I just came back from the James Blake show in Williamsburg. I now know what the sound of a room full of ovaries exploding sounds like: basically faint squeals of ecstasy for about 1 hour non-stop.

Master of the subtle, slow build, James Blake has you wrapped around his youthful, tiny little British finger without you even realizing it.

Oh don't mind me, I'm just blowing your MIND right now

As I Rock, I Roll so aptly described it: “James Blake shows are like being masterfully seduced by the most unassuming hot guy ever. SAHWOOON”

Swoon indeed! In addition to creating some of the sexiest music created in a long time, this dude is clearly a hit with the ladies. I swear, I could actually hear hearts breaking as he crooned. One girl screamed, “I LOVE YOUR HAIR!” about five times throughout the show. Another gave James a bouquet of flowers at the end of the initial set.

Are flowers the way to James Blake's heart?

I nearly DIED when I realized that for the encore he was doing a cover of “Case of You” — probably one of my most favorite Joni Mitchell songs EVER. UUuuuggghhh! Absolutely brilliant. Well played, James Blake, WELL PLAYED.

If you listen carefully, I think you can hear my brain exploding in this video:

There’s really only one way to describe James Blake: an extremely attractive musical angel sent down from heaven to remind us that God really does still exist.

Note the heavenly glow

Longtime readers of this site will already be accustomed to my undying, uncool devotion to the British “rock” band Coldplay.
But it is due to this broadcasting of affection that people end up being so generous whenever the band rolls into town.

Waiting to head into the Ed Sullivan Theater

Thanks to the unbelievable kindness of Product Shop NYC, last night I was lucky enough to attend Coldplay’s Live on Letterman webcast taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater right here in NYC.

It was basically 50 minutes of pure joy for me. The band played a handful of new songs off their upcoming album Mylo Xyloto — “Major Minus,” “Hurts Like Heaven,” “Charlie Brown,” and my personal favorite, “Paradise” — as well as all the greatest hits (“Yellow,” “The Scientist,” “Viva la Vida,” “Fix You,” etc.).

As always, Chris, Jonny, Will, and Guy were the consummate professionals, pounding out song after song with an unfaltering level of energy and passion.

Performing “Us Against The World”

There were two encores, both new songs. For the very last song, “Us Against The World,” the mic setup was not working for Chris’s guitar so with some urging from a dude in the crowd, he went acoustic, singing the first quarter of the song sitting on a stool, by himself in the center of the stage, with the rest of the guys quietly creeping behind to then join him in the song.

Fan video of “Us Against the World”:

After I got out of the show I read a text from my mom saying that she saw me on the webcast. MY MOM STILL LOVES COLDPLAY!

OH HAI, CHRIS MARTIN!

You can read an excellent summary of the night over at the CP Roadie Blog.

Songs played, according to my mom’s email:

Yellow
In My Place
Major Minus
Paradise
Viva La Vida
Charlie Brown
The Scientist
Clocks
Fix Me
Every Tear Is A Waterfall
Us Against The World

Printed setlist

Sure I had back sweat, front sweat, side sweat, and butt sweat, but today’s FREE Friendly Fires + Naked and Famous + Cults show for Summerstage at Central Park was SO FUN.

I was dancing up a storm, making a fool of myself. If you were in the crowd, you may remember me from such things as screaming really loudly and terrifying The Music Slut at the start of “Hurting,” or doing a whirlwind dance past you on the way to the front of the crowd during the performance of “Hawaiian Air” during the encore.

Never ever before have I seen this, but guitarist Edd Gibson actually had REVERSE sweat stains on his denim shirt — as in, the entire shirt was drenched with sweat except for this 2-by-3-inch space under his armpit. SWEATMASTING! Ed Macfarlane was of course wearing a hideous printed shirt and dancing like a possessed samba instructor. There was a sax player and a trumpet player. I SAID, I SAID, I SAID THERE WAS A SAX PLAYER. Sax at a show = Brilliant. <3

I'd like to buy a "F" for $200...

Openers Cults were perfectly dreamy as per usual, and New Zealand’s own Naked and Famous were no where near naked, but good times nonetheless.

"So hey, I'm going to this show, do you want to come?" "Sure!" "OK, well just MAKE SURE you wear all denim. It's kinda a thing."

SETLIST: Lovesick, Jump In Pool, Blue Cassette, True Love, On Board, Chimes, Skeleton Boy, Show Me Lights, Live Those Days Tonight, Hurting, Pull Me Back to Earth, Paris ENCORE: Hawaiian Air, Kiss of Life

Wow, it’s been just over three years since the last time I saw the Kooks perform live in concert. So I was pretty darn excited to see the British wunderkids at the intimate setting of the Bowery Ballroom.

Just before 10pm, the guys swaggered onto the stage, and the young ladies (let’s call them “Kookies”) in the front of course went mad — screaming and outstretching their arms before a single note was played. When I looked over at Luke Pritchard, I was pleased to see his burning love of V-neck shirts had not been forgotten after all these years — there he was in all his acute angle-loving glory, sporting a red V-neck shirt (seriously, this man has never met a V-neck he couldn’t love), skinny jeans, and boots (obvs.).

The Kooks hit the stage and the crowd went bezerkies.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something so magical about seeing The Kooks live. Without fail, I always have a great time and leave the venue with a smile on my face — and this time was no exception. I started off the show perched in the balcony, but (as anyone who has ever been to a concert with me) about 4 or 5 songs in I could barely contain myself — so I headed down to the floor to be with the “real” fans, and shake my groove thaannng.

The set was a mix of old favorites, like “Naive,” “Seaside” (encore), “Shine On,” and new songs off their forthcoming album, Junk of the Heart, like Lou Reed “Satellite of Love”-esque piano-based B-side “The Saboteur” and the extremely catchy “How D’Ya Like That“.

Pretty lights.

The new songs sound absolutely fantastic — they are a bit more romantic sounding, with a touch of new-wave influence, heavily synth and keyboard based tunes. A nice progression for The Kooks — a softer, more sensitive side, but definitely not faltering on some infectious hooks.

Luke Pritchard‘s got them moves like Jagger.

Something I also find amazing about this band is how polished and professional they are each and every single time I see them. When they come out, they just nail it every time — every Kooks concert is like a “greatest hits” jam because nearly every song they play is extremely catchy. It’s only a testament to their talent as songwriters, consistently churning out winning track after track.

After getting a sneak peek listen at the new songs during this show I CANNOT wait until their new album comes out in September. The boys are back, and better than ever! <3 <3 <3

I know this photo isn’t very good, but this is what I imagine Luke Pritchard looks like in all of those fangirl’s dreams.

Yes, I know, Hugh Harris (aka – “Hugh Kooks”) looks like he’s auditioning for a Flock of Seagulls tribute band, but you gotta love him.

When Luke Pritchard smiles, the whole world (or in this case, Bowery Ballroom) smiles too.

“Yessssssssssssssssssssss!” New drummer Chris Prendergast was pumped!

Thank you, thank you very much.

Girl wills The Kooks back to the stage via lit lighter.

This girl got up on some dude’s shoulders and clearly wanted to make love to Luke Pritchard.

“Heeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Catch you later dudes and dudettes!”

As I was taking a 1 am snack, I managed to catch the last 10 minutes of Graham Norton. Luck for me because I was able to witness the wonder that is Hurts performing an amazing song called “Sunday.”

HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS BAND UNTIL NOW?

They are so ’80s-licious. So poppy Interpol meets Depeche Mode meets Johnny Hates Jazz. Love it!

It looks like this British band’s only American date listed so far is at Coachella. You luck West Coast bastards!

Can someone please do something about this and have them book a NYC show before they get to Cali?

Hey Rachel-

Remember when we went to Iceland and we literally stood inches away from Hot Club de Paris at 12 Tonar in Reykjavik? Remember how we basically had to dodge their guitars when they swung them while playing? Remember how we totally loved them and thought they were so awesome?

Well I’m happy to report that Hot Club de Paris is still making music. They just released Free the Prerodactyl 3, which is a compilation of EP releases from 2010. According to the HCdP website, you can get it on CD in Europe and download only in the US.

Here’s a video for their song “Free the Prerodactyl 3.” Yes, it reminds me a little bit of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” meets the Polyphonic Spree, but I like it!

Later,
MM

PS – The same day we saw Hot Club de Paris we also saw lenticular clouds. It all comes around!

This weekend, after a well-received debut US show at the Bowery Ballroom, young British “buzz band” The Vaccines gathered up some street cred by playing the hip hole in the wall, Glasslands Gallery, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Jan 22nd.

Taking the stage just shy of 1 AM, the quartet quickly hopped on the staged at the sold out show, and singer Justin Young thanked the crowd for sticking around, before launching into their ra-ra anthem, “Wreckin’ Bar.”

It almost seems a little unfair that it took me longer to write this blog entry than it did for The Vaccines to play their compact 30-minute set. Performance-wise the brevity of their songs works against them when played concurrently — with songs barely stretching into the two minute mark, my tired old ears could barely figure out when one charmingly punkish song ended and the next one started.

I’m finding it a little hard to come to a conclusion about this band — the set seemed to fly by in an instant, and the group’s onstage charisma was not incredibly arresting, but keeping in mind that this group has been together less than a year, and already produced some solid (albeit incredibly short) songs, I’d be really very curious to see them as they get more gigs under their belt and perhaps start playing around with their set lists and performance arcs.

All in all, a tasty debut — but one that had me wanting just that much more.

Setlist below.

More on The Vaccine’s US debut: Spinner.com, Spin.com, NME, We All Want Someone to Shout For, Brooklyn Vegan

I admittedly have my ebbs and flows when it comes to my interest in music, and 2010 was definitely a year in which I leaned upon my American sensibilities with interest in more homegrown talent, with genuine affections for groups that many would label “standard” indie hipster favorites — Best Coast, Wavves, Warpaint, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. — mixed with deliciously horrible pop loves like Bruno Mars. But something in the air is telling me 2011 is going to be a strong year for UK obsessions.

To start 2011 with a Brit-flavored beginning, I’m going to direct you to a band I just saw on MTVU (possibly the only MTV channel that actually plays music videos) called The Vaccines. Up until a few months ago, they didn’t even have a website or MySpace page and only just played their first London gig in October, but as soon as they had, the British press got themselves into a frenzy, hailing The Vaccines as the leaders of a new wave of (British) music.

With lead singer Justin James Hayward-Young‘s ties to successful acts like Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, and Noah and the Whale, the band already has a head start in terms of respected industry buzz, but it remains to be seen whether the four piece will fare just as well here in the States. Sink or swim time comes in just a few weeks with their first New York City shows at Bowery Ballroom and Glasslands on the 20th and 22nd respectively. 32ft/sec is predicting a US win, while Soundbites is cautiously hedging his bets with a wait and see attitude. I’m on the hopefully optimistic side, their song “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra),” really winning me over with it’s fast, upbeat tempo, and the perfectly situated extremely British “crowd chanting section”. I’m rooting for these guys.

Mesmerizing twirling disco ball music video for “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)”:

More on The Vaccines: Drowned in Sound, My Old Kentucky Blog

I love Christmas music! And today Coldplay added to their Christmas canon (see Mince Spies) with the release of a new Yuletide tune, “Christmas Lights.”

The video, directed by Mat Whitecross and filmed in London on November 25th, features the band in a charming children’s Xmas panto-type setting, then opens up onto a Baz Lurhman-esque city of Christmas lights.

Happy holidays!

I’ve recently taken on the task of going through and tagging all my old photos, and it’s pretty hysterical the things I end up finding.

I’ve probably told the story about a very surreal Romeo and Juliet moment that all of Bowery Ballroom witnessed in August 2002, during an impossibly hard to get into “secret” show that Coldplay was playing at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, about a billion times.

The setting was a packed Bowery Ballroom. Both Gallagher brothers were in the audience (Oasis was playing a few gigs at Roseland that week). The audience was PUMPED. And then towards the end of the set Chris Martin sang “In My Place.” The room was pitch black, except for one lone spotlight on Chris, who seemed to be singing to the folks in the balcony.

Then someone standing next to me motioned to the balcony, where future wife Gwyneth Paltrow was sitting, and we all realized that by some happenstance she was ALSO illuminated by the light — so basically the only two people in the entire venue that had lights on them were Chris and Gwyneth. It was a little awwwkkwaaarrrddd… it seemed like Chris was singing directly to her.

Well little did I remember, apparently I had snapped a photo while all this was happening. Here’s a never before seen picture of Gwyneth Paltrow swaying her hands to sound of Chris Martin singing circa 2002:

Why I never posted this photo I have NO IDEA, but I’m so glad I found it. It also calls into question the fact that on Wikipedia it says Gwynie met Chris in October of 2002, when she was at the show in August 2002. Who knows, maybe she didn’t actually get to meet him that night…but we all know what happened!