No Tricks Just Treats

It's the day before Halloween, and after experiencing my fair share of Halloween adventures while living in Isla Vista (which usually lasted up to a week) - I must admit that it just isn't the same when the 31st rolls around. This year is a different story as I am especially excited for the upcoming celebration because I will be seeing Arcade Fire, or should I say The Reflektors at the Hollywood Palladium! Yesterday they released their 4th studio album Reflektor, which I'm just going to go ahead and call it one of my favorites from this year thus far (in my book.) I'll leave the reviewing to Lindsay Zoladz of P4K who couldn't have said it better in her album review of Reflektor.

Grab Reflektor on iTunes here!

Last night The Reflektors performed a "secret show" in LA, which happened to be at Capitol Records. Attendees were granted tickets through a series of "social media tasks" along with a contest courtesy of The Music Experiment! For the Palladium show, those who pre-ordered Reflektor were given a code to purchase pre-sale tickets. For the rest of us, tickets went on sale at 12pm last Saturday, and sold out in about a minute. If you were one of the lucky ones who managed to get a ticket by clicking at the speed of light, I'll see you there!

 

In addition to Arcade Fire, White Denim released their latest Corsicana Lemonade yesterday as well - an album that's true to their Texan roots. Here's a heads up for all my Texans, White Denim will be headlining the KXT radio's Holiday show on 12/14 at The Live Oak, aka the one place I didn't catch a show during the 10 months I lived there. Here's the link for tickets/more info! 

After a few solid listens via Spotify and a couple days worth of surfing live performances via YouTube (e.g. the one above) I'm looking forward to watching them open for Tame Impala at the Belasco Theatre tonight! 

Like what you hear? Do your ears a favor & grab Corsicana Lemonade here!  

If you didn't already know, you can now stream Small Sounds, the forthcoming 5-track EP from Tennis via Pitchfork Advance by clicking here! 

On Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing Yeezus himself as well as Kendrick Lamar at the Staples Center! It was a great experience, but what added to the Yeezus cake were the comments I heard from those surrounding where I sat. When I stumbled upon this on BuzzFeed, it was nice to know I wasn't the only one hearing obscenities in response to Kanye West's unique two-hour performance. 

If you haven't heard of F M L Y B N D already, then today is your lucky day. I stumbled across this six-piece band from Isla Vista all thanks to my good friend Vanessa Palmer. They just released their debut EP Gold, which is a great way to define their first body of work. F M L Y B N D recently played at the 2nd annual New Noise Block Party in Santa Barbara a couple weekends ago along with Cayucas and HAIM as the headliner! 

P.S. If you head over to their SoundCloud account, you'll find a handful of songs that are free downloads! This band has an exciting future ahead of them.
Last, but not least - the boys of Holy Ghost! recently remixed RAC's "Let Go" featuring Kele from Bloc Party & MNDR. It's a fun one, and you can grab it on iTunes here!  

True Life: Texas Turned Me Into A Record Junkie

  Here's a little insight into where I spent most of my time while I lived in Texas. Visiting record stores is probably one of my favorite things to do when I have a day/night off. 
Wait a minute let me rephrase that, it IS my favorite thing to do. It's always best when I have an entire day to kill and my favorite pair of headphones (VMODA Crossfade LP) by my side. In addition to checking out record stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, I had the pleasure of visiting the amazing Waterloo Records, an independent record store situated in Austin, Texas. There's honestly nothing better then digging through rows & rows of vinyl from artists you love and appreciate. 

FOREVER YOUNG RECORDS

Location: 2955 Texas 360, Grand Prairie, Texas 75052

This was the first record store I visited in what felt like ages. I was recommended to it by a fellow co-worker who also suggested that I check out the other record shops featured in this post! Thanks Vic! :) 

When they say: 

"We are the largest record stores in the state of Texas with over 11,000 square feet of over 250,000 CDs, Tapes, LPs, and 45's. We've served the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over 26 years and 

counting." They aren't lying! This place is incredible!

I've never been in an atmosphere where I was literally surrounded by records/cds/dvds from wall to wall & floor to ceiling. It didn't take long until I found myself hanging out on the upside-down milk crates.  
First purchase: Japandroids Celebration Rock & Ladyhawke's 2008 self-titled debut. Some of my favorite finds include: Daughter's first 2 EP's as well as their debut release If You Leave. ALSO, finding Turn On The Bright Lights: The 10th Anniversary Edition by Interpol was a very special moment for me. That album rules, period.

Most Recent Purchase: Settle by Disclosure which is without a doubt one of the best albums of 2013. 

Also, I picked up Future Islands' On The Water - an oldie but a genuine goodie. 

Forever Young Records also made it onto Buzzfeed's "27 Breathtaking Record Stores You Have To Shop At Before You Die."

GOOD RECORDS

Location: 1808 Greenville Ave, Dallas, Texas 75206

This is the farthest of the three stores from where I lived, so unfortunately I've only visited Good Records twice. I find this record store to be the most organized and "clean" of the three although it is rather small. With that said, this quality that this store carries is borderline perfect. If you can visit Good Records, and only leave with one record - then good for you. 
First purchase(s): I Love You by Amanda Blank & Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade. 

Most recent purchase: Olympia by Austra & Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths. 

DOC'S RECORDS AND VINTAGE

Location: 9522 Camp Bowie West, Fort Worth, Texas 76116

Last, but not least - this is where I spent the majority of my first ever "Record Store Day" at. It's a rather small building with low ceilings located in the middle of nowhere, but having a staff who are willing to help locate an item makes the distance absolutely worth it.
First purchase: Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse & The Satanic Satanist by Portugal. The Man
Most Recent Purchase: This is Happening by LCD Soundsystem 

Four Songs Your Ears Need to Hear Right Meow

I'll be the first to admit that I've never played Grand Theft Auto, but when my newsfeed was flooded with "GTA V" statuses, links, photos, etc... I had no other choice but to figure out what the hype was about. Before I could get into the game itself, I stumbled across the Soundtrack - which is one amazing compilation of music from artists such as Health, Wavves, Neon Indian, Yeasayer, and Age of Consent. "Colours" is a funky little number that made me quite curious in getting to know about this mysterious duo from across the pond.

"Another Story" is the latest to be released from The Head and The Heart's forthcoming sophomore release Let's Be Still due out October 15th (via Sub Pop.) This track sounded beautiful from the Outside Lands livestream when they performed it this year in San Francisco along with their other new hit "Shake."  Needless to say I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album from this talented band from the Pacific Northwest.  

Without a doubt these are three artists I would have never imagined to collaborate together, but am not an ounce surprised that it's one of the best tracks my ears have heard in awhile. This is apart of the Hunger Games Catching Fire Soundtrack, along with new music from The National, Phantogram, Lorde, and more! 

P.S. Last night's post on LYED featured Lorde's debut album along with two other new releases, check it out if you haven't already!

Saint Motel covering Major Lazer, who da thunk it? After catching a show of theirs at Lola's Saloon in Fort Worth, Texas - I am digging this band to a T. This cover is nothing short of delicious, and Click here to listen to their latest single "My Type" which sounds just as amazing live as it does on SoundCloud. 

Open Up Those Ears | 3 Releases I'm Currently Obsessed With At The Moment

Can you blame me for including this stellar album in the mix? It's great, but shockingly isn't my favorite release of the week. "Team" takes the cake for my favorite song on Pure Heroine - it's equally as catchy as "Royals", if not more. That isn't to say that the rest of the album isn't, because it's impressive starting with the mesmerizing opener "Tennis Court" to the very end of "A World Alone" the album's longest track. Ella Yelich-O'Connor (aka Lorde) has displayed some of the best & most honest songwriting in Pure Heroine which won't surprise me if this album places in everyone's "Top 10 of 2013" list.

P.S. "Ribs" is the iTunes free song of the week, click here to grab it before the week ends!

HAERTS, a four-piece currently based in Brooklyn were one of the bands featured at this year's Gorilla Vs. Bear Showcase back in August & I heard nothing but great things about their performance. Hemiplegia is their debut EP, and features both old & new tunes for our ears to enjoy. 

   

HAIM is the kind of band that makes you proud to be a Californian, or maybe that's just me.  After releasing 3 EP's & "The Wire" as a single, I had an idea of what would be featured on Days Are Gone, but was extremely curious to see/hear the *new* tracks filling in the rest of the album. Needless to say my jaw dropped when I listened to "If I Could Change Your Mind" and continued to stay on the floor for the remainder of the album. "Forever" is the first proper song that most of us have heard from the LA trio, and just when I thought it couldn't be outdone - the version on DAG is perfected to a crisp with Danielle Haim's voice sounding at it's best.  

 

P.S. HAIM will be headlining the New Noise Block Party in Santa Barbara on October 19th, and you'd be a fool to miss out if you're in the area! Visit http://newnoisesb.org/shows.cfm for more information regarding the 5th annual New Noise Music Festival. Cayucas will be joining them at the Block Party, a band once featured as a "Friday Fascination"on LYED!