October 2013 : Music Haul

a half-written, half-linked music haul, happy october.

From September to October:

• HAIM. Listening to them always makes me want to be in a trio-sister-rock-out-band. They were awesome at ACL. 
• Lorde. Hi, I wrote about her in April. So thrilled when she released her full-length album. I have grown a liking for the track "White Teeth Teen." 
• Generationals. Beats. 
• ∆ as per usual. 

From October I've been listening to: 

• Michael Giacchino. He's written the score for shows like Lost and movies like UP, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. It's great work music. I used to listen to other artists like Teebs and Tycho to work, but soundtrack/score music takes it another level. The UP score is a tear-jerker but my favorite.
• Phantogram. I was supposed to write a live review about them I still might. They released a new EP not too long ago and they're on tour right now. "Black Out Days," "The Day You Died"... all of them on the new EP are pretty stellar actually. In short: they are awesome live. 
• Arcade Fire and their new album, Reflektor, I'm still listening to it, I'll write a one-liner for next month. 
• The Head and The Heart. I honestly have only listened to their new album once or twice, but it's out there y'all. 
• Lucius (duh.) Yes. Over and over, on vinyl, on YouTube, on iTunes, on Spotify, Live, etc. Anything I can do to listen to Lucius, I will. I don't know if y'all get it yet, but y'all need to. 
• Pedro The Lion. Mentioned by a friend so I thought I'd give it a shot. Why do I feel depressed when I listen to it? Also, why can't I stop listening to it? "The Longest Winter"and its lyrics "Is it your way/or the highway.." just saying 

Revisited:

• Dan Croll. Release a full-length album pls. You were amazing live at ACL 2013. 
• The Neighbourhood. Somehow I feel like this falls under "October" music (I'm clearly running out of ideas to write...I just want to listen to them OKAY?!)
• Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism and the Transatlanticism (Demos). BECAUSE I CAN. (but the demo track of "Transatlanticism" slays me).
• Bloc Party. Because I CAN. 
• Daughter. Because I can. 

And this track by JMSN. 

Live : Gold and the Rush

Reigning from NOLA, Gold and the Rush played at a house show-thing...thing-show here in Austin, TX this past Friday. I feel bad looking at this picture because you can't see Sam's face. On a more humorous note, it looks like Sam has a speaker for a face. 

I'm going to preface this post by saying that this is not music that I usually listen to. Not because I don't like it...I was just never exposed to it. Now by it, I think I'm going to go with southern-rock-n-roll-jam music. It's music that I listened to while sitting in the grass, drinking a beer, and being completely okay with life. I think that it's music that you can listen to while you're barbecuing some good meat with good company, talking and drinking etc etc etc. 'People Downstairs' and 'Rocketship' are probably my favorite tracks.

Is it note-worthy that Chris, the drummer, smoked a cigarette while banging away effortlessly on the drum set? It was kind of incredible. Note-worthy? I decided, yes. 

Not to mention, these are some pretty cool dudes. Trust me, I got tacos with them. And when you get tacos with someone, you really get to know a person (and in this case, a band). Am I a little sad that I missed their set at Ditch The Fest? Sure. But I have some memories, a free CD (from their Daytrotter session), and bandcamp to hold me over until next time. Give these guys a listen, see them at a show, they're pretty cool. 

September 2013 : Music Haul

I'm attempting to be concise today, but this month does not make it easy. Transitioning into "slower music", I am getting ready for Fall-time. When will it approach Texas? Unknown, but I'll listen to some of these albums inside and just pretend that everything is a-ok.

From August to September, I've been listening to:

• ∆∆∆∆∆∆ I don't need to say more than that
• Kacey Musgraves. She's infiltrated my music wall. Or actually, I opened the door and let her in. She's actually great music to listen to when you're on the road. Sing-able, relateble, beat-y.

From September, I've been listening to (in order of importance):

• HAIM's full-length (out tomorrow I think) Days Are Gone. I wrote about them a while back, and I'm gonna be that person. I said they were gonna be big and now look, they are at ACL and they sold out their ACL after show already. They rule, they make me want to be a in a girl band. "Days Are Gone" and "My Song 5" are jammy jams but "Go Slow" will always be my all-time favorite. 
• CHVRCHES's new album, The Bones of What You Believe. Pretty sure I started listening to this Scotland trio from this girl. Thanks Urs. "Lungs" is a good one and "Recover" is something I can play for months (speaking from experience). 
• Lorde. I forget when her album comes out, but it was streaming on VH1/Mashable. You'll probably hear it at your next house party if you haven't already. 
• London Grammar. Flashes of Florence Welch happen when I listen to London Grammar. I kind of refused to like them when they released "Wasting My Young Years". But this music is melancholic and full of soul (I think "soulful" has a different sound). 
• Bastille. If you need convincing, watch this. I promise, it will be the best 3 minutes of your life and you'll be wondering why you're not listening to them already. Swoonfest, Bastille is so good. Thanks Jaqs. 
• Volcano Choir. Justin Vernon's other music venture. Touches of Bon Iver, but it's not the same. You can definitely hear his distinct voice and sometimes, that's all I need. I'll continue to spin Bon Iver every time it rains though. Nothing can replace that. 

Revisited:

• Generationals. This band and I met again this month (on Spotify), it's been a long time. I really love their album Actor-Caster, my 4th year is making me realllll nostalgic. 
• Explosions In The Sky. Speaking of nostalgia, Friday Night Lights anyone? I saw them perform again recently and was just wrecked. They are SO good live. "The Only Moment We Were Alone", holy emotions. 
• Cults. My first year? My second year? Their album was my soundtrack, they've got a new one coming out soon...so I guess that's why I revisited. "Never Saw The Point"- yes. It's doo-wop-y but it's not doo-wop! 
• Arctic Monkeys. Remnants of high school exist and listen to this band and their songs like "Balaclava" and "Florescent Adolescent"..."The best you ever had/the best you ever had/ is just a memory". All of the lyrics, y'all.

Single Tracks:

• Wanna Know by Dan Croll
• 101 Vultures by Alex Winston (fyi, explicit)
• Prairie Girl by Rah Rah
• Let Me In by Snowmine
• Beach by San Cisco (Bye Summertime, I won't miss you much)
• Roar by Katy Perry (I have to. No shame.)
• Golden Girl by The Naked And Famous