I’m a huge Ben Harper fan but I’m not sure how I really feel about “Rock and Roll Is Free” the first single off his forthcoming album, Give Til It’s Gone out May 17. In a return to straight up rock and roll and his first solo disc since 2005 I’m definitely looking forward to listening to the album but I think his oldies are still the goodies in this case.
http://soundcloud.com/theaudioperv/ben-harper-rock-n-roll-is-free
(via The Audio Perv)
This is NOT real gospel music if that’s what you are thinking. Owen Holmes of Black Kids put out an EP at the end of last year titled Duettes. The five track compilation of duets features Holmes with Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell, Vivian Girls’ Cassie Ramone, the Magnetic Fields’ Shirley Simms, Hefner’s Darren Hayman, and French singer-songwriter SoKo.
Check out the track Automobile featuring Holmes with Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell.
Props to Las Vegas CityLife A&E Editor Mike Prevatt and his blog item yesterday on Aloe Blacc found here. Earlier this year Mr. Blacc spent four nights performing at Book & Stage over at the brand new Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and during his time in the desert he reshot the video for “I Need A Dollar.” Love seeing his Book & Stage performances made it into the video and if you haven’t had a chance to see Mr. Blacc perform live please make sure it’s on your list of artists to see, he’s that good.
(apologies but Sony Music blocks the video from playing on the site so just click the link in the screen below)
Another band I would have loved to see had I gone to SXSW is mylittlepony. Hailing from Oslo, Norway the quintuplet was playing their first American shows in Austin and their indie pop sound is quickly likeable. Recently the band released their new album Making Marks and I have to say I’m really digging it and now find myself listening to the disc on repeat. Lead singer Ola Innset has an incredible voice and it just plays so well on each track; particularly give a listen to his voice and the horns on “Hard To Be Good” and hear for yourself.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to check out Moondog Matinee during Neon Reverb in Las Vegas and below is my review which appeared in the March 17-23 issue of Vegas SEVEN. While this may be short and sweet, let me preface by saying this was stepping into uncharted waters for me and now I can officially cross another item off the bucket list. Music is one of my favorite things in the world (obviously) and by starting to keep a blog about it I never actually thought it would lend itself to something like this coming from it. Check it out and let me know what you think.
This is by far one of the coolest music performances ever; last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Kenny Rogers performed “The Gambler” with The Roots! Click HERE to watch this amazing performance.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Jimmy Fallon is the best evening talk show around. With The Roots as his house band, the most magical music performances occur.
I love new music Tuesday and today is an extra special one as Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears drop their sophomore effort, Scandalous. I need to grab the disc and will report back with some thoughts but this should be another winner from the Austin group. Check out “So Scandalous” below. And if you’re at SXSW be sure to swing on through and see the guys live.
Get off your couch, change your plans, don’t crawl into bed and get over to Book & Stage to see Foster The People at least one of the next three nights if not all three. Set times are 10 p.m. and midnight and we have FREE shows to see one of the fastest rising bands around. To let you know how lucky we in Las Vegas are, their current tour (Vegas is stop #2) is practically sold out already and includes dates at SXSW and Coachella.
The only disappointment will be you not showing up to see the show.
Let the games begin! A plethora of live music events this weekend in Vegas and leave it to Red Bull to pull off one of the best events, Sound Clash with this installment featuring The Ting Tings & Cee Lo going back and forth on Saturday, March 12. The events get underway tonight and run through the weekend; check the below for the full schedule.
Do You Hear The Music? 
