Silversun Pickups - The Royal We

Sasquatch Edition. Silversun Pickups fucking rock man. They use heavily fuzzed out guitars to make a truly rocking, original sound. I love how most of their songs build up as well. This one is off their second album and has an amazing buildup with awesome orchestra beating to the final chorus. As I write this I am downloading their newest album Neck Of The Woods and can't wait to hear it, especiall since first single "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" is great.

Some thoughts...

- Going to the Whitecaps game tonight. Gonna get 'Caps hectic!

- Sure hope the Washington Capitals win tonight. I really want to see game 7 in what has been the best series so far.

The Shins - The Rifle's Spiral

Sasquatch Edition. The Shins are the brainchild of indie wunderkid James Mercer. 4 Albums in, the band has completely changed since the beginning (except for Mercer) but have kept that beautiful indie pop/rock sound. They burst onto the scene after being featured in the film Garden State (awesome movie!) with the songs "new Slang" and, my personal favourite, "Caring Is Creepy". 3 albums later they have not lost those crazy/abstract lyrics and lush wall of sound. This is the opening track of that new album, Port Of Morrow. I highly recommend  listening to the entire thing as well as checking out the video for this song (it wouldn't let me upload it to this... fucking VEVO... I think). I'm excited to see these guys as I never have before and thought their performance on SNL was pretty wicked.

Some thoughts...

- Hands up for those who picked the all Pacific division Western Conference final between LA and Phoenix... didn't think so lol.

- Thinking about the Garden State Soundtrack and seeing a top 10 list online I got to thinking about EpiclyUnreal Soundtracks:

               - My Absolute Favourite! Remember The Titans (The Hollies - "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)", Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Up Around The Bend", Marvin Gaye - "Heard It Through The Grapevine", Chambers Brothers - "Time Has Come Today", James Taylor - "Fire and Rain", Cat Stevens - Peace Train" and of course Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrel - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough")

               - High Fidelity (The Beta Band - "Dry The Rain", The Velvet Underground - "Oh Sweet Nuthin!", and just for Jack Black's incredible entrance to Katrina & The Waves - "Walkin' On Sunshine")

               - Collateral (Audioslave - "Shadow On The Sun", Groove Armada - "Hands Of Time", James Newton Howard - "Finale", Tom Rothrock - "Rollin' Crumblin')

               - A Knight's Tale (David Bowie - "Golden Years", Thin Lizzy - "The Boys Are Back In Town", AC/DC - "You Shook Me All Night Long", BTO - "Taking Care of Business")

               - School Of Rock (School Of Rock - "School Of Rock", The Ramones - "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)", Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song", The Doors - "Touch Me", Stevie Nicks - "Edge Of Seventeen")

              - I'm Not There (Jim James & Calexico - "Goin' To Acapulco", Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers - "Maggie's Farm" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" and tons of Dylan classics)

              - Donnie Darko (INXS - "Never Tear Us Apart", Tears For Fears - "Head Over Heels", and of course the classic by Gary Jules - "Mad World")

- Other Notables: All 4 Twilights. I know, I know, I have not seen a second of any of the films but the soundtracks are awesome with great indie bands such as Florence & The Machine, The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Beck etc., Goodfellas, Walk The Line, Saturday Night Fever, & Reservoir Dogs.

Jack White - Blunderbuss

For the next 3 weeks I will be posting nothing but bands that are playing Sasquatch Music Festival. Here is Saturday's headliner. I absolutely love this new album and this is my fave track on it. Such a chill, country-tinged sound from one of the true greats. Jack White is one of the best musicians to come out during the 2000's. With The White Stripes he changed modern rock and brought it back to the garage. Who doesn't love "Seven Nation Army" and that incredible riff. I have heard that he is amazing live, great stage presence, and cannot wait to see him (although I will be sprinting to see The Roots right after!). Apparently he has 2 bands touring with him, one of which is all female and the other all male. He then chooses which one of them he will play with just before they take the stage. Pretty sweet. 

Some thoughts...

- What a finish to the Rangers and Capitals game. Best series of the playoffs so far.

- Nico Wynd is a great golf course. Gonna play there lots more this summer.

- The Avengers is a fucking awesome movie! Gonna see it again, this time in 3-D, tomorrow

Beastie Boys - Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (feat. Santigold)

RIP MCA. I was absolutely shocked at work today when I found out that Adam Yauch, better known as MCA of the Beastie Boys, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 47. I heard that he was battling cancer a while back but I only was really thinking "damn, I bet they won't be touring much now". I never even considered that he'd be gone so soon. 

Beastie Boys fucking rule. They brought hip-hop to the masses and did a pretty damn good job for three white boys from New York. This song is off their newest album, last year's Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. I love the beat and the fact that it features Santigold. The video is also awesome, something that they always did so well. Another classic video was the one for "Sabotage":

And another awesome video that I highly highly highly recommend for anyone who loves comedy was for last year's hit "Make Some Noise". It features Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, and Elijah Wood playing the Beastie Boys on the morning after a raging party. There are numerous cameos from Hollywood comedians and they even run into their older selves, played by Will Ferrel, John C. Reiley, and Jack Black. This version is a half hour long so make the time and watch it:

El Rego Et Ses Commandos - Se Na Min

African Scream Contest. This is a fucking awesome album, especially if you like funk and African music. I discovered these guys through Analog Africa, a German DJ who has gone back and collected all of these amazing recordings from African funk and soul bands in the 60's and 70's. This track is a particular favourite as I adore the organ and funky backbeat. Also the dude has a killer voice, especially when he screams. I highly recommend finding this album, along with anything by Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou. Epic shit. I was lucky to see those guys at Roskilde Festival in 2010. They took the stage at 2:30 am and killed it. Here's a cool one by them that they opened with that night, "Se Ba Ho":

Some thoughts...

- Great decision by the Predators to sit those 2 dirty Russians. A guy like Tootoo is perfect for an energy boost in the playoffs.

- Mmm... Wings...

- I think I might get kinda drunk tonight... 

Dead Man's Bones - Lose Your Soul

Yes folks, that's Ryan Gosling singing his heart out on this one. The dude is already a brilliant actor (see Drive, Half Nelson, and Lars & The Real Girl) and is now an accomplished musician with major indie hipster cred for actually being quite good. This song is my fave from the album Dead Man's Bones. It chugs along to cool percussion and piano before erupting via the foot-stomping chorus sung by Ryan and a demonic children's choir. Try not to listen to it at full volume...

Children's choirs have always been cool additions in popular music. From Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall Part II" to Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" the kids can turn a mediocre song instantly epic with their innocent, youthful presence. One of my personal favourites using kids comes from the video for Canadian band Fucked Up's song "Queen of Hearts". They replace the vocalist (who really isn't that great in my opinion) with the chants of boys and girls squaring off against each other in class. The guitar at the end is awesome too. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syg6XGbdUkM&ob=av2e

Some thoughts:

- Best movies that revolve around kids (not sports): Super 8, Slappy & The Stinkers, The Hunger Games.

- The Toronto Blue Jays beat the best-in-baseball Texas Rangers for a second straight time today. Way to go boys... too bad you're still 4th in the division :(

- RIP Junior Seau

The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll

The Velvet Underground are the epitome of cool. Something about Lou Reed's laid back drawl, the fact that they had close connections to Andy Warhol, their ultra-hip look and even the fact that they were known to play live with garbage cans when drums were unavailable makes them a truly unique and incredible rock band. They just seemed ahead of their time. This song is off of (basically) their last album as Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison departed soon after. They only made 3 albums prior to this one and I would highly recommend giving all four a listen as they are all excellent in their own ways. They deserve the respect from today's generation. This song is one of my favourites, mostly for that great guitar riff and the cool lyrics. They have a lot of great songs (musically) like this but they also have a lot of trippy ass shit and spoken word stuff.  Here's one of my faves of the more odd ones, called The Gift:

Some thoughts...

- This song really is fucked up... poor Waldo...

- I just read a headline that 1 in 7 people are expecting doomsday. 1 in 7 people are retarded.

- I am really digging the new Jack White album. Listen to it if you haven't yet.

- Life is the shit that happens while you're waiting for moments that never come.