Uptown Jazz & Blues Festival

Lafayette's Uptown Jazz & Blues Festival is this Saturday (the 27th)

from 5p.m. to Midnight

Mister Heavenly

Mister Heavenly-Out Of Love

My featured release this week is the debut album from Mister Heavenly, Out Of Love. The band is a side-project comprised of members of Modest Mouse, Man Man, and Islands. Some of you out there may have heard of Mister Heavenly due to Michael Cera's involvement as their touring bassist. Dubbed as "doom-wop", the album lives up to the expectations I would have for that phrase. It's poppy sounding, but with an underlying sadness in the lyrics. I found it very interesting. Fans of Modest Mouse will most likely enjoy this one. I don't really listen to Man, Man or Islands enough to know what their fans will think.

All-in-all, I would say this one is worth a couple trips about the turntable. Very enjoyable.

Check in next Tuesday for my next featured release.

My Heart Explodes

Electrelane from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

Awesome Band!!

Hello out there in Blog Land. Got you a killer band to check out--The Stone Foxes, and they've got that boogie blues/psychedelic rock thing down pat. They've got two records out and both of them will make your ears all sorts of happy. The track "I Killed Robert Johnson" from their second album, Bears & Bulls is just plain undeniably rock 'n roll. So do yourself a great big huge favor and track down a copy of one of their albums, then stop by the shop and shower me with praise for having made your life better.

Let's Get This Season Started!

Purdue University's first Convocations event of the year kicks off August 25th at 7:30pm.  

Lafayette's own Friends of Bob is co-hosting Grupo Fantasma--an Austin, TX based 10 piece Latin-Funk ensemble with rave reviews AND a Grammy.  

Get your tickets at Von's, ladies and gentlemen.  Let's do this right!

3 more

I was surfing through the record collection and found a few more albums worth a shout out.

Rival Sons-Pressure & Time

This is some more of that killer boogie rock that just makes me all happy in the right places. Their singer reminds me very much of Paul Rodgers (he fronted Free and Bad Company and was briefly filling in with Queen). This is their second album and I discovered it because the track Get Mine was iTunes free single of the week. They are starting to get some attention as they have been opening for Judas Priest in the UK and have been featured in the Jeremiah Weed beer commercials. Just a great band with a really apparent love for classic rock.

Interesting side note: The album cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson who has done covers for Zeppelin, Biffy Clyro, Audioslave, Muse, The Mars Volta and, most famously, Pink Floyd.

Dirty Sweet-...Of Monarchs & Beggars

Here is another really great classic rock throwback. These guys owe quite a bit (including their name) to T. Rex. This album was just such a fun listen. It's been on my iPod for a couple years and if you swing by the shop there is a good chance that I'll be playing this one (if I'm not, just ask, I'm almost always in the mood to play it). It's got the groove, it's got a little of the blues, and it's got some sleaze. This one is totally worth the price of admission.

Buffalo Killers-3

For their, fittingly titled, third album, the Buffalo Killers really show what makes them a great band. It's solid throughout. I would expect nothing less from these Cincinnati blues-rockers. In case you can't tell I've got a thing for garage/blues/boogie-rock bands, and the Buffalo Killers are no exception. The album has only been out a couple of weeks but I can already tell it'll be high on my albums of the year list. Another great outing from these guys.

We just got in limited edition purple vinyl of this one. So, hurry and get one before I buy them all.

So, there you have it. 3 more picks worth a trip around the turntable.

These ARE the albums you're looking for.

So, to get things started for my first ever blog post, I figured I would give you some albums that I have been pretty obsessed with recently.

Gossip-Music For Men

I love the sort-of disco punk thing happening with this album. Beth Ditto has an amazing voice and the groove throughout just floors me. It's funky and just makes you nod your head. It's impossible not to. Just an all around great album.

The Sheepdogs-Learn & Burn

This is boogie rock at it's finest. This band has been around for a little while in Canada and have yet to break in the U.S. That's about to change though as they are the first unsigned act EVER to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. I'm here to tell you, they so deserve it. They have 3 albums out and they are all solid. I was lucky enough to catch them at Bonnaroo this year and they put on a great show. I can't wait to see them do a headlining event.

The Greenhornes-**** (4 Stars)

I have been in love with this album since it came out last year. The Greenhornes are my brand of garage rock. They remind me of The Kinks, The Yardbirds and early Rolling Stones. They also remind me of a simpler time, when all you needed to rock was 3 chords and an amp turned to 11.

I've seen The Greenhornes live 3 times and they really blew me away every time. If they are in your area, get some tickets and enjoy a night of killer rock 'n roll. If they aren't coming to you, head down to your local record store and buy this right away (on vinyl of course).

There are some tidbits to keep your ears watering. Watch out, cuz I've got more coming.

Heh

Dear Anonymous Google Searcher: You made my day.

The Only Music That Matters: or stuff that I am listening to (that you should be listening to, too).

Here are my stone-cold locks for the week. Some are a little old, some are a little new, but they are all songs that I've been listening to on repeat.
Band The Head and the Heart
Album Self-Titled
Listen to this Song "Rivers and Roads."
Sounds Like Your basic indie-folk like Okkervil River or Bon Iver, but this album grabs me a little more.
Hipster Rating :-{ :-{ :-{ :-{ Four ironic mustaches. This band has a familiar sound that should be pleasing to most parties, but is still fresh enough to jump on the band wagon before everyone else finds out about them.

Band Vitamin String Quartet
Album Any of the band's "A String Quartet Tribute to ____" albums.
Listen to this Song "Flight of the Robotnik" (a orchestral arrangement of "Robotnik's Theme" from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Sounds Like Your particular band of choice as re-imagined by a string quartet. Pretty straightforward, really.
Hipster Rating :-{ :-{ :-{ Three ironic mustaches. Although these are fantastic arrangements that I could listen to all day long, they are still covers. Your elitist street cred might be damaged if you admit to liking something that people have heard of. Then again, you could always play the "I 'like' them but I don't actually like them."

Band The Boomtown Rats
Album The Fine Art of Surfacing
Listen to this Song "I Don't Like Mondays."
Sounds Like Early '80s new wave, synth pop, but with more sinister undertones.
Hipster Rating :-{ One ironic mustache. This was a number one hit in the early '80s, so it was too popular to be underground and too new to be retro. Personally, I don't care how this song makes you feel more superior to other people, it's a great song. I've only actually heard this one track by this band, but I love it. It's the true story of a California teenager who opened fire on a playground across the street, killing two and injuring nine. After her shooting spree was put down, the only explanation she gave for her actions were "I don't like Mondays; this livens up the day." Pretty heavy stuff for a new wave band, but the song kills it (no pun intended).

So there you have it. Listen to these bands/songs. Enjoy them. Or don't. THERE IS NO OPTION THREE.