The Last Drop

San Francisco summer is in full swell – clouds, cold, and rain. Horrible for marathon training. Perfect for staying cozy in bed and finding new music. And find I have! A brief rundown of what to do if you too are stuck at home on a rainy day:

Love: Still Fighting
My newest (soon to be reviewed) music crushes, Thao & Mirah, do a rather convincing cover of Pat Benetar’s Love is a Battlefield right here in the Bay Area.  Peep the video. And listen to the rest of their recording session on The Bay Bridged.

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Rooftop parties with Spike Jonze directing a collaboration between YoYo Ma and hip hop dancers? Please, God let this be true?! And it is.

Lil Buck looks down right ethereal. Matched with the cello, it’s hard not to watch again and again. So enjoy, multiple times. And please do invite me to the next one of these fundraising events. I will gladly eat your cheese tray.

Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes – The second real album review of 2011. And what a pick. I guess I can say  that I am holding off until I hear something that is worth listening to. And, I confess, this album has been on repeat. I will dispense with the inevitable up front: long live Swedish pop! Good. It’s out of the way. Outside of the obvious genetics that pave the way to at least a decent recording, Lykke Li takes a rather unexpected turn towards the heavy. Which, if you judge her assets by her debut Youth Novels, would be a stretch at best of her talents and strengths.  Guess she was hiding this crap in the backroom the whole time. I’m glad she decided to let it out to the world, ’cause it’s a pretty rad follow up and is bound to have staying power.

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Das Racist, Shut Up, Dude/ Sit Down, Man –  Hmmm…I suppose we were overdue for a renaissance in college trained rappers. Ever since Talib and Kanye dropped out, we haven’t heard mention of college tinged rhyming making a real dent in hip hop. If Vampire Weekend can take music by storm by marrying the ivy league with African rhythms, why not use this formula (nee gimmick) for hip hop? Thus the rise of Das Racist. What’s not to like about the concept – met at requisite liberal arts school, all minorities , fans of pop culture and obscure literature with a well developed elitist sense of humor (try not to chuckle about a Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell…)? A perfect storm for the indie world to embrace. Even if for a blink in time. Well, that blink has lasted much longer than anyone anticipated – I mean, these dudes were everywhere when I was in Austin, a good 2 years after Combo Pizza Hut blew up – and they seem poised to last even longer. And in spite of their presumptive, jerkishness, I may look forward to their next work if it follows suite from their two first efforts.

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Day 2. Much better. And a lot longer. 11 more bands. A star sighting (or two). And my first breakfast taco.  Let’s get to the rundown.

Who Did I See
Diamond Rings (1 song , but that was enough)
Doomtree
Das Racist
The Cults
James Blake
tUne yArDs
Matt & Kim (ne Odd Future in the background…)
Who Made Who
The Chain Gang of 1974
French Horn Rebellion
Miami Horrors
Flosstradamus

I know. It WAS a lot. It felt like a lot. And there were definitely highlights (and lowlights) to the day.

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And so I did it. I finally fulfilled the life dream (my dreams are pretty attainable, I know…) of going to Austin and seeing lots and lots and lots of music in a impossibly short time span otherwise known as South by Southwest. Day 1 was filled with set up and planning. Didn’t see as many artists as I would have liked, but set myself up for a grand old weekend. The recap as follows: Read the rest of this entry »

Nostalghia, I am Robot, Hear Me Glitch – It seems like everybody is getting bit by the electronic bug these days. True, that’s the beauty of technology – increasing accessibility to the masses and inviting talent and ideas to come rushing forth. But technology also has the power to mask deficiencies or provide a crutch instead of a platform for development. Nostalghia seem to be falling into the latter category, not without hope towards redemption. Read the rest of this entry »

James Blake, James Blake – Oh, to be young again! Well, at least barely legal. And overflowing with talent. A rare combination these days. Unless you count whatever Justin Bieber has as “talent” (a shag haircut does not a career make). Read the rest of this entry »

That ugly, nasty rumor is true. My most recent Top Drop of 2010 is calling it quits. Figures. When you finally hit your peak (in my eyes) why not quit?

In spite of the disasterous bad news for good music, LCD Soundsystem is leaving us nice gifts on the way out. Since most of the nation cannot make it to MSG for the final show (but The Strokes can…), we can take solace in their last on air performance on the Nation.

Peep the videos:

Colbert Interview

“I Can Change” performance