Archive for category Indie

Decemberist’s Concert Review (Brian’s Take)

I’ll let Matt knock out all the details, but I thought I’d give my opinion. The Hazards of Love is an interesting record to say the least. It’s a Rock Opera for one, so it’s meant to be enjoyed from start to finish in order to capture the full experience. However, not many people sit down and listen to full albums anymore…It’s truly taxing. Hearing it live made me sympathize with Colin Meloy and enabled me to understand why he would release such a pretentious piece…because he can. Let’s be honest, Colin Meloy is a pompous fellow, but I feel he’s entitled to be. Personally, I feel he’s a literary genius. He is my favorite modern day lyricist and he is also a very skilled raconteur, whose stories are enthralling. I was on-board when he took his listeners on a trip to the Oceanside. Hell, I even reluctantly followed when he decided it was time to give his listeners a taste of ancient Japanese Folklore. However, I did not accompany him on his latest journey about some shape shifting creature who falls in love…at first. Until last night. Only the Decemberists could pull an album like this off and only they could play is so masterfully live.

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*Side Note* I still think the story line sucks wang and I still think this was an endeavor that should have never been taken on.

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That being said, I have lightened up on the album after seeing it live. It was epic live to say the least. I went into the concert believing that this was sonically the best Decemberists album to date but didn’t think much else of it. I was truly blown away last night at how beautiful it was live. However, those feelings didn’t really continue into this morning…I was excited to enjoy the album from start to finish when I arrived at work this morning, but I only made it 3 songs in…so I guess my opinion really didn’t change much after all…I think it can be said that this album was crafted for the live setting.
To sum up the first half of the concert which was the Hazards of Love, I would say it deserves a
8.5/10

The second set was a good old fashioned Decemberists show. If you haven’t seen this band live yet *Cough* Alex Davis *Cough*, then you really should. They are easily one of the best live bands around. The second set had some of my favorite Decemberists songs which made me happy, though I would have killed to hear On the Bus Mall or Engine Drive.

Overall, I think this was an amazing way to perform a show. They are touring off a rock opera…Okay cool. If I went to this show last night and only heard Hazards of Love, I would have been disappointed even though it was fucking awesome. However, this album is not why I love the Decemberists and I think they understand that it would be stupid to just play just one album in full. Though, I give them serious props for playing something like a 10 song second set. I’m pretty sure they played roughly 28 songs overall.

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My only quip about their playing is the Sporting Life…One of the better Decemerbists songs and I was extremely excited to her it live and I still am glad I heard it, but I think it’s the only song I’ve heard them play that loses something in the live setting.

Overall I give this show a

8.8/10

because I am a Decemberists fanboy.

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Dance Music Requirements

Chi Don’t Dance No More, ALL WE DO IS JUKE. If you don’t know about BBU, consider yourself warned. They will be the next best thing out of Chicago. If you live in the ChiCity, please go to one of their shows and enjoy.

The Hood Internet

I love them.  Almost without exception.  Each song is so great and it perfectly mixes my love for hip-hop with indie music.

MJ x Ratatat

Twista x Boys Noise

Drake x Weezer

Fleet Foxes w/ Dungen Concert Review

I’m yet to find a person who doesn’t like the Fleet Foxes after listening to them. They are just a solid band with very talented members. Now, whether that band would put on a great live show is another question. Their music is extremely complex vocally, and also very chill which could mean a few interesting things for a live show. Here’s my experience/verdict on the show:

Kevin, Alexa, my cousin Ryan, and I headed down to Royal Oak at about 6:15. We stopped in at the Royal Oak brewery and grabbed some good bar food before heading to the show. I couldn’t help but think that this might be the most interesting concert experience I’ll ever have. Dungen is an awesome Swedish Psych-Rock group and Fleet Foxes are extremely chill cave men looking guys…A very interesting combination. Well, we rolled up to the theater at about 8:10 and there was a decent line. We thought the line wrapped around a couple blocks but it turns out it was for a bar right next door. Kevin, Alexa and I grab a spot right in the middle tier of the ROMT. If you haven’t been there, it’s like the Fillmore in Detroit. It goes Bar, steps, Standing area with a rail, stairs, standing area with a rail, then main floor. Pretty cool. So we grabbed a spot on the rail because we decided that a Fleet Foxes concert is on that doesn’t need to be appreciated from the first row. Though, we did have second thoughts because we thought Dungen was gonna put on a high energy awesome show…
Well Dungen came out at 9ish to an unenthusiastic applause. They opened by just jamming for a few minutes…It was awesome. Though I couldn’t help but be angered at the whole country of Canada after some dumb girls from Canada who I had been chatting with beforehand asked me if there were any words in a disgusted tone…I wanted to bitch slap her. Well, Dungen put on a great show, but it was definitely toned down…but that was to be expected. Fleet Foxes core fans as a whole wouldn’t appreciate in your face rock. They played a lot of Ta Det Lugnt (Panda, Ta Det Lungt, Du E För Fin För Mig and maybe one more.) It was rockin’, but again, I couldn’t help but be pissed at the unenthusiastic crowd around me. The floor seemed to be enjoying it, but the fucking Canucks were too busy thinking about Polar Bears ice skating while slurpin’ up some Coca-Cola in Montreal and they weren’t shameful about making sure everyone knew they weren’t into it. Long story short, Dungen was awesome!
Fleet Foxes came out at about 10:30. Let me just throw this out there…I’m normally in bed by 10:30 and Fleet Foxes are super chill…I found myself almost falling asleep a couple times throughout their set. But alas, they were freaking amazing live. The lead signer blew me away! His vocals were spot on! There’s really not much to say about the show…They played a few new songs which sounded very much like their old stuff, which is a good thing I guess. I couldn’t help but imagine how awesome it would be to see them outside at like 10 at night. Say Grant Park in Chicago. I could see myself just flopped out on a blanket and passing out listening to them.

All in all, it was a pretty sweet concert, though it’s not comparable to most shows I’ve seen. I’ve seen some folk groups before live, The Decemberists being the first to come to mind. They are so dominate live and I think it’s safe to say that the Fleet Foxes are as well.  Because of their strong performance, and because they played their music just about as good as you can live, I give them:

7/10

Some new Decemberists

So the Decemberists played some festival this past weekend and like Collin said via twitter, they played a couple new songs. I don’t know how many of you are die hard Decemberists fans, but I know Matt and I are, and Sam, as far as I know, used to love them but loathes their most recent Hazards of Love. What I’m getting at is, I think most of us fell in love with the Decemberists past work and nauticalesque theme. Well I think Collin got this Rock Opera out of his system. According to Pitchfork, the new songs are a return to form, which is AMAZING to hear. One is purportedly about a coal miner, which is quintessential Decemberists stuff. I can’t post the videos, but it’s all available via Pitchfork.

The Fray Coming To MSU…F^CK

So to start off this school year with a bang (/s), ASMSU is bringing you the Fray for the highly inflated price of $35.50! WTF…I really would like to be apart of this group or something, because they bring a lot of garbage…Though they do bring a lot of awesome bands (KoL, Death Cab, Lil Wayne, OK Go, Wilco, and in years past: Muse, John Mayer and some others), they also bring a lot of shit…For those of you actually interested, go to this link and get all the info you need.

Some interesting news from Bloc Party

This got me slightly depressed, though it really shouldn’t because bands say this all the time…

Just read the article…CLICK ME

Miike Snow Storm

So much Miike Snow that you may never want to leave your house.


Go to HypeM! Go anywhere! I can’t stop listening.

For all you Bloc Party Fanatics – a boombox…

Dom and I were perusing the local UO, when we found the boombox from the new Bloc Party music vid…it costs like $229. Ouch

Nice Res for a phone...has iPod hook up, SD card, and all sorts of goodies

Nice Res for a phone...has iPod hook up, SD card, and all sorts of goodies

Dead Weather TONIGHT!

I was just informed by Brian, that we will be entering early tonight!

Hello and Congratulations,
Upon arriving at the venue this evening, make yourself known to the lady outside wearing a suit. She will be there waiting to escort you in about 5 minutes before Doors.

Please bring your photo ID and you’ll be all set.

This offer is non transferable.

Enjoy the show!

Third Man Records
The Vault

This is dominant.

Here are some videos:

More Good New Videos

We did a bit on Animals by Miike Snow. Here’s the video:

Are you a Grime fan? Lethal Bizzle! “Go Hard”

Like instrumentals? And Turtles? Tortoise “Prepare Your Coffin”