The Tape

Black Keys singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach is releasing his solo debut on February 10th, courtesy of Nonesuch Records. Combining bluegrass, country ballads, psychedelic rock, and old school blues,
Auerbach has created an album based solely around “everything he loves.” The album is entitled “Keep It Hid” and features a ‘side a’ and a ‘side b’. I’m eagerly anticipating this album more and more as some of the mp3′s start to leak. As soon as the first single is officially released, we’ll bring it to you, but for now you can stream “My Last Mistake” below.

Stream “My Last Mistake” here.

Not only is this a really tight video for the CSS remix of Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork,” but it’s also a hella tight promotion for Kickers, a French shoe store. The stop-motion was done by Lovebite Animation. Enjoy.

A couple of nights ago I made the excursion to the Key Club to see DMV native Wale. This was my first time at the Key Club and I was impressed by the venue (besides the lack of photo pit).

First to go on were Inglewood natives, U-N-I. I really didn’t know much about this rap duo, before I headed over to their Myspace and found out that they were a fairly large duo. You’re pretty big in my book if you can get Mr. Talib Kweli to rap on one of your tracks. I kind of viewed U-N-I as a less successful version of the Cool Kids, but with more complex beats. They have the look and the sound down, they just need to get some publicity; maybe this show will put them over the top. No one was very interested in their set, until they brought Evidence from Dilated Peoples out onto the stage. That took their show to a new level, and even helped get one of the members to accomplish his desire of stage diving.

Next to step onto the stage was Blu, accompanied by his tremendously talented DJ, Exile. There has been some hype surrounding Blu, ever since he was featured in XXL magazines 9 artists to watch in 2009, a group that included Wale, Kid Cudi, and Asher Roth. Blu put on a solid show. Their was nothing flashy about it. He played his songs and then left, plain and simple. Enjoy a Blu track below.

Blu- ‘Til We Die

After a stupidly long wait, Wale, along with a full band (and no DJ) took the stage. Wale came out to the famous “California Love” which got the whole place excited. Wale played a few songs from his Mixtape About Nothing, along with debuting a few songs. He brought out some pretty famous rappers, including Warren G, undergroud Swedish rapper Adam Tensta, and MTV Pimp My Ride hero, Xzibit. Wale ended the show with “Nike Boots” which was absolutely fantastic. He also debuted a couple of new tracks, both of which sounded very good. Overall, the show was beyond my expectations, as Wale put on quite a show. He’ll gain more stage presence as he starts to tour more often, but he still put on a hell of a show. You can watch a couple of videos I took below, along with a couple of mp3′s. Enjoy!

Wale- Nike Boots

Wale- The Feature Heavy Song (Feat. Bun B, Pusha T, and Tre From UCB)

Stay tuned for changes, updates, additions and more.

One of the most difficult things in music is to write and record a song that suceeds. In 2006, an obscure Swedish band released their third album, and on it was a little song, and on that little song was a little whistle, and a monster was born. “Young Folks” broke the indie/mainstream barrier, given awards from a meager 3/5 stars from Pitchfork to #1 song of 2007 on the biggest music store in the world, iTunes, (and later #5 on Pitchfork’s top tracks of 2006.) Radio stations started to play it, kids across the world bought it, iPods were filled, ringtones pressed, and countless myspaces were made background visuals to the phenomenon. I heard it in a movie theater, before Rihanna and after Amy Winehouse.

Following that is impossible, and our Swedish boys knew this, so they made a ridiculously smart move; they released Seaside Rock, an instrumental album inspired by their childhoods. It seperates them from Writer’s Block, and shows that they’re just as clever in the office as in the studio. Now it’s time to bring the goods back, and they’re doing it right. The lyrics of their latest hit-to-be “Lay It Down” seem to be built around making it impossible to repeat the success of “Young Folks” with plentiful “fuck’s” and “piss me off,” references to drinking, inappropriate behavior of drunk men towards women, and a vague statement regarding “getting it up.” They’re proving with Seaside Rock and already on their upcoming Living Thing that they’re making music for themselves, and that’s the way they will do their not neccissarily most successful, but best work.

Peter Bjorn and John – Lay It Down

Franz Ferdinand are back. After a near slightly over 3 years of hiatus, the band released their 3rd album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand yesterday. Following 2004′s self titled debut and 2005′s You Could Have It So Much Better, Tonight is a move away from the jagged guitars and post punk melodies that made their sound so popular. In a Rolling Stone interview from winter 2007, frontman Alex Kapranos stated that the record is “more of a dance record than a rock record.” (Read the full interview here.) The album opens with single “Ulysses.” The song features what may be Franz Ferdinand’s first prominent synthline ever. That synth builds into a glorious chorus reminiscent of their older music, but the dancy feel Kapranos promised is certainly intact and regocnizeable. The album rolls through “Turn It On,” “No You Girls” and “Send Him Away,” all of which have the same feel as tracks that could be found on their first and second albums. They’re very solid songs, but nothing standout. “What She Came For” begins what is really the second half of the record. The last six songs start with four on the dancier side, and then two ballads. “What She Came For” is a more dance punk song, think the Rapture or even a more guitar driven LCD Soundsystem. “Lucid Dreams” begins with the classic Franz sound, but breaks down into so much more. The seven minute song finds itself traveling from rock to a bonafide electro song by the 5 minute mark. The final two songs, the ballads, are not very impressive. They’ve never done this type of song so well, (see “Eleanor Put Your Boots Back On” from You Could Have It So Much Better.) On the whole, Tonight is a very impressive return after a long period of time off. It’s everything fans of the previous two albums could’ve hoped for, and a little bit more that may be able to attract a larger, more dance-oriented fan base.

Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses

Franz Ferdinand – What She Came For

EDIT: For all of our readers in LA who are fans of Franz Ferdinand and of Amoeba Records (best record store ever) but can’t make it down there tonight, Amoeba is providing a webcast of the event on their site. So check it out at 7pm.

Last week, many a music fan (myself included) spent way too much time trolling the internet for any news pertaining to the the imminent Coachella lineup reveal. Indeed, it seems that this nerve raking excitement has totally consumed my life. It is due to this overwhelming sense of anticipation that I completely overlooked the strange predicament in which throwbacknoiserock band, the Black Lips, recently landed themselves in. As the story goes, the band had taken their infamously raucous antics to India when certain events caused them to flee the country. Rumor had it that the group was being pursued by Indian law enforcement for indecent exposure during a performance. However, such rumors proved to be as misguided as 99 percent of the information in the rumors/gossip/wishlist category of the Coachella message board. (now my homepage) The band later explained that their Indian exodus was took place in order to avoid a particularly “shady” and unscrupulous promoter. Quite coincidentally, the band just released the second single from their forthcoming album, 200 Million Thousand, entitled “Short Fuse”. The track is very uncharacteristic of the bands previous work as it is a foray into a quiet and melodic style. Whether this is a one time stylistic experiment, or whether this is the direction in which the Black Lips intend to take their songwriting, still remains to be seen. Regardless, this unlikely turn of events is a pretty convenient publicity stunt. According to Pitchfork, the band is now in Germany with retrorock contemporary, King Khan, from whom we expect a few releases in the coming months. Here’s the track…

Black Lips-Short Fuse

Thing One is a band out of New Jersey who have just released an EP entitled “You’ll Be Fine”. The music contained is youthful, energetic, sharp, poppy, and modern yet retro. Drawing influence from art rock/post punk acts such as Gang Of Four and The Rapture, as well as utilizing a synthier sound, Thing One’s carefully crafted disco rock is not too unfamiliar but oh so welcome. Songs like The Thief, Move It, and Through The Winter show a fun, danceable sound that also makes use of harmonies to deliver songs with depth and maturity as well as catchiness and excitement. If you’ve been missing out on some high quality dance rock to party to, look no further.

Thing One – The Thief

Thing One – Through The Winter

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears are a fantastic blues/soul band out of Austin, Texas. It seems (as usual), that Austin is currently overflowing with all kinds of musical talent, and this band is no exception. Led by Black Joe Lewis, the band mixes his soulful, James Brown reminiscing lyrics, with huge, big band esque instrumentation. Their self titled EP was released today, and features the single “Bitch, I Love You.” Sometimes it’s hard to express love for someone, but despite the title’s aggressive, direct message, it is obvious that Joe Lewis in fact, does loves his bitch. At the very least, I would feel loved (and would happily be called a bitch) if I had a song written about me that was this good. You can grab either a digital or a vinyl copy of the EP, right here. You can also get a full Daytrotter session from the band, here.

One thing I love about this band is their list of influences. There are the common influences for a soul band; James Brown, Lightnin’ Hopkins, etc. On the other hand, there is one odd influence of his in particular that just doesn’t fit in with the rest. That is N.W.A. legend, Eazy-E. I think it’s awesome that Black Joe Lewis incorporates hardcore gangster rap into his soulful tunes. Maybe that’s why he decided to name the single “Bitch, I Love You”, as opposed to something more conservative. Anyways, here’s what Black Joe Lewis has to say about his songwriting style.

“It’s weird…people say I come up with all these different kinds of songs, and I guess that’s true, but they all just come out naturally,” says Lewis, who cites James Brown and Lightnin’ Hopkins as two of his bigger influences. “If I sit down and try to write a song, it just sounds contrived. All the songs on this record, I just made up as I went along. I couldn’t do a lot of ‘em again if I didn’t have ‘em on tape.”

Make sure to pick up the EP, and look out for their latest album, due in March.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears- Bitch, I Love You

Hailing from Oregon, Blue Horns have been big in the Portland scene for a while, playing shows at the Holocene, Backspace, and the Towne Lounge. Blue Horns is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Brian Park, coming together in 2007 with other members Colin Howard (guitar, vocals), Brian Kramer (drums, vocals), and Andrew Stern (bass). Their consistent live performances in Portland have finally translated into a final project, their full length self-titled debut. They have that yelpy vocal style (think Born Ruffians, Wolf Parade) that’s been a consistent of element of Pitchfork-acclaimed music (often Canadian), but also jagged guitars in the likes of Rumspringa or the Raconteurs. The opening track, “Shotgun Wedding” exemplifies their style: cutup call and response guitar lines, up and down vocals, and even a bit of Arctic Monkey-like swagger. Well worth the listen.

Blue Horns – Shotgun Wedding

Blue Horns – Let’s Go Hunting