Albert Hammond, Jr. - Losing Touch

Happy here? The rest's a wreck!
Strangers come, the night begins
Silence weighs a thousand tons
Her youth describes, you're lost in it

Albert Hammond, Jr. has been around for awhile but is new to me. In fact, I don't think I'd ever heard any of his stuff until a couple months ago when "Born Slippy" came up in my Spotify Discover Weekly (yeah, another DW find, nice!) I was thinking to myself, "hmm, is this a new Ted Leo song? And what's up with his new sound? It's great!"

I found out quickly that he was responsible for The Strokes' keyboard and guitar, which is awesome, but didn't know much more. Turns out he's been doing great solo work for about 10 years now! And he's a fashion designer to boot. Makin' it work, people.

I love finding "new-to-me" artists and Albert Hammond, Jr. is a great one; I've been digging through his back catalog and really digging it.

Upcoming Shows

Death Cab for Cutie - Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)

I know it's such a dangerous place
For there are more ascensions than there is space
Angels causing accidents
The camera phones'll document
But if I start to levitate
Pull me down with all your weight

Death Cab for Cutie are extremely well known for a band that still considers itself "indie" (maybe that's the Seattle in them). Despite their ubiquity, this track is the first one that I put on a playlist and keep repeating. Weird, I know, but that fact has made me go back and find fresh appreciation for their previous releases, including tracks from Ben Gibbard's short-lived electro-pop band The Postal Service, and discovering that DCFC's video for "You Are a Tourist" made history in 2011 for being the first live, scripted, one-take short film/video.

Something to look forward to if you're going to a festival this summer is the possibility that Lauren Mayberry (of Chvrches) will join Gibbard and company on stage for a song. That happened twice last week  - Wednesday in South Carolina and again Saturday at the Firefly Festival in Delaware.

Upcoming Shows

Greyhounds - What's On Your Mind

I tried hard as I can, but I can't seem to understand.
Even though you know what you want, baby, you can't tell me right up front.
I try to search for the answer hidden in your secret codes.
Why do you always say yes when you really mean, no?

Let's keep the groove going, shall we? Actually, you know what? Let's kick it up (or down, depending on your idea of groovy) with "What's On Your Mind" by Greyhounds, an R&B (etc.) outfit from just down the street from where I live. That's Austin, Texas y'all.

I've not had a chance to really listen to their newest effort, "Change of Pace", but if it's anything like their previous, it'll be funky, soulful and fun; a real butt wiggler.

Upcoming Shows

Local Natives - Past Lives

Save me
From the prime of my life
And I will wait for you
At the end love
There your past lives too
Then you wake up
When the spirit comes
Over water
That'll come for you
A little farther

Local Natives have been quiet for a while since their 2013 album, Hummingbird, was released. Well, good news people! They're back with a few really great tracks; today's MIS "Past Lives" and the just released "Villiany". They've got a new album due in the fall and they'll be doing the festival circuit this summer. They're awesome live, so if you get the chance, check them out!

Upcoming Shows

School of Seven Bells - Ablaze

The day we met
there was a new fire
whose heart had been drowning for so long
When I was dark
you found a glowing ember
and set my world into a blaze again

It's both sad and beautiful that we have the final album from School of Seven Bells released this year. Sad because Benjamin Curtis died of cancer (in December 2013) after barely completing the recording of his parts for each track. And beautiful because his partner, Alejandra Deheza, made the effort to complete production of the songs she says they wrote at their most prolific and happy, just prior to Curtis' diagnosis. She will not tour solo with material from the band, but Deheza does plan to continue making music. 

Upcoming Shows