Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Lights

You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine it when I'm alone
And so I tell myself that I'll be strong
And dreaming when they're gone

You may know Omar Rodriguez Lopez from bands At The Drive-in and The Mars Volta, but have you heard any of his solo stuff? Well, if you haven't, you've got a lot of catching up to do. I read somewhere he's put out over 30 albums as a solo artist! Add in his other work, collaborations, etc. and you've got a crazy huge body of music to go through. You could do worse starting with today's Most Important, "Lights", a dreamy, electro-rock cover of Ellie Goulding's hit, with a great hook.

Upcoming Shows

Cash+David - Alright Now

Put on your bathing suit, lets dive
Into the deep ends of our mind
Our memories remain dry
And we are strangers in the night

Slightly reminiscent of Grimes, enigmatic electropop duo Cash+David say they make their music when called upon by the mothership, and that's how the 4-song EP Side 1 came about. Oookaay. However it happened, I enjoy listening to the kind of lonely, clunky, electronic chill of this track. 

Upcoming Shows

Grimes - Flesh without Blood

You claw, you fight, you lose
Got a doll that looks just like you
Remember when we used to say
"I love you" almost every day
I saw a light in you
Going out as I closed our window
You never liked me anyway

From gritty garage rock yesterday to Grimes, staying dirty but getting dancy for your Friday night. This song was her biggest hit off of Art Angels, which is not my favorite Grimes album overall, but still delightfully weird. I got to see her right up close, in the pit of the Blue Stage at (looks like the final) Fun Fun Fun last year. Her new album dropped that same weekend and I hadn't heard it yet, making her set feel a little different than I expected but still a blast.

Side note: I missed Neon Indian's set just before Grimes at FFF and then missed them again at SXSW (following which he seemed to indicate possible retirement of the band), so I'm pretty stoked to be seeing them in a couple weeks, at a show presented by the people behind FFF who are now putting on a fest called SOS (Sound on Sound). Woo!

Upcoming Shows

Dirty Ghosts - Ropes That Way

(spoken) How about we do a decapitation tonight? Starring you.
Put you in the back, 
Keep your head up, see!
Letters on maps you keep pestering
Kicking at the door, attempts to extricate
Wrong way what for? 
Still taking it all away 

Hearing The Growlers new song yesterday (awesome find by Kerri by the way) got me in the mood for some more gritty, dirty, catchy pop. Enter Dirty Ghosts and "Ropes That Way" of 2012's Metal Moon, a terrific album that combines 80's pop sensibilities with catchy and creative garage rock attitude ala Japandroids or Surfer Blood. Give it a listen. The whole album is terrific. In fact, all of their albums are terrific.

Fun fact, lead singer Allyson Baker used to be married to Aesop Rock!

BONUS TRACK!

Upcoming Shows

The Growlers - I'll Be Around

Yes, I'm only a man
Judgements of something ancient
Clocking my time as finished
The same is all replacements
Ignorance is complacency
Why are you purposely fading?
No stand, no sit, no stopping
Ripping through the neon prophecies
Got let off by a ticket stub
My time is fading fast
Through your mouth and out yours

The Growlers have just moved over to (The Strokes) Julian Casablancas' label (Cult Records) and I think you can hear the difference in their sound. Always and still unique, their own blend of psychedelic-surf-country-garage-rock they call "Beach Goth" but now with added Afrofunk inspiration as well as more synth. Casablancas personally produced the upcoming album, and had it engineered by the same peeps that did Alabama Shakes and War on Drugs. So. I think The Growlers are about to be huge, y'all. Go see 'em while the venues are small and the tickets are cheap! 

Upcoming Shows