I’ve been listening to a lot of Bleachers. At first when I kept seeing things about Bleachers, I was dubious. It’s like, oh it’s a guy from Fun., oh this guy is the boyfriend of Lena Dunham and oh he’s a categorical hipster. And believe you me, I’ve never called anyone a ‘hipster’ before – I’m still fuzzy about the definition of hipster – but Jack Antonoff screams oozes hipster. (Is he ever not wearing short shorts?)
Of course, I eventually took a listen and haven’t stopped listening since. It’s pop rock with a tinge of the 80s with good fun lyrics and it’s easy to move to. Strange Desire is actually the only whole album I’ve saved on my Spotify. Also, apparently Antonoff has videos on the Bleachers’ site on how he created some songs on the album which is really cool to watch and of which I just discovered as I was grabbing the site link so yay blogging!
Yoko Ono and the beautiful miss Grimes make appearances on Strange Desire. ‘Take Me Away’ is definitely one of my favorites on the album. Grimes has this dark ethereal sound going on while Bleachers has an 80s pop rock sound but they’re both strange and ridiculously talented that the end result turned into a real winner.
I can’t wait to see Bleachers when they stop by Terminal 5 in April. Maybe Grimes will be there as a special guest?! Hey, a girl can dream.
Yesterday I went to Banks’ album release show at Rough Trade. In the morning, I bought her debut LP Goddess, and got a wristband in return that granted me access to the show later.
Banks promptly started her set at 7pm on the dot. She came on stage in a black crop lace top and black high waisted wide leg pants. She is always wearing black. Banks is so chic and very minimalist. She performed an intimate stripped down set with her beautiful vocals as the leading instrument. Banks thanked the crowd for being here as her debut album was dropped on the world. She was crying after her first song she was so emotional. Banks speaks with such a high pitched soft voice, it’s surprising. She twists her wrists awkwardly while she is singing.
The set was a surprisingly short 20 minutes. But Banks signing my Goddess album and me being able to tell her that she is awesome made me feel better. I totally fan girled. Love her.
It was a short sweet teaser set. As my sister commented after leaving Rough Trade, “We’re never going to see her in such a small space ever again.”
I haven’t seen a show in a long time. It’s been more than a month I think. There have been a few shows I would have liked to go to; big ones popping up in my head right now: Braids, Sleigh Bells with Danny Brown AND Doldrums, Kanye West…
Whatever the reason may be that I somehow decided not to attend a live show – i.e. ‘It’s Sunday, I want to be lazy and not move from this couch all day,’ ‘Oh shit, that’s an awesome lineup…but it’s at Terminal 5,’ or some sort of money related problem – I always wish I had. I’ll daydream about what the concert must have been like and how awesome it must have been. Concert remorse.
Last week, I kept hearing about this guy Mikal Cronin and that he was playing a show at Webster. I saw his name mentioned a few times, one being from New York Magazine’s suggested events, but I had never heard of him before. And I didn’t end up going to his show.
Right at this moment, I have almost completely listened to Cronin’s 3 albums on Spotify. This happens a lot: I hear of a show but I’ve never heard the bands before, soon after their show I will listen to them and wish I had gone to the show. I could have seen this played live? Concert remorse.
This guy Mikal Cronin is awesome. He makes garage rock pop noise California music and he has a collaborative album with Ty Segall. Cronin’s newest album, MCII, is decidedly California surf-rock, and arguably more easy listening than his past albums. I like Mikal Cronin in all his forms and will be sure to catch him next time he’s in town – which hopefully won’t be too long.
Clementine & the Galaxy is the electro-pop creation of New York City based vocalist Julie Hardy and guitarist/producer Michael MacAllister. Their music is light airy synth pop that makes you want to groove. Hardy’s dreamy vocals float over MacAllister’s ethereal sound, which makes Clementine & the Galaxy seem other worldly. This is the music that will be playing on the Moon, if we ever get there.
I saw them at Pianos a couple weeks ago. My video of them performing “Robot” is above, and the official music video for the song is below.
I sold merchandise for King Krule at his sold out show at Bowery Ballroom. I picked up the shift thinking I had this guy’s music on my iPhone, when it was actually King Tuff. There are so many musicians calling themselves King nowadays that I can’t keep track anymore. Here’s a handful of the ones on my radar:
King Krule
King Krule via last.fm
King Krule is the alias of London’s 19-year-old Archy Marshall. He totally looks like an Archy, doesn’t he? Some people just look like a particular name. I was shocked that the deep snarling voice I was listening to belonged to this seemingly innocent bony red haired boy. At first, King Krule’s music sounded like a mid-30s bloke who had too much to drink and was shouting angry nonsense at the world.
Then I listened again. With the help of a Spotify lyric app, Krule’s thick accented words were deciphered and I realized that this nonsense was actually surprisingly profound poetry. He delves into the banal trivialities of life with a cynical, and sometimes, romantic point of view. In “The Noose of Jah City” he wails, “I question why.” It is beautiful and haunting; it kind of punches me in the gut. On his new album 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, Krule experiments with different sounds and genres. One song will be straight up electric guitar rock while the next song will feature a full jazz band.
King Tuff
King Tuff via Sub Pop
King Tuff is playful garage rock tunes from musician Kyle Thomas. His music is pretty straightforward and has a distinct classic punk I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. Tuff sings about being alone and stoned (“Alone and Stoned”), being a bad, bad thing (“Bad Thing”), and that once someone told him to break the rules (“Baby Just Break”). He does have that nasally whining voice that I find annoying and can only take small doses of. However, most of his hooks are good enough for me to forget about the tone. Then I’m left with the feeling that I want to carelessly jump around like I just don’t give a fuck.
King Khan
King Khan via Wikipedia
King Khan is the moniker of Canadian musician Arish Ahmad Khan. He is the frontman of a couple bands: King Khan and the Shrines and The King Khan & BBQ Show. Khan’s music is rock, psychedelic, funk, and big band with a little old school type James Brown thrown in. The sound is lively, uplifting, and feel good. I imagine his live shows are a chaotic dancing blast.
King Holiday
King Holiday via Facebook
King Holiday is a good old fashioned big band in the 21st century. They are literally a big band boasting eleven members in total – drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, 3 person horn section, 2 female backup vocalists, and 1 charismatic lead singer. They emit big funk soul rock sounds, and when they play a show, the whole room gets involved. I wish they had more music for me to listen to.
click their LP cover to watch my Instagram video of Guerilla Toss
I was standing near the back at 285 Kent (read: near the bar), taking a sip from my newly purchased beer, when I looked up at the visuals screen and saw a penis. It took me a moment to figure out what it was – mostly because the screen was in infrared mode – but yes it was a closeup of a penis. It took me another moment to realize that yes, this is a live camera right now, and yes, oh, ah this dude with the guitar is naked.
Shortly after this realization, the screen changed to more PG visuals and the band began to play. The band had set up on the floor in front of the stage, so from my position in back of the crowd, I could only see the tops of bobbing heads. I pushed past the dense crowd until I was in the front. There’s no better way to see Guerilla Toss.
In the front I could finally see the naked guitarist and his clothed band members clearly. The female singer kept bumping into people in the front while she shouted and shrieked into her microphone. Even now as I listen to them in the daylight and sober, I can’t make out anything she is saying.
Noise music can easily sound like nails on a chalkboard and make my head hurt. Guerilla Toss makes loud weird chaotic headbanging music and it’s awesome. This punk noise band from Boston was the best set of the night. Guerilla Toss matches their experimental noise with a high energy body moving live show complete with a nude guitarist. I can’t wait until they’re back in town again.
I have had the same music on my iPhone for quite a long time. It’s about that time where I need to change my limited musical selections or I will scream – there’s only 688 songs on this thing for some reason! I can only listen to about 3% of the songs I have stored on my phone with only mild irritation. I should get a premium Spotify account so I can listen to everything on the go….maybe one day.
So before I make some executive musical decisions, here are some of the songs that make up that 3%:
Tame Impala – “Why Won’t they Talk to Me?”
Arcade Fire – “We Used to Wait”
Alt-J – “Tessellate”
Haim – “Send me Down”
Foxygen – “Shuggie”
Little Dragon – “Ritual Union”
These are some of my favorite songs, but I need a break.
When it was released last week, Justin Timberlake’s music video for “Tunnel Vision” was yanked off of Youtube for violating Google’s nudity provisions. The video mainly consists of three topless models in flesh colored underwear dancing and having Timberlake’s face projected onto their naked bodies. Hours later the video reappeared on the site requiring users to log in for proof of age.
“While our Guidelines generally prohibit nudity, we make exceptions when it is presented in an educational, documentary or artistic context, and take care to add appropriate warnings and age-restrictions,” a Google spokesperson told ABC News.
Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” is similarly themed with three topless models in flesh colored underwear dancing, but the unrated version can not be found on Youtube. The unrated version can be seen on Vevo’s website, while the ‘clothed’ version is on Youtube.
Google has differentiated the two videos rightly; Timberlake’s artistic “Tunnel Vision” and Thicke’s blatant use of topless females as accessories in “Blurred Lines”. Timberlake’s video is tastefully done, while Thicke’s is just attention grabbing with an aftertaste of derogatory.
Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”
Although I don’t believe “Blurred Lines” was tastefully done (don’t even get me started on the #Thicke appearing on screen every 30 seconds or the “Robin Thicke has a big dick” balloons on the wall), the video should be on Youtube in its original form because boobs are nothing to be ashamed about! Topless women in music videos should not be seen as offensive or newsworthy – American society dictates differently of course (hence why the videos have garnered such controversy). They should be treated as beautiful celebrations of the female body, not some salacious scandal. I do applaud Google’s decision to reinvoke Timberlake’s topless Vision, as it is a step in the right direction of blurring the lines between American ideals and creative expression. Five years ago, this video would have been banned no questions. Hell, even two years ago. It is a sure sign the times are changing by Google reinstating this video for the general public to see.
Where are all the female singers surrounded by naked male models in their music videos?
The Bassnectar show at Terminal 5 was sick. I danced my ass off and I sweated balls. My bangs were all sweaty, my hair transformed into a big frizz puff and my concert shirt was soaked through. We ended up right in front of the speakers at one point and our ears were pounding so much we had to move. At other points I could feel my whole face trembling from the bass. The lights were amazing and so were the visuals. Everyone was fucked up – probably mostly rolling face. Sometimes you look at someone’s face and it just looks serene and lost in the music and in ecstasy from this music. I like it. Other times there’s a couple sandwiched next to you practically having sex on the dance floor or there’s a guy so fucked up that he’s oblivious to the fact that he keeps jumping on you. I don’t like that so much.
Bassnectar’s set was about two hours long. He played a variety of things – there was a bit of rock and hip hop – not just dubstep (it was only about 90-95% dubstep). Dubstep is fun when you are in the mood for it. I don’t really understand people who will listen to dubstep when they’re just chilling hanging out. Some people think of it as everyday music which I don’t get. Dubstep is a get-fucked-up-and-dance night time activity – sometimes til the wee morning hours activity.
When I was first introduced to dubstep back in college, it was such a funny concept to me – the dancing, the fashion, the ‘music’. I actually thought it was a New Paltz thing, oblivious to it apparently being an international phenomenon. I literally thought dubstep was funny. I remember going to Cabs and watching the small space packed with people moving as one, dancing, and just laughing to myself.
Everyone dances dubstep the same way – move the torso back and forth. It’s pretty basic, no need to move the legs. I love watching crowds doing dubstep because everyone is just bopping back and forth – some going harder than others depending on how into the music they are. We were on the second floor of Terminal 5 at the beginning of the set and the massive mob of the first floor moved together as one. Pretty crazy sight. Later in the show when I was down by the stage, there was a sort of dubstep circle that formed next to me and I was the only one bopping back while everyone else was bopping down. Good for me.
After the concert, I could feel my ears ringing until the moment I fell asleep.
I finally had the pleasure of seeing Grimes last Saturday. I wrote about her back in April, and ever since then I have been grooving to her sounds nonstop: on the street, in my room, across America. Grimes played a free show in August that I was expecting to be at, but I did not get back to New York until two days after the show. I was disheartened at first but my spirits renewed when I found out she would have some shows in October. Well surprise surprise when October rolled around I totally dropped the ball on getting tickets to one of her shows. Grimes had four shows booked and all of them were sold out when I checked for tickets. Sigh. I thought I was doomed to never see her live until maybe her next tour when her ticket prices have soared from the current $20 to $50 or something ridiculous like that.
Well I lucked out. As part of my internship, I get to request tickets to one show per week. All of her shows were sold out so I was worried I might not get them, but I was eventually confirmed for Saturday night at Bowery Ballroom!
I have never been to Bowery Ballroom before but I think it’s my favorite venue yet. First you go down stairs into a lounge/bar area. My friend and I were confused as to where the stage was so she had to ask the door girl who apparently retorted, “Uh upstairs?” Oh of course! So we went up a flight of stairs and found that we had just missed the first band, Blue Hawaii.
Myths
Myths
The next band was Myths. They want to sound like Grimes but the noisey version. The beats were ok but they were shrieking everything and I had no clue what they were shrieking about. Something was off, the sound wasn’t coming together and by the middle of the set I was wondering when this was going to be over because a headache was setting in. However, the two girls did have some stage presence that intrigued me. There was this nymph-like one with her blonde bob and green body suit and the other wore a sparkly cloak and danced furiously to her own sounds. (I don’t know if these outfits were because of Halloween or their regular stage outfits but hopefully they are standard.) Also, the nymph came on stage with a bottle of wine and the dancer carried a full glass over to her synthesizer which is cool. But overall I am not a fan.
Grimes
Then Grimes came on. We were up off to the right in front and except for an annoyingly placed flower attached to the front amp that partially obstructed our view, it was awesome. We had enough room to jump up and down and groove which is the most important part of a live show. They threw balloons into the crowd, the music was good, everyone was having a good time. Fun!
A Renegade Puppet 