Music Mandy’s Music Mail 4/22/11

April 22, 2011 - 10:37 am

Talihina Sky Movie Picture

I didn’t think it was possible, but I’ve fallen even more in love with the Kings of Leon. Last night I went to the premier screening of Talhina Sky: The Story Of Kings Of Leon at Tribeca Film Festival with my brother El and friend Billy, aka Drummer Boy, (guess what he does?) whose band, The Postelles, opened for KOL last summer at the infamous pigeon fiasco concert. I went in excited to see the film but not expecting the band to be there as it was just a screening. However who should walk right by me as I’m walking in? None other than ¾ of the Followill clan, brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared. Naturally I put on my best “jaded New Yorker” and acted nonplussed as the (ridiculously good looking) boys in my favorite band walked right next to me, however inside I was screaming like a teenage girl whose just seen Justin Bieber. The film, directed by Stephen C Mitchell, a close friend of theirs, was an unapologetic, intimate look into their lives that was simultaneously humorous (particularly Caleb’s drunken monologue about living), absurd and at times, quite sad. After the film the band and Mitchell came up for a brief Q&A; the boys were wonderfully sarcastic yet genuine. They were raised very religious and when asked how they intend to raise their children, Caleb brilliantly replied “Scientology of course! We’re celebrities!” Hero.

Read the full story

Gallery Music COACHELLA: DAY 1 RECAP

April 16, 2011 - 2:54 pm

So many bands, so much art, so much sun, so many people with hilarious t-shirts. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is nothing if not a veritable feast for the senses, and Day One kicked off the desert party in grand fashion. The newfangled, RFID chip-embedded wristbands seemed to work perfectly fine, and we encountered no Draconian police presence demanding to see our credentials at the dreaded “one mile perimeter.” It was, as they say, all delicious, but man was it hot.

Moving Units had the distinction of being the first Main Stage artist to play on Friday, their crowd braving 95-degree temps to catch of glimpse of the longtime LA heroes. (Make sure to check out our interview with them.) The Gobi Tent was next, where we caught an earful of Omar Rodríguez-López , who has played Coachella with both his previous bands, At The Drive In and the Mars Volta. His self-titled project is nothing short of amazing; visceral, psychedelic rock and roll with guitars drenched in watery reverb and songs that unfold slowly, angrily and beautifully. At one point, his singer prowled the stage with his microphone clenched between his teeth, sweat pouring down his face to the point where electric shock was sure to be imminent. We must have stood there for at least 15 minutes taking in what felt like one epic jam, with Rodríguez-López manhandling his guitar like he was having an out-of-body experience.

Read the full story

Music Mandy’s Music Mail 4/8/11

April 8, 2011 - 12:23 pm

Hanna

The soundtrack for the film “Hanna” (side note: really want to see it), scored by the Chemical Brothers, was released exclusively through iTunes last month, but I only got around to checking it out this week (and it subsequently became my unofficial soundtrack; listened to it constantly). If you haven’t given it a listen / downloaded it yet, I highly recommend doing so because it’s awesome. Favorite tracks are: “Hanna’s Theme”; “Container Park” and “Escape 700”. Grab it here and / or watch the trailer after the jump.

Read the full story

Music Music Magic 11/5/10

November 5, 2010 - 11:01 am

Kid Cudi and the Roots on Jimmy Fallon

This week has been ridiculously busy but seriously awesome: Halloween weekend plus kicking it at the famed MSR Studios every night this week with The Roots, Miniature Tigers and Shiny Toy Guns as they rehearse for Red Bull’s Soundclashes taking place later this month in Atlanta and Phoenix. Hard to believe sometimes that this is my job. Pretty incredible. That being said, I’m most happy it’s the weekend and am looking forward to cheering my friend Tess on as she runs the New York City Marathon on Sunday!!

So speaking of The Roots (all of whom are amongst the nicest guys I’ve ever met, such wonderful and immensely talented men), check out their performance of “Maniac” (which I wrote about the other week) with St. Vincent, Kid Cudi and Cage on Jimmy Fallon. 

Read the full story

Music Friday’s Fantastic Music Magic!

October 15, 2010 - 11:43 am

Kings of Leon

What’s a perfect remedy to a less than stellar start to a morning when one is woken up at 5am to a ludicrously loud garbage truck that beeps incessantly for (no joke) 30 minutes? Discovering the full album stream for Kings of Leon’s Come Around Sundown a full week before it’s release! I have been looking forward to this for months and totes did a little (okay major) happy dance upon said discovery.

As a whole, the album doesn’t sound all that different from Only By The Night, but that doesn’t bother me in the slightest as I loved OBTN. It really frustrates me when people complain how their new stuff sounds so different from albums past and they refuse to like it purely on that basis alone. It’s a good thing that it sounds different. Their first EP, Holly Roller Novocaine came out in 2003, and frankly, if their sound hadn’t grown and changed, they wouldn’t be as successful and people would be complaining that every song sounded the same, and to be honest, their music hasn’t changed that dramatically – which is one of the great things about KoL, in my opinion – they continue to grow and try new things, yet are still able to maintain a distinctive sound. 

Read the full story

Music Friday’s Feeling Fine Music Mail 10/8

October 8, 2010 - 12:46 pm

rza

One of the great things about music, and why I love it so much, is that it affects people in ways that no other medium really can. It has this incredibly ability to touch every emotion inside a person – love, laughter, madness, heartbreak, joy… what have you – sometimes hitting each and every one of those over the course of a single song. It’s said that the sense of smell is the most powerful sense in a person, the one that conjures up emotion and memory most vividly; however I disagree. I think it’s hearing. I can listen to a song and be taken right back to a memory of / with it like it happened only yesterday, even if that memory is almost as old as I am.

With the above in mind, I’m brought to the first bit of news this week: after the passing of his close friend, Sally Menke (Quentin Tarantino’s longtime editor), RZA along with James Black, Kobra Khan and Justin Nokuza have released “Gone” in her honor.


Read the full story