No, we aren’t referring to Johannes, the super famous Romantic period composer, but rather the new band Brahms based in Brooklyn. Building on the “electro-pop” sound of his recent solo work, Cale Parks formed this new band with Eric Lyle Lodwick and Drew Montag Robinson (who were already playing live with him recently) for the new year, and they have been getting some great buzz after their recent shows including one at Glasslands a couple of weeks ago with Boy Crisis, Telepathe, and Apache Beat:
Brahms @ Glasslands on 1/22 (photo by Betsy Blundell)
But if you can’t make it to the show, you can download two demos from the band’s website, for the price of your email address. So go over there and do it, you will like what you hear. In fact, here’s one of the jams right now, just to prove it to you.
Does anyone else remember this song and totally love it? Taylor Dayne hasn’t done all that much musically since the late 80s/early 90s (although her single “Beautiful,” from her 2008 release Satisfied, did manage to reach #1 on the Billboard Dance Charts). But this song rules! And she’s not looking too bad for an almost-50-year-old mom. So come on, dance it out to “Tell It To My Heart” tonight. We promise not to tell.
Plus, the beginning of this video is like a master class on how to make an 80s video.
It looks like Passion Pit is set to play a concert to benefit Celebrate Brooklyn at the end of June. Their opening act will be Tokyo Police Club, a Toronto Band with a similarly upbeat, synthetic sound. Tickets go on sale on Saturday so, if you like what you hear below, (and we already know you like Passion Pit) snatch them up, it’s for a good cause!
This winter, the boys of Tokyo Police Club have an even bigger gig– playing two shows at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February. This girl’s excited.
We checked out the Julian Casablancas show on January 15th at Terminal 5 and it was really great, one of the best shows we’ve seen in a while. His songs were tight, the energy was high, and the cavernous venue was packed. Although the show was pretty dark for the most part, we did manage to take a few videos and photos:
The best video is below, when he finished his set with his cover of Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz’s forgotten SNL gem, “I Wish it Was Christmas Today.” You can also watch this and others on the EV2BK Youtube channel.
Julian Casablancas – I Wish it Was Christmas Today (live at Terminal 5)
It’s looking like the last night of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien will be tonight. After signing a deal that will reportedly make him a very rich man, O’Brien is leaving the show and Jay Leno is coming back. Having seen a taping of the old Late Night with Conan O’Brien here in New York, I know that he is really funny on-screen and off. So don’t blame Coco that the new Tonight Show didn’t work out and don’t feel too bad for him either, 32.5 million is a hell of a severance package.
Ironically timed, the release of British band I Blame Coco’s new video dropped earlier this week. I Blame Coco is headed by Coco Sumner (Sting’s daughter) and her voice sounds promising. I look forward to hearing more tracks. The song features a guest appearance by Robyn (a big Swedish sensation) and the vinyl of “Caesar” will be out February 1st. The mega-DJ Diplo is producing Robyn’s new album and he’s already done a remix of “Caesar” which you can listen to below. The song is good but the remix is better.
A friend of ours recently turned us on to the aqua-crunk sounds of Hudson Mohawke, a young Scottish-born DJ making some really dope beats. He also apparently hates the label “aqua-crunk,” but then again, who wouldn’t? Imagine if Ratatat and Timbaland got crazy in the studio and then made a little DJ baby that liked the drums. Hudson Mo (as he is also sometimes called) is a member of the LuckyMe collective based out of Glasgow, who dub themselves “a label born out of the love of primary influence. We are here to fuck with genre and sensibility.” Whatever that means. Go HudMo.
Here’s a track from his first record, Butter, released by Warp Records last October. Now who’s going to jump in on these instrumental beats?
Here at EV2BK, we’re big fans of birthdays, holidays, general revelry, and celebration. As luck would have it, one of our founding members is celebrating his birthday today. To commemorate the occasion, today’s jam comes to you from Crystal Antlers. This California band first became well-known in 2008 after they self-released their first EP. To support the release, the group toured extensively and they signed with Touch and Go Records that same year. Tentacles, their full-length, was released by Touch and Go last April and they have a big European tour planned for this spring to promote the album. One of my favorite tracks off of the album, “Andrew,” has a rough, bluesy vibe that gets better with every listen.
We’re psyched to be heading to the Julian Casablancas show tonight at Terminal 5. His debut solo album rocks and is arguably one the best albums of 2009. Hopefully, we will have some fun news to report about the show (or some good videos) so check back next week. I’m also excited to see their second opening act, Telepathe. I’m intrigued to see how their dark, new-age sound translates at a live show. Today’s jam, “So Fine,” is the first track off their debut album, Dance Mother, produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek.
What is there to say about the current situation in Haiti? It’s horrible, unthinkable, and heart-breaking for New Yorkers with relatives there. Here is one way to help.
This mournful Jam comes from the Shins off of their 2001 album, Oh Inverted World. We hope the situation there improves dramatically soon, these people need all the help they can get.
I woke up with this song in my head today although I’m not really sure why, since it’s been years since the Arctic Monkeys released their first EP. Their most recent release, 2009’s Humbug (out on Domino), has received some good reviews and it’s definitely worth checking out, but I’m still feeling this “Fake Tales of San Francisco” track four years later.
