West by Midwest: Archive

Great song to start the morning with -...

Apr 27th

Mar 20th

Feb 28th

Jan 21st

Ce Jeu by Yelle Thanks, Yelle, for making every...

Jan 18th

Tickets

I bought tickets to the Freelance Whales at Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, January 20th, The Drums with Surfer Blood at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday, January 13th, and Phantogram on Friday, February 12th at Mercury Lounge. Tip: I bought the tickets in person at Mercury Lounge, which saves all those “convenience” fees. I bought all three tickets for $40 or so. It’s open from 12-7...

Dec 27th

Dec 15th

Dec 14th

Class Actress

With the effervescence and breathy female voice similar to Chairlift but with the pop undertones to keep the songs moving and structured, Class Actress from Brooklyn brings me much happiness on this start to a weekend.

Dec 12th

Ra Ra Riot at BAM Feb. 5

I’ve been dying to see Ra Ra Riot for decades, and by decades I mean a few months. They will be playing a show on February 5 at BAM, with another group of radical indie kids, The Antlers. Tickets go on sale on Monday. I think I’m gonna snag one for a cool $20. In related news, we should get Miike Snow tix soon for one of those March shows he’s playing. B and I really missed the...

Dec 10th

Watch

So I’ve been meaning to post this video since, like, three weeks ago, but alas I suck at life. So there’s that. Anyways, enjoy.

Dec 10th

One day God came down from Heaven and appeared...

Dec 8th

Neon Indian

80% chance I will see Neon Indian at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday, the 15th if you’re interested. Lots of synthesizers. I’d recommend starting with “Deadbeat Summer.”

Dec 7th

The Suzan

Ah yeah. I met these people at Whole Foods on Bowery. They’re crazy, tiny Japanese lady rockers who enjoy making homemade cards and flipping people off. I met them while they were killing time before performing at the Living Room. They did a cover of Miike Snow “Animal.” But in all seriousness, they are fun lady rockers recording in New York. Please check out their pictures...

Dec 4th

Toro Y Moi

Did you guys ever listen to Halloween, Alaska? They haven’t put out an album since college days (2005), which has left me sadly searching the music world for an acceptable replacement to fill my emo electronic shaped hole in my heart. I may have found a satisfactory substitution in Toro Y Moi. Correction, as I wrote this up, I discovered Halloween, Alaska did indeed come out with a new...

Dec 3rd

Whoa.

The National *and* Hold Steady? You’re right, I am excited. Also, I’m desperately looking for something new to get really excited about. I’m poring over Pitchfork’s “Best New Albums” section and finding nothing. Grr. Lf s hrd. (Life is hard.)

Dec 3rd

Chll Pll

Ths s wht t’s lk nt sng vwls. “This is what it’s like not using vowels.” I like Chll Pll for it’s electronic messiness and overlaps of dissonance and arrhythmia. Enjoy with me. It’s Zack Hill, the drummer from the Wavves.

Nov 30th

2010 Rumors

There are a lot of rumors going out about new albums in 2010. But Los Campesinos, Hot Chip, MGMT, the Hold Steady and the National (Barrett, I thought you’d be excited.) have all been confirmed for the first few months of the new year. Sterogum listed their top 25 eagerly anticipated albums. Other unconfirmed names floating about include the Unicorns, the Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman,...

Nov 29th

Nov 23rd

Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" Leaked →

Nov 17th

I love Erlend Oye’s voice, whether...

Nov 17th

Nov 9th

This is “Sometimes” by Miami Horror....

Nov 6th

Nov 2nd

“Ambling Alp” by Yeasayer. I was...

Nov 1st

Thao Nguyen + Andrew Bird

Have you heard “Know Better Learn Faster” with Thao Nguyen’s vocals over Andrew Bird’s arrangements?

Oct 25th

“does even a microbe of you like classic jazz? create a pandora station based on...”

– Recommendation of the day, from @slarkpope.

Oct 22nd

Remember that fall when we all got really into...

Oct 17th

More depressing music. It’s the weather! ...

Oct 16th

Just cause I like this song. An old favorite....

Oct 15th

Folksy fun Wednesday! Okay, sorry this is so...

Oct 14th

Like whoa, Strokes singer and songwriter Julian...

Oct 11th

Shows

One of the hardest things about living in New York City is deciding what to do with all that extra money you have lying around. Here are a few suggestions if you want to catch some shows in the area. Saturday, October 10th - Rubik, a Scandinavian electro-pop/folk fav, performs at Piano’s Wednesday, November 4th - Noah and the Whale get instrumental and introspective at Mercury Lounge ...

Oct 9th

For the record...

I actually prefer this alternate version of “Half Awake” to the one I posted. But I can only upload one song a day so it’s not welcome in our home sweet blog just yet. -BWS P.S. I’m signing with my initials from now on. Although maybe it’s better if we speak with one voice?!? Like…the Matrix?

Oct 9th

Talk about fall! This song is basically the sonic...

Oct 9th

Apparently fall foliage means folk music....

Oct 8th

Owl City: Quite a hoot

How late am I to this party? Since this dude has been recording since ‘07, I’m guessing post-cake, pre-hangover late. Adam Young’s songs, which his myspace page dubs “electronic pop,” remind me of a Something Corporate/Hellogoodbye love child. Though the anecdotes you associate with the aforementioned artists may make you cringe, the beats are snappy and sort of...

Oct 7th

Thanks, Atlas Sound, for helping me welcome in the...

Oct 6th