Guilt Free Pleasures

New Tour Dates: Mates of State

2012-01-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

Connecticut indie-pop group has announced some new Spring tour dates starting this February. The duo just released a new self-produced record entitled Mountaintops, which was released in September of 2011 to much adoration and praise. Mates of State also recently performed on the Late Show with David Letterman. You can view the performance here:Mates of State on LettermanSpring Tour dates:Feb 16

New video & Tour Dates From fun.

2012-01-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

When I first went to check out this video, I was going CRAZY because I knew I had heard the song but not the original version, so I kept wondering if it was a cover or what. Then I realized I had heard it on Glee. To be honest I think I like the Glee version better, but it's still a good song, a fun(.) video (...get it?) and Janelle Monae (*heart*) is in it briefly. The one other weird thing: it

Seedy Seeds Show, Goodbye Southgate House!

2011-12-31T16:52:00.004-05:00

This past Thursday, the Seedy Seeds delivered a wonderful performance at the Southgate House in Newport, Ky. The Seedy Seeds are a fun folky/electronic band from Cincinnati. With a mixture of drums, banjo, acoustic guitar and recorded beats, they put on a show that makes you want to jump and dance. They played a good amount of my favorites including "My Roots Go Down" and "Oh, Cincinnati." Click

Los Campesinos

2011-12-26T07:18:00.006-05:00

I think I have been a bit late on this one....by about three months. I am blaming a very disappointing second album for my tardiness.Back in 2007 I absolutely loved Los Campesinos!, my favourite single of 07 was a tie between their 'You! Me! Dancing!' and Mumm-Ra's 'She's Got You High'.Then in 2008 they released their debut album 'Hold On Now, Youngster...' and EEP 'We Are Beautiful, We Are

Heartless Bastards Announces Tour Dates

2011-12-04T23:28:00.002-05:00

With new tour dates, and a new record entitled Arrow and set to come out February 14, 2012, there's a lot going on with the Heartless Bastards. Click here to hear "Parted Ways," their first single off Arrow. If you'd like to listen for free, go to their Soundcloud page here. The song felt in some ways like a trip back to the 70's. Although it also has indie-rock tones and influences, reminding me

Losers

2011-11-28T12:17:00.001-05:00

So, second post about ex Coopers then, the first one's here and you should certainly check it out.I was sat at home procrastinating as one does when working from home and checked hotmail. I only do it on occasions when I'm truly bored as it's such an old email address, but sometimes, just sometimes, it brings me joy. The joy to be had was an email from Tom Bellamy, using TCTC mailing list and

Red Kite

2011-11-24T12:05:00.003-05:00

I am extremely excited about this band, probably the most I've been in a while. I've had to re-edit this post twice since hitting 'publish' as it seemed to read as a hectic and excitable teenager rather than my 28 year old self, but I guess writing about someone who's music played a big part in your latter teen years will do that, change your mindset slightly, if only for a minute.So this is

Death Cab Yeasayer remix

2011-11-08T20:06:00.003-05:00

Hey friends! So I was immediately intrigued when I stumbled upon this as I love Yeasayer and Death Cab for Cutie. I was also intrigued as I would not think to put these two in the same category, Death Cab often going after the melancholy, indie rhythms and Yeasayer going for more experimental and psychedelic sound. The beginning starts out and I'm wondering "okay is this going to work?" Then it

Kitten Covers

2011-11-03T14:59:00.002-04:00

This might be the one of the best things I've ever seen: http://thekittencovers.tumblr.com/

Guest post - a CMJ review

2011-11-03T11:45:00.001-04:00

It is my pleasure to present a guest post by my friend and fellow live-music-enthusiast, Matt Kennedy. Delta Hotel, Dustin Wong, Blue Kid and Chelsea Wolfe @ Le Poisson Rouge, Saturday October 22nd (Part of the CMJ music festival) Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to Le Poisson Rouge in time to catch Delta Hotel, and I don't think it'd be fair to fake it by just looking at a few of their

New video from Kina Grannis

2011-11-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

This is a cute stop motion animation video that was filmed over 22-months apparently and used more than a quarter of a million jelly beans. Crazy. I admire the people who have the patience to do this kind of thing because I definitely wouldn't.

New video from the Ting Tings

2011-10-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

It doesn't strike me as having quite the instant "stuck in your head immediately" catchiness of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" or "That's Not My Name" but I think that's just because it's slightly less simple. I definitely dig it and the video's fun. I'm sure it will be the next hot thing very soon and we will be hearing it everywhere.

Tune-Yards @ Black Cat

2011-10-17T15:21:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, I finally got to see Tune-Yards again. It's been far too long since I last saw her live (and I missed her the last time she came through DC) and this is the first time I've seen her since her new album came out. Anyway, on to the show review: Opening for her was Pat Jordache. I can't find anything on the internet that says his age but, boy, did he and his band look young! I had a

New video from Fanfalro!

2011-10-13T13:29:00.000-04:00

These Brits were one of my favorite break out groups from 2009 and I've been waiting with bated breath for them to come out with new stuff. They finally have! Here is a new video for their single "Deconstruction." It's a little bit different of a sound from their last album, but the poppy goodness is still there in spades. Their new album will be coming out in early 2012.

Clifton Heights Music Festival

2011-10-09T23:05:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday I band-hopped around the Cincinnati neighborhood Clifton Heights at the Clifton Heights Music Festival. Of the 30 or so bands playing at six different venues, I saw about 10 or so acts. It was walking around the neighborhood from venue to venue. This made year five for the festival. Starting with four venues in one, the festival has grown to quite an ordeal. The intent is to

Tillers, Appaltin play NKY Loves Mountains

2011-10-08T00:47:00.006-04:00

Tonight several Cincinnati area bands performed at the Beer Sellar along the Ohio river in Newport, Ky. On the ticket were the Tillers, Zella Whelms, Appaltin, The Red Cedars, Ma Crow and Hazari. The show, entitled "Northern Kentucky Loves Mountains," was hosted by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and sought to raise awareness about the dangers of mountaintop removal mining. I'm a member of KFTC,

Another new video from Florence + the Machine!

2011-10-05T14:57:00.001-04:00

Florence Welch has been a busy little bee in preparation for the release of her upcoming album, Ceremonials. Just a little over a month ago, I posted her new video for her "That's What the Water Gave Me," and now she's come out with another video for her single, "Shake It Out." So far I am pretty much infatuated with both songs and I am very much looking forward to her album release (Oct. 31st in

Radiohead on The Colbert Report

2011-09-27T14:41:00.002-04:00

For those of us who don't live in NY (and can't just gallivant up there during the week) and/or those of my New York Friends who didn't get Radiohead tickets despite how hard they tried, this might be as good as it gets... At least until their next tour. (it's the full episode of the Colbert Report with all the songs they played and the interviews)

Midpoint Music Festival: Day Two!

2011-09-24T01:29:00.002-04:00

Day two began with banjo, plaid and some dancey tunes. In other words, I began the second night of the Midpoint Music Festival watching the Tillers perform. These Cincinnati natives played some good-ole bluegrass tunes. Their instruments were what caught my eye. They switched between various guitars and banjos. One guitar was especially marvelous. It looked like it was snatched right out of the

Midpoint Music Festival: Day One!

2011-09-23T00:10:00.006-04:00

President Obama was invited to a show I attended tonight, according to the band that performed. He gave a speech in Cincinnati that day and I suppose they may have thought "eh, why not?" Or maybe it didn't really happen and they just thought it would make for a good story to tell from the microphone. Either way, Obama had some competition today for most exciting thing happening in Cincinnati. And

Win OK Go! tickets and support Water For People

2011-09-21T15:04:00.000-04:00

Starting today, OK Go fans will have the chance to win two tickets AND BACKSTAGE PASSES to an upcoming concert at a location nearest them (oooooh). The prize is being offered as part of Water For People’s Donate To Drink Crowdrise campaign that aims to raise $2 million through the crowd-sourced, online fundraising platform. To make a donation, OK Go fans & GFP readers can visit my

Big Troubles: New tour dates and video

2011-09-11T19:59:00.002-04:00

Lo-fi rock group Big Troubles has released the first single entitled "Sad Girls" off their latest album "Romantic Comedy." The band is made up of old high school friends and influenced by brit-pop and 90's indie rock. This is their second album.The group also released a new video for "Sad Girls" and they just released a bunch of new tour dates. So go see if they're playing in a city near you!Big

Ok Go! on Tonight Show

2011-09-04T22:14:00.002-04:00

Happy Labor Day weekend folks! A video of Ok Go!'s performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno caught my eye tonight. Not only was the performance fun to listen to and watch as these guys always are but they brought a little friend with them. Yes, yes Animal from The Muppets made a cameo on the drum set. It definitely made me laugh and I hope it will make you laugh too :)

Jones Street Station & Great Divide in DC tomorrow night!

2011-08-24T16:08:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that two rock bands I adore - Jones Street Station (pictured above) and Great Divide - will be playing at DC9 tomorrow night (Thursday, Aug. 25th!). Be there or be square and if you don't live in the DC area, I'll be posting pictures and a show recap, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

New Florence + the Machine!

2011-08-23T16:30:00.001-04:00

Today Florence's new single came out (at least on iTunes). It struck me as actually pretty different from her previous work - not quite as dark or stormy but still with complex layers and some shadow. The chorus reminds me of a hymn/worship song, and I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. I first saw it in video form and while I don't think the video is necessarily that well-done, I do like