hot chip concert review

Yesterday I saw Holy Ghost! and Hercules and Love Affair open for Hot Chip at the central park summerstage. I finally got around to getting my laptop repaired but this meant, unfortunately, that I had to bring it to the concert. Still, I am very glad to have it with me in Chicago. Allow me to extol my favorite virtues of this laptop: wide screen so I can have a ton of things open at once, working battery unlike my temporary laptop, light-up keyboard, 35 gigs of my music, a sexy hipster spiderman desktop background.

Anyway, back to the concert. Holy Ghost! opened and were AWESOME. The vocals were great, and the keyboard and synth and guitar. Basically, everything. They're as good live as they are on mp3s and that's saying a lot. I'd totally see them again, hopefully for a longer set.

Hercules and love affair was a bit of a disappointment for me. They came on in an awesome seemingly random group of individuals including two dancers. I was more taken the on-stage antics than anything. I could easily chalk it up to them poorly miked because hercules and love affair sounded significantly quieter than the other two groups and it was hard to get into it. I'd like to see them again in a smaller venue, late at night and very loud with some tequila-based drink in my hand.

Hot chip was adorable. They were one man short as Joe Goddard was having a baby but they had a video of him play for a couple key songs. I was skeptical at first that they could be as good live as they are in the studio but they delivered. They sounded more like a rock band often than electropop or however you'd usually categorize them. All in all, good show, not the best but solid. Worth seeing again.


Holy Ghost!

Hercules and Love Affair

My phone died so I have no pictures of hot chip =(

if you want to, come and hold me

catchy freebie thanks to youcantstopah
some of the best things in life are extremely repetitive



If you want to
Come and hold me
Baby won't you
Come and hold me

Demain ou peut-être jamais

This freebie comes compliments of circlesquaretriangle. Thanks guys =)

For those of you who don't speak french, the premise of the song is that the protagonist is going to change into various celebrities to please a guy. Then the chorus says you know I'm going to change tomorrow or perhaps never. I'd rather be single for the rest of my life than radically change myself I mean cmon it took me 21 years to get this far. Like popeye, I am what I am and that's all what I am. Not that I don't advocate self-improvement and yadda yadda and I'm far from perfect but you get what I'm saying, n'est-ce pas?




Oh Yeah (Keenhouse Remix) - Housse De Racket

J'ai un grand projet pour l'avenir
Pour lui plaire je vais devenir:
Stevie Wonder
Zapp & Roger
Earth, Wind & Fire
Isley Brothers
Lionel Richie
La Stone Family
I am Marvin Gaye
Donny Hathaway

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Je changerai
Tu sais, tu sais, tu sais
Je changerai
Demain ou peut-être jamais

clara in new york city, originally uploaded by Chrissie White.

Michael Jackson
I am George Benson
Roger Nelson
And George Clinton
Herbie Hancock
George Duke
And Chic
Run DMC
And Berry Gordy

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
Je changerai
Tu sais, tu sais, tu sais
Je changerai
Demain ou peut-être jamais

Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais
Oh yeah, tu sais

fin d'été concerts

well, the summer's wrapping up. here's what my schedule looks like:
August 3 at 10:00 pm Hot chip dj set at the soho grand open bar 10-11
August 4 at 5:30 pm Hot Chip/Hercules and Love Affair/Holy Ghost! at Central Park summerstage
August 5 at an ungodly hour I'm flying to Chicago for Lolla
August 6-9 Lolla and lolla parties as described in an earlier post
August 11 fly home
August 14 at 6pm FREE NEON INDIAN CONCERT at governor's island
August 17 MGMT at radio city music hall
August 21 Crystal Castles at terminal 5
i also have a ticket to empire of the sun on the 9th that i'm going to have to sell and tickets for ratatat in october get em while you still can

We'll still be best friends when it all turns to dust

this song makes me monumentally happy. listen, you'll feel it too =)
free download thanks to rcrdlbl



Excuses - The Morning Benders

You tried to taste me
And I taped my tongue to the southern tip of your body
Our bones are too heavy to come up
Squished into a single cell of wood

Aah, aah

And I made an excuse
And you found another way to tell the truth
I put no one else above us
We'll still be best friends when it all turns to dust

Aah, aah

Dum du-dum du-dum du-dum du-du-dum
du-dum du-dum du-dum du-du-dum
du-dum du-dum du-dum du-du-dum
(continued)

We are so smooth now
Our edges are beaten driftwood whittled down
Old bodies slip when they make love
We'll mine our sparks to shoot us above

Aah, aah

the black keys concert review

I am going to start this review with a quote from the film Kinky Boots (2005). "You are making two and a half feet of irresistible, tubular sex." The same could be said of The Black Keys except replace "feet" with "hours".

I saw The Black Keys this past wednesday, July 28th at the central park summer stage. The Morning Benders opened for them. The Morning Benders are adorable. Like stick figures with guitars. I'd never actually listened to them before but I'd definitely heard good things about them and I know they've been playing a lot of shows this summer; apparently they released a cd last month.. They were really good. The songs were all different enough (a pet peeve of mine with artists i don't already know) and I was really impressed that these kids were so skilled. Seriously they look like they're all about 15. I couldn't corroborate that in the brief google search I just did. They wanted people to sing along and they said they'd be hanging out at the merch tent to make new friends and I would've gone if I hadn't been so close to the stage and excited for The Black Keys. Bottom line: they're adorable, I'm going to start listening to them, and I'm seeing them again at lollapalooza.

Then there was a pretty long break before The Black Keys. I was grateful for my cold Corona and the sun was setting in everyone's eyes but it was totally worth the wait. The Black Keys have such a sexy sound and great stage energy. Clearly they were born to be stars and have lived up to it. (side note: Dan Auerbach had a haircut and scruffy beard and apparently is really attractive under all his usual hair) They played a super long set, too, so I really got the bang for my buck, so to speak. Halfway in, a bassist and keyboarder came up to play songs from the new album, Brothers, and I wasn't as enthused. The bass was good but I didn't feel the keyboard fit or maybe the sound was wired awkwardly, I don't know what it was but that segment didn't last very long. They wrapped up with some megahits like "Your Touch" and "I Got Mine", left, came back for a two-song encore, and left the stage again. I made a run for the exit but I heard them starting a second encore right after I left. Seriously this was a long show and they had another one right after at Terminal 5 so I was happily surprised they just kept playing. On the other hand, I see a lot of artists who have one or two albums out so of course going to a show where the artists have a bevy of material to choose from is going to last longer.

In short, if you don't listen to The Black Keys, you MUST. They are a blues/rock duo from Ohio and uniquely talented among the live acts performing for this generation. A great concert gives you that tingly feeling you get right before you first kiss someone. I felt like that when I saw The Black Keys at Bonnaroo and I felt like it again on Wednesday. Youtube em, buy em, go to their concerts! Irresistable, tubular sex.

a state of active boredom

I feel like nobody has an excuse to be bored. There is always something to do unless, of course, you're in some windowless concrete room. The way I feel is different. I'm bored but not for want of activity. I am cooking and reading and going out all the time but something's missing. Perhaps it's wanderlust, yet I feel happy in my current environment. I think I may start doing some creative writing. I just finished a "#1 New York Times bestseller!" and although the protagonist went through enough interesting stuff, it was simply not well written and the plot hung together like a bunch of cotton squares parading as a quilt. In short, I feel I can do better. Then I will also have physical evidence of my productivity to show my dad and reassure him that I am, in fact, serious about my education. I wish I could be in the woods right now and go exploring with a flashlight. The terror of the unknown would be exhilarating. If a bear walked outside my house right now I'd never hear it over the air conditioning. How boring.

Hold a hand for cover

Free thanks to circlesquaretriangle =D
I've had this on repeat for the past couple days I can't get it out of my head. I do have an issue here though which is that i'm really unsure of the chorus. Help?



Fader - The Temper Trap

I'm in transit
Floating stranded on this boat
And I pledge my self-allegiance
To a better night's sleep at home
And the sweet, sweet sun's coming down hard
The sun's coming down hard
It burns the bones
So hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover from harm

Talk don't change a thing
Oh it's fading fader
Words don't sink they swims (is that honestly the line? cause that's how it sounds to me...)
Oh it's fading fader

Here comes the Sun, originally uploaded by bsb4life.

Bless this mess
We tried our best
That's all that we can do
While the angles walk
With the lonely ones
In the cold rain to rescue you
And this fabled world's coming down hard
The world's coming down hard in all our homes
So hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover
Hold a hand for cover from harm

Talk don't change a thing
Oh it's fading fader
Words dont sink they swims
Oh it's fading fader

Talk don't change a thing
Oh it's fading fader (I'm in transit)
Words dont sink they swims
Oh it's fading fader (__)
(repeated to end)

It's my dream but it's yours if you want it too

NEW CUT COPY! free download on circle.square.triangle! Any help correcting the lyrics particularly on the last part would be greatly appreciated. I just winged it...



Where I'm Going - Cut Copy

Take my hand if you know what I'm going through
Take my hand if you know where I'm going
All you need is a dream and a lover, too
All you need is a dream and a lover

Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo

Take my hand cause I know what you're going through
Half the time I have no way of knowing
It's my dream but it's yours if you want it too
It's a journey that's yours if you want it

Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
Oooh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

Love sets you free
I'm in the hands of dreams
Love's the fantasy
To what they will agree

Oooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oooh, yeah, yeah, woo
Oooh-oh, oooh, oooh-oh, oooh, oooh, oooh

, originally uploaded by ffîon.

Or am I in between?

Free over at rcrdlbl. I really like the way this track sounds particularly the "oh"s and simple, satisfying chord progressions. It's perfect for zoning out in public places to.



When I'm Small - Phantogram

, originally uploaded by zionseven+.

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh

Lucy's underground
She's got a mouth to feed
Am I underground
Or am I in between
Lucy's underground
She's got a mouth to feed
Am I underground
Or am I in too deep

Show me love
You've got your hand on the button now
Showin' love
You've got your hand on the button now

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh

in fantasy, originally uploaded by TAT_hase!.

Lucy's underground
She's never coming back
Am I still alive
Or has the love gone bad

Take me underground
Take me all the way
Bring me to the fire
Throw me in the flames, oh

Show me love
You've got your hands on the button now
Showin' love
You've got your hand on the button now

I'd rather die
I'd rather die
Than to be with you

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh

, originally uploaded by beaf.