Tag Archives: friendly fires

crave it like you mean it

10 Oct

Filled this weekend with a little bit of work followed by a lot of fun with Fleet Week, the Blue Angels airshow and excellent company. San Francisco offered up one of her best weekends yet, and I enter into the workweek with reinvigorated tan lines and a crippling need for coffee.

Today’s Emo: Say It Like You Mean It / Cinema

‘I picture her in the streetlight / barefoot for the whole night’

Today’s emo is probably the closest TUATE has actually gotten to actual emo, reminding me of the sacred bands of my high school years — Something Corporate, Dashboard Confessional, Third Eye Blind –but with a Frou Frou-esque kind of an edge to reel me in in the present tense. The Cinema is the side project of Arizonian indie rock group Lydia. #emo

Today’s Untz: I Crave Paris / Aeroplane vs. Flight Facilities vs. Friendly Fires

‘rehearsed steps on an empty stage / that boy’s got my heart in a silver cage’

Mash-up Monday. Three big players intertwine here with Aeroplane weaving Friendly Fires’ Paris into Flight Facilities Crave You, and the sounds melt together seamlessly. I shared a killer Adventure Club remix of Crave You a couple of months back, but this light and tropical angle feels just right. #untz

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friendly tide

3 Oct

I attended my first Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, and it was amazing. Basically Outside Lands for grown ups and granola eaters, minus the pomp and circumstance, corporate sponsors and untz, plus a lot of twang. Best of all (and most flooring) totally free for all to enjoy.

We settled down with a picnic on the hill overlooking the Towers of Gold stage and saw Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) seriously break it down on the piano, followed by a great set by Broken Social Scene. The forecast called for fog and even a chance of showers, but instead we found ourselves drenched in indian summer sun, and several of the overlayered festival goers stripping down to their skivvys to beat the heat. This weekend goes into the ever growing list of the reasons why I love this city.

Today’s Emo: Teenage Tide / Letting Up Despite Great Faults

I will continue to ride the sun waves into Monday with some beachy California dream pop from Los Angeles’ Letting Up Despite Great Faults. The band name Letting Up Despite Great Faults reminds me of the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and blends right into a blog where all the indie is called emo. It also demands an instant acronym in order to be efficiently discussed. LUDGF has a new EP, Paper Crush, out this October, and their dependable guitar, silvery vocals, and catchy beats here are enough to win me over, even if the acronym is a bit shaky. #emo

Today’s Untz: Hurting / Friendly Fires (Benoit & Sergio remix)

A snappy remix of one of the best tracks off of Friendly Fire’s newish album, Pala, with an intro that reminds me of the cooing tropical intro of my favorite Dolorean song, Stay Close. And a snappy introduction. #untz

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jump in the poison

8 Jun

Tired. Busy. Happy.

Today’s Emo: Poison & Wine / The Civil Wars

‘oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine / oh you think your dreams are the same as mine’

Back in the day, my second grade class at Hoover Elementary watched Ken Burn’s classic mini-series, The Civil War. While fascinating, most of the information presented during the epic five hour series has long left my little head, but the musical theme, Ashokan Farewell, left me memorized, and the song’s sweet violin and sigh inducing melody has been unshakable after all these years. My coworker, Court, recently recommended The Civil Wars in response to my sharing of The Head and the Heart (a formidable trade) and I instantly thought back to the documentary and its score. While lacking a violin, The Civil Wars also deliver minimalist folk at its finest: gentle guitar strumming, soft keys, silvery vocals, and aching harmonies… chills.

Joy Williams and John Paul White joined forces in Nashville in 2008, and have been gaining momentum since this track was played on Grey’s Anatomy a couple years back. I first heard The Civil Wars on Tuesday, and have already grabbed tickets to see them play the Great American Music Hall on the 19th. #emo

Today’s Untz: Jump in the Pool / Friendly Fires (Thin White Duke remix)

‘I looked at you I knew you wanted to / jump in the pool’

Things that are good: the return of sunshine, a dear friend in town for the week, and the Friendly Fire’s new album, Pala. I failed to get tickets to see the indie Britt rockers play at the Independent this June, but am taking it as a godsend because my concert budget for spring/summer is already becoming astronomical (see above). So instead, I am happily drowning myself in this flashed up version of Jump in the Pool, of their self titled album. Hop in. #untz

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friendly monsters

23 Mar

Big changes at work mean little time to find new tunes during the week anymore… with great power comes great responsibility. Luckily I had time to catch up on a lot of tracks while cleaning the crap out of my apartment last weekend. Dance music + swifter  made me feel like Pippi Longstocking when she taped scrubbers onto her feet and poured bubbles on the floor. I will always find the time.

Today’s Emo: Little Talks / Of Monsters and Men

‘we used to play when we were young and full of life and full of love’

Who needs mice when you can have monsters? I almost skipped over this track upon first listen because the intro sounds like a bad Mighty Mighty Bosstones song. Then the vocals chimed in and I thought I had fallen into a miscategorized  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros track.  Upon further listening and a bit of digging through the interwebs I discovered Of Monsters and Men: an Icelandic pop group with clever male/female banter and a jamboree vibe. This is a great indie folk jam and the Oregonian in me can’t help but tap my foot along to the tambourine.

Thanks Iceland, I was losing faith in your musical exports after too many funny SNL clips of Bjork. #emo

Today’s Untz: Live Those Days Tonight / Friendly Fires

‘you claim  your history / is beyond a man like me / but I’ll live I’ll live I’ll live / I’ll live these days tonight’

Bad Enrique Iglesias song, or new indie dance band release? The latter, but sometimes it’s shocking how fine of a line it can be. I like dancing to bad Enrique anyway, especially with tracks like Tonight I’m Fucking You (so dirty you have to watch it on a Russian YouTube knockoff).

This Friendly Fires track may be a bit more subtle in its message, but it still stirs me up. I saw the group and fellow britts The xx play a show at the Independent a couple falls back and was impressed with the likes of Strobe and Skeleton Boy, so I am looking forward to May 16th’s release of their new album, Pala. If it has more tracks like this, I am sure to be catching them again and dmfo. #untz

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