STROKES IV

More huge news! As confirmed by frontman Julian Casablancas on twitter, The Strokes' infamous fourth album is finally finished.

It could be a long, long time before any piece of this album package officially surfaces, but we can all sleep easy now knowing that the tracking has been completed.

Stay tuned!

Apple on Apple

Some very big news surfaced this morning - The Beatles are now on iTunes!

After decades of trademark debacle between The Beatles' label Apple and Apple Computers, the quartet's entire discography is now available legally in the digital realm.

apple.com/the-beatles

Let it Die or Be Caught Dead

I thought I'd give a heads up on some new Ruby Coast, since (1)we've basically (d)evolved into a Canadian Music Appreciation blog and (2) it's been at least a year since I last wrote on them.

Simply put, Ruby Coast is the pop version of Tokyo Police Club, all because their '08 EP Projectable Collections was produced by floppy haired Toronto king Dave Monks of said Club band.

They've put out a new 7" - Whatever This Is / Creep Me Out. The b-side's real good.

Grab it for free on Facebook and watch this space for my review of their live show. I'll be seeing them play at the Meligrove Band's CD release party in Toronto this Friday.

Top Five!

Newmarketers Tokyo Police Club stopped into Daytrotter recently in support of their sophomore record Champ. All and all it's a good session - the mix is clearly off and the playing feels a bit rushed, but TPC's undeniable live talent makes up for production issues.

The session includes an interesting, unreleased song called Top Five!.
I'm undecided about this track. It's a just composite of the many stylistic faces of Tokyo. Same synthy garage instrumentals, same simple structure...it just doesn't feel like anything special or progressive. Despite this criticism, it's still a very likable song.

TPC DTS

Video: Born Ruffians - "Nova-Leigh"

(watch hq?)

Here's the beautifully shot video for Nova-Leigh, the fantastic second single off Born Ruffians' second LP SAY IT. Directed by Jared Raab.

The whole package deal for this song is pretty impressive, actually. Some of the band's best work, no doubt.

Review: The Drums & Surfer Blood at Webster Hall (CMJ)

A few days ago on Wednesday, I saw The Drums, Surfer Blood, The Dewars & Young Friends play Webster Hall as part of the CMJ Festival that's going on in New York now.

Young Friends:


I came in right at the end of their set. Can't really recall what they sounded like (that's not a very good sign).

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Next up was this incredibly weird band called The Dewars. Like, they've got to be the oddest band I've ever seen live. The group is fronted by the Dewar Brothers, who had matching glasses and excessively geeky looks. Their most notable backing members included a Rasputin-esque maraca shaker & an insane keyboard player who moved like a nerd version of Peter Murphy, throwing bedroom eyes and sweat at everyone.

Video was the only way to capture this odd group:

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After that, Surfer Blood. I watched a few minutes of an MTV stream they did the night before and was incredibly underwhelmed by the performance, so the bar was set pretty low for them. Fortunately, they cleared it by a mile, pretty much stealing the show from The Drums. People seemed to be a lot more into them than any other act of the night.

They played some new songs, most notably the still-untitled one below. They've been playing it quite a bit on the road..seems pretty promising as a single or a well-liked track for their next release, whenever that may be.

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The Drums came on shorty after to a super receptive crowd. Clad in a red satin varsity jacket and incredibly slim pants, Lead singer Johnny took the mic and staggered everywhere on stage, slurring almost every word. Backing was tight, even though the mix seemed a bit off.

There's really not much to say about them, actually. The setlist (below) was conducive to buzz kills (starting with It Will All End in Tears? / ending with Down By the Water? Really?)

The drummer was the moodiest, most pissed off looking thing on the stage, and the guitarist looked like he wanted to kick something (and like TBP from That Thing You Do!). It was a bit disappointing, since the LP is so "clear and happy and stuff."



And it all ended with a wrecked kit:

Free Tracks: Bullfighter Jacket / Gentleman's Club

Here are two strikingly different songs that are available for free and on constant rotation right now.

First is Bullfighter Jacket by local (Brooklyn) act Miniature Tigers. The song is from their newest LP F O R T R E S S, but the Daytrotter Session they did earlier this month yielded a far better cut of the originally over-produced track. A cute love song like this the deserves simple, organic production that DT provides.
Get their whole session on Daytrotter.

The second is a great track by Toronto kids First Rate People. They just did a five date run with my friends Born Ruffians, and they really stole the show (well, to an extent!) with their multi-vocal, mildly electronic jams.
The track I've got picked out is Gentleman's Club, a collab with Luke of said Ruffian band. It's catchy, super danceable and essentially all vocals with a bit of synth backing. All around a great little track to have.
Get it from free via Exclaim!

Stay Tuned.

I've got so much to write about: Caribou, Belle & Sebastian and all about another crazy Born Ruffians weekend. Lots and lots of good things coming your way soon.

PLINKY PLONKY

Can cold hands act like warm ones

Can new ones act like worn

Can old friends still be good ones

Can new ones still be born

Things dry out

but the water goes some place.

Video: Tim & Eric SNL Opening

Tim & Eric's response to SNL jipping their Tiny Hat bit is absolutely perfect.Tune in this Sunday on Adult Swim.

Last Night: Sundelles / Oberhofer / The Soft Pack

Alright, I'm a bit rusty from not writing all that much, but here goes.

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Believe it or not, I'd never actually been to Bowery Ballroom until last night. Turned out to be an amazingly beautiful venue - it's no surprise that people love it so much.

I came in during the middle of Sundelles' set. They're basically par for the course in terms of lo-fi garage, but with a bit of the beach rock everyone seems to be so into these days. I was one of the only people standing near the stage while they were playing, which probably prompted the huge high five I got from the lead singer at the end of the night.

Oberhofer

The second band on the bill was Oberhofer, a Brooklyn based four piece fronted by Brad Oberhofer, a nineteen year old from Tacoma. They were great - definitely my favorite act of the night. Super pop-rock and rad guitar playing. Pretty much all of their recorded music is available for free, so get on that, because I can barley describe it in words. See them live, too - they're playing around New York and supporting the Morning Benders all over the country and in Canada as well.

The Soft Pack

Finally around 11:30 or so, The Soft Pack came on to a pretty full house of New Jersey boys and thirty year old men - not a single hipster to be seen! They did their thing pretty well with hardly any banter and it wasn't too loud. It wasn't super memorable either, and they didn't play an encore. They did play Mexico (which is my favorite song), but it sounded a bit weird. That was disappointing. I moved out of the bro-mosh-dance pit in the front to stand with friends on the side and still had a great view of the stage, though.

All and all it was a pretty fun night, but it was really Oberhofer that made it for me.

(Sorry Layne. I hope you still love me.)