Nightlands: Oak Island

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Eric, who discussed Toro y Moi in his last post, is back for more, this time discussing War on Drugs bassist Dave Hartley’s solo project called Nightlands.

One album I’ve really been getting into these days is Nightlands’ sophomore release, Oak Island. Nightlands is a band I’ve only just become familiar with in a sort of Six Degrees of Separation (or Kevin Bacon) sense. I’m a big fan of Philly low-fi singer/guitarist Kurt Vile, who is, along with Adam Granduciel, one of the founding members of The War on Drugs. These days, Kurt Vile plays solo, but Granduciel is the guitarist for Vile’s band and the frontman for The War on Drugs. Nightlands is the side project of The War on Drugs bassist Dave Hartley. Got it?

Hartley seems like quite the multi-faceted musician, which is always intriguing to me. Sure, he plays in multiple bands, but that’s not that uncommon, at least within the confines of the indie-rock world. A rabid fan of the 76ers and the NBA in general, he also moonlights as a basketball writer for two different websites: Top of the Key for Philly music blog The Key, and Death Dunk for Impose Magazine. As someone who DVRs as much NBA TV as primetime television, I really appreciate both his love for his team and the honesty with which he assesses it. I also like that he’s got a special affinity for not only the star players, but also the blue-collar role players. The “lunch pail” guys. The Todd MacCullochs of the world. The Matt Bonners. The Paul Shirleys. I’ve always been someone who loves talking and reminiscing about the random minutiae of sports, and Hartley really nails that in his posts.

He’s also a hardcore sci-fi “enthusiast” (notice I went PC in favor of the more pejorative “nerd-burger”). You could be quite literal in describing Nightlands’ work thus far as either “spacey” or “dreamy.” Spacey in the sense that his his passion for sci-fi certainly pretty obviously finds his way onto Oak Island, which Pitchfork accurately described as “a big-concept, low-budget rendering of the space age sound redolent of any of the movies that came out as an immediate result of Star Wars.” It’s dreamy in the sense that he apparently wrote his debut album, Forget the Mantra, by putting a tape recorder next to his bed in an effort to gather musical ideas conceived mid-slumber.

Both of these qualities are on display in the video for the first single, “I Fell in Love With a Feeling,” a quick blend of strummy guitar and horns that reminds me a lot of Destroyer’s last album (certainly not a bad thing in my view), and Hartley’s voice morphed into a sort of one-man robot chorus.

My first instinct was to try to view Nightlands through a War on Drugs-colored lens, but that’s pretty immediately ruled out as an option as I began to listen to Oak Island. One project seems to have little, if anything to do with another, which is pretty perfect for a multi-instrumentalist/basketball blogger/sci-fi fan – a guy who’s clearly his own person and would seem to hate being or doing what you’d expect.

Frightened Rabbit: Backyard Skulls (video)

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I’m ashamed to admit that my last post on Frightened Rabbit was in August 2011. I mean, we had such a good thing going. But last year’s State Hospital EP slipped through the cracks, and now the band comes roaring back with Pedestrian Verse, the band’s fourth full-length studio album and first for a major label (Atlantic).

I ask for forgiveness – and I also ask that the band return to play Phoenix again (we have such great memories).

Let’s start my road to redemption by posting this video for “Backyard Skulls,” a song off Pedestrian Verse, which along with Light Up Gold by Parquet Courts, has so far commanded most of my attention in 2013. Here the band performs at what appears to be the remnants of some high school dance, a seemingly innocent scene set against the sort of harsh truths for adulthood to come: “Backyard skulls / deep beneath the ground / those backyard skulls / are not deep enough to never be found.”

The steady evolution of Toro y Moi

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Eric is in Hawaii – eating exotic foods, surfing, laughing at us peons – but he was kind enough to leave me with two posts while he’s away. Here’s the first.

Toro y Moi played Crescent Ballroom on Jan. 30, for the second time in a year (bookended by Geographer at Rhythm Room the day before and Pinback at Crescent the day after, no less). I’m not sure what musical lottery we won here in Phoenix that week, but I wasn’t about to question it. His 2012 show, despite putting me in full geezer mode with the overwhelming underage section, was one of the best-sounding shows I went to all year.

Not that it’s the reason I like him so much, but it doesn’t hurt that Chazwick Bundick is also a fellow South Carolinian. I lived in “South Cackalacky” from when I was just a wee lad of 5 years old until just before my sophomore year of high school, when my dad’s job moved us to Illinois. When your home state’s musical heroes pretty much begin and end with Hootie and the Blowfish and Marshall Tucker Band, you can begin to understand how rarely I’m given the privelege of SC artists about which to get excited.

After seeing Toro y Moi this time, I found myself looking back at a short but already impressive catalogue and how it’s developed over the years. Through these past few years, Chaz Bundick has consistently explored new musical landscapes with each new album. On 2009’s Causers of This, Toro y Moi was a one-man band with a synthesyzer and mixing equipment. He was quickly lumped in with other “bedroom” recording artists such as Washed Out and Neon Indian and firmly inserted into a brand new, conventient square box of a subgenre called chillwave, the basic idea being dreamy pop as heard through a musical Instagram filter of sorts. Tracks like “Blessa” and “Talamak” had bloggers and critics abuzz, “Blessa” being of particular note for its oft-discussed, resonant line, “I found a job I do it fine/Not what I want but still I try” as being something of a mantra for young people coming to terms with a take-what-you-can-get post-college reality check in 2009.

The next iteration of TyM expanded Bundick’s reach beyond that of a solo project. He had already channeled his more electronic tendencies into his side project, Les Sins, which produced a double-sided single, “Lina,” in 2010. This was an intriguing, brief tease along the way to what I consider an essential album, his official sophomore release, 2011’s Underneath the Pine. While Pine‘s production is still largely rooted in the dreamy, spacey waves of that got him noticed with Causers, it also displayed an overtly dancier, funkier side with tracks like “Still Sound” and “New Beat.” Around the time of the release of the album, I got to see my first Toro y Moi show. The first chance was as an opener, circa-Causers of This, for the Ruby Suns at Rhythm Room, something I kicked myself for missing a hundred times over.

I’m not sure if I had been misinformed or just imagined it, but my understanding of Toro live shows pre-Pine involved Chaz, a microphone and DJ equipment. But when I saw them headline the South by Stateside showcase (including other soon-to-break-out artists Foster the People and Geographer) at the Sail Inn in March 2011, there was ol’ Chazzy on keyboard and vocals, a guitarist, a drummer and bassist. Toro y Moi had graduated to being a “band” in more traditional sense of the word. I wasn’t expecting it, and the live show admittedly felt distinctly different than the album, almost like a slightly abstract interpretation of it. All of this is not to say that it was in any way amateurish or took anything away from the sound of what’s become one of my favorite albums – it just felt like two very different animals, the live show and the album. I definitely walked away impressed and wanting more.

What’s been really consistent, though, each time I’ve seen a Toro show has been Chaz Bundick’s stage presence. For such a seemingly soft-spoken, intellectual, sheepish teddy bear of a guy, he plays with a confidence and swagger beyond his years and on-the-surface personality. The effortlessness with which he plays is really impressive to me, like I’m watching that kid destroy the Dance Dance Revolution game in the lobby of the movie theater, all the while with an “ain’t no thang” half-smirk on his face.

I saw them next in August 2011 at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, underneath a canopy of shady trees with a cold beer in my hand. By that point, having already worn out Pine as a soundtrack to almost everything in my life, this was to be one of my favorite shows. That spring and summer, and well after, I played the album pretty much everywhere. The CD was always in the car and on my iPod when walking, hiking or biking. I really enjoyed seeing the world through the lens of that particular album, and it’s just something I’ve never gotten tired of.

With January’s release of Anything in Return, Toro has ventured into some newfound sauve territory. The first two singles, “So Many Details” and “Say That,” are slow and sexy, with catchy hooks and quite a bit more bass thump than previous fare, and “Rose Quartz” exudes a healthy amount of swagger. “High Living” is similarly stretched out, allowing Bundick plenty of space to work into some deep Courvoisier-in-hand grooves.

I don’t want to say he’s “grown up” at this point (he’s still only 26, after all), and he seemed pretty self-possessed in his early 20s, but it seems that he’s hit a more adult stride with this new work. He recently moved away from home to live with his girlfriend in Berkeley, which doesn’t seem coincidental for me. As someone who’s had that moment where you decide that moving across the country is something that you are definitely all of a sudden going to go ahead and go through with, even though you’re leaving everything you know behind and have no idea what what this new place will bring, I can attest that it can be hard to look at yourself as a kid afterward.

I knew from the first listen, this album has a lot of replay potential for me, just like everything else I’ve heard from him, and I’m excited to see what I find as I peel back the layers. Hearing the new stuff after only maybe two or three times prior to the show, it wasn’t as familiar going in as I’d like for one of my favorite bands, but that happens. Although I couldn’t “feeeeel” it as much, I also have a gut reaction that Anything in Return will usher in new era for him and broaden the fan base further. Although I have a pretty personal relationship with the music, I’m happy about that. I recommend it to just about everybody and genuinely want more people to experience it.

I also feel like the live show is only becoming more integrated as Chaz goes along and adds more layers. The crowd was dancing and smiling throughout. Yeah, I was mouthing the words to about 75 percent of the songs. So what? I’m not exaggerating when I say that people were freaking out about some Toro, you guys. Deafening cheers and chants demanded an encore, and there was a palpable ecstatic buzz that filtered out into the lounge area post-show. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next time I see them.

New old Rival Schools album: Found

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In 2011, 10 years after debuting with the excellent United By Fate, post-hardcore outfit Rival Schools returned from a hiatus to release Pedals, a solid effort that seemed to comfortably pick up where the Walter Schreifels-fronted band left off a decade prior.

But somewhere in between there was a “lost” album – that most mythical concept. Rival Schools have their own version, and what once was lost now is Found (sorry). On April 9, the band will release Found, a remastered collection of those lost tracks originally meant to serve as the second album.

Below is a stream of one of the songs, “Indisposable Heroes” and a Q&A with Schreifels (unedited by me) that the group’s marketing firm included with the email blast about the album. It offers all the details you’d want about the unearthing of Found.

Continue reading New old Rival Schools album: Found

Ex-Mazarin frontman Quentin Stoltzfus recruits the Walkmen for new project Light Heat

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It’s been a long time – too long – since I’ve mentioned Mazarin’s name on this blog. To be exact, it’s been more than six years. That was in November 2006, when Mazarin was forced to retire its name because of a cease and desist order by an attorney hired by another band with the same name. Long story short: Mazarin retired its name and, worse, retired as a band, playing a final show in December 2006 in its hometown of Philadelphia.

It was a shame for Mazarin to endure such an abrupt ending; the 2005 album We’re Already There is a wondrous piece of pysch-pop. The Walkmen thought enough of the album to cover one of the songs, “Another One Goes By,” and include it on their 2006 album A Hundred Miles Off.

Here we are in 2013, and that synergism has come full circle. Mazarin frontman Quentin Stoltzfus has resurfaced for a new project called Light Heat, and he’s backed by Walkmen members Paul Maroon, Matt Barrick, Peter Bauer and Walter Martin. Spin premiered a new track, “The Mirror,” and instantly you can feel the influence of Barrick’s pulsating drums. This pairing is a very welcome development.

Light Heat’s self-titled debut album will be released via Ribbon Music on June 25.

Check out two tracks below.

Light Heat: The Mirror

Light Heat: And the Birds…

Incoming: Modest Mouse, April 14, Crescent Ballroom

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Modest Mouse has an impressive track record of consistently keeping Arizona on its tour itineraries. At least since playing Boston’s in 1998 – and mostly likely even before that – Isaac Brock’s band has been a regular in the desert.

Since 2000, Charlie Levy at Stateside Presents has booked Modest Mouse at least seven times: twice at the old Nita’s Hideaway ( in in 2000 and 2001); once at the new Nita’s; twice at Mesa Amphitheatre; once at Celebrity Theatre; and, most recently (in 2009), at Marquee Theatre.

And with Modest Mouse playing the first day of both weekends at Coachella this year, it makes perfect sense to return. This time, Levy brings the band to his own venue, Crescent Ballrom, on April 14. The show will be outdoors, behind Crescent, which will allow for a capacity of 2,000, according to Levy, who used an outside stage for the first time in August for the Los Dias de la Crescent event. (The band is also playing Rialto Theatre in Tucson on April 13.)

(UPDATE: Here’s a video of Los Dias de la Crescent if you want to get idea of how the outside setup functions. The stage faces the venue with its back to Third Avenue.)

Presumably, Modest Mouse will have a new album out soon (featuring Big Boi?). But if you’re unfamiliar with the band’s catalog (what’s wrong with you?), I suggest watching this documentary on the 1997 album The Lonesome Crowded West. And then immerse yourself in the 2000 classic The Moon & Antarctica, an album that helped carry me through sometimes lonely and uncertain times in my first two years out of college in Lubbock, Texas. It’s certainly in my top 3 albums of the 2000s, if not in my top 10 favorites of all-time.

Tickets ($35-$40) for the April 14 show go on sale Friday (Feb. 22) at 10 a.m.

Below you will find footage of Modest Mouse’s soundcheck and performance at the Nita’s Hideaway show in 2000 interspersed with some B-roll of Arizona, via Nicole Nelch. Very awesome stuff. And as Nelch points out, the show happened on the same night as one of DJ Z-Trip’s weeklies at Nita’s. I’m so grateful for footage like this at a time when documenting wasn’t as simple as reaching into your pocket.

110 Percent: Stefan Marolachakis of Caveman on the agony and ecstasy of life as a Knicks fan

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The eighth installment of 110 Percent, a series in which I talk to musicians about sports, features Stefan Marolachakis, the drummer for Brooklyn-based band Caveman, which will release its self-titled sophomore album on April 2 on Fat Possum, a follow-up to its very good and probably very overlooked debut CoCo Beware.

Marolachakis took time in advance of the band’s 31-city tour to discuss his unyielding passion for the NBA – more specifically, the Knicks. I was born in Chicago and grew up rooting for the Bulls, so we have different perspectives on those playoff grudge matches from the 1990s. Still, we could have talked for hours about this. Here’s a somewhat abridged version of our chat. (And be sure to stream the first single off the new album, “In the City.”)

So I don’t know a whole lot other than that you guys are huge basketball fans, right?
Well, most of the guys in the band were born and raised in New York City, so we sort of live and die by the Knicks. Coming on the heels of many seasons in the Isiah Thomas era, this roster now is really exciting.

As a band, you guys are based in Brooklyn, so there’s no love for the Nets?
We are through and through Knicks fans. … There’s no fence-jumping going on. It’s a rivalry now and we land squarely on the Knicks’ side.

On my birthday in 1995, I was at the Michael Jordan 55-point game. Patrick Ewing didn’t get the continuation on the and 1 at the end of the game, which killed me. And there are so many tourists, so when the Bulls would score, the crowd is cheering. Hearing any cheers for the Bulls was so gutting.

Bud I did go to a lot of games that the Knicks won, and that was more exciting. Growing up I had the luxury that the team I cut my teeth on was Starks, Oakley, Ewing, Derek Harper and Anthony Mason, which was incredible. But it still breaks my heart that Patrick Ewing doesn’t have a championship ring. There were definitely some tears shed in 1994.

What other memories stand out?
The dunk – the dunk Starks had over Jordan. And that team, it just seemed like the perfect team for this city. There was the fancy Showtime vibe in L.A., and you come here and tap into this grimy, elbow grease – they were really down in the trenches in this physical game. It was so cool. In a city where pickup basketball is so big, it just seemed so fitting for New York. And I feel like the squad we have now is getting closer to that. It seems like a lot of guys on our team won’t take any shit.

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I just remember constantly watching games and getting so emotional. I remember a game against the Heat, and they were down 17 at halftime, and I was at my friend’s place and we literally shut the lights and laid down on the floor in this dark depression. Then they came back and won and we’re tearing the ceiling apart. And it remains that way.

Your fandom has not waned?
It really hasn’t. It’s just as gut-wrenching.

On of my favorites experiences of our last tour is when we were in a very wide open part of Texas. We were asking everybody where a bar was open, at like 1 or 2 p.m. We found one that was a standalone – there a bunch of old guys smoking cigarettes and pounding beers and we managed to get them to put on the Knicks game and it was very special. It’s also easy to get wrapped up in it when your best friends are also rabid basketball fans.

It seems like, aside from the music, that’s a good bonding thing for you guys as a band.
It’s always good to have other neurons firing. When we’re not on tour, we hang out all the time anyway, which is just another good excuse to do that.

Are you a college basketball fan?
I need to work on my college basketball. I, like every body else, get swept up in March Madness, but I’m not very savvy when it comes to regular-season college basketball.

Do you play?
Yeah. I was always a little better in my mind than I was on the court. I’m really trying to bring a lot of intangibles to the court — and then I talk trash and play as dirty as humanly possible (laughs). I don’t play as often as I should be because I love it so much.

One of my oldest friends, he actually has the sweetest jump shot. He’s like a pickup dream – the guy who can make me better. Only on a rare occasion will I become the focal point of the offense. But our whole band is pretty good. We’d be a good starting five.

Shirts or skins?
Oh, gonna have to be skins. We really let it all hang out (laughs).

Pickup basketball is such a thing in New York. It’s got to be intimidating.
Here’s the thing: You’ve got a lot of courts to pick from.

Do you get to play much when you’re on tour?
We tend to bring a basketball and football. A lot of times you’ll find a random hoop, so that’s more of a H-O-R-S-E thing. But sometimes we’ll find a court . If we’re driving between shows, we’ll sometimes get a particular scenic rest stop and throw the football around.

Do you follow any other sports closely?
For me, NBA is the biggest thing. But any sport come playoff time, I’ll be engaged. I definitely like football and I love postseason baseball. I hope as I grow older I become a more patient man and get into the beautiful science of regular-season baseball. It’s just a whole world I don’t know. It’s a serious commitment.

Where did this Knicks fandom come from? Was it passed down?
It came from my dad and just my friends. My dad is rabid Knicks fan. And most of my close friends were enamored by NBA ball. To be a two-guard for the Knicks – that was dream material. … The two-guard position on Knicks was an incredibly cool one. There were some volatile characters (Starks, Sprewell, etc.). The two-guard was a dangerous and cool spot.

You have quite a memory for this stuff.
It takes up a lot of mental real estate.

DJ Nu-Mark: Don’t Play Around (feat. Aloe Blacc and Charles Bradley)

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I’ll forever have love for Jurassic 5, so even six years after the L.A. hip-hop idols broke up, curiosity pulled me back in (and now they’re on the comeback trail at Coachella). That’s a good thing. I might have otherwise overlooked this new single from Nu-Mark, one of J5’s two DJs (along with the esteemed Cut Chemist).

Nu-Mark released his debut full-length Broken Sunlight, and he’s been releasing songs as a series of 10-inch records over the past year or so. It’s an innovative method, but what do you expect from a guy that can rock toy instruments in a live set?

I’ve said it before, but one of my favorite live moments was seeing Z-Trip, Radar, Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark perform on an otherwise quiet Sunday night in Tempe at a bar called Mustang Sally’s in a secret-style show one day after J5 played the Nile Theater. I still can’t even believe I saw that. Much as I bemoan the constant smartphone recording of shows these days, I’d kill for some footage of that night now.

But back to Nu-Mark … the most recent release in the Broken Sunlight series, Don’t Play Around, is pure soul, showcasing the amazing vocals of Aloe Blacc and Charles Bradley over one bad-ass beat. Can the drummer get some?

Says Nu-Mark at Rolling Stone: “I did a lot of vocal experimentation for Broken Sunlight. Charles Bradley and Aloe Blacc were a perfect fit, capturing the raw heartache of best friends dating the same women.”

Eric’s best albums of 2012

As I wrote recently, it’s been a few years since I’ve done a proper year-end list of favorite songs/albums. Thankfully, Eric – who has stepped up as a very welcome fresh voice around here – came through with a 2012 list. Even if we’re already getting knee deep in 2013 albums, it’s never too late to look back and consider the year that was.

Please forgive the laziness, generic-ness, and Januaryness Februaryness of all this (Editor’s note: The Februaryness of this is my fault). Yeah, usually there are 10. Usually they’re posted in December. Buuut, considering that’s all pretty arbitrary, aaaaand it’s an easy way to get myself back in this here bloggin’ racket, I’m going to just do it anyway. I’ve talked about some of these already, and you may be familiar with some others, 13 for 2013? That work for you guys? Awesome.

LORD HURON: Lonesome Dreams (IAMSOUND)
Definitely in my roots-y, beard-y, folky wheelhouse. Seattle’s KEXP, my streaming radio station of choice, has been all over these guys lately, with good reason. Fans of Fleet Foxes, take notice. There’s a good chance you’ll like ’em.
[VIDEO]: Lord Huron – Man Who Lives Forever

EL-P: Cancer 4 Cure (Fat Possum)
When I think of ex-Company Flow front man El-P, it takes me back to the late ’90s, when I was first introduced to any sort of off-the-radar stuff, hip-hop wise. I remember my college buddy Dave playing Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus in his dorm room and just being in awe of what I was hearing. Rapid-fire and angry, but intellectual. His show at Crescent Ballroom with Despot, Mr. MFN Exquire and Killer Mike, who almost made the cut for this list as well, was pure energy and head-nodding gold.
[STREAM]: El-P – Tougher Colder Killer

JAPANDROIDS: Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
Unabashedly fist pump-y, epic rock from Vancouverians on the rise. This album threw a lot of new ears their way without compromising their music or what they’re fundamentally about.
Previous post: Japandroids, the Casbah (San Diego), 6/16/12
[VIDEO]: Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built

MACKLEMORE AND RYAN LEWIS: The Heist (Macklemore LLC)
KEXP strikes again. Over the last couple years, watching that station throw its full support to a local artist it believed in has made me hope for the day when Phoenix bands might also enjoy the fruits of that backing. I imagine I’ll sound pretty corny pledging allegiance to Macklemore as crossover “hipster rap” Exhibit A someday (or now), and that’s certainly justifiable and understandable. He may soon (or now) be “That Thrift Shop Song Guy” (61 million views on YouTube as I write this – guess that rules out a return trip to Club Red on his next visit to the Valley), but before he’s potentially written off as such, I hope people take note of how much is actually going on with him. He’s funny, bluntly honest, and equally comfortable rapping about your grandpa’s coats, marriage equality, former Seattle Mariners announcers’ passings, overcoming addiction, and losing friends to it.
[VIDEO]: Maklemore and Ryan Lewis– Same Love

BEST COAST: The Only Place (Mexican Summer)
Not even the slightly guiltiness to my pleasure at this point. I was a big fan of the simplicity and sweetness of 2010’s Crazy for You. On this one, Bethany Cosentino’s subject matter has shifted somewhat beyond the fertile realms of a) boys she has crushes on and b) her cat. The sound is less garage-y, more singer-songwriter-y. Microsoft commercials or no, happy fun time beach rock has become musical comfort food for me.
[VIDEO]: Best Coast – The Only Place

TAME IMPALA: Lonerism (Modular Fontana)
Simultaneous double fist-pump/knee raise combo to myself for making sure I caught these guys early in the day at Lollapalooza. Not sure I can give myself more pats on the back for seeing a next-level jaw-dropping live band from Australia who neeever plays the U.S. Inevitably, what’s old is new again, and I’m convinced that their brand of psychedelic fuzziness would’ve legitimately been huge in the early ’70s, yet it still sounds fresh in 2012.
[VIDEO]: Tame Impala perform “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”

TWIN SHADOW: Confess (4AD)
Along with being one of the better albums I listened to in 2012, Twin Shadow at Crescent Ballroom was also one of the better performances I saw. Having seen them years ago as an opener for Jamie Lidell (?!) at Rhythm Room and part of a tripleheader (with Warpaint and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart) at Club Congress in Tucson, my already lofty expectations were exceeded by a tight, focused, high energy show.
[VIDEO]: Twin Shadow performs “Run My Heart”

BEACH HOUSE: Bloom (Sub Pop)
The Baltimore duo, who have been a staple in Casa de Eric since 2010’s Teen Dream, came back with an even dreamier classic. I’m fairly certain Beach House and Twin Shadow need to re-score some ’80s brat-pack era classics together.
[STREAM]: Beach House – Myth

FATHER JOHN MISTY: Fear Fun (Sub Pop)
There’s not a more interesting or naturally funny person in music right now than the former Fleet Foxes drummer turned frontman Josh Tillman. Along with the drumsticks, he scrapped his J. Tillman moniker, at least for now, and created something uniquely his. As previously mentioned, I’d very much like to hang out with him. The stars aligned, and I was actually able to see his show at Rhythm Room with my brother. Quality bro-age indeed.
[VIDEO]: Father John Misty – Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

HOSPITALITY: self-titled (Merge)
So twee. So cute. I’m pretty sure going to tell a bunch of friends (or friends’ girlfriends/sisters) about Hospitality. I saw Vincent Gallo in the crowd at their Crescent Ballroom show. No, I didn’t tell him I went to the same college as Roger Ebert when I had the chance to do so. If I had a job deciding what songs would work in movies, commercials, and TV shows, I’m pretty sure I would have used songs from this album in pretty much anything involving young people and/or coffee. Tell me I’m wrong.
[STREAM]: Hospitality – Eighth Avenue

ALT-J: An Awesome Wave (Canvasback)
What’s there not to like? Predictably, KEXP was all over them super early, so I’ve benefited from hearing these guys since pretty early on. I missed out on their Lollapalooza aftershow. At least it was for a Toro y Moi DJ set. Also, they won the Mercury Prize. Which is nice. Check out this clip from Jools Holland, this British musical variety show that always has the most disparate and awesome guests. Also, it’s on that random Palladia channel on cable like ALL THE TIME. It’s pretty great – why don’t we have something like this in the U.S.? Who would host it? My vote goes to Oates from Hall and Oates.
[VIDEO]: Alt-J – Something Good (the Amazing Sessions)

DJANGO DJANGO: self-titled (Ribbon Music)
Another British band, along with Alt-J, that blew my mind in 2012. Bouncier than Alt-J, and sure to be compared to bands that dwell in more Americana-ish circles, Django Django is a band I can’t wait to see more of.
[VIDEO]: Django Django – Firewater (acoustic session)

DIIV: Oshin (Captured Tracks)
DIIV (pronounced and formerly called “Dive” – guess there was another band called that very thing) is the side project of Beach Fossils’ Zachary Cole Smith. Unlike Beach Fossils’ jangly, for lack of a better term, “beachyness,” this is dreamy post-punk that would have fit well on the Donnie Darko soundrack. If you like the Cure, Joy Division, or the like, give this one a spin.
[VIDEO]: DIIV – Doused

Cadence Weapon: Hype Man (video)

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Lately, I’m constantly reminded of albums I overlooked or neglected to pay enough attention to in 2012. Cadence Weapon’s Hope In Dirt City falls into the latter category.

The third album by the Edmonton rapper (born Rollie Pemberton) is a bit of a mixed bag stylistically – more challenging of a listen, if not a touch incohesive. What remains a constant is Cadence Weapon’s awareness of his surroundings and his ability to sharply criticize all manners of culture (he is a former Pitchfork contributor, after all).

Hype Man takes a shot at the rap game. It’s a two-verse track, with Cadence Weapon playing the part of both sides: the ego-driven rap star (“At the strip club make sure that my song plays”) and the inglorious hype man, begging for a break from his famous connection (“I’d take a bullet / I’d probably pull it”). The tension comes to a head at the end of this video, co-directed by Cadence and George Vale.

I love this track because I’ve always been sort of fascinated by the tragic character that is the hype man, who dutifully waves his towel and drops in for every fourth word at a live show. And in this instance, the video draws a conclusion that you couldn’t really expect just by listening to the song. It’s the demise of the lowly hype man. There will always be another.