Waiting for sunrise

Fake Palindromes - Andrew Bird

Irene - Caribou

Skeleton Man - Evangelicals

Bye Bye Bye - Plants and Animals

Like Foxes Through Fences - The American Analog Set

In Places, Empty Spaces - The Most Serene Republic

Please Visit Your National Parks - Oxford Collapse

Only Yesterday - Taken By Trees

I Know It’s Coming Someday - Longwave

Noah’s Ark - CocoRosie

Left Ring - The Colorful Quiet

Dear Darcy - Joshua James

Arrive Like a Whisper - Patrick Park

Summer nights soundtrack

1. Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

2. Tilly and the Wall - Falling Without Knowing

3. The Watson Twins - Waves

4. The Futureheads - Worry About It Later

5. Art Brut - Soundtrack of the Summer

6. The Kooks - Do You Wanna

7. Arctic Monkeys - 505

8. Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running

9. We Barbarians - War Clouds

10. Youth Group - Forever Young

11. Pinback - Shag

12. The Rakes - We Danced Together

Tell me the world isn’t ending

1. Film School - On & On

2. Earlimart - It’s Okay to Think About Ending

3. Stellastarr* - When I Disappear

4. Hotel Creeps - Moonboots

5. Hello Tokyo - Hands to Hold

6. Kasabian - Empire

7. Editors - Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors

8. Youth Group - Two Sides

9. Rambo and Leroy - Oceans

10.  The Thrills - Nothing Changes Around Here

11. MGMT - Weekend Wars

12. Boards of Canada - A Moment of Clarity

Following Death Cab into the dark

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie

I went to see Death Cab for Cutie last night. The band is on tour promoting their new album Narrow Stairs, which just dropped this month. The new record is pretty decent. There are some gems in there, such as “Bixby Canyon Bridge” and “Your New Twin Sized Bed”, but the single that’s getting the most airplay from radio stations is the 8 minute, 35-second long ”I Will Possess Your Heart”, which I have to admit is not my favorite on the record.

Last night’s set was pretty good. There was a pretty healthy mix of old treasured hits like “Title and Registration”, “A Movie Script Ending” (which is this blog’s namesake, duh), and “The Sound of Settling” as well as newer ones off the most recent Stairs and the last album, Plans, such as “Soul Meets Body” and of course, the apparent crowd favorite (though not mine) “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”. The energy of the band was pretty good, albeit surprisingly high-energy for a band whose songs are themes for breakups and moping sessions. I had wished for more of an intimate performance, especially for “A Movie Script Ending”, which is one of my favorites (obviously). However, they had decided to forgo doing an acoustic of that song, which was unfortunate. I wish they had played “Lightness” from Transatlanticism, or “Death of an Interior Decorator” or “Styrofoam Plates” from The Photo Album, but alas, not so much.

The band was still pretty good. Ben Gibbard had a spankin’ new look. He was without his trademark dorky glasses, but his other trademark, the sideburns, were still there. I thought they played a very clean set, and they definitely made use of the lights on the stage. They probably went a bit overboard with the fog machine/dry ice for my taste, but overall it was a pretty decent show. It was pretty funny, because there was this girl sitting right next to my friend and I who was the diehard Death Cab fan. I swear, she was gyrating and doing some sort of strange, interpretative dance to the songs. She was also singing every single song loudly, much to our chagrin. Oh, and she cried during one of the songs, I forget which. I think it was “Title and Registration”.

It's dry ice gone wild! Ben Gibbard performs at an atmospheric SDSU Open Air Theatre.

Overall it was a pretty OK show. I could have done without “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”, but since it’s a crowd favorite, I understood why they had to play it. I think there could have been a little bit more crowd interaction, or at least something that you could at least observe other than listening to their CD. They seemed to have a good time playing though, so that is always good. I would have personally preferred a smaller venue, only because I believe bands play differently in smaller venues. Although Death Cab’s pretty big now, I think their performance would have been much different, and the set list would probably have been much more bent to their hardcore fans. I would have liked them to have changed something up a bit–just switched it up so it doesn’t seem like you’re just listening to their album, but I don’t think they did that. They did deliver on point, though, if that’s the kind of show you like.

The opening act Rogue Wave was also awesome. This band also delivers pretty on-point, not straying too far away from what you can hear on the album. I still thoroughly enjoyed their performance of “Publish My Love”. Here are some pics I took at the show:

Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave, opening for Death Cab for Cutie at the San Diego State University's Open Air Theatre.

Internet killed the radio star

So we all know the power of the mighty Interweb. If you’re reading this now, obviously you are aware that most teenagers these days are so tech-savvy they pretty much know more about gizmogadgetry than 10 old geezers combined (well, 10 old geezers excluding Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, of course). Gone are the days when musicians needed to tour their asses off just to get the word out about their music. You don’t need to have a lot of connections, or a lot of money. All you need to be an internet star is a computer and a webcam, your choice of musical instrument, and voila: instant stardom. That is, of course, considering you have talent.

The strangest things can be found on the internet. A friend of mine has a disturbing fascination with watching internet videos of people getting shit on [Off topic question: what is the past participle of shit, anyway?], while my mother is piqued by the videos of Journey that have been posted on YouTube. It’s true, with the internet, everything is at your fingertips. Nowdays, google is a word you can find in the dictionary.

I like to browse the web for acoustic performances of bands and offbeat antics from music stars. And sometimes you stumble on a few acts that are actually pretty amazing. Here are a few easter eggs found on the interweb:

This band Boyce Avenue likes to post their covers of their favorite songs on YouTube. Some of their performances are even better than the originals, in my opinion; such as this one, a cover of Leona Lewis’ overplayed single “Bleeding Love”:

Now this guy is like a super internet star. His name is Luke Sandoval, and his voice is absolutely amazing. This guy has a really nice voice. He does many covers, and they are all great but this one is a standout for me, only because I absolutely adore Chris Garneau. Here is his cover of “Not Nice”, one of my favorite tracks off of Music for Tourists. The nice thing about this video is he also shows some emotion when he sings–like he really understands the song’s lyrics.

Here’s another favorite Luke Sandoval cover, “Casimir Pulaski Day”, one of my favorite Sufjan Stevens songs.

So as you can see, it’s easy to be an Internet star. What’s not easy is to inherit the same amount of talent these people have.

Oh, folk it!

Some folk tunes and more. If you like Joshua Radin, you will like Chris Garneau’s lullaby-ish songs. The Clientele is for fans of Stars, and Brit-Poppers would dig The isles.

1. Chris Garneau - Black & Blue

2. City and Colour - Against the Grain

3. The Darcys - We Twin Bruises

4. Rogue Wave - California

5. The Dodos - God?

6. Josh Rouse - Summertime

7. Matt Costa - The Road

8. Sea Bear - I Sing I Swim

9. Secret Stars - Back in the Car

10. Andrew Bird - The Naming of Things

11. The Isles - Flying Under Cheap Kites

12. The Clientele - My Own Face Inside the Trees

Got Apple?

I’ve always been a fan of the iTunes/iPod commercials, mainly because they’ve managed to perfectly encapsulate the love of music through their 30-seconds ads. I remember flipping out when at the first one I saw; it was the ad featuring Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” and it was so awesome. I know it made me want to get an iPod at the time.

Apple has become such a trendsetter that almost every artist on the planet acknowledges the power of the internet. Radiohead released their newest album exclusively online for about a month or two, and some artists have started to simply sell their stuff online and then coming out with the CD later. Apple has been able to also set the trends in terms of which artists to listen to. They basically put Feist on the map as a mainstream artist (which, as a music snob, I have to say, about damn time, since I’d been listening to Feist forever), and they also make already well-known artists seem even cooler by showcasing their new tunes, such as U2’s “Vertigo” and more recently, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”.

I have to say, Apple and Coldplay have completely outdone themselves this time around. I think this is the best commercial ever, and this is evidenced by the fact that I can’t stop watching this 30-second ad! I had to download it because it was so good. It’s 30 seconds of pure bliss, and everytime I watch it it makes me feel like I’m flying or something. The ambiance and the trademark silhouette visuals of the ad are particularly awesome, and add to that the excellent Viva La Vida track and the band rocking out…30 seconds of awesome!

I had some leftover credits from my last iTunes gift card so I used that to download “Viva La Vida” off iTunes. It’s definitely a cool song, and it should be, considering Coldplay teamed up with music maestro Brian Eno to produce this whole album. I am definitely excited to see what Chris Martin and co. have in store for us in this European-inspired album with the Frida Kahlo painting namesake.

Your inner musical geek

For those of you who spend way too much time making playlists and telling the world about this one song you think is just awesome, you can go to www.musicaltaste.com, where you can recommend songs and albums to people are as music-minded as you. It’s a pretty neat site. It’s not very popular, it’s only got a couple thousand members, but it’s a good place to get some ideas on new music and the like, or simply peruse through recommendations and see if there are like-minded people on there.

www.musicaltaste.com

Here are my recommendations for the day:

1. Missy Higgins - Warm Whispers

2. Matt Pond PA - Closer

3. Regina Spektor - Hotel Song

4. Peter Bjorn & John - Paris 2004

5. The Perishers - Almost Pretty

6. The Kooks - One Last Time

7. Death Cab for Cutie - Steadier Footing

8. Athlete - Flying Over Bus Stops

9. British Sea Power - Trip Out

10. Islands - Rough Gem

11. Tokyo Police Club - If It Works

12. Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - We Can’t Help You

Feelgood with a capital F

If you’re going to pick up a new album, I would highly recommend picking up Jason Mraz’s new record We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. I put this record on, and the first song immediately got be swaying to the beat. It’s so light and fun and great for relaxing, it kind of reminds me of the first time I heard a Jack Johnson CD. Jason Mraz has always had his sound. He’s kind of weird, because he’s so eclectic you don’t really know how to classify his sound–which is exactly what I like my music to be like. He’s kind of like a combination of pop, disco, rap, reggae, folk, everything! He’s so quirky and offbeat it’s awesome. I would recommend listening to “Make It Mine”, “I’m Yours” and “A Beautiful Mess”.

I also got Death Cab for Cute’s new album Narrow Stairs. This album is quite different from its 8 (?) predecessors. It’s not just Ben Gibbard’s high-pitched crooning or signature coherent and witty one-liners, but this album showcases more of the band’s artistry. For instance, “I Will Possess Your Heart”, despite the overly emo title, is 4 minutes and whatever extra seconds of simply instrumental music. It reminds me of Athlete’s Beyond the Neighborhood. We can probably deduce from this album that Death Cab’s getting a bit groovier. I mean, sure, The Photo Album was pretty upbeat and a tad noisier than the mellowed Plans, but this album is like Death Cab’s version of The Shins’ Wincing the Night Away sans the “ooh, whoooo, ooh” parts. It’s definitely more lively and less brooding. Give “No Sunlight” a listen, “You Can Do Better” and “Your New Twin Sized Bed”.

You make me want to be a groupie

My most recent playlist. Not all new stuff, but still great stuff:

1. Peter Bjorn and John - Does It Matter Now!

2. Arctic Monkeys - Scummy

3.  Snow Patrol - Same

4. John Mayer - Split-Screen Sadness

5. Matt Costa - Mr. Pitiful

6. Wilco - Impossible Germany

7. Keane - We Might as Well Be Strangers

8. Matt Pond PA - New Hampshire

9. Rilo Kiley - Plane Crash in C

10. This is Me Smiling - Matter to Matter

11. Ray LaMontagne - Shelter