On Belaire and my recent hiatus

Oy vey, a week? Really?

My deepest apologies, for reals, but I recently came into computer troubles (like, oh, I don't know, I didn't have one) which kind of impaired my posting abilities. All's well and good now, who's looking forward to more regular updates? Hells yes!

Speaking of hells yes, tomorrow's the 25th, and I'm sure you all know what that means! No, I'm not going on about Baby Mama (although on the reals, I'm super excited about that, too--who has a super duper huge crush on tina fey? this lady), I'm going on about the Belaire show, of course! w00t! And talk about a steal, folks, $6 for not only Belaire, but Elf Power, The Black and White Years, and Yellow Fever. Homygawd, pinch me, this is unreal.

Today, in leu of the hiatus, I give you a bevy of songs to choose from. Enjoy folks.

[mp3] Belaire- Through The Wire

[mp3] Belaire- Shadows Moving on the Wall

[mp3] The Black and White Years- My Broken Hand

[mp3] The Black and White Years- A Wetter Sea

[mp3] Yellow Fever- Hellfire

[mp3] Yellow Fever- Alice

[mp3] Elf Power- Spiral Stairs

[mp3] Elf Power- Midnight Crawls Out

Oh yeah, and I finally got my hands on that Box Social CD I had my eyes on, so look forward to a review sometime over the weekend. Salut!



Edit: Holy crud. Loxly's gonna be there. I think I might cry :3

The Art Party + Trash Trash Trash

The Art Party: Grassroots political party/Collective of progressive hippies (and as a member, I of course mean that in the best possible way) based out of New Orleans, with little branches all over the place.

Trash Trash Trash: Experimental (Hip Hop? Indie? I don't know) band, also hailing from the big easy, who dig singing songs about pot and are currently out of commission (talk about lame.)

So then, how are these two connected? And more importantly, if Trash Trash Trash isn't up to anything why am I writing about them? Well, the answer is propaganda--I mean, PR. Gotta represent, you know?

You see, Trash Trash Trash is a big proponent of said "Art Party", and I'm a big proponent of both. That being said it makes sense for me to give a shout out, no? Exactly.

I really can't say that much though, with out inadvertently repeating something you'd find on either their myspace or the party's website, so I'm not going to ramble on--however, if free albums are what you're into feel free to drop by Trash Trash Trash's page on Last.FM, where you can download their entire EP, 100% free.

And for anyone who'd like a quick sample of their work, I give you:

[mp3] Trash Trash Trash- Art Hrs
[mp3] Trash Trash Trash- Hash Stash

There ya go. And check this out, I finally started hosting my own files (mostly because I was tired of scowering the interweb for 'em.)

w00t!

Hot damn, it's The Box Social!

That's right, bay-beh. I got a sweet tip this morning in regards to 'em (the girl who emailed me described them as being "one part swagger, two parts guitar, several pounds of pop sensibility and one well worn corduroy blazer (you know, the kind with elbow patches)"--how could I resist?) Since then I've been lurking around their myspace all day listening to the music and what not. Weird, right? But, in my defense I really haven't heard anyone like then in quite some time. It's cool. Take for instance the cow bell in "Hot Damn!"--I mean, seriously, who does that anymore? I love it. (and, as long as I'm ranting about this song, I think I'm gonna have to mention the bass line. You know, the one that opens second to the cow bell and runs pretty much the whole way through the song? Yeah, it's pretty much the definition of "tasty".)


I hate to say it after waxing poetic about them, but I've really only heard the songs up on their myspace at this point, so I can't talk about the album just yet. Don't fret though, I totally intend on doing a follow up review of their debut Get Going (likely, as soon as I get my hands on it!) I can't wait.

[mp3] The Box Social- Big T
[mp3] The Box Social- Hot Damn!

Both songs come straight off of the album, so download 'em, listen, and as always, if you like what you hear feel free to grab a copy of the CD. Support the artists and what not. I know you can download Get Going from myspace, as well as their Blown to Bits EP, or if you're looking for something a little more physical they've also got a link set up so that you can order one. They're by the T-Shirts.

Also, I kind of feel like I should ramble about "Big T" the way I did about "Hot Damn!", but, you know what? I just can't bring myself to do it, as the song pretty well speaks for it's self, you know? As Aversion put it, they're"the sort of act that everyone in the world should like, but only the really, really cool will." Well put, no?

Anyways, enjoy. And if you're in the Wisconsin/Michigan/Illinois area anytime soon I'd look into dropping by one of their shows, they just seem like they'd be awesome live. Peace.

The Black and White Years

In one word: Groovilicious.

I don't think that's a real word, but, you know what? I also don't think I care. It's the only word I could come up with that even came close to accurately describing this band of stellar-awesome-amazingness. (Yeah, I know, 'amazingness' isn't a word either--Firefox already got on to me about it.)

How could I have missed posting about this band? I mean, jesus christ, my infatuation with them rivals my infatuation with Belaire, and that's saying something. Oh, I have no idea why I haven't talked about them yet.

Let's see, so, basically The Black and White Years are a three piece electronica-groove-frikkin' sweet troupe spawning from none other than, you guessed it, Austin Tx. Often described as being similar to the Talking heads--if not in musical style then in overall panache, I suppose--this trio pretty much owns.
[mp3] The Black and White Years- Everyone
[mp3] The Black and White Years- The Power to Change

If you want the album (and I have no idea why you wouldn't), feel free to swing by their store and grab a copy--Or, better yet, if you live in Austin hop on down to their show on April 25, at the Mohawk, where they'll be playing with Belaire and Yellow Fever (seriously, talk about one hell of a line up.) Then, at the show, not only'll you be seein' 'em live with two of the greatest bands ever, you'll also be able to pick up the album, and heck, even a shirt or two!

I know, I know. It's pretty exciting stuff.

Rachael Cantu, anyone?

I don't know. This months been really hectic. I've been on an acoustic kick lately though, which is probably where today's artist comes from. On with the post!

Have you ever just been meandering around the interweb, half-heartedly jumping from site to site as a means to put off some chore or other, when you happen upon something really spectacular? Well, that happened to me today when I came, quite accidently, across Rachel Cantu. My goodness, let me just say right now, she really is just something else. Her songs, described as both "brilliant" and "hot to death", are mellow and catchy, melding together rough acoustic bits with more clean electronica for a sound ultimately reminiscent of Tegan and Sara or Kaki King, yet at the same time still very much her own. Run All Night, her album, was one of those CD's I felt compelled to buy almost immediately after hearing a couple songs. They're just so...addicting?


Forgive me for the short post, I'm kind of running on empty here (something like 12 hours of sleep in the last 4 days?)--that being said, I'll go ahead and leave you with your song links so you can check her out (you're gonna love this, I promise), and scamper off to bed. w00t!

[mp3] Rachel Cantu- Saturday

I almost didn't feel like posting that, as she already has so many amazing songs on her myspace for you to stream and what not (download, maybe? I don't remember), but I felt kind of bad about not having any songs last time, so here you are. Enjoy, loves, and remember to check out her official page for more info (and of course, if you dig the music don't hesitate to buy the CD!)

edit: never mind, you can't visit the official page as it's currently under construction. That's cool though, I figure her myspace more than suffices.

Yelle-- faisant français cool nouveau

For those of you who don't speak french, that's, "Yelle-- making french cool again." I know I've been slacking lately, and for that I'm sorry. As a matter of fact, to make it up to you, I've work extra hard on this post. Honest!

Actually, I haven't worked much harder on this post than I usually would. It is about Yelle though (whose name, for those of you who might be wondering, is the resulting portmanteau of "yeah" and "elle"--or so says Wikipedia), so bonus points for that? For those of you who have no clue as to what I'm going on about, Yelle is a french songstress hailing from Brittany. Recently she's been getting some air time on MTV, which is a good thing I guess, because any publicity is good publicity, right? I feel bad for her though because she's been getting a lot of flack for speaking french. Her native tongue. Go figure.

Dumb Americans aside, I most definitely recommend checking out her 2007 release, Pop-Up! The whole album is just so grand. "Je Veux Tu Voir", in particular, is so intensly up-beat it's hard not to dance, while "Les Femmes" has this dark, sultry feel about it, and still songs like "Ce Jeu" are simply light hearted and fun.

[mp3] Yelle- "Je Veux Te Voir"
[mp3] Yelle- "A Cause Des Garçons"


Like I said, her album dropped last year (although you can still grab a copy at Amazon), so there's not much to say in that respect, and I regret to say but unless you live in France you're likely going to have to miss out on seeing her live any time soon, as she's playing very few US cities this time around.

Also, check out her myspace for a fun remix of "Tristesse/Joie". Seriously, I have no words to describe it. Just go.



Au revoir, mon chouchou!