I’m not sure why it was easier for me to post more frequently when I was more busy, but for some reason it was. There’s a ton to post about, so I’ll get right into it.
- Discovery – LP
Approachability: High/Medium
So the Discovery (Ra Ra Riot’s Wed Miles and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij side project) album LP is finally about to come out (July 7th). More importantly, this means that it has finally been leaked to the interwebs.Although clocking in at a disappointingly-short 30 minutes, those 30 minutes are almost certainly going to be in my top 10 albums of 2009. It’s like an indie-r&b-electo-remix-fest. At times they sound like Daft Punk, other times almost like Lil’ Wayne. Definitely a top this year. I can only dream of a Discovery, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend tour…
Check out their space for more info:
http://www.myspace.com/discoverdiscovery - Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Approachability: Low
After RP3′s die hard search for Dirty Projector’s new Bitte Orca album, turns out we found another winner. My personal favorite track is “Stillness Is The Move,” but there’s also a great acoustic tune called “Two Doves,” and a more upbeat jam called “Useful Chamber.” And of course the opening track, “Cannibal Resource,” rocks out more classically.Find all these jams on hypem.com, and obviously the album on iTunes.
More info on their space:
http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectorsFinally, they’re coming to The Black Cat in DC later this year. Get ready.
- Pony Pony Run Run
Approachability: Medium
RP3 also ran into this band when he found their blow-you-away single “Hey You.” If you like your typical electo-pop-rock band, then you’ll love Pony Pony Run Run. Their song “First Date Mullet,” besides having a hilarious name, is quite good.Since hypem is almost entirely remixes of Hey You, go check them out on their space:
http://www.myspace.com/ponyponyrunrun - Ronald Jenkees
Approachability: High
This guy is totally insane, but he’s also so fun to listen to. He plays various keyboards to a pre-made beat in the background, and mixes it up and has fun. I personally think that his stuff on youtube is way better than the album itself, but you may disagree. My favorite song is definitely “Throwing Fire,”but you can hear him do everything from Led Zepplin to Canon in D.You can find all his stuff live on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ronaldjenkees?blend=1&ob=4And his albums are available on iTunes, and on his website:
http://www.ronaldjenkees.com/ - Passion Pit & Harlem Shakes Concert
Approachability: Medium
(Dance-ability: Super High)RP3, Galkin, Julie, and I (among others) went to see Passion Pit last week at The Black Cat in DC. Wow what a show. Cale Parks opened it up – who we all decided would be the best drummer for a cool electro-pop-rock band ever. Pretty good, but kinda tough to watch alone. Amazing drummer though.Harlem Shakes (as you know, one of my favorites) was next in line, and were also great, as expected. They apparently had a bunch of gear stolen the night before in Richmond, so they had to improvise about half their set. I felt kinda bad for them, but they still put a great show – even though half of it was basically performed acoustic. And then finally: Passion Pit.
The audience was already pretty lively, and by the time they were 2 songs in the whole place was jumping. They played most of my favorites, even though the set was really only about 45 minutes long. My only issue with the whole thing was that the lead singer, Michael Angelakos’s mic was way too low. You could hardly hear most of his vocals. Otherwise, great show.
And Julie even showed us how to have a dance party when packed up against a bunch of hipsters. Turns out it’s not even that hard!
You can listen to Passion Pit’s whole set online at NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105109499 - And finally, Ra Ra Riot has announced another tour, and they’re headlining at the 930 Club in DC on October 1. I guess I know where I’ll be on October 1st haha.
http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1127572
I’m still trying to figure out how to get back to posting the actual songs so you can download without Blogger pulling my posts off. I might switch to wordpress or something, we’ll see.
Have a great weekend!
-WJ
Posted by Weird Jim 