by sarah

First Listen - Fall Out Boy, “Folie a Deux”

Notes: Yes, I am listening to the leak. We all are. To be honest, we all also jumped when FOB started pushing out iTunes singles and giant boxed packages months ago, so we’ve already paid for this damn thing. (I’ve also already heard four of the thirteen songs in their iTunes incarnations.) Let’s just hope what I’m about to hear justifies the $100 some of us have dropped.

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album reviews
by sarah

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we’re both busy, this is what you get

I tried going back through my Twitter posts to see what I’ve been listening to, but I haven’t been as faithful as I’d hoped in reporting what I’m listening to. I might be balancing too many Twitter identities.

Either way - Sarah and I decided to do a quick rundown of what we’ve both listened to in the last week or so.

Sarah: this song is awesome, “Carlos Walter Wendy Stanley” by Chap
Megan: ooh. ok, quick. we’re doing a five minute rundown of cool things we’ve been listening to
Sarah: new Chiefs
Megan: new kings of leon, repeating ‘use somebody’ a lot; dr dog’s fate (THANKS SPENCER), new killers, raising sand (what, like, a year later?), alternate abbey road covers - ‘golden slumbers / carry that weight’ in specific. japanese motors
Megan: have you heard them? the single ’single fins and safety pins’ is awesome. but i like regrets a paradise better
Sarah: I have!
Megan: i listened to the new bloc party a few times
Sarah: Oh, um, the hot video at Oxford is “Who Let the Yankees in the Chip Shop” by the Matches. All those Suarez remixes
Megan: yeah, he has good remixes
Sarah: The TMBG “Cast Your Pod to the Wind” collection
Megan: i really liked the remix pete posted in his blog for, like, three horus
Sarah: i think hey monday is kinda boring, but i love cassadee drops
Megan: i really haven’t given them enough of a shot
Megan: i have razia’s shadow all queued up, just haven’t tried it yet
Megan: and, of course, folie a deux.

And that’s where I stopped, because that’s all I’m listening to right now. Sarah’s going to give it the Fyrehaus First Listen tonight. Look for her coherent cogitation on it.

by megan
by sarah
random reviews
what's right now

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Kaiser Chiefs at Webster Hall, 11.15.08

The short of it: Probably the best Chiefs show I have ever seen.

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by sarah
concert reviews
webster hall

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First Listen: Kaiser Chiefs, “Off With Their Heads”

There’s a peculiar sort of stress when you push play on a favorite band’s new album for the very first time. What if it sucks? Then where are you? Can you still get as passionate about them when going to see them in concert means hearing the horrible new songs? It’s especially tricky for me on this one because I fell in love with their debut, Employment halfway through the second track and never looked back. The sophomore attempt, Yours Truly, Angry Mob was harder to get into and never quite achieved the same amazing status in my head (you know what they say: you get your whole life to write your first album and six months to write your second). I kinda need them to reverse the direction here.

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album reviews
by sarah

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First Listen: Dirty Pretty Things - Romance at Short Notice

So, I got this album months ago, and then I just never felt like I had the uninterrupted time to really listen to it. And then it turned out to be a breakup album, and I didn’t want to listen in case it was amazing and I was sad. But then I had a plane flight cross-country, so… Continue Reading »

album reviews
by sarah

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First Listen: Jenny Lewis, “Acid Tongue”

Preconceived notions:
1. It contains “Fernando” and “Carpetbaggers”, so it’s going to rock no matter what.
2. Some songs, I’m going to get distracted playing Who Is That Familiar Indie Rock Voice.
3. Jenny wrote all but one song on the last Rilo Kiley effort, so I assume it will sound like that.
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album reviews
by sarah

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Why won’t you listen to Midnight Boom? Do you hate good music?

I’ve been trying to come up with something to say about The Kills’ new record Midnight Boom that isn’t just “It’s so great!” for the past week. So, straight up, here are four reasons why I like it:

  1. There’s not a single track that I skip. None of the songs are annoying or repetitive. Every song brings that instant thought of “yay!”
  2. I listen to it in order. It kicks off with teh catchy, sexy singles “U R A Fever” and “Cheap and Cheerful” (which is totally going to be my song I ever start stripping) and keeps you hooked in and listening straight to the cool down finale “Goodnight Bad Morning.”
  3. 3. It’s The Kills. They know how to write a dirty American rock song that sounds like dance pop. Kings of Leon meets LCD Soundsystem. Plus, the songs are short enough that you can’t get sick of the conceit before it ends.
  4. It makes you want to move. The songs are just built like that. Getting the riff of “Alphabet Pony” stuck in my head makes me want to dance, even when I’m on the subway.

Isn’t that enough reason to listen to it once? The first listen is even free!

[The Kills - Midnight Boom via lala.com]

album reviews
by sarah

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Sons & Daughters, Highline Ballroom, 9.8.08

Sons & Daughters will blow your socks right off your body, and show no remorse.

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by sarah
concert reviews
highline ballroom

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Bloc Party at Webster Hall, 8.6.08

In which I vow to never set foot in Webster Hall again. And this time I mean it.

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Uncategorized
by sarah
concert reviews
webster hall

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So much!

1. There is a new, full-length Franz Ferdinand track. Bitch. Yeah.  You can listen here and it’s just as awesome as you think it would be, the kind of poppy, old-school Franz song that is going to be ridiculous fun to dance to at concerts. (Thanks to Jess for the tip.)

2. New Lily Allen! Someone ripped her new track, “Fuck You Very Much”, which is sweet and poppy and angry, like we love her, and slapped it up on the yubes. (via ONTD)

2a. Apparently Lily has a feud amping up with Katy Perry. This is MAGNIFICENT. It should end with Lily kicking the everloving hell out of Katy Perry.

3. October is going to suck. How is it possible that there are four shows I want to see on October 11th? (Panic in San Jose, Cobra Starship in New York, Tragedy in New York, and something else.) Plus Beck + MGMT the day before, which I couldn’t get tickets for anyway. (Look at me being a big girl and not complaining that my favorite artist since pubescence is playing 7 blocks from my house and I can’t go.) And how is it possible that Panic at the Disco is playing Bridgeport the same night that Gym Class is playing NYC. Aren’t they on the same label? Did it not occur to them that they might have overlapping fanbases? Bridgeport’s easy to get to from the city, and tickets for it went on sale a week before Gym Class dates were announced. Feh.

4. Much coming. I need to pimp Tragedy to you (heavy metal Bee Gees cover band!!) and post my recap of last week’s Bloc Party show (summary: Webster Hall sux).

by sarah
upcoming

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