Amanda Blank at The Paper Magazine Party, Brooklyn. 7.30.09
You may be familiar with Philly’s Amanda Mallory aka Amanda Blank from her long list of guest appearances and sporadic solo singles. She’s worked with everyone from Santigold, M.I.A., Spank Rock, Plastic Little but now years after first hitting the scene, she’s finally stepping out on her own to release I Love You.
Amanda recently wrapped up a tour with Santigold and is currently opening for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but last night the focus was all on Amanda at the Paper Magazine/Roxy party in Brooklyn.
Music enthusiasts snobs seem to be torn with their criticisms but in my opinion, what’s so wrong with having fun and talking shit over a hot beat?! Amanda played a handful of tracks from the new album and wrapped the set from within the crowd with I’m a Lady sans Santigold. Check out that plastic dress + hoody she was rocking, almost as hot as the light-up pants she wore at Terminal 5!
It’s been a long time coming but I Love You is out this Tuesday August 4th, the perfect party record just in time to close out the summer.
It’s official: The Arctic Monkeys are back! The band has A LOT going on right now and we will probably run the risk of this site becoming Tastes Like Arctic Monkeys but, whatever, we’re excited. The band’s third album, Humbug, is out on August 24th (UK/25th US) and there’s really no excuse to not have heard lead single, Crying Lightning, yet.
The larger than life video recently premiered online and saw director Richard Ayoade taking the helm once more after collaborating with the boys on their At The Apollo live dvd and directing videos for The Last Shadow Puppets. Watch the Crying Lightning video below as well as a making of the video exclusive from Babelgum (as well as the entire 76 minute film Live at the Apollo!)
This very afternoon the band will be performing tracks from Humbug in an exclusive Web Transmission at 4:00pm EST (9pm GMT) Watch it live here: http://webtransmission.arcticmonkeys.com/
Follow the Guardian’s live-blogging of the transmission here.
Check back for our coverage of Arctic Monkeys at All Points West this Saturday.
M.I.A. is currently in the studio brewing up some fresh tunes but to whet our appetite, she lent vocals to Major Lazer’s tune Baby.
In Baby she gets surprisingly personal and almost vengeful as I’ve never heard before. M.I.A. opens up about her own daddy issues and gives insight to how she is raising her adorable 5-month old baby Ikhyd.
Of her upcoming album, M.I.A. told NME in 2008 “I’d love to write songs like The Last Shadow Puppets or something, or like old Blur songs.”
Wow, not sure what else to say right now except that I’m beyond excited! Check out the US Dolittle Tour dates below w/ on sale dates.
NOVEMBER
4 The Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – on sale TBA
8 Fox Theater, Oakland, CA – on sale August 16
9 Fox Theater, Oakland, CA – on sale August 16
12 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA – on sale August 1
13 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA – on sale August 1
14 Hult Center, Eugene, OR – on sale August 14
16 The Fillmore, Denver, CO – on sale September 12
20 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL – on sale September 12
21 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL – on sale September 12 23 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY – on sale August 14
24 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY – on sale August 14
25 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY – on sale August 14
27 Wang Center, Boston, MA – on sale September 12
30 Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. – on sale September 11
That time of year has come again! Like a kid on Christmas morning, us music nerds wait with baited breath for the announcement of the Mercury Prize shortlist. While I’m sure most of you readers are familiar with this year’s nominees already, TLC would like to weigh in on how we’re not disappointed with this year’s list (for once) and how the girls might actually take home the gong in 2009.
The cred of the Mercury Prize has shifted greatly over the years, but it is still seen as an ambassador of sorts for British music to the rest of the world — showing that thoughtful, progressive music has a place and can be rewarded on merit and craft rather than highest chart ranking.
It seems to me that many people continuously marvel at the great amount of female nominees and this year is no exception and certainly is not the first time. Remember how Amy Winehouse was favored to win in 2007? Remember how last year female artists as diverse as Adele, Laura Marling and Estelle were nominated? None won of course, with the awards going to all male groups Klaxons and Elbow respectively. This could be the year of the girls, however, with the odds overwhelmingly favoring TLC favorite, Florence and the Machine (5/1).
The 2009 shortlist is exceptionally formidable with appearances from a number of our other highlights from the past year like Glasvegas, La Roux, Bat for Lashes and of course Friendly Fires. No one really popped into our minds as being completely shafted, unlike last year when we literally thought “wtf were they thinking leaving Mystery Jets and Hot Chip off this list?!”
It’s safe to say as much as we deeply love many of the artists and albums on this year’s shortlist, we officially endorse Florence to bring it back home for the girls. (also safe to say no one will look as good as Alex & Miles did last year)
What are your picks?
The winner of the 2009 Mercury Music Prize will be announced at a ceremony on September 8th. Check out the full list of all past winners here.
2009 Shortlist:
Florence and the Machine – Lungs
Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
La Roux – La Roux
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
The Horrors – Primary Colours
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
The Invisible – The Invisible
Led Bib – Sensible Shoes
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men
Almost a year to the date, the Black Lips destroyed McCarren Park Pool for one of the final shows before The Pool Parties were relocated to the East River State Park. Jess and I finally made it out to the Pool Parties’ new picturesque location at the Williamsburg waterfront yesterday for the packed bill consisting of: Grupo Fantasma, HEALTH, Black Lips, and headliner And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead.
We caught the end of Grupo Fantasma but their tropical salsa-infused tunes seemed to be a hit with the crowd who tried their best attempt at salsa dancing on the lawn. Shortly after, HEALTH crashed onstage powering through a danceable yet heavy and substantial set. HEALTH yanked everyone out of their sun daze and into a riotous dance party, a proper preview as to what was next in store.
Health at East River State Park, 7.26.09
Last year there was no photo pit at McCarren so this year the Black Lips live set was an entirely different experience! From the first drum hit the crowd went nuts. Fans that ranged from tweenagers to the kids you see at every damn show surprised/amazed me with their ability to overpower security and practically crush anyone in the photo pit — it was pretty awesome/overwhelming.
To watch the crowd that Black Lips draws in is a big part of the overall experience, but the true energy and focus always remains on the band who revels in this. They gave the show that everyone hoped for and/or may not have expected.
As soon as their set wrapped however, the sky drew dark and the Manhattan skyline disappeared in a heavy cloud of fog followed by thunder and lightning. JellyNYC made a smart yet hard decision by cancelling And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead’s set — barely missing the heavy downpour that followed shortly after. Bummer!
We’ll be at All Points West and Lollapalooza for the next two weeks but make sure you catch the remaining shows at the East River State Park, click HERE for the full schedule. I highly advise you to attend the Simian Mobile Disco DJ set with Fiery Furnaces.
News has been slow all day and I’ve been begging for something to write about, then bam Peaches comes to the rescue! Check out the video for Serpentine below from one of 2009’s best albums I Feel Cream! Peaches brings her amazing live show back to NYC on November 14th, be sure to purchase your tickets HERE. Check out these links for TLC’s coverage of the Peaches gigs at Webster Hall and The Music Hall of Williamsburg. A big thanks to Sheena Beaston for the heads up on this!
The Friendly Fires video for Kiss of Life has landed! The tune is set to a big carnival-esque party on the beach that I wish I was invited to! Enjoy the video for this summer’s new anthem below and the band’s cover of Lykke Li’s I’m Good I’m Gone. Catch Friendly Fires on tour throughout the rest of the year, including their headlining US tour for NYLON.
MP3: Friendly Fires – I’m Good I’m Gone (Lykke Li Cover) or zShare
Truth be told, I grew up a HUGE fan of hip-hop, rap and R&B but with the death of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. and the rise of gold suits, bling and over-superficiality my interest died as well. Rap became too mainstream, the sampling got out of control, and it became quantity over quality.
In my opinion Reasonable Doubt is one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever released but, from that early high point I feel the quality of Jay-Z’s music declined to please the masses. Flashy videos, predictable producers and then… he married Beyonce.
Regardless, Jay-Z is one of the greatest rappers still standing in the industry. It is no surprise that I’m actually really excited to see him live at All Points West on July 31st, standing in for Beastie Boys. It would make me the happiest if he focused on the early material (reasonably doubtful) ie: The songs below.
We Are Scientists officially completed their trifecta today, taking on Razorlight drop-out Andy Burrows as their official drummer. The news was delivered via Burrows’ Twitter this afternoon, just in time for All Points West next week. We’ll report back with our evaluation of the new line-up!
So as it stands the official new line up is:
Keith Murray guitar & lead vocals
Chris Cain bass guitar and backing vocals
Andy Burrows on drums
It’s official: 
M.I.A. is currently in the studio brewing up some fresh tunes but to whet our appetite, she lent vocals to Major Lazer’s tune Baby.
Wow, not sure what else to say right now except that I’m beyond excited! Check out the US Dolittle Tour dates below w/ on sale dates.
That time of year has come again! Like a kid on Christmas morning, us music nerds wait with baited breath for the announcement of the Mercury Prize shortlist. While I’m sure most of you readers are familiar with this year’s nominees already, TLC would like to weigh in on how we’re not disappointed with this year’s list (for once) and how the girls might actually take home the gong in 2009.
Truth be told, I grew up a HUGE fan of hip-hop, rap and R&B but with the death of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. and the rise of gold suits, bling and over-superficiality my interest died as well. Rap became too mainstream, the sampling got out of control, and it became quantity over quality.
