breakafootapalooza

lollapalooza, bryan--that's his hand--loves you!

instead of slamming any musicians--well, i might do that, but just lady gaga--i figured i would share songs from the shows that i liked best.

but first: lady gaga is a nut job. i opted to see her instead of the strokes (regret 1) but only because i will see the strokes at acl, and figured i would never ever pay to see her live again. i'll admit it, she was entertaining. she talks too damned much, though. and frankly, i don't particularly like her voice. and when she screams it's scary. the set and costumes were wild and fun to take in, but after awhile i felt like i was at a musical and let's be honest, i hate musicals. and now, on to what i don't hate...

(for my gypsy loving friend, jacqui.) gogol bordello and his gypsy punk band are awesome! he got us dancing even in the direct heat of midday. gogol brings the party and i thought it was cool how many countries are represented in his band. check his energy here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128111544

one of my favorite shows was the fuck buttons. really?!, just two guys?

"flight of the feathered serpent"

the walkmen were the first band we saw during our lolla weekend, and they were a nice transition in.

"canadian girl"

what i remember about cut copy is a colorful flashing light backdrop and a lot of bouncing.

"lights and music"

and, now, for the show i was most excited to see: the arcade fire. they did not disappoint! in fact, they impressed. i even noticed that a certain someone, who thinks their most impressive record was funeral, was beside himself with rocking. it's hard to describe how incredible they are live.

it's true, funeral is fantastic. "rebellion (lies)"

i had so much fun at lollapalooza, that my best friend broke her foot! some other noteworthies to see if they come your way: the black keys, the national, yeasayer, the dodos (we missed them, but we did hang out with them), devo (for real! oldies but goodies), raphael saadiq, and edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros (but only if you haven't seen them before, every show is the same).  other regrets: hot chip (conflicted with the black keys) and empire of the sun.

ticked

bummed the lcd sound system and hot chip tour is not coming to austin. i like the sound of that party. at least i can watch this video and crack up.

"i feel better" by hot chip

back to reality.

i'm baaaack. it's bittersweet. 

lollapalooza report in the works.

in the meantime, the knife.

music creating good vibes

chris and i took a water taxi to governor's island to see edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros at a venue called "the beach". heck, yeah. it was awesome! the show was magical. does alex ebert always wear that white jacket and scarf? he is iconic. however, i was a little perturbed when he said after three songs, "we're gonna take a little break." what the hell?! then after 30 minutes they returned to the stage and starting playing again without an explanation. not cool, guys, not cool.

"janglin" by edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

not sure if it was henry wolfe or aaron embry of we are each other i was hearing, but someone sounded exactly like the lead singer of fleet foxes. and i liked it. henry wolfe's folk music definitely has a sweet sound.

"someone else" by henry wolfe

shimmer like you do to me

sometimes you just need to plop down wherever you are and be lulled into relaxation by a song or two. since gregory alan isakov was introduced to me by one of his fellow coloradoans, he has made it on to every mellow mix i make. tonight i am tired. and gai is just what i need.

(warming me on a brisk night last november)

"stable song"

 

"all there is"

one tiny move is all i need

my brother has me obsessed with this song, and intrigued by arthur russell, a musician most recognized after his death from aids. after reading about him on wikipedia, i have respect for the intensity of and devotion to his work. it said: "[russell's] quest wasn't really to do a finished product but more to do with exploring his different ways of working musically".

i like the idea of cranking this one up, letting it pour out of the windows and fall onto our ears as we bbq. that might happen... now. 

"this is how we walk on the moon" by arthur russell

can you hear my heartbeat?

thump, thump, thump. i think of heartbeats when i listen to this one.

 "voicething" by goldfrapp

stumbled in the darkness

it's hard to decide if the highlight of the mates of state show was the tom waits' cover, or the pre-show hoopla. i walked in to "donny vomit" shoving a balloon animal sized balloon (or perhaps a blown up condom?!) down his throat. he swallowed. and then you could hear it pop inside of him. next up was comedian, nick thune. i thought for a minute this opening entertainment might rival knuckles, the eels' drummer, trying out his stand up at la zona rosa, which is to date, one of my favorite concert experiences! it was not quite knuckles and eels' caliber, but close enough. 

here they are at the piano in the driskill!
"my only offer" by mates of state

i truly enjoyed the rendition of "long way home," thanks in particular to how well the the husband and wife duo harmonize and the trumpet accompaniment.  but no one can trump the man himself.

"long way home" by tom waits

concert fail

last night i hated new york city. my iphone (or own stupidity) got me on the wrong train. when i realized my mistake, i wandered a subway station trying to figure out which way to go. and it is hot down there. eventually, i surrendered to a cab and when i got there i had already missed beach fossils (and i'll miss them in august in austin, too). drats! fortunately, i was able to catch small black. but then afterwards, a subway success dropped me near my brother's in a torrential downpour. and walking in the rain on these streets sucks. failure.

i became enamored with small black during sxsw when they backed washed out as ernest's band. 

i like the way artist wikipedia describes the sound, "bedroom synthpop that sounds fuzzy and woozily suggestive". exactly. here's one i like from that collaboration:

"you'll see (washed out remix)" by small black

i agree with the poet who was standing next to me and kept repeating this eloquent observation: "great beats." great video, here, too:

"despicable dogs" by small black

consider them all

did i ever tell you how much i love npr? loving the songs on "new music..." on 'all songs considered' today.

here's panda bear with a new one, "tomboy"

if you click on "more on npr.org," it'll take you to the article, and you can listen to some others. try the bjork/dirty projectors song (a chance to hear a song full-length), mountain men (great harmony), and bands that i have never heard before called, hey rosetta! and miniature tigers.

go on ahead and have one

i wish you a lovely day.

even better, have a love-ally day.  "lovely day" by bill withers

while i'm at it... it's a jungle out there & i know you're trying not to lose your head, but it's still lovely.

grandmaster flash "the message" vs bill withers "lovely day"

i like how the day sounds

i have so much to say about the greg laswell, cary brothers, and harper blynn show. what endearing mellow show. we missed harper blynn, formerly, pete and j. but i can imagine they were fantastic, considering they played with laswell and brothers and are excellent musicians. (and funny to boot!)

some highlights: greg laswell going into a laughing fit, trying twice to sing a sad song, but then asking for his guitar back so he could do an upbeat song first to get rid of the giggles. cary brothers (just one guy, no brother, who knew?!) likes to drop f-bombs. for instance, when talking about the song we all know from the garden state soundtrack, "blue eyes," he said the girl he wrote it for told him she thought he was talking shit about her and he said, "how the fuck could you hear those lyrics and think that..." i like him. and how about when cary brothers & co. played tears for fears?! too good!

greg laswell has found himself onto my mellow mixes for sure. 

"how the day sounds"

he played this one acoustic and it was gorgeous:

"high and low"

here's the song from pete and j that i like:

"runnin round the world"

cary brothers' voice can carry. ha!, no pun intended. 

(is it just me, or is that mary-kate olsen?!)

"ride"

you didn't think i'd name-drop tears for fears and not indulge you?!:

"everybody wants to rule the world"

outdoor day rave

i am officially obsessed with the ps1 moma's warm up series. my day spent at the museum was a highlight of my trip so far. the outdoor installation, "pole dance," was reminiscent of the beach and i spent most of the day in the sandy area in my happy place. there were also misters, a kiddie-sized pool, netting above with medicine balls inside, a hammock room, and if you shook the poles that held the netting up, sound came out from the speakers (supposedly you could adjust the sound by logging into a website on your iphone and pressing + or -). not to mention, the museum is fantastic!

by the time delorean took the stage, the dance floor was jam-packed. delorean's sound is described on the ps1 site as: "a fus[ion of] their native spanish balearic beat with mediterranean influences and sunny indie rock". i think i could sum them up as spanish passion pit without the high-pitched squeak voice.

crowd pleasers!
they jammed hard for the whole set!

here is a single off of subiza: 

"stay close" by delorean

moving much too fast

my "austin mom," jane, told me, "you know sarah, it's all right to take some time off". she's right.

this is what summer is going to mean to me: books, iced coffees, yoga, sidewalk eateries, and enjoying "the breeze." 

by dr. dog

and since i'm relaxing by day, i might as well "stay out all night".

by bent

rocking northern soul

it's true, bowery ballroom is magnificent, too! i saw delta spirit there yesterday. i found their "take away shows" online, and to be honest, i like the way matt vasquez sounds on the train and in the fine rug store better than how he sounded at bowery. last night his voice grated. maybe it was too loud?

"trashcan"

"strange vine"

and seriously, if you haven't checked out the "take away shows," do it! i could spend hours on there!

http://www.blogotheque.net/spip.php?page=cae_all&lang=en

fecking awesome

i didn't know much about we were promised jetpacks, but i was pleasantly surprised that they are scots--love that accent! for the record, i am a huge fan of anyone who says, "thanks so fecking much!" or anything else with the word "fecking," to be honest.  jetpacks entered to a futuristic robot-lady repeating a sequence of numbers over the pa--what do they mean?!--it got the crowd all kinds of excited. and then they powered into it and didn't stop until the last beat of the last song. these guys rock, and hard!

so pretty live: "this is my house, this is my home"

you know this one: "quiet little voices"

brooklyn-bred "hyphy" band, bear hands, opened up for jetpacks and they were a blast, too. the guy in front of me brought out his party finger, the sarah-dancing-arm was up, and the randos (that happened to be from dallas, san antonio, and houston) to my right were bouncing, too. bear hands are seriously hipster. i wonder if lead vocalist, dylan rau, has any idea how skinny his arms are in that long tank. and i also wonder if they heard frontman, adam thompson, from jetpacks say that he was glad to give bear hands the opportunity to tour "since they aren't doing much of anything".  oops.

"what a drag" by bear hands

officially hipster

my new favorite neighborhood, williamsburg, also houses my new favorite venue, music hall of williamsburg--the intimacy of the venue makes me so happy! we saw memory tapes there on saturday. dayve hawke's voice was a little raw, but i still think memory tapes kick ass! and i loved how my favorite song, "bicycle," was sneak-cycled throughout the one track he and his drummer played to for the whole show. can't track down the drummer's name, but props to him and his wicked fast hands!

only caught a little of the long island band, twin sister, but i liked their spunk. if you go to: twinsistermusic.com, you can download their music for free!

 listen to the twin:

"lady daydream"

"all around and away we go"

go outside

 

people in new york have been talking about how hot it is outside. but i know hot. all i want to do is "go outside"! the weather is splendid! mariel told me to go here (http://cults.bandcamp.com/) for a free download. heck, yeah!

here's my favorite: "go outside" by the cults

 

statue run song

pretty awesome to run with the statue of liberty in my line of vision. 

i'll admit it, i am feeling a little homesick. i've got such a good thing going in austin. and this city is so overwhelming at first. but i took a stress releasing run and cleared my mind and then, thanks to elaine's suggestion, i ventured to this gem: ohmyrockness.com. ...i might just have to go and see a show tonight!

this song gave me super running powers on chelsea pier:

"brow beaten" by silver columns

don't miss me too much

i'm off to the concrete jungle where dreams are made of! hoping to discover some good music while i'm there. i'll be sure to report! see you in 48 days, austin!

"empire state of mind" by jay-z & alicia keys