Mostly music news + reviews, but we also cover film, tv, and anything else that catches our fancy
I already wrote a review of Jim Jones’ album, so I’m just going to leave this video here
Jim Jones are set to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, August 29th at 11:35pm EST. Tour starts September 1st with local dates Sept 10th at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Sept 18th at Maxwell’s in Hoboken. Complete list of dates can be found in my previous post.
If you were worried that Florence + the Machine would not be able to duplicate the amazing sounds of their first album, then “What the Water Gave Me,” the first single of the new album due in November, should prove you wrong. The song is exactly the quality level you would expect from the band that blew us away with their debut “Lungs”. Don’t take my word for it, though. Here is the video for “What the Water Gave Me”
The recent album by Jim Jones Revue, Burning Your House Down, is a flashback to what old time rock ‘n’ roll used to be. If you like the classic rock bands from the 70’s, you will enjoy this band. They have the raw energy and style of other bands of this era, such as Led Zeppelin. I defy you to listen to these songs and not want to groove with the music. The band has upcoming tour dates in September, including Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Maxwell’s in Hoboken. Complete list can be found after the jump.
9/1/2011 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
9/3/2011 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
9/4/2011 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival
9/7/2011 – San Francisco, CA – Independent
9/8/2011 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo
9/10/2011 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/11/2011 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
9/12/2011 – Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo
9/13/2011 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
9/14/2011 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s Tavern
9/16/2011 – Philadelphia, PA – The Blockley Pourhouse
9/17/2011 – Washington D.C. – Black Cat
9/18/2011 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s
Recently, NPR gave us a preview of the Muppets tribute album on their website. I took a listen and was impressed enough to want to share it here. List of songs include OK Go doing the theme and Weezer performing “Rainbow Connection,” as well as submissions from The Fray, Alkaline Trio, My Morning Jacket, Amy Lee and others. It’s a good music in terms of background styles these various artists come from. The whole album is good, but I especially love Matt Nathanson’s contribution, “I Hope That Something Better Comes Along” and the last track “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday”performed by Rachel Yamagata. It’s a nice, light 36 minutes of music, perfect for background music while catching up on some work (like that blog you neglected for the past month) or a running a few quick errands.
On Monday, July 18, 2011, Alyson Greenfield had her EP Release Party for her new covers EP. If you have not heard the EP yet, well, you are missing out. I especially love her cover of Milkshake, which is only recognizable if you know the words to the original song. I’ve never heard her perform this cover live, but I have heard her covers of Bad Boys and Gangsta’s Paradise, both of which are on the album as well. Paradise, especially, is a favorite, as it is always great to see the various reactions once people recognize the song. Greenfield plays this one on the Glockenspiel, which you would expect to be a poor choice but turns out an amazing performance. I definitely recommend adding this collection of hip-hop covers to your musical library. You can download the EP from Bandcamp or iTunes now.
Besides having a new EP out, Greenfield has also released her video for Gangsta’s Paradise, which is the last track on her new EP. Watch it below then share with your friends.
There are lot’s of great things happening in the world of Alyson Greenfield. Please go support by spreading the word and purchasing the EP today.
Matt Lowell is someone who makes an impression. My first review of him was also the first I had heard of him. Even with the limited knowledge I had though, his music stayed with me and memories resurfaced as I stood front and center for his EP release last night at Mercury Lounge. That first show I saw him perform solo, but this one had him with a full band. While the band does change the sound to some extent, there was still something there that was uniquely his own. I knew Lowell was special when I first saw him and was glad to see a room full of supportive people dancing with as much energy as the performers themselves offered. I think it is safe to say we will be hearing more from this artist in the future. Stay tuned.
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending The Whatever Blog Official Northside Showcase at The Red Star Bar in Brooklyn. The showcase consisted of bands of different musical genres ranging from electronic hip-hop to Japanese punk and Brit pop. It was a fun afternoon to enjoy different bands and tasty eats. Here are some picks of all the bands that participated in the showcase.
The Amplify Peace Tour starts Friday, June 17th in Delaware. Here is the press release from Property Of Zack:
PropertyOfZack could not be more stoked to exclusively announce The Amplify Peace Tour featuring Koji and Jeff Pianki. In March of 2011, Koji and Colormake partnered with the advocacy group Resolve to share the stories of communities in central Africa that have been affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. The Resolve Tour urged audiences across the entire United States to call on their members of Congress to pay attention to the LRA, and to take action on it. Koji is now taking it one step further with The Amplify Peace Tour. Inspired by the stories of Ugandan women using songs to let their abducted children know that they are forgiven and will be welcomed back home, Koji and Colormake will be partnering with The Voice Project, an organization that is using the power of music and the radio to call these abducted soldiers home. Attendees of The Amplify Peace Tour will have the opportunity to lend their voices to a Voice Project/Colormake recording project that will be broadcasted to abducted LRA soldiers in the Congo, encouraging them to lay down their weapons and come home.
This tour will prove to be a night of good music for an important cause. Koji is a fantastic performer and person, always engaging the audience with his music and stories.
Dates for the tour are as follows:
6/17 – Limestone Presbyterian – Wilmington, DE – Event – Tickets
6/26 – Archway Center – Altoona, PA – Event – Tickets
7/19 – Midtown Scholar – Harrisburg, PA – Event– Tickets
7/21 – Musica – Akron, OH – Event – Tickets
7/22 – The Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI – Event – Tickets
7/23 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL (17+) – Event – Tickets
7/27 – The Studio at Webster Hall – New York, NY (19+) – Event – Tickets
7/28 – Treehouse Books – Philadelphia, PA – Event – Tickets
7/29 – TBA
7/30 – Bull Run Unitarian Universalist Church – Manassas, VA – Event – Tickets
As River would say: Spoilers!
Demon’s run… when a good man goes to war.
The Doctor is a legend that is known throughout time and space. All who know of him, know what he is capable of. Now one of his best friends is in trouble, and he is determined to do everything in his power to save her and her newborn child, Melody.
We find out a lot of things in the midseason finale of Doctor Who. First, we learn that the baby shows traces of Time Lord DNA, even though the father is Rory. This is explained as being due to the fact that she was exposed to energy from the time vortex while on the TARDIS.
The other big reveal comes at the end when we finally learn that River Song is really Amy’s daughter. I had heard this theory before, but I never gave it much credence. I guess this just goes to show that no theory is too crazy when dealing with Doctor Who and their madly brilliant writing team.
When I did my review of the first two episodes I had a bit of a mad theory myself. I believed that River was the one who killed the Doctor. When we saw that it was the girl in the spacesuit, however, it seemed to end that as a plausible idea. I am now resurrecting it based on the new evidence we have collected tonight. Assuming that the girl in the spacesuit is Amy’s daughter (which we seem to be), and knowing that River is the adult version of the child, I now feel I can confidently say that River does indeed kill the Doctor on that lakeshore. She said once that she killed “a very good man,” and I would argue that it doesn’t get much better than the Doctor.
That’s it for all the major reveals. The only thing you really need to know about the episode itself is that the Doctor and Rory gather an army to rescue Amy and her child, which partially succeeds. At the end of the episode, Amy is safe but the baby has been taken. We know everything will be alright because of River’s existence. We just don’t know how it all plays out. The next new episode is scheduled for September, so we’re going to have to keep busy this summer by watching the new season of Torchwood, which begins July 8th on Starz.
Caution: Spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
When last we left off, the copies were ready to go to war with the originals, and the Doctor found a copy of himself. This week we got the conclusion, plus an introduction to the mid-season finale.
Before I begin with the actual episode recap, I have to take a minute to say how excited I was for Matt Smith to get the chance to play two different versions of the Doctor in this one. One Doctor is crazy enough. Two of them had the potential to be hilarious and mind-blowing, and did not disappoint. It was great watching them finish each other’s sentences, like real twins might. It was also cool getting the behind the scenes look at how they do scenes where one person is playing two characters. I have always thought Smith was a good actor, but I have a new level of respect for him after this episode.
As fascinating as it was watching the Doctor interact with his copy, it was just as interesting watching Amy’s relationship with the real Doctor versus the copy. She was obviously more affectionate towards the real Doctor (or who she thought was the real one) and clearly only trusted “her Doctor”. They also touched on the question if the copy is the one we see die at the lakeshore, but based on the ending I would say that is a negative. Personally I’m not sure how I would have felt if they had gone that route. On one hand it could have been seen as clever, but on the other hand it could have been seen as a bit of a cheat. It’s probably best they give us another explanation for how he gets to that point.
With all the interactions between people and their copies, we got to continue our look from last week at what makes us human. Jen’s copy asks the question, “Who are the real monsters?” after showing Rory how the Flesh are discarded. While I agree that humans discarding the Flesh like they’re things is not right, I also think that starting a war is the wrong response. Even one of the copies recognizes that revenge is not the answer. That anyone (human or copy) who chooses violence as a solution is the real monster. It is great seeing the copies work with the originals in the end to fight the only real monster left. It is especially great how the Doctor proves what prejudice does to us by switching with his copy. It shows how perception changes how we view things, and that once you eliminate that prejudice you become more open to an idea or person you may previously had viewed as different.
Doctor Who is no stranger to discussions of humanity. When they talk about an “act of weakness” vs an “act of humanity” it goes back to what the Doctor always sees as an essential part of humanity – the ability to feel. Our emotions (love, joy, sadness, anger) are what separate us from everything else and make us human. I have always loved that the Doctor takes us through all of time and space and introduces us to countless different species just to teach us silly humans what the best and worst parts of ourselves are.
In true Doctor Who fashion, we save the biggest surprise for the end. Surprise 1: Amy isn’t really our Amy – she’s another Flesh copy. Surprise 2: Our Amy is extremely pregnant and about to give birth in an unknown facility. The woman we have been seeing appear throughout the season is guarding our Amy in said facility. The copy still had a connection to the original, and was thus able to see this at times. This means that our Amy has been missing for essentially all of season 6 up to this point. One would normally ask how Rory was unable to recognize his own wife for so long, but after seeing Amy make the same mistake with the Doctor it is easier to understand. We needed to experience the Flesh for ourselves to fully appreciate this.
Next week will be the possible conclusion to this story. I say “possible” because we might find where Amy is hidden, but we’ve already been told this one ends in a horrible cliffhanger. We’re also supposed to (finally!) find out who River is. I realize our friends in the UK have already seen this one (and some of you were impatient and streamed it). I ask when you leave comments to please not spoil for those who are waiting till it airs in their area. Otherwise, I look forward to your commentary.
