The Kills @ Royale, Boston MA 4/26/11

Well, we all know what's coming.... extreme reverence. I had seen Jaime and Alison the week before at Coachella, so what I'm about to say came as no surpise to me, but this show was by far the best I've seen from The Kills in my entire career as unrelenting superfan. It is hard to describe Alison Mosshart's live-show magnetism and unbelievable command of the audience's attention, let alone put into words the feeling of standing directly beneath her for the entire show. I find a lot of people fascinating, but rarely do I find anyone as inimitably badass and inspirational as I do her, a feeling that was only accentuated by her forceful grip on the mic stand, placing of one black boot on the speaker in front of my face, and leaning over to stare right into my eyes while singing songs like "DNA," "You Don't Own The Road," and "Heart Is A Beating Drum" off of their new album, Blood Pressures. Though it is to be expected that, after 10 years and 4 albums together, the duo have developed quite a knack (to say the least) for performing and writing, I have never seen anything like the relationship between these two incredible musicians. Sure, Jaimie does most of the instrumentation and production of their live sets (you should see his pedal board...it's insane), but the amazingly captivative performance they put on really proves them to be equally important in the band's appeal. I was also absolutely thrilled, too, with the incredible balance of new material and old on this tour; never would I have seen it coming that they would play "Fried My Little Brains" as their last song, but nothing could have made me happier. They also performed songs like "No Wow," "Pull A U," "U.R.A. Fever," and "Sour Cherry" off of their previous 3 records, which were incredibly well-received and appreciated by onlookers. I know that I never have anything even remotely critical to say about The Kills, but it's nice to be able to rely on my favorite band's unwavering ability to pull through and surpass my already high expectations each and every time I see them live, right? Check out my pictures from the show below, and definitely try and see them on the Blood Pressures tour. And, if you can't catch them this time around, I've heard rumours of a follow-up summer mini-tour in August! No promises though.

Magic In So Many Ways

Brooklyn-based singer and electronic musician Danielle “Danz” Johnson, stage name Computer Magic, has made one of the quickest jumps into the indie music limelight I have seen in a while; after mere months making music for the public, she was featured in Stereogum’s Top 30 Arists to See at SXSW, among many other sources of high praise (and for good reason!). We all know of the breadth of electronic music that exists right now, but as I sit here trying to give you an artist or two to compare her style to for reference, I literally can’t think of anything… my version of the highest of compliments. She currently has two EPs out, entitled Spectronic and Electronic Fences (the former isn’t on iTunes, but is available for free download on her website!). My absolute favorite track of hers is “The End of Time,” however I also think that “Holiday Song,” “Electronic Fences,” “In So Many Ways,” and “Grand Junction” are incredible. Wesleyan kids keep your fingers crossed, because I have been talking to Danz about playing a set on campus before the end of the semester! Listen to “The End of Time” and Grand Junction” below:

Computer Magic- “The End of Time”

Computer Magic- “Grand Junction”

Tomboy [ˈtɒmˌbɔɪ] n.: a girl who acts or dresses in a boyish way, liking rough outdoor activities

Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear's latest LP, Tomboy, is by far his best work yet. I do not know how he manages to work in so many complex textures and effects into his music, but each and every song on this album is so interesting and sounds completely different from the next... if anyone finds way to bottle how his brain works, I will pay top dollar. Can I get away with saying that I think Tomboy trumps Merriweather Post Pavilion? Whatever, I said it and I meant it; this shit is pure gold. If anyone was ever able to prove that solo work can be equally great, if not better, than work with one's respective band, Lennox has done it. I am absolutely in love with "Afterburner," "Surfer's Hymn," "Slow Motion," and "Last Night at the Jetty," but really, the entire thing is worth buying. Fuck yeah Panda Bear, you are the finest of fine wines in indie music: your music gets better and better with time. Listen to the entire album in full via Soundcloud here:

Panda Bear- Tomboy

BABY PRODIGY!

I don't know much about Jasmine van de Bogaerde aka Birdy, other than the fact that she's only 14 fucking years old and absolutely puts Bon Iver to shame (jk, I love Vernon, but still... she's amazing). This British songstress is already making huge waves in the music world, recently hitting the UK charts with her first single, "Skinny Love." Birdy has made quite a name for herself in an extremely small amount of time, and one of the rare exceptions of young musicians in the public eye that I think actually deserves the attention. Watch the absolutely gorgeous music video for "Skinny Love" below.

Bite the Lightening and Tell me How it Tastes

It’s been quite a while since Arctic Monkeys have released new material, but their latest single, “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair,” seems to be only the tip of the iceberg for the brilliance of what’s to come with their forthcoming album, Suck It and See, which is due out in late spring. It’s a lot more hard rock than their previous material, and features a magnetically dark guitar line that I very much appreciate. The song kind of sounds like the band channeled a bit of both Zeppelin and The Strokes, and being a huge fan of both it goes without saying that I am quite impressed. I can’t wait to hear the new album and see them play this summer at their show at The Palladium (which by the way Los Angelites if you will be in town you must attend). Listen to the new track here:

Arctic Monkeys: “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”

England's Best Voice Since Florence Welch

There has been a lot of hype recently circulating around the name Ellie Goulding, but I hadn’t taken the time until recently to sit down and see what all the fuss was about. After hearing songs like “Guns and Horses,” “Animal,” and “Lights,” I only wish I had started listening to her sooner. This girl is absolutely amazing, and has that incredible combination of both effortlessly beautiful vocals and an uninhibited manner of using her voice, something I respect a lot about Florence & The Machine. Goulding has managed to channel electronic/ dance music, pop, jazz, and rock into her music in a completely coherent way, making her music refreshingly original and so catchy. Her debut album, Lights, was released in the US on March 8th, and I’m putting my money on this girl blowing up just as rapidly stateside as Flo did a year ago. In the more immediate future, I can almost guarantee her set at Coachella will place her as one of the best of the festival. Listen to a couple of the tracks from the album below and see for yourself!

Ellie Goulding- “Animal”

Ellie Goulding- “Guns and Horses”

You Can Blow What's Left of My Right Mind

Blood Pressures was released yesterday, and for those of you who aren't familiar with The Kills or my infatuation with them, this is a really big deal. I was sent a copy of the album a little over a week ago so it's newness novelty has worn off a bit for me, but I wanted to wait until the release day to talk about it so that you, the reader, will hopefully BUY it and not download it off of mediafire. I obviously had high hopes for this album, being that both Jaimie Hince and Alison Mosshart have had some time since the release of Midnight Boom in 2008 to get their creative flow back and make this record the best yet. However, I have to say I am quite surprised at the overall feel and versatility of this album's sound; I half expected, since Alison has been the frontwoman for The Dead Weather for the past couple of years, that it would be more dark than it actually is. To my great surprise, songs like "Nail In My Coffin," "Future Starts Slow," and "Baby Says" have both the quintessential Kills edge and a significant focus on melody, something you can't really say about most of their previous work. Maybe it's the fact that they are now ten years older than they were when Keep on Your Mean Side came out, but it's refreshing to me that they've been able to find this in their music and experiment with different genres and styles of writing. Not to say that there aren't a fair share of pretty badass songs; I think I would have been disappointed without the likes of "DNA," "You Don't Own The Road," "Satellite," and "Damned if She Do." Overall, I am so unbelievably impressed with their work, and absolutely can't wait to see them perform live again. If you don't buy Blood Pressures, you will be sorely missing out on what is sure to be one of the top 5 (at least) records of the year. No pressure, though (pun!). Faceculture did a fantastically in-depth interview with my favorite duo, watch part 1 below!

Let the Motherf*cker Burn

Yacht has a new single, bitches. It sounds nothing like their old stuff, which to be honest is a good thing in my mind. Not that I wasn't into I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real., but I think "Dystopia" shows tremendous progress on their part. The Portland-based duo of Clare Evans and Jona Bechtolt has always been known for their interesting (to say the least) electronic experimentation, but I think this track shows that they have become much more sophisticated in their ability to produce really intricate and textured electronic music. Their sound is definitely evolving, and evolving for the better. I for one cannot wait for their new album to drop; listen to "Dystopia" below and see for yourself!