Caribou kick of their Autumn tour tomorrow – 82 dates listed so far, bringing them to the last of the Summer festivals, including the Electric Picnic, which I’m sad I’m not going to, then North America and finally to Europe. If seeing Caribou wasn’t reason enough to catch one of these shows, they’ll be performing with some great bands including: Holy Fuck, Nite Jewel, Four Tet (a forthebeat fave) and Beach House (another forthebeat fave). If you’re in New York City, you can catch their DJ set on September 21st at Le Souk and the band live on September 22nd at Webster Hall.
Reading through the e-mail listing all of the tour dates, there was a lot of scrolling down. But way at the bottom, there was this nice little gem – a new video for the song “Sun” directed by Simon Owens. MILFs (or not) getting their groove on and joined by some super fun party crashers. Check it out below. Dancetastic.
Lo-fi and an overall jangly-feel complete with catchy hooks, whistling and a lot of ooohs and ahhhs, Oberhofer is Brad Oberhofer — only 19 years old (although he looks even younger). This year he will be a “breakout” act at CMJ.
Starting out in a basement on the West Coast, Oberhofer is now a Brooklyn-based band complete with Matt, Mike and Peter. And I love the story from that bedroom through today (from his bio):
When your songs are too big to be contained: form a band. Maybe call it after your family name because you like the way it sounds (shit, if it worked for Bon Jovi then who’s to argue). Record those songs in the basement of your parents house in Tacoma. When that burns down, shake it off and move to New York. Find a new band to play with, start working on a symphony (no really, do it), mix your newfound formal training with the noisy exuberance of youth. Get raucous.
His debut 7″ oOOOoOOOo is available at Insound HERE and you can catch him live before CMJ on August 26th at Bowery Ballroom or September 17th at Monster Island.
SIGGHH. I love this band…For their first full length album, Blackbird Blackbird jump in with a BANG, then cartwheel, do some jumping jacks and float on up to the sky (yea, just like the photo). Their beats remind me of MillionYoung /dreamy synth Beach House-like vocals/Air France beach goodness.
It all started with the Happy High EP released this past April, followed closely by Let’s Move Together EP in May and Summer Heart in June, available for digital download currently on their bandcamp site. AND, just announced today– the Summer Heart 12″ vinyl is coming out on Arcade Sound Ltd on September 28- so look out for that.
Blackbird Blackbird is also playing a show tonight in LA with fellow Arcade Sound artists Teen Daze and Gobble Gobble and some other fun sounding bands.
Check out an original and a cover below…just when I thought I didn’t need to hear Modest Mouse’s most acclaimed track Float On again, (since it has been repeated countless times because it does kick some major ass), Blackbird Blackbird recreates the song into a synth dance blast that maintains its initial appeal but extends it to further awesomeness.
I love this. It’s perfect. Coma Cinema suggested this artist to us and yes, this artist is fun.fast.fannnntastic.
Gobble Gobble is Canadian based punk/funk/dance electro goodness. I listened to 4 tracks over and over on repeat and yes fell in love. Listen to everything but start with Lawn Knives and Boring Horror, both below. Then move on to something totally different that’s sweet + soft with Eggs in Carrion.
Gobble Gobble has been touring with over 161 consecutive tour dates since June 5th – they are calling it the Mobile Rave Infinitour, and are plowing through the fall til end of November. Their latest blog entry also notes: “ps. we want to play YOUR CMJ showcase. yep, we’re that kind of band. ” love it.
Voxhaul Broadcast is kicking off a national tour this month, starting out West and heading East for about 30+ shows between now thru October. They’ll be stopping in New York City at Fontana’s on September 8th. So head to the edge of Chinatown, pick up some dumplings and check out this band.
The four-piece from Orange County, CA was named one of LA’s Best New Indie Bands by the Los Angeles Times Magazine this summer – a well-deserved accomplishment for a band that’s been around for a coupe of years, and a nice accolade to boast as they embark on this tour.
You can check out some old tunes and bookmark THIS SITE for when the new material from their forthcoming full-length drops this month. Meanwhile, here is a track I really love from an un-released EP…
The Hoof and The Heel are Harris, Christine, Al and Farid. And they are from Canada. The band just released their Fireworks EP, which you can download HERE. They are also on a short tour on the East Coast, with stops at Pianos in NYC tonight and Bruar Falls in Brooklyn tomorrow. If you are around, I recommend checking them out. Here is the title track “Fireworks,” as well as the video, and a nice little chat with the band below. Love, love, LOVE this song and video.
Who are The Hoof and The Heel and how did you all meet?
C: I met Harris and Farid the week I first visited Montreal in 2008, apparently just a few weeks after they met, at the bar that Harris was working at. It wasn’t until a year later did we play together. I was living in LA, and came to Montreal to pretty much join the band (I didn’t know it at the time until the first day we all got together). While we were recording our EP, I met Al at a rock lotto fundraiser (bands are formed by pulling names out of a hat and they have a week to write 3 songs and perform them). We needed a bass player, and Al and I got along great so he joined the team.
You just released your Fireworks EP on July 13 and embarked on a tour a few days ago. What’s been the most exciting part of the process?
H: It’s all happened really fast so it’s hard to even take it in. Every day we do what we need to do without thinking too much about it. I have to say personally the most exciting thing is still to get up in front of a new audience and play. Each show is extremely unique right now, going from a 400 capacity venue in the city to a dive bar in a small town or a barn in the country. It’s all sort of equally fun so I think we’re just enjoying the whole thing.
What’s your favorite The Hoof and The Heel song / which do you love performing live and why?
C: Every time we have a new song I think it’s all of our favorite song at the time – so on this tour it’s exciting trying out the new songs in different places to work out the kinks and get the audiences response. Off our EP, I love performing King because it’s the most intimate and I love playing Tigers because it’s the opposite. We have a bi-polar set sometimes.
We’ve seen the video for “Fireworks” and really love the song and the visuals. Tell us about the process of making the video.
H: We were really lucky, a friend of a friend used fireworks in an indie film called “So Long Lonesome” and the cinematographer on that was Bryan Schlam. I got an e-mail from him maybe a few weeks after the movie was released asking if he could make a music video for the song. He’s in LA and none of us could get there so I told him to go for it if he wanted. Even though So Long Lonesome was really beautifully shot I was expecting a much lower production on our video, but then a couple months later he emailed me a rough cut and I was amazed at how great it looked and how much work he put into it. I gave him carte blanche on the storyline so it was really interesting to see his interpretation of the song come to life.
When or how did you first fall in love with music? (Your dad taught you banjo, you heard Dirty Diana in a bathroom, etc.)
F: My mother thought that I would become a punk rocker because as a baby whenever we would go past record stores playing loud music I would dance in my pram (stroller, as you guys call it). I’ve been dancing since!
If you could cover any song right now, what would it be and describe what it would sound like?
H: “The day they drove old dixie down” by The Band. I’m not sure how it would sound, but I hope to find out eventually.
C: “Wild Thing”
A: Loving old Whitney Houston right now. Especially “How Will I Know.” It would be fun to play that one (not sure Harris would be comfortable singing the lyrics).
The Northside Festival got underway last night with acts including Wavves, Cloud Nothings, DOM, Fang Island and Millionyoung playing all over the borough of Brooklyn. We’re a day late, but we’re highlighting our picks for the rest of the weekend:
Friday: Dailyvinyl.com Presents Minks at Union Pool at 9 PM
Saturday: Titus Andronicus, Male Bonding and Cults at Newtown Barge Park @ 1 PM
And the show we’re MOST excited about — Sunday: FREEwilliamsburg Presents Keepaway, Hooray For Earth, Glass Ghost and Oh Land at Brooklyn Bowl @ 6 PM
A little preview of Sunday’s show, which promises: a night of dancing, drinking, and making out with strangers to the tunes of the following musical talents. How can you skip that?
It’s summer and that makes me think of Air France. And I guess they are thinking of us too because they’re coming to New York to DJ an event at the MoMA on July 17th.
Air France is Henrik Markstedt and Joel Karlsson. They are signed to the record label Sincerely Yours, founded by The Tough Alliance.
Music blog The Line of Best Fit got a rare glimpse into the incredible duo last month in their native Gothenberg. Check out the interview here, a must-read if you are even slightly intrigued with AF…
Here’s an excerpt:
When No Way Down, the duo’s second EP, came out nearly two years ago, it received rave reviews both Stateside and in the UK, but in Sweden went pretty much unnoticed. “It didn’t bother me at all”, Henrik says, “I had other problems to think about.” …“‘No Excuses’ was supposed to be called ‘No Apologies’, but ‘apologies’ is not a very nice sounding word, we thought. We wanted to question why people try to tell themselves that certain things have to be in a certain way, and for me it was a problem that I was so polite when I was younger.”
TLOBF also reports on something we’re sad to hear:
“Some new Air France material is expected in September. But don’t count on it.”
Today is the first day of summer, but we’re going to post a song about the end of summer because we’re listening to MINKS and we’re hooked.
Recently debuting their Funeral Song 7”, MINKS will be releasing a full-length album in September on Captured Tracks. There isn’t much info on this band – they are trying to keep that mysterious vibe going – but they’ve been playing live in Brooklyn a bit, with a Northside Festival appearance this weekend at Union Pool — we’ll check them out soon enough!
So happy summer – a breezy tune to enjoy. Go download it, get it on your iPod and go for a walk…
