Pretty Lights aka Derek Vincent Smith will be coming back to Atlanta on November 14th @ The Masquerade. I missed him the last time he came through with Diesel Boy in July. I will not make the same mistake again. He is currently touring with a live drummer to get some exposure on his new free album. If you have never heard of Pretty Lights, I strongly encourage you to go to his website and download some music. Here is my favorite track off the new album...
No new music to blog tonight but I am here to share a killer internet radio station. This one was shown to me earlier this week. It's call 22 tracks. It is actually a pretty amazing idea. They bring in guests each week to create their favorite tracks in playlist form. All kinds of music to choose from Rock, Electro, Electronic, Dubstep, Drum & Bass, to even Modern Disco. It is unlike Pandora where you can listen to any track in the playlist at any time. Each track listing has links to the artist website/myspace. I have listened all week and haven't had to play the same radio station twice.
Now I never listen to a band only once. I have found that in the past, I have really missed out of some incredible talent because I was unsure after a single listen. A great example is The Editors. A friend loaned me their cd a few years ago. After hearing part of the album I returned it. A half a year later I ran into that same group that I dismissed so eagerly before and fell in love with their sound.
!The Longcut are becoming one of those bands for me. It seriously took me half the album to get used to Stuart Ogilvie's singing style. Each song confused me. Are these guys rock or are the electronic? Do I like this? The first listen was intriguing enough to go back for more. Now the album is in steady rotation. Each listen I am liking their unique post rock, punk, electronic sound more and more.
In this ever evolving music scene I am starting to break down my perceptions on *fill in the bland* music should sound like. These guys were introduced to me as being in the same company as The Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers. Based on that, I was expecting something totally different from what !The Longcut are. It was so different that I almost fell into my old trap. I am just glad that I played their album one more time because now I am hooked.
This band is one that I continue to play over and over again. I got the album two weeks ago and really didn't know what to think of it. Middle Eastern, meets folk, meets beautiful female vocals. It sounds strange but it works. This is a band that is way out of the realm of stuff I post up here but after going to their website I had to post them. I know that my blog is read by few (I watch the numbers on a weekly basis) but I do reach a few people.
Their latest post is so sad. She compares herself to a beached whale stuck at home. They have a new album and a band ready to go but the record company has no money for them to tour. That is a damn shame because Taken By Trees is one band that I would go see. Their music is so interesting and unique, it would be a hell of a live show. So here is my part in all this, anyone reading this that has an idea to help, contact them. Taken by Trees, I wish you all the luck and hope to see you in Atlanta soon.
Okay, so internet radio isn't the most convienent method of listening to music. But if you are at the house or at work and can't listen to any more of your own music, just tune to somafm. Hell, if you have a smart phone, stream their bomb beats while on the move. They got 18 different radio stations to choose from to meet your mood. From indie rock, to house, to glitch hip hop, to electro, and even Halloween themed music. Our friend in NC turned us onto this station. They are listener supported so if you like the tunes, chip in a few bucks to keep a bomb station alive.
First off, I want to give a big thanks to Tammy and Jorge for filming this concert for me. I had bought tickets months earlier and waited patiently to see two of my favorite bands... then my job sent me out of town the day of the concert. Without you two I would of missed the entire thing. Without Jorge there wouldn't be a post, so thank you for your great words...
By Jorge -
Sometimes you go to a show for a particular band and surprisingly fall in love with another. Sunday at Masquerade was one of those shows. A good sized crowd had gathered for a great evening of Scottish rock and there couldn’t have been a better night for music. I bought my ticket for the sole purpose of seeing We Were Promised Jetpacks who began the night with a bang. Lead singer Adam Thompson belted out all the lyrics that I knew so well and proved that this band deserved way more credit than the crowd gave. It seems that the majority of the people were there to see Frightened Rabbit as many were not as into them as I was; I couldn’t stop bouncing around during their whole set. I hope that more people will start listening to them now that they have seen what they can do. They played all the songs I wanted to hear and somehow impressed me even more than their album which is on regular rotation in my car stereo. I’m not even that into rock, (I prefer electronic music) but I can’t get enough of this band.
With that said, my new favorite band is Frighten Rabbit. Before the show, all I heard of them was a few songs off Liver! Lung! FR! and to be honest I wasn’t all that impressed. This may be due to the fact that I might have not been in the mood on that day and that it is a live album. As previously stated, I prefer electronic music and I kinda have to be in the mood for rock to enjoy it. Regardless, I obviously didn’t give this band enough credit. The crowd was ripe with anticipation when they came out and Frighten Rabbit was ready to deliver. They played with so much passion and it seemed like everyone knew every word to all their songs that I kinda felt left out that I didn’t. Every song was better than the last and by the time they left the stage I totally enamored. When Scott Hutchinson came back to the stage by himself to sing an acoustic version of Poke with just his guitar and his great Scottish accent I was totally sold and completely bummed that I didn’t bring enough cash to buy all their albums right then and there. What I did buy was their awesome t-shirt that I will proudly wear to the next show I attend.
I have to at least mention Twilight Sad as they were the third band that played between WWPJP and FR, but as the saying goes -if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all- so I won’t.
I personally feel that rock died in the late 90’s and I haven’t listened to the radio in the last 10 years. This is confirmed every time I do turn the radio on and all I hear is the same songs I remember listening to back when I was in high school. This night and these bands have taught me that rock music may not have died after all; it just packed up and moved to Scotland. I don’t blame it, how can anyone not love a Scottish accent?
