If you’re not one of the lucky ones going to Coachella, fear not, for Record Store Day 2012 is here. (Now that I think about it, even if you will be in the desert this weekend there’ll be a tent there, too. We just can’t win...)  If you aren’t familiar with Record Store Day, it’s an annual event held by independently run records stores around the United States.  Basically, a bunch of super cool record stores join forces to help promote their businesses and create awareness of independently owned and operated record stores (as opposed to major commercial outlets, i.e. Best Buy, iTunes, Target) by recruiting artists to record and release exclusive Record Store Day albums and hosting live performances.

With that in mind, here are my top 5 picks (in no particular order) by new bands for Record Store Day releases:

1. Fun.

The Lowdown:

Fun’s first release since their most recent album, Some Nights. This album has 3 tracks from Some Nights—“We Are Young,” “Carry On,” and “Why Am I the One”—but acoustic versions of all three.  You can watch the acoustic versions on YouTube,  but, it’s hard to compare that to hearing an un-electronically-altered Nate on smoky vinyl.  Also, the physical record is shaped like a gear, which is awesome.

DETAILS
Title: The Ghost That You Are To Me
Format: 10" LP
Label: Atlantic
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:

Format: 10" GEAR-SHAPED gold picture disc

Tracks:
1) We Are Young with Janelle Monae (Acoustic)
2) Carry On (Acoustic)
3) Why Am I The One (Acoustic)

2. Foster The People

The Lowdown:

Personally, since last year’s Torches, I can’t get enough of Foster the People, so naturally I am super stoked for two new tracks, “Broken Jaw” and “Ruby,” to find their place beneath the needle of my record player.

DETAILS
Title: Broken Jaw / Ruby
Format: 7" 45
Label: Columbia
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Tracks:
1) Broken Jaw
2) Ruby

3. Now Now/The Lonely Forest

The Lowdown:

Now, Now (whose new album, Threads, is due out this spring) and The Lonely Forest, the first two acts signed to Chris Walla’s (of Death Cab for Cutie fame) indie label Trans- Records, are releasing a split 7”.  The two tracks featured—“Shifting” (Now, Now) and “Woe Is Me” (The Lonely Forest)—were hand-picked by Walla himself.  On a side note, Now, Now will be touring with Fun. in May and June and The Lonely Forest with Portugal. the Man in April and May.  The moral of this story is I would highly recommend this 7”.

Now, Now: Shifting by Trans Records

The Lonely Forest - Arrows (90 sec snippets) by Atlantic Records

DETAILS
Title: N/A
Format: 7" 45
Label: Trans- Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Tracks:
1) Shifting (Now, Now)
2) Woe Is Me (The Lonely Forest)

4. Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm

The Lowdown:

Olafur Arnalds is an Icelandic neoclassical composer (who recently had a track (below) on The Hunger Games Soundtrack).  Nils Frahm is a new age, Berlin-based composer.  Both are a fantastic break from the comparatively lo-fi music that saturates the indie scene.  Your parents would be proud.   Now they’ve collaborated along with cellist Anne Müller to release Stare, a three-track EP recorded for Record Store Day exclusive release.   The EP includes a card signed by both artists (as long as stock lasts) plus a digital bonus remix track.  Sign me up.

DETAILS
Title: Stare
Format: 10”
Label: Erased Tapes
Release Type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Tracks:
1) a1
2) a2
3) b1

5. Nick Waterhouse/Allah Las

The Lowdown:

Vintage SoCal R&B crooner Nick Waterhouse and Retro pop outfit The Allah Las both record the song “Don’t You Forget It” and put it on an 8” record (which Brooklyn Vegan’s Bill Pearis hilariously describes as “the vinyl equivalent of ‘this one goes to 11.’”).  There’s also a backstory here.  According to label Innovative Leisure:

“As Nick Waterhouse explains it, ‘I had a mixtape of a couple of songs that Pedrum (of the Allah-Las) had handed to me. He had a song on there called ‘Don't You Forget It’ and I used the lyrics from his song in the music bed of a song that I was composing.’ What came out was the single ‘Don't You Forget It’ that Waterhouse recorded for his upcoming LP Time's All Gone…”

DETAILS:
Title: N/A
Format: 8” Split
Label: Innovative Leisure
Release Type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Tracks:
1) Don't You Forget It (Nick Waterhouse)
2) Don't You Forget It (The Allah Las)

After a sold-out US tour late last year, The Kooks are thrilled to announce their return to the U.S. in 2012 for a February/March headlining tour. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 20th. This will be succeeded by dates as special guests of Foster The People, of which both Central Park NYC shows have sold out five months in advance.

The Kooks Tour Dates:

2/28	Las Vegas NV	House of Blues - BUY TICKETS HERE *
2/29	San Diego CA	House of Blues - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/1	Pomona CA	Fox Theatre - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/3	Vail CO	SnowBall Music Festival - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/5	Indianapolis IN	The Vogue - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/6	Pittsburgh PA	Mr Smalls Theatre - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/7	New York NY	Terminal 5 - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/9	New Haven CT	Toad's Place - BUY TICKETS HERE *
3/10	Providence RI	Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel - BUY TICKETS HERE *
5/29	New York, NY	Rumsey Playfield/Central Park - SOLD OUT *
5/30	New York, NY	Rumsey Playfield/Central Park - SOLD OUT *
6/1	Columbus, OH	LC Pavilion - BUY TICKETS HERE *
6/4	Grand Prarie, TX	Verizon Theatre - BUY TICKETS HERE *
6/6	Austin, TX	The Backyard - BUY TICKETS HERE *
6/7	Atlanta, GA	Verizon Wireless (Pavilion) - BUY TICKETS HERE *
6/10	Columbia, MD	Merriweather Post Pavilion - BUY TICKETS HERE *

*as special guests of Foster The People

http://www.thekooks.com
http://twitter.com/thekooksmusic
http://www.facebook.com/thekooksofficial

Just when you thought the festival season was over in the northern hemisphere along comes the 96X Winter Meltdown. Okay, you might not want to camp out, but it's still 9 bands and two stages and the line up includes some of our favorite new bands. Not bad for $45.00 - Day Of. (Young The Giant shown above). Here's the information: 96X Winter Meltdown Norfolk, Virginia, USA 12/1/2011 Description 9 bands two stages Performers Bush, Cake, Taking Back Sunday, Cage The Elephant, Foster The People, Young The Giant, Naked and Famous, GroupLove, Sleeper Agent Venue Ted Constant Convocation Center Times 5:00 pm - 11:30 pm Admission & Parking 39.96 in advance 45.00 day of Website http://www.96x.fm

This past weekend, I made the journey up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park. Here is my story.

FRIDAY

12:35 p.m.

Looking for parking in the Outer Richmond, a foggy neighborhood with limited spaces. K-Flay is on in 10 minutes. Fuck. Is that a parking spot? Nope. Keep driving, keep driving… what about that? Is that parking? Nope.

1:23 p.m.

At long last, I get into the park and already I’m annoyed: two 14-year-old neo-hippies knock into me on their way to Collie Buddz. Is this going to be to what the Outside Lands crowd is like? Uh oh.

As I anticipated, the Bay Area rapper is killing it – at least that was apparent from the two songs I’m able to catch. The crowd is decently packed for it being 1 p.m. on a Friday. Apparently no one works anymore, except me of course. The buzz from this set extends to other side of the park to the press area, where every artist who caught her says how impressed they were with her.

3:35 p.m.

Finally wander to the Sutro stage where Foster the People is about to start. I take two steps away from a group of girls who I can only assume will be dance-y and flail-hit me with their gangly arms.

The charismatic Mark Foster is energetic and gets the crowd jumping, dancing and clapping along to his energetic music. Bad news, they’re doing it right in my face. “Call It What You Want” is particularly popular and gets a nice reaction.

 

Once “Pumped Up Kicks” jams, the crowd goes ballistic, singing every word to the band’s signature tune. As soon as it’s is over, however, nearly half the crowd leaves to catch MGMT onstage, who’s about to start on the main stage. But that’s a debacle for another piece.

The hardcore fans who stick around are rewarded with a neat, long-winded story from Foster about Rivers Cuomo and they launch into an interesting cover of “Say It Ain’t So.” A collective swoon goes through the crowd of girls. Set was a success and the band is on the fast track to stardom.

4:35 p.m.

I walk through the crowd during the MGMT set on my way for more beer.

6:30 p.m.

Though I hear rumors that Dave Chappelle is here, the thought of hanging out with Phish fans leads me to exits.

 

SATURDAY

??? – 1:45 p.m.

Parking. Is. A. Nightmare.

1:55 p.m.

The Stone Foxes is a pretty good band and decent early-afternoon listening, but none of their songs stood out much for me. The local boys’ set has a terrific turnout and they are coming into their own. They look super comfortable on stage and there is a lot crowd interaction. Nice guys too, you’ll read the interview and agree with me.

I cruise by the Ximena Sariñana set and she is awesome. She is a reserved performer, but has an interesting voice and performs well. Her band really enhances her sound and as we said last week about her album, the sky is the limit for the Mexico City-native. A terrific mid-afternoon set with a decent number of fans packing the small stage area, especially for a Saturday.

 

3:15 p.m.

OK GO is on the main stage and they have a pretty cool opening. Not sure what else I expected from the band that created an epic Goldberg Machine. After the opening, I zoned out and headed to see Christina Perri.

Once I get to the Perri show and  all I see are girls, girls and more girls (not in the Motley Crue sense either). This should be pick-up central – it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. She sounds incredible and has a lot of talent. Probably the most pleasant surprise of the day, I didn’t realize that Perri was so multi-dimensional and it seems like neither did the people who were watching her. She knew how to work the crowd, led them in a sing-along version of “Jar of Hearts,” which was well received and appreciated. Overall a solid set.

 

STRFKR is cool, but don’t move around a lot. Fun dudes, great show and justifies my review on the album. Their sound is on point and the crowd seems to dig, which is the consensus amongst us scribe folks.

 

5:00 p.m.

The Arctic Monkeys are better than I thought – but still overrated. My friend is way more interested in seeing them than I am. They’re just… okay.

 

6:15 p.m.

The Black Keys are killing it. Enough said.

 

SUNDAY

Noon

I find parking in a record amount of time: 20 minutes. Today is already awesome.

Charles Bradley was amazing; he didn’t get the “Screaming Eagle of Soul” nickname for nothing. Bradley has a very James Brown-esque vibe to him and the crowd is digging it. You just feel happy that he’s finally finding success at this age and at this point in his budding career. His cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” is outstanding and seems very poignant.

 

2 p.m.

Must head over to check out the incomparable Grouplove. The group is jumping and very energetic: the opposite of what’s going on from the main stage with Mavis Staples. It’s a good contrast. They are playing a ton of songs that everyone knows either by radio, the Internet or whatever. I’m jumping around on the inside. It’s really nice to see our local L.A. act hitting the big time now. All of their tunes sound terrific and at the end of the set, they unleashed about five balloons, though that backfired when the wind and crowd pushed them back on-stage and had band members ducking out of the way. Overall a great set and it’s awesome to see them really come into their own

 

3:05 p.m.

!!! is on and rocking the stage… and some serious short shorts. The lead singer has some sweet dance moves though. The crowd is groovin’ and dancin’ to the Sacramento-natives up-tempo indie-dance-pop.

 

5:24 p.m.

Little Dragon have an interest keyboard-based sound and singer Yukimi Nagano is much better live than on the record, since you can’t account for her live energy, which in this case hopping around the stage, like Hannah from Grouplove. Their music is perfect for headphones, but surprisingly translated into a good, live sound.

 

For some reason, I kept thinking of Asobi Seksu the whole time, but that could just be the whole Asian-Girl-Lead-Singer-White-Guy-Band thing.

8 p.m.

Arcade Fire time also known as time-to-wind-down. Hope everyone enjoyed this quick hitting wrap up of the Outside Lands Music and Arts festival in San Francisco.

All Photos by Dianne de Guzman

Day 1 Fun

The perks of going to a music fest is obviously getting to see and experience all different kinds of music at one place.  Yesterday, was a great day to do just that at the opening day of Lollapalooza held in Chicago’s Grant Park.  My day kicked off checking out The Vaccines, an indie rock band from London, who are growing greatly in popularity, they definitely played to the crowd and won over many new listeners.

The Vaccines

The Naked and Famous played right across the field from where The Vaccines had graced us with their presence and the crowd warmly welcomed them as they kicked off a mini dance party.

The Naked and Famous

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals were next on my list purely for the reason they never disappoint.  Grace herself always looks and sounds flawless, while the band tares it up every time.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Next, was my surprise of the day, Foster the People, while I had heard great things, I can say the first time I listened their music was yesterday, and I am now ashamed to say that. I have been missing out. Drawing the biggest crowd they have ever played in front of and the largest of the day so far in my opinion, they played like there was no place else they’d rather be then on that stage. The crowd, myself included, appreciated and enjoyed them so much that they were easily my favorite new act of the day.

Foster The People

Cults are a band I had the privilege of shooting a couple months back down at SXSW and since that time I feel they have blown up already. They are a group that I can only see going up and up.

Cults

(Editors Note: We know that the bands from this point forward aren't "new", but they're doing new things and they're vibrant and they were part of a great day 1. So, how could we not talk about them?)

In standard music festival lineup the bigger more established bands play later in the evening hoping to draw the bigger crowds. While the remaining bands of the evening are by no means “new” both Bright Eyes and Ok Go have recently come out with new work.  It adds a whole new element into the consideration of measuring success and growth of a band, the ability to continuously create music to draw fans, that shows growth and new ideas, but without straying far from the original concept of what was already decided to be the sound of the band.  However, both Bright Eyes, and Ok Go do just that and were able to draw the fans to their respective sets last night.

Bright Eyes

Ok Go

The last band on my list was Muse.  An established band that really just knows how to put on a great show.

Muse

Overall day 1 of Lolla was a great success in my book, new bands, check, awesome sets by familiar bands, check, finishing the day only slightly bruised and battered from the photo pit, check. Keep checking the website for new coverage of the rest of Lollapalooza weekend.

All photos (c) Daniela Montelongo

 

 

Sometimes self-produced CDs and shameless self-promotion are two factors that, when used correctly, get you from 0-60 in the music world.  Then there are bands that choose the road less travelled, without the aid of GPS mind you, and end up at the top of the world with ease and grace.  This elusive tactic tends to work like a charm when used and abused correctly.  Case in point, Foster The People.

They aren’t exactly strangers on the L.A. music scene- in fact, they’ve been around for at least a year, nurturing a slowly growing underground buzz with the intentions of suddenly exploding on the music scene.

No stranger to the Echo (PS- you can catch them there tonight 1/19) they’ve been around town generating talk and all of a sudden out of nowhere this local LA band was heard on KROQ about a week ago (I’m not talking “local’s only” Sunday status ladies & gents, they were all up on the airwaves mid-day) and after carefully scanning the official Coachella lineup it seems the band formerly known as under the radar has officially exploded onto the music scene.

There was a murder last night at the Viper Room- and it wasn’t tragic.  No one was a victim of senseless violence- it was the much needed, highly anticipated killing of summer care of L.A.’s own Fight From Above.  Not that L.A. Kids need yet ANOTHER reason to celebrate, but FFA (our September Artist In Residence!) granted everyone’s wishes with a little rain dance- and song that seems to have not only pleased inhabitants of the City of Angels, but the weather gods as well- who’ve taken refuge on us with a little much needed hydration circa the cumulous cloud collection populating our So Cal skies.

I’ve been a frequent attendee of shows as of late, and as expected, the energy at FFA was pretty awesome, and one I haven’t seen the whole crowd get into in a good few weeks.  Maybe it was the opening song cover of “wipeout” that got the party started, but within minutes people were not only happily jam packed sardine style at the Sunset Strip venue- they were seeking higher elevation in which to have their socks rocked off- namely climbing on booths and dancing on said apparatus.

Last night the Spanish quartet arrived at Soho with a beat in their heads and more than a little pep in their step. Their upbeat indie-dance tunes head everyone on the dance floor cutting loose, including themselves (see keyboardist Unai Lazcano rocking out in the video below). Everyone had a lot to be excited about. Besides the fact that Club Mercy was bringing Delorean to make their first appearance ever in Santa Barbara, the show also featured two great opening acts that it would behoove us to keep an eye on for some good music in the future. Local indie-dance act Gardens and Villa played a dance worthy set for an impressive first appearance at Soho, followed by the Los Angeles based indie rockers Foster the People. The second opener had some very melodic tunes and catchy whistling grooves, especially in their track “Pumped up Kicks.”