Yesterday aired the first episode of CBS’ The Tonight Show with new found host Conan O’Brien at its helm, picking up after Jay Leno. The whole show was marvelously entertaining, like any premiere should be. Lets not talk TV for now, shall we, let’s talk music! Conan’s first musical guests for last night’s airing were none other than grunge icons Pearl Jam, who played a really solid performance of “Get Some,” a brand new song…
Natasha’s second single from one of the year’s best albums, “Two Suns,” gets a pretty typical Bat for Lashes approach for its video. Costumes, nature, bright/dark contrasts and some goofy wire flying around. Nice to see Nat doing her own ‘stunts’ though :). Not sure where the blond-wigged version of Natasha comes in. Anyone care to shed some light? Bat For Lashes – “Pearl’s Dream”
It’s almost impossible for anyone reading this not to know who Susan Boyle, the ugly duckling who turned into a graceful swan, is. If not, get that bolder out of your cave entrance, and type in “Susan Boyle” on YouTube. You’ll be greeted by hundreds of videos, all summing around 200 MILLION views! It’s quite remarkable how such oases of talent get isolated and trapped from the world’s delight, so that they may unleash their…
The constantly energetic Elvis Costello will be expanding his respectable catalog next week with yet another album, titled “The Secret, The Profane, and the Sugarcane.” Recently he paid a visit to Newsweek’s Pop Vox music session, where he played his latest single “Sulphur to Sugarcane,” a moving southern anthem. That’s not all though, besides playing his song, Elvis also discussed a bit about contemporary country music, Stevie Wonder and, inevitably, digital music. Being a ferm…
OK, this is one weird ass music video, but weird has always kinda been a good word to characterize Royksopp’s work, be it visual or musical. Basically, it’s all about a hilarious soap opera between the talented Swede Robyn and a red tin headed robot. Robyn is left alone in her bead, watching MTV (Ouch!) and texting her robot lover, whose quite busy doing gardening and stuff. The video ends on a sad note, as…
Just recently Mastodon were invited to play a tune on David Letterman’s Late Show in the usual post-show format. The experience, apparently, left Dave a bit ‘frighten,’ but I’m pretty convinced he’s now gone past it and erased the show out of his memory altogether. Can’t be hard at all, considering Mastodon’s performance was completely pale and unmemorable. All their shows seem this way lately. What’s happening to you, guys? The album itself, Crack The…
Letterman was graced with a special guest last night when Animal Collective dropped by to play their smashing single “Summertime Clothes.” Quite appropriate, seeing how the most beautiful season is right around the corner. Anyway, their live performance was unexpectedly … mediocre. Avey, Panda and Geo weren’t at all in shape for some reason. They were just sitting behind their tablets, pressing a few buttons, while humming the harmonies. Then again, it’s national TV and…
I saw this beautiful a cappella version sometime last year, when Bon Iver was in Paris to record for Vincent Moon’s La Blogoteque session, and remember that at the time I was completely shocked by its spontaneous beauty. The pure joy of people singing out of the random, the completely silenced crowd outside a Paris condominium or simply a happy dog, turned the song into a really special experience. For some reason or another, I…
U2’s new video for Magnificent is staged in a Moroccan square, featuring the band playing, while various scenes of the beautiful, sunny Moroccan countryside are shown. Some interesting sheet slides, too. The video was directed by Alex Courtes, who also was behind the terrible Get On Your Boots video, and was filmed in the city of Pez where also the No Line On The Horizon album was recorded.
To keep it short, folks, Vekatimes is one of those superb album that comes by every once in a while and makes our lives a bit sweeter . Definitely one of the best I’ve heard in a very, very long time. More on it in an upcoming review of Grizzly Bear’s latest release, which I hope to publish sometime next week. Until then, check out this awesome live rendition of one of Vekatimes’ many highlights,…
Tibi Puiu