Upon Request

Jai Paul - BTSU

On his Myspace Page England native, Jai Paul lists his music as Pop/Hiphop/Indie. I'm not sure if it is any of this; the self proclaimed artists and producer throws together elements from a number of different genres.Which I guess is what they call Indie these days.

BTSU is based around a simple drum beat and some high pitched vocals, but the song goes much farther than that as it delves into some heavy base and horn samples. The track pops like it was played on a record, and though based in electronic music, BTSU might even sound "old-timey". The song comes across as chill and easy, it's something you listen to as you sit and bob your head, and it does not lose it's appeal even after further exploration of the song.

Judging by the rest of the music on his Myspace page, I won't hesitate to bet on Jai Paul getting some serious play in the next year. Keep an eye on him, I know I will.

Songs I really like this week:

Tobacco- Street Trash
 - Tobacco has a real nice electronic sound- kinda like a cross between Air and RJD2 if you can imagine that. 
       Gotta credit Dreesy on this one- Good lookin out

Local Natives-  Wide Eyes
-Local Natives new album is really good- some singalongs, nice guitar and overlapping vocals.

Hockey- 3 AM Spanish 
- Some fun stuff to play around with.

Fang Island- Treeton
- Fang Island plays upbeat indiepowerpop whatever the hell that means. It's pretty fun and easy to listen to.

Blitzen Trapper- Heaven and Earth
- Brand new Blitzen Trapper track is getting a lot of hype. This one is very classical with some awesome piano and a dash of strings. Nicely done.

Go See This Music: Portugal. The Man

The band name sounds pretentious, especially when they explain it. The band wants to be as universal as the name of a country and as specific as a single person, a lofty goal. When they took to the stage, these thoughts came to my mind. Coming into the show I had no idea what to expect, I had read good reviews of the band’s live performance, but lead guitarist and vocalist, John Gourley, came out with his hood up and a hat pulled down over his eyes. He looked shifty at best, and when bassist Zachary Carothers came out wearing a beret that matched his shirt, and keyboardist Ryan Neighbors looked like he was about fifteen, I was nervous at best. But god damn, can Portugal. The Man play. They put on a show that I’ll not forget.

But let’s start from the beginning.  When I first arrived I noticed that 1. The place was very nice, or “swankenstein” as was coined shortly after entrance 2. The beers were only 4 dollars each 3. We were probably some of the oldest people in there. It wasn’t like a Jonas Brothers concert, but most of our fellow patrons were our age or younger. When we came in most of the people there were sitting on the floor holding good spots for later viewing. It was relatively easy to step over them and secure good standing position toward the front, right in the middle.

Next, the openers were pretty good except I think they were out of order. The first band, The Dig, played loud rock laden with crescendos and breakdowns. The set was highlighted by a ten man performance, including members from the second opener, of what sounded like an eighties rock song. The second opener, Port O’Brien, could have easily been a Neil Young cover band, except for the fact that they weren’t playing Neil Young songs. They played folky pop which was less upbeat than The Dig and settled the crowd back in. The final song of their set featured another ten plus man troop of members from The Dig and Portugal. The Man, this easily highlighted their set.

Finally, Portugal. The Man came out at about eleven and immediately the space around me shrunk as people forced their way to the front of the stage. This was reminiscent of other general admission shows such as Ratatat when there was hardly any room to move at all. Like I said, I really didn’t know what to expect with this show, were they going to play the songs straight just as they are on the album? Would they play mostly new material? These questions were answered after the second song. I tried my best to record a setlist, but many of the songs bled together and were hard to recognize. Here’s what I have:

1.       And I

2.       People Say

3.       M80

4.        – Into- Shade

5.       60 Years

6.       The Sun

7.       Do You

8.       Moonage Daydream (David Bowie Cover)

9.       -Into- Weekend Wars (MGMT cover) 

10.   Dead Dogs

11.   Chicago

12.   1989/ Always Lost

13.   My Mind

14.   How the Leopard Got It’s Spots

Encore

1.       Created (Acoustic)

2.       Church Mouth

3.     -Into- One is the Loneliest Number (Three Dog Night cover)  

4.       -Back Into- Church Mouth

5.       Strangers (Kinks cover with members of Port O’Brien and The Dig)

This is pretty incredible as it is, but with these songs there was also a great deal of jams and other variations. On several occasions the music conjured images of Moe. and other Jam-bands. While the whole show flowed together nicely, there were some highlights which, as highlights do, stood out more than others.  The show was relatively calm until “Chicago” came on. On the album, Waiter. “You Vultures!”, “Chicago” is an electronic song which raucously yells “We say burn the fucker down
Burn the motherfucker down.” It was at this moment that the crowd erupted into a moshpit complete with crowd surfing and stage diving.  After five minutes of pushing and shoving through “Chicago” and part of “1989” the crowd got suddenly jovial and ecstatic, with hugs and high-fives being exchanged between total strangers.  Again I was reminded of the drug induced love inspired by the Jam-band scene. 

The encore was something that should be witnessed. To start, the visibly shy and nervous Gourley came out alone and played the entirety of “Created” alone; with the whole crowd singing along Gourley made it through the whole song, something he said he had never been able to do. The encore continued fabulously through “Church Mouth” and “One is the Loneliest Number” and ended with an incredible version of The Kinks song “Strangers” (you know, the one that goes “we are not two, we are one” ) that featured another stage filled with members of all three bands. 

All in all, a theme of this incredible show could have been unity. As lame as that sounds, it has an air of truth to it. Portugal. The Man’s music is a cross between Jam, Indie, Electronic, and Rock; the fellow audience members and I felt as though we were there together, and the different bands shared instruments, stages and songs.  So next time Portugal. The Man comes through your city, Go See This Music.

Songs I really like this week:

1. Portugal the Man- All My People
2. Jonsi (Lead Singer of Sigur Ros)- Boy Lilikoi
3. JJ- Let Go
4.Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros- Home (RAC Mix)
5. The Morning Benders- Patient Patient
6. Toro y Moi- Imprint After
7. Dem Getaway Boyz- Imma G (Memory Tapes Remix)

This Entry Is bBrought To You By

My roommate:

http://www.greenlabelsound.com/

He's not much of a talker, but when he says stuff, he means it!

For Entertainment Purposes

She And Him- In The Sun

Broken Bells- The High Road

The Decemberists- 16 Military Wives

Go See This Music: Neon Indian

Neon Indian: A Concert Review

The thing about new bands is that they don’t have a lot of material; their sets rarely last more than forty minutes. Needless to say, this is a far cry from the four hour sets that I became accustomed to in my high school years listening to bands like Widespread Panic, Phish, and The String Cheese Incident. Neon Indian is a brand new band. Their debut album was released less than half a year ago and they have only been touring for a couple of months. So, their set was short. Despite this fact, it fucking rocked. There is something magical about seeing a band for the first time, there is something magical about seeing a band that have only played a handful of shows.

Going to the concert I was both unaware of what to expect and totally confident about what I would hear. This was because I knew that the band only had a small repertoire of songs that they would play, they only have one Album; at the same time I had no idea what it would sound like. The Album itself is a washed out, psychedelic wave of music. While the album does have definite rhythm, the guitar and vocals are not the hard hitting, fast paced king of thing that you would expect to be able to dance like a maniac to. But when a band gets on stage, anything can happen.

And man, something definitely happened when Neon Indian stepped onto the stage at Webster Hall on March 5th. Standing front row, and feeling the intense bass certainly helped, but this band shattered my expectation of what I was going to see. Frontman Alan Palomo sang with fervor and strength, guitarist Ronald (Ronnnnyy!!! As dubbed by the girls to our right) Gierhart played both in styles both spacey and grounded. The band came on at about 12:45 and played about forty minutes of psychedelic funk worthy of hipsters and ravers alike. The gem of the night was definitely “Deadbeat Summer” when Palomo ended up on his back writhing around while singing to the sky.

Throughout the show every member of the band thoroughly rocked out and looked incredibly enthused about the packed house at Webster Hall. Each song was jammed out with guitar solos and dance breaks; the concert was something to see. So grab so designer drugs, some ridiculous outfits and Go See This music.

Listen to this Music: The Morning Benders- Big Echo

The Morning Benders- Big Echo: A Review: 8/10

I’ve been listening to this album for a little while now, and I’ve been having trouble trying to place who it sounds like. I did a quick Google search and found that it was produced by Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor. Then it all fell into place. The Morning Bender’s sophomore album is a great synergy of Grizzly Bear’s twangy guitar, The Shins’ pop melodies and The Dodo’s steady beat. Add all that up and you have a certifiable indie record. However, to say that Big Echo doesn’t bring anything new to the mix would be wrong. The album gives you something new on every track and its eclectic sound does not fail to impress.

The first ten seconds of the album are so reminiscent of Grizzly Bear it’s uncanny. The dreamy guitar and flickering piano over a distant drum beat is a distinct characteristic of many a Grizzly Bear song. However, the impression doesn’t last long as the first track “Excuses” evolves into a coherent pop song complete with a string section and overlapping vocal tracks. Big Echo doesn’t take long to show off its flexibility, the album continues with the groovy “Promises” with bass and guitar riffs that will have you dancing. From there the album meanders through upbeat ditties like “Cold War (Nice Clean Fight” and “All Day Delight” and sullen depth tracks like “Pleasure Signs” and “Mason Jar.”

Vocalist Chris Chu ties the album together with background melodies over lyrics like “I put no one else above us … We'll still be best friends when all turns to dust.” These simple lyrics exemplify The Morning Benders who remain somewhat transparent despite a great deal of oddities and excellent production value. Big Echo is an album that, due to its varied nature, will grow on you with every listen. Songs like “Stitches” that might not have caught your attention on first listen will emerge as some of your favorites. The album is definitely influenced by the Grizzly Bear production as will be apparent almost immediately, but it transcends the boundaries of their chamber pop contemporaries by delving into a more accessible sound. Listen to this music.

You can stream the whole album from their website located here

Start general

End specific. Music is another language in which you can escape. Music ties the day together, it creates productivity out of procrastination. It brings people together and makes their memories more vivid.

My music tastes are rooted within my older brothers' teenage years and my father's eccentricity. From Jimmy Cliff to Blind Mellon to The Fabulous Poodles. I remember cleaning my bedroom to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones with my siblings and passing car rides with CMJ new music mixes with my dad.

Enough Backstory- Here are some albums I've been playing a lot as of late:

Yeasayer: Odd Blood
Yeasayer- Madder Red

Portugal. The Man: American Ghetto
Portugal. The Man- 1000 Years

Surfer Blood: Surfer Blood
Surfer Blood- Take it Easy

The Clash: Essential Clash
The Clash - Bankrobber

Breakbot: Baby I'm Yours Ep
Breakbot: Baby I'm Yours (Ft. Ifrane)

Curren$y: Smokee Robinson
Big K.R.I.T- No Wheaties (Ft. Curren$y & Smoke DZA)
(this song's actually not on the mixtape, but it's all I could find on the Hypemachine)

Alright, so I know I'm just quoting other people's blogs, but once I figure this out I'll start putting up songs for you to download. Also, I'll be posting concert and album reviews whenever I can.