Now Playing: The Lone Bellow

When I first heard of the band The Lone Bellow back in January I was intrigued because they were described as a Brooklyn Country band.  Country music. In Brooklyn. Really? I couldn't help the initial picture in my head of twanging music, big hair and cowboy boots.

So I had to find out more and as I always do, I jumped onto Spotify and was immediately charmed by the song, "Green Eyes And A Heart of Gold". Who wouldn't relate to the lyrics, "You're broke in New York City, the F train takes us home...", especially if you happen to live off the F train as I do. Soon afterwards I found myself humming the addictive and catchy, "You Don't Love Me Like You Used To".

While I am fan of folk and bluegrass music, I have a hard time calling myself a country music fan. But if this is country music, perhaps I am changing my mind because I am a fan of The Lone Bellow.  Perhaps because the band members, lead singer/songwriter Zach Williams, guitarist Brian Elmquist, and singer Kanene Pipkin, are Southern transplants who live in Brooklyn. I can relate to the soul searching, the growing pains, the words of betrayal, tragedy and in the darkness hope.

I encourage you to check them out, there is not a song on their debut album that I don't like. If you like what you hear you can see them live with Ivan & Alyosha at Santos Party House on April 18, 2013. I've got my tickets!

Now Listening: Blip Blip Bleep

Artist: Blip Blip Bleep

Recommended If You Like: The Postal Service, LCD Soundsystem, Stars, Metric, The Bird and the Bee

I first heard of Blip Blip Bleep because a friend of mine had a brief stint in the band during their 2nd EP, Alarm Clock, Snooze Bar, Get Up. However, I soon found myself listening to the catchy electro tunes on repeat and knew that even had my friend not been in the band, I would still gladly attend their shows and listen to the music. The Brooklyn based trio consist of immensely talented producer Sean Han, singer/keyboardist Alexa Danner and drummer Jojo Schwarz.

Their debut LP, Like Track Stars just came out on June 29, 2010. And while I haven't had chance to check out the whole album yet, but I've been stuck on Freak You Out the past few weeks. While this may be Blip Blip Bleep's very first official music video but the simple concept was well done and definitely memorable. To hear more, you can stream tracks on myspace.com/blipblipbleep or click to download a free mp3 of Freak You Out.

For you New Yorkers to keep in mind, Blip Blip Bleep will be performing alongside Team Genius and Tenderbox at Mercury Lounge on September 9, 2010. PS. They are pretty adorable & awesome live!

Weekend Fun

Bonne Weekend everyone, just thought I'd share some of the fun things going on in and around NYC that make it so much fun in the summer to live in! Not sure what I'll make it to but hoping to make it to at least a few of these things!

Who: Alice by Temperley & Temperley London Sale
What: Up to 50 percent off Alice by Temperley. Polka-dot miniskirts was $250, now $125. Studded party frocks was $395, now $198. Tiger-print sundresses was $295, now $148. Temperley London up to 60% off! Studded leather jacket was $2,095, now $838. Rope-detail top was $595, now $238.
When: Now through August 5, 2010. Mon–Sat 11am–7pm, Sun noon–6pm.
Where: 453 Broome St (at Mercer St) 2nd floor. 212-219-2929

Who: New York Philharmonic
What: Free Concert in Brooklyn of Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Prokofiev. Click here for all the deets.
When: July 16, 2010. Friday 8pm
Where: Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Who: Siren Music Festival
What: Free all day music festival with headliners Matt & Kim and New Yorker's The Pains of Being Pure at Heart sponsored by the Village Voice. For full deets click here.
When: July 17, 2010. Saturday noon-9pm
Where: Coney Island, Brooklyn

Who: The Pool Parties
What: Free show in B'Burg featuring Murder City Devils, Obits, Jeff the Brotherhood, SilverGhost. More deets here.
When: July 18, 2010. Sunday 2pm til whenver
Where: East River State Park, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Who: 3rd Ward’s 3rd Annual Pig Out!
What: Chef Alex McCrery and his team from Goods, will turn 200 lbs. of hog into cheap and tasty summer eats. Including Pulled Pork Sandwich with Red Cabbage Slaw $6, Pork and Okra Gumbo $5, Sugar Snappea, Sungold Tomato, Pork Belly Salad $5 and more. FREE beer from Fire Island Beer Co until they "run out". Full deets here.
When: July 18, 2010. Sunday 2pm-9pm
Where: 195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn

Who: Bastille Day Brooklyn
What: Bastille Day, aka French Independence Day, means that Smith street will be full of sand and become the grounds for the world’s largest petanque tournament (French bocce ball). Pastis drinks, live music and moules frites available thanks to Bar Tabac & Robin Des Bois
When: July 18, 2010. Sunday 11am-10pm.
Where: Smith Street (B/n Bergen & Pacific)

Who: Stinky Brooklyn
What: Beer & cheese tasting flights from one of my fave cheese shops for just $10 if you buy tix in advance! $15 at door.
When: July 18, 2010.
Where: 261 Smith Street (b/n Douglass & Degraw)

The Ting Tings at the Kin Concert Series

So lately thanks to the lovely Clutch 22, I've been testing out the new Kin One phone from Microsoft. You may have noticed from our twitter feed that I've been posting a lot more often from sales and on the go thanks to Kin!

To promote the hip/youth appeal Kin has been throwing events all over the country! Right now they are having a Sampling Tour to let you test out the Kin and win some fun prizes.

A few weeks back I had a chance to check out one of the Kin sponsored events with the The Ting Tings at the Alliance Community Center! The venue was fairly intimate but not overly crowded and they had DJ Flosstradamus on hand to warm up the crowd and complimentary drinks that made for a great night out. I had an amazing time hanging out and jamming to The Ting Tings with so many lovely lady bloggers including Fashion Pulse, Midtown Girl, My It Things, Gala Darling, Miss Whoever You Are and Clutch 22!

I love the Ting Tings and were glad that they played most of my fave tracks! Katie White is ADORABLE and they were a such a fun band to watch live!

Anyways I'll continue trying the phone out and let you know what I think soon! So far I find it very straightforward to use but wish it had a few more functions/programs but I think these are currently in work.

With Miss Whoever You Are

Zac Posen for Target Pop-Up Store

As the Zac Posen for Target Collection reach nears it's launch date on April 25, 2010, New Yorkers can once again have the opportunity to shop the collection early during a 24 hour Pop-Up shop. Unlike previous pop-up stores run by Target this one will not last days but it will be a 24 hour party featuring performances by The Like and live DJs.

Check out The Like, decked out in the Zac Posen for Target collection in a new video directed by Gia Coppola playing their hit song "Fair Game". Coppola and Posen met years ago when he was first starting out in fashion, while Coppola and members of the girl group have been friends since high school. Inspired by old footage of “The Beatles” in their hotel room, the video shows the girls primping for a show.

Can't wait for this collection to hit stores as it's priced from $17.99 to $199.99. I personally want the gold dress, gold bikini and Tiger Print dress!

Who: Zac Posen for Target Pop-Up
What: 24 Hr Shopping event before the collection before it hits stores nationwide on April 25th. Will include performances by The Like and DJs Kid America, Luisiul, The Other Will
When: April 15-16, 2010. Thurs 11pm to Fri 11pm
Where: 481 8th Ave (at 34th St)

Audio Obsession: Marina and the Diamonds

Artist: Marina and the Diamonds
Recommended If You Like: Little Boots, Dragonette, Annie, I Blame Coco

My most recent audio obsession has been Marina and the the Diamonds, who have been on repeat all this week ever since my friend Nick introduced her to me by telling me that her's was a MANDATORY concert. Unfortunately, I missed the concert and now I am hoping that she returns to NYC soon but looks like it will be a while. However anyone going to SXSW I highly recommend as she'll be performing both March 19 & 20th!

Marina and the Diamonds is the stage name of Marina Diamandis, a London based half Greek half Welsh solo artist. Her debut album The Family Jewels was just released on February 22, 2010 in the UK but won't be released stateside until May 25, 2010. Honestly, I think it's one of the best albums I've heard in a long time. The catchy electropop tunes and strong vocals will have you dancing in your chair at work! My fave tracks are Hollywood, I am Not a Robot, Mowgli's Road, Obsessions, Shampain and Are you Satisfied. You can download a Remix of her song Hollywood for free here, stream from her myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds or for the most tracks, check out her YouTube channel.

Going to See Kylie Minogue Tonight!

I can't wait! My friend Rosalin and I are going to see Kylie Minogue at Hammerstein Ballroom tonight. I've written before about how much I love her, so I'm sure you can imagine my giddiness right now. In spirit of tonight's show, here's Kylie's video for "Slow".

Charly Greane at Le Poisson Rouge - Sat Sep 12th

I am so excited for the weekend! Four day work week, holla! If you're around this Saturday, you should make your way over to Le Poisson Rouge for Crooked Disco's Play Date party. Up and coming MC Charly Greane will be flying in from France for his US debut! Plus DJ sets from Tektite and resident DJs Morsy & Kestar.

Electro, house, disco and good hip hop - it's going to be a crazy dance party! This is the kind of thing you bring all your friends to. And did I already mention Charly Greane? Rapper and French? Done. In all seriousness, his beats are so sick and I'm really looking forward to see him live.
Who/What: Crooked Disco's Play Date featuring live performance from Charly Greane and DJ sets from Tektite, Morsy & Kestar
When: Saturday, September 12th, 10:00pm - 4:00am
Where: Le Poisson Rouge (138 Bleecker St at Sullivan), 21+

The party is free all night (!!!), but I would recommend showing up by 11:30 for the drink specials and to catch the live performance.

Diesel Only the Brave presents Common tickets

Who: Diesel Only The Brave and Macy's
What: The first 500 customers to make a Diesel Only The Brave purchase over $117.50 at select Macy's locations will receive TWO tickets to and intimate live performance at Capitale with Common on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009.
When: Beginning August 10th, 2009
Where: Macy’s Herald Square, Rego Park, Kings Plaza, Garden State Plaza and Cross Country

Summer Dance Parties!

One of my favorite things about summer are the outdoor dance parties. It’s been kind of rough this year with all the rain and compared to previous years the line ups so far have been kind of lackluster. But I think NY summer is going out with a bang. We got a couple goodies this weekend.
Saturday, August 8th
Disco in the Dark feat. Boys Noize, Drop the Lime, Canyons
Central Park Summerstage 3-7pm, free, all ages

SummerStage is located at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Enter the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue on the east side or at 72nd Street and Central Park West on the west side.

Sunday, August 9th
Brooklyn Pool Party series feat. Simian Mobile Disco, The Fiery Furnaces, Dark Meat, The Netherlands
East River State Park 2 pm, free, all ages

East River State Park is located in north Williamsburg. L line to Bedford Avenue exit; walk 3 blocks west to Kent Avenue, one block north to N. 8th Street entrance

2009 Diesel:U:Music Concert Tour

HEARTSREVOLUTION and The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! were announced as this year's winners of the 2009 Diesel:U:Music competition. Now they will be touring as part of this year's Diesel concert series that will hit major cities across the globe including New York, Miami, Paris, London, Beijing and Tokyo.

The concert will be in New York at Webster Hall on July 30th. Some of the other acts include SugarRockCatwalk recommended Passion Pit, Theophilus London, The Roots and more. Tickets are free, but limited.

How to score tickets? Show up at participating stores in your fave pair of Diesel jeans on any of the below dates:

July 25th and 26th at Lexington at 60th Street
July 27th and 28th at 5th Avenue and 54th Street
July 29th and 30th at Union Square at 14th Street.

Giveaways start at 5pm each day and continue until supplies last... If last year was any indication, expect madness!

Let it Snow...Miike Snow

Artist: Miike Snow

Recommended If You Like: Little Boots, La Roux, Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend

When I first heard Miike Snow on LSTN #3 and 4 from Urban Outfitters I originally thought it was just one person but later I found out that it's actually a 3 man band. Two Swedish musicians/DJs Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (best known as production duo Bloodshy & Avant for their work on Britney Spears’ Toxic) teamed up with American producer Andrew Wyatt to create drum-heavy synth rock that has me hooked. Check out tracks Animal, Burial and Plastic Jungle. They've also remixed some tracks by Vampire Weekend and Passion Pit.

The self titled album, Miike Snow, was released on May 12, 2009 and they are currently streaming their entire album on myspace.com/miikesnow or you can download some free tracks courtesy of RCRD LBL here. Miike Snow will be playing at The Supermarket in Toronto on Friday, June 5th and their US debut will be in Brooklyn at Studio B this Saturday June 6, 2009. Tickets are only $5 in advance!

Amanda Blank, Sassy & Sexy

Artist: Amanda Blank
Recommended If You Like: Kid Sister, M.I.A., Spank Rock, Diplo

Amanda Blank is Philly's hottest female rapper. She's been collaborating with Santogold, Diplo, M.I.A. and Ghostface Killah just to name a few. She's writes pop songs, though her lyrics are far from bubble gum. Her lyrics are overtly sensual and fearless.

The first time I heard Amanda was on Spank Rock's "Bump" from their album YoYoYoYoYo. I was hooked to her unique vocals and amazed by how clever and unapologetic her lines were. Track 6, I still remember; I had that ish on loop.

You can stream some tracks on her MySpace page and download Amanda Blank's first official single "Might Like You Better" at rcrdlbl.com.

I'm really excited because Amanda Blank's debut album I Love You is scheduled to come out this July on Downtown Records. And she's going to be at Le Poisson Rouge this Friday, June 5th. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door.

We Love Little Boots!

Erin and I saw Little Boots earlier tonight at Le Poisson Rouge. She was so incredible and too freakin' cute! We were fans before, but after tonight, we're both madly in love. A proper write up coming soon, but in the mean time (because I'm so excited) here's a video from tonight.

The Presets, Electro from Down Under

Artist: The Presets
Recommended If You Like: The Knife, Junior Boys, Digitalism

Some call it dance punk. Others say industrial techno. Label them what you will. Just give them a listen if you haven't already. I've "If I Know You" and "A New Sky" from their new album Apocalypso on repeat for weeks.

Most of the album will make you want to dance, and if you're a runner, it's a great soundtrack. I speak from personal experience. I hate running, but if I have The Presets playing, I can do it. Their spacey sound and airy background vocals help my mind drift, and the heavy beats keep my heart rate up. Enough about exercise, The Presets are an amazing duo from Australia, and they're currently touring the US and Canada.

New York, they're going to be at Webster Hall tomorrow night. The show is already sold out, but there's an after party at Le Poisson Rouge, kicking off at midnight. There will be a $5 cover. For more information, click here.


To hear and see more, check out The Presets' MySpace page.

Best New MV: Her Morning Elegance

Oren Lavie, the multi-talented Israeli singer-songwriter has captured my heart with Her Morning Elegance. This is definitely one of the most creative music videos I've seen in a long time and the beautiful folk based melodies are easy to love.

In addition to being a songwriter, Oren also has written and directed several plays on Off-Broadway and is writer of funny books for sad children. He released his debut album ‘The Opposite Side of The Sea’ last year under his own label and this song was featured in a Chevrolet commercial, so the tune may be familiar. This is Oren's first attempt at creating "Moving Pictures". Frankly I can't wait to see more. He will be playing at Largo in Los Angeles on February 11th at 9pm.

You can hear more tracks on myspace.com/orenlavie.

The lovely music video below is a great way to start of your day. Thanks Mina for the intro =).

Lykke Li Concert

In case you missed the sold out concert, I took some vids and uploaded to youtube for your viewing pleasure. As I mentioned, Lykke Li is such a powerful performer who loves being on stage. Enjoy!

Oh Land of Style

After Lani's post of Oh Land, I felt compelled to check out the Danish songstress for myself Friday night at the Living Room.

I found myself intrigued not only by her music but also by her fun style. Her satin dress had super fun draped sleeves that added the perfect touch of drama to her quirky dance moves.
I liked that although she was wearing black and orange, thanks to the addition of grey sheen tights, she does not look anything like Halloween. She topped off her look with an adorable pom pom hat, haute fashion feather eyelashes and utilitarian boots for some edge. She said that my headband and her eyelashes match!

Free Classical Music and Opera Sept 23-Oct 8

Growing up I was always surrounded by classical music and opera thanks to my music loving father and although I always begged him to turn it off growing up, I've come to have an appreciation for it lately even if you won't find it on my i-pod. Usually watching opera is pricey and so I'm hoping I'll have a chance to take advantage of at least one of these events.

Tues. Sept 23rd, 5pm
New York Philharmonic - Cornerstones

Wed. Sept 24th, 5:30pm
New York City Opera - Love American Style

Thurs. Sept 25th, 5:30pm
Orchestra of St. Lukes - Clash Tango

Tues. Sept 30th, 5:30pm
The Metropolitan Opera - Lindemann Young Artist Development Program

Wed. Oct 1st, 5:30pm
New York City Opera - Faraway Places

Thurs. Oct 2nd, 5:30pm
The New York Pops - The Bernstein Songbook

Mon. Oct 6th, 5:30pm
New York City Opera - Variations on America

Wed. Oct 8th, 5:30pm
The Metropolitan Opera - Lindemann Young Artist Development Program