Universal Studios Florida...The Band

The Animal Collective subgenre grows... Like Beard rock's development over the last three years by way of MMJ>Band of Horses>Fleet Foxes and beyond, this noisy, spatial, narcotic sound seems to be seeping in from all directions at a higher and higher rate. Universal Studios Florida formed fairly recently at the University of Washington (the members are still only 21) by a couple dudes sharing an affinity for dreamy soundscapes and 90s nostalgia. Judging from the first two tracks I came across "Frozen Bayou" and "Sun Glyphed Comanche Kissed" these two have been skipping out on Huskies games and mainlining Avey Tare and Panda Bear's creative outputs/Kool-Aid. Check out this live video of "New Cub" and see what I mean:

Universal Studios Florida - New Cub from Filmed in Stereo on Vimeo.

http://www.myspace.com/usftheband

Not particularly a fan of the AC sound, but I'm sure some folks will be diggin on these guys in the 10s...The Future.

Fiyo on the Bayo: An embarassment of riches for the week 9/28--10/4

A lot of this has to do with band's routing their tour through NOLA en route to and from next weekend's Austin City Limits, for this reason I wish ACL was more than once a year.

Wednesday, September 30th
Dr. Dog (ft. members of Rebirth Brass Band) at Howlin' Wolf

Thursday, October 1st
Phoenix w/ Chairlift at Tipitina's Uptown

Choices must be made:

Friday, October 2nd
Arctic Monkeys w/ The Like at House of Blues

or

The Dynamites ft. Charles Walker at Tipitina's Uptown

Saturday, October 3rd
The Dead Weather at House of Blues

or

Andrew Bird w/ St. Vincent at Tipitina's Uptown

Boy, there sure is a lot of cool stuff out there on that internet thing

Uh, yeah.

Nosaj Thing Visual Show Compilation Test Shoot from Adam Guzman on Vimeo.

2009 is 74% dunzo, here are some good ones from the year in music.

Alberta Cross- Broken Side of Time "Broken Side of Time"
Monsters of Folk- s/t "Dear God"
Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix "Fences"
Air- Love 2 "Sing Sang Sung", amazing video here
Phish- Joy "Sugar Shack", love to hear a new Cactus tune.
Yeasayer- Dark Was The Night "Tightrope" Listen here
Derek Trucks Band- Already Free "Already Free"
Jay-Z- Blueprint 3 "Run This Town" ft. Rihanna
M. Ward- Hold Time "Oh, Lonesome Me" ft. Lucinda Williams (Neil Young Cover)
Depeche Mode- Sounds of the Universe "In Chains" (link to live video from Lollapalooza) and "Wrong"

More to come...

Monsters of Folk and Alberta Cross make their formal debut on the same day; Moon Taxi rolls out the Fall Tour

A fabulous debut album finally availed itself today, September 22nd, 2009 to the masses from a band formed years ago by four established stalwarts of the scene calling themselves the Monsters of Folk. Also, a maiden voyage set sail in the form of Alberta Cross and there's no telling where or how far it'll travel. Good day to be a music fan...

Also my friends Moon Taxi announced today that they are gonna be playing at House of Blues in the NOLA on November 8th in support of reggae rapper Matisyahu as part of an extensive Fall Tour around the Southland. Very, very cool. Seen these guys play on stages the size of this keyboard so it'll be extra special seeing them in such a historic venue.

Click on the link and be sure to go check out Moon Taxi's Fall Tour

www.myspace.com/moontaxi

Air creates a Beatles-esque video for new single "Sing Sang Sung"

This video is really really great. A mood shifter for sure. Judging by the first two singles Do The Joy and Sing Sang Sung, Love 2 could be the French duo's strongest effort since their unbelievable 1998 record Moon Safari. It's got a nice Yellow Submarine looking animation quality to it.

Click here to see the video for Sing Sang Sung

Iron & Wine: Around the Well

Link to JamBase

Iron & Wine'slatest effort is a double-disc collection that attempts, at great lengths, to elucidate on the artist's personal growth and sonic expansion throughout his career. The outside of Disc One is an aerial shot of dormant farmland. In stark contrast, Disc Two has the same aerial in the midst of springtime. The contrast between the two discs is plain as day, and the overt symbolism furthers the artist's point. The first disc finds the artist in the delicate, constantly fragile soundtracking state we've become accustomed to hearing, the solo artist playing with little or no accompaniment. Side A is lonely, raw, rough around the edges and minimal featuring some safe, albeit unlikely, covers of The Flaming Lips' "Waiting for a Superman," New Order's "Love Vigilantes" and the widely spun take on Postal Service's "Such Great Heights." Easy to listen to but not particularly attention-grabbing, it adequately captures Sam Beam in the early stage of his career that many fans will surely appreciate.

The flipside of the collection presents the artist in the more polished, constantly blooming state of his career. On many occasions Beam's voice rises above the hushed whispering we've come accustomed to, and more of the tunes on Side 2 have a fuller sonic accompaniment, featuring pianos, stand-up bass, whining steel, polyrhythms and sprightlier guitar strumming. The latter half of Disc 2 takes a strange and invitingly experimental turn with the backwoods mystic "Serpent Charmer," an attention-grabbing churner that serves as the whirling dervish of the artist's career between the restrained world of The Creek Drank the Cradle and the future unknown. The stylistic meandering progresses with the melancholic, introspection of "Carried Home," a lengthy and inspired nocturnal burn followed by "The Kingdom Of The Animals," a bouncy barroom, fun time kinda thing. This slightly funkier stylistic turn is welcome and encouraging for the future artistic output of Iron and Wine. If 2007's adventurous The Shepherd's Dog was any indication, the throes of Iron and Wine fans should buckle themselves in for what is sure to be an intriguing musical journey. A proper full-length original LP is expected sometime next year.

Trey Anastasio performs "You Enjoy Myself" with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall

Multi-angle video

Boy.Man.God.Shit.

You Enjoy Yourself and take a look.

This is the first live symphonic performance of You Enjoy Myself, a song written by Anastasio in the mid-80s and released by Phish in 1988 on the album Junta. It is the most frequently played song in the Phish canon, having been performed at over 1/3 of their shows over the course of the band's storied 26 year career. This video features Trey Anastasio performing the song at Carnegie Hall with the NY Philharmonic, a dream come true I suppose for Trey himself and Phish fans alike.

Alberta Cross unleashes "The Broken Side of Time", millions to follow down the road

I just received a copy of Alberta Cross' debut LP Broken Side of Time (out September 22nd on ATO--My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, The Whigs). Barring something invitingly spectacular, this is a lock for my favorite album of the year...Maybe better than anything to come out in 2008 too. Darkly psychedelic yet accessibly melodic, these Brooklynites by way of Great Britain are sure to tear a swath through the indie heartland having created one of the best debut albums of the decade. Just you wait.