New Kings of Leon!!

Here it is - "The Crawl," the first single from the Kings of Leon's upcoming 4th album, Only By the Night, which hits stores on September 23. I'm so in love with this band it freaking hurts!

mp3:
Kings of Leon - The Crawl

Autumn De Wilde

Autumn De Wilde is one of my favorite photographers working today. She is most well known for her portraits of musicians such as Spoon, The Raconteurs, Jenny Lewis, Beck, and a very impressive and long list of others. Her work has been featured on the cover of both Spin and Filter magazines, and has also graced several album covers by bands such as The White Stripes and Elliott Smith.

I noticed while surfing Facebook for the millionth time today that there was no fan page for Autumn and her work so I decided to create one myself! If you are a fan of her work, check it out and be sure to become a fan as well!

Autumn De Wilde's Facebook fan page (created by me!)

Check out a lot of Autumn's work on her website as well. Trust me, it's incredible, lovely stuff!

Autumn De Wilde

Awesome News!!

Yes! TV on the Radio announced today that their new album, Dear Science,, will be released on September 23 (and yes, the comma is included in the title). This is awesome! TV on the Radio are one of those bands whose records I bought simply because everyone else whose musical taste I trusted said I would love them, but at first I honestly didn't get their music. It took me about two years of casual listening until about 4 months ago, when I listened to Return to Cookie Mountain and it just hit me - this band is incredible! I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out.

It looks like September 23 will be one crazy badass day for rock and roll - the new Kings of Leon album hits stores that day as well!

TV on the Radio on Myspace

By the way, if you love TV on the Radio, you'd be well advised to check out Celebration. They share producers and sometimes even bandmates with TV on the Radio, and lead singer Katrina Ford's vocals resemble a sublime cross between Karen O. and Siouxsie Sioux. Their most recent album, The Modern Tribe, is seriously cause for Celebration. Oooh bad pun, but I don't care.

Celebration on Myspace

I Heart Conor

I am so excited about Conor Oberst's new self-titled solo album! I love Bright Eyes so much. Conor's music has been very important to me in my life and he's also put on two of the greatest concerts I've ever been to (I even took my dad to one and he was in awe!) Anyway, Conor's self-titled new album hits stores on August 5th. It was recorded in a house in Mexico, and if you've read any of the press surrounding the album, it obviously sounds like a lot of amazing stuff went on down there. And from amazing experiences will hopefully come an amazing record!

Here's the first track I've heard from the record - check it out!

mp3:
Conor Oberst - Danny Callahan

In somewhat related news, Conor's friend, fan, and former tourmate Jenny Lewis will be releasing her second solo album in September! Hell, man, you know I'm excited about that one as well! The album is reportedly called Acid Tongue. Interesting.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - things have been crazy around here! School, work, and, oh yeah, my mom lost her job last week. Oh well - everything will work out in the end, I do believe.

Being Here

The Stills are one of my all-time favorite bands in the world, not only because I adore their music, but also because when I saw them live here in Atlanta two years ago, it turned out to be the single greatest night of my life so far. For five reasons -

1) I got to watch their soundcheck.
2) I spent an hour before the show chatting with their lovely bass player, Olivier.
3) After the show, I spent an hour chatting with the even lovelier lead singer, Tim, who then proceeded to say the six magical words I have been longing to hear my entire life: "Do you want to come backstage?" I then ended up chilling in their dressing room, drinking THEIR beers (haha) and hanging out with them for another hour.
4) Super-hot Tim gave me a hug and his personal e-mail address when I left. (I still have it on the exact same slip of paper he wrote it on!)
5) My best friend ended up getting to what we have now dubbed second-and-a-half base with the guitarist, Dave. In the men's room. No lie.

So there you have it. Five reasons why The Stills rocked my world (and my friend Jessie's). So you can imagine my excitement when I found out they have a new album coming out in August! Oceans Will Rise hits stores August 19th, and here is the first single, "Being Here." I love it. But then again, I'm biased, so you can judge for yourself.

mp3:
The Stills - Being Here

The Stills on Myspace

I'm Totally Psychic!

My concert buddy Lydia has always been amazed at my uncanny ability to predict the next song a band will play during every concert we go to. It really is kind of a cool talent that's sure to impress among my concert-going friends! Sometimes they even take innocent, no-money bets just to make a little fun out of it.

But now, I'm wondering, am I really freaking psychic? Let me explain. Two days ago, Beck's new album, Modern Guilt, was released. Upon listening to it, my immediate favorite track is the song "Gamma Ray." I've been blasting this song over and over in my car for the past two days, and every time I've listened to it, I've imagined a video to go with it in my head. The song never fails to bring up images of French New Wave films, particularly Godard's film Pierrot Le Fou (probably because I just watched that one two weeks ago!). Every time I hear this song, I envision black-and-white film stock, geometrical shapes, girls in cool '60s dresses with graphic outlines, and just all-around vintage coolness.

Now watch the real video. How psychic am I? Hehe.

New Death Cab!

It's been 2 months now, and I am still totally giddy in love with the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs. From the first time I heard it, my immediate favorite on the album is the beautiful "Cath..." Now it seems the band have created an equally beautiful video to go along with it. All I can say is WOW. Makes me wanna cry!

Sad

Take my word for it - I understand the intense devotion of a true music fan as well as anyone. But this is taking it too far. People are crazy.

Oxford Comma

If you know me personally or have at least talked to me on a regular basis, you know I am a hardcore, card-carrying member of the Cult of Wes Anderson. I think he is one of the most influential and talented directors of our generation (right up there with Sofia Coppola, Michel Gondry, Noah Baumbach, and Alfonso Cuaron, my four other top favorites). Wes is like a veritable God to me, and my worship for him and his films is passionate and undying!

I also love Vampire Weekend, of course. Seeing as how I once described their music to a friend of mine as sounding like "the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's great lost masterpiece," it should be no surprise that their new video seems to be an homage or at the very least an imitation of both Wes' sartorial and directorial styles. Ahh, yes....I knew these boys were members of the club the first time I heard the opening chords of "M79," I KNEW it! They've watched Rushmore on their tour bus, oh yes, I'd bet money on that!

So here it is - their new video for "Oxford Comma," in all its Wes-loving glory. And is it just me, or does lead singer Ezra Koenig resemble a less douchebag-y, more indie-rock version of John Mayer? I mean that as a compliment, actually...either way, I've got a new crush.