i rock i roll

These Animals!!!

2012-01-27T16:37:00.002-05:00

These Animals are a four piece band from Brooklyn who make lovely 60s inspired pop music. The four creators of this artful music met, appropriately enough, at art school and they have released two solid EPs in the last two years, including 2011's Souvenir Sessions. If you're in NYC, catch them Saturday night at Bowery Electric.

It's also worth mentioning that they offered me gift certificates to the Olive Garden in exchange for this blog post. While I am a HUGE fan of the Olive Garden, I wrote this strictly because I liked their music a lot (ok... well the gift certificates certainly didn't hurt either. Unlimited salad and breadsticks is a totally acceptable form of payola in my book and I admire their creativity).

Song: Souvenir

Song: Four to the Floor

You Won't

2012-01-18T11:22:00.002-05:00

Let's break it down. It's 2012. Apparently mainstream music has made an amazing "comeback" - however that is possible for something that is "mainstream" I find questionable - and the music blog? Dead. RIP. But then along comes a band like Cambridge Massachusett's natives You Won't to reassure me that there are still musicians out there for us bloggers to embrace. Bands that are keeping things simple while still challenging us and who don't need David Guetta to make an impact (not that I have anything against David Guetta, his stuff is mad catchy). With their full-length debut, "Skeptic Goodbye," out Feb 14th on Old Flame Records (home of local faves Dinowalrus and Cloud Nothings), high school friends Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri have set out to do just that.

Stemming from home-recording and cross-country tape sharing collaborations, there's a little (and sometimes a lot) of twang on knee-slapping sing-along tracks like "Television" and just as much gentle melody and creative twists and turns on single "Ten Years Old." Overall, there is definitely a message of a simplistic innocence and childhood nostalgia to their music that as a listener you can easily get lost in, and that this industry has, in some ways, either forgotten or lost some appreciation for. Is the blog dead? Has mainstream won out? I'd be a skeptic to say goodbye at this point too.

Upcoming shows:
2/15/2012 - Portland, ME - 131 Washington (w/Artie Appleseed, Mango Floss, Heavy on the Juice) - 8pm
2/16/2012 - Cambridge, MA - TT The Bear’s Place (w/Friendly People, Slowdim, The Suitcase Junket) - 8pm
2/17/2012 - New Haven, CT - Underbrook Coffeehouse at Yale University (w/Laurelin Kruse) - 8pm
2/18/2012 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall (w/Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Lucius, Julia Read) - 8pm

Song: Ten Years Old

Song: Television

(But you probably will)

I Rock I Roll's FAVORITE Albums of 2011: #1-10!!! WOO HOO.

2011-12-29T14:26:00.001-05:00

Just when you thought maybe - just maybe - I would just post a top 25-11 favorite albums and come back to this in February or maybe never - HERE IT IS YOU GUYS.

Also this blog has now been around for close to 9 years. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? How old AM I (ahem not that old)? Thanks to the five people or so who still read this, and to the great bands and awesome publicists who email me even though I don't always (ever) write most of you back. My gmail still reaches maximum capacity every month so it's good that you're kicking ass at your jobs and fighting the good fight for the attention you/your artists deserve.

Some people say music blogs are dead or dying and maybe that's true to some degree, but as long as I'm still listening to and falling in love with music and having fun doing so I'll still be here sharing/rambling in some form or another.. until I get really old and have to turn this into a mommy blog.

Just kidding.

1. We Are Augustines - Rise Ye Sunken Ships

SONG: Chapel Song

2. The Horrors - Skying

SONG: Still Life

3. The Antlers - Burst Apart

SONG: Parentheses

4. Caveman - Coco Beware

SONG: Thankful

5. Tally Hall - Good & Evil

SONG: You & Me

6. Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation

SONG: Cannons

7. Cold Cave - Cherish The Light Years

SONG: Villians Of The Moon

8. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

SONG: Austere

9. Milagres - Glowing Mouth

SONG: Gentle Beast

10. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

SONG: Holocene

Also, if you have Spotify (and if you don't, you should!) you can listen to all of the albums #1-25 on this list in full. Hooray and thanks for reading!

I Rock I Roll's FAVORITE Albums of 2011: #15-11

2011-12-20T20:05:00.005-05:00

Getting close to the top 10 here:

11. Hooray For Earth - True Loves

SONG: No Love

12. James Blake - James Blake

SONG: Limit To Your Love

13. The Rapture - In The Grace Of Your Love

SONG: Children

14. Oh Land - Oh Land

SONG: Wolf & I

15. Holy Ghost - Holy Ghost

SONG: Wait and See

I Rock I Roll's FAVORITE Albums of 2011: #16-20

2011-12-15T10:56:00.002-05:00

16. The Dodos - No Color

SONG: When Will You Go Home

17. Das Racist - Relax

SONG: Girl

18. Boy & Bear - Moonfire

SONG: Feeding Line

19. Tom Vek - Leizure Seizure

SONG: Someone Loves You

20. Generationals - Actor-Caster

SONG: Greenleaf

I Rock I Roll's FAVORITE Albums of 2011: #21-25

2011-12-13T17:25:00.005-05:00

Seriously, it's weird, but this list was in some ways harder to build for me than any other year.

Was it that there was so much amazing new music this year? I'm going to say.. kind of but not really. You'll see a lot of my top 10 list is going to be made up of personal favorites and everything else was pretty DARN GOOD. Not mind blowing. Not 'meh' inducing. What I'm saying is: it was a year of good music and these are my favorite albums.

Please note I'm not a paid music critic and I have a personal life so I have not actually listened from beginning to end to every album that came out this year. And I bet you haven't either (unless you are a paid music critic and in that case... how is that going for you?). These are the albums that are my favorites and maybe will become your favorites too. Here we go with 21-25!

21. Yuck - Yuck

SONG: The Wall

22. Acrylics - Lives & Treasure

SONG: Nightwatch

23.Kids of 88 - Sugarpills

SONG: Ribbons Of Light

24. Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines

SONG: Please Ask For Help

25. Yellow Ostrich - The Mistress

SONG: Whale

Travel back to 2010 here:
2010 Albums #1-10
2010 Albums #11-15
2010 Albums #16-20
2010 Albums #21-25

MillionYoung: EasyNow Video

2011-12-05T15:05:00.002-05:00

Remember that time you danced around your laundry room seductively wearing nothing but a one piece bathing suit? Laundry days will do that to you.

Topspin has a new MillionYoung Remix EP, which you can download here. MillionYoung - hailing from Southern Florida - will be realeasing a second full length album in early 2012 to satisfy all of your electronic dance needs.

The Big Pink Return! New Album, Video for Single "Hit The Ground (Superman)"

2011-11-21T10:52:00.002-05:00

Future This, the second album from The Big Pink, will be released on 4AD on 16/17th January 2012.

The Big Pink - Hit The Ground (Superman)

LITTLE RED

2011-11-08T16:44:00.002-05:00

My CMJ this year was pretty uneventful to say the least. Or maybe underwhelming is a better word. It seems as though the entire "festival" has become far more of a fun social networking activity than an opportunity to get turned on to a lot of great talent. Not to say that I didn't see some awesome bands (the showcase I put on with Battering Room and Hilly Town was full of them!) and a lot of the new artists I saw were good, but not really great or OH MY GOD I NEED TO TELL EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM AND THEIR MOM'S BLOG about this RIGHT NOW. So it goes, I guess.

One of the new artists that I DID see and have kept on repeat since the fest is Aussie band Little Red. This quintet of charming gents play fun, light-hearted indie pop rock with just the right amount of layered harmony make your feet tap and perhaps your heart quiver, too. They just released their 2010 album Midnight Remember stateside October 25th on True Panther (a single from it already went gold in Australia) so hopefully this means lots more trips stateside are soon to come.

Little Red - Rock It

Youth Lagoon

2011-10-27T10:52:00.003-04:00

22 year old Trevor Powers has the kind of sensitive withdrawn genius that makes for immensely compelling bedroom music projects - and that's exactly what you find in Youth Lagoon's debut album The Year of Hibernation. Powers wrote the album about all of the things he has a hard time expressing because of his anxiety - talking about it, he felt he wouldn't make sense to people, but musical expression was the perfect outlet for him.

"For my whole life I've dealt with extreme anxiety." he says. "Not anxiety about passing a test or somewhat normal things, but weird.. bizarre things. Things that only I know. I sometimes feel like I'm literally being eaten up inside. So I started writing these songs. Not just songs about my anxiety, but about my past and my present. Songs about memories, and all those feelings that those bring. I know that if I can be honest about what is inside my mind, there will be others that will be able to relate to it."

Personally, Traver Powers and my 16 year old self would definitely have more than a lot in common, which might explain why I love his album so much. But even if you can't relate, we should all be glad that he has found such a perfect outlet for his self expression - it really is a very special gift.

Youth Lagoon plays at Mercury Lounge in NYC on November 14th and 15th and The Year Of Hibernation is out now on Fat Possum records.

Youth Lagoon - Posters

What Blog?! CMJ 2012 Showcase presented by I Rock I Roll, HillyTown and Battering Room

2011-10-06T13:42:00.002-04:00

Here it is, you guys. My CMJ showcase this year, presented with the always awesome Battering Room and HillyTown!

Head on over to Facebook for all of the details and I'll be previewing each of the artists playing over the next couple of weeks.

New Videos from Neon Indian & Fanfarlo!!

2011-09-13T10:55:00.002-04:00

Neon Indian "Polish Girl" from their sophomore effort Era Extraña, available now

Fanfarlo "Replicate" from forthcoming album (title TBD, to be released in 2012)

NEW YORK: Do you have your Tally Hall tickets yet?

2011-08-17T16:03:00.002-04:00

The video above is of Tally Hall singing "Because" by The Beatles with tour mates Casey Shea and Speak, and it's just a lovely sampling of the special magic the band will bring to their upcoming Bowery Ballroom tour date. Tickets are still available but their Boston show just sold out so act fast!

The MYSTERY Box - Part 3: Watch the video at 1pm EST!

2011-08-15T11:12:00.004-04:00

Just a friendly reminder that at 1pm EST, Strange Talk will be premiering their video for "Climbing Walls" on their YouTube channel. You can click through the video every day to find new FREE ITEMS for you to win! And yes, that's right, the video will update daily so if you see something you definitely want, but you can't get it today, make sure you come back tomorrow. Smart, right?

Also check back here later this week to win all of the fun Mystery Box items that I have to giveaway to one lucky reader, see behind the scenes info on the creation of this video, and get more information on the top secret brand that made this entire concept video possible.

SAVED BY THE BELLHOUSE 90s party- Tonight!

2011-08-13T10:59:00.002-04:00

Hey hey - just a reminder that I'm djing Saved By The Bellhouse - an ALL 90s party!!!! - tonight. I'll be in the main room playing between the amazing sets of cover band Bayside Tigers. I first saw them play back in February at the first version of this event and seriously they blew me away - I've never seen a group of girls go more insane for pretty much anything than their cover of "Semi-Charmed Life."

Info and link to buy tickets here!!

The MYSTERY Box - Part 2: WHAT IS IN THE BOX & WHY

2011-08-12T15:29:00.004-04:00

To continue yesterday's story:

Max and I tore open the second mystery box to reveal... a wild smorgasbord of fun and funny items. Being the good sport that he is (I swear I didn't pay him to do this or anything!) Max happily modeled all of the items simultaneously. I don't know if I necessarily recommend this look, but the awesome news is that everything pictured above COULD be yours and more! Aside from the remarkably 80s-tastic pink cropped top shirt and leggings combo, and those spiffy tube socks, there are also two particular items of note:

SWEET RAYBAN WAYFARERS! Pretty much a requirement for occupying anywhere near the vicinity of the 11211 area code, and also pretty much look great on EVERYONE.

A SUPER CUTE 8 gb iPod Nano! I can't even deal with how tiny these things are and they clip to pretty much anything and everything.

This is just the beginning, however. While I'm going to be giving away all of the items above to one lucky IRIR reader, there is a way to win ALL of the items above plus other crazy things like bikes. BIKES! + other free swaggy swag galore. And what do you have to do? WATCH A MUSIC VIDEO AND CLICK ON STUFF.

Seriously.

The video is by Australian indie pop band Strange Talk for their new single Climbing Walls. It will be released on Monday 8/15 - but you can RSVP RIGHT NOW to make sure you are one of the first people to know when it goes live - because to get the free items from the video you have to be QUICK.

Let me be completely transparent here... do I know anything about this band? No not really, but they just released their debut EP and have been compared to Phoenix and Passion Pit so I'm pretty down with that. What I do love, however, are creative marketing strategies and I REALLY love free stuff, so I definitely recommend checking this out.

Disclaimer: I was sent all of the items in this post for free. The items I am giving away are not identical to the ones shown (they are unopened and brand spanking new). The opinions in this post are totally my own. Love you FCC.

Boy and Bear make Brooklyn swoon, release debut LP 'Moonfire'

2011-08-12T14:55:00.003-04:00

Wednesday night I was a little bit more than giddy to finally get to see Aussie five-piece Boy and Bear play to a fairly packed room at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory. I've been hardcore crushing on their EP With Emperor Antartica for months now, but had missed their last US jaunt and was bummed about it to say the least. But finally everything came together, and they definitely did NOT disappoint. If you're a fan of bands like Local Natives and boys who rock jorts and cute accents to boot, Boy & Bear are more than just a little up your alley.

Their debut LP, entitled Moonfire, was released stateside this week, a definite must listen. With this much buzz and talent, there's little doubt in my mind that Boy & Bear will continue stealing hearts here in the US on another tour jaunt very soon.

Boy & Bear - Mexican Mavis

Oh Land: White Nights video

2011-08-11T16:44:00.002-04:00

What the cray cray, Oh Land. I love this.

The MYSTERY Box - Part 1

2011-08-11T15:49:00.002-04:00

One of the perks of being a blogger is that sometimes awesome stuff happens to you. After writing this site for 8 years, I have been fortunate enough to experience amazing concerts, travel to new places and meet some of my favorite bands. I also get a lot of mail, both digital and real, full of interesting goodies for me to sample and hopefully fall in love with. Some of the stuff I get is weirdly random, some of it is just plain crazy, but it's all in good fun, which leads me to:

The other day I came to work to find a mystery package had been delivered to my office. It was a GIANT box which took up an entire aisle of space. A person could have fit into it - like my coworker Max, for example. Max, much like me, LOVES free mysterious stuff. He doesn't write a music blog (although he has about 50+ tumblr secret tumblr accounts - I keep asking and he won't tell me what they are - probably something way cooler than Hipster Puppies) though, so I decided to let him in on the fun.

When the mystery box arrived, we tore it open immediately to find a significantly smaller but still exciting mystery box inside. Behold Max's excitement:

Tomorrow come back to find out what is in the box, and how YOU can win all of the stuff in it (and MORE!). Because it's no fun being a blogger if I can't share with you guys too.

Here's the story of a band called HONDURAS

2011-08-09T14:53:00.003-04:00

It has been a slow summer, you guys. Pretty much the calm before the (gulp) CMJ shit storm I suppose. I have a lot of inbox wading to do, although all I really feel like doing lately is eat ice cream and post photos of cats on Tumblr. What can you do.

Anyways, let's talk about one good thing that has hit my nearly maxed-out mailbag lately, which is music from a very new Brooklyn band called Honduras.

Here's the background I could dig up: Formed in February of this year, their story starts when Patrick (the lead singer) moved to New York to be a college basketball player and then transitioned into male modeling and Tokyo living (this happens all the time, right?). Whilst in Toyko, he began collaborating musically across the distance with his childhood friend Tyson, putting demos together via Garageband. Upon finding himself back in NYC and over his modeling days, Patrick recruited his non-model college friends Nick and Ben who he used to rock out with in a basement, convinced Tyson to leave Chicago behind for current scene-mecca Bushwick and Honduras was born.

While this may not be the most unconventional friends-and-former-models form a band story ever, I can't deny that I enjoyed their music immediately upon first listen and several of the songs from their debut ep have been stuck in my head for days now. Let's see how this story evolves, shall we? I'm looking forward to it.

Honduras - You're On

Check out more tunes from their debut EP, Ready, No over at the Honduras Bandcamp page.

HURTS perform "Wonderful Life" live at Dot to Dot Festival

2011-07-18T17:17:00.002-04:00

    

Just sharing a little HURTS love. WHY will they not come play in the US, I ask you? You can view more videos from this performance here.

Dream Diary debut first music video!

2011-07-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

This video is for the single EL LISSITZKY from Brooklyn band Dream Diary's debut album YOU ARE THE BEAT out now on Kanine Records. It is also:

PRETTY MUCH THE MOST ADORABLE.

IMAGINARY CITIES

2011-07-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

Occasionally - albiet it mostly rarely these days - I will venture out to see a band that I literally know nothing about. I will usually try to listen to one or two tracks of theirs beforehand, but my time these days for extended research is rare. I will say though, that when I do take these "leaps of faith" (which I at one point called a JOB) I am often very pleasantly surprised at the outcome. This was happily the case when I decided to stop into Knitting Factory one night a few weeks ago by myself at a publicists request to check out Imaginary Cities.

The band, who hail from Winnipeg, captivated their first NYC crowd ever - that might even be an understatement. Duo Marti Sarbit and Rusty Matyas pack a one two punch of stellar vocals (she blew me away, honestly) over tunes both soulful and undeniably catchy. Add on the fact that 1. they have been together for only a year or so 2. they have opened for acts like Ra Ra Riot, the Weakerthans, The Dears, Young Galaxy and The Besnard Lakes, and 3. they were handpicked by Black Francis to open for THE PIXIES on their recent Doolittle Canadian Tour - and I'm pretty sure you cannot deny that Imaginary Cities are going some very real places.

Their debut album, Temporary Resident, is out now on Hidden Pony Records and you can sample a track below.

Imaginary Cities - Hummingbird

Caveman: CoCo Beware Album Release, Tour Dates, New Track

2011-06-27T15:16:00.003-04:00

One of my most recent local favorites, Brooklyn band Caveman, have announced the release of their much anticipated debut full length album, CoCo Beware (out Sept 13 digitally and Nov 15th physically)! Below is a brand new track for you to sample, as well as the full track listing and tour dates! Catch this five piece live when they come to your city, as they are going to BLOW UP in the year to come.

Caveman - Old Friend

Coco Beware
Tracklisting:
01. A Country’s King of Dreams
02. Decide
03. My Time
04. Vampirer
05. Old Friend
06. Great Life
07. December 28th
08. Easy Water
09. Thankful
10. My Room

Upcoming Caveman tour dates:
* w/ The War On Drugs
08/06 - Montauk, NY @ The Surf Lodge
08/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's *
08/19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Cameo *
08/21 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
08/22 – Burlington, VT @ Monkey Bar
08/23 - Montreal, CAN @ Casa del Popolo *
08/24 - Toronto, CAN @ Drake Hotel *
08/25 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig *
08/26 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern *
08/27 - Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi *
08/28 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *
08/30 - St. Louis, MO @ The Biliken Club *
08/31 - Lexington-Fayette, KY @ Cosmic Charlie's *
09/01 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe *
09/02 - Washington, DC @ The Red Place *
09/15 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (Album Release)

The Joy Formidable - Video for 'A Heavy Abacus' + Digital Live EP

2011-06-22T13:10:00.002-04:00

The band will also be releasing a digital live EP on July 12th. If you have ever had the pleasure of seeing them live, you know this will be a treat.

Tracklisting:

Roarities EP

1. Whirring - Innerparty System Remix
2. A Heavy Abacus - Live at Koko
3. Llaw = Wall - Live at Koko
4. Austere - Naked And Famous Remix
5. The Greatest Light is The Greatest Shade - Live at Koko

The Antlers debut video for "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out"

2011-06-17T14:59:00.003-04:00

Love this video, song, and wow if their new album Burst Apart isn't hands down going to be one of my favorites of the year (and I was not, previously, a hardcore Antler's devotee like some music bloggers around here). Also, have you ever had a dream where your teeth were falling out? Those are THE WORST.

WATERS: US Debut + NORTHSIDE FEST Ticket Giveaway

2011-06-17T12:45:00.003-04:00

I haven't been able to stop listening to the debut single from WATERS (the new project of Van Pierszalowski,former lead singer of now dunzo Port O'brien) all day, and for good reason: it's a one-two punch combo of an excellent hook and low-fi 90's style awesomeness that I gravitate to like a bee to honey. Sweet! And even better is that WATERS will make their US debut at the IROCKIROLL, Flavorpill, and Bellhouse Northside Festival Showcase tomorrow night at Cameo Gallery.

WATERS - For The One

Want to come rock out and have some bragging rights to boot?

Just follow me on Twitter and tweet the following before 8pm tonight!

"Hey @IROCKIROLL I want on the list for your #NorthsideFest #NorthsideBFFS showcase at Cameo tomorrow http://bit.ly/jOMVNP!"

Good luck and see you all tomorrow!

Audio from the FUTURE: JBL On Air Wireless Speakers Review!

2011-06-14T20:25:00.000-04:00

Doing what I do for a living, I'm often tasked with being able to foresee trends and innovations before they actually happen. So when the fancy speaker making folks of JBL decided to ship me their On Air Wireless speakers to review, there was no way I could say no (free stuff + the fuuuuuuture = happy dork). I've spent a few weeks using the speakers now and trying out wireless music streaming for the first time, debuting them for my friends at a Memorial Day BBQ which would be the ultimate test. Below is what I liked, what I didn't quite like, and what the future holds for you.

What I Liked:

The design. OBVIOUSLY. This is like the Darth Vadar of wireless speakers. You could put it anywhere in your apartment and people would think it was the coolest droid of all time. When it arrived at my office there were a lot of "Oooooooos" and "AHHHhhhhs" while I harnessed the force of wireless music technology (and I work in a digital media office so people here know their stuff).

It's lightweight. Like a feather. Easy to carry around from place to place. In NYC portability is clutch.

Crazy easy to program. I figured out pretty much all of the controls without even having to pick up the instruction manual. You could give this to your boyfriend who doesn't like to ask for directions and he'd figure this out like a boss. The only thing the booklet didn't tell me when I finally had to refer to it was what I had to adjust in iTunes to make it work properly but I managed to figure that out on my own. If you want, I'll tell you too, for five dollars. Haaa...

The sound quality. Portable speakers, in my previous experience, have all sounded like your music filtered through a megaphone and then dropped into a tin can. Bad bad bad. But no matter what I was playing music off of - iPhone, laptop, the sound was the same and high quality. The speakers have three TRANSDUCERS (doesn't get much more future sounding than that. If it had a flux capacitor I'd think you could time travel with these things) with 360-degree HALO acoustics. Do you know what HALO means? I didn't, but I'm going to tell you right now. Horizontal Acoustic Level Optimization. BOOM.

You can play fun tricks with them. Allow me to illustrate. My boss and I had adjoining offices. I went into his office and put these speakers under his desk. Back in my own office, I slowly cranked the volume on some god awful song (probably Miley Cyrus "Party In The USA" which I MIGHT secretly love. secretly.) and pretty much died laughing as he freaked out about where the music was coming from and faced mocking from our coworkers. Good times all around (please do not get fired).

It has an ALARM clock with dual alarms. This works very well for my boyfriend who is definitely not a fan of my current alarm for which the only wake up option is "ungodly loud siren-esque heart-attack inducing noise" and also not a fan of the "oops I woke up before you and forgot to reset the alarm so you had three minutes to get ready for work later in the day MY BAD" scenario. This way you can set two alarms and wake up to the music of your choice. I don't recommend Miley Cyris "Party In The USA" for this (or DO I?) but you get the idea.

What I didn't like:

Note: This all really came down to what went on when I held the aforementioned Memorial Day BBQ. While I think these speakers are great for personal or at home listening, I really wanted to put them to the test as a party soundsystem.

They just do not get loud enough. I actually had people over twice while trying out these speakers, two groups of different sizes. I really was excited to use the speakers for a party because it meant I could keep my laptop in my room, out of harms (read: drunks) way, while still controlling all of the music. But each time the party reached its peak attendance, the speakers just did not have the oomph necessary to carry over the noise of the crowd and I had to switch to another option. And with the amount of music bloggers I know, the ability to rock out is just essential. You CAN plug other speakers into them, but even then the sound just did not go where it needed to.

And then there is the biggest bummer of all: The sound cuts out. Completely. A lot. I don't necessarily mind this when I'm listening alone at home, but when you are having a party it's like the DJ just spilled redbull all over the turntables and the mood is just DEAD. Heckling happens. It is not pretty. My reasoning for why this might be happening is two fold:

1. I live in Brooklyn in a densely populated area with a lot of apartments near by (Manhattan would likely be worse). As such, even though my wireless network is closed, there could still be interference that you woudln't necessarily experience if you lived in say - Nebraska. People of Nebraska, I envy you here. I also live on the top floor of my building so that may have something to do with it as well.

2. Wireless technology - still a ways to go. This is the FUTURE, people. Maybe it's just not perfected yet. I still can't teleport myself places, so I figure everything is a work in progress. The first VHS player probably destroyed a lot of tapes, right?

Bottom line: I can't for the life of me figure out WHEN the disruptions are taking place ie: what is causing them. I've tried moving around incase I'm physically blocking the signal myself (that is a fun dance) and moving the speaker too. But my apartment seriously is NOT that big so I don't understand how having my computer in one room and the speaker in the other would allow for that much signal disruption. Sometimes it just cuts in and out, other times the whole song would stop for 30 seconds or more. It made me super sad, to say the least.

Those are my only negatives, but I know they might be pretty significant. I guess the conclusion is this: These are some really really cool looking speakers that - when they do work - are rather awesome. They will make you look cool in front of your design and tech savvy friends, let you play mad pranks on your boss and allow you wake up at a different time and to different music (MILEY!) than your significan other, possibly saving your relationship from ruin. Ruin! They may not work well at parties but you can definitely have fun with them at home (this can also be said for several of my ex-boyfriends badumbumching!).

The last caveat here is the price tag: a somewhat hefty 350 dollars. But look, if you have already invested in an Apple product or two, you KNOW you want to look even cooler. Don't lie. Accessorize yourself pronto. Be cool. Be in the future.

JBL sent me this product for review. The opinions above are not paid for and are my own, and probably also ridiculous.

Kids of 88 Remix Deluka "OMFG"

2011-06-14T15:49:00.003-04:00

Loooooove how dreamy this is. Secretly I hope they decided to do this at our SXSW party back in March.

Idolator has the track for free download.

Tally Hall - NEW Album "Good & Evil" out in ONE WEEK! Tour Dates!

2011-06-14T12:30:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite parts of having a music blog over the past 8 years is definitely the people I've met along the way - including several people who I now call some of my closest friends. Amongst that group are the five fine gentleman of the rock-pop band Tally Hall (if you don't know how I feel about them as a band yet, you either have never read this blog until this very day or live under a rock). Over the past six years since we first met, the band rose to prominence as a much beloved indie band (seriously some of the most devoted fans I have ever encountered) ready to leap off the college circuit on to big big things.

Those big things translated into moving to Brooklyn from their hometown in Michigan (yay!) a signing to major label machine and my former place of employment, Atlantic Records. And there in lies what one might take to be the "Evil" bit of their sophomore release which has been more than a few years coming - "Good & Evil." Because while the band was eager and ready to write and record some of the best, more mature and intricate and meaningful, songs of their career (the Good?) - the label had some decidedly more lofty plans. Radio hits! Radio hits! Radio hits! Etc. Etc. and vomit. Because we all know RADIO hits means so damn much these days in the world of growing and nurturing indie talent... sigh. Time went by and frustrations grew.

In the end, while fans waited patiently and impatiently all around to hear something new from the group, the band finally managed to take back control of their musical careers and most importantly the album they had spent so much time creating together. Good & Evil will finally be released - next week! - on the label that did nurture them - QUACK Records. Icing on the cake, a tour is also planned this summer with support from some great local Brooklyn acts (dates are below).

I've had a copy of Good & Evil for a while now, and have held it close to me even when fearing it would never see the light of day. Because that would have been a huge shame - it is an really excellent piece of pop/rock mastery. Old school fans will be excited to hear some of their favorite live tracks such as "Turn The Lights Out" and "Misery Fell" in recorded form - the album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, Belle & Sebastian) - while new gems including "Out In The Twilight," ballad "Who You Are" and endlessly catchy single "You & Me" will delight anyone whose ears love well crafted, multi-layered pop. There are definitely some more experimental and dare I say psychedelic moments on Good & Evil as well as the band has grown beyond the mini-mall goofball antics of their youth and into much more appropriately growth up territory.

In the end I couldn't be happier for my friends and especially for their fans who have waited so long - it was definitely worth it, I'd say. And if you haven't ever listened to Tally Hall, there is no time like the present. Pre-order your copy of Good & Evil here and it will be available on June 21st in CD, digital and vinyl formatting.

Tally Hall - You & Me

One last night - if you happen to be a Tally Hall fan, their drummer Ross and I DJ together frequently around Brooklyn. Below is a flier for our upcoming 90s dance party SLAMMERTIME at Union Hall, which will be one of our last before he heads off on tour. Come on out!

Northside Showcase: NORTHSIDEBFFS!

2011-06-14T09:30:00.001-04:00

THIS is happening this weekend as part of Northside Fest 2011 - yep that's right I am once again excited and honored to be presenting a fun filled music showcase alongside my friends at Flavorpill and The Bellhouse. We have curated a stealth line up of some of Brooklyn's up and coming finest, and Russ and I will also be attempting to find that delicate balance between Witchhouse and Hall & Oates in our first duo DJ set.

You can get more information and buy advanced tickets here (of course, it's FREE for all Northside badge holders. There are also definitely a lot of other great showcases coming up

The Horrors: NEW ALBUM. I love this.

2011-06-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

When they first emerged onto the scene a few years ago, I was definitely not a huge fan of UK band The Horrors. I thought they were too unpolished, unfocused and overly styled to say the least. Sure they had an interesting look (don't even get me started on the number of teenage girls with Tumblr accounts devoted entirely to photographic imagery of these boys), but their musical output just didn't seem to have the same prowess. I went to see them live once, at Pianos, and ended up leaving about halfway through while one of them was attempting to dangle from a pipe on the ceiling.

However, bands can always evolve and when Primary Colours was released in 2008 I found myself very pleasantly surprised upon first listen and several tracks quickly became regularly repeated favorites. This all brings us to today, when I am writing to tell you that the first single from The Horror's third release, Skying (out in the US on July 26th) is completely excellent.

Check it out below and keep fingers crossed that the rest of this effort is of this quality. It looks like the Horrors have grown up quite nicely indeed.

The Horrors - Still Life

Tom Vek Video: World Of Doubt

2011-05-26T15:48:00.001-04:00

So. Excited. About. This. Still.

Deli Magazine presents the Brooklyn Emerging Artists Fest (B.E.A.F!)

2011-05-23T19:23:00.003-04:00

For anyone looking to get a jump start on their local music appreciation in advance of Northside Festival next month, The Deli Magazine has the perfect event series for you with their first annual Brooklyn Emerging Artists Festival.

This mini-fest features four dates of local artists - including a show by Fang Island on Friday night at Brooklyn Bowl with a DJ set by yours truly! Overall the line ups get two thumbs up for me, especially Thursday night's show at Cameo featuring four bands that I have personally booked for showcases in the past - Invisible Days (formerly Beloved Rogue), Dream Diary, Ravens & Chimes and Dinowalrus.

You can buy tickets to Friday's show here for just 5 bucks, or Brooklyn Bowl is giving away a pair of tickets to a lucky winner.

Fang Island - The Illinois

THE I ROCK I ROLL FRIDAY FIVE!

2011-05-20T20:03:00.002-04:00

Weekly features are effing hard! But please observe that I have now updated this blog with something EVERY DAY THIS WEEK. A sign of the impending rapture? Probably. Either way, at least you'll have some new music to go out to... combine with tequila and everything will be a-okay

xo

Nora

Scattered Trees - Four Days Straight

Hey Champ - Anything At All

Hooray For Earth - True Loves

Times New Viking - Ever Falling In Love

Little Owl - Black On White

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah RETURN! New album 'Hysterical" out in September

2011-05-19T13:16:00.006-04:00

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah / Hysterical from CYHSY on Vimeo.

Hey guys, so Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are putting out their first new album in 4+ years.

HOLD UP WAIT A MINUTE.

I thought they hated each other? I thought they all went off to do other projects and everything was dunzo? Are they "pulling a Strokes?" Does it even matter? In case you recall, I have been a fan of the band since their I guess now somewhat infamous Pianos residency in 2005, and they also played my 24th birthday party which was one of the definite highlights of that decade of my life when it comes to "cool shit that happened to me for no real logical reason." Actually I think I also got mentioned in an article about the band in the same sentence as "Brooklyn Vegan" (file under: things that don't happen anymore).

SO yes, I am very excited that they have decided to carry on and will hopefully come out triumphant on the other end of the hype storm that threatened to swallow them whole.

Their new album, entitled Hysterical will be out on September 20th in the US - check the video above for a very promising preview.

Art Brut - 'Lost Weekend' Video

2011-05-18T13:08:00.003-04:00

Check out the video for the first single from Art Brut's new album Brilliant! Tragic! out May 23rd on Cooking Vinyl/The End Records. Not sure what is going on with Eddie's voice on this track... why so whispery and raspy? The good news is that you can stream the whole album via Paste Magazine right now and he definitely doesn't sound like that on every track.

Catch Art Brut on tour - still one of the most fun live bands around:

May 30 Lexington, London
May 31 Lexington, London
June 1 Lexington, London
June 2 Lexington, London
June 3 Lexington, London
June 15 Chicago, IL - Double Door
June 16 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
June 17 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
June 18 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore
June 20 Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
June 22 Washington, DC - Black Cat
June 23 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Williamsburg

CATCH THIS TOUR: Tidal Arms & Drummers

2011-05-17T11:30:00.002-04:00

I wrote about the so very awesome Tidal Arms last year - and continue to rave about them as they've garnered a lot of very well deserved praise over the last several months with the release their debut album The Sun Exploding and supporting tour with Glassjaw. The other band that makes up this dynamic duo, Drummers, should be familiar to some since it features former members of one of my other favorite New England bands, Pretty & Nice - they play "something like post hard-core" - and play it quite well.

Peep some tunes and tour dates below.

Drummers - Oceans

Tidal Arms - Flooded Meadows

DATES
6|08 - Burlington, VT - 242 Main
6|09 - Boston, MA - Great Scott
6|10 - Pawtucket, RI - Machines With Magnets
6|11 - Brooklyn, NY - The Charleston
6|12 - Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary
6|13 - TBA, NJ - TBA
6|14 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class
6|15 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
6|16 - St. Louis, MO - Lemp Arts Center
6|17 - Louisville, KY - Cahoots
6|18 - Charlotte, NC - Lunchbox Records
6|19 - Baltimore, MD - The Talking Head

Young Adults! Let's rock!

2011-05-16T17:02:00.004-04:00

Funny fact: I have posted 1,234 times on this blog. Until now that is. This post basically throws off the equilibrium of everything but since I've finally got a band to be super excited about, that's just how it is going to have to be. It's also a rainy crapola of a day here in NYC too, so any little burst of enthusiasm is a welcome caveat to my life. Today that burst comes courtesy of Allston, Massachusetts based band Young Adults, a trio of your typically scruffy young boys who create a pretty awesome storm of passionate noise rock.

Their music basically comes at you from all sides, simultaneously enveloping you in waves textured of sound while lulling you into a sweet melodic dream-like state of awesomeness. Personally, I can't wait to see them live as well since I have an inkling that their music translates even better in that environment (preferably somewhere dark, grungy and louuuuud, than it does on a recording.

Speaking of recordings, you can stream their LP on their bandcamp page right now, and if you want to rock your face off live, dates are posted below. Happy Monday!

Young Adults - Campfires

Young Adults - Let Us Out

TOUR DATES:

May 30th @ Great Scott (MA) w/ Girlfriends + Sweet Bulbs + Sore Eros
July 2nd @ Great Scott (MA) w/ Ringo Deathstarr + the Vandelles + Thief Thief
July 26th @ Precinct (MA) Guillermo Sexo [record release] + Young Adults + Night Fruit + Soccer Mom

King Of Spain: Cinco De Mayo!

2011-05-05T14:50:00.004-04:00

Here's a million dollar question: Does your band really have a song called "Cinco De Mayo" that you email bloggers cleverly about ON May 5th oooooor did you just rename any old song "Cinco De Mayo" and email it to bloggers on May 5th hoping for coverage because hey... that's some sweet easy content right there?

This song actually has the words "cinco de mayo" in the chorus so I'm going to let Tampa Florida based band King of Spain have this one. And it's also actually a pretty cute song, even though I'm not entirely sure what it has to do with Cinco De Mayo - it does kind of seem like it might be about drinking (margaritas woo!) except for the part where someone gets on the interstate so let's hope not actually. Unless the person wrote the song about being a designated driver on Mexican Independence Day, in which case cheers to you buddy. Now I'm probably just reading way too much into this.... so yeah. Here is the song, and a Happy Cinco De Mayo to you!

King Of Spain - Cinco De Mayo

Spring Fools - New Music from Matt Pond PA!

2011-04-25T15:06:00.003-04:00

It's spring, you guys. Bunnies and sunshine and rain(bows) for all! And this new song from a BK group I heart - Matt Pond PA - will certainly put a spring (ha!) in your step to say the least.

Entitled "Love To Get Used," the track is from their new Spring Fools EP which they recently recording in Austin, Texas. Clearly it looks like the warmer climate definitely lent a boost of pep to the band's recording session and an infusion of southern charm which really translates into this pop-y offering. Love it.

Matt Pond PA - Love To Get Used

TOM VEK IS BACK! TOM VEK IS BACK!

2011-04-21T11:50:00.004-04:00

It seriously seems like an entire lifetime ago (5 years!) that I developed a massive crush on UK singer Tom Vek, a time when no one from New Jersey went out on the LES on the regular and "I Ain't Sayin My Goodbyes" was blasting out of every bar from Rothko to the (then cool) Darkroom. That was an interesting time, a turning point, and unfortunately Tom Vek didn't stick around for the fall out. But now.. he's back! And seemingly just as awesome as I remembered him to be.

His new album, Leisure Seizure is out on June 10th, and here's the first single "A Chore." Hooray!

Tom Vek - A Chore

THE IROCKIROLL FRIDAY FIVE!

2011-04-08T14:06:00.002-04:00

Here is a new weekly blog feature that I am hoping will last longer than... one week. Clearly it will be the five songs, every Friday, that I love and am sadly too busy/lazy to write a full post about but definitely think you should hear. This will likely feature a LOT of selects from my massively overwhelmed inbox so hopefully you'll discover something amazing. Have a great weekend!

Yuck - The Wall

Telekinesis - Please Ask For Help

Young Widows - Right In The End

Forks Of Ivy - Iowa

Popstrangers - Avenue

OMG this new Cold Cave Album. Cherish The Light Years. You guys.

2011-04-07T14:49:00.005-04:00

I already really liked the last Cold Cave album. Lots. It was especially good for when I was in a particular gothy mood (maybe it's raining, but I don't feel like crying or wallowing, or maybe I"m just wearing a goth poncho and hanging out on a beach drinking a pina colada.. you know how that goes, right?. Is that actually the principle that new wave was founded on? Probably? I digress...).

But back to the subject at hand: OH MAN if I thought their debut Love Comes Close was the perfect gothwave mood-setter, Cold Cave's new release Cherish The Light Years is NEXT LEVEL. From the first 10-15 seconds of hitting the play button on opening track "The Great Pan Is Dead," my mouth was hanging open aghast as a wave of complete epicness washed over me and didn't let up for the entire four minutes of electronic bliss. Nor was I disappointed as the rest of the LP played out with track after track of sonic emotional outpourings - there is nothing tepid here in either production or context.

Cold Cave - ~~The Great Pan Is Dead~~

Holy Ghost Do It Again - Party Times @ Terminal 5

2011-04-05T14:57:00.002-04:00

What you see above is what happens when I arrive at a concert to find out that I have a *surprise* photo pass which subsequently makes me "that girl" in the photo pit trying to take shots with my iphone. While there are clearly some questions here about my photographic prowess, there are certainly NO questions that Brooklyn band Holy Ghost brought the party to a sold out Terminal 5 on Friday night as the openers for dancetastic Cut Copy.

What I appreciate the most about what the Holy Ghost boys do is the lack of dramatics and over-the-top flair. They stick with the basics and still manage to get the crowd grooving to their sexy disco throwback rhythms, relying on the strength of the endless jams which make up their 10 track, self titled debut LP (out now on DFA records April 5th digitally and April 12th in wide release).

Stand out faves of mine include opening funky track "Do It Again," "It's Not Over" with it's smooooooth chorus and hot drum fills, and the fantastic "Wait And See" which you can check out below. Peep their North American Tour Dates also so that you can catch Holy Ghost before they are headlining venues like Terminal 5 themselves.

Holy Ghost - Wait And See

North American Tour Dates (* w/ Cut Copy)
03/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade* 
03/29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club* 
03/30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
 03/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero*
 04/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
 04/02 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5* 
04/04 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues* 
04/05 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda* 
04/07 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy*
 04/08 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera*
04/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue* 
04/12 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo* 
04/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
 04/17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
 04/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex 
04/20 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater* 
04/21 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s* 04/22 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s* 
04/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic* 
04/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Album Anticipation: We Are Augustines

2011-03-28T09:49:00.005-04:00

I am not someone who gets very worked up over most new releases. Sure there are a select few... new Radiohead albums obvs, other releases from some of my dearest favorites or perhaps a band releasing an album after a long hiatus (the Strokes, however, do not apply here). But this year I am just a teensy bit OVERWHELMINGLY anticipating the release of the debut album from NYC band We Are Augustines (Bill McCarthy and Eric Sanderson formerly of indie rock group Pela), entitled Rise Ye Sunken Ships.

Due out for a release in June, the story of this album's creation (read on their website) - which was driven largely by McCarthy's experience of the complicated life and tragic suicide of his brother - is something slightly beyond moving: reading about it actually brought me to tears, and upon first listen, Rise Ye Sunken Ships takes you to that same raw emotional core. This album will have a very special and well deserved place on a lot of year end lists - certainly my own.

Here is the beautifully simplistic video for first single Chapel Song, which is available for free download on their website:

Leading up to the album's release the band will play a string of tour dates (below):

APRIL
12 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall (18+)
13 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (18+)
15 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (18+)
16 - Washington D.C. - Black Cat (all ages)
18 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern (19+)
19 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig (18+)
21 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave (all ages)
22 - Chicago, IL - Double Door (21+)
23 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock (18+)
26 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore (19+)
27 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile (21+)
29 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's (all ages)
30 - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy (all ages)
MAY
1 – Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar

The Megaphonic Thrift

2011-03-22T17:54:00.004-04:00

Going into SXSW I was prepared for a lot of awesome surprises and a lot of familiar favorites. My first of the awesome surprises category actually came during my own showcase (when you book a party with three other parties involved you don't get say in every band - but that can actually work out great because you get to see all kinds of new stuff from people whose opinions you trust), which was Norwegian group The Megaphonic Thrift. They've been generating buzz for a while, but sometimes seeing something live is what really clicks it all together for me. If you like Sonic Youth or A Place To Bury Strangers these guys are right up your alley - loud and awesome.

On that note, literally every other band I heard this year at SXSW was some kind 90s throwback which was a pretty pleasing turn of events for me to say the least (I like my twee preciousness, folky granola and electro synthesized everything as much as the next indie blogger but sometimes I just want to rock the fuck ouuuuuuuut).

The Megaphonic Thrift - Candy Sin

Their new album, Decay Decoy is out now - check out this video below for new track Talks Like A Weed King:

SXSW 2011: The Recap

2011-03-21T12:07:00.003-04:00

Well, that was crazy. SXSW 2011 is now over, somehow I survived, and made the video above as a summary of some of what (I think) happened. Big thanks to my friends at HP for taking such good care of me - except for that time I got locked in the Spin Magazine shed that was full of free alcohol which was baaaaad news - and to everyone at Flavorpill, the Musebox and The Bellhouse for putting together such a fun day party.

Special hugs go out to DJ Russ Cat for not having a total meltdown and Jeff from The Culture Of Me for bringing the snark (time and time again).

Let's do it again next year?!?!

More recaps and regular blog updates forthcoming.

SXSW 2011: Angry Birds with Yellow Ostrich

2011-03-18T11:30:00.002-04:00

In their first trip down to SXSW, Brooklyn's Yellow Ostrich arrived yesterday at the Spin loft bright eyed and ready to.. totally kick my ass at a game of Angry Birds. I blame my lack of prowess at playing on one of HP's new giant touch screen computers which is more than a little bit different from playing with just your thumbs on a smartphone. Not to mention that with a band name like Yellow Ostrich I suspect they had just a bit of an advantage when it comes to slinging birds. Hopefully their total domination put them in even better spirits as they head off to rock SXSW 2011.

Check out the video below, their introduction in HP's Every Passion Has A Road series where they discuss their evolution from a one man band to a three piece and how much they like eating EGGS (see what I'm saying about this birds thing???).

SXSW 2011: Interview with Rural Alberta Advantage

2011-03-17T20:15:00.000-04:00

Today while hanging out at the Spin Loft on 6th street, a veritable oasis of rum drinks and free schwag amidst the St Patrick's Day/SXSW double whammy, I had the chance to chat with Nils, Amy and Paul of the Rural Alberta Advantage. As one of the bands HP has followed down to SXSW this week, they told me about how technology has really changed the dynamic of what it means to be a band on the road.

Keyboard player Amy praised new technologies and social media in particular for helping really garner a lot of the support and love the band has been seeing lately as they set off to tour in support of their sophomore effort Departing. Amy also related that the experience of being documented while on tour has been an interesting one as she used to watch Almost Famous and think that the whole being followed on the road by a reporter would be annoying, but in fact has found being on the other side of the spectrum to be a positive experience for the band as a whole and hopefully will introduce them to a whole new community.

The band especially appreciates the merits of social media as a way to connect with their fans, although drummer Paul did relate a funny story of when a fan posted a photo of him juxtaposed with Gerard Butler in the film "300" on the band's Facebook page. Here is the photo for you to judge (Amy jokingly mentioned that Paul only told me this story so that I will always relate him to Gerard Butler in my head... mission accomplished, Amy!).

Really though, the band more than anything love technology because it's the best way for them to keep in contact with their loved once while they are on the road - instead of falling off the grid as bands might have done in the past they are always able to be connected with both family, friends and fans.

Check out this video with Rural Alberta where the trio discuss their recent emergence as a top indie-band on the scene and their feelings of excitement and a bit of anxiety too as they head out on the road to SXSW 2011.

SXSW 2011: Austin BFFs Party!

2011-03-17T10:14:00.003-04:00

Oh man, you guys, I am SO TIRED. I know this goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anyways because it's kind of all my brain can register right now. Regardless of the various obstacles thrown in my path (impacted wisdom tooth! OUCH), however, it has been a fun trip so far and I still have two more days to go until I surrender - PARTY HARD!

Yesterday we kicked off the Music portion of the marathon with a party I presented/co-curated alongside some of my bffs from Flavorpill, The Musebox and Bellhouse NY, presented by HP: Everybody On. It was an overcast but still warm day at Lipstick 24 and everyone had a great time rocking out, drinking some Sailor Jerry's cocktails (I swear every time I taste one of those all I can think about it last summer at the Pool Parties.. it will probably be like that forever. Some highlights for me on the band discovery front included FINALLY seeing Kids of 88 who were more rawkus fun than I even anticipated they would be, Operator Please who are kind of a teenage version of the Gossip, and Esben and the Witch who literally made the ENTIRE venue vibrate with their beautiful gloom.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who came out last night - but the fun doesn't stop here. Today I'll be live-tweeting from the Spin loft, hanging out with up and coming artists, playing Angry Birds on some sweet new HP computers and hopefully relaxing a little bit before tonight kicks into high gear. Now it's breakfast taco time!

Check out some more photos from the party from my friends at HP on their flickr page.

Every Passion Has A Road (to SXSW!): Young The Giant

2011-03-11T08:45:00.005-05:00

Good morning internet world! Apologies for the lack of posting goodness here the last couple of weeks - I've been swamped with work work work and also attempting to properly celebrate a particularly significant milestone birthday in my life. But all that insanity was for good reason, because I am currently writing this from a hotel room in Austin Texas where I will be living for the next week and bringing you crazy awesome* coverage from SXSW!

This, of course, would not be nearly as potentially cool without a little help from my friends at HP who I will be "working" with while I'm down here in Tejas. I use the term "working" a bit lightly here since in this instance it's basically going to involve running around chugging margaritas and seeing awesome up and coming bands in 80 degree weather - all the while tweeting the latest and compiling some photos and videos with my HP Envy laptopper. No complaints here! It also totally helps that HP have partnered with Spin Magazine and selected three of my FAVORITE (no, seriously) up and coming bands to follow down here to Austin in their Every Passion Has A Road series.

First up? So-cal indie-rock wonders Young The Giant!! Seriously the mega crush I developed on these guys during last years CMJ has essentially reached a fever pitch - and I'm definitely not alone - as they gear up to blow this conference out of the water. Check out this video of the band talking about the passions that drive them as they head out on the festival circuit -

Stay tuned here all next week for more SXSW goodness and behind the scenes shenanigans! I need a breakfast taco like whoooaaaaaaa.

This post sponsored by HP! I’m excited to partner with them to help you celebrate your passion for music. For more examples of how other people are using HP technology to enable their passions visit http://www.hp.com/everybodyon and be sure to follow @hp_pc on Twitter.

Music Monday: Deluka

2011-02-28T14:16:00.002-05:00

Yummy glittertastic electro pop is what I bring you today, courtesy of Birmingham UK (now Brooklyn livin) group Deluka. Fronted by electric vocalist Ellie Innocenti, Deluka sound like a spicer disco version of the Ting Tings - which might mean they'll be played in every commercial/show promo on the CW in no time at all.

Their debut album, You Are The Night was released at the end of 2011 on Vel / RED Records to much fanfare, and they will be bringing the partay down to SXSW this year (including the AustinBFFs day party). Bring yer sexxxy moves, people.

Deluka - Cascade

Deluka - OMFG

AUSTIN BFFS: SXSW day party! I Rock I Roll, Flavorpill, Musebox & The Bellhouse

2011-02-25T14:24:00.004-05:00

I could not be more excited to be partnering with some of my absolute favorite people to throw this day party down at SXSW this year - Flavorpill, The Musebox, the Bell House and of course the awesome HP. We've put together an amazing line-up which definitely includes some IRIR favorites that have been written about here before and other great artists that I'll be featuring in the next couple of weeks.

Make sure you go and RSVP asap so that you can join in on all the fun.

Hurts: "Sunday" vs Mirrors: "Into The Heart" (pseudo goth video throwdown!)

2011-02-23T11:19:00.003-05:00

In an update on the pseudo-goth cage match (previously Interpol vs Hurts, and I think we all know who won that round...), behold a new video from almost too sexy to be real UK band Hurts for their new single "Sunday."

But wait! We must counter-point here with another offering from a hot Brighton act, Mirrors, with their video for single "Into The Heart." Who will come out on top? Does it even matter with all this effing suited up faux goth hotness? You can be the judge... or just ENJOY.

New video from MillionYoung: Replicants

2011-02-23T09:33:00.005-05:00

Check out this video from MillionYoung for the self-titled track of their just-released album on Old Flame Records. Love the adorbs old school stop motion animation - somehow it works perfectly with the track.

Tour dates below - they are a SXSW must-see for sure!

TOUR DATES
w/The Concretes:
Feb 26 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Feb 28 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Mar 1 Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Mar 3 Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp
March 4 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
Mar 5 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah

w/ Class Actress:
Mar 9 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Mar 10 Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover
Mar 11 Miami, FL @ The Vagabond
Mar 12 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
Mar 13 Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
Mar 14 New Orleans, LA @ Republic
Mar 16-19 Austin, TX @ SXSW
Mar 21 Little Rock, AR @ Arkansas Community Arts Co-Op
Mar 22 Kansas City, MO @ Crosstown Station
Mar 23 Iowa City, IA @ Gabe's
Mar 24 St. Louis, MO @ Old Rockhouse
Mar 25 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall

MILAGRES: New Album, SXSW, Tour Kick-off TONIGHT at Mercury Lounge!

2011-02-22T14:15:00.003-05:00

If you happened to ask me to name one Brooklyn band that I thought deserved to make it big this year, there would be no hesitation when I replied with Milagres in under five seconds flat. And with the forthcoming release of their second LP Glowing Mouth on Kill Rock Stars in September of this year, the phenomenally talented group is poised to do just that.

Can't wait until Fall? I don't blame you, and luckily you won't have to. They are also planning to release a Spring Tour EP before they hit the road for a March/April jaunt across the US. The tour also happily includes stops at SXSW where they will play the SXSW AUSTINBFFS day-party that I am putting on with Flavorpill/The Musebox/and The Bell House, sponsored by our friends at HP.

NYC fans can catch them tonight at Mercury Lounge, opening for US Royalty.

Below you can also download the LP's title track (and one of my favorite tracks on the forthcoming record as a whole, although they are all fantastic x a billion).

TOUR DATES:
March 2011
08 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight
09 - Athens, GA @ Rye Bar
10 - Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar
11 - Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Festival
12 - Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
15 - Ft Worth, TX @ Lola's
16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Lipstick 24/irockiroll day party
16 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Red Eyed Fly/Noisepop day party
17 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - Plush/Not SXSW party
18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - tba
19 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - tba
20 - Austin, TX @ SXSW - tba
22 - Santa Fe, NM @ Corazon
24 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Rogue Bar
26 - San Diego, CA @ Tin Can Ale
27 - Santa Monica, CA @ Central SAPC
29 - San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
30 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
31 - Seattle, WA @ Rendezvous
April 2011
03 - Pueblo, CO @ Red Raven Studios
04 - Denver, CO @ The Walnut Room
05 - Kansas City, The Record Bar
06 - Muncie, IN @ Village Green Records
07 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
09 - Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin
21 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rock Shop
22 - Winooski, VT @ Monkey House
23 - Portland, ME @ One Longfellow Square
25 - Boston, MA @ TT the Bear's

Milagres - Glowing Mouth

Shark? Releases 7" today!

2011-02-22T11:19:00.005-05:00

Brooklyn band Shark? have released a new 7" today (love love love when bands do this) - you can order it here or also pick it up in-store if you happen to be near Mystery Train. Listen below:

Kreegah! by sharkquestionmark

The band also have a series of shows coming up, including date(s) at SXSW, and a show at Cake Shop on March 4th with our faves Dinosaur Feathers.

New Radiohead Day! Video for "Flying Lotus"

2011-02-18T08:01:00.001-05:00

King Of Limbs is now available for download! Happy Friday!!

FORLokals Happy Hour - TONIGHT (Wed) at Lady Jays!

2011-02-16T12:29:00.002-05:00

We've moved FORLokals to a new location, the awesome neighborhood joint Lady Jays. I'll be djing some sweet tunes from 6-12 tonight, and the happy hour specials we've hooked up for you are pretty sweet as well.

RSVP on Facebook here!

Dinosaur Feathers announce tour dates & SXSW

2011-02-15T13:30:00.002-05:00

One of my fave local acts, Dinosaur Feathers, are hitting the road and hopefully coming to a city near you. Definitely check them out if you get the chance!

Dinosaur Feathers - Early Morning Risers

DATES:

WED 3/02: NEW HAVEN: BAR w/ Motel Motel
THU 3/03: BOSTON: TT the Bear's w/ Motel Motel
FRI 3/04: NEW YORK: Cake Shop w/ Motel Motel and Shark?
SAT 3/05: BROOKLYN: Cameo w/ Motel Motel
SUN 3/06: PHILLY: Kung Fu Necktie w/ Motel Motel
TUE 3/08: BALTIMORE: Ottobar w/ Motel Motel
THU 3/10: RALEIGH: Slim's w/ Motel Motel and Lonnie Walker
SAT 3/12: BIRMINGHAM: The Nick w/ Motel Motel
SUN 3/13: NASHVILLE: The Rutledge w/ Motel Motel
MON 3/14: LITTLE ROCK: Details to come...
TUE 3/15: HOT SPRINGS: Maxine's

3/16 - 3/20: AUSTIN: SXSW: Details to come...

WED 3/23: MILWAUKEE: Mad Planet w/ Rural Alberta Advantage
THU 3/24: MINNEAPOLIS: 400 Bar w/ Motel Motel
FRI 3/25: CHICAGO: Beauty Bar w/ Motel Motel
SUN 3/27: TOLEDO: The Ottawa Tavern w/ Motel Motel
TUE: 3/29: PITTSBURGH: Brillobox w/ Motel Motel

NONCERTS come to Brooklyn

2011-02-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

February 20 will mark in first of a series of monthly non-profit concerts ("noncerts") held at the Cameo Art Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The idea is to put prominent songwriters in a unique musical environment, while encouraging collaboration within NYC's music community, and raising money for a great cause. The event is sponsored by BrooklynVegan.

The first installment will feature Gene Ween (singer of Ween), Hamilton Leithauser (singer of The Walkmen), David Dondero, and Dave Godowsky.

100% of proceeds will benefit music funding at public schools in Brooklyn.

The noncerts house band:
Pico Alt: violin
CJ Camerieri: horns, wurlitzer
Jesse Harris: guitar/banjo
Dave Godowsky: guitar, keys
Marika Hughes: cello
Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin: viola
Ben Lester: drums
Eivind Opsvik: bass
Jenny Scheinman: Violin
Doug Wieselman: clarinet, horns, guitar

More info and videos etc on Noncerts.com, and you can Buy Tickets Here!

the irockiroll valentines mix 2011

2011-02-14T16:00:00.003-05:00

hi all. first an adorbs story: my current beau and i met because he made me a mix tape. yes, on an actual cassette tape, and entirely from vinyl. and mailed it to me. i can't think of much that is more romantic than that (although... he did clean my kitchen once for no reason because he was bored.. that was actually far awesomer).

and so, in the spirit of mixtape romance, here's a little Valentines day sweetness. tomorrow I will probably post some "fuck you valentines" goodness, per the usual.

You can ~~download the whole mix here~~, or below are the individual tracks (in a recommended ordering).

Savoir Adore - Loveliest Creature

Paul & the Patients - The Way That You Are

Dum Dum Girls - Yours Alone

Fyfe Dangerfield - When You Walk In The Room

Cee-lo Green - ~~No One's Gonna Love You (Band Of Horses cover)~~

Tennis - Take Me Somewhere

Glasvegas - ~~The World Is Yours~~

Adele - Lovesong (the Cure cover)

The Depreciation Guild - Dream About Me

The Duke Spirit - ~~You Really Wake Up The Love In Me~~

Wakey!Wakey! - Dance So Good

MillionYoung - Perfect Eyes

The Stone Roses - ~~Ten Story Love Song~~

Ravens & Chimes - Hearts Of Palm

Yellow Ostrich - Tonight @ Pianos

2011-02-10T15:37:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite new artists this year, hands down, is local NYC band Yellow Ostrich. The brainchild/bedroom project of of the immensely talented Alex Schaaf has ridden a fairly immense tidal wave of buzz over the past several months since CMJ times and are on the verge of crossing over from blog darlings to a BIG BIG kind of thing.

Their album The Mistress is the kind of intricate magical record that you don't get much of these days: nothing trendy or too perfectly polished but rather songs that sound that they came directly from Alex's heartstrings and that's something worth more than just hype. I can't get enough of it.

Tonight you should make your way to Pianos where Matt of A Heart Is A Spade presents the band along side a very very solid line up, and if you live elsewhere, below are their upcoming tour dates. NOT TO BE MISSED. Also make sure you listen to the their cover of Don't Haunt This Place by Rural Alberta Advantage, it might be one of my favorite covers ever.

Yellow Ostrich - In The Past I Was An Astronaut

Yellow Ostrich - Don't Haunt This Place (Rural Alberta Advantage cover)

3-3-11 @ Mohawk Place — Buffalo, NY
3-4-11 @ El Mocambo — Toronto, ON
3-5-11 @ Casa Del Popolo — Montreal, QC
3-6-11 @ Middle East Downstairs — Cambridge, MA
3-7-11 @ The Bowery Ballroom — New York, NY
3-8-11 @ Johnny Brenda’s — Philadelphia, PA
3-9-11 @ The Black Cat — Washington, DC
3-10-11 @ The Grey Eagle — Asheville, NC
3-12-11 @ Backbooth — Orlando, FL
3-13-11 @ Crowbar — Tampa, FL
3-14-11 @ Club Downunder — Tallahassee, FL
3-16-11 @ Fitzgerald’s (Downstairs) — Houston, TX
3-17-11 @ SXSW — Austin, TX
3-18-11 @ SXSW — Austin, TX
3-19-11 @ The Loft — Dallas, TX
3-22-11 @ The Rhythm Room — Phoenix, AZ
3-23-11 @ Plush — Tucson, AZ
3-24-11 @ The Casbah — San Diego, CA
3-25-11 @ The Echo — Los Angeles, CA
3-26-11 @ Bottom Of The Hill — San Francisco, CA
3-28-11 @ Mississippi Studios — Portland, OR
3-29-11 @ Lucky Bar — Victoria, BC
3-30-11 @ The Media Club — Vancouver, BC
3-31-11 @ The Crocodile — Seattle, WA

New Williamsburg Happy Hour Party: FORLokals!

2011-02-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

When my friend Matt of Brooklyn Ski Club approached me with the idea for this party, there was no denying its awesomeness. That's whyI'm super stoked to announce the launch of a new happy hour soire: FORLokals - aptly named in part for our love of our local neighborhood and the people in it (the Grand Street strip of Williamsburg), and our love of fun (loko!) times. The drink specials as seen above are pretty sweet, and so too will be the tunes and the company.

RSVP here and come on out!

Music Monday: CAVEMAN

2011-01-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday night, some lovely blogger friends from I Guess I'm Floating presented a great line-up of music at Glasslands Gallery in celebration of their 5 Year Blogging Anniversary (these milestones seem to be celebrated more and more often, no? It's hard out here for a blogger, especially in terms of site longevity!). While the line-up was punctuated by a some great established (A Place To Bury Strangers) and super buzzy acts (ARMS, Beach Fossils), one band in particular I think really seized the opportunity to impress a packed crowd - and NY's Caveman did just that.

This solidly harmonized five-piece packed a definite punch with will crafted songs and tight musicianship, so much so that you'd honestly think they had been rocking out together for years instead of only having formed in mid-2010. Part of that most likely has to do with several of the members coming from previous notable local acts like The Subjects, The End Of The World & Elefant (oh Diego Garcia and is softball toss of yore..).

Immediate plans include some choice local dates with IROCKIROLL fave's White Rabbits, and hopefully a SXSW jaunt as well.

Caveman - Decide

Young The Giant: New Video for "Apartment'

2011-01-28T10:10:00.002-05:00

Saw these boys last week at Mercury Lounge playing to a sold out (and very industry heavy) crowd. Needless to say... huge things to come from them this year. They will be at SXSW too!

GOOD COVER SONGS (Are Hard To Find) - PARTY TONIGHT!

2011-01-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Let me tell you what is really hard. Trying to make a playlist for several hours of djing, made up of ENTIRELY cover songs. And not just any old cover songs, but cover songs that people want to listen to IN A BAR. Which basically eliminates sad overwrought singer-songwriter covers, acoustic covers (too slow, also usually too sad), and most live covers. Oh my lord.

Nevertheless, I am going to try my hand at doing the above TONIGHT at Copycat, a bi-weekly party hosted by my friend Evan. It starts at 10pm in the East Village at Ottos Shrunken Head, where they have awesome drinks with glowsticks in them. TIKI MANIA. COVER SONG MANIA.

Here is a sampling of what I consider interesting/non-shitty covers:

The Morning Benders - Lovefool (Cardigans Cover)

Fanfarlo - We Only Come Out At Night (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)

Anya Marina - Whatever You Like (TI Cover)

Hot Chip - Transmission (Joy Division Cover)

LAST FM FESTIVAL IS THE BEST (and I have tickets for you!)

2011-01-14T11:30:00.006-05:00

You guys, I am obsessed with Last.fm. I actually have been for years now. It's pretty much my favorite (or one of my favorite) things on the entire internet. For the past four years it has tracked every single song I've ever listened to in iTunes or on my ipod - which is where I listen to pretty much everything. It has cataloged my entire musical life in that time period, all of my habits and obsessions, into one totally awesome place. I actually judge friendships and even the potential of future relationships on their musical compatibility rating. It. Is. Awesome.

Think I'm joking? Last year at SXSW Interactive my friend Irene and I were at some networking party and she introduced me to the someone who worked at Last.fm and you would have thought I had just met Oprah or a Beatle, that's how excited I got. And then HE introduced me to the guy who created the entire site, and I pretty much told them that my life dream is to work at Last.fm, to which they responded that I should just show up at their London office someday with a suitcase (I don't really think they took me seriously enough because um... I AM SO THE PERSON WHO WOULD DO THAT).

So yeah, if you don't use Last.fm, get on that RIGHT NOW and start scrobbling - but not before I get to the point of this blog post. Because if you thought all that rambling storytelling wasn't awesome enough (haha), it's going to get better because:

LAST FM IS HAVING A MUSIC FESTIVAL AND I HAVE TICKETS TO GIVE YOU.

The bands that are playing? Oh man this is good:

Tokyo Police Club (awesome? yes), Two Door Cinema Club (WOO), aaaaand Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. And it's SOLD OUT.

Do you want to go? Here is what you need to do to snag a pair of tickets:

1. Starting right now, and going until Monday morning at 8am, go to Twitter and follow me.

2. After you follow me, tweet the following message:

hey @irockiroll I want to win tickets to the SOLD OUT @lastfm festival in NYC! http://bit.ly/gf9AxM

3. On Monday I will pick one person at random to win a pair of tickets to the show and announce the winner on Twitter (and here too).

4. Don't have Twitter? No worries! Just shoot an email to irockiroll@gmail.com with that same message in the subject line to enter.

AAAAAAAND GO!

Acrylics: Lives & Treasure + A Heart Is A Spade Launch Party!

2011-01-07T11:54:00.002-05:00

There couldn't be a day better than today to be listening to the beautiful sounds of Brooklyn due by Acrylics. Their debut full length, Lives & Treasure, will be released on Friendly Fire Recordings this March, but their delicate pop brings just the right amount of shimmery 70s soft-rock vibes blended with smooth vocals that it's the perfect listening for being inside the swirling snowglobe that has taken over NYC today.

Smokey voiced singer Molly Shea and her partner Jason Klauber will no doubt be performing many of the album's excellent tracks at the A Heart Is A Spade release party, taking place tomorrow (Saturday) at the Rock Shop. Also taking the stage are great local favorites GROOMS, Psychobuildings, Zambri and there will be DJ sets by the always awesome Hooray For Earth.

Acrylics - Nightwatch

Walter Meego: WONDERVALLEY

2011-01-04T17:10:00.002-05:00

Happy 2011 kids! This blog is now 7 years old. That is friggin ancient for the internets, no (although I am forever young, obvs)? For the first post of the new year/decade I couldn't be more stoked to share this new Walter Meego track with you from their album WONDERVALLEY... which currently has no label/distribution and subsequently singer Justin told me they don't play live much anymore. This gave me a total case of SAD FACE, as I have really loved this band every since some lovely friends from Chicago turned me on to them back in the day. I djed their song "Forever" recently at my NYE gig and actually found myself wondering whatever happened to them, so at least now we know?

The happy news for you is that you can download all of WONDERVALLEY for the price of FREE on their website. My fave track is below for a sampling.

Walter Meego - Starlight

I ROCK I ROLL's FAVORITE ALBUMS of 2010 - (#1-10)

2010-12-17T17:55:00.001-05:00

Here it is, the final 10! I realize the Joy Formidable album is actually technically an EP, HOWEVER it is 8 songs long, so I'm throwing it in here. I may actually do a list of EPs I loved too or something similar if I have time while vegetating in Chicago for the next two weeks. We'll see! Enjoy:

1. The National - High Violet
Song: Terrible Love

2. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Song: Madder Red

3. Hurts - Happiness
Song: Wonderful Life

4. The Joy Formidable - A Balloon Called Moaning
Song: The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade

5. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Song: Living In Colour

6. Morning Benders - Big Echo
Song: Excuses

7. Sleigh Bells - Treats
Song: Rill Rill

8. Beach House - Teen Dream
Song: Zebra

9. Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Song: Terminally Chill

10. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Song: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

And the rest of 2010:
11-15
16-20
21-25

HP ENVY + BEATS AUDIO + ME

2010-12-15T14:23:00.008-05:00

As I mentioned last week, HP recently sent me an HP Envy Laptop with Beats Audio to try out, give my opinion on and hopefully not destroy in the process. In the spirit of the holidays and all that jazz (and because I am a cheese-tastic dork), I thought my first observations should have theme. And so I give you:

12 Days Of My HP ENVY LAPTOP

12. This laptop looks and feels awesome. I am huge fan of black matte anything and this machine looks sharp. I love the red lettering on the keys. Not to mention that the whole thing just feels sturdy. I have had other laptops in the past that didn't feel like they could handle a strong breeze without chipping, cracking or falling apart - not the case here.

11. The HP Laptop is a little on the heavy side (at least comparable to other normal laptops), and it's kind of bulky which is kind of a bummer for me. As a New Yorker I walk pretty much everywhere and lugging around heavy things is never much fun.

10. This laptop has a 2.4-GHz Intel Core i5 processor. In non-geek terms, translate to: THIS BABY IS FAST. I am a crazy multitasker with computers. Coworkers often marvel in awe/horror at all of the windows/apps I will have open and running at one time as I zip between them. For me, if a computer can't handle my personal speed (and admitted scatterbrained-ness), then it is not for me.

9. The Windows Live "Cloud." One of my biggest pet peeves about being someone who works in tech and uses multiple computers in multiple places is having to always remember make sure the files I need are somewhere online when I can easily grab them. This is a big problem for music especially since I DJ with a laptop but access music all over the place. My external hard drive has been a so-so backup but with the Cloud you can actually automatically synch up all of your computers no matter where you are - so if I really want to DJ the new Turbo Fruits song that is on my work computer but I'm already at a bar with my laptop and forgot to copy it? Problem solved.

8. IT HOLDS EVERYTHING. 500 GB hard drive. BOOM! I am someone who has a LOT of music. And I also take a LOT of photos. You know how big the hard drive was on the laptop I bought three years ago? 30GB. Yeah that lasted about three months before I had to pick up an external. Storage problems with the HP Envy? = dunzo.

7. Boo the track pad is kind of tricky to use (at least at first). It is very sensitive to touch although sometimes I have to tap it really hard to make it do what I want (that's multi-tasker frustration!). And while you could of course attach an external mouse - in my mind that kind of defeats the point of the portability of a laptop. And I definitely wouldn't want to DJ with a mouse either... faux pas for sure.

6. The packaging is sweet. Seriously, you would have thought I bought a designer purse that's how well presented everything was when unpacking the laptop - which even included a nice dust bag that covered the entire thing. It made me feel like I was unwrapping something very fancy and special, which is nice for gift giving too.

5. It doesn't come with the crazy face mask that Dr. Dre wears in the commercial. Bummer.

4. Sound quality = bananas. This is obviously a given since it comes with Beats Audio (which was created by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. The key is to listen with the Dr. Dre Beats Audio headphones which results in a sound quality experience that I have never had before with a laptop. I do think the sound is a LITTLE bass heavy, but I actually tend to like that.

3. Comes pre-loaded with a bunch of really useful programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements and Hulu's desk top app (I didn't even know Hulu HAD a desk top app - it's great! I was watching A Charlie Brown Christmas in about two seconds today... don't tell my boss).

2. The webcam software it comes with is kind of hilarious! I could probably spend hours playing with it. Please see the below example:

I am such a dork! Hooray!

1. Now that you're this far, and the holidays are near, maybe you are in the market for your own laptop but are worried about the cost. WELL the good news is that the HP Beats Envy retails at just above a thousand bucks, which is totally decent given the storage and everything that comes with it. But since I know we are all trying to save a little dough this holiday season:

HP has totally hooked me up with a promo code that will get you 100 dollars off an HP Envy Notebook. Just be one of the first 50 people to use it at HP Direct.com!

CODE: NBEY96723

Way better than a partridge in a pear tree, am I right? In the next installment of this series, I will likely try to play music from my laptop ON my TV (you can do this!) or something equally as crazy fun. Stay tuned...

Also I totally forgot, but the folks at HP did this interview with me recently, talking about blogging, jobs, vegan pizza, all kinds of fun stuff. Check it out.

Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp

2010-12-15T13:29:00.003-05:00

Since their debut album Hometowns made it onto my top albums of 2009 list, it should be no surprise that I am a little more than excited about Rural Alberta Advantage returning to the scene early next year with a brand spankin new album and tour (including a sold out Merc show next month and a few other local dates before a SXSW jaunt).

Departing will be released in March via Saddle Creek and the first single, "Stamp" is a pretty upbeat and bold offering from the band which I really enjoy - although hopefully the rest of the album is not too much of a departure (see what I did there) from their last album overall.

Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp

Tour Dates:
Wed Jan 12 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge (sold out)
Wed Mar 9 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Cafe
Thu Mar 10 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Fri Mar 11 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
Sat Mar 12 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory
Sun Mar 13 - Washington, DC - Rock ‘n Roll Hotel
Mon Mar 14 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
Tue Mar 15 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
Thu-Sat Mar 17-19 - Austin, TX – TBA SXSW
Sun Mar 20 - Dallas, TX – The Loft
Tue Mar 22 - Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop at Iowa State University
Wed Mar 23 - Milwaukee, WI - Mad Planet
Thu Mar 24 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
Fri Mar 25 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Sat Mar 26 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall

Tickets for the Bowery Ballroom show are on sale Friday!

I ROCK I ROLL's FAVORITE ALBUMS of 2010 - (#11-15)

2010-12-14T15:40:00.003-05:00

11. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Song: ~~Fast Jabroni~~

12. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Song: ~~Dance Yrself Clean~~

13. Young The Giant - Young The Giant
Song: ~~Cough Syrup~~

14. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
Song: ~~Solitude Is Bliss~~

15. Darwin Deez - Darwin Deez
Song: ~~Radar Detector~~

Also view:

I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #1-10
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #11-15
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #16-20

I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2008

Music Monday: Commerce

2010-12-13T15:48:00.002-05:00

This post could also easily be titled: Points for Packaging! Seriously, I am a big fan of the digital release for a lot of reasons. The last time I moved apartments, I cannot even begin to express to you the number of cds I had to unload that I had been sent by bands, publicists, promotional agencies, etc. over the years. I'm the kind of person who rips a CD into her itunes and then will likely never touch the actual packaging ever again (if it's a band I really love, I'll buy the vinyl). And that behavior was actually much more common 3+ years ago, with digital releases becoming absolutely my method of choice (not just because it saves me a lot of back breaking box lifting and endless clutter either - though no one wants their living room to look like a musical edition of Hoarders).

All that being said, when I do still get CDs in the mail it is always nice to see a band doing something a little extra special and Tennessee indie pop-rock outfit Commerce took that concept to the NEXT level. I grabbed the CD, wrapped in a very cool brown-paper old-fashioned envelope out of my stack of overdue Direct TV bills and threw it in my purse immediately to listen to at work, having no idea what it even really was. Upon opening the lovely package, which included a handwritten note from band member Matt and clever "Commerce of the State of Tennesse" stamping, I gave them a listen and discovered that their debut LP, The Things I Say vs. The Things I Mean is very tenderly crafted work of pop song-writing.

At times I found certain moments on the album maybe a tad too precious, but perhaps that's just my personal out-of-touch-ness with such sincere expressions of adolescent hope and heartbreak (does that make me sound old and cynical? Probably.. but to be fair I do live in New York City, not the mountains of Tennessee). Nevertheless, overall the album is really well done and hey - we all need something precious to hold on to now and then, don't we?

Commerce - The Same Time

Commerce - Where We Are

I ROCK I ROLL's FAVORITE ALBUMS of 2010 (#20-16)

2010-12-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

16. Villagers - Becoming A Jackel
Song: Home

17. Dinosaur Feathers - Fantasy Memorial
Song: Vendela Vida

18. Best Coast - Crazy For You
Song: Boyfriend

19. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Song: Gorgeous

20. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
Song: Broken Horse

Also view:
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #1-10
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #11-15
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #16-20

I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2008

30 Years.

2010-12-08T13:51:00.003-05:00

John Lennon - ~~Instant Karma~~

John Lennon - ~~Love~~

John Lennon - ~~(Just Like) Starting Over~~

I ROCK I ROLL's FAVORITE ALBUMS of 2010 (#21-25)

2010-12-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

This list has kind of been agony to put together. I guess it's only appropriate that when I started doing this in '08 I listed 10 albums, last year 20, and this year 25. It's so hard to choose! And as a caveat - and I say this every year - these are just my favorite albums, by no means the BEST of the year, most critically fantastical, etc. Just the ones I enjoyed the most. Hope I didn't forget anyone here either!

21. Skybox - Morning After Cuts
Song: In A Dream

22. The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
Song: C'mon

23. The Dig - Electric Toys
Song: Carry Me Home

24. Fang Island - Fang Island
Song: Daisy

25. The Depreciation Guild - Spirit Youth
Song: Dream About Me

Also view:
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #1-10
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #11-15
I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2009 - #16-20

I Rock I Roll's Favorite Albums of 2008

Music Monday: Halves

2010-12-06T11:54:00.002-05:00

I can't even tell you how many "weekly" features I have attempted on this blog, to little avail. But I am not a quitter, that is for sure. So I'm going to try to bring you something new that I'm digging and will try to do it every Monday and well.. LET'S JUST SEE, SHALL WE!

Today we have Dublin based band Halves, who self-released their debut album It Goes, It Goes (Forever & Ever). The reason for this pick is first because I walked into my office this morning and the first thing I thought was "ugh it's snowing and it's the holidays and I'm still half asleep... I want to listen to something droning and ambient and pretty - and this album is certainly all of those things. Perfect to put on when it's dark at 4:30pm and your seasonal effective disorder desperately requires its own soundtrack.

The sample track below features guest vocals from Amy Millan of Stars/Broken Social Scene, check it out.

Halves - Growing & Glow

YOU WANT TO: Win A Pair of VIP tickets to see John Legend & The Roots courtesy of HP + Beats Audio!

2010-12-03T11:51:00.005-05:00

Confession time: I've actually never been much of an audiophile when it comes to sound quality - which is weird for someone like me, I know. Friends always give me a hard time about my crappy 10 dollar ear bud headphones that I sport around town (my cat EATS them, seriously), but I just kind of dealt with it and never shelled out the big bucks for a fancy system or headphones. Womp womp for me.

Soooo when HP contacted me about trying out their sweet Envy 14 Beats Edition laptop featuring Beats Audio (technology designed by Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine) I was stoked to say the least, since I would apparently finally really hear the music that I've been missing all this time. Over the next several weeks I'll be playing around with the system and giving them my feedback, but at the same time I wanted to give me readers something a little bit more special and HP was totally down to make that happen.

The deal? HP has curated a private VIP show in NYC next Tuesday (Dec 7th), featuring John Legend and The Roots. They recently released a collaborative album called Wake Up!, and The Roots = one of the BEST live bands out there right now. I also seriously want to hug Questlove. It might be on my bucket list, just saying.

The best part? I have a pair of tickets to give to you.

What do you have to do? Go over to Twitter between now and 8am Monday morning tweet the following:

@irockiroll Please hook me up with VIP tix to see The Roots + John Legend thx to @HP_PC!

Don't care for Twitter? You can also shoot me an email at irockiroll@gmail.com with the subject line "VIP The Roots/John Legend Tix" in the subject line. Also feel free to attach an awesome photo of Questlove (this won't really help you win, but it will make me really happy).

A winner will be chosen at random (I will probably let my cat pick it or something, she has good instincts except when it comes to headphones) and will announce it here and on Twitter on Monday. Coolness?

MillionYoung: New tune + Album deets

2010-12-01T13:18:00.002-05:00

While we haven't even gotten into my favorite albums of 2010 yet (they're coming!), hands down one of the 2011 releases I am most excited for is from Florida act MillionYoung. Mike Diaz and band were gracious enough to play my CMJ showcase this year and pretty much blow minds any time they are in front of an audience.

Their fab publicist Beth, who sent me the unmastered tracks to devour a few weeks ago, cleverly dubbed their sound "the new wave chillwave" and I have to concur.

The album, titled Replicants is due out on February 16th on Rix/Old Flame records, with a digital release of 1/11/11 (kind of the coolest release date EVER). Sample track Perfect Eyes below to tide you over until then.

MillionYoung - Perfect Eyes

Oh Land. Oh Yes.

2010-12-01T10:01:00.007-05:00

Let's just get this out of the way first: I am really kind of tired of every (I mean EVERY) music blogging/loving boy telling me how hot he thinks Oh Land is. I mean ok, she is basically a 6'0+ tall, pin thin, blue eyed Danish supermodel - real name Nanna - I get that. For me, it's actually a bit off-putting (I guess I find Lily Allen types more relatable to my average midwest-raised self), and on top of that it doesn't even matter, because Oh Land is more stunning artistically than she is merely stunning visually. I managed to catch her perform twice during CMJ which was definitely a treat, she brings her own light box and balloons but tends to be so mesmerizing that you don't even need the distraction.

Musically, if you're into the overall vibe of recent power-pop-girls with a side of electro in the vein of La Roux, Lykke Li, and Little Boots, Oh Land is right up your alley. Tracks like "Son of a Gun" offer up sugar beats with a killer hook, while tracks like Perfection feel like a perfect electronic comedown from the rush.

Oh Land's US debut is due out in 2011 on Epic Records.

Oh Land- Wolf & I (Live) from Oh Land Music on Vimeo.

Oh Land - Sun Of A Gun

Oh Land - Perfection

Holiday Hoopla with Paper Garden Records

2010-11-30T15:44:00.002-05:00

Hello lovely readers - just wanted to give you a heads up that I'm djing at the holiday party of my friends at Paper Garden Records. Good times and great music (promise)! Come on by and have a drinky or two.

RSVP HERE!

Vampire Weekend - Holiday

Darwin Deez Dance Party

2010-11-22T15:45:00.009-05:00

There isn't much better than a live show where everyone has a REALLY REALLY great time, and that was definitely the case last week at Mercury Lounge where lo-fi indie pop hero Darwin Deez took the stage with his band for a homecoming close-out to their National tour.

It has been an interesting ride this year for Darwin Deez, as the well-deserved buzzy buzz coming off his single releases and subsequent self-titled debut album in the UK has finally drifted its way back across the pond - Mercury Lounge marked his first sold out NYC show ever.

Whether he's aware of being seemingly on the precipice of "blowing up" was hard to gather and of no consequence really anyways, as the band delivered a crazy boisterous set last Wednesday, highlighted by numerous between set dance breaks performed buy Darwin and the entire band in full choreography. I mean whoa:

You get the idea. That's basically the way I *think* that I dance when I drink a lot of Four Loko, while in actuality... yeah. But seriously, I haven't felt that kind of energy in a room in a while, it was almost like if everyone at Mercury Lounge went out after the show and partied together, we would have been at the most fun party of all time. Positive vibes are infectious, and Darwin Deez has them in spades.

Darwin Deez - Bad Day

VILLAGERS!

2010-11-12T13:36:00.004-05:00

I had the priviledge of being crammed in the back corner of Mercury Lounge last week to catch the one of the few US shows from Villagers. From the heart and mind of Dublin songwriter Conor J.O'Brien, these well-crafted indie rock songs definitely become extra magical with a full layered band behind them - but even the songs that O'Brien sang on entirely on his own were powerful and haunting in their own way, including one of my favorites, "Twenty Seven Strangers." Not to mention that NPR totally wants to have his music babies, and I personally can't get the eeriely perfect chorus to album title track "Becoming A Jackal" out of my head.

O'brien and his talented band are currently on an extensive UK tour, but hopefully will grace us with more in 2011 (maybe a SXSW stop or two?).

Villagers - ~~Becoming A Jackal~~

Villagers - ~~Twenty Seven Strangers~~

The Duke Spirit rock at Santos + NEW TRACK

2010-11-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

First of all, how last week's Duke Spirit show at Santos Party House* only cost five dollars a ticket is beyond me, but either way this London 5-piece put on a show that anyone in the packed crowd won't soon forget. Singer Liela Moss is one of the more captivating frontwomen on the rock scene today (seriously - does Garbage need an opener for their reunion tour? Because Liela + Shirley Manson would be a crazy bill), and backed by a group of very easy on the eyes lanky dudes, tore through an hour long set of tracks including some new tunes from their upcoming EP Kusama, set for a December release.

The Duke Spirit - Procession

Photo by the lovely Mahsa Hojjat
*now drug free and with higher security than JFK

CMJ CRUSH: KIDS OF 88

2010-11-05T19:20:00.004-04:00

Ok this one is technically cheating because I didn't ACTUALLY see this band during CMJ due to scheduling, taco time, putting my showcase together, and so on. My disappoint in that epic failure caused me to beg their publicist to at least send me the funky new-wavey New Zealand duo's debut album Sugarpills and I have not been able to stop listening to it since she kindly obliged.

Seriously, "Ribbon of Light" is on my top 10 list for the year for sure - not that new wave pop is a brand new thing, but somehow they make it seem fresh and to me that's the most important thing. Come back soon, Kids of 88!

Kids of 88 - ~~Ribbons of Light~~

CMJ CRUSH: PEPPER RABBIT

2010-11-01T15:14:00.004-04:00

One band that I swooned over during CMJ was definitely Pepper Rabbit - Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure any band that makes beautiful music and has the word Rabbit in their name is going to elicit some major musical crushing from me. That said, this LA Duo just released a gorgeous album entitled Beauregard on Kanine and are currently touring around Canadia with other I Rock I Roll faves The Rural Alberta Advantage (what a match up!).

These lovely folk-pop songs will delight you upon first listen and then somehow haunt you for days later - definitely one of my absolute new bands to watch that people will be talking about a lot next year.

Pepper Rabbit - Babette!

TICKET GIVEAWAY: Neon Indian @ Brooklyn Bowl

2010-10-28T19:48:00.004-04:00

Oh hayyy blogger friends. CMJ is over and we survived! I'm still putting my coverage together, although I wrote a blurb about my local "winner" Oberhofer for Deli Magazine if you want to check that out.

In the meantime it's halloween, and what better way to celebrate than to go to see Neon Indian for the 835729357th time this year. Seriously if you haven't seen this band yet, or picked up a copy of their album Mind Ctrl: Psychic Chasms Possessed, I'm not sure what rock you live under or what foreign country you were exiled to, but... welcome back!

Just email irockiroll@gmail.com and send me an awesome photo of something neon and I'll pick one of you to win a pair of tix.

For example, check out this rad neon fish:

Tunes:

Neon Indian - Sleep Paralysist

Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)

CMJ Showcase MIX TAPE! Get ur download on

2010-10-20T12:04:00.003-04:00

CMJ is upon us, and I've been hustling with my friends at NachosNY to put together a lineup for our UNOFFICIAL CMJ Party on Saturday that I could NOT BE MORE EXCITED ABOUT. Seriously all of the bands playing have a special place in my heart, and you know that means a lot. If you haven't already RSVPd - here is the invite, which includes all set times and info on free food and booze and fun to be had.

Oh and did I mention IT IS TOTALLY FREE? And you don't need a CMJ Badge. FREE FREE FREE.

Below is some select tunage from each band playing so that you have a little sampler of what is in store for you.

Philadelphia Grand Jury - ~~Save Our Town~~

Young The Giant - ~~Apartment~~

Red Wire Black Wire - ~~Locked Out~~

Pretty & Nice - Grab Your Nets

Marie Stella - 1985

New Numbers - Hinterlands

Funeral Party - ~~Finale~~

MillionYoung - Calrissian

Arpline - Ishvara

Milagres - Snow Room

Dinowalrus - Nuke Duke Em

Ravens & Chimes - Division Street

Miracles of Modern Science - Eating Me Alive

Savoir Adore - We Talk Like Machines

Anni Rossi - ~~Switchblade~~

Jukebox The Ghost: "Play Me I'm Yours!"

2010-10-07T14:34:00.003-04:00

On June 22nd, Jukebox the Ghost attempted to play in all 5 boroughs of NYC in one day, as part of the "Play Me I'm Yours" public art installation. And of course the always adorbs band filmed the whole thing, as they charmed their way through the city. Check this video and try not to heart them as much as I do.

Jukebox the Ghost - Empire

RED WIRE BLACK WIRE

2010-10-07T13:23:00.004-04:00

From the first 10 seconds of my listen to Brooklyn band Red Wire Black Wire's synthesized rock jam "Breathing Fire" (from last year's LP release "Robots + Roses") I was like "oh shit this is great!" - in fact if you ask my office mate he'd probably tell you I said that out loud.

There is definitely a Friendly Fires thing happening, but something a little... grittier...sonic yum all around. And true story I have listened to this song over and over again it might as well burn a hole in my itunes (that would be bad though) and booked them for my CMJ party right away.

Check check check it out and RSVP for the CMJ shenanigans here.

Red Wire Black Wire - Breathing Fire

CMJ SHOWCASE! 2010! YAY!

2010-10-05T17:53:00.002-04:00

The Joy Formidable - NEW VIDEO!

2010-09-28T10:50:00.002-04:00

I've been in overzealous lust with this band since January and they are getting a lot of love stateside these days. Here's the video for their latest single, I Don't Want To See You Like This.

TIDAL ARMS

2010-09-21T17:36:00.003-04:00

It's fall, and time to break out the flannel, switch it up to whiskey, and get intense. Well, maybe not just yet since it was 80 degrees yesterday and people were totally rocking shorts and flip flops at the Asher Roth show I was at last night (don't ask) but you get the idea. And no band, in my opinion, is more appropriate for sweater weather than my recent obsession - Tidal Arms.

I fell in love with Tidal Arms a few months ago when they played night two of Miracles of Modern Science's residency at Cake Shop (which I also presented). I was sitting in the back "djing"/eating a taco from San Loco and as soon as they started playing I turned to my friend and was like "I really like this." After a minute or two, we both were basically freaking out about how fucking good they were. NYC Taper was there, and felt the exact same way - he even used the words "kick ass," a very appropriate descriptor. Their music is heavy without sacrificing any intricacies, pretty much the musical equivalent of the perfect storm.

Best part - they are playing TONIGHT at Union Hall alongside Bird Love and James the Miserable. 8pm. Get all the show info HERE.

Tidal Arms - Hair & Teeth

Autolux!

2010-08-27T17:21:00.003-04:00

Today has been one of the most productive days maybe of my entire life, so to celebrate I wanted to blog TWICE IN ONE DAY. Last night I went to see Autolux at Bowery Ballroom, and before they went on I was trying to figure out the last time I even saw them live. I'm pretty sure it was at Coachella in 2005, and then I read that they haven't released an album in SIX YEARS so that pretty much makes sense. And THEN I was thinking about what the hell I was doing six years ago... aside from being unemployed, starting this blog and hanging out at LIT... I don't even know. But I am very glad Autolux is back in my (now very different) life, after giving it all that thought.

They put out this new album, Transit Transit, earlier this month. I might not be totally enamored with it, but it's growing on me for sure.

Check out this tune and go see them at MHOW tomorrow night.

Autolux - Supertoys

(Photo by the lovely Abbey Braeden)

Seriously, you guys. Young The Giant!

2010-08-27T13:20:00.005-04:00

Where did the summer go?

It's bumming me out, but the good news is that suddenly so much good music has flooded into my life I can't even handle it. For starters, I have to give like 99% credit for this one to Mr Kyle D. Reinford, concert photog and headband wearer extraordinaire. He tweeted about this band Young The Giant and because his music taste is all things rad, I immediately scoured the internet to find something I could listen to and HOLY WHOA. This So-Cal based band of young dudes (they are all under 21!) is rocking my Friday afternoon in the best way, and they are coming to NYC next month on a tour opening for Marina and the Diamonds (Sept 2nd at Webster Hall). If I was on Facebook I would "like" this to infinity.

Please play CMJ. Pretty please.

Young The Giant - My Body

SHOW AT UNION HALL! Brought to you by.... BLOGGERS!

2010-08-18T19:39:00.003-04:00

Hi guys! How is everyone's summer going? Is everyone else spending every waking hour at the office like me? Haha somehow I doubt it. Or at least I hope you are all raging at the (almost defunct) pool parties, hitting the rock-rock-rockaway beaches and generally having a blast. If you haven't made plans to escape the city this weekend, have I got a show for you as I've teamed up with the always spicy Jinners and the always sleeveless Stark brothers to present a three-band rockfest this Friday at Union Hall. Flier below, let's drink some margaritas and get cray-zayyyy.

Much love and hoping for an excellent rest of summer - Nora (follow me on Twitter)

Unsolved Mysteries - Follin Yourself

High Highs - Phone Call

Teletextile - Heartquake

GUAC ROCK TONIGHT.

2010-07-19T08:53:00.002-04:00

Those crazy kids over at one of my favorite food blogs of all time, Nachos NY, totally know how to create sweet mash-ups. I mean let's face it, Nachos are kind of the original mash-up - chips and gooey cheese and toppings and salsaaaa all smushed and melted together to make some glorious in your mouth = one of the better mash-ups in life. This time around, they've paired two sweet things: guacamole and.... A BOAT.

Guac Rock sails tonight and tickets are still available. Dress like an avocado pirate! You know you want to.

Tickets here!