Phrazes for the Young Cover Art

[via/via]

Three years of silence ends with Julian Casablancas in a dark room full of brightly colored retro technology. How does everyone like it?

Details on the fall tour will be announced shortly...

Healthcare for your iPod


Portland's experimental dreamy-pop band Nurses are back with their second LP,
Apple's Acre
. It has very pretty album art.
The tracks roll softy and it's an easy listen. Fans of Akron/Family, French Kicks or innovative music in general shouldn't miss this!

They are currently on a continental double club tour.
If you're of age, they're apparently very good live.

[hypem] Nurses- Technicolor

Julian Casablancas in Tokyo (Video)



EDIT: RCA Records took down the video.
And not only for Fair Trade...looks like this project's locked up tight.

Here's a snipit of Julian Casablancas debuting his solo project in Tokyo.
This song is called 11th Dimension.

The sound quality is a little off, but it seems like it will definitely be an interesting album.
Said album, Phrazes for the Young, is slated for a September 29 release in the US.

A tour will follow, there's a rumor that The Strokes' lead guitarist Nick Valensi will be backing.

Beck Covers Velvet Underground

Beck's image has had quite a busy summer. His website is totally redone, and with it, comes The Record Club, which is basically Beck getting some friends-in-bands together to cover entire albums. First up, the culture classic Velvet Underground and Nico.

The covers have been posted all over,
you can pick and choose your favorites on
hypem.

Next week's Record Club guest artists include Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Wolfmother and Little Joy! A great lineup. Keep watch at beck.com/record_club

Noel Quits Oasis


Noel Gallagher of Oasis has quit the band, saying on the band's website that, "It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

Maybe it's for real this time, since this has happened before.

Move Your Feet

Good Shoes:
Fantastic
pop/new wave band from England.
Give their album Think Before you Speak a listen!
[Hypem]

Last of Summer: Surf Rock

[photo]

Summer is just about over, so in an effort to try and enjoy it,
here are two indie surf-rock groups:

Best Coast
fuzzed out local favorite from California
with cute lyrics
and likable riffs.

myspace
hypem

The Drums
New York surf-rock with great energy
and fun lyrics
myspace
hypem

New Vampire Weekend Songs

Hopefully the new album's coming soon! We'll keep you updated.

"Run" in Montreal (8/2/09)


"Cousins" in Copenhagen (8/13/09)


This page is coming along; still in the process of finalizing design though.

Julian C. Public Solo Preformance Debut


...in TOKYO?!!
Said downtown New York in respose, "Ouch. That hurts, man."

bands i'm excited about

helado negro
fruit bats
ganglians
bibio
white denim
ima robot
micachu and the shapes
foreign born

the site is still very much under re-branding/construction, so feel free to check out these bands in the mean time.

Also, PHOENIX was in Spin Magazine (Sept 09). They wrote an awesome article about their rise to fame and did a really great shoot with them at the Bowery Hotel and at some places around New York. Go to your local magazine/bookseller and flip through if you don't subscribe.

RIP Les Paul



Les Paul has passed away today at the age of 93. Known as
the man who made rock & roll possible, Les Paul is the guy
behind the creation of the solid body electric guitar- the Gibson Les Paul,
and several innovations in multitrack recording.

He will surely be missed.
A cool picture of Ira Stone and a Gibson Les Paul, below.



NY, I Love You Trailer + Phoenix



Stellar cast & a butchered version of Phoenix's 1901.
Ya can't beat that!

BBC 1, BBC 2







Bombay Bicycle Club, south England's finest 'our-fans-are-older-than-us' band, are back with their LP- I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose!

From said LP, a single, "Always Like This" - a song that is definitely a progression from their earlier EPs. Listen for yourself:

[MP3] BBC- Always Like This

Album review will follow shortly!

JC's First Interview in 3 Years.



BEIRUT?! BEACH HOUSE?!
Polar opposite of The Strokes' influences.
Wow.

This guy is totally mellowed.
At least the group record is coming along and he's doing something.

Perhaps this Phrazes for the Young record is going to be soft, synthesized & experimental with rolling vocals.
How do you hardcore Strokes fan feel about that?

Relevant West Village Adventures (a weblog)

Yesterday I got lost in the West Village en route from a really cool restaurant called Cafeteria (7th ave at 17th) to the Marc Jacobs store. It's really not a difficult walk at all. I'm just not a West Village person. You just go south on 7th and walk west at 11th until you hit the MJ store. The person I was with (who shall remain nameless) wanted to walk a different way. Then got us lost.

Anyway we eventually got up to MJ. But we passed the Christopher Street train station beforehand, which was like five blocks south of destination. Ha ha.

Didn't end up buying anything (soo hard) but it was cool just to look at all the inexpensive stuff nobody really needs. The best part is that Mr. Marc had Swimming, the most recent album from French Kicks spinning in his stores! They've been mentioned here before, and I just thought it was really cool to hear them.

Then we ate Magnolia cupcakes in the little park across from MJ. So good! We were wired and walked back to the Forever 21 in Union Square to shop. It was like...10 pm or so. On the way we saw the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck (fancy, really good ice cream) on, uh, University and 11th maybe. Yum. We had to stop! Then we walked east on 12th to look in the window of the record shop I've been dying to get to.

This is all random and stuff. But I just thought it was a fun night. Haha. I know nobody reads this, but does anyone have a getting-lost-in-your-hometown story to share?

Yesterday's News

Unfortunately for pop culture, John Hughes, the film director behind cult classics such as Ferris Bueller's Day off and The Breakfast Club, died quite recently of a heart attack.
BornRuffians Luke abandoned me in the car without rolling the windows down. I'm calling the humane society.

pack light


Here's another artist to watch: The Soft Pack.
Formerly known as The Muslims, this San Diego band is playing flowing rhythm guitar based rock, with an almost surf-y feel to it. Pretty cool stuff.

They're coming across the US on tour right now
and currently have one date in Paris.
myspace.com/thesoftpack

LA ROUX: THE NEW KAREN O?


Big hype around La Roux, an electropop duet from London.
They played at All Points West yesterday on the small stage and
are releasing their self-titled debut on September 29 in the US.
There's just a really cool KO vibe about La Roux. Maybe the
next icon! We'll see..definitely keep an eye on this group.

La Roux Myspace
La Roux on Hype Machine



All Points West - Saturday

Super muddy.
Super humid.
At least it didn't rain!
Anyway,

The Postelles were playing in the Queen of the Valley stage/tent right near the entrance as I arrived (late). Caught a few songs..they're finished recording!




Arctic Monkeys on the Blue Comet Stage. This was a muddy and crazy packed set. It was really hot, people were tossing around mud covered beach balls and the stage was so far away with a photo and VIP pits built in front of the barrier.
But the set was pretty good. They played all of their singles and were chatting it up.

Terrible pictures & sight lines ensue..AND Alex Turner's moppy haircut is not cute anymore :(



I headed back over to the Queen of the Valley stage after to wait it out for Tokyo Police Club.
Stopped on the way to watch St. Vincent from afar for a little bit, she sounded really great (didn't get pictures though)




In the tent, The Honey Brothers were on the stage playing their last song for a very small crowd. They seemed like really nice guys. The drummer looked like Vince from Entourage. (edit: it actually WAS Vince from Entourage!!)



Next, Chairlift took the stage 20 minutes late (you know, the iPod commercial band- I tired to do handstands for you, every time I fell on you..) The dummer/bassist looked like Casey Affleck! It was shaping up to be quite a celebrity-look-alike day.
I have to say, this band is really cute. But they really had to turn down their bass/bass drum/synth. Everybody was covering their ears. The whole tent was shaking. It was unbearable for a few songs.




Then, Tokyo Police Club! This was the third set that I had seen them play and definitely the best one. During Honey Brothers I had gotten a spot in the front. So worth standing through Chairlift for TPC. Got a few good pictures this time.







After the TPC set I went to talk to Graham (keys), Josh (guitar) and Greg (drums) once they finished load-out. No Dave (vocals/bass) though. They were so friendly. Chatted with Graham for a few minutes about solo projects and TPC recording. But I forgot to ask about NOVELS!! (That's the solo EP with Luke from the Born Ruffians and a couple other Canadian indie guys that recorded it over 24 hours.) Grr.