Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: Broken Social Scene, Camera Obscura, Dirty Projectors, Dr. Dog, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Garfunkel and Oates, Girls, Kid Cudi, LCD Soundsystem, Massive Attack, MGMT, Minus the Bear, music festivals, My Morning Jacket, OK GO, Passion Pit, pavement, Sasquatch!, She & Him, Tegan and Sara, terrifying forest-beast, the mountain goats, The National, The New Pornographers, The Temper Trap, The xx, Vampire Weekend, Why?
- Get ready, get set, Sasquatch!
PREVIEW: VISIT Sasquatch’s Web site
I just realized that the thing I want most in the world (aside from a house with a pool filled with Jell-O [seriously]) is to go to SASQUATCH! (and no, I’m not just terribly excited, the name actually has an exclamation point).
Now, hold on, I know where this is going.
“No Isabel,” you’ll say, rolling your eyes. “Sasquatch is a terrifying forest-beast, not an event you attend.”
To which I say, you’re wrong. Sasquatch! is a music festival in Quincy, WA with tremendously impressive line-up for its three day run. A quick glance at the list of artists attending assured me that this is the festival to go to. To hell with tuition and fiscal responsibility. I want to go to the Memorial Weekend festival that’s hosting not only My Morning Jacket, Vampire Weekend, The National, Broken Social Scene, OK Go, and Minus the Bear, but also, WHY?, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Garfunkel and Oates, Massive Attack, Pavement, LCD Soundsystem, Tegan and Sara, Kid Cudi and Dirty Projectors.
[Pause to catch your breath and wipe the tears of joy from your face].
The xx, Girls, MGMT, She & Him, Passion Pit, The New Pornographers, Camera Obscura, The Temper Trap, Dr. Dog, and The Mountain Goats, among others.
Did I have to make that list so long and dramatic? Yes.
Are you packing the cooler and gassing up the car? You should be.
Check out the full list, to further your freak-out.
— Isabel Alcantara, Photo Editor
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: bloc party, Charity, Devendra Banhart, Editor's Picks, Grizzly Bear, indie music, Indie Rock Coloring Book, Metric, non-profit, of Montreal, Ra Ra Riot, Rilo Kiley, t-shirts, The National, The Yellow Bird Project
The Yellow Bird Project
Was your New Year’s resolution to be more involved in charities and community service? Yeah, mine wasn’t either. But, on a quest to find new and awesome tees to wear for this new decade, I came across The Yellow Bird Project. The YBP is a non-profit operating from Montreal, with a three-fold mission: 1) to raise money for various charities through the sales of their totally kick-ass t-shirts, 2) to raise the public’s awareness of certain charities through the endorsement of indie rock artists, and 3) to raise the profile of artists they like. Now, before you yawn so wide that you pass out, keep in mind that these t-shirts (which you can buy to support whichever charity the tee happens to represent) are designed by the indie artists which they endorse. Cool, right?
The YBP was started in 2006 and its first contributing artists was the one and only Devendra Banhart. Now, four years later, the organization has grown and has the support of artists like, Metric, Grizzly Bear, Bloc Party, Ra Ra Riot, Of Montreal and Rilo Kiley, among others. Plus, if you (like me) are awaiting the arrival of your t-shirt designed by The National, which also happens to support Safe Space, you can play the local YBP game: Color Me Indie, for a chance to win an Indie Rock Coloring Book. What’s cooler than that? My new t-shirt. That’s what.
— Isabel Alcantara, Photo Editor
Filed under: 20 Watts Radio | Tags: 20 Watts Radio, Audiocandy, Avi Buffalo, Big Boi, Biggie Smalls, Blakroc, CFCF, Delirium, Devo, Devon James, Echo and the Bunnymen, Gang of Four, Golden Shoulders, Grand Salvo, Joy Division, Julian Casablancas, Kid Sister, Lady GaGa, Lymbyc System, M.I.A., Mirrors, Mouth's Cradle, O Morning Records, Pants Yell!, Passion Pit, Phantogram, post-punk, Radio, Raekwon, Sarah Aument, SixteenSixteen, Sleigh Bells, Talking Heads, The Cure, The Fall, The Great Collide, THe Jesus and Mary Chain, The National, The Raincoats, the swimmers, The Tundra Toes, Weezer, WERW, Yeasayer
20 Watts played Julian Casablancas, Joy Division, Sleigh Bells and more on WERW
Eric, Jett and Caitlin were in the studio from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. last night, playing new releases, editors’ picks, local favorites AND a solid hour of post-punk for all you lucky listeners. Here’s what we played last night: new tracks are in bold, local artists are italicized.
Don’t forget to tune in to 20 Watts’ Audiocandy+ shows on Wednesday and Thursday from 9-11 p.m.!
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: All Points West, Dirty Projectors, Editor's Picks, Fleet Foxes, Girl Talk, Grizzly Bear, hip-hop, indie rock, Jay-Z, Ra Ra Riot, Seasick Steve, The National, Vampire Weekend, Williamsburg Waterfront, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Jay-Z is apparently a huge fan of Grizzly Bear
PREVIEW: Download Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” (Ft. Rihanna and Kanye West) MP3
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 20 Watts Reviews Jay-Z’s “Run This Town”
With Jay-Z prepping the release of his ridiculously hyped new album, The Blueprint 3, it’s surprising that he would have time to go to any concerts — much less Grizzly Bear’s free appearance on the Williamsburg Waterfront (previously graced by Girl Talk and Dirty Projectors this summer) this past Sunday, Aug. 30. However, the rapper did the 12,000 hipsters at the waterfront one better, by giving the indie rock scene one of the most notable stamps of approval it’s ever received:
“The thing I want to say to everyone — I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further — what the indie rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they’re not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there’s 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they’re making and the connection they’re making to people is really inspiring. So, I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music, because it can happen, because that’s what rap did to rock.” (MTV) Continue reading
Filed under: Emerging Artists | Tags: Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, Emerging Artists, Motley Crue, The Cure, The Horrors, The National
Pull yourself out of your world and slip into some new-wave psychedelic pop just getting hot from across the pond. I gladly introduce to you, The Horrors.
Sophomore album, “Primary Colours” (May 5th, XL Records), is a kick ass mix of UK garage rock, new wave electro-pop and moody lyrics. To top it off, they’ve got some style. Just from the look of them, they look like a combination of The Cure and Motley Crue.
Hit single, “Sea Within a Sea” isn’t even close to the best song on the album. I’ve been listening to the top tracks, “Who Can Say” and “Scarlet Fields” the past two days and leaving it on “repeat.” They’re brilliant in their complexity and also their simplicity. “Scarlet Fields,” for example, keeps a simple four-note bass line rolling in the back while a cranked up synthesizer howls and coos in-and-out of the chorus.
