Sean Fournier

I'm gonna keep this entry short and to the point. Sean Fournier is awesome, and his album is free, so go download it!

And if that hasn't convinced you, listen to the album below:

Fake Festivals

As any American fan of British music can attest, festival season can get downright depressing. Every year, when flipping through my NME, I gaze longingly at the full-page ads for Reading/Leeds, Glastonbury, Big Chill, etc. I pick out the bands that I would watch if I was there, as if that would somehow make me feel better. Instead, it just makes me realize exactly how awesome it'd be to go, and how much it sucks to be an Anglophile living in the States.

So in the midst of mourning my inability to attend Reading '09, I've decided to make myself a fake festival. I'll be gathering together videos of the bands I'd want to see on any given day, so that maybe if I watch it, it'll seem just that little bit like I'm there.

Heck, if I want to get REALLY into it, I should watch it whilst wearing wellies and sitting in a kiddie-pool full of mud.

So I'm gonna try it with Reading and see how it goes, and then if I like it, maybe I'll do other festivals as well.

Tinted Windows & US Royalty at Black Cat

Tinted Windows are: Taylor Hanson (lead vocals), James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins(guitar), Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne(bass), and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick(drums).

Being a self-confessed Hanson fangirl for over a decade now, I had to get Tinted Window's album when it came out in late April. While I'm a fan of all of the band members's other work, I can't help but judge them mostly against Hanson, with whom I'm most familiar. Their songs are more poppy and less soulful, with less of the 3-part harmony integral to Hanson's sound. And as much as I would have loved Tinted Windows to be "Hanson 2.0: now with more street cred," I have to admit that their sound just works. The NY Times describes their music as "A multi-generational alliance devoted to power-pop...the songs are hook-slinging verse-chorus-verse testimonials of love and girl trouble."

Between being used to seeing Taylor play with Hanson and how utterly breathtaking their shows are and hearing that Taylor had lately been having trouble with his voice, I was worried they wouldn't be able to pull off the performance. I'm happy to say was worried for nothing. While there's nothing groundbreaking about their music, it's incredibly well-crafted and impeccably performed. (And really, what else would you expect from a so-called "Super Group"?) Having thought they looked a bit too slick in some of their promo videos (see "Messing With My Head" and "Kind of a Girl" ), I was happy to see that they were dressed more casually. Not only their look, but their sound was more casual and less polished, which suited them really well.

While they've played very few shows together as a band, because of the decades of live experience by the individual band members, when they get on stage they simply shine. Taylor Hanson is one of those musicians who was born to be a frontman, and it was his energetic performance that really made it work. While the rest of the band played impeccably, they didn't seem to attract much of the focus.

Even though their set was short because of their small amount of material, I think they made the right decision in not playing songs from their other bands. They could easily have padded their setlist with Hanson or Smashing Pumpkins songs that parts of the crowd would have loved, but they retain much more credibility by sticking to their own limited catalog and a few covers of completely unrelated bands.

Between their "day jobs," it's not surprising that they won't be playing many shows for a while, but if you're one of the lucky people in San Francisco who can see them on September 1 at Great American Music Hall, I'd highly recommend going.



My only complaint about the night was that not enough Tinted Windows fans were rocking out to the opener, the amazing local band US Royalty. The highlight of their performance for me was the lead singer, John Thornley's, vocals (not to mention his epic facial hair). His voice is powerful and distinctive, neither overpowering the band nor being drowned out. Their songs are melodic and catchy, often starting slowly and simply and swelling to the perfect rock crescendo.



My personal favorite was the song "Raincoats".



If they come to your town, go see them and bring all of your friends. You wont be disappointed. And while you're there, buy their two EPs. They're amazing and a steal at just $10 for the pair.

Weekly Jukebox -- 2nd Edition

Apologies in advance, its a long one this week!

IAMX -- Think of England



Calvin Harris -- I'm Not Alone



Lily Allen -- "Not Fair"



Kings of Leon -- "My Party" (Remix)



U2 -- "Get On Your Boots" (Justice Remix)



Peter Bjorn & John -- "Stay this Way"



Friendly Fires -- "Skeleton Boy"



Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- "Zero"



Fleet Foxes -- "She Got Dressed"



Phantogram -- "Mouth Full of Diamonds"



White Lies -- "Farewell to the Fairground"



The official video for this song has embedding disabled, but if you'd like to see it, CLICK HERE.

Dizzee Rascal -- "Bonkers"

Weekly Jukebox -- 1st Edition

My Grammys Review

I look forward to the Grammys every year, and I'm almost always disappointed. This year was no exception. Although there were some really great parts, there were even more incredibly lame or awkward parts.

Maybe I'm asking for too much, but I feel like the Grammys should be mostly about, I dunno, THE MUSIC! As in people who actually have musical talent, not people who are, at most, only tangentially related to music. A lot of the people presenting the awards had absolutely nothing to do with music. They were only on there because they are in some random show on CBS. I couldn't figure out why Paris Hilton was in the audience, until I realized that Hilton was one of the sponsors. I feel like its gotten so commercial that its not really about the music anymore. There are plenty of great musicians, or even mediocre ones, who it would make MUCH more sense to give air time to. They're the Grammys, I'm sure they could get almost anyone they ask!

Another complaint I have is the quality of some of the nominees/performers. Why on earth Katy Perry needed to be at the Grammys I have no idea. Yes, she may put out music, but when it comes to live performances she can't really sing OR dance! She's only really popular because "I Kissed A Girl" is racy and she dresses in cutesy/racy costumes. And I'll admit theres a place for that in popular culture, but not at the Grammys.

I feel similarly about Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. Yes, they have catchy music and yes, they're really popular (mostly among tweens), but their music is not at all up to the quality of what SHOULD be performed at the Grammys. Once again, they can have almost anyone they asked, but they often choose bands who have commercial success over ones whose music is real art, and THEY are the ones who should truly be honored on a night like the Grammys.

Kings of Leon were there, they could have performed! Jason Mraz could've played "I'm Yours" or Duffy could've played "Mercy." And why make a great musician like Stevie Wonder perform with the Jonas Brothers? I mean, thats almost insulting! I think he's earned the right to his own performance, don't you? Why were Boys II Men stuck doing backing vocals? Why didn't John Mayer get any real air time? And when they did get really great musicians, they often made them perform together in ways that didn't really work (i.e. Adele/Sugarland, Coldplay/Jay-Z).

Sugarland's "Stay" and Adele's "Chasing Pavements"


Sugarland's performance was amazing by itself, and really, so was Adele's, but I don't understand why Jennifer Nettles needed to sing with her. I think she'd sound even better on her own.

U2's performance opening the Grammy's was good, but they needed to turn Bono's mic up. Also, who opens an awards show with a song that nobody knows? It was great, but couldn't they have saved it for later and had M.I.A. open with "Paper Planes," or have some other performace that everyone would know?

When I heard that MIA was going to perform on her due date, I thought that was really cool. Its really awesome of her to come to the Grammys and perform when she is 9 months pregnant. I was hoping to see her do "Paper Planes," so I was disappointed to see that she was instead relegated to being behind the "Rap Pack" doing "Swagga Like Us," which was mediocre at best. Something about making a very pregnant woman stand in the back while the men do all the performing just doesn't sit right with me, but maybe I'm a bit too sensitive.

T.I. & Justin Timberlake doing "Dead and Gone" was fairly good. It's a really good song, and I think Justin's part was great, but T.I. rapping over a recording of himself just made it sound really muddled.

And in case you think I'm going to complain about everything, here are two performances that I really have no complaints about:

Jennifer Hudson -- "You Pulled Me Through"



Radiohead -- "15 Step"



And lastly, to the winners:

-- I think Adele should've gotten Record of the Year for "Chasing Pavements," not Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

-- For album of the year, I would've preferred it if Coldplay or Radiohead had won.

-- I'm pretty happy with song of the year, because all of the songs that were up for it are great, especially "Viva La Vida." Also, I'm really glad that Coldplay won Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

-- I'm REALLY CHUFFED about Adele winning Best New Artist (and also for her getting Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). She definately deserves it. She's incredibly talented and very down to earth. I think I would've gone on a murderous rampage if the Jonas Brothers had won, but I would've been ok with Duffy.

-- For Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, I'm happy that John Mayer won, but I think that, as much as I love Mr. Mayer, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz is a better song.

-- I'm fine with Duffy winning Best Pop Vocal Album, although I don't understand why Adele wasn't up for it...Does she not count as pop?

-- I really feel like for Best Dance Recording, Hot Chip or Sam Sparro should've won, but I love Daft Punk, too, so I'm fine with that.

-- I'm really really excited about Kings of Leon winning Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Sex On Fire," because that song is AMAZING! They've been a great band for a really long time, and between the Grammy and the show they just did at Madison Square Garden, they're finally starting to get the recognition they deserve. That being said, they should've won Best Rock Song as well, but I suppose it wasn't very likely that they were going to beat Springsteen. (Coldplay's "Violet Hill" would've been another good choice.)

-- For Best Rock Album, I think its great that Coldplay won, but it would've been really awesome for Kings of Leon to get it.

-- Radiohead getting Best Alternative Music Album is awesome.

-- "American Boy" definately deserved Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, as did Sugarland's "Stay" for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals & Best Country Song.

-- Al Gore winning Best Spoken Word Album is awesome, but Stephen Colbert is gonna be pissed! ("GOOOORRRRREEEEE!!!")

-- It would've been awesome for Flight of the Conchords to win Best Comedy Album, but oh well, George Carlin seems to win everything he's up for.

-- Sweeny Todd should've won Best Composition Soundtrack, because that soundtrack is AMAZING! (And I don't usually like musicals!)

-- It's awesome that Justice got Best Remixed Recording for their remix of MGMT's "Electric Feel." I love that remix.


Okay...thats enough of my ranting and rambling for one day :O)

***UPDATE 2.11.09*** Aaaand all of the videos have been taken down because of copyright claims from the Grammys. Hopefully you got a chance to see them! I think its really dumb of them to take the videos down, since as far as I know they don't really have another way to make money off of the performances. Its not like they're gonna release a "Grammys 2009" DVD or anything, and if anything it gives them free publicity. Oh well, some people are just idiots.

Peter, Bjorn & John -- "Nothing to Worry About"

Peter Bjorn and John "Nothing To Worry About"


I'm incredibly confused by the video, but I love the song.

It's called "Nothing to Worry About," and it's off their upcoming album "Living Thing," due out on March 31st in the US(and the day before pretty much everywhere else). You can pre-order it through their OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

For added fun, here is the video for "Young Folks," which is the song they are probably best known for.

Beyonce -- "At Last" (Etta James Cover)

This is quite possibly my favorite musical performance from all of the Inaugural Festivities. It is a beautiful rendition of Etta James' song "At Last," sung by Beyonce. Her performance is incredibly emotional, and Barack & Michelle Obama's "first dance" is incredibly touching and romantic. (Not to mention how gorgeous Michelle's dress is!!) All of that combined means I've been pretty much watching this video on repeat for weeks now.

Beyonce -- "At Last" (Etta James Cover) from the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball



**The video is even more amazing if you watch it in HD!***

As you may have heard, recently there has been some controversy over this performance, with Etta James complaining about Beyonce singing HER song.

From CNN:

Singer disses Obama, Beyonce

The entertainment world may be in a swoon over Barack Obama, but one legendary soul singer is fuming at the new president and the pop star who serenaded the first couple on inauguration night.

Etta James, famous for her rendition of the song “At Last,” is apparently miffed that pop star Beyonce was tapped to perform the ballad as the president and first lady slow-danced during the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball on January 20.

“You guys know your president, right?” the singer asked an audience in Canada last week, according to audio posted on TMZ.com. “You know the one with big ears? Yeah, wait a minute. He ain’t my president.”

She then went after Beyonce: “That woman singing for him, singing my song? She’s gonna get her ass whipped.”

James added that she “can’t stand Beyonce” and that the starlet “has no business up there singing, singing up there on a big old President day, singing my song that I been singing forever.”

But is James flip-flopping on Beyonce? She did not raise an objection when the singer portrayed her in the film “Cadillac Records” — and just recently, James’s son told a New York paper that his mother was moved by the inauguration night performance.

I personally think that Etta James needs to get over herself. Everyone knows that its her song and not Beyonce's, and she should be honored that the Obamas chose her song to be used as a part of such a historic occasion. Also, I thought it made perfect sense for Beyonce to be a part of it. She campaigned for Obama around election day, and immediately offered to help them in any way she could with the inauguration. Plus, she's much more popular amongst younger audiences (who make up a significant portion of Obama's voters) than Etta James. She should take a page from Obama's book and learn to get along with Beyonce, even if she has issues with her, rather than trying to draw attention to herself with stuff like this.

New Fleet Foxes Video: "Mykonos"

Courtesy of Pitchfork.tv:

This animated, origami-style video imagines a fluid universe filled with triangles, castles and barbershop mustaches. It's a little playful...and a little creepy. Sean Pecknold, Robin Pecknold's brother directs.

Jamie Cullum -- "God Only Knows"

This video is taken from what is quite possibly my favorite music DVD: Jamie Cullum's "Live at Blenheim Palace." The scenery in the DVD is fantastic, especially once the sun begins to set, and the music is fantastic.

The song is a beautiful cover of "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys in the style of "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.



If you like this, you can listen to more of his music HERE.

Lykke Li

Lykke Li is an incredibly talented Swedish indie singer whose album "Youth Novels" was released last year.

"I'm Good, I'm Gone"



I wanted to share the video for the album version of this song, but for some reason they recently changed the video to "private" on youTube...oh well.

"Dance, Dance, Dance"



"Little Bit"

Metronomy -- "A Thing for Me"

I love this video because it has a really fun concept behind it and the song is really catchy.



If you like the video, it is available to download for free this week on iTunes, so go get it!

For anyone not familiar with Metronomy, check out their website, http://www.metronomy.co.uk/

Official Bio:

Joseph Mount writes and records music using the name Metronomy. Oscar Cash, Gabriel Stebbing and Joseph Mount perfom that music live and still call themselves Metronomy. Joseph Mount lived in Devon for a time, moved to Brighton and has finally settled for a while in London. On the way he has recorded one album and remixed many bands and artists. Soon a second album will arrive. Until that album arrives (at which time i'm sure a proper biography will be written) please enjoy what's available here and fill in any gaps with your own imaginings.

Lily Allen -- "It's Not Me, It's You"

Lily Allen's new album, "It's Not Me, It's You" wont actually be released until next week, but Lily has put the whole thing up on her MySpace page for you to listen to for free.



Track Listing

1."Everyone's at It" (4:19)
2."The Fear" (3:27)
3."Not Fair" (3:21)
4."22" (3:05)
5."I Could Say" (4:03)
6."Back to the Start"(4:11)
7."Never Gonna Happen"(3:26)
8."Fuck You" (3:35)
9."Who'd Have Known" (3:48)
10."Chinese" (3:27)
11."Him" (3:15)
12."He Wasn't There" (2:52)

It's a great album, so go check it out! If you like it, you can buy it HERE

Also, check out the great video for the lead single, "The Fear":

First Featured Band: Still Flyin'

Still Flyin' is a great band from San Francisco, which according to this article is a "reggae-slanted indie-pop act" with about 15 members. Their MySpace page lists their genre as "Grunge/Jungle/Industrial."

My favorite thing about their music is that it is fun, energetic and original. I highly recommend all of the songs on their Myspace page, but by far my favorite (both for the music and the video) is "Good Thing It's A Ghost Town Around Here."



Check them out! You wont be disappointed.