Good-Pass Filter

If you are the type of person who likes cool shit, then you probably followed a friend’s link on Facebook to this video:

 And you were not alone.  This video has over 10 million hits since it was put up on January 5^th.  The band is called Walk Off The Earth and also featured a very compelling Sarah Blackwood. They’re Canadian. They make awesome videos like this badass one-man Bruno Mars cover where he loops the sound of a BB gun to make a beat:

…and I enjoy the videos that this Gianni Luminati character does with Sarah Blackwood, especially this Kharma Police rendition with a ton of creativity and the puppet mashup at the end makes it worth watching the whole thing. That is the thing about these videos, they are good when you listen but they are AWESOME if you watch them closely.

 If  you’ve got a few hours to kill I recommend checking out one video after another like I did.  Needless to say I didn’t get much done on Sunday.

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COACHELLA

Also thanks to Facebook, everyone in the world has probably seen the Coachella Lineup that was announced yesterday, but if you hadn’t you can just scroll down  a few lines.  While I would give a pretty penny to see Radiohead, there aren’t a lot of can’t-miss acts for me in this lineup.  That is not to say that I wouldn’t go and enjoy the hell out of it if someone happened to give me a free ticket…hint hint.

 

It is great to see the Black Keys getting all the love that the music world is giving them. I am sure they will put on a great show and make some booty’s shake.  On that same day I would also look forward to the Arctic Monkeys, M83, Dawes, & EMA.

The Saturday lineup has the aforementioned Radiohead, as well as a bunch of cool indie bands like The Head And The Heart & tune-yArDs.

On Sundays, the Dr Dre/Snoop Dogg set should be fun, but that will be a fun dancing day with Girl Talk and DJ Shadow.  I also would be super pumped for Fitz and the Tantrums.

The whole thing happens on 2 weekends with exactly the same lineups. That really steps them up to the most ambitious festival on the landscape.  I approve.

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Another SPIN free download.

This free collection of music (available for download on iTunes using the redemption code NW3P3TEXEHFE) is basically their version of the best for-the-most-part undiscovered music of 2011.  It isn’t all good, but there are some worthwhile tracks in the collection.
See the asterisks. * = good. ** = more good.

Cass McCombs: “The Same Thing
* Deer Tick: “Miss K”
* EMA: “Breakfast”
Fucked Up: “The Other Shoe”
Iceage: “Broken Bone”
Kurt Vile: “Jesus Fever”
Liturgy: “Generation”
** Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: “Tigers”
* Telekinesis: “Country Lane”
The Men: “( )”
Wild Flag: “Romance”
* Youth Lagoon: “July”
Yuck: “Shoot Down”
* Zola Jesus: “Vessel”
Cubic Zirconia: “Take Me High”
Future Islands: “Balance”
Peaking Lights: “Amazing and Wonderful”
** Phantogram: “16 Years”
* Pterodactyl: “School Glue”
Zambri: “Heather”
* Caveman: “Thankful”
** Summer Camp: “Down”
The Juan Maclean: “Everybody Get Close”
The Soft Moon: “Total Decay”

I listened to this for the first time without watching the track listing.  So when good songs came on I would look at my iPod and it was no shock to me that my favorite track was by Phantogram.  The big surprise for me was Tigers by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, which I assumed I wouldn’t like because I really don’t like Pavement, Malkmus’ previous band.  Serves me right for assuming, this song gets stuck in my head every couple of days now…basically any time I see or hear the word “tiger”.  So perhaps his post-Pavement work is more my speed.

Another track of note is by Youth Lagoon, a band that bored me when I did a search based on a friend’s recommendation a week or so ago, but this track crept up on me and stuck on my head after a few listens, so maybe those guys ARE as good as my friend said they were.  (Shout out to Sara in Portland.)

SPIN keeps up with music in a way that is impressive to me.  Lord knows that Rolling Stone lost its pulse on edgy, new music awhile ago…probably before I ever picked up a copy. SPIN just announced this morning tht they are undertaking a HUGE project.  They are going to review EVERY album that comes into their offices via twitter.  Whether it is a Jay-Z sized epic drop or a small EP from the 4th stage Warped Tour opening band, they are aiming to review over 1500 bands, each in 140 characters or less.  Follow them at @SPINreviews and watch them get increasingly creative as the year draws on. If you want to read about the project, click here.

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So there you have it, some free music at your fingertips, an expensive and awesome music festival with diverse bands, and giant collection of really compelling music videos.  2012 is already a good year.