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New Music: Kassidy

14 Sep

Here it is my latest musical fascination, Kassidy.  This Scottish folk rock band has been tabbed across the pond by some media outlets as “Britain’s Kings of Leon” and fall into line with the rabid folk obsession of Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes and the likes but they have their own distinct sound and that to me is refreshing.  Their debut album Hope St. dropped earlier this year and I don’t think it will take too much longer for this quartet to wind up here in the states.

 

Now Playing: Uncle Mountain – “False Alarm”

13 Sep

Been digging these guys from Asheville, NC since I stumbled upon their music last month.  Give a listen and if you like, pick up the new album Miles of Skyline.

 

Now Playing: The Dirty Heads – “Believe”

31 Aug

I was stoked to find out yesterday that The Dirty Heads next single to drop is “Believe.”  Not only am I a fan of the reggae, rock band but quite frankly this has been my favorite song of theirs since first hearing Any Port In A Storm.  Any music lover should really dig the lyrics, below are two verses from the track.  Now give a listen and see for yourself.

Well you never quite forget the first tape you bought
Mine was Naughty by Nature back when OPP was hot
Who’d have thought, that I could ever turn out this way?
I’m blamin’ Ad Rock, Mike D and MCA
Yeah, it was Beasties on my mind pretty much all the time
‘Till I started smokin’ pot and figured out about Sublime
Oh my god, I never wanted somethin’ so badly,
I wanna learn to play guitar and sing just like Bradley.
And the B-lines that Eric dropped reminded me of hip-hop
I’m singin’ lovin’ is what I got, I got, I got…
‘Cause when the lovin’ was gone,
I learned to play the blues through Stevie Ray Vaughn,
I needed music for all the ways it helped me deal,
And now I’m lovin’ my guitar the way that B.B loved Lucille..

“Well Bob Marley was the tune when little J was in the womb,
My mom would put the headphones on her belly feel my move.
And every Jimi Hendrix riff I’d give her a little kick,
Just to let her know to turn it up a little bit.
And please, when I grow up can I sound like Police?
That’s what I was thinkin’ while prayin’ on my knees.
But now that I’m grown, I’ve found a sound of my own,
I’m in the studio now and I feel like I’m home”

Tonight: The Naked and Famous Live at The Cosmopolitan

30 Aug

If you are in Vegas you probably should make your way to The Cosmopolitan tonight as The Naked and Famous are playing out at The Boulevard Pool at 9 p.m.  I saw them perform out at Lollapalooza and damn, did they put on one heck of a show.  If you’ve never heard of The Naked & Famous, now’s your chance to get up close and personal with the group from Down Under.  I honestly don’t think people realize how lucky those of us who live in Las Vegas are to get bands like this to perform right in our backyard. Hope to see you tonight!

Tonight: Walk The Moon Play Vegas – Q&A Previewing Their Performance

25 Aug

Check it out, here’s a little preview of what you can expect tonight at The Yard at The Cosmopolitan when Walk The Moon takes the stage.

9 p.m. show time and it’s FREE!

I caught up with the guys at Lollapalooza and here’s what they had to say.

(appears in the new issue of Vegas SEVEN which is out today)

New Music: Deer Tick – “Miss K”

17 Aug

Ch-ch-ch-check it out, new music from Deer Tick. “Miss K” is the first single from the band’s upcoming album, Divine Providence, due out October 25.

 

Now Playing: Maps & Atlases – Israeli Caves

11 Aug

At Lollapalooza I made a slight detour to catch some of Maps & Atlases set at the Google+ Stage and what a great decision this was. The Chicago based troupe had me from the very beginning and I can’t wait to listen to more of these guys. Hear “Israeli Caves” below and I think you’ll be hooked too.

 

Revisited: My Lollapalooza 2011

10 Aug

Sweet home Chicago!  What can I say except the 20th Anniversary of Lollapalooza far exceeded any experience I could have ever imagined. More photos will be coming soon but wow what a good time and so many great bands/artists performing.  If you wanted to discover new music, hear some great bands of the past 20+ years or just come and hang out, Grant Park was the place to be.

My First Show: Ryan Leslie

My Final Show: Deadmau5

My Favorite Show: GROUPLOVE

Who I Saw:

Day One of Lolla: Ryan Leslie, Tab The Band, Young The Giant, Naked & Famous, Delta Spirit, Foster The People, White Lies, Two Door Cinema Club, Skrillex, Afrojack, Muse, Coldplay and late night CULTS show at the Hard Rock.

Day Two of Lolla: GROUPLOVE, Walk The Moon, Maps & Atlases, Friendly Fires, Black Lips, Big Audio Dynamite, Joachim Garraud, Local Natives, My Morning Jacket, Eminem, My Morning Jacket. Night show: Skylar Grey, Mia Moretti & Caitlin Moe, Black Lips.

Day Three of Lolla: Rival Schools, little hurricane, The Cool Kids, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Cars, Flogging Molly, Boy & Bear, Nas & Damian Marley, Deadmau5

Best Bud Light Stage Show: Young The Giant or Friendly Fires

Best Music Unlimited Stage Show:
Muse

Best Sony Stage Show: GROUPLOVE

Best Google+ Stage Show: little hurricane

Best BMI Stage Show: Boy & Bear

Biggest Surprise: Maps & Atlases and Tab The Band

Overall Stage With The Best Performances: Sony Stage

Most Entertaining Show: Deadmau5 – debut of his new rig extravaganza

Most Disappointing Moment: the police during Eminem not caring about kids who were comatose from whatever got them into that state

Next Big Thing:  Young The Giant, these guys drew over 20,000 people at 1 p.m. and Foster The People, man in six months these guys are doing it!

Band Redemption In My Book: My Morning Jacket – I’ve seen them a handful of times and never really dug their shows, I did this time

Bands I Was Sad To Miss: Fitz & The Tantrums, City & Colour, Ween and Foo Fighters plus Portugal. The Man, again – just too hard to be two places at once

Late Night Show: CULTS at the Hard Rock

Angriest Performer: again, Eminem.  The crowd was pretty angry too

What Would Have Been Great: a fourth day of the festival

Top Lolla’er: The dude dressed in a watermelon costume crowd surfing

Random Moment Of Awesomeness: mud wrestling taking center stage after the first downpour on Sunday

Best Festival Eats: the guy who brought in Garrett Popcorn in with him.  Thanks for sharing!

Best Place To Cool Off: didn’t find one

Biggest Waste of Time: Food lines or anyone who waited for a cooling bandana from Toyota

Best Marketing at Festival: Outside a street team was handing out Foster The People “Pumped Up Kicks” shoelaces and of course I got some

Worst Part: not having a poncho or jacket when the rain came pouring down on Sunday

Clutch Move: running straight for the port o johns and finding a new garbage bag to make a poncho

Tips For Next Year: carry a poncho – when it rains it pours, drink as much water as possible, don’t try to go swimming in Buckingham Fountain – I witnessed a few beat downs, ice cream is your friend in August, make a list of bands you want to see but don’t stick to it, comfortable shoes, you will walk a lot

Countdown to Lollapalooza: 1 Day – Foster The People

4 Aug

Friday, August 5 – Sony Stage, 3:00 p.m.

I don’t care what you are doing at 3 p.m. on Friday, cancel it and make your way to the Sony Stage to see Foster The People. Back in March when they literally had just a three-song EP out, I got to see these guys four nights in a row at Book & Stage at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and each show was better than the last. In the months since, their debut LP Torches was released and debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 Chart, “Pumped Up Kicks” is still riding high 18 or so months after it initially surfaced, they tore apart SXSW, Coachella, Glastonbury and more top festivals, the video for their second single “Helena Beat” dropped, “Houdini” was featured in the premiere episode of Entourage and did I mention that these guys were selling out shows long before any of this occurred?  Trust me when I tell you, if you have tickets to Lollapalooza, you better not miss this show.

Here’s my personal favorite off Torches, “Warrant.”

 

 

Countdown to Lollapalooza: 2 Days – GROUPLOVE

3 Aug

Saturday, Aug. 6 – Sony Stage, 12:00 p.m.

I seriously think of all the great bands playing Lollapalooza, I may be most excited about seeing GROUPLOVE.  It’s going to be rise and shine early as they kick things off Saturday at noon.  Check out the post I wrote back in June and you’ll see why I can’t wait to see these indie rockers who met on the island of Crete.  Looking forward to hearing some new tunes off their debut LP, Never Trust A Happy Song which drops in September.