Oxygen Ashtray's Albums Of The Year

1. Toro Y Moi - Causers of This

  2. Beach House - Teen Dream

3. Wild Nothing - Gemini 

 4. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

 5. Cloud Nothings - Turning On

6. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils

7. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening

 8. The National - High Violet

 9. The Arcade Fire - Suburbs

 10. Magic Man - Real Life Color

11. Girls - Broken Dreams Club Ep

12. Morning Benders - Big Echo

13. Wavves - King of the Beach

14. Beast Coast - Crazy For You

15. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

16. Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday

17. DOM - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods

18. Teen Daze - Four More Years/Everything

19. Childish Gambino - Culdesac

20. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

21. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
22. Twin Shadow - Forget
23. Tennis - All their music
24. The Drums - The Drums
25. Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz
26. Surfer Blood - Astro Cast
27. Sleigh Bells - Treats
28. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
29. Vampire Weekend - Contra
30. Tallest Man on Earth - Wild Hunt
31. Gayngs - Relayted
32. MGMT - Congratulations
33. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
34. Ariel Pink - Before Today
35. Harlem - Hippies
36. The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
37. Marcus Eaton - As If You Had Wings
38. Delorean - Subiza
39. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
40. Jonsi - Go
41. Matt and Kim - Sidewalks
42. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
43. Woods - At Echo Lake
44. Frightened Rabbit - Winter of Mixed Drinks
45. Crocodiles - Sleep Forever
46. Bonobo - Black Sands
47. Emanicpator - Safe in the Steep Cliffs
48. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
49. Owen Pallett - Heartland
50. Yeasayer - Oddblood
51. Deer Hunter - Halcyon Digest
52. How to Dress Well - Both Albums
53. The Walkmen - Lisbon
54. Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
55. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
56. Free Energy- Stuck on Nothing
57. Salem - King Knight
58. Four Tet - Love in You.

Well there it is! My favorite albums from the year 2010! It has been a decent year, with the early stuff having some real staying power. Toro Y Moi takes the #1 spot. I love everything Chazz does and that album is literally perfect. Every song on the album has had its moment at the #1 spot. Beach House is #2. Victoria Legrand is a goddess with the most beautiful voice ever. Teen Dream is another perfect album from start to finish. I find their music to be so visual. Wild Nothing, they are real talent. I saw them live this year, great guys and amazing performers. Their album is 80's fuzzy guitar dream pop. My favorite! These songs are so catchy to me. These three albums were by far my favorite from this year.

I gave Local Natives #4 because I love that album so much and it was re-released this year. Cloud Nothings are one of my favorites. Super reverby, you can hardly hear any vocals or actual guitar chords, but it's so raw. This band knows how to rock the fuck out, cheers guys! Beach Fossils are Lofi indie gods that have catchy guitar riffs that I love to try and re-create, you guys are true inspiration. LCD Soundsystem put out one of their best efforts yet. This album is so much fun, love throwing this on at a party and just having fun to it. The National and The Arcade Fire put forth extremely solid albums this year. They are both well established and are continuing to grow in different directions with their music. Magic Man rounds out the top 10 with some local talent. These guys built an album with depth and textures I was really impressed with. This album was in my top ten the moment I heard it.

I would like to mention that all of the albums on this list were good. If you made the list, I enjoyed your album this year. Morning Benders has some of my favorite songs this year, Wavves and Best Coast ruled our summer, the perfect soundtrack. Happy Birthday, you guys rock...keep being weird. Teen Daze, I don't want to just include Four More Years...I love everything you have put out so far. Each track gets better and better. Donald Glover, thank you for being my role model, you are the fucking man.

PS. Kanye's album didnt make the list...it was good but he's just not going on my list

Black Swan

 

Movie of the year! Black swan was so captivating...purely brilliant! This blows The Social Network and Inception out of the water. Get to the theaters for this one, preview below.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/blackswan/

DMB - The Last Stops - Cville

FREE DVD DOWNLOAD OF N1---> http://www.sendspace.com/file/dplzkb

The trek down to Cville is a journey. 9 hours for me, but I was lucky enough to have Amanda with me for the ride. She decided last minute due to a free night one ticket that she could make the trip. We were staying with our good friends Jules and Jessie at a baller suite in Cville. Everything was lined up for a perfect trip for the last stop in the bands hometown. We got into town just in time to smoke up before heading downtown to Millers. Millers for those who don't know is where it all started. Tim and Leroi would play there all the time where Dave tended bar. It was cool to go back there, I made the trip in '09 too. There were tons of fans there pregaming to go see TR3 right across the street at the Jefferson Theater. Joe Lawlor was opening for TR3, and he later guested with Tim and Jeff Coffin even came out for a couple songs during Tim's set. We were two feet away from Jeff and Tim, two of the most talented men at their instruments and they were doing work! It was so cool to watch Jeff think of sax lines and then step up to the mic and just blow us all away. The show was a lot of fun, and I would have killed to see Dave and Tim play there back in the day. We headed back after to rest up for the real reason for going to Cville!

N1 started out with us going to the Cavalier Inn to hang out with the Ants Marching crew. We had to move to the main lots due to no tailgating at the Cav, but we had a great time with everyone and ate a ton of great food. We wanted to get in for the opener for the first night. The plans for N1 were to sneak onto the floor, which was no problem, per usual. We had a great spot about 15 rows back, right in front of Dave. The little red guitar was out again, Squirm opened. I was thinking it would be something much bigger. The show started off pretty slow and was I slightly sad that Bartender didn't follow BEF, I was really in the mood for it. Grey St. was great, but it was the only one that wowed me in the first few songs. Spaceman and Everyday followed, I was worried. Thankfully #41 was after and things were smooth sailing after that. The rest of the show was excellent! Joe Lawlor guested which was great. The entire band loved sharing the stage with him. When Joe went over to duel with Tim for the first #41 of the tour over 10 minutes long, it immediately made me forget the first portion of the set. Joe gave Tim props by basically bowing down to him before they both shredded at the same time. It was one of the many highlights from the weekend. The crowd was really buzzing after #41 and the band kept the high going with Shake Me. Then they busted out Spoon for the 3rd time since 2003. I have been trying to see Spoon for a long time, it is one of their most beautiful studio efforts and I was completely floored by the performance the band put on during this song. It will go down as one of the best best single song performances ever. Jeff and Carter and Tim all kill this song to the 10th degree. The video will be posted at the bottom along with a few others, just mind blowing.

The crowd was going insane. Then the band called out long time friend John D'Earth for Warehouse. There was a special quality to the way the band played these songs, they knew it was their last shows for a while and they played like it. Warehouse was intense, everyone was into it and the Sala Jam was great! Keep it going boys!...and they did! Trombone Shorty then joined for Jimi Thing. Quite possibly my favorite Jimi Thing ever. There were 5 horn players on stage, everyone soloed and Dave played the 'For What It's Worth' outro which is 10x better then Sexy Motherfucker. Blackjack is just a weird song, I don't like it very much and Amanda was super de-hydrated so we headed to our real seats. Dave played the Can't Buy Me Love outro to Christmas Song and then went right into Lie In Our Graves. Now that is a fucking good run of songs. Boyd went crazy during his solo on LIOG gettin' all up in Dave Stefan and even Carters face! I love this song more and more every time I listen to it. No reprise again, just like MSG, I was hoping for it to pop up the next night. I don't know why Dave likes to play Timebomb into You and Me, especially so late in the set...it's so lame! Stay also closed the main set, which it tends to do in Cville. Whateva! at least it wasn't the encore closer, and I was still riding the high of the last few songs.

The encore started out with Sister, which is given a pardon due to Jane actually being in attendance. Then Fonz started a nice 2 minute intro that led into All Along The Watchtower. Again I was hoping the encore would have one more song in it...I was praying for Halloween at this point. The band usually finishes AATW right after Dave says 'No reason to get excited'. But Carter kept jamming and Dave started playing the Halloween riff and the crowd started seriously freaking out. It was a really cool moment to see everyone in the pit flipping out, I even saw my friend Rachel jumping...she has been seeking out Halloween for years. It was a real treat for all the hardcore fans that made the trek down there for the last shows. I had zero expectations for seeing Halloween that weekend. Thank you to whoever brought the sign. Overall this show was a lot of fun, a few questionable songs but how can you bitch about a show with Spoon and Halloween!

Here it was, it all boiled down to this...the last show the Dave Matthews Band would play until further notice. The day started with beer and pizza downtown, then Ricky's tailgate. Again, we ate like kings. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the Ants crew before both shows, great to meet some of the faces behind the avatars. Being surrounded by real fans that I could have actual discussions with about the band was a real treat. The show started with You Might Die Trying. I was hoping for something older, but YMDT has been great this year and the crowd was loud! They played Proudest Monkey Satellite next which was classic DMB, but it was again a little too slow paced for this 'epic' last show. Say Goodbye changed my feelings. I finally got to see this song this year and it is such a beauty. I love Jeff on the flute and Carter on the drums. This version killed the MSG one, Dave finally had his voice back and hit all the high notes. Rhyme and Reason with Joe was a lot of fun. This time he headed over to the horns and challenged them. I think this is one of Joe's favorites. Eh hee Cant Stop and Cornbread is garbage...NO reason for them to play these songs at the last show. That's all I have to say about that. However once Digging a Ditch started, the rest of the show was smooth sailing and was very high energy. Lying in The Hands is a out of the world now. 17 minutes long and Jeff goes crazy with Carter, a super heavy groove. Fonz bounces all around on this one.

I gotta little sister named Jane... my third of the tour! Such an upbeat happy song, I love it. Write Song went into Why I am, the best version ever. Cville has the loudest cheers on the GrooGrux King line...I got shivers. Dancing Nancies featured Boyd Tinsley going Boyd on the violin. He was jumping and screeching like a mad man! This lead into Long Black Veil, easily the biggest surprise of the weekend. I wish there was more of a jam at the end of it, but I was just shocked that this one got busted out. I have a feeling it was one of Roi's favorites to play and that's why Dave decided to play it. What You Are had the sweet blues intro that they have been doing lately. I was hoping it wouldn't close the set, and then Boyd started strumming Two Step. What You Are -->Two Step was such a energetic way to close the main set. Carter handed out about 30 sticks, the crowd was erupting. It was the end of the main set to what would be their longest show ever and the fans were showing the love.

Dave came out for the encore and told us a little story about how he wasn't sure if he wanted to do this break and that he was crazy for doing it, but that it would be good and that we would see them all very soon. He played Some Devil, my favorite E1 song. I get the chills every time. Sure enough the band decided to play Granny for the second song in the encore. As I've said before...that's the perfect spot for Granny. The crowd shouting Love! Baby! One of my favorite old school jams. The 12 string came out and it was time for The Last Stop at the last stop. He teased #40 before which was a nice surprise because of the 12 string, and because of the 12 string it was just a short tease. Then the band played The Last Stop. If you caught a show this fall, you most likely saw it, and you know how special it is. This one was even more special, Carter and Tim's build up was perfect the outro with Dave saying goodbye to everyone... not a dry eye in the building. Even a Three Little Bird's interpolation by Dave at the end, it was the perfect touch. The song ended and Dave thanked us. The band was hugging and waving to us as they left the stage...Dave Stefan and Carter were left on stage talking.

The crowd was shouting for ONE MORE SONG! Carter tapped his cymbals and the band made its way back out for another tune. This was one of the most special moments in my DMB going career. The band started Too Much and then I think they were planning on going directly into Ants but Stefan busted right into Anyone Seen The Bridge. He was jumping all over stage for one last time. You could tell he was going to enjoy this moment to the fullest. The band went back into the Too Much intro that lead right into their anthem, Ants Marching. This song is epitomizes DMB and this version was epic. Boyd Tinsley tore the roof off, hopping and jumping around all over the stage...it was a super extended jam with the entire band circled around Carter. They lead into the outro, the best 45 seconds in the history of music. Everyone's hands in the air, it was one of those moments where you feel so connected with everyone around you. The crowd was soooo loud! Then that was it...Carter handed out a few more sticks, band members hugged, fans hugged...I couldn't believe it was over.

This month was the best month of my life in terms of going to DMB shows. 7 shows in less then 3 weeks. The time of my life. I saw some amazing performances, and met lots of great people. Thank you all for the memories...hope to see you for a few shows next year!

Beach House - Conan

Beach House played Conan the other night and performed 10 Mile Stereo. Spoiler alert.... Teen Dream is super high on my album of the year list.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidaze yall, it's a busy time of year and I'm still working on my Cville write up...and my albums of the year list..plus trying to shop for everyone! But the write ups are almost done. Now you will have something to read once you're done reading everyone's best of list's that are already posted! However I have some music that I need to get in your hands NOW! Some holiday tunes for you...Kanye, Beach House, and Dent May all posted really great Christmas songs in the past few days. I also have the new Toro Y Moi and Beach Fossils tracks from their new albums coming out next year! So enjoy the your break and your Holiday...be sure to check back for my list soon!

FREE DOWNLOAD------->>>>  Get Drunk on Christmas Playlist

MOM IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Oxygen Ashtray is a year old today. WOooooooooooooooooo!!!! That's like 27 in blog years. Since I started the blog, I have met a lot of great people that work hard to bring quality music to CT. My initial goal was to get the music I enjoyed more available to my friends. So much more has come from starting the blog and it's really cool! I know that I have not been posting too much of late but I promise that is all changing. See...already 3 posts in the past couple of days. I've got my Cville write up being posted soon and my album of the year list will be up shortly. I wanted to have the album list ready for today because I had my best of '09 list ready for my first post. But alas I'm a lazy blogger. I blame work and my girlfriend. My new job doesn't allow me to get on the computer so there goes a good 4 hours a day of finding music. Plus I have a girlfriend now, which is way better then dating my blog. Here are some of my favorite songs from 2010, my favorite albums should be posted next week. Cheers!

DMB - The Last Stops - MSG

MSG is a special place to see DMB. They play killer shows and the crowd is electric! Walking around the city before the show started really got me excited. I love being in NYC... I think I belong there. I saw the little red guitar which signals a Squirm opener which did happen. Whenever that song opens I find that things get off to a slow start and the crowd is not very into it. That's exactly what happened. The show picked up after they jammed the hell out of LITHOG, I don't think I've ever seen Jeff and Carter push that song like that, I needed to catch my breath during Eh Hee. Once that song ended and I heard the opening chords to LIOG I literally jumped out of my seat for joy. No reprise and it went right into YMDT which is at it's peak right now, I used to hate this song but currently am loving it. The next song totally shocked me. Lover Lay Down is the song that made me fall in love with this band. I bought RR95 because it was the only CD that had LLD on it. Finally after 25 shows I got to hear this song. I got a little emotional...in fact I could hardly sing the song. I'll never forget finally being able to hear it. I did ask Fonz in Boston for Lover Lay Down, and I told him that I would be at MSG and Cville in case they needed to practice it. He said I'll see what I can do...' Well thanks Fonz! even if I had nothing to do with it. The rest of the show was what I excpected from MSG! Warehouse followed and this song is always spot on. I love what the horns have added to this one and the salsa jam was out in full force. I felt like it was my first show again, I was enthralled by the band and how they were playing. The crowd was nice and loud on Jimi Thing which Dave let us sing the first two versus of. What you are was a treat to hear, it was the first time in a while for me, and it was the first time it closed a main set since 2005. It had a really slow bluesy intro that went into the normal start of the song. I loved how they did it. The encore was really nothing special, I guess Dive In solo is cool because it has never happened before, but i was expecting another full band song before they went into AATW, like sayyyy Granny! Granny is the perfect encore song. But little did we know what we had in store for us N2...

There was a really big buzz in the building as everyone got to their seats. At first we tried to fit five people in one seat because we all wanted to sit together but that didn't work out. We did get to chat with Danny before the show. Finally! We had been trying to meet up with him for a while now. After chatting for a few minutes our group had to split up. Jamie and Sally sat together and I sat with Amanda and Brittany. It was Brittany's first show! The show started with the band building up, I thought it would lead into DDTW for sure...it was something far better. The #41 opener is tooooo good! It's the perfect way to start a show. You could tell it was going to be a special night. Then it went right into Say Goodbye...ala the Crash album. I thought I was going to faint. It was the first time since '96 they opened a show that way. MSG was on fire after these two songs. Funny was a decent BW tune to follow, but Dave's voice was shot...he couldn't even finish the song, we had to. Pig was cut the night before, so there was a feeling from the fans it would show its head on N2. I'm glad it did so early in the set because it kept the crowd pumped. That's one thing I noticed from that night, the crowd was so passionate. It was the most connected and loud crowd I have ever been apart of. Even more then Cville N2. Nancies was the perfect song to play after Write A Song because it let Dave rest his voice. He asked us to yet again help him sing along. We sang most of Nancies ourselves. This show was a lot of fun but I was a little disappointed at this point that Dave's voice was shot. Then out of nowhere, his voice came to life during DDTW and was fine the rest of the night.

The next part of the set was hilarious. Dave messed the the lyrics to Christmas Song giving Jesus two mothers. He started laughing and stopped the song. Carter started a beat, Tim joined in and Dave scatted a little improv. I thought they were going into Cornbread with the way Carter was playing, but thankfully they went back into Christmas song after the jam and the crowd went crazy! The first midset Christmas Song since 1995! Check it out HERE. 'I gotta little sister named Jane'...those words are like gold, it's the best when Dave introduces the song that way. Classic DMB, Jane should be played all the time! Crush is another classic that tends to follow me around. It's one of my favorites though, and one that Amanda and I love to see together. Boyd and Jeff are so tight on this song! Everyone was feeling the groove on that one. Once BOWA started my night was made. Jeff Coffin makes the outro his bitch! What a killer set so far. Pig and BOWA sum up my philosophy on life, so thankful that I got them in the same night. During BOWA I mentioned how badly I wanted to hear Rhyme and Reason and Brittany said she did too, it was one of her favorites. Sure enough, next tune was Rhyme and Reason, it's first play in over a year. All we could do was laugh. Then the band brought out Vusi Mahlasela for Everyday. I am not a huge Everyday fan at all, in fact after the intro I ran to the bathroom. Good thing I was only gone for a minute because this jam was the highlight of the night. I never thought it could be, but Everyday was unreal at MSG. In fact it ruined all future performances of it because this was too perfect. I can't even describe the pure feeling of joy in the room. Vusi has the most positive presence and you can't help but smile. Watch it HERE, when the house lights go up on the crowd around 7min...goooooosebumps! What an unreal moment. Then they wasted two spots with Time Bomb and You and Me. Two Step was a great closer. It was the best one I have ever heard. Carter pushed his solo longer and further (TWSS) than I've ever seen! My mind was fully blown after this main set. I'm glad to see this version getting the respect it deserves because it should be released. This is what keeps me going to shows, this is DMB at it's best!

The encore was not as jam packed as I expected. I thought there was a shot of #40 or IBYU. Instead he played Sister for his sister Jane. I was thinking there would be one more song before the closer, maybe So Right, but I saw the 12-string coming out and everyone knew that Last Stop would close out MSG. The band explodes right into this song. The crowd goes crazy, Carter goes crazy. The build up right before the reprise is so intense between Carter and Tim. The slow outro to close the show out and Dave thanked us all and that was the end. It was a quiet ending to the show, I loved it. Its a tough call between this and SPAC N2 '09 for the best show of my life. I want to call it a tie, both shows were basically perfect. I'm really happy that I got a poster from because this show is one that I want to remember forever. Everyone there will agree that this was one of the best shows the band has ever played and by far the best of 2010. I wouldn't trade this one for anything.

Tis The Season

My god, I love Zooey...

DMB - The Last Stops - Boston

Phew, I have finally re-cooped from the most amazing November of my life. 7 DMB shows in a little over two weeks, including the final two shows until further notice. A dream come true! A lot of memorable moments happened during the fall tour and I want to thank everyone that I came in contact with on my trip. So, Thank You! Lets get right into it...in my previous post I summed up the Albany show in detail...I want to touch on the other six shows but I will not be talking about every song. I know some of you were not huge fans of me writing about every single song and how many times I've seen them...so I won't do that, as much.

 The story of Boston starts the night before. I was working...my cell phone rings and its a random number, it's Cali from 104.1 Boston...he had some good new for me. I won the opportunity to meet Stefan Lessard and watch the Cali interview with Stefan, which you can listen to right here! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can't believe I was one of the few winners chosen. Pete and I got up to Boston nice and early hit the Volcano and then headed to Ben and Jerrys. The interview as you can hear, is very well done. Cali is a real DMB fan that asks questions that the true hardcore fans want to ask. Not to mention being 3 feet away from Stefan the entire time was unreal.

After the meeting Fonz and asking for Lover Lay Down there was about two hours before we wanted to head into the venue. We had floor seats and wanted to get close to Fonz and see if he would remember us. We settled at around 10th row. Great views of everyone all night long. The people around us were really cool too. There was this crazy bitch that made her way in and we all got her the boot and the whole crowd was singing good bye, it was priceless. The show started with Proudest Monkey into Satellite which is not the most energetic combo to open with...but they are two familiar songs that everyone in attendance knew and the crowd was into it right off the bat. After some Big Whiskey, they played DDTW, Last Stop, then Seek Up. That was one of my favorite runs of the tour. What a powerful three songs to play in a row. I was thinking Grey St. when I saw the 12-string, but a mid-set Last Stop is always a treat. Then I was floored after I heard the start to Seek Up. When Boyd is going crazy and Dave is wailing, I get goosebumps just thinking about it. The downfall in this part of the set was when two people right next to us passed out on the floor. It was way too hot and people were so dehydrated. Pete missed most of Gravedigger because he ran to get help for the people that fell.

The next four songs were a bit slow, I figured Big Whiskey was going to get played and here it was. I really do love Stay or Leave..it was just in the wrong spot. LITHOG is a real monster now...it's the best song from Big Whiskey by far. I really enjoyed the next four song run of #41, Grey St, Il Back You Up, and Crush. That's the kind of stuff I like to see. Crush was a good one! It was one of the highlights in the set in my opinion. However the ending run was just pathetic!!! Ants Marching was the only saving grace...but I was a little disapointed. It was just such a boring finnish. You and Me in the second to last slot is awful...and don't get me started on Can't Stop. The encore was okay. I love Some Devil, it's my favorite Dave E1 solo song. It's just so emotional. Everyday was meh, it did have a nice little #36 reprise which was a cool change of pace. PNP Rapunzel is a great closer. I prefer it to open but it works in the closing roll too. They always push it on that song every time. Too bad Boston was the only time they brought it out all tour. All in all it was a decent set and I had a great time on the floor. I was expecting a lot for N2. 

Night two started off with meeting up with my friend Ryan and his friend Jessie who we got floor tickets with us for N2! We had drinks at Boston Beer Works, which was a stones throw away from the venue. It was great to catch up with Ants and chat before n2. We left early again to get in for decent floor spots. John Butler Trio were the openers again, they are very impressive. I enjoyed watching their set for all four opening acts they played. The show started out perfectly with The Stone. There is no better opener in my opinion...The Stone is my favorite song. However the crowd could not sing the outro to save their lives! Squirm works out much better in the two slot but imo doesn't translate well live. After a killer What Would You Say, I looked at Pete and said this was going to be a fun show. Sadly I was escorted out of the building during Crash because someone else handed me a J and a cop saw...I missed the rest of the show. Highlights were Cry Freedom into Granny and then Lie In Our Graves. I was really bummed to miss that run. But shake it off, still got 4 more shows to get to and they were killer! MSG review will be posted tomorrow!

Tennis Rulez

This blog is on its way back! I am finishing up my fall tour write up for DMB and crafting my albums of the year list that I will have posted in time for the 1 yr anniversary of this here blog. In the meantime here is a video of Tennis playing their new song that I am obsessed with 'Pigeon'. Cheers! Talk soon.

Yours Truly Presents: Tennis "Pigeon" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

DMB - The Last Stops - Albany

Dave Matthews Band took their show to Albany on Friday night. The show was my 'golden show' as dmb fans call it. It's when your show number and age are the same. This was my 22nd show, and I'm still 22! I was hoping for a special set to call my 'golden' show, but we did not receive that. Sitting in the GA was tough. I love being so close to the band (we were about 5th row right in front of Boyd) but we were so crammed in there, it was hard to dance. I saw the little guitar on stage and that means it could be Shotgun, Sugarwill, Idea of You...but I knew it was going to be Squirm, its a popular opener, and it's a pretty bad one in my opinion. Shows that start with Squirm tend to start slow and this show did.
You Might Die Trying was the second song of the night, it's not my favorite either...this was also my 10th time seeing the song, so I'm tired of it. I will say this though....this was the best version of YMDT that I have ever seen....Dave's scat during the outro was fucking awesome...my favorite scat of the night, actually. Don't Drink The Water was 3rd up, my 9th time seeing the song. It's a song they have down perfect, it doesn't change much, but gets the job done. I would have rather heard something different, but this wasn't a bad choice. Lying In The Hands is the best live Big Whiskey song, they really jam it out now to almost 15 minutes. Jeff Coffin and Carter run this song, they are really unbelievable. The band kept it going with Crush, a song that seems to follow me around, this was 9th time seeing it, and I love it every single time. Then Dave decided to kill the mood by playing Seven and then So Damn Lucky which I am so damn sick of. They have been playing this same outro for 3 years now, and it's time for this song to take a rest. It was my 10th time seeing this song too, which is a bummer. Then, the highlight of the show for me was I'l Back You Up. It was the first song Dave ever wrote, and it was the first time I have ever seen it performed. A very touching moment for me. It was also the only song of the night that I got to see for the first time.
Great choice by the boys to keep the flow going with #41 next, it was also my 10th time seeing this song, something I will not complain about because this song is so good. It ran less then 10 minutes long with no real jamming except a little bit from Boyd. This song is top 5 for me, so I'm really glad that it is among my top songs heard. Shake Me was next, which is high energy and they seem to have finally figured out how to play it without rushing. It served as the perfect smoking song...turns out I should have waited for the next turd, Cornbread. Ive been to 22 shows and have now seen this song 15 times...PLEASE STOP PLAYING THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!! This version sucked too. The rest of the show, really picked up. Thank God.
The band brought out Sam Kininger for What Would You Say, which was very reminiscent of the way Roi played on this song. This version was pure fire and a top 3 moment of the night for me. It was only my 2nd time seeing the song. Screaming MOM ITS MY BIRTHDAY with everyone was really fun. I must say the crowd my section was pretty into it, going crazy when Boyd did anything. Jimi Thing people tend to hate on, but it always gets a nasty jam from everyone, and Sam stayed out to do some Sax dueling with Jeff. Ive seen this song 10 times now too, I am ready for a break from it honestly, but I will enjoy it every time they decide to play it.
Spaceman was a mood killer that should have been subbed out for another song. It could have been any song from the big 3 and I would have been happy. It was just the wrong song in the wrong spot. Next, however was the perfect placing for The Song That Jane Likes. My highschool art teacher was at the show tonight and she said before the show started she really wanted STJL and I was shocked/so happy they played it. It's really represents what early dmb is all about. Next, I saw the 12 string come out and I figured it would be the set closer and I was praying for Last Stop. They played Grey St (again for my 10th time) but I do love this song. The end is a frenzy and everyone jams hard on it. I thought it could close the set, they do that from time to time and in my opinion its not a song worth closing the set with. Instead they stayed out, and played Watchtower. This song first so perfectly in the set closer position more then the encore closer spot, its not even funny. I really enjoyed this version with a nice intro by Fonz and Dave's voice was on for the FIIIIRE outro.
The encore started with just Dave. He played Rye Whiskey, and when Dave hits those high notes, I get shivers! Love this song when he decides to play it. Next they played You and Me. What a bad choice for an encore song, almost any other song would have been better. It was so slow and the crowd was begging for something more! Throw Granny in there! Thank god after that disaster I saw the 12 string come out. I knew what was coming...The Last Stop. The scheduled closer was Tripping Billies, but there was a sign in the audience for Last Stop that Dave acknowledged a few times during the show saying 'just wait, just wait'. Me and about one other guy around me knew as soon as we saw the guitar come out what we were getting and then the band unleashed the beast. I havn't seen this song since Hartford 06 and that was the show, and it was that song that really made me become obsessed with this band. I was so happy to finally hear it after such a long wait. Everyone plays perfectly on this song, I only wish I could have heard more Boyd. Carter's build up right before going into the outro is so intense and then it goes into the most beautiful slow outro with Dave singing lightly over top of it. What a moment, one that I will never forget. The band dragged it out until there was nothing left, Dave thanked everyone and it was time to go home.
Overall this show was great to the average fan and it was a good time no doubt. However there were a lot of songs that I have seen too many times for my liking...5 or 6 songs that I have already seen 10+ times leads to a not so epic show for me. However seeing I'll Back You Up for the first time was a real treat. It was also only my second time seeing What Would You Say, (that's a shame, it should be played as much as cornbread) Song That Jane Likes, and The Last Stop. One of the best parts of last nights show was the lighting. This is by far my favorite lighting set up done by the band. I hate having huge TV screens behind the band. This tour, there are lights everywhere and the lighting rig overhead is always on the move, very very impressed sir Fenton. I am expecting much bigger and better things to come from the setlists in Boston, MSG, and Cville. Cheers everyone, talk to you after MSG! PS. Sorry I dont edit my posts, I dont care what you think.

Halloween

Last minute Halloween post. Sorry this blog sucks right now...well no, its just lacking. The music that is being posted is still great, Im just not posting enough of it. And its not looking like Nov/Dec is going to be much better. Lots of concert going in November...7 DMB shows and Im really excited to see everyone. So the new year my resolotion will be to get back to the blogging world, full steam ahead. Until then enjoy the fall and the rest of the year...check back every now and then...there will still be some posting :) Happy Halloween!

Girls - Heatbreaker

Girls have a new EP coming out in November called 'Broken Dreams Club'. The song 'Heartbreaker' is a live staple for Girls shows. The song is a sad sad number, like most of Girls music...but I love it so much. I guess I can just really relate with Chris. Grab the track for free below.

Free Download of Heartbreaker

Morning Benders Acoustic Performance

Check out Morning Benders playing over a half hour live set! Really wish I could have made it out to NYC to see them...they have one of my favorite albums of this year.

Best Coast - Boyfriend

TONIGHT!!! HPSU PRESENT: Beach Fossils & MT Bearington

Tonight in Hartford at Arch St Tavern Hartford Party Starters are having Beach Fossils! They are a band fronted by Dustin Payseur who wrote the music for their first album and brought in a few friends to round out a live act. They remind me of Surfer Blood and The Drums, two of my favorite indie rock bands. Their debut album came out in February on Captured Tracks.

Opening for them is MT Bearington. They remind me of Beach Fossils in a way, they are lo-fi, a little bit more expiremental, but also have pop influences like Beach Fossils. I have yet to catch them live, I did get to see Titles (Same lead singer) at their CD Release Party a few months ago. I was very impressed.

Tonight's show is going to be a good time, the music fits the mood too...perfect fall time concert. More info at the Facebook Event Page.  The show starts at 9 and its gonna run $8. See ya there!

Boast

This shirts are classy. I want one.
http://www.boastusa.com/products/listing#

Happy Birthday, John....We miss you

Gayngs Sex Up Fallon

These guys are classic. This is by far the sexiest album I have ever listened to. Seriously, just perfect sex music. Here they are last night on fallon. Justin Vernon be singing from Bon Iver

Keep

Yes, this is my first post on fashion, but I got style yall. Buy these shoes, they are dope. Super creative, stylish, I love em. Check out the rest of their stuff too
http://www.keepcompany.com/category.aspx?id=16

Dave and Tim Farmaid 2010

Gotta Have Daytrotters

Daytrotter is killin it of late. Just recently they had Toro Y Moi and Tennis in studio to give the Daytrotter spin to their tunes. Both of these artists make enjoyable, relaxing summer music. They simplify their songs to the bare necessities for these sessions. Purely delectable. You can download them for free once you register for Daytrotter, which should have been done months ago.

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/tennis-concert/20031378-51552.html - Download Tennis


http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/toro-y-moi-concert/20031389-51558.html - Download Toro Y Moi

“Infinity Guitars” - Sleigh Bells

Sleigh Bells "Infinity Guitars" from Phil Pinto on Vimeo.

Wild Nothing In The Streets

Check out Wild Nothing performing 'Gemini' and 'Your Rabbit Feet' from their 'They Shoot Music Session' These guys are really cool, they played at Daniel Street in Milford this summer and the entire band is chill. Enjoy these acoustic street versions :)

My Vampire Weekend

This past weekend was bananas.  I headed up to Boston to see Dum Dum Girls, Beach House, and Vampire Weekend. All three bands are amazing and I was very excited to see Vampire Weekend live for the first time. Boston is a beautiful city...it reminds me of our past, and it has a very vintage, colonial feel to it. Rachel and I made the trip up Saturday to enjoy an extra day in the city.

Sunday morning I awoke to the Dum Dum Girls tweeting for spirit lifters. Our party was more then happy to help them out and they said to meet up with them after their set! The Dum Dum Girls are badass live. Just four girls completely rocking out for 45 minutes and harmonizing beautifully together in hot outfits. Di Di sways back and fourth with a little shimmy and Bambi their bass player literally shows zero emotion on stage. Beach House sounds identical to their record, which is exactly what you want because their albums are perfect. Victoria has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. Their light show was really impressive too, it added a real dreamy feel to the show.

Vampire Weekend opened their set with 'Holiday' from Contra and continued to play for almost 80 minutes covering all the hits from both of their albums, and a Bruce Springsteen cover. During 'Bryn', The Dum Dum Girls were roaming around our section and were having trouble spotting Zack's Surfer Blood Tee that we told them to look for. Instead we went to them and they brought us backstage for a smoke during 'California English'. The DDG are really cool, it was great to talk with them for a little bit and recap their performance. They were heading out to their next show quickly, and we wanted to get back to Vampire Weekend. We said our good-byes and went back for the second half of VW. They are insanely tight live. Every note is played right and Ezra has a lot of interaction with the crowd. They ended the show like they end every show, with Walcott...one of my favorite tunes. What a special weekend in Boston.

Then I wake up Monday morning and see that their next show is in Holyoke Mass, only an hour away from me. I figured, why not email Dum Dum Girls and see if they could get me in and have the same situation set up as the night before. They were 100% down for that, so I got to go and see all 3 bands for free the next night! The shows were very similar but performances were different. Beach House was way more into their set in Holyoke, Victora was stomping the ground and doing all sorts of robotic dance moves. Vampire Weekend loved the feel of Holyoke, Ezra said 'I've got a real Halloween vibe goin on tonight, it's officially sweater weather...I love it'. It was cool in Holyoke because it was a much smaller show,  only 1500 people max versus what I thought was around 5000 in Boston this weekend. Holyoke was also GA, and a much, much younger crowd. It made for a more rowdy show up front. Boston was much more reserved. I had a blast seeing all 3 bands twice in two days, thanks to The Dum Dum Girls for hooking everything up, love yall!

The sound on the Vampire Weekend vids aren't great...and here is my favorite Beach House song 'Norway' from the Boston show.

New Childish

My boy Childish Gambino has a new track for you. I can really relate to his self confidence issues. You're the man Donald... I'll never forget that first show in NYC. Can't wait for Community to start back up either. This new song 'Untouchable' is true to the man spitting on it (he made the beat too). Donald Glover is truly untouchable right now. If you don't follow his blog http://www.iamdonald.com/ well then you don't know whats up. He is on top of his game in every aspect of his career. Killing it on TV, doing stand up, rapping in clubs, or writing scrips...whatever you have for him, he will succeed. Donald Glover for Spiderman? nahhh, Donald Glover for President! Listen and then download.
Now I'm gonna have myself a nice little weekend in Boston and see Dum Dum Girls, Beach House, and Vampire Weekend in one show. I know Donald can appreciate that!
Untouchable by Childish Gambino
UNTOUCHABLE

Must Have Daytrotter Sessions

The last few days of August were ended on a good note thanks to http://www.daytrotter.com/. They put up sessions with Surfer Blood and The Beets. I was lucky enough to see both of them in concert this year, and both are really strong live. Daytrotter is the best and if you haven't been on their site before, download their app, sign up for their music, follow them on twitter...get involved with what they do because you get free music and its all amazing. You can download these two sessions if you click the bands names above. All of their sessions have free mp3 downloads with links for lossless. Check out their list of sessions.

Matt & Kim - Cameras

Matt & Kim are releasing a new album titled 'Sidewalks' this fall. The song 'Cameras' is the first track from their new work. I love it. Definitely a little slower then what we are used to from them, but it still does have that Matt & Kim sound. 'Cameras' has a real bounce to it...it's also got a lot of synth and happiness. I think this song would work as a sick opener for them to start the show with. I can't wait to see them at Toads Place in November. These two are always happy and very appreciative of their fans...when I saw them last year, Kim talked to every single fan that wanted to get a pic with her.

True Panther Tracks

I've got two new tracks from one of our favorite labels True Panther Sounds. Cloud Nothings who will be playing with Fucked Up at Toads on Sept 7th (Be There!) the song is 'Leave You Forever' another fuzzy, jangly, perfect song from this band. Every song they release ups the ante, these are true rockers from Ohio. Be sure to see them when they come to town.
Leave You Forever by truepanther

The other song is from Real Estate, who just recently played a show here in the Cut. This song is soooooooo Real Estate. Lofi beach haze and this band does it best. You can buy both of these tunes on upcoming 7'' releases. Stream them for now, grab them and throw them on your Autumn Playlist
Out Of Tune by truepanther

Washed Out - Hold Out

Really cool tour video posted by Washed Out. Todays my day off! I be chillin

Beach House - White Moon

Autumn is just around the corner and with these three rainy days in New England we are getting a sneak peak at what September is going to feel like. Fall is my favorite season for numerous reasons. Everything about it is perfect... from the cool brisk days, the leaves changing colors, halloween, and fall harvest... autumn really is just the best. The music has a certain feel to it during this time of year. A little bit slower, a lot more acoustic. I tend to get into more folk type acts during this time. This track is the perfect song to put in the #1 spot on your fall time playlist. It's a new song from Beach House. 'Teen Dream' is currently our second favorite album this year, and 'White Moon' sounds like it could be tacked right on to the end of that stunningly beautiful album. This song is as dreamy as you can get. I love how Victoria sings in a hush, it's never too much. Alex's tranquil guitar licks meld right into Victoria's shimmering piano. Download that shit, yo!
Beach House - White Moon (Itunes Session) by subpop

Local Music Alert!!!!! -Downright Music and Art: Community Unity Festival

If you have no plans this afternoon/evening I would highly recommend heading over to Collinsville to Downright Music and Art. They are holding their Community Unity Day downtown and there is going to be great music, friendly people, and beautiful art. Music starts right at 1 with Vortex featuring Jeff of The Mclovins(one of the first bands blogged about here) and there will be a lot more music all day! Artists will have work up for show and The Flatbread Company will be providing yummy organic pizza! So do yourself a favor and get to Downright today, it's free so whaddya waitin for?!

Rest easy, good friend

Colleen Green - Worship You

Colleen Green, takes a page right out of the book of The Dum Dum Girls and a little Best Coast. Drenched in reverb, this is as fuzzy as you can get. With a catchy, Bethany like chorus and bad ass DD guitar riffs...it's another perfect lofi girl rock song. It really fits the mood for the weather outside in CT this afternoon...it's so fucking sticky and wet. Download this track in the soundcloud below.


Colleen Green - Worship You by berman1125

Summer Camp

Summer Camp has a new EP, 'Young' coming out on moshi moshi on September 13th. It feels like it came straight out of the 80's and this video for it, soooooo nostalgic...its classic! I feel as if I am getting in the deloran, going back to 1985, and playing this song on my tape deck. Happy Friday the 13th!

SUMMER CAMP - Round the Moon from Paddy Power on Vimeo.
Single out 13th Sept on Moshi Moshi Records

Local Natives @ Governors Island NYC

I had the pleasure of seeing Local Natives play on a beach in NYC last night. What a beautiful night it was...we had to take a ferry from Battery Park over to Governors Island where we chilled on the beach for 2 hours soaking up the sun and having a few beers. It was pretty surreal to be sitting on a beach with Manhattan as your backdrop. The first band was a Vampire Weekend wannabe, then We Are Barbarians took the stage, and thoroughly impressed me. They are from LA and have been friends with Local Natives from back in their home town. Local Natives played for over an hour, in front of their biggest crowd ever. For a ten dollar ticket (that included ferry ride), you can't ask for much more then that.

Local Natives are a band that I have wanted to see live for some time. They are all over the place on stage(a good thing)...everyone playing drums at some point, switching guitarists, switching lead singers...everyone in this band are class musicians and can hold their own on multiple instruments. The crowd was very laid back and also very into the show...I think the beach setting had everyone chillwaving to their fullest potential. The boys were on, hitting their four-part harmonies perfectly. Think bad-ass rock Fleet Foxes and then you've got Local Natives. They spastically jump around on stage, absolutely rocking out like tribal leaders would have around a campfire. 'Sun Hands', their encore song was by far the best of the night. Drums were smashed by everyone on stage, the crowd was going crazy...it was one of the most memorable moments of the summer for me. What a beautiful venue, and Local Natives played one hell of a set. So glad I decided to make that trip. I added a beautiful acoustic take of Airplanes from Pitchfork this year....breathtaking