, easy listening pop songs are getting lots of praise from critics and fans alike, and rightfully so as they have a nice blend of pop rock beats, piano melodies, folky guitar influence and easy to sing-along-to lyrics. I hear everyone from Ani DiFranco and Edie Brickell (what's up 90s!?!) to the Violent Femmes and even a little Canadian influences with The Arcade Fire... (I might be pulling this out of nowhere, but I swear these guys have little riffs that come from everywhere)

The first single "Long Distance Call" is on its way to radio play and has a lot of mainstream potential. I'm always a little wary of any indie band that gets this much play on MTV right off the bat - but I think this French foursome has some good potential, and at the very least will appeal to a wide range of music listeners.

Phoenix homepage here.
Myspace page here.

3) For those looking for a band that's a little rougher around the edges check out Hope of the States. These guys are from the U.K. and definitely straddle the bridge between Radiohead and some heavy metal.

Hope of the States homepage here.

I'm back on track for regular posts... More to come!

Maintenance

Yo, blogger is sucking today and keeps freezing/not updating my posts, so stay tuned for a more comprehensive one later today.

Just on one quick note though, I did want to make a correction that my pops pointed out last night: apparently Volkswagens are from Germany, not Sweeden (see post: Sveeeden). Riiiight... Well, I never said I knew cars!

Sveeeden

I love Sweden for various reasons:

1) Swedish meatballs and lingonberry jam
2) The Hives - the best live band on the planet
3) The Swedish Chef on the muppets
4) Volvos and Volkswagens

Now I have another reason: The Ark.


This quintet that hails from Malmo, Sweden are all about bringing back glam rock. With a touch of ABBA, a dash of Queen, and a helping of Leonard Cohen they completely differentiate themselves from the guitar-heavy indie bands on the circuit now. What's more, lead singer Ola Salo is the kind of frontman that demands your attention. Regularly donning hot pants, he could easily share outfits with Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, but lucky for Ola, he doesn't have to share the stage with Ms. Ana Matronic. He has it all to his own, and in a recent Time Out New York interview he made it know that he is out there to be a stage presence:

It's your duty as an artist to get up there and bloody perform! Taking people's time without filling it with something is the one and only crime a performer can commit. People who turn their eyes toward me deserve to see something out of this world. You want them to experience something biblical, something grandiose. Being a diva isn't only for your own good as an artist, it's for the good of humanity.

And really, who can argue with that? An amazing performance at the Bowery = drunk and happy New Yorkers = world peace. Obviously.

Speaking of, they are playing Bowery Ballroom on June 28th.

The Ark released their third album, "State of the Ark," on April 11. Buy it here.
Check out their myspace page here.
Band website here.

Back to the Future

I finally got around to listening to some of the tracks off the soon-to-be-released album from U.K. rock-pop band The Futureheads.

I'm going to go out on a limb to say that The Futureheads might've staved off the sophomore slump. The first single "Skip to the End" off the new album - News and Tributes - starts off like "Garage" and "A to B" off The Futureheads (their self-titled debut album) but then comes together like a lot of their first songs never did. Plus, the lyrics make you kind of smile, because honestly, aren't there plenty of crappy situations in life during which you'd much rather "skip to the end?"

"Area" - the second single off the album - sticks it's landing with a solid blend of guitars, harmonizing backup and perky beats to get your head bopping. It actually was able to push out of my head "Cash Machine" by Hard-fi, which in and of itself was a miracle (bad idea to listen to that as I was getting ready this morning. In my head through several meetings this morning...).

The Futureheads will be at Webster Hall on June 30, and have a slew of tour dates this summer. They are a great live show, and I'm even thinking about trying to double-book an early TV on the Radio that night with The Futureheads later that evening... Yeah, right...

Oh, and their album "News and Tributes" is out June 13 stateside. Pre-order it here.
Futureheads website here.
Myspace here.

Grrrrl Power

A quick morning post as I was a slacker yesterday...

In reading through my papers this weekend I flipped to Playlist - a weekly column in the arts section of CD reviews - and got a special treat: Carrie Brownstein, lead singer/guitarist for indie rock band Sleater-Kinney, had written this week's column.

Sleater-Kinney, a three person all-chick group from Oregon, has been on the scene since the late 90's. Their sound has evolved a lot over the past 10 years but miraculously has not succumbed to the pressure of making more mainstream music (they are funded by indie label Sub Pop, which it seems has a pretty good record of not having a slew of freakish Tommy Mottola-esque "I will make you into a huuuuuuuge star" agents/producers).

Their last album, The Woods, came out last May to great reviews, and now the girls are becoming major stars (they were one of the headliners of last month's Coachella festival).

Brownstein writes in hilariously disjointed prose, but the eye into her personal life and CD choices is worth the read. My favorite review:

Paul Butterfield
I am kind of a hypochondriac, and therefore the Merck Manual is the book I have read more times than any other. Because of this, friends call with symptoms, and I tell them what they have: bursitis, rat bite fever, phantom limb pain. There is a strange feeling that I get when I think something might be really wrong, but then it turns out to be nothing, like maybe it's really just sinusitis. That feeling is harmony and anxiety melting into one, a mellifluous chainsaw. Paul Butterfield gives me this feeling too. "Put It in Your Ear" (Bearsville) is supposedly his attempt at creating a new sound. It's hard to hear albums when you know the reaction was conflicted, but it's more the listener's duty to go back and think about why he did this or why it would be difficult for people to comprehend. I didn't hear any of those problems with it.

Sleater-Kinney is performing at Webster Hall on August 2nd, they'll also be in DC, Chicago and Philly this summer.

Check out their official website here.
Myspace page here.
Full article in the Times here.

Muskrat Love

So, in nursing my hangover from the weekend I came across the band Nightmares on Wax. They have that perfect background music that is thick with slow beats, light lyrics, and easy melodies. I kind of envision that in the year 2030 this is what we'll hear in elevators, until then, you'll probably only hear it in the background at some hipper-than-thou lounge with $15 drinks.

In Space Outta Sound is their fifth album - just came out in March. These guys hail from the U.K. (natch) and I don't think have had much fanfare here (no tour dates scheduled and little if any reviews in the major magazines) , but Entertainment Weekly called them "The Barry White of electronica," which I think is rather apt.

Myspace page is here - I recommend it for anyone who is struggling through today as much as I am.

Side note - for all others looking for a good stream of music all day long, I recommend the BBC sites, which you can stream over the web. Some choices are a little punkier than what would play on the radio here (not too surprising) but you'll also be the first to hear bands like Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand before they hit big on our side of the pond. **I like BBC 6.**

BBC radio.

Hot potatoes

Dying to get out of the office so just a quick post before I leave.

Below are some albums coming up this summer to look out for:

• Frank Black, Fastman Raiderman, 6/20 - Frontman for the Pixies releases another solo album. After seeing them perform at ACL 2004 I am all for Mr. Black, and look forward to seeing what crazy sh*t he pulls together this time.
• Thom York, The Eraser, 7/11 - Apparently it is the summer of the solo album. I'll look out to see if Thom plays any of this material while Radiohead tour this summer and report back.
• Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche, 7/11 - Yeah, apparently this disk has 21 tracks. Intense.
• TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain, 8/1 - Apparently David Bowie does backup on this cd - amazing.
• Mars Volta, Still Untitled, 8/15 - Third album, rumored to have lots of Red Hot Chili Peppers influence.

Enjoy the weekend people! I for one will be subjecting my good friend Lynne to 6 hours + of recently purchased music on a road trip to a fabulous wedding. The ride up: Hard-Fi, TV on the Radio, We Are Scientists, Goldfrapp, Bloc Party. The way back: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stars, Jenny Lewis and anything that will cure a hangover.

and Stripes

Band of the day today is Stars, an indie group from Canada who recently released their third album, Set Yourself on Fire.

These guys are somewhat the epitome of indie rock, and you kind of have to love them for it. On their website they describe the anguish and self-discovery they went through to make this album in the kind of introspective, sometimes ridiculous, othertimes touching prose that you might hear at a poetry reading in the East Village.

A taste of the several hundred word essay that recounts the trials and tribulations of living Set Yourself on Fire:

"While the snow fell outside, Stars nestled in their cocoon, drank rivers of booze, smoked things they shouldn't, had bloody arguments, slid down icy hills on the bellies of their snowsuits, kissed and made up and nearly went insane. They steeped themselves in Sam Cooke and the Super Furry Animals, hash cakes and champagne, DuMaurier Lights and library books, the Apostles of Hustle and skating. Serious emo shit went down. "

Set Yourself on Fire is much sexier and certainly darker than their last albums. Amy Millan - lead singer - has the ability to bring deep sincerity through her soft voice, much like Jenny Lewis does on Rabbit Fur Coat. The result are songs that make you stop and catch your breath, if only for a moment. But before I start spouting prose like Stars did on their website, suffice it to say that their first song on the album, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" gave me pause, and took me on a little trip down memory lane.

The influences come from all over - certainly Broken Social Scene (friends & sometimes bandmates of Stars), I also hear Death Cab in there, and Bright Eyes. What's perhaps most admirable about them though, is the way they just throw themselves into their music.

FYI, they are playing at the Siren Festival on Coney Island this summer (7/15) as well as Austin City Limits.

For their homepage, click here. For myspace, click here.

Tragedy strikes

I'm somewhat devastated to learn that Bloc Party - one of my very favorite bands (no matter how much people call them played out) - is playing with The Secret Machines in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on July 29.

Why is this a tragedy? Well, because I won't be in New York, of course.

But anyone who is here should GO! Bloc Party is phenomenal live - I saw them here in the city at Webster Hall and at Coachella and both times they totally rocked my world. Above is a picture I took of the lead singer of Bloc Party - Kele Okereke - on a gorgeous day at Coachella. You can just tell that he gets visibly moved by his songs (as he rightly should).

FYI - I also love the drummer - Matt Tong - as he is smiling pretty much the whole time they play.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 12pm and will likely sell out pretty quickly. Buy people buy! (click here for tickets)

Scorsese quality

Quick alert for NY'ers - The Film School, a group of 5 from San Francisco, is going to be at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday, May 23 (next week).

These guys are really local and self-produced, which makes me even more eager to give them praise for their first album. The songs take a page from Sigur Ros, but take it up a notch where Sigur can leave you wanting more. There are definitely influences of The Cure and Morrissey in there - emulating that oh-so-lovable British sense of lament. (See: Depeche Mode)

I'm eager to see them if only to check out their eye makeup...

Sample their music on myspace here (Sick of Shame is soft but poignant). FYI, they are actually doing a really cool project where they create a new poster for each U.S. they visit. Check out some of the examples here.

Speaking of upcoming shows at the Mercury, Forward, Russia! is playing there on June 14. These guys were recently featured on the front page of NME.com and have quite a bit of momentum behind them no pun intended. Ha. (Side note: I'm guessing their name is a reference to the literature and art of Russia at the turn of the 20th century just before their revolution. Everything from Kandinsky to Russian books like "Time, Forward" were all about bucking the government.)

The foursome is from Leeds, U.K. and has toured with both The Bravery and Art Brut. Apparently lead singer Katie is mesmerizing live, and can wail with the best of them. They've got a great range. "Sixteen" has a slow build, starting with minimal guitar and lulling vocals that eventually pick up speed to blow you out by the end. Meanwhile, "Seven" is fast the whole way through, even picking up speed at the chorus - sure to get you up and dancing.

Check out their music here, and purchase tickets for their appearance at Mercury here.