Thursday, June 11, 2015

Obleak City. Day 2.



           My life's been pretty lowbrow radical (if that even makes sense) ever since I graduated college. It's super unpredictable. Well, life, in general, is unpredictable but I've never really seen my life plotted on some path towards a singular goal that's why it feels like I'm all over the place. I don't have those, "five more years of med school" or "four more years of law school, then study for board exams, then work for Annalise Keating and start getting away with murders." It's not that simple for me.

          You see, I have all these dreams and aspirations on what I want to be or where I want to be but I worry too much and think about the risks too much that it prevents me on getting to my end goal faster (but there never really is an end goal. See Matthew McConaughey's Oscars speech*.) I wish I were one of those people who could just drop everything and lead with their dreams (with caution, of course). Maybe then, I'd get to see some sort of tunnel vision of my future.

          Every month or so, I'd start thinking about what I had been up to in the previous year. Like, June of last year, I was in Dallas, Texas. My sister and I went there to visit her boyfriend. We were there for about 10 days and it was one of the best trips that I have ever had. We drove from Dallas to Austin and watched the X Games and my 13-year old self fangirled like crazy. I got to see Dillon Francis.

(A little side note, I remember I had this mental note that I should be able to see Dillon Francis within the year. I thought of it with no expectations, no plans whatsoever and then a few months later, there I was, stood amidst the crowd in the amphitheater and witnessed his speakers get shut down by the fire marshall. It was pretty awesome.)

We also visited some cool places and took lots of pictures of street art, bought some records at this hip little record store, drove past Franklin Barbecue (because I failed to convince my sister to get in the 1-2 hour line to eat there), and well, we did a few more things in the 3 days we were there. Three days is not nearly enough to explore the weird in Austin. I am definitely coming back.

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

I Recover. Day 1

These months-long hiatuses have to stop! I keep putting off writing new blog posts for more than a year now and that's some bad blogger habit I need to quit. Every few months or so I keep coming back with a post similar to this and I promise (I hope) that this is the last one. 


I used to only write new entries when inspiration struck me but I've recently learned that that approach is NOT AT ALL EFFECTIVE! Waiting for inspiration to strike is work of the lazy and I'm trying to change that. A huge part of the reason why I'm making this change is because of Casey Neistat. Lately, he's been my biggest inspiration on being super productive, like have three jobs kind of crazy productive. I mean, how else would I ever get to afford to live in New York? I somewhat already have two and so, I'm making this my third. Nothing too radical though, I just want to have some time to write. And so, I'm doing this self-imposed writing challenge. 7 days, 7 blog posts. (fingers crossed)

I'm actually excited about this 7 day stint and have been thinking about it for the past month. (Yeah, this post has been in my drafts for a month now. ugh) So typical me wanted to put it off until I had a bank of things to write about (again with the security blanket. ugh, right?). I have to stop this habit of procrastinating and waiting. So, here I am just doing it. I worry so much about what to put in here when in reality, nobody probably even reads this. (Ha!)

Now jokes aside, what is this going to be anyway?
I want to try to make content daily (with subpar visuals), but only for a week. At first, I wanted to do it for 15 days straight, but let's be realistic here. I've only made 6 entries last year so pushing to 15 is a bit much. Now, 7 is a bit ideal.

In the coming week, you'll be reading about what I've been up to, new music I've been listening to, share some stories (pre-blogging era), and basically, anything that I could write about. I've recently watched Alt-J live in concert, so you have that to look forward to.

But for today, I'd like to keep it simple and offer some daily inspiration.


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Bastille: Live in Manila


Happy new year! And what a way to start the year with Bastille. Yes, Bastille! Those four English lads that sing about the ruins of Pompeii and a (fictitious) dead girl called Laura Palmer. It is one of the best concerts I have attended, definitely Top 5 material (knocking FTP down to number 6, soz). It is one of those nights that I wish would go on longer, no matter how tired my legs would be afterwards. It's the best feeling in the world to see one of your favorite bands, to be amidst their music, the energy, the people. And that's why I always choose to watch my favorite acts even though it leaves me being broke in the end.

Oh, and I met (and hugged!!!!!) all of Bastille.

READ MORE.

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Too Bright


Music makes me poetic.


I love it when an album catches you by surprise and sort of demands you to stop whatever you're doing and just listen. And then have all these different emotions rush through you like it's no big deal.  But really, it is(!) because now you're three songs deep and somehow you've got a napkin on your hand ready to catch the first tear to fall. But then it doesn't because you don't let it fall. You don't want it to fall...

...because now, you're not really listening to the music anymore. You're listening to the voice in your head that you've silenced for so long, like an "old friend" with a silly grin on its face. You try not to listen and it usually works. But this time it doesn't and it really hurts. 

{break}

You've reached the last song and somehow, you know all the words too well. You sing, "deep down I never did feel right..."And now you wonder, when will I get it right.


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Gone Peaking





Here's to two amazing Davids. 

Listen to Highasakite's cover of Bon Iver's Heavenly Father.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

"Summer" of Dreams



Where do I even begin?

How about we set the vibe first. It starts out with a some Chet Faker, FKA Twigs, SOHN, and then a little bit of James Bay and George Ezra. Oh, and throw in some Hozier in the mix too. Mmm, yeah. That feels just about right.

Now, where were we? Oh, yeah. Apparently I'm bad at blogging. But that's about to change now. And I am serious this time like, I-want-to plan-an-elaborate-wedding-proposal-to-you-that-would-soon-go-viral-once-I-upload-a-video-of-it-on-YouTube-because-it-was-ridiculously-grandiose kind of serious. But, enough with the promises and on with the agendas.

The past few months have been so different compared to what I was doing a year ago... and I kind of love it. Aside from the uncertainty of where I'd be a year from now and the worries and anxieties that come along with it, it's that same uncertainty that brings excitement to my life. If you told a year ago that I'd be brushing shoulders with Matty (of The 1975) and Thomas Mars (of Phoenix), I would've told you you're crazy because those sorts of things do not happen to me. I'm the type of person who'd buy a Killers concert ticket only to find out they'd soon be disbanding/taking a break and cancel the whole tour (circa 2011). But I guess things finally took a turn for the best because not only have I watched a few of my favorite bands live but I've also found myself to be a certified yoga teacher now. A year ago, I wrote this letter and briefly mentioned how I wanted to pursue my certification and now I actually am. I can't believe that was just a year ago.

For someone who doesn't do much, a lot has happened.

Now, what exactly have I been up to in the months that I've missed blogging?


Wednesday, July 02, 2014

26 Weeks

Overdue. 

I have been gone for way too long and I don't really have a good excuse for it. A lot has happened in the last six months that I never would have thought would happen to me. It is definitely one of the craziest times I've had so far that would make some great stories to tell. But first, let me just put into perspective how long I've been away from The Walcott. Since my last post in December, Jennifer Lawrence won another Golden Globe, Shia Labeouf  is apparently "not famous anymore," Solange went berserk on Jay-Z, James Franco was totally inappropriate to a 17-year old on Instagram, Kimye got married at Versailles, and now the World Cup is back. 

It's the 1st of July and I thought today seems the right time to get back as well. Although, the things that I've been up to is not as crazy as that list up there. Personally, I would never dare throw a punch at Mr. Carter.

Be on the look out for my next posts about my past six months. Here's a list of some of the things I've done:

- I attended St. Jerome's Laneway Festival 2014 in Singapore
- I met Phoenix
- I kissed George Daniel of The 1975 on the cheek
- I watched the X Games
- I saw Dillon Francis!!!

Listen to Take Shelter by Years and Years

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Digital Witness

On The Radar Vol. 6

We're back! The two-month hiatus is over and we can finally enjoy some new music. On this issue of the Radar, we are surrounded by the number two. We talk about sophomore albums, alt pop duos, and two-weekend festivals.

~~~
Foster The People is done with their second album and gives us a taste of it with their newest single, Coming Of Age. The album, entitled Supermodel, will be out on March 18. In the meantime, you can watch the music video they did with BRTHR for Coming Of Age (Watch). You can always expect a great music video from Foster The People and this new one doesn't disappoint. In an interview, Mark Foster said, "aesthetically, we had talked about on this record working with film more, and working with kind of more classic photography." (Watch

BRTHR is composed of the newcomer directors, Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman. They are the minds behind MS MR's Think Of You video and the most recent one as Miley Cyrus' cat visual from her performance at the AMA 2013 (Watch).


Here, Mark Foster talks more about the song:
“Coming of Age was the last song we wrote for the record, we wrote it in the studio while we were recording. It kind of came out of nowhere, which songs do sometimes. It’s kind of funny, it’s the last song we wrote and recorded and it is the first song everybody is going to hear. 
Lyrically, it is almost a confession. It is about a moment of clarity, having a moment of clarity and I think for me this year, being home, was that quiet after the storm of touring for two years and my life drastically changing. 
It was kind of the first breath I had to really look around and see that there were some things that happened during that period with my friends and with my loved ones, with the people that are close to me and with myself as well. It is the first time that I got a clear look on those things and that’s kind of what the song is about. It’s about growing up.”

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

I Met Youth Lagoon


Seventeen by Youth Lagoon

I remember everything, from the moment I first spotted the curly-haired man in orange hippie garb to the moment I tried speaking to him. My memory of that short time is so vivid in my brain, I hope it stays that way even as years go by. 


I first came across Youth Lagoon's music last year when I was discovering artists from the 2013 Coachella line-up. I really enjoyed his music and I instantly felt a connection. It makes me feel all sorts of things. Sometimes music does that to me and listening to it makes it an even better experience. Of course, like the geek that I am, I wanted to learn more about Youth Lagoon and started reading about the brilliance that is Trevor Powers. I even wrote about him back in March. He's one of the artists that I feel a strong affinity to because I can somewhat relate to his music. His words are beautiful and speak so much. I read somewhere that his music is to some extent an extension of himself and feels like pages off his journal. Flash forward to 25 January, I was in the crowd and he was on stage. I kept remembering that little piece of information when I was watching him perform. I was in awe of him and his art and I couldn't believe I was there to witness it.

I should probably first mention that I was at Singapore last January 23-27 for St. Jerome's Laneway Festival to see him and many more great artists.

Now, here's how I remember meeting Trevor.

Read More.


Monday, December 09, 2013

50 Best Songs of 2013

It's that time of the year again to look back and reminisce on the year that has passed. Oh, what a year it has been and boy, did time fly by real fast. Now that Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Stereogum have all released their Best-Of lists, I decided to join in on the fun.

2013 has been a year of bands coming back from long breaks like Daft Punk, My Bloody Valentine, Mazzy Star, and Black Sabbath. There were also amazing second and third albums from The Dubs (Vampire Weekend), MGMT, Local Natives, Surfer Blood, Grouplove, Best Coast, M.I.A., and many more. There's so many great music produced this year and I'm so glad I was able to absorb at least a percentage of it. I have so many albums that I wish I'd given more time to listen to like Laura Marling's Once I Was An Eagle that barely got playtime on my iTunes, or Noah and the Whale's Heart Of Nowhere that has probably only plays for There Will Come A Time, or Blood Orange(aka Dev Hynes)'s Cupid Deluxe, which I haven't even gotten myself to pressing that play button yet. There's so many things I want to listen to but sometimes my mood just tells me to play that Bastille record one more time. So, I'm saying sorry now for not having any of the aforementioned artists on my list but it's still a pretty good list.

But before that, I have to mention that my babies, Vampire Weekend, were given the number one spot on Rolling Stone's Best Album of 2013. I can't help but be all proud and happy for them because I know it has been a real journey for the completion of this masterpiece called Modern Vampires of the City. These young lions really took their time and it shows because of the deep and mature tone the lyrics have become since talking about oxford commas five years ago. They definitely deserve this spot and I'm hoping they win a Grammy for this because, as biased as this may sound,  I strongly believe this is Vampire Weekend's year.

Now, on to the list.

Read More.

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Tegan and Sara: Live in Manila

November 25, 2013 - 7PM
NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio, Global City

If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I love music. 


So obviously, I must love concerts and I do. I always jump on the chance to see an artist perform whenever I can, especially if I really, really like them. The plan was to watch TDCC on the 26th but then sadly they had to cancel a few shows and Manila was one of them. Truthfully, it was a little bit of a sigh of relief because, being the huge fan that I am, I was planning on purchasing tickets for the concert the day before and also, I didn't have the money yet for said tickets so it was somewhat okay for me. I know, it's a self-centered reason but hey, I'm staying positive that they will come back. If I learned anything from previous cancelled shows, I'm guessing they will be back in 3 years, just like The Killers

The next best thing to that debacle was to see Tegan and Sara. I knew my friend, Yana, had free tickets from her company and I basically begged her to take me. It wasn't a sure thing until the morning of the concert and that sheer good news was enough to take me to my happy (and weird) place. I was listening to their songs all afternoon and every time their song Closer came on play, I got even more excited. 

Up Dharma Down was their opening act and they were amazing. I had seen them before at Wanderland but only from a distance but then seeing them at this show was so much better. I felt their music and I have grown to appreciate more of their music. 

Then Tegan and Sara came on stage and everything was amazing.

Read More. 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

In The Open

"Statistically speaking, you will die having missed almost everything." This is the sad truth in life. 

I came across this article from NPR from two years ago and it kind of hit a nerve. We all know the days we have in this lifetime are short and precious thus, some of us live it meaningfully while others go batshit crazy and start saying 'YOLO' in attempts to make life more adventurous.

Though the article doesn't actually go that route. It focused more on being well-read and knowledgeable about books, music, and films and how it is physically impossible to know everything especially since new content is being made every second of every minute of every hour. Now that everything is practically handed to us, it is our choice to decide what we'd want to be well-versed in. This is a problem for me because sometimes I feel like I want to watch all episodes of the The Office and Arrested Development or watch all of the classic Doctor Who which is about 695 episodes or know all the words to every Black Keys song and there's at least a hundred of those or watch all of my dad's dvd collection which I can calculate as 200+++. There's so much to be taken in when there's only one of me and 24 hours in a day. That's why sometimes I end up falling asleep at four in the morning while listening to some podcast that I probably wouldn't be conscious by the time it finishes.

Although the reality that I'll die having not known about some film that could've changed my life is a little bit haunting, I guess, the flip slide to all of this is that this just makes life more interesting and giving you something to look forward to. There'll always be something new to discover, new records to excite you, new films that will inspire you, and new books that will bring you to another universe. If I had finished my list of everything I want to see, read, hear, and everything else, then I'll probably end up being bored to death. But then again, I'm pretty sure my list will never stop growing.

Linda Holmes concluded the article well saying,
It's sad, but it's also ... great, really. Imagine if you'd seen everything good, or if you knew about everything good. Imagine if you really got to all the recordings and books and movies you're "supposed to see." Imagine you got through everybody's list, until everything you hadn't read didn't really need reading. That would imply that all the cultural value the world has managed to produce since a glob of primordial ooze first picked up a violin is so tiny and insignificant that a single human being can gobble all of it in one lifetime. That would make us failures, I think.  
If "well-read" means "not missing anything," then nobody has a chance. If "well-read" means "making a genuine effort to explore thoughtfully," then yes, we can all be well-read. But what we've seen is always going to be a very small cup dipped out of a very big ocean, and turning your back on the ocean to stare into the cup can't change that.

Read More. 


Monday, November 18, 2013

Thinkin' Ahead


"A storm is coming, Frank says. A storm that will swallow the children and I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain. I will deliver the children back to their doorsteps and send the monsters back to the underground. I'll send them back to the place where no one else can see them except for me."
Listen to Thinkin' Ahead by Bastille (feat. Ric Elsworth & O.N.E)

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Darkness of the Dawn


 First, let's talk about James Blake.


Recently, I've been listening to some podcasts and in this one station that I tune in called All Songs Considered, they briefly talked about James Blake and from then on I became interested in his artistry and virtuosity. I've listened to his song Retrograde multiple times before but I've never really gotten to know him as an artist. And going back to that podcast, the hosts, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton, caught up with him after a show and spoke about possibly having a song that has changed his life. He was quick to say that it was Trouble Blues by Sam Cooke, which came out back in 1963. He said, "It's the hum. In some subconscious way, I filtered that into Retrograde." When you listen to Cooke's track, you'll definitely understand what he was talking about. What actually drew me to Retrograde was the humming. I remember first hearing it and couldn't get it out of my head, which is not at all a bad thing.

Trouble Blues by Sam Cooke

There's a touch of a soulful vibrato when he sings showcased especially in his cover of Feist's Limit To Your Love. But don't call him a soul singer because he doesn't see himself falling into that category. In an interview with Pitchfork, Blake said, "I've never felt like I was a soul singer. It's not really who I am." He goes on about how he feels when people call him "soulful" in the interview, which you can read here. Whatever genre he may lie, it doesn't hide the fact that he's got an amazing voice. 

His take on songwriting has always been about being true to himself, as cliche as that may sound. He says, "When I'm writing a track, I feel like I have to produce something that totally represents me and, if it doesn't, then it's stopped immediately. There's not even a second thought -- I'll close it and do something else. Being honest is an individual thing. It's not something that other people judge you on, although they can smell it.  

I've fallen in love with his song, The Wilhem Scream. The lyrics go, " I don't know about my dreams. I don't know about my dreaming anymore. All that I know is I'm falling. Might as well fall in. I don't know about my love. I don't know about my loving anymore. All that I know is I'm falling. Might as well fall in." and that's it all through out the 4:36 duration of the song. It's so simple yet when he sings it, it feels like it has so much weight to it and meaning to every word he says. With every verse he sings, it feels like he's asking me a question about life and where it is headed to or rather, succumbed to.  Although, I might just be thinking way too deep into this and it's probably because I'm writing this into the wee hours of the night. And so, I am really excited to see him perform live next year at Laneway Singapore because all I've heard are amazing things about his live performances. They're making live electronic music and he and his band do not have pre-taped samples or sequences with them. The looping is all done live. I can't wait to see it for myself. 

Watch him perform The Wilhem Scream live on Later With Jools Holland. (Watch)


Read More.


Thursday, October 31, 2013

Harvest of Gold


This week it's all about the indie music, Baby. (Yes, I did just call you baby.) There's some rock and dance vibes plus a little bit of folk to keep it interesting. We talk about the 3 As: Avocados, Afterlife, and Alt-J.


October has been treating us well, wouldn't you agree? Although, it isn't over yet. This week, Jagwar Ma's Let Her Go gets a remix by Jagwar Yew. This Australian trio out of Sydney is already stirring up some waves from down under. Their new remix EP is out now. Check it out. (Here)

Kurt Vile also released a new song, Feel My Pain and it's available for free download. Download by clicking the link.

The new Los Campesinos! video for Avocado, Baby is here. The line: "I feel like I'm the host of a terrible game show" inspired the whole video, which is directed by Craig Roberts. (Watch)

Pitchfork did an interview with frontman, Gareth Campesinos!, and talked about the kind of music they'd turn to when faced with different circumstances for their feature called Situation Critical. Here's an excerpt: (Read)
Pitchfork: You're picking out songs for your own funeral...
Gareth: One song I definitely want played is “Three Lions”, which was England's official European Championship song in 1996 and the World Cup song in 1998. It’s properly euphoric and arguably my favorite ever song. I'd also want “Here” by Pavement, because it’s a really beautiful song and obviously very appropriate with its “everything’s ending here” coda. 
And I can’t do this interview and not talk about the Beautiful South, because they are like my Beatles. If it wasn’t for Morrissey, I think Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton would have been Morrissey. I love the Smiths, don’t get me wrong, but I think he’s 10 times the lyricist that Morrissey is. But he’s never been attractive or played the game or been cool or dressed well or anything like that. The Beautiful South are what I’d bring my kids up on.  
There’s a track off their first album called “Love Is”, and toward the end it deals with how, when you’re in a band, people think they care about you but in reality you’re just somebody who writes songs and they don’t really care about you as a person. So it goes, “Here’s the invitation to this caring nation/ Twenty-five years from now, will you come to my cremation?” It’s an appropriate sentiment. It’d be a nice send off if I was lowered into the grave or thrown into the sea.

Read More.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Better In The Dark

On The Radar: Issue #2 is all about the synths, funk, and a little bit of pop. This week we talk about sexy socialites, explorers, and being afraid. 

Charli XCX is tired of getting requests to write another 'I Love It' because it's not going to happen. She said: "We’ll never write a song like that ever again. I just kind of want to get out of that for a bit and do my thing." But she doesn't regret giving away the song to Icona Pop in the first place because they are "totally owning it". 

Now, she's focused on her second album and already released its lead single, SuperLove, to which Yeasayer just did a remix of.

Stereogum recently did a Q&A with her and I'd like to share this bit about their shared feelings towards pop music.
STEREOGUM: I think sometimes people want to imprint too much meaning on pop music when a lot of it is about that kind of simple, release. 
CHARLI XCX: Exactly. And I think it can still be meaningful, but I don’t think it has to be overly clever and ridiculously meaningful. I think stuff can be dumb and easy and be really important.
They also talk about the ultimate karaoke songs and the biker gang that tried to run off with her while shooting her music video for SuperLove in Japan. (Read the full article here)

Tha Funk Lordz are back with Sexy Socialite. Chromeo are at it again and bringing the funk back for their third studio album, White Women, which has yet to be given a release date. This 6-minute single has Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem, Museum of Love) playing drums for Dave 1 and P-Thugg. It's been said that the new album also includes appearances from Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Solange Knowles, and Toro Y Moi. But for now, you can look back and reminisce on the Reddit AMA they did a month ago. (Listen)

Read More.


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Beautiful Rewind


Welcome to the first issue of On The Radar, a weekly round-up of pretty much all things music related. Plus, a playlist to boot. 


This week, we talk about the mother*ckers who never loved us, taking chances with James Blake, what Chvrches is doing right and everything in between.
~
Drake's album, Nothing Was The Same, has been getting high praises and even gets a "10 outta 10" from Vampire Weekend's frontman, Ezra Koenig. He's written a review for The Talkhouse and somewhere along the way it took an odd turn. At one point, he reveals he's colorblind. (But not really.)

Here's an excerpt:
"I have heard SOME of it. I heard that one called “Worst Behaviour,” the “motherfuckers never loved us” one – it really struck a chord. There are SO many motherfuckers out there. I’ve been making music since I was seven years old (started with piano) so I’ve been betrayed more times than I can count. You know how many people talk shit behind your back and then try to be your best friend over the course of 22 years in the industry?? Drake only got into music like five years ago, so if you see how angry he is — IMAGINE HOW I FEEL. 
Now, usually I can forgive but I won’t forget. However, there are some cases where I can forgive but I won’t forget OR forgive." 
Read the whole article here. 
While we're still on the subject of Drake, check out this hilarious list of his worst behavior by the Pitchfork staff. 
     "Made fun of friend for crying at the end of The Butler before silently crying to himself in the bathroom afterwards. - Larry Fitzmaurice" Surely, this happened, right?

Read More.


Sunday, October 13, 2013

My Yoga Story

An open letter to future me (theme: yoga)

Dear Leica,

It's been two and half years since I started my journey with yoga and I can tell you that it hasn't been easy, to say the least. That first week of ever doing yoga was the hardest workout I've ever experienced since the only exercise I did before that was run the treadmill. But it felt so good to turn in those running shoes and step into the studio barefoot. I've never felt so in tune with my body. I only availed the one week beginners package and by the end of that week I didn't want to leave the mat. That's when I knew I fell in love with yoga.

I clicked with yoga instantly and I guess a major contributor to that is because of Yoga+. It's only a 7-minute walk from where I live and 5 minutes if I'm running late. Everything is there already, all I need to bring is my water bottle and myself. It's true what they say that the hardest part of yoga is going to the class because sometimes, your mind tells you to skip today and take a rest day instead - to let your body recover for a day... or two. Good thing I have my sister as my yoga buddy to push me to go practice and vice versa.

Read More.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Music On My Mind







This week's music highlights:

The 1975 performs a Tiny Desk Concert and it is beautiful, sweet, and endearing. Matthew Healy's on his own in the NPR office with only his guitars to accompany him but this just makes it a little more heartfelt and personal. Check out the video. 

Kings of Leon does Robyn's Dancing On My Own. There's something about Caleb's voice that makes everything he sings so sensual. Check out the video. 

Bastille does Miley's We Can't Stop. It's quite genius of them to sneak in Achy Breaky Heart in their cover. You're missing out if you haven't heard it yet.  Check out the video.

London Grammar is most likely going to win this year's Mercury Prize award, says almost everybody. With the success Alt-j has received upon winning last year's award, it's safe to say London Grammar is going places too. Listen to this amazing song, Hey Now, off their debut album, If You Wait. Listen to the song. 

The Take Away show we've all been waiting for, Take Away Phoenix. The first time they were on, it was 2009 and a random couple on their wedding day just happily stumbled upon Phoenix playing 1901 at the Trocadero in Paris, France. It was pretty epic. Now, we get a 21-minute movie from La Blogotheque. There's Thomas singing on a PA system to a plane full of sleeping passengers, the band performing by the Museum and National Estate of Versailles, then doing so on a rowboat, and an acoustic of Countdown while on a stroll at a park. It's everything you wished to see for yourself. Check out the video.

So french fries, anyway... I mean, this performance of The Neighbourhood's Afraid is pretty funny, right? [You'll get the fries reference after watching.] Check out the video.


Check out these legs... or are they hotdogs? It's quite hard to tell sometimes but it sure is a laugh. Hot-dog-legs