2011, music, new music

[new music roundup] 10.18.11

October 18, 2011 Concrete Opinions Leave a comment

Some of my favorite new releases this week, including the highly anticipated new 2-disc LP from M83. Enjoy.

For fans of: Austra, Phantogram, Summer Camp, Discovery
Key tracks: Keep You, Weekend, Love Me Like You Used To, Missed

For fans of: Dunes, Dominant Legs, Sleep ∞ Over, Les Sins
Key tracks: Top Bunk, Keep Time, Mop It Up, Lights Out

For fans of: Rah Rah, The Wooden Sky, Hannah Georgas, Two Hours Traffic
Key tracks: Generation Handclap, If Raymond Carver Was Born In The 90s, Que Sera Sarah, Anthem for a New Canadia

M83//Hurry Up We’re Dreaming

For fans of: Washed Out, Active Child, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky
Key tracks: Intro (feat. Zola Jesus), Midnight City, Wait, My Tears Are Becoming a Sea, Raconte-Moi Une Histoire

Niki & The Dove//The Drummer EP

For fans of: Those Dancing Days, Kite, Little Marbles, Young Galaxy
Key tracks: Last Night, Mother Project, Manon, Sundog

Penguin Prison//Penguin Prison

For fans of: Feldberg, Human Life, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Holy Ghost!
Key tracks: Don’t Fuck With My Money, The Worse It Gets, Golden Train, A Funny Thing

Psychic Ills//Hazed Dream

For fans of: Cave, Oneida, Jackie O Motherfucker, Bardo Pond
Key tracks: Mind Daze, Midnight Moon, That’s Alright, Incense Head

Real Estate//Days

For fans of: Beach Fossils, Kurt Vile, Woods, Atlas Sound
Key tracks: Green Aisles, Easy, It’s Real, Out of Tune

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin//Tape Club

For fans of: Voxtrot, Headlights, Mates of State, Telekinesis
Key tracks: Yellow Missing Signs, Coming Through, Let’s Get Tired, The Clod and the Pebble

Other notable new releases:
Body Language//Social Studies
The Deep Dark Woods//The Place I Left Behind
Four Tet//Fabriclive 59
Forest Fire//Staring At the X
Gigamesh//Gigamesh EP
Kimya Dawson//Thunder Thighs
Kissing Party//Wasters Wall
The Reminding Ideas//House of Weather
States//Room to Run

concerts, live music, music, on the road

[on the road] Youth Lagoon

October 17, 2011 Concrete Opinions Leave a comment

Dream pop duo Youth Lagoon are heading out this November for a month’s worth of US shows. They’ll be playing in support of their recently released debut, The Year Of Hibernation (one of my favorite new releases this year), and will be joined by Young Magic throughout the tour.

♫ Youth Lagoon – Montana ♫

♫ Young Magic – You With Air. ♫

November
01 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
03 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
04 – Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom
06 – Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture
07 – Austin, TX – Emo’s
08 – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silverleaf
10 – Nashville, TN – The Basement
11 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
12 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
13 – Washington, DC – The Red Palace
14 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
15 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
16 – Philadelphia, PA – Milkboy
17 – Cambridge, MA – TT The Bear’s
18 – Montreal, Quebec – Il Motore
19 – Toronto, Ontario – The Garrison
21 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
22 – Chicago, IL – Schubas

More Youth Lagoon:
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2011, music, new music

[new music roundup] 10.11.11

October 11, 2011 Concrete Opinions Leave a comment

A few of my favorite new releases this week, including the complete version of Bjork’s ambitious iPhone and iPad app/LP. Enjoy.

Björk//Biophilia

For fans of: The Sugarcubes, The Knife, Kate Bush, iamamiwhoami, Fever Ray
Key tracks: Cosmogony, Crystalline, Moon

Casiokids//Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

For fans of: The New Wine, Datarock, Pony the Pirate, FM Belfast
Key tracks: Olympiske Leker, Dresinen, Det haster!, Golden Years

Future Islands//On The Water

For fans of: Active Child, Youth Lagoon, WU LYF, Double Dagger
Key tracks: The Great Fire, Balance, Give Us The Wind, Before The Bridge

High Places//Original Colors

For fans of: The Ruby Suns, Here We Go Magic, Soft Circle, Lucky Dragons
Key tracks: Year Off, Ahead Stop, Dry Lake, The Pull

James Blake//Enough Thunder EP

For fans of: Jamie xx, Mount Kimbie, Joy Orbison, SBTRKT
Key tracks: A Case of You (Joni Mitchell Cover), Fall Creek Boys Choir, Enough Thunder

Icarus Himself//Career Culture

For fans of: Woodsman, Laarks, Golden Ages, Sleeping in the Aviary
Key tracks: Wake Up, On Your Side, Half Moon Eyes, Mornings At the Bar

Radiohead//TKOL RMX 1234567

For fans of: Sigur Rós, Portishead, SBTRKT, Thom Yorke
Key tracks: Lotus Flower (SBTRKT RMX), Little By Little (Caribou RMX), Separator (Four Tet RMX), Bloom (Jamie xx Rework)

Still Corners//Creatures of an Hour

For fans of: Blouse, Memoryhouse, Veronica Falls, Gauntlet Hair
Key tracks: Endless Summer, Circulars, Cuckoo, Into the Trees

2011, music, on repeat

[on repeat] Oh Land//Bloodbuzz Ohio

October 10, 2011 Concrete Opinions Leave a comment

Danish singer-songwriter Oh Land (aka Nanna Øland Fabricius) recently dropped quite the impressive cover of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. Just as Mr Little Jeans was able to take Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” and make it her own, Oh Land does just that. The original’s guitar has been replaced with light synths, and along with some subtle electric beats and Nanna’s dreamy vocals, a solid cover is born. In fact, if the original wasn’t already such a favorite of mine, I could see myself believing this to be it. I’m in love with this track right now and it’s most definitely a keeper (I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned up on this year’s 31 Days of Good).

♫ Oh Land – Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National Cover) ♫

If you have yet to check out Oh Land’s self-titled LP, which was released earlier this year, or her debut LP Fauna, what exactly are you waiting for?!

For more Oh Land:
ohlandmusic.com
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2011

iSad

October 7, 2011 Concrete Opinions Leave a comment

Now that the shock from Wednesday’s loss has somewhat wore off, I’ve started to reflect a bit. Say what you will about Apple, but you can’t deny the impact the company, and more importantly the main man behind the company, has had on not just technology, but entertainment as well (i dare you to say you’re not a pixar fan).

I’m sad for Steve’s family and friends…it’s never easy to lose a loved one. I’m sad I won’t get to watch another “Stevenote” address…nobody else can rock the faded blue jeans and black turtle neck like he did. I’m sad because the world lost one of it’s most talented visionaries…i’ll always wonder what else he had up his sleeve.

I for one am proud to say that I have never owned a PC. I still have my families first computer — the Macintosh II. The first time I ever surfed the net at home was on the original, lime green iMac G3. The computer I took to college, and used for my entire undergrad, was an iMac DV. My graduation present was the original intel core duo MacBook (which got me through grad school and i’m writing this post with now). I used the same MacBook at work until I convinced my boss to buy a 24” iMac for my office (we ended up buying 2 for the office, 2 for my house, 1 for my boss, 1 for my asst, and 1 MacBook Pro thrown in for good measure…where’s my commission?). I remember buying the original iPod shuffle because it was the only one I could afford and I still use it to this day. I’m happily obsessed with my iPhone and my mother-in-law’s iPad. Needless to say, i kinda, sort of like Apple.

Am I worried that Apple will falter without Steve’s guidance? Not one bit. Steve was obviosouly a smart and talented individual, and maybe one-of-a-kind, but he surrounded himself with a whole lot of smart and talented people. In other words, Steve had a contingency plan and I really believe Steve’s too respected by the Apple community for them not to continue succeeding. Out of respect for their fallen captain, I expect Apple to walk tall.

And one more thing…

Thank you Steve. You will be missed.