New Bright Eyes Video: Hot Knives

Bright Eyes has released a new video today for the song "Hot Knives." To be honest, I'm rather surprised at this choice for the second single off Cassadaga. This is one of the weaker songs off the album, and I'm even more surprised to read that Stereogum is calling it a "standout." I guess then it's fitting that the video is kind of lame as well. I'm never a big fan of videos that only feature live footage of the band playing the song - the format seems to allow for so much more creativity (see my post below about the Bats For Lashes video if you want to see a visual concept.) I've really been trying hard to like this new album - and there are definitely some great tracks on it - but I don't think this is one of them. I'm still really pumped for the Hollywood Bowl show and I hope to god he pulls out some back catalog with that symphony. Oh well, you can check out the video for yourself:

Weekend Concert Roundup: Los Angeles

Friday, June 22nd
Skinny Puppy, The Silver Daggers @ Henry Fonda Theater
Divisadero, The Louvre, The Solvents, 1985 @ Pehrspace
Division Day, The Switch @ Safari Sam's
Rob Crow, Johnny and the Moon (Dante Decaro of Wolf Parade), Manic @ Spaceland

Saturday, June 23rd
The Police @ Dodger Stadium
Skinny Puppy, The Silver Daggers @ Henry Fonda Theater
White Mice, Chuck Dukowski Sextet, Finally Punk @ The Smell

Sunday, June 24th
DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Carlinhos Brown, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars @ Hollywood Bowl

The Cure Announces North American Tour

The Cure have added the North American jaunt to this year's summer/fall world tour - and it includes a stop to the Hollywood Bowl in mid-October. The dates were just announced this morning and the news also included word about a follow-up to 2004's S/T record. The new studio release will be released on Suretone/Geffen Records and should be expected around the same time as their L.A. stop. 65 Days of Static will be the opener for all of the North American dates. Click here to check out all the tour dates.

June Mix - 10. The Barracudas - Summer Fun

The next song on the mix comes by way of the 1980 classic "Summer Fun" by UK band The Barracudas. This song is about as cliche as a "summer song" can get, but this is where the song draws its charm from. The Barracudas were a throwback band - playing upbeat 60s revival with their jangly sound - and this was their breakthrough hit. I like this song in our mix because it brings some needed overt summerness - and it's a ton of fun to rock out to. Thanks go to Johnbeck for this one. Here's the "music video" for the song from Top of the Pops shot in 1981. Check out those dance moves!

Spoon Announce Two L.A. Dates

Spoon will be bringing their new tunes into town toward the end of this summer. The two dates are September 10th and 11th at the Henry Fonda Theater. They haven't really committed to a full out U.S. tour, so it's nice to see that they are giving L.A. some love with a two night stint. Tickets go on sale this Saturday and cost 20 bucks. Click here to buy. There is no info yet on who is opening. The Austin band will then head home for the Austin City Limits festival playing September 14th. Stay tuned for more info. For now, check out their new single, "The Underdog" off Merge Records' Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - out July 10th.

New Bat For Lashes Video - What's A Girl To Do

The concept behind this video is the reason why music videos are still worth doing. It's a simple idea, and it's pulled off extraordinarily. I might also be impartial to the Donnie Darko influences as well as the "all-in-one-shot" concept. It keeps the viewer (i.e. me) captivated, instead of breaking the moment with an edit. I don't really know a lot about British songwriter Natasha Khan AKA Bat For Lashes, but from what I've read she's praised by the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Devendra Banhart and Thom Yorke. Everything I've heard from her is kind of a mishmash of retro style and feeling with modern instrumentation. The video is directed by Dougal Wilson and it's for the upcoming single called "What's a Girl to Do."

Dan Deacon/Girl Talk Rumors Confirmed

After seeing a suspicious L.A. date pitting the two electronic artists at the same place and the same time over a month ago, I had a feeling that we'd be hearing more about it soon. Today Pitchfork broke the news of a (semi) full out tour. It seems like the dates are spread out enough that there will be more shows announced to fill in the gaps. Where do I sign up? Here's what's been announced so far:

08-04 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (Virgin Festival)
09-12 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix
09-15 New York, NY Webster Hall
09-17 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
09-20 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
09-21 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
09-22 Atlanta, GA - MJQ Concourse
09-27 San Diego, CA - Epicentre
09-28 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex
09-29 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore Auditorium

On Repeat: Best Fwends

I stumbled upon Austin Duo Best Fwends through some MySpace Top 8 band surfing and couldn't stop listening to them. I'm not sure if it's the quick, catchy synth leads, or the half-retarded lyrical content - but it's probably someplace where the two meet that make this band so irresistible. Their latest release, Alphabetically Arranged runs 29 tracks long with the longest track under three minutes. They bring to mind an even more lo-fi sound than Gil Mantera with even tighter wound hooks. Check out this song called "Skate or Live":

Also, check out this Bacardi ad you may have already seen and heard that features Best Fwends:

June Mix - 9. Blink 182 - Rock Show

If I believed in guilty pleasures, I would say Blink 182 might go down as my all-time top guilty pleasure. But I won't apologize for being in love with their brand of smart pop and their lack of pretense. Their entire catalog reminds me of the summertime, from early Warped Tours, to Blossom Music Center concerts. This song especially reminds me of summers past- for the obvious lyrical nod and the overall theme of being young and stupid and going to shows. It was the first single off of Take Off Your Pants, which was probably my least favorite of all their releases, but I think it's the song that best represents this band for our theme. We used to say that we had to grow up when Blink broke up, and then they did. Damn! Check out the video for it:

New Broken Social Scene Offering: Kevin Drew

Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene is joining the ranks of BSS members going solo. His full length titled Spirit If... is due out on September 18th on Arts & Crafts Records. While I wasn't extremely impressed with the Apostle of Hustle record, I have really liked the new Feist one, and Emily Haines' Knives was probably my favorite record from last year. So Kevin has sort of a tough act to follow from his BSS family. The new song that just hit this morning is called "Tbtf" and it supposedly isn't meant to be pronounced - but said as an acronym. I'm not going to spoil the lyrical content because it's funnier to just listen to it not expecting the chorus. This song sounds more like the classic Broken Social Scene sound than any of the other solo efforts and makes me that much more excited for this release. Enjoy: