Beirut - East Harlem
This song just started making its way around and has blown up - for good reason. It’s quite a tune and I’m totally hooked. The onslaught of songs demanding to be played all summer has officially begun. My guess: it will take less than one complete listen for you to enjoy this song. And for a great value add, Google the lyrics if you can’t quite make them out.
Another rose wilts in East Harlem…
Fort Lean - High Definition
Sometimes an indie rock band can just sound a little bit like a thousand other indie rock bands and that’s OK. I like this tune a lot. It lulls you for a bit with the nice jingly guitars and soft vocals and then it gets a little more serious, but even then keeps it’s pop sensibilities close by. And then at the very end, hey, let’s yell a little bit - why not?
Hat tip to Bitzl R, the newest tumblr blog providing me with audio entertainment.
Also, these guys are playing Glasslands on Saturday…
The Mountain Goats - Beautiful Gas Mask
The new album, All Eternals Deck, I think snuck by a lot of people. For me it’s hard to get into a band that has a zillion albums, and it’s sometimes hard to be into their latest when a new one comes out. Such is the case with The Mountain Goats. The discography is really long. I’m really enjoying this album though. It’s basically good from start to finish. This song is a pretty good example of what to expect. The songs are relatively simple and straightforward but have a level of complexity in the production that keeps them interesting.
(Quick side note: There are no masterpieces like this one on All Eternals Deck. I’ve been re-listening to that song quite a bit lately. The delivery and content of the line “There will be feasting, and dancing, in Jerusalem next year” makes it one of my favorite moments in a song, period. I bothered a good friend who knows of such things about what this line might be referring to, and of course it makes it even better. ”Next year in Jerusalem” is an important phrase in Judaism referring to (I will probably butcher this) the idea that each person strives for and looks forward to more freedom and happiness for themselves and others in the future. So yeah; I like that.)
The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Second track that’s gotten out from the upcoming LP. I can’t get enough of this song at the moment. It seems that this album will be something of a departure from Hospice, but that album is such a delicate disaster that it probably had to be. I’m hoping it’s awesome. ”Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” is probably my favorite song title of 2011.
Chad VanGaalen - Sara
Love this chorus. So infectious. I think I have the most predictable music taste on the planet. Oh, a slow-ish tempo song with plain guitars and catchy vocal harmonies…sign me up! I’m embarrassed, really.
As has become common, first heard this tune over at yvynl.
J Mascis - Listen to Me
Been listening to this album for a week or two now, after hearing about it at Fred’s blog (as usual). The whole album is really good, and similar to this. After several listens, this is the song that popped into my head out of nowhere this morning.
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
There are a ton of remixes and covers of this song, including a pretty cool cover by John Legend, but I don’t know; the original is a close-to-perfect pop masterpiece. Calling it pop feels like a bit of a disservice…oh well. This song is awesome.
Foreign Hands - Waves
Six minutes long and basically two songs in one. The first song is jangly, catchy pop-rock and the second one is an aggressive guitar orgy. Really excited about this band. You can hear two other songs on their SoundCloud page that are also very good.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
The Pains played Letterman yesterday and Keith and I were lucky enough to attend the taping. It was pretty awesome seeing a bunch of obviously-nice people have something so awesome and enormous happen to them. They were by turns nervous and enthusiastic and their faces said it all at the end of the performance when Dave walked up.
They played this track. Video of the performance on YouTube.
DeVotchKa - Exhaustible
I just admitted this fact to myself: this album, 100 Lovers, is currently my favorite of 2011. Previously.
I live in New York. My interests are varied.
