“While Supplies Last.” “Quantities Limited.” These phrases are really cool if you are one of the few who gets the exclusive, but if you are too late, they can be highly depressing.
Perhaps that was the case with Record Store Day’s Raveonette‘s exclusive featuring unreleased “The Chosen One” and “Planes Do Crash.”
Despair no more, you can now stream and download “The Chosen One” and if you want to get your hands on both, buy the full album at thinkindie.com and get both the songs.
The Hotel Café in Hollywood has become known for it’s intimate setting and drawing the greatest singer/songwriter acts in the industry. Butch Walker is no stranger to this kind of setting, nor to the Hotel Café. In the month of November, he’s inhabiting the stage every Wednesday night, playing his solo albums from start to finish.
From the time I re-located to Los Angeles, I had been incredibly eager to go to a show at this now notable venue, and with great luck, it happened to be Butch: an artist I’ve been known to obsess over, following him across state lines for shows. It had been a couple of years since I’d been to a show of his, and my excitement mixed with a bit of nerves, not knowing if I could expect the same dynamic experience I’d been privy to in the past.
I was anything but disappointed. On November 4, Butch Walker treated fans to a performance of his 2nd solo album, Letters. If you’re familiar with the record, you don’t really need to be informed of the setlist. Save for “#1 Summer Jam” and “Thank You Note” he played every track. And fans also needn’t be worried about anything that happens onstage. Walker still possesses all of the talent and humor he always has.
The highlight of the night may have been during “Uncomfortably Numb.” The crowd was delighted with an entirely new arrangement, featuring Butch playing the mandolin (a first for me to see, and I’ve seen him 14 times” and a segue into a cover of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” It was also exciting to see him take the one-man-band approach, consistently working a bass drum with one foot and switching between an array of guitars spread over the stage.
And what would a Butch Walker show be without the entire audience softly singing along? Proving that he’s completely aware of this fact, Walker turned the mic on the audience for “Best Thing You’ve Never Had,” letting the crowd sing the entire song while he played, like group-live-band-karaoke. The sing-along spectators also saved his ass at one point, when he couldn’t remember the words that started the ultimate apology song, “Promise.” As he vamped the opening chords, a pensive yet blank look washed over his face as you could see him struggle to remember the lyrics, until a fan audibly prompted, “Well, I fumbled…!” But that kind of slip-up comes off as irrelevant when grading the quality of a Butch Walker show. It’s only remembered as a funny moment and proves how devoted his followers are.
Next week, Butch Walker will play through The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Lets-Go-Out-Tonites. I will be there with bells on, trying not to become my old fan-girl self as he plays all the way from “Hot Girls in Good Moods” to “When Canyons Ruled the City.” And hopefully, you will be too.
L.A. five-piece Rooney is gearing up to release a new, limited-pressing EP, Wild One and will embark on a national headlining tour beginning November 27 at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre, in support. Fans can get a first listen to Wild One as the EP will be available exclusively at these upcoming shows before becoming available at iTunes in early 2010. Only 5,000 EPs will be pressed.
After signing with a major record label and working with some of the music industry’s most esteemed producers since their inception, the band is proud to showcase this collection of songs they crafted entirely themselves. Rooney’s latest offering features some of their best, most inventive and original material to date.
Rooney was signed to Geffen Records in 2002 after independently releasing a series of EPs and demos. They released their self-titled debut in 2003; shortly thereafter they saw significant success with single “I’m Shakin” and a cameo appearance on hit teen drama The O.C. The band has toured with a variety of superstar acts including Kings of Leon, Weezer and The Strokes.
Track Listing:
1. Suckceed
2. I Don’t Understand
3. Wild One
4. The Days Keep Going By
Tour Dates:
Nov. 27 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 28 – The Glass House / Pomona, CA
Nov. 29 – Slim’s / San Francisco, CA
Nov. 30 – WOW Hall / Eugene, OR
Dec. 1 – Hawthorne Theatre / Portland, OR
Dec. 2 – El Corazon / Seattle, WA
Dec. 4 – In the Venue-Club Sound / Salt Lake City, UT
Dec. 5 – Bluebird Theatre / Denver, CO
Dec. 7 – Station 4 / St. Paul, MN
Dec. 8 – House of Blues / Chicago, IL
Dec. 9 – Majestic Theatre / Detroit, MI
Dec. 10 – Beachland Ballroom / Cleveland, OH
Dec. 11 – Webster Hall / New York, NY
Dec. 12 – Club Stage / Baltimore, MD
Dec. 13 – Middle East Underground / Cambridge, MA
Dec. 14 – The Note / West Chester, PA
Dec. 16 – The Loft / Atlanta, GA
Dec. 17 – Tipitina’s Uptown / New Orleans, LA
Dec. 18 – Meridian / Houston, TX
Dec. 19 – Emo’s / Austin, TX
Dec. 20 – Granada Theatre / Dallas, TX
Dec. 22 – Club Congress / Tucson, AZ
Opening for the Walkmen at University of Pennsylvania’s Irvine Auditorium in Philadelphia tonight was The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. They put on an endearing and energetic indie pop set, winning over the entire crowd. They performed a new song called “Twins,” which you can watch above.
Touring as a band on the road can be a difficult task. Especially when it comes to artists whose minds are constantly on the go, creating new melodies, beats and lyrics like Paper Route. Taking the time in the van to enjoy other artist’s music has inspired them to cover Kid Cudi‘s “Day N Nite” as well as offer a remix contest for their fans.
From now until November 15th you too can try your hand at the art of remixing with Paper Route’s track “Gutter.” The best mix (chosen by the band) will receive placement on Paper Route’s Myspace Homepage as AND website as well as an autographed poster from the band. So dust off those headphones, whip out those tracks you love so much and get inspired by listening to JT, Chad, Andy and Gavin as they blast out “Day N Nite” the Nashville way.
Bars, biceps and one epic beard. These are the things you have to look forward to in Manchester Orchestra‘s new video for “Shake It Out,” which just premiered on MySpace.
While listening to Miniature Tigers‘ Tell It To the Volcano, the two adjectives that seemed to stand out the most in my observations were awkward and endearing. Ironically, the latter adjective was used to describe their debut EPs, Black and White Magic by music magazine Death +Taxes. I wish not to sound repetitive, but I don’t honestly think there is a better way to illustrate this band verbally.
They’re cute, quirky, and comical (musically, that is…I’ve never met them personally to be capable of assuming so), and all of the typical adjectives associated with their roots. Two years prior to the release of their aforementioned dual disc EP, Rolling Stone gave them a nod on their list of the “25 Hottest Bands On MySpace.” Not to classify them as a “MySpace band” or anything to that extreme, but let’s be straight; MySpace has helped a lot of bands make it big and many of them sound stylistically similar to Miniature Tigers. Examples include Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, and Plain White Ts….you get the picture. It’s not that they are essentially the same, they just noticeably came from a similar mold. It’s not just the catchy indie-pop tunes, it’s the “awkwardly endearing” quality.
Their lyrics are heavily sardonic (similar to the aforementioned Say Anything), laden with extraneous metaphors, and over dramatized exaggerations. Their instrumentation, however was very difficult to throw myself into. Maybe it’s their somewhat mellow nature; whimsical and slightly redundant, punctuated by often strange noises (very Hellogoodbye-esque, except Hellogoodbye is a bit more up tempo and diverse), but they just didn’t personally get me going. If you happen to dig the typical “MySpace indie” sound, then I would definitely recommend this album to you. The band has been recognized by various publications, including SPIN magazine’s “9 Hottest New Bands Playing CMJ 2008″ and has toured with the likes of Ben Folds and Popwreckoning favorite Kevin Devine, as well as substituting their own lead guitarist with Phantom Planet’s Darren Robinson in the earlier part of this year.
The band is currently touring to promote the album.
Track listing:
01. Cannibal Queen
02. Like Or Like Like
03. Dino Damage
04. Tell It To The Volcano
05. Hot Venom
06. Tchaikovsky & Solitude
07. The Wolf
08. Giraffe
09. Annie Oakley
10. Haunted Pyramid
11. Last Night’s Fake Blood
English synthpop duo La Rouxfeaturing the vocals of Londoner Elly Jackson have announced a North American tour for 2010 to begin January 31 in Boston. Catch the act responsible for “Quicksand,” “In For the Kill” and “Bulletproof” in a venue near you.
Tour dates
Jan 31 – Paradise / Boston (rescheduled from cancelled October date)
Feb 02 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago (rescheduled from cancelled October date)
Feb 03 – Imperial Du Quebec / Quebec City
Feb 05 - Metropolis / Montreal
Feb 06 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa
Feb 09 – Voyeur / Philadelphia
Feb 10 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC
Feb 11 – Webster Hall / New York City
“I’m Not Your Toy”, La Roux’s latest single, was released on September 28 in the UK on Polydor Records. Check out the promo video below.
Who doesn’t love a good mash up? In this one, Priscilla Renea does an acoustic rendition of Chris Brown‘s “I Can Transform Ya” and Owl City‘s “Fireflies.”
It sounds pretty different when you take all the electronic stuff out of those tunes, but that’s what makes her cover so awesome.
She’s currently featured on MTV’s Discover and Download.
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
