Win Butler chats about the new record.

Win Butler went on camera to talk about The Suburbs, Arcade Fire's upcoming album. I cannot wait.
Although this one wasn't recorded in an old church like Neon Bible, I'm sure there will still be a lot of eccentricity to it.
They know what they're doing.



"I think that in life in general you want to understand where you came from and where you are...
part of writing is to understanding where you are. It's kind of like putting old photos in a book." -Win Butler

King of the Beach!

"You're never going to stop KING OF THE BEACH!!"
Although their album isn't due out until August 3, I've given the new Wavves album a listen and it makes me want to drive around windows down blasting it, stomp on the sand dance crazy to it and shake my best friends silly to it.
Nathan Williams and his San Diego entourage virtually transport you to the West Coast with their new catchy (slightly more flirty) album King of the Beach.
Yours Truly put together a stellar video describing their approach to the album and what it really meant to them. It's obvious they were going for a different aesthetic than their 2008 self-titled release. Don't worry, the noise pop and low-fi jams are still prominent in the best way possible. But this time around the boys added a more dynamic sound, playing with sha-la's and wee oooh's a lot more.
Key tracks: When Will You Come, Baby Say Goodbye, King of the Beach, Mickey Mouse...heck, they're all freaking awesome.

The Morning Benders on World Cafe.

Two of my favorite things joined forces today: the Morning Benders and NPR's World Cafe.
Chris Chu explains details about the band and its philosophies. A truly beautiful session.

Jay Z's epic performance at Bonnaroo.

Last night my friends and I decided to pretend that we were at Bonnaroo this year from a living room in Columbia, Missouri. You may think this sounds lame, but it ended up being a pretty unforgettable sequence of events. Thank God YouTube chose to broadcast the festival live all weekend, otherwise we may not have experienced Jay Z's unbelievable magic. I think we watched for about an hour and a half. Although it was Jay's first time at the festival, it would be difficult to tell.

Beyond the truth of his raw talent and deserved praise, I didn't really realize how down-to-earth Jay actually is. At the end of his performance (after he played a medley of favorites like Big Pimpin, Dirt of Your Shoulders, Hard Knock Life, Bonnie and Clyde, Empire State of Mind and Encore) he pulled a girl on stage to wish her happy birthday. Before that, he had called out random people in the audience to connect with those lucky enough to witness the adrenaline rush on stage that night.

Here's a clip of my favorite song of the night: Forever Young.

She & Him grace Milwaukee.

Last night Milwaukee put on the first annual Verge Music Festival, an alternative to Summerfest. Local bands like The Championship showed up and tonight Weezer, The Cold War Kids and Rogue Wave will play.

I need to talk about Zooey Deschanel and M. ward for now though. As soon as they came on stage, they both had the audience captivated. Or starstruck. Perhaps because of M.ward's success with Post-War, Hold Time or other impressive productions. Perhaps because Zooey has won the hearts of those who have seen Elf or Almost Famous. To me, though, it was much more than that. It was the collaboration of two extremely talented individuals preserving a unique type of music for our time. As cute Zooey serenaded the crowd in her vintage sundress, Matt commanded his bass with class as usual. Even the back-up singers were stunning!

I talked about She&Him's Volume Two giving me the summer itch earlier this spring, and it finally came when I saw these two play. They played some of my favorite tracks from Volume One like "Black Hole,"This is not a Test" and "Change is Hard," which were acoustically close to perfect. Then they got through most of the Volume Two with tracks like "Thieves," "In the Sun" and "Don't Look Back." Zooey Deschanel's vocals are a rarity that I can honestly say are timeless (even two albums in!) precisely because she respects sounds from the past.

I heard in an interview once that Zooey doesn't listen to anything from our generation because it isn't appealing. That could be the smartest thing she's ever said, and it appears in her songs. It's no secret that she focuses on musicians like Neil Young and Patsy Cline or takes cues from old musicals. As M. ward compliments her with his guitar stylings, it's hard to tell what era you're in...and that's a good thing. It's obvious that She & Him are only getting better as time goes on; as they send us back in time.

As the concert went on, Zooey would skip over to the piano and then grab a tambourine. I found myself constantly screaming to my friend next to me, "She's SO talented!" Although she can act, boy can she sing. Whenever M.ward had the chance to do a guitar solo, it was such a treat. When they played the song "Magic Trick" from Post-War, Zooey was a sweet addition.

To me, a band that can be sentimental and intimate, energetic and flirty, vintage and modern deserves a listen.

LCD Soundsystem gets drunk.

LCD Soundsystem is nuts. Check out their brave new video "Drunk Girls." I can't stop watching it. Are they actually drunk? Either way, I need to get into this album asap.

Okay, what?

Here's what U.S. soldiers stationed in Afghanistan have resorted to...Lady GaGa. I wish I had a better comment but honestly I don't know what to say.