All posts by Concrete Opinions

[on the road] Here We Go Magic

Brooklyn indie rockers, Here We Go Magic, are currently on the road and playing shows all over North America. They kicked off the tour at the end of last month in Columbus, OH, and are set to wrap it all up June 24 in North Adams, MA, for the Solid Sound Festival.  They have three CA stops, including Day 2 of Coachella, and along the way they’ll be joined by Super Desserts, Tammar, Red Light Driver, Icarus Himself, Cuckoo Chaos, tUnE-yArDs, Buke & Gass, and Caveman (check dates below for specifics).

Here We Go Magic’s latest full-length, Pigeons, is available now.

Here We Go Magic – Collector

3/29 Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium (w/ Super Desserts)
3/30 Indianapolis, IN – Radio Radio (w/ Tammar, Red Light Driver)
3/31 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon (w/ Icarus Himself)
4/01 Iowa City, IA – Mission Creek Festival
4/15 San Diego, CA – The Loft at UC San Diego (w/ Cuckoo Chaos)
4/16 Indio, CA – Coachella Festival
5/02 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Shop
5/04 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
5/05 Denver, CO – Larimar Lounge
5/06 Lawrence, KS – Jackpot Saloon (w/ tUnE-yArDs, Buke & Gass)
5/07 St. Louis, MO – Firebird
5/09 Chicago, IL – Schuba’s
5/10 Pontiac, MI – The Pike Room at Crofoot
5/11 Toronto, Ontario – Horseshoe Tavern
5/12 Montreal, Quebec – Club Lambi
5/13 South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground Lounge
5/14 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
5/16 Washington, DC – Red Palace (w/ Caveman)
5/17 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 (w/ Caveman)
5/18 Atlanta, GA – The Earl (w/ Caveman)
5/19 Nashville, TN – The Basement (w/ Caveman)
5/20 Pensacola, FL – Handlebar (w/ Caveman)
5/21 New Orleans, LA – Circle Bar (w/ Caveman)
5/23 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs (w/ Caveman)
5/24 Dallas, TX – Club Dada (w/ Caveman)
5/25 Austin, TX – The Parish (w/ Caveman)
6/24-26 North Adams, MA – Solid Sound Festival

In Remembrance…LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy and Co. took the stage yesterday to bid farewell.  LCD Soundsystem’s played their last live show and those lucky enough to score tickets to the sold-out performance, at Madison Square Garden, were treated to 3-hours plus of dancing themselves clean with some of the best dance/electronic/pop music of the last 10 years.

I wasn’t one of the lucky ones in attendance, but I was lucky enough to catch the act live last Fall in support of This Is Happening.  That was one big dance party, so I can only imagine how much fun last nights show must have been (Donald Glover has some really nice thoughts on the performance over at iamdonald.com).

photo courtesy of iamdonald.com

I’m not going to write much more on this.  It’s sad that such a good band have said goodbye, especially considering the current outbreak of horrible cookie-cutter pop music infecting the airwaves (Ke$ha, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, etc).  But i’m glad the band is going out on their terms.  They did what they set out to do and they’re happy with the results.

Normally, I would include a track or two after my ramblings, but not today.  One, I don’t have permission.  Two, it’s way too hard to pick one or two tracks to sum up LCD Soundsystem.  Three, if you’re reading this post, chances are you already have everything produced by the band and there’s really no need to double up…but like me, you may not have seen LCD’s last show.

Pitchfork was nice enough to stream the entire show live yesterday (they also put together a really good, in-depth history of LCD  — You Were There: The Complete LCD Soundsystem).  Supposedly, the stream was supposed to be a one time thing and  if you didn’t tune in live, you missed out.  Luckily the internet doesn’t forget anything and I was able to find the entire show on youtube.  I’m not sure how long it will last, so check it out below while you still can.
UPDATE (4/6): looks like the internet police took the farewell concert video down, but i’m sure you can find them elsewhere.

And lastly, THANK YOU, LCD Soundsytem…THANK YOU.

Paste Magazine put out a good list of their 10 favorite LCD tracks.  I think Great Release should be included, but I pretty much agree with the picks otherwise.

[watch] PS22 Chorus & Freelance Whales

The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island, NY.  The chorus is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg.  PS22 is amazing.

Freelance Whales are an indie rock band from Queens, NY, that utilize quite the assortment of instruments (banjo, harmonium, glockenspiel, synthesizer…to name a few) and one of my favorite new bands from the last couple of years.

The two of them recently teamed up for a fantastic rendition of my two favorite Freelance Whales tracks, Generator ^ First Floor and Generator ^ Second Floor.

Enjoy!

[hot off the press] Childish Gambino//The Longest Text Message

Childish Gambino just dropped a brand new track, The Longest Text Message (free download, grab it now), and posted it to his SoundCloud page.  No surprise here, but I love this track.  To be honest, I don’t think there’s a track by him that I haven’t loved.

For more Childish Gambino, check out my previous posts and be sure to visit iamdonald.com.

Röyksopp Visits KCRW

Tune in tomorrow (3/30) at 11:15am for a live studio performance by Norwegian electronica duo, Röyksopp, on KCRW’s Morning Become’s Eclectic.  They’ll be treating listeners to tracks from their latest release, Senior, and more.

Röyksopp – This Space

Visit royksopp.com/track-of-the-month for more free tracks