Red Collar // Piano's // Video

Here's a video from Red Collar's show at Piano's a few weeks ago:



It was a great show.

All Points West - Who I'll Be Watching (Scarecrow Edition)

Following Mark's lead, I'll throw out a few of the artists I'm looking forward to at All Points West:

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - I've always felt that the YYYs were hit-or-miss. I always saw them as a group that got me with the single but couldn't lock me in with the rest of their material. I'm hoping the buzz about their live shows pays off - my expectations are rising. Let's hope I can keep them in check, or that the YYYs can defy them.

2. Black Keys - One of my favorites on The Campus Buzz. I love their sound. While I haven't heard much about their live performances, I'm still enthusiastic.

3. Carolina Liar - I've only heard a few songs by them on a station back home, but seeing them on the lineup has piqued my interest.

4. The Pharcyde - my experiences with The Pharcyde started, oddly, with Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots (the incredible mashup by The Kleptones). Pharcyde has grown on me quite a bit over the past few years.

5. Vampire Weekend - I missed an opportunity a few weeks ago to see them at a taping for MTV Unplugged. This is my make-up chance.

6. Eugene Mirman/Tim & Eric/Janeane Garofalo - Music blog, yeah yeah, I know. But what might seem to some as an anemic lineup at this year's APW has a fair amount of comedy to see. If a music act doesn't take precedence for any of these three, I'll be there.

7. (Well, Coldplay of course).

Hope to see you there!

All Points West Preview: Who I'll be Watching

As you've probably heard The Campus Buzz staff will be at All Points West. We're all looking forward to different groups but this is who I'm excited to see. All being seeing alot of these bands live for the first time. So it'll be a good time for sure.

1. Arctic Monkeys : Ive been listening to the Arctic Monkeys religiously since the first album came out but I haven't had a chance to see them till now. It'll be interesting to hear some of the new stuff live.

2. Silversun Pickups: Another band Ive been really into that I haven't had a chance to see live. From videos Ive seen they look like they put on a good live show.

3. MSTRKRFT: Jesse Keeler from Death From Above 1979 nuff said.

4. Fleet Foxes: Itll be interesting to see them on a festival stage.

5. MGMT: Electric Feel live!

6. White Rabbits: Its a shame this band is playing so early on Saturday. They deserve to be way higher on the time slots.

Freaky?

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.

NEW ALBUM.

"I TOLD YOU I WAS FREAKY".

10/20/09.

(If you don't want to wait, you can download most of the tracks already, with a week-by-week download on iTunes.)

(Oh, and Season 2 hits DVD on August 4. I'm pumped for that)

7/26/09 Playlist

Here's the 7/26/09 playlist:

Pale Bride - The Von Bondies
Whatever Happened to Cory Haim? - The Thrills
Don't Haunt This Place - The Rural Alberta Advantage
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives
Juicebox - The Strokes
Race to the City - The Cinematics
Summersong - The Decemberists
Valerie Plame - The Decemberists
The Signs - The Silver
Radio Song - The Felice Brothers
Could Well Be In - The Streets
Use It - The New Pornographers
Southern Belles in London Sing - The Faint
Shine (In Your Mind) - The Apples in Stereo
I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab For Cutie
In Order - Halloween, Alaska
Map of the Problematique - Muse
Houston - REM
Roll Up Your Sleeves - We Were Promised Jetpacks
Impossible - Band of Skulls
Pilgrim - Red Collar
Light to Follow - The Polyphonic Spree
Big Black Nothing - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
Shark Suit - UUVVWWZ
Saint Isabelle - Tom Morello, the Nightwatchman
Are You A Hypnotist?? - The Flaming Lips
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips
Magazines - The Hold Steady
Munich - Editors
Prizefighter - Eels
Missing - Beck
The Passenger - Art Brut
Headdress - Amazing Baby
Incompatible - Ed Hale
Over It - Dinosaur Jr.
Rain - Operation Aloha
Don't Wanna Cry - Pete Yorn
Drop Dead Blues - Anya Marina
Come Downstairs and Say Hello - Guster


See you at APW next week! Let us know if you are going and want to meet up! Email us at CampusbuzzWSOU@gmail.com if you are going to be there Sunday!

Coldplay's new video - Strawberry Swing

The content of the song never made me think of Chris Martin as a goofy, sidewalk chalk superhero. Nevertheless, here's Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing":

CLICKY CLICKY

I really don't think it meshes well. It's as if they got a pitch for the visuals and liked it so much that they just found the next single and shoehorned it on.

7/19/09 Playlist

Here's the 7/19/09

Cabbage Town - Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
(Don't Wanna) Cry For You - Pete Yorn
I Got Mine - The Black Keys
Hey Dad - Franz Nicolay
The Book I Write - Spoon
Failure - Operation Aloha
Perfect Symmetry - Keane
In My Dreams - Eels
Careful - Guster
July Jones - The New Pornographers
In Searchof - Miike Snow
Shimmer and Shine - Ben Harper and the Relentless Seven
I Couldn't Love You - Cursive
Ballad on Third Avenue - Ed Hale
Summer... It's Gone - Grandaddy
See Fernando - Jenny Lewis
Swagger - Vox Jaguars
Fire - Kasabian
The Commuter - Red Collar
Tonight - Red Collar
The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid - The Decemberists
The Crane Wife 1 & 2 - The Decemberists
Eet - Regina Spektor
The Feeling - Peter Bjorn & John
Over It - Dinosaur Jr.
Mexico - Carbon Leaf
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - Postal Service
Oooo la - The Kooks
Secrets from the Well - Beep Beep
Bug Eyes - Dredg
Ode to the Sun - Dredg
Whatever it Takes - Tom Morello, the Nightwatchman
The Lights Are On In Spider Town - Tom Morello, the Nightwatchman
Coming Home - Murder By Death
Ash - Murder By Death
Go With The Flow - Queens of the Stone Age
Wannabe in L.A. - Eagles of Death Metal
Heart On - Eagles of Death Metal

PS: Who's going to All Points West this year? Annie and I are thinking of a WSOU rendezvous, if we can get one going. Probably Saturday or Sunday, so hit us back in the comments.

And by the way, per our discussions this evening about good macaroni & cheese: http://www.smacnyc.com/

Thanks for the link, Lisha!

Excerpt of CB interview with Jason of Red Collar

Here's a long excerpt of last week's interview with Jason Kutchma of Red Collar. It was a pleasure talking to him, and it was definitely great meeting all of the band in person Tuesday night at Piano's. (Jon, thanks again for the wrangling at the door!)

CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW, STREAMING AND DOWNLOADABLE

Red Collar @ Pianos 7/14/09

Quick brief for everyone: Raggedy Annie and I made it out to Red Collar's show at Pianos last night. The show had a house of about 40 people, and despite a late start for the act their set was sizable and frankly quite outstanding. Their energy is outstanding, and their personality oozes out of their performance.


And the stage demeanor of Mike and Jason confirms what Jason said in our interview with him Sunday night - they are INCREDIBLY hard on their instruments. There was a mid-show guitar switch... not sure if it was because of broken strings, but most likely.


If you missed this show, you should be legitimately bummed out. Next time they're through NJ/NYC, get yourself there. Check their tour dates at www.redcollarmusic.com


(PS: Brief Style Alert: Cowboy boots with spurs = excellent choice. Good call, Jay.)

REVIEW: Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face Honey

It becomes apparent from the opening riffs and vocals of Band of Skulls’ album “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey” (Shangri-La Records) that hyper-production and grand arrangement are not idols for the trio from Southampton, England. In fact, the grinding start of “The Light of the Morning” evokes an empty stage the day after a festival – the live-ins on the festival grounds are all still passed out in their tents, the light morning sun still unable to penetrate their eyelids after their final-night bender. A reveille of guitar and lo-fi voice fills their ears, reminding the masses that they actually have to drive their old Jeeps and Buick junkers back to another life they left behind mere days before. That’s the ambience that came through my speakers when I let BoS’s debut album play from beginning to end. This album sounds like the start of something – the start of a new day, the start of a road trip, the start of a band’s career – whatever that something is, it sounds pretty good.

After the rusty-Tin-Man start that is “Light of the Morning”, BoS marches into White Stripes territory with “Death by Diamonds and Pearls”, but quickly escapes the readymade comparisons with the soothing “Honest” and the groove-chic “Patterns”. In fact, these two songs, though buried in the middle of the album, are vital to hearing the sonic profile of Band of Skulls. The “hey” shouts in the cool-hot-cool-hot “Hollywood Ball” are some of the highest parts of the record. Plus, the soaring choruses of “Impossible” keep some of the other tracks on the back end of the album from sagging too low into Black Keys-esque fuzz-grunge noise.

The vocals of Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson are worth mentioning. Each of them alternates between soulful and ghostly, their harmonies are distinctive, and when they play off each other in rapid-fire fashion (like in the verses of “I Know What I Am”) the strength of Band of Skulls becomes apparent – as a drum-and-guitar trio, they do so much with so very little. Their music is fairly basic in structure, but “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey” seems to be the poster child for the idea of “Less is more”. It sounds roughly cut, and in the days of auto-tune, it’s almost a blessing to hear. I’m intrigued for their second album to see if their sound becomes more elaborate, or if it will maintain the simpler set-up that they established on their debut. Time will only tell, but for now, I’m going to put “Impossible” back on and enjoy heat of summer.

RATING: 3.5/5 stars

-Scarecrow

Playlist 12 July 2009

Flaming Lips - the WAND
Mt St Helens Vietnam Band - Anchors Dropped
Kings of Leon - Closer
Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss A Beat
Ed Hale - Scene in San Francisco
Conor Oberst - Ten Women
The Eels - Lilac Breeze
Beck - E-Pro
Fountains of Wayne - Little Red Light
Band of Skulls - I know what I am
REM - Man Sized Wreath
DInosaur Jr - I want you to know
THe Silver - The Signs
The THrills - restaurant
Howlies - Chimaira
Ben FOlds - You DOn't Know Me
Regina Spector - Two Birds
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt this place
Morrissey - everyday is like Sunday
the decemberists - when the war came
polyphonic spree - running away
carbon leaf- indecision
red collar - pilgrim, the commuter, used guitars (Thanks again to Jason for calling in this week!)
Pete Yorn - don't wanna cry
arcade fire- black mirror
robotonists - wait a minute here
radiohead - let down
my morning jacket - off the record, aluminum park
muse - starlight

Red Collar interview Sunday night @ 8:30

Hey listeners,

We'll be speaking with Jason of Red Collar this Sunday night @ 8:30ish on the Campus Buzz!

They're playing two nights in the area. They're live shows are known to be energetic and stomp-worthy, so check them out if you're looking for something to do:


Monday 7/13 @ The Charleston, Brooklyn
Tuesday 7/14 @ Piano's, NYC


Tell your friends! Listen in!

Ben Gibbard flaps his jaw

Ben Gibbard has been making overtures about the insincerity he perceives in Jared Leto and his band 30 Seconds to Mars. Citing his status as an actor who started a band, Gibbard claimed that Leto is only playing the part of a rock star, calling out his eyeliner and telling him to stick to acting.

A few things ran through my brain after this:

1) I wonder what Zooey Deschanel (Gibbard's actress-musician fiancee) thinks about this.

2) Gibbard might just be jealous because he can't act.

3) Gibbard in eyeliner would be scary.

QOTSA-FF-LZ Team-up?

Dave Grohl.
Josh Homme.
John Paul Jones.

Is there a connection between these three?

Yes. They are currently in-studio working on some mysterious project together!

Go figure.

5-Jul-2009 Playlistttt

Congrats to all our winners tonight!

Pete Yorn- Don't wanna cry
Iron & Wine - loud as hope
Sufjan Stevens - widows in paradise......
the Decemberists- The island
Bell x1 - the great defector
snow patrol - if there is a rocket, tie me to it
death cab for cutie - the sound of settling
operation aloha - failure
the kooks - stormy weather
howlies - angeline
Yves Klein Blue - blasphemy
Vampire Weekend - mansard roof
Art Brut - DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
Spoon x2 - You got your cherry bomb/ don't you evah
Travis - writing to reach you
war tapes - dreaming of you
Eels - Prizefighter
Beck - Scarecrow
Dinosaur Jr. - Pieces
the Dandy Warhols - ...and then I dreamt of yes
william fitzsimmons - you still hurt me
-new music block begins-
the features - wooden heart
ben harper & relentless 7 - up to you now
band of skulls - honest
regina spektor - Eet
Modest Mouse - guilty cocker spaniels
Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band - Big Black Nothing
Peter Bjorn & John - Nothing to worry about
Miike Snow - song for no one
howling bells - into the chaos
Red Collar - pilgrim
Amazing Baby - headdress
-new music block ends-
Sonic Youth - Rain on Tin
The Black Keys - Same Old Thing
Anya Marina - Not a Through Street
Architecture in Helsinki - hold music