Picking up from where I left off in Part I... This will be a relatively pictureless post. Also, no mp3 samples this time! I am without my computer and music collection. Okay, maybe some...Friday (The Delancey)Here's an equation that's not hard to figure out. twosyllable records + Underwater Peoples + Chocolate Bobka = F YEA GOOD TIMES. We made it to the Delancey just in time for Made A Blo...
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CMJ Recap: Part II
CMJ Roundup Part II
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Picking up from where I left off in Part I... This will be a relatively pictureless post. Also, no mp3 samples this time! I am without my computer and music collection. Okay, maybe some...Friday (The Delancey)Here's an equation that's not hard to figure out. twosyllable records + Underwater Peoples + Chocolate Bobka = F YEA GOOD TIMES. We made it to the Delancey just in time for Made A Blo...
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CMJ Recap: Part I
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Artist:Dinosaur Feathers
I agree with The Village Voice in that CMJ shows are more like coronations than introductions. While I had a press badge for CMJ via BTR, I didn't end up using it at all. Instead, I took a pretty low-key approach. The shows that I went to were free, unofficial CMJ, non-CMJ, or someone was kind enough to put me on a list. Instead of running around between downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn to s...
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Surfer Blood - Cake Shop 10.20.09 (and Pianos 10.21.09)
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Artist:Surfer Blood
If CMJ only helps a handful of bands, one will be Surfer Blood. In my mind, Surfer Blood will always the band whose buzz was almost quantifiable on Twitter around the time of their Bruar Falls show this past August. I first heard about Surfer Blood from Pop Jew, but I never made it out to that show (even though I wrote a little report on them for someone earlier that day). The next day, Soun...
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Kurt Vile - Mercury Lounge 10.07.09
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Oh, Kurt Vile. If you read Look at me, I made a blog, follow me on Twitter, or have interacted with me in real life, then it's no surprise to you that I went to his show at Mercury Lounge. Even he knows I'm a big fan. I'd only seen Kurt play with the Violators at showcases like the Northside Festival and Woodsist Festival, so this was the first time I'd seen him as a headliner.Although I tho...
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Sufjan Stevens - Bowery Ballroom 10.04.09
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Although I felt like a teenybopper by arriving at the venue an hour before doors were scheduled to open, I suspected that I wouldn't be the only one who didn't mind camping out a little for Sufjan Stevens. Sure enough, the line already snaked around the corner at 6:30 PM, but doors opened early around 7:10 PM. I'd never been to a Sufjan show before and, as gruesome as this may sound, he's bee...
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Makeout Videotape - Mercury Lounge 09.27.09
Can't get enough of glorious lo-fi garage pop? Sick of all the fuzz? Regardless of what camp you're in, I strongly urge you to listen to Makeout Videotape right now. During my search for awesome new bands to cover for Standing Room/Standing Around, I saw that Makeout Videotape had been touring with Japandroids, my favorite act from Pitchfork Music Festival '09. One play of "I Guess The Lord...
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Kings of Convenience - Bowery Ballroom 09.10.09
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My love of Kings of Convenience goes back to the beginning of the college, just a couple months after the release of their second album, Riot on an Empty Street. As many of you can understand, freshman year is a very tumultuous period of time, and I spent most of my first NYC winter wallowing in self-pity. Accompanying me in these sessions was Kings of Convenience, soothing me with their mini...
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Holiday Shores - Cameo Gallery 08.29.09
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Artist:Holiday Shores
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Album:Columbus'd
via twosyllable recordsThis may come as a shock to you, but I really dislike summers. The sun, heat, humidity, high SPF sunscreen that I must reapply every 10 minutes to avoid sunburn - What is there to like? Even though I hate the season, I cannot get enough of music that captures the scent of the salt-licked water, the gentle warm breeze, and the lusciously soft sand. I am in love with the...
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Dungen - The Bell House 08.14.09
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It's unbelievable to me that until a month ago, I hadn't listened to any Dungen beyond "Satt Att Se" from their last album, 4. Sure, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes had the album cover of Ta Det Lugnt up as his profile picture when he was still on Twitter. But, I guess I missed all his tweets about the awesomeness that is Dungen. Thankfully, through cosmic intervention, Dungen's 4 found its wa...
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Foreign Born - The Bell House 08.03.09
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Post-All Points West Friday, I felt like all my energy and enthusiasm for live music were drained out of me. I don't know how you 3-day ticket holders did it. I missed a whole bunch of awesome weekend happenings like No Deachunter and M Ward, and I almost bailed on going to see Foreign Born at The Bell House. Thankfully, Hippies Are Dead reminded me of how much they enjoyed seeing Foreign Bo...
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All Points West 2009 - Day 1
via Apostrophe MediaAfter last year's experience at All Points West, I was fairly certain that I would never go back. Aside from the headlining Radiohead, I had a long list of gripes with All Points West. As luck would have it, I found myself with a pass for Friday and an opportunity to see Jay-Z, who replaced Beastie Boys as the day's headliner. I made the decision to go, one I'm not sure ...
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"Reginald's Lament" - The Sophisticuffs
+ via chris zak and NMEEver wonder what Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (Ra Ra Riot, Discovery) sounded like in high school? It was recently brought to my attention that they were involved in about fifteen projects together back in their Glen Ridge, NJ days. Add Dan Millar and Andrei Padlowski, and you've got the Sophisticuffs (photo here), with Wes on bass and keyboard and Ezra ...
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"Warm Heart of Africa" (ft. Ezra Koenig) - The Very Best
via Green OwlUnofficial hiatus is officially dunzo. I don't think I've ever gone this long without blogging, but rest assured because I don't intend on staying away any longer. A lot of things have been going on in my non-Made a Blog life, but I managed to sneak away for a weekend of music at a little event called Pitchfork Music Festival. In between eating Giordano's stuffed pizza and gawki...
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Northside Festival 2009 - Day 3
Images via Auditory ThresholdFinally, Saturday had arrived, and that meant only one thing to me: I would finally be seeing Kurt Vile and hearing the music that has been haunting my existence. I start most of my days with Constant Hitmaker and always end them with God Is Saying This To You..., with some other Kurt Vile songs in between. Today, I listened to "Freeway" for an hour straight. I...
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Northside Festival 2009 - Day 2
via Auditory ThresholdDay 2 of the Northside Festival started off with Sunset Rubdown, one of the festival's headlining acts. Sunset Rubdown began as a solo project of Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug, but it eventually grew into a full band. Sunset Rubdown has been touring North America in support of their latest album, Dragonslayer, and they made a stop at Studio B. Unfortunately, their set was ...
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Northside Festival 2009 - Day 1
via Auditory ThresholdThis past weekend, L Magazine cured NYC's SXSW envy with the first Northside Festival, a music and art-filled four days in North Brooklyn. Known for being musician and artist friendly, Williamsburg and Greenpoint were the obvious choice locales for a Brooklyn-based music festival. With a dense population of music stages and art galleries, North Brooklyn is dream come tru...
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Grizzly Bear - MHOW 05.31.09
via Will ShuThe NYTimes may have hated seeing Grizzly Bear, but I couldn't disagree more with the review. After this past weekend, I've now experienced Grizzly Bear four times, and the guys sound better with each show. Some people are turned off by the band's lack of crowd interaction, and I can understand that. I definitely thought the band looked bored by their own music when I first saw t...
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Girl Talk, Violens - Hiro Ballroom 05.28.09
Thanks to BrooklynVegan's tip, I entered in a photo contest and won a camera and a pair of tickets to a private Girl Talk show at Hiro Ballroom. The 2nd prize winning photo can be found here, and you can see that it's a pretty amateur fan shot. Nonetheless, it won something and I happily danced to Girl Talk for the fourth time in two years. A significantly smaller and older crowd (21+ only) ...
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"Ambivalence Avenue" - Bibio
via Warp RecordsBack in December and January, Here We Go Magic's "Tunnelvision" was my in-transit anthem. The song's upbeat, repetitious melodies kept me moving very quickly from door to door, a motivation that I desperately needed back then. Even listening to it now brings back memories of the snow, cold wind, and busy Manhattan streets. Now that the weather has warmed up and leisurely stro...
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