Category Video

Looking for some new sounds? Try these 3 songs to hear this week on for size. They are mostly new, save for Parquet Courts – but our friend Lenny has been (rightfully) on me about checking these guys out. I finally did. Solid band.

1. La Luz – “Sure as Spring”

Tour Dates:
Jun 28 – Portland, OR – The Know
Jun 30 – San Francisco, CA – The Hemlock
Jul 2 – San Diego, CA – VOID
Jul 3 – Phoenix, AZ – The Last Exit
Jul 4 – Marfa, TX – Padres
Jul 5 – Austin, TX – Hotel Vegas
Jul 6 – Fort Worth, TX – The Wherehouse
Jul 8 – Atlanta, GA – 529
Jul 9 – Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
Jul 10 – Nashville, TN – Stone Fox
Jul 11 – Boone, NC – Black Cat Burrito
Jul 12 – Baltimore, MD – Golden West Cafe
Jul 14 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
Jul 15 – Boston, MA – TTs the Bears
Jul 17 – New Haven, CT – BAR
Jul 1...

Several songs into Monday night’s show at The Gothic Theater, Robert Levon Been of BRMC asked the crowd, “Do you all still believe in the power of love and fucking rock and roll music?”  And the resounding response from the crowd restored our faith in rock and roll, if only for one night.

There are many different definitions of “rock and roll music,” but since its earliest origins, the core of rock has always been based in classic blues and rhythm & blues.  Many years ago, having grown sick to death of classic rockers like Zeppelin, Hendrix, and Aerosmith, I said something to the effect of “If I never have to endure another blues based rock band, I’ll dance naked on the roof in celebration.”

But the last decade has brought us a resurgence of blues based rockers like the Jack ...

By now most folks know where I stand on the present sensitive folk movement.  Mainly that I’m over it.  So today I thought I would prove I’m capable of more than just bitching and post some bands I actually like.  And no, none of them formed in the 90’s.

In my latest search for bands with balls, I realized a lot of the music I’m hearing and liking. with real heart, is being made by women.  Not that this is a revelation; women have been making substantive rock music for a long time, from Janis Joplin to PJ Harvey to Karen O.  But unlike other women I’ve known, I’ve never been the kind of fan who uses gender to differentiate musicians.  And as a musician myself, many of my own idols and mentors have been men, something which has never been an issue for me one way or the other...

It’s not all “Grohl’s a hypocrite” this and “people in clubs are dicks” that here in the underground headquarters of YMIA. Sometimes music puts a smile on our face – lots of times actually. So, here’s where we take some time to stop pissing and moaning about Mumford and all of his many sons to expose you to some of the new songs that we believe will turn your grimace into an honest smile less of a grimace.

Take a few minutes and give these songs your ear. You’ll be better for it.

1.) Wooden Indian Burial Ground – “Helicopter”

Tour Dates:
May 7th – Portland, OR – The Know
May 8th – Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
May 9th – Sandpoint, ID – Downtown Crossing
May 10th – Missoula, MT – Ole Beck VFW
May 11th – Bozeman, MT – Filling Station
May 12th – Minneap...

Our friend Phil recently posted this gem while he was prepping himself for his visit to Coachella. I was in the Mercury Cafe when this happened… this fantastic show by Blur. I wasn’t in the room where it was taking place though. A conman had convinced my roommates that he worked for Virgin – and being that my roommates were aspiring musicians it was an easy con – and in exchange for letting him couch surf in our house for a couple of days would ensure our entry into the show. While I can cite several instances as being this man’s lone detractor (that is until he disappeared in the middle of the night with several items belonging to my roommates at which point everyone got on board) I must have believed him enough to not bother securing my own tickets...

A Place To Bury Strangers‘ exclusive Record Store Day release “Strange Moon,” is a tribute to Portland punk veterans Dead Moon on 12″ colored vinyl (for those vinyl fetishists out there).  In conjunction with the record, the band released this statement:

“I first saw Dead Moon perform around 1992. Dead Moon was my friends favorite band and soon to become one of mine. It was the first of many shows he booked for them and I was lucky enough to get to know and play along side Fred, Toody and Andrew. They played before a band and proceeded to usurp the room with their straight up, stripped back, raw honesty and unbelievably great songs. Since joining A Place To Bury Strangers, we haven’t recorded a single cover, until now...

“Dammit, Stephen, quit playing the fucking machine for one minute so we can take this picture.”

As mentioned last week, the YMIA crew spent a few fun filled days in the nation’s Ed Hardy clad playground, Las Vegas, NV. I don’t think any concert had ever pulled any of us out of state before, but the allure of Johnny Marr opening for New Order in a really swank hotel was apparently too much for any of us to resist. 

New Order began their set with Low-Life‘s side 2 opener, “Elegia”. While a 17 minute version of this song exists, we were treated to an extremely abbreviated rendering lasting only a couple of minutes as the band jumped into “Crystal”, from 2001′s effort, Get Ready.   From there we were treated to a thick career spanning set, which also included a number of Joy Division tracks...

By now most people have seen that Leonard Cohen was awarded Artist of the Year at this year’s Juno Awards, beating out Carly Rae Jepsen, deadmau5, and most importantly, the almighty Justin Bieber.  Of course, immediately following the award came the Twitter explosion of enraged teenybopper Beliebers exclaiming “what the flying fuck? WHO THE FUCK IS THIS LEONARD COHEN GUY!??!?!,” ready to swarm Cohen’s house pelting him with poison tipped Bieber CDs.  Leaving the rest of us shaking our heads in despair at the level of sheer ignorance of today’s youth.

But the bigger issue is not necessarily that a bunch of 12-20 year olds don’t know who Leonard Cohen is (although they could use a good smack upside the head from their mothers for that language...

Last week, myself, Jake Ryan, and a few friends (including new YMIA contributors Michael  Trundle and Kitty Vincent) headed off to Las Vegas for a DJ set at Beauty Bar one night and a live performance by Johnny Marr and New Order the next night at The Cosmopolitan. You know Marr - former Smiths, Electronic, The The, Modest Mouse, The Cribs guitarist – not to mention my personal hero.

While we were ticketed concert goers (some of us more ticketed than others as Michael and Kitty were equipped with VIP passes), we chose to watch Johnny Marr from the fortunately placed balcony from Michael and Kitty’s room, which was perched several floors above the stage...

I guess Smiths drummer Mike Joyce was right all those years ago when he said that there was loads of unreleased Smiths material. Granted – there’s nothing new here… just alternate versions. I have to admit I like this version of “Accept Yourself” over the one we’ve heard for so many years. Here is a 39 min. cassette recording from around 1983. Not bad for a cassette recording.

The tracklisting is as follows:

‘You’ve Got Everything Now’
‘Accept Yourself’
‘What Difference Does It Make?’
‘Reel Around The Fountain’
‘These Things Take Time’
‘I Don’t Owe You Anything’
‘Hand In Glove’
‘Handsome Devil’
‘Miserable Lie’

Original story from NME here.