What We're Listening To - THE FLUTE FLIES' Yes Means Maybe

There is nothing to not like about THE FLUTE FLIES debut album Yes Means Maybe.

It's gloriously hooky and poppy. Kinda gauzy, kinda soft, it's a lot of all the stuff you like. Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds, Zeno Gill of Pox and Reid Johnson of Schooner deliver a fine, fine recording.

It's perfect for this fall weather that suddenly appeared. Tracks like Shopping Mall with it's bounce-around build up dancing beat and sing along anthem, or We Went Alone which will try and drum you into submission, are made for windows-down golden sunset drives to nowhere. Some of the tracks are Rosebuds-esque, but who is going to complain about that? Not me.

It's for an EXCELLENT cause. The band lost a good friend to brain cancer and all proceeds from sales of Yes Means Maybe go to CyTunes, which goes to fund brain cancer research at Duke University. CyTunes also a good place to check out other artists, too. It's a pay what you want so make that happen. No reason not to get this album. Do it now.

Buy THE FLUTE FLIES' Yes Means Maybe from their Bandcamp Page

CONTEST - Tickets to See Jonquil at DC9

We didn't have much of a winter this year, which some how turned into us accelerating to warm spring days. I'm not going to gripe about perfect mid 70 degree, sun filled days. It only hastens grilling and outdoor partying season, which I am woefully unprepared for.

Jonquil's latest album Point of Go is going to fit well on plenty of summer get together and driving playlists. The UK band's easy blend of african caribbean rhythms and electro pop is perfect lazy beer drinking, cocktail sipping, and lawn game playing.

We have a few tickets for the band's Saturday, 24 March show at DC9. If you're interested in going, send us an email or follow and leave us a reply on Twitter. You can totally do both and be entered twice. We'll pick winners around noonish on Friday, and email you back or DM you if you win.

Word? Word.


Many thanks to Lallie at Big Hassle for the tickets! 

Buy Jonquil's Point of Go at Amazon mp3

Singled Out - Hey Marseilles' True Love Will Find You in The End

The boys from Hey Marseilles (one of our favorite bands), turns in a lovely Valentine's Day present for us all.

This sweet and gentle cover of Daniel Johnston's True Love Will Find You In The End is infused with hopefully lyrics and a gorgeous chamber folk sound (drumbourine and trumpets anyone?).

It's free (no email sign up or anything), but why not drop the band some cash and pick up their most excellent To Travels and Trunks or the equally fantastic 7-inch Elegy?

Concert Review - Summer Camp at U Street Music Hall

Summer Camp's Elizabeth Sankey making it look easy

We broke out of our routine Thursday to check out the very excellent British dance pop band Summer Camp at U Street Music Hall.

So glad I did, because they put on one helluva a show.

Supporting their 2011 album Welcome To Condale (on Moshi Moshi), the duo took the time to make new fans and impress old ones with energetic, hour long set. They even bounced back from some minor technical difficulty, beating off the front row hecklers with some niceties.

Welcome to Condale is a solid album. The problem sometimes is that it's hard to make a bunch of spare synth noises come to life live. But trading out their 808 for an exceptional drummer and filling the space with Jeremy Warmsley's guitar and Elizabeth Sankey's gorgeous wailing really made it happen.

Take the track I Want You. The stalker dangerous lyrics sound sparse and hollow on the album, which works great. But they reinvented it, making it louder and harder. It simply came alive and standing still was not an option.

Hopefully we'll see them back on these shores soon.


Many Thanks to Chris Vinyard at Big Hassle Media for the tickets

What We're Watching: We Were Pirates' Better Off With Out You

DC has so many great bands, and I'm going to try and feature more of them. Especially music from friends, cos what's the point of having a blog if you can't do that?

We've always liked We Were Pirates, and their new album Change is top notch. I'll put a review up in the next few days, swear it.

Until then, check out the video for the band's first single "Better of Without You." Zombies need love too.

Side note, any one else thinks Mike (the lead singer) looks like a younger Britt Daniel from Spoon?

Singled Out - Yukon Blonde's Stairway

Vancouver's Yukon Blonde has a new album coming out. The first single Stairway is good, full of guitars, energy and simple harmonies. Quick hooks go a long way.

A little jealous they won't make it to the DC area on their 62-stop North American tour, but if you're in Philly you should check them out. They'll also be at SXSW.

You can grab the song for free from their SoundCloud page. Their debut album Tiger Talk will be out 20 March on Die Alone Records.

Stream and download Yukon Blonde's Stairway from SoundCloud

What We're Watching - Mark Ronson's A La Modeliste

This has kinda been ruling my world since I saw it at the beginning of the BCS Championship Game. Trombone Shorty, the artists formerly known as Mos Def, Ms. Badu and the Dap Kings. Plus Mark Ronson behind the boards.

I don't know what the Hyundai/GRAMMY RE:GENERATION project is, and don't really care (what's a Skrillex?). I know this song is excellent.

Singled Out - Glory by Jay-Z ft B.I.C

It's nice of Jay to take a second away from the Lennox Hill Hopsital Suite/Mobile 40/40 club to drop a new track honoring his baby girl. But I almost kinda wished he didn't.

 Jay still is, a magnificent rapper. His word play and flow are, all things considered, consistently remarkable over a long career.

 But that's just it. This is a remarkably unremarkable song for Hov. And it's a remarkably unremarkable song for his first born to boot.

The lyrics are treacle over the top, even given the subject matter. I paint the sky blue? That's real cute. Sounds of her cooing? No. Talk about conception in Paris? Ew. I kinda gave up on it with his line about Destiny's child. I might've thrown up in my mouth a little.

 The only thing redeeming is The Neptune's produced track underneath. Pharrell always turns out

I'm happy for Jay and Beyonce. I wish them all the happiness that their daughter will bring to their life, because I know the happiness that my two boys have brought to mine. But maybe not tribute songs to her or the next one anymore?

 Stream Jay-Z's "Glory" at Life + Times

Best Albums of 2011 - Three Albums About Los Angeles

"They call Los Angeles the City of Angels. I don't know if I'd call it that exactly, but there are some nice people here."

And so Sam Elliot starts out The Big Lebowski, one of many love odes to Southern California. It always seems bands are writing songs about leaving New York, or missing the South, but with Los Angeles it just seems like home. No one's writing about coming, and surely no one is writing about leaving.

Dawes' sophomore effort Nothing is Wrong fits that bill. It's full of dusty rock n roll seen through the prism of LA, but rooted in the best parts of American folk and Southern rock. It's a music meant for driving, but not too fast, and definitely away from the city. And listening to them wax about charming but sad Angelenos almost makes you think about relocating.

It would take California to bring Ryan Adams back to focus on Ashes and Fire , his finest and most coherent album in years. Working through inner ear problems and clearly loving his marriage to Mandy Moore (still WTF?), he's eschewed the agressive alt country stylings, the metal sidetracks and even his Replacements-style rock for an easy, stripped down, honest album about his life. His voice and songwriting are still as perfect after all these years (Do I Wait, Save Me, Come Home). Does he get mushy and sentimental? Sure, but it works.

Sometimes it's the isolation in a region of 12 million people that gets you. It's being trapped that makes you write. So was the case for Ross Flournoy, who pushed by an NPR songwriting contest found the inspiration for a new band an album. Apex Manor's Year of Magical Drinking is remarkable . Fun and spirited, driven by excellent tracks like I Know These Waters Well and Teenage Blood, it is one of the most accessible and energetic albums out in 2011.

Best Albums of 2011 - Four Albums That are Cold Rocking It Without Prior Prejudice

Blessed are the noise makers, the chord crunchers, those that take it to 11; for they shall inherit the earth.

Well, Jesus might have said it had he been into crunchy guitars and big noise.

Despite dupstep, chillwave and whatever else, several bands churned out remarkable guitar driven, fuzz laden, noise pumping rock albums worthy of your time, money and future investments in hearing aids. They must all be played loud.

Times New Viking's brought a shambly, disorderly vibe to their album Dancer Equired , propelled by the profane and quick paced "Fuck Her Tears." But tracks like "Try Harder" and "Don't Go To Liverpool" aren't as tight but just as enjoyable.

It's clear that Yuck mined their Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth records for their self titled debut , but you beneath all the fuzz you get some beautiful love songs like "Georgia," "Shook Down," and "Sunday." But they still go hard, with a seven minute album closer built off ever increasing buzz.

The master class in cold rocking it can be taught by Wild Flag, with the singular text being this year's smashing debut . Though not really a debut, since the members are veterans of seminal 90s bands (Sleater-Kinney and Helium). But the opening song sets the tone and it keeps going and going. Try not dancing to "Romance" or bopping to "Future Crimes." Break out your air guitar... it's encouraged.

But for pure sex and rock n roll, there's Hanni El Khatib's Will the Guns Come Out. .A mix of blues, Stax soul, and garage rock, it's potent. Often just stripped down, vocals distorted, it's refreshing and fierce. But the stand out is You Rascal You, as Khatib sounds like he's struggling to to hold his guitar from taking over, and each bridge break he let's go a bit. It caterwauls and wails.. You haven't heard it this lustful in awhile.

Best Albums of 2011 - Something About Hip Hop and R&B

I don't get a lot of music, but I really don't get much of modern hip hop. I thought Lil Wayne's effort this year was garbage, I find Drake to be boring, and Rick Ross to be less than engaging. That said, I listened to some pretty amazing hip hop and R&B this year. So maybe I shouldn't complain too much.

There was the outsized egos of Jay Z and Kanye pairing up for Watch the Throne , and album so conspicuous in its excess and grandeur it was almost impossible to see this album for what it was: two guys having a ton of fun. It wasn't the most brilliant album this year, but by forgoing any restraint, Kanye bookended last year's MBDTF with a masterpiece that had Jay around for polish.

On the flip side was The Roots with Undun , proof that ?uestlove is the hardest working man out there right now. A perfectionist to the utmost limit, he and the Roots have used their time as Jimmy Fallon's house band to make sure every note and every tap is in its right place. He's evoking pure 70s Philly era soul on this album, and it works. every track feels labored over; you just want to roll around in it for awhile.

And between those two you have two remarkable, must owns from the next generation. First is Frank Ocean's Nostalgia/ULTRA, and album that I simply ADORE. Here we have someone nimbly fusing real love problems over A+ major producer beats with an astonishing voice, to incredible effect. From enhancing Coldplay's Strawberry Swing to reinventing The Eagles' Hotel California as some sort of young urban love and divorce story, Frank Ocean is want you want playing when you're solo or lounging with company.

The second is Childish Gambino's Camp . Here we have a guy rapping about getting laid, getting drunk, and getting paid. But he's also speaking about the duality that millions of middle and upper middle class black kids are growing up with. It's a universal them of non-inclusion to be sure, but that double consciousness speaks more potently to them. And it's that awareness that elevates Donald Glover from just another rapper to the big leagues.

Best Albums of 2011 - Three Sophomore Releases I Loved

Sophomore releases are notorious stumbling blocks. You want to branch out, but you don't want to be too different. It's tough to balance all that. There were three sophomore albums from three bands that I absolutely loved this year. I wore digital grooves on my digital files I played them so much.

First you have Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Belong, a magnificent tribute to 90s Smashing Pumpkins excess rock. It still feels like their self titled debut, but fuller, richer. They've grown into this sound and they relish it.

Next is Telekinesis' 12 Desperate Straight Lines . Here we have Michael Benjamin Lerner going a bit harder than his self titled debut. It's not all sweet lyrics about being in love anymore. "I never loved you, I never loved any one." Yeah, he's a hurt dude. But this is a guy who knows how to craft a perfect pop song, and makes you hit repeat again and again.

Finally, one of my must own albums of the year, Rural Alberta Advantage's Departing . This album is stark and melodic, like the Alberta province where the band is from and takes their name. But where their debut Hometowns spoke of that isolation, Departing is about the world outside and leaving your love and family. All the tracks are phenomenal, but standouts include the driving drum of Stamp, the beauty of North Star, the powerful opener of Two Lovers and the equally poignant and bare closer Good Night. I saw the band close out their show with this number and they brought the house down.

Best Albums of 2011 - Anything Merge Records Put Out this Year

So I started working on my various lists and realized that a lot of my favorite albums in 2011 seemed to come from Merge Records, that powerhouse label down in North Carolina. They remain one of my favorite labels because they consistently put out good music, take care of their artists and after almost 23 years doing it still has a ton of energy and drive.

There's something here for everyone. Bitter love gone wrong lyrics? Try Telekinesis 12 Desperate Straight Lines. Shoegaze-y beautiful rock? Wye Oak's Civilian. Winking 70s style smooth rock? Destroyer's Kaputt. Sonic Youth noise rock (with this year's best profanity laced single)? Times New Viking's Dancer Equired. The list goes on and on and on.

Here's a short list of some of my faves that I couldn't stop listening to.

Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines
Wild Flag - s/t
Apex Manor - The Year of Magical Drinking
Destroyer - Kaputt
Times New Viking - Dancer Equired
Wye Oak - Civilian
Amor de Dias - Street of the Love of Days
The Rosebuds - Loud Planes Fly Low

Best of 2011 - A Preface

I've been mulling my EoY list for awhile, and I feel a bit out of sorts.

Most of the music people who professionally listen to music said you should like I didn't like.

And listening to this past year in music made me not want to rate any of them. I have favorites above others for sure, but I honestly felt like ranking them would just be a kind of waste.

So here's my idea. I'm just going to group them together in odd categories of my liking. They will all be albums I think you should own (though some more than others).

Anyway, that'll be over the next few days... so stay tuned or something.

Plans for the Night - The Postelles at The 9:30 Club

The Postelles are returning to DC, bringing their surf/sock hop rock by way of Brooklyn sound to 9:30 Club on Friday, 21 OCTOBER where they're opening for the Wombats. We really liked their s/t debut this summer, and for $15, it's a show that has a pretty low risk/high reward thing going on.

The group put out a four song cover EP that takes on some tracks by The Ramones and the Smiths. You can pick it up for free at the site. Below is a cover that's a perfect fit, Joe Jones' California Sun. They stripped it down and cut the tempo a half sec. It's a bit more R&B infused too, which is nice.

Buy tickets to The Postelles show at the 9:30 club 21 OCTOBER

Download The Postelles cover of Joe Jones' California Sun

What We're Listening To - Frank Ocean's nostalgia, ULTRA.

I had put off listening to Frank Ocean for some time. I don't really dig much of modern R&B, and his association with shock rap collective Odd Future just kind of turned me cold. We have plenty of hypersexed crooners rocking the airwaves right now.

But his crooning on Watch The Throne piqued my interest, especially his notes on Made In America (maybe they can book him for the MLK Memorial dedication later this month in DC). It was tender and pure, and at the very least deserved a longer look.

nostalgia, ULTRA. is a near flawless debut album with pitch perfect singing, brand name production, smart lyrics and a groove that won't quit. it is challenging in the most desirable way possible.

Frank Ocean (nee Christopher Breaux) released it for free on his tumblr in February after Def Jam signed and ignored him. Since then, critics have heaped huge amounts of praise on it and Def Jam is scrambling to figure out how to give it a formal release. The album, while not only great, is a perfect picture of everything that's wrong with major labels.

Ocean has a keen ear towards what makes good pop music. He's penned a song for The Beebs (which doesn't disqualify him... people's gotta eat). But there're no R&B throwback covers here. He adds new lyrics and soul to Coldplay's Strawberry Swing, adds more sex to MGMT's Electric Feel, and ups the despair and indulgence of Hotel California. Even Radiohead's Optimistic makes a cameo (if only to serve as his foil that "bitches" would rather listen to Jodeci)

But on the original tracks, the boards are turned over to super producers Tricky Stewart and Midi Mafia (behind hits like Umbrella, Single Ladies, 21 Questions). But that only serves to make them radio friendly for your ear. Ocean is an artist with much on his mind and his lyrics go beyond just being sexy. They're thoughtful, humble and incredibly self aware. Songs For Women is a peek inside his head on his music and why he does it. Lovecrimes is backed by Nicole Kidman's tirade from Eyes Wide Shut

Novacane could be your newest sexytime jam (put it on random with Washed Out and you've got an all night party), a compelling story of girl he met at Coachella and the incredible high she gives him. And if there's any doubt his voice isn't the real deal, We All try is magnificent.

Ocean isn't as corny as Drake and not as earnest as Bruno Mars. He's more nimble and intelligent than Trey Songz, and not as overt or agressive as Chris Brown. Hopefully nostalgia, ULTRA and Frank Ocean mark the turning point for sensual, thoughtful contemporary R&B.

What We're Listening To - JAY Z and Kanye West's Watch The Throne

The long awaited collab of hip-hop's two reigning titans arrived this week, after fits and starts and a lock down so tight no one heard it until they said so.

And it's good. Not great by any stretch, but it shows Jay-Z back in good form and Kanye finding the sweet spot he hit on MBDTF and keeping it going.

When H.A.M. dropped, I was admittedly not impressed. That gaudy single art, the lackluster lazy rhyming, the trash heap beats. Then came the threat of a full collab album, something Jay has quite frankly never been able to pull off. Need I remind you of Best of Both Worlds AND Unfinished Business? Not to mention Collision Course and The Dynasty.

And Kanye, notoriously a weak rapper, has been growing lyrically and eating Jay for lunch. Where Jay killed it on Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Ye destroyed it on Run This Town and Haters.

But here we are, and in a weird bit of alchemy, all these elements that together should make a miserable album instead create a solid experience.

They've invited a ton of friends to come lamp: Beyonce, Frank Ocean, Bon Iver. It is an album that is singularly Kanye's vision in its scope, size and production. Prime example: they paid nothing short of a trillion dollars to clear Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness. It was 100 percent worth it and shows the two at their most comfortable. No hooks, horns and an Otis Redding that go nowehere, it feels simultaneously fresh and a throwback to early Kanye. Gotta Have It samples a skittish James Brown, with some assist from the Neptunes, you can tell this is going to be a party.

Jay-Z over his entire career has never dreamed this big (his masterpiece The Blueprint is remarkable for its restraint and smoothness). And at times he gets swallowed in. You would think New Life, a RZA coproduced track sampling Nina SImone would be perfect. And the idea is great: two guys rapping to their unborn children. But Jay doesn't do sentimentality (exception: Song Cry), and Kanye never sounds sincere (I find it hard to breathe in when the next track is That's My Bitch).

But when it shines, it burns bright. Niggas in Paris is possibly my favorite track on the album, built off of frantic rapping, a tapping high hat and synth, and some nonsense half bits from Ye and Jigga.

What is the end to this collaboration? These two have been appearing on each other's records for a solid decade now, so this is nothing new. I'm glad to see whatever falling out they had has been resolved. Ye still is looking up to his Big Brother, and in some ways, Jay-Z still needs Kanye to stoke that fire and hunger. But where this album leaves us I'm not quite sure.

Buy JAY Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne from Amazon's MP3 Store

What We're Watching - Yuna's Come As You Are

It is no doubt ballsy to cover a Nirvana song. It's fairly iconic, and you want to make it your own, but you really can't improve too much on the original.

So to cover something as haunting and lyrically loaded as "Come As You Are", seems like an idea that might be better to walk away from.

Yuna, with her debut EP Decorate out on the FADER label, brought her minimalist approach to the track. But instead of the guitar singer songerwriter vibe she gives off, the cover is backed with a drum machine, some tinkling keyboard, skitter skatter electric noises, and her haunting ethereal voice.

There's no way you believe her when she croon "No I don't have a gun."



You can stream Yuna's Decorate EP at Soundcloud

Buy Yuna's Decorate EP at the Amazon MP3 Store

What We're Listening To - Dawes' Nothing is Wrong

I'm always amazed at the different sounds that come from LA. Maybe because of my East Cost leanings, but it seems like every lost dreamer and wandering soul who picks up a guitar out there coaxes a completely different sound out of it. When I read about the revival of LA rock, I'm continually baffled, not by the bands (because they are good) but by the fact anyone would try and lump that into one box.

Case in point: dusty American rockers Dawes, who are remains of previous post punkers that fell in love with some vinyl from CSNY, Graham Parsons, The Band and Jackson Browne at some point. Their sophomore album Nothing is Wrong is a marvelous slow build of harmonies, gentle folk guitars and wandering lyrical tales.

"You got that special kind of sadness. You got that tragic sense of charms that only comes from time spent in Los Angeles" Taylor Goldsmith sings on the album opener, and you know he's talking about a girl, but maybe himself a little bit. It's mostly hazy tales of love, growth and fishing for understanding on the album, redefining Americana a little bit. I tend to lose them when they slow down too much, and songs like Moon in the Water or So Well tend to fade too much into the background. But When Dawes shines on tracks like If I Wanted Someone, The Way You Laugh and Coming Back to a Man, it holds my focus intently.

It makes me want to drive, though not necessarily to LA. Dawes is evoking a picture of America far from LaLaland. But maybe that is America.

Listen to Dawes' If I Wanted Someone on Hard of Hearing Ep  013

Buy Dawes' Nothing is Wrong from Amazon mp3

What We're Listening To - The Postelles s/t

And here comes summer, skipping over spring with a fiery sustained furnace blast for the past two weeks.

A break from the heat would be entirely all to welcome. But if we didn't have summer heat, we'd have no reason for cookouts, pool parties and all night hangouts.

So I'm thankful for the summer heat like I'm thankful for the self titled debut album from The Postelles, a fun dancey rock album. It keys up on tail end of the surf rock from last year, but crossed with the pop rock catchiness of The Strokes, Weezer or Arctic Monkeys. This makes sense since Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond Jr produced it. It's clean and not a note out of place throughout. Think a slightly older Surfer Blood.

Sing along choruses start bright and big from the album opener and keep going til the end. White Night, Sleep on the Dance Floor, and 123 Stop are party starters for sure. The lyrics don't run too deep (Boys Best Friend is a jokey little tale about falling in love with a lesbian). It does get mildly repetitive, but that's okay cos as soon as it starts it's over. No one's gonna blame you for hitting repeat.

I'd recommend going to catch them on tour this summer, and if you're in DC see them 11 JUNE at Red Palace.

Buy The Postelles's self titled debut album

Buy from Amazon