After looking at the lineup, there was no way I could pass up The Governors Ball Music Festival held in New York City. BANKS, Interpol, and The Kills all in one day? How could I turn the other cheek? This was the 4th year of the festival and by far the most impressive bill to date (although I would have loved to have gone in 2012 to see Modest Mouse on the island). The weather was absolutely perfect and the drinks were way overpriced, but hey, what's a festival without overpriced drinks? A major highlight was finally catching the talented Jenny Lewis perform both new & old JL material as well as a few Rilo Kiley classics such as "Silver Lining" & "Moneymaker." I miraculously survived the front of the crowd for Sleigh Bells, and witnessed some strange moments during Tyler The Creators set which may or may not have been the youngest crowd at the festival. If I ever get the chance, you bet your bottom dollar I'll be making my way to the East Coast for more. Even looking back at it after a couple weeks have passed - I still get butterflies from how great the experience was. Enough of my blabbering, below are some photos I took on Siera's handy dandy iPhone (because why take it with a 4 when you can take it on an iPhone 5s?)
It’s a goal of mine to make it to a different festival each year in addition to Coachella & Outside Lands, and for the past 3 years I’ve been able to do so (Bonnaroo, FYF Fest, Primavera Sound.) This is my first time making it to The Governors Ball on Randalls Island so I honestly have no idea what to expect. What attracted me to this lineup? Interpol, Interpol, and…. you guessed it, INTERPOL. In addition to seeing one of my most favorite bands play in their own backyard after 3 years of pursuing side projects, the rest of the lineup seemed like a LYED dream come true. The bill overall is a little less than half of the amount of bands at Coachella, but it's been a minute since I've been to an actual music festival on an island. A smaller bill equals less conflicts (you would think) but of course there will always be a point where you have to sacrifice an experience for another one that might be more rewarding.
~~~~~~~~~~
FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
This will be my first time seeing: Jenny Lewis (I've caught her multiple times with Postal Service, but I must admit I'm ecstatic to finally hear her solo stuff live.) Here's the lyric video to her most recent release "Just One of the Guys."
Crossing my fingers that I make it early enough to catch: HAERTS TV On The Radio vs. Grimes: This is probably the most difficult conflict of the entire weekend for me, but I'm gonna have to go with TV on the Radio although Grimes has been giving a preview of what's to come this weekend (and it sounds amazing.)
Crossing my fingers that I make it early enough to catch: The Internet Lucius vs. CLASSIXX? This would be my 4th time catching the LA duo and I've yet to see Lucius, so I'm going with the latter this time. Their live performance on KEXP at The Triple Door is something worth getting hyped over (check it out here.) P.S. Did you know that Lucius was a feature on Friday Fascination last year?
Crossing my fingers that I make it early enough to catch: Meg Myers SKATERS vs. Bleachers? SKATERS all the way! The NYC four-piece played a show to a rather small crowd in Santa Barbara that I consider an opportunity that will never ever happen (more on that experience later.) Crossing my fingers they play their cover of "This Charming Man" by The Smiths. (If you're not familiar with SKATERS, check them out via their SoundCloud page.)
(Click here to catch the rest of the set times & more information about the fun that's about to take place this weekend in NYC.)
B-SIDES! According to the Urban Dictionary, "a B-side was originally known as the song on the flipside of a 12" or 7" vinyl single that backed the A-side, but wasn't the song promoted or received the radio play". Sometimes B-sides are eventually added to full length productions, and sometimes they're a throwaway album cut. B-sides generally have a rep for absolute crap quality, and made it easier to persuade radio stations/DJs to play the correct side. This isn't the case for the tracks I selected for today's post, these B-sides are more than worthy.
The B-Side to The Kills' second single "Future Starts Slow" which was released last year. I'm such a sucker for anything that this duo touches. If you ever have the time to look up more b-sides & unreleased tracks from The Kills THEN DO IT. Gems on gems on gems.
I'm not the biggest St. Vincent fan, but when I watched her set at last year's Treasure Island Music Festival-I was impressed with how amazing she sounded live. For this year's Record Store Day St. Vincent released a red vinyl 7" with "KROKODIL" as the A-side & "GROT" (the track above) as the B-side. I dig it.
Little Dragon can do no wrong, except for not including this track on their 2009 full-length Machine Dreams. The A-side "Feather" was included on the full-length, and is one of my favorites by them.
The B-side for "I Can Talk". Call me crazy, but this track should have been on their 2010 debut album Tourist History. Luckily they perform "Costume Party" live, and I will be seeing them in Philadelphia this September. :D
This is actually a Portishead cover, but this particular recording was used by The Civil Wars as the B-Side for their Billie Jean release on Record Store Day.
Nearly 2 years after releasing her debut album Lungs, Florence and the Machine released Lungs: The B-Sides, 11 tracks including two special covers & a few other gems. This is the opening track on the album, and the lyrics are probably some of my favorite from Flo overall.
Welcome to Round 2 of my favorite cover songs! Hope you weren't expecting to see the "Rhiannon" cover recently destroyed by Best Coast. Yes, I did give it a listen and the benefit of the doubt, but it was so painful that I couldn't stick around to hear the end.
If you would like to see for yourself, click on the links below.
What better way to pick yourself up from the weekend than with the mix of songs I'd listen to whenever I'd have to be wake up at 4am (for my 6am shifts, so fun). Just enough energy to have me two-stepping while brushing my teeth, but not to the point where I was shuffling.
James Murphy has a way with getting people to move their feet in various patterns, mine tends to be when my eyes are puffy and i'm barely making ends meet when picking out an outfit. This is Happening is an album that will pick your feet up, if you have the time (songs range from 5-8 minutes long). It's more than worth it, I promise.
What's better than hearing that songbird of a voice AKA Alison Mosshart in the morning? Hearing it paired with some electronic beats fueled by Sebastian. The Kills will remain a favorite of mine until the end of time (sounds cheesy, but it's the truth). Last September they played an amazing show at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles that I was lucky enough to experience, and this year they are also performing at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco! :)
In short: MAJA FOREVER. I've had one hell of an obsession with this woman and her pack of fearless men. I can't express how much love I have for this bitch and those catchy songs that trace back to my early high school days where life was all about my best friend Jackie & Vanilla Cherry Coke from the Ice Burgie. Excuse my language, but The Sounds are a fucking legend and your ears need to hear every single track from the 2003 full-length Living In America. "Don't Stop, Push It". They're fucking amazing to see live, and will always thrive on their show at the Fillmore in 2007. Madness
In case you weren't aware, that is Elizabeth Maurus on vocals (aka Lissie). This track is from Morgan Page's 2nd full-length album from 2010 which is also titled Believe. Lissie provides most of the vocals on this album, which has me believing they make a pretty good pair. Remember "The Longest Road"? That's Lissie too. Addictive beats.
Hangover or not, this song still has a sweet pick-me-up to whatever state of mind I'm in. I've yet to catch this track live, as I had to leave from their set after 3 tracks or so. It's a scientific way of expressing love for someone, and when that someone understands it- it's amazing.
Mmmm. here's another track from KASKADE that I can't get enough of. Remember the cosmic sounding female in the Dr. Dre video for "I need a doctor" or those mesmerizing vocals in P Diddy's "I'm Coming Home"? That's Skylar Grey, who also provides the vocals on this stellar track. Her voice & Kaskade's brilliance paired together is uplifting, and much needed for a sunday.
Both of these tracks were released on the 2nd full length album The New Romance in 2003. If the style/word "scene" rings a bell for you, you've probably brushed upon this band years ago. If you were wondering, yes I was under that "scene spell" just enough to create my own pathetic Xanga and thrive over The Blood Brothers whenever I was alone. Sadly Pretty Girls Make Graves broke-up in 2007 after forming a band 6 years before in Seattle, the name did come from the title of a Smiths song which is traced back to Jack Kerouac.
P.S. TOMORROW NIGHT IN SANTA BARBARA AT SOHO IS THE CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH SHOW. Expect some groovy tunes of theirs on tomorrow morning's post.
P.P.S. Thanks for visiting my blog! If you don't feel like leaving a comment on here, feel free to tweet/follow me at twitter.com/emponce ! :)
