LYED Cheat Sheet

So I had to put LYED on pause for a bit & left the Lonestar State last Tuesday for a sweet lil va-cay in California. How sweet was it you ask? Well, I was lucky enough to snap this picture of Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara on a day when it likes to show off its amazing features. I miss it already! While I was "home" I was fortunate enough to catch Ellie Goulding & St. Lucia at the Hollywood Palladium. This was the final stop for the Halcyon Days Tour, and for being a bit under the weather I thought Ellie pulled it off quite well! I must admit, I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the crowd during St. Lucia's set. St. Lucia is an incredible up-and-coming band from New York, and if you haven't heard of them then check out this gem of a song featured below. 

This isn't the first I've mentioned about St. Lucia on here, and definitely won't be the last. Since 2012 they've released a self-titled EP plus two EP releases for "We Got It Wrong" & "September"  which are all impressive in my opinion. To sum up the experience, hearing their old & unreleased material LIVE exceeded my expectations. Their performance was full of energy and I was very surprised to witness the lack of movement from those in the crowd around me. Then again, leading up to St. Lucia's performance I overheard countless comments and questions regarding this "Saint Lucy or Saint Lucca" band. Anyways, if you ever have the chance to catch St. Lucia live, I highly recommend it! Now back to Ellie Goulding: she put up a good fight overall. Since the first time I saw her live (Coachella 2011), she has grown immensely in stage performance and overall delivery as a musician. I must admit, I was a bit sad about the fact that she only performed one track with her guitar (Guns & Horses) & wished "Your Biggest Mistake" made it onto the set list. Yes, that happens to be my favorite song from her in case you were wondering. ;) The entire performance was a treat from beginning to end, but she won me over with "I Know You Care" from her sophomore release Halcyon which is about her father. I could go on and on about her set which featured everything from her standout cover of Elton John's "Your Song" to "Without Your Love" a song that every individual needs to hear (after a falling out or break-up.) 

A few days ago it was announced that Ellie will be touring with Bruno Mars this summer & if you're curious about when and where they'll be playing - click here!

Now for the good part of the post - the music! Since it's been quite some time since you've been given a post full of new tunes, I decided to create a "cheat sheet" aka a playlist via Spotify with 32 tracks that range from new releases to new finds for LYED. Hope this helps with satisfying your craving for new tunes! Enjoy :) 

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Tours & More.....New Music

What's better than listening to your favorite band in the car or in the shower? SEEING THEM LIVE! This is definitely the case for me, (actually I can think of a select few that didn't impress me live but i'll save that for another post). Recently I've been stumbling across tour announcement after tour announcement, and I just can't keep it to myself what my eyes have seen! & tis the season for new music... as this season seems to continuously keep giving. 

Twin Shadow recently announced a string of tour dates that will take place two weeks after the July 10th release of his sophomore LP album Confess on 4AD. Quite excited when I read that he will be performing at a local venue here in Santa Barbara (SoHo Restaurant & Music Club) on August 18th! For a list of tour dates and more information about Twin Shadow himself, click here!

CocoRosie - We Are On Fire

This is their first track since falling off the face of the media world in 2009. If this is your first time listening to CocoRosie, you're in for one hell of a treat. CocoRosie was first formed in 2003 by sisters Bianca & Sierra Casady. What first comes to mind when I think of CocoRosie is indeed "freak-folk", a term several others have described this duo as. Bianca & Sierra each have their own individual singing style (Bianca's exotic mix of hip-hop/folk vocals while Sierra's hand-crafted sound stems from studying opera and is as dreamy as her kaleidoscope look). If their unique vocal collaboration doesn't grasp your ears, then you should know that this duo uses wind-up children's toys and a variety of gadgets that produce animal noises which definitely increases the freak in their sound. The single is officially out on June 5th with the b-side track "Tearz For Animals" on Touch & Go. They'll be coming to the golden state next month:

June 6 - The Regency Ballroom (San Francisco)

June 7 - Rio Theatre (Santa Cruz)

June 8 - Bellyup Tavern (Solana Beach)

June 9 - Luckman Fine Arts Complex (Los Angeles)

After an amazing first go-around for Bombay Bicycle Club, their upcoming US/Canada tour through the US & Canada has been extended to the west coast ! After catching BBC back in February (San Diego on the 14th & Los Angeles on the 15th), I wasn't sure that I would have the opportunity to catch them in California for awhile. They put on an amazing set both nights, and I highly recommend it if they're coming to your city. Here's Bombay Bicycle Club telling you why you should listen to them & their latest album A Different Kind of Fix in the time-span of 60 seconds. 

Ah, this gets me every time. 

The Weeknd - Get In There

This is an unreleased track by The Weeknd, and was the first track ever recorded (2006/2007). My, has he developed since then. 

& if you haven't heard already, The Weeknd will be joining Florence + the Machine on tour later this year, along with The Maccabees and Blood Orange on select dates. Just the sound of those four names is a match-made in musical heaven for yours truly.

Silversun Pickups - Skin Graph

Today marks the release date of Neck of the Woods, the new full-length album from Silversun Pickups. It's almost uncalled for to hear a Silversun Pickups track that's less than 4 minutes long (an exception would be Broken Bottles, you bet I did my homework). I truly appreciate the longer length tracks, maybe it's because i've developed a high level of patience thanks to working in retail. With Silversun Pickups, it's a different story. Each track is like a spectral amusement ride, and in order to get the full satisfying effect-you need to listen to each track in it's entirety. Brian Aubert's raspy hiding-under-the-bleachers voice will always be one of a kind, and I love the way it brings me back to their last album Swoon with this first track "Skin Graph".  

& with The XX recently announcing their summer tour through Europe which begins next week in London, one can only hope that this is a sign that the new album will be released before we imagined it to be. (I've listened to their first self-titled album so much that I can almost recite it backwards, yet I still get the butterflies when the tracks pop-up on shuffle. 

& maybe a US tour? (fingers crossed). They released a demo titled "Open Eyes" last December, check it out below!

Until next time......

New Album From Oberhofer/ New Music Video From Swim Deep: TREATS!

Tis the season for new album releases....




The debut album from Oberhofer, titled Time Capsules II, was released today just after making their television debut on the David Letterman show 5 days ago. If you're feeling a bit tired, this might be the perfect pick-me-up. "Away Frm U" is the track they performed and actually has been around for about 2 years (first released as a single with the track "Dead Girls Dance" in 2011, and earlier this year on the Time Capsules II EP). There's a few changes on the track from when it was first released, but I believe that it only made the track stronger. Brad Oberhofer's voice.....need i say more? 
Anyways, I REALLY like this album a lot & a few standout tracks besides "Away Frm U" are (in my opinion): HEART, Gold, and I Could Go.  This New York band gives off a lo-fi vibe that's been hanging out in your garage for a few years with just enough age to make you wish that you can listen to it on vinyl.........or really loud in your car. 

If you happen to be one of the lucky ones attending Coachella this year, these guys are playing on Day 3/Sunday. You can bet your bottom dollar that i'll be at their set during the first weekend. :)


P.S. SWIM DEEP just released a video for their track "King City" that's catchy as hell. Three guys from Birmingham living the life that will immediately remind you of what goes on in Venice Beach. 
Do those ears a favor & check it out.