Category: Watch Me
Video Premiere: Diana DeMuth: “Beat”
Boston-based Diana DeMuth is premiering her music video for “Beat,” a track off of her March 17 release, Albuquerque. At just 21 years old, the singer-songwriter is already drawing comparisons to the the likes of Norah Jones and Jewel, and for good reason. Her crooning voice and youthful yet insightful lyrics are refreshing and downright beautiful. Check out her brand new video for “Beat” below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vur_YidR52A&app=desktop
Reptar share new video for “Amanda”
(NOT FOR THOSE EASILY GROSSED OUT)
Reptar have shared the music video for their new single “Amanda,” and it’s (expectedly) a weird one. Two girls in white take turns putting weird fruit in each other’s mouths, and there’s some fun and casual waterboarding. It’s footage that could very well show up on your local public access station, placed there by local community college art kids. Given the song’s alluded-to themes about love and pain and long distance relationships, the vignettes seem to be commentaries on the small ways we hurt the ones we love the most.
“Amanda” recalls early Vampire Weekend, when they still had a massive hard-on for Graceland. It’s not as overloaded and excited a production as the first couple Reptar records – our boys have figured out how to get their ideas across while being economical with their sound. At first, vocals and xylophone reign; even when the smartly arranged horns come in, the room to breathe is refreshing and entrancing.
Lurid Glow is out now via Joyful Noise Recordings.
SXSW 2015: Colony House x Vinyl VIDEO
Colony House is a Tennessee-based trio composed of Caleb Chapman (vocals), Will Chapman (drums), and Scott Mills (guitar). Their debut album, When I Was Younger, has received critical acclaim (and has been playing on my Spotify for well over two months).
The guys sat down with us at South by Southwest this year to chat about recording their album, their most popular live songs, and unconventional songwriting methods. Enjoy the Vinyl Video below, and also be sure to catch CH on tour (dates below)!
Upcoming Tour Dates
Apr. 23 – Tuscaloosa, AL @ Tuscaloosa Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
Apr. 24 – Fayetteville, AR @ Arkansas Music Pavilion with Need to Breathe
Apr. 25 – Kansas City, MO @ Crossroads with Need to Breathe
Apr. 28 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center with Need to Breathe
Apr. 29 – Grand Prairie, TX @ Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie with Need to Breathe
Apr. 30 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Bricktown Events Center with Need to Breathe
May 02 – Huber Heights, OH @ Music Center at the Heights with Need to Breathe
May 03 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater with Need to Breathe
May 04 – Grand Rapids, MI @ DeVos Performance Hall with Need to Breathe
May 06 – Louisville, KY @ Iroquois Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
May 07 – Knoxville, TN @ Knoxville Coliseum with Need to Breathe
May 08 – Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena with Need to Breathe
May 09 – Charlotte, NC @ Uptown Amphitheatre at NC Music Factory with Need to Breathe
May 13 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live! with Need to Breathe
May 14 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre with Need to Breathe
May 15 – Raleigh, NC @ The Red Hat Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
May 16 – Alpharetta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre with Need to Breathe
May 15-17 Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Festival
June 18-21 Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival
Jul. 09 – San Francisco, CA @ Nob Hill Masonic Center with Need to Breathe
Jul. 10 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Beach with Need to Breathe
Jul. 12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre with Need to Breathe
Jul. 15 – Boise, ID @ Morrison Center for the Performing Arts with Need to Breathe
Jul. 17 – Portland, OR @ Oregon Zoo Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
Jul. 18 – Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
Jul. 21 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Need to Breathe
Jul. 23 – Papillion, NE @ Sumter Amphitheater with Need to Breathe
Jul. 24 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cabooze with Need to Breathe
Jul. 25 – Eureka, MO @ Six Flags St. Louis with Need to Breathe
Aug. 06 – Portsmouth, VA @ Ntelos Pavilion with Need to Breathe
Aug. 07 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summerstage with Need to Breathe
Aug. 08 – Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion with Need to Breathe
Aug. 10 – New York City, NY @ Terminal 5 with Need to Breathe
Aug. 11 – Vienna, Va @ Wolf Trap with Need to Breathe
Aug. 12 – Florence, SC @ Florence Civic Center with Need to Breathe
Aug. 14 – Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park with Need to Breathe
Aug. 15 – Memphis, TN @ Levitt Shell at Overton Park (Moon River Fest) with Need to Breathe
Aug. 16 – Indianapolis, IN @ Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn @ White River State Park with Need to Breathe
Aug. 18 – Rochester Hills, MI @ Meadow Brook with Need to Breathe
Aug. 19 – Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival with Need to Breathe
Marina and the Diamonds x Vinyl VIDEO
It’s been three years since Marina and the Diamonds‘ last album, Electra Heart, and a lot has changed. Her newest album, FROOT (released in full on March 13), is Marina’s first album written entirely on her own. Her ability as a songwriter really shines through, further cementing the artist’s position as a true pop queen.
Marina is not to be underestimated. Not your typical pop artist, she prefers her songs to deal with more than driving with the top down and partying ’til dawn, instead opting to tackle issues such as feminism, stereotypes, and even rape. Her lyrics are thoughtful and empowering even at their most jarring, and her ability to address these heavy issues and blend them seamlessly with upbeat synth-pop melodies further proves that Marina is one of the most important pop artists out there today. I mean, how often do you find wisdom in a pop album?
I grabbed a few minutes with Marina at South by Southwest this year to talk about her new album, the message in her song, “Savages,” and what’s next (we also spent some time geeking out over the fact that there in a In-N-Out Burger in Austin – seriously, I get excited for that every year!). Check out our Vinyl VIDEO below, and be sure to catch Marina on tour (dates below)
APRIL
12 – Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
13 – Las Vegas, NV – Pool At The Cosmopolitan
17 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield – SOLD OUT
18 – San Diego, CA – North Park Theater – SOLD OUT
19 – Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
MAY
22 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling Music Festival
26 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
27 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
29 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
30 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
30 – Columbia, MD – Sweetlife
JUNE
2 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
5 – New York, NY – Governors Ball NYC Music Festival
7 – Toronto, ON – Field Trip
JULY
31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts
AUGUST
2 – Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
SXSW 2015: The Ting Tings x Vinyl VIDEO
“We’re songwriters rather than celebrities.”
The Ting Tings‘ latest album, Super Critical, was a major departure from their typical dance-pop style. With elements of funk and disco, Super Critical was independently recorded in Ibiza and co-produced with Andy Taylor (Duran Duran).
I caught up with sole members Katie White and Jules De Martino at South by Southwest this year to get the scoop on their Studio 54-inspired album, leaving their label, and dealing with album leaks. Check out our Vinyl VIDEO below!
*Atlanta readers – Be sure to catch The Ting Tings on Monday at Terminal West – see ya there!
Tour Dates:
10/04/15 · USA Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
11/04/15 · USA Washington DC, – 9:30 Club
13/04/15 · USA Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
14/04/15 · USA Orlando, FL – The Social
16/04/15 · USA Fort Lauderdale, LA – Revolution Live
17/04/15 · USA St. Petersburg, FL – State Theatre
20/04/15 · USA New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
21/04/15 · USA Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds
22/04/15 · USA Austin, TX – Emo’s
23/04/15 · USA Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre
25/04/15 · USA Phoenix, AZ – Club Red
27/04/15 · USA Los Angeles – Late Late Show N/A
22/05/15 · FRANCE Barcelona – Razzmatazz (‘live Dj set’) TBC
06/06/15 · FRANCE Montereau – Festival de Montereau
12/06/15 – 13/06/15 · SPAIN Sevilla – Festival Territorios
01/07/15 · USA San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
02/07/15 · USA Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre
05/07/15 · CZECH REP Pilsen, Rock For People Festival
09/07/15 – 11/07/15 · SPAIN Bilbao, BBK Festival
10/07/15 · PORTUGAL NOS Alive, Maritimo
12/07/15 · FRANCE Tours, Terres Du Son
25/07/15 · USA Buzz Beach Ball, Kansas City
01/08/15 · SPAIN Burriana, Arenal Sounds festival
13/08/15 · HUNGARY Budapest, Sziget Festival
WATCH: Charli XCX: “Famous”
At Vinyl Mag, we love Charli XCX; no doubt our readers love her, too. More obscure but equally loved Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric directed Charli’s newest music video, “Famous.” Two of our favorite artists in one!
If you’re familiar with Tim and Eric, you’re right to expect a video plagued with obnoxious graphics and a slightly creepy vibe. “Famous” is just that, focusing on our generation’s obsession with technology.
Emojis flying, a fake infomercial, and various old people just doing what they don’t do best…taking selfies. Expect an element of the grotesque and one of hilarity. This is a brainchild Vinyl Mag will be nurturing for a while.
My Morning Jacket Share Three New Tracks From Upcoming ‘The Waterfall’
Today, My Morning Jacket announced their upcoming LP The Waterfall (being released May 4 on ATO Records) and shared the studio version of their first single, “Big Decisions.” This will be their seventh studio album, with another due in 2016 arising from the same sessions that yielded The Waterfall. For this first set, its themes are centered around those midlife transitional periods that crop up after you’ve settled down. Lead singer Jim James likens the songs to embodying “a weird turning point for the universe. … the sound of the page turning and not being sure what’s coming next.”
All told, they’ve shared three of its tracks, all of which were premiered live in early February at the band’s yearly Mexican festival One Big Holiday. Though it’s hard to discerningly review live tracks because their sound quality is all over the map, Vinyl Mag makes its own rules, so here ya go.
“Big Decisions”
“Big Decisions” starts off like a tropical drink, but quickly switches to some of the best Flying V power chords the band has put to tape. Jim James puts on his best McCartney affectation for the chorus: “What do you want me to do?” becomes “What do you want me ta tooooo?”, and his falsetto doesn’t make itself as known as it has in the past. But the band’s formative pedal steel DOES, which is just one component that makes this a return to form. Jacketheads felt betrayed by the sonic departures of 2008’s Evil Urges, whose songs like “Highly Suspicious” felt even more like a drug trip than usual. But “Big Decisions” has the circa 2002 southern charm and big, tough choruses a la “One Big Holiday.” My Morning Jacket have proven time and again that they can reinvent themselves while staying true to their farm jam essence.
“Compound Fracture”
We’ll forgive MMJ for copping the drumbeat from Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” because what follows is a swirling, anthemic ode to enduring friendship. Bits of “Compound Fracture” sound like a sped up War On Drugs melody, which makes sense given the band’s multiple stage collabs with TWOD frontman Adam Granduciel (including at this very festival).The warm guitar hugs you as the synth spurts send you skyward. In line with “Big Decisions” it’s a pretty straightforward classic rock take, but thankfully features some vintage James screamo.
“Only Memories Remain”
“Only Memories Remain” is the sleepiest, meandering-est of the trio. As with most MMJ album closers (“Good Intentions” doesn’t count), it’s the closest thing to a waking dream state. Live it clocks in at six minutes and change, which, unusually, is brief for them. Though the live recording masks the lyrics, its title and tracklisting placement heavily imply that it focuses on death. Given that My Morning Jacket like to present codified bodies of work, this parallels nicely with the track ender “Movin’ Away” on their last record Circuital, which examined how a life in transition can sometimes create another life entirely.
The tracklisting for The Waterfall is as follows, whose song names reinforce what themes we should expect to hear:
- Believe (Nobody Knows)
- Compound Fracture
- Like a River
- In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)
- Get the Point
- Spring (Among the Living)
- Thin Line
- Big Decisions
- Tropics (Erase Traces)
- Only Memories Remain
WATCH: Modest Mouse: “Of Course We Know”
Modest Mouse is a band with big ideas, and now that they’ve released “Of Course You Know,” that’s never been more apparent. Given everything we know about their forthcoming (3/17) release Strangers To Ourselves, we’re in for some heavy you-know-what.
“Of Course We Know” is the FIFTH new song we’ve heard, and you can bet the order the singles were rolled out in has been intentional. The first four, “Lampshades On Fire,” “The Best Room,” “The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box,” and “Coyotes” more or less sprouted up every couple of weeks. Their titles hint at a companion record to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, and their accompanying artwork thusly frames the target of choice: the dreaded suburban sprawl. With “Lampshades On Fire,” it was concentric circling waterfront homes up close; soon enough it was a similar image, but from a higher birds eye view. Now, “Of Course We Know” features evil-eyed businesspeople, presumably the sprawl’s developers. So, the question arises: of course they know what?
“Of Course We Know” is some doom-laden, chanting Monk-type indie rock. Isaac Brock’s shimmering vocals and chiming chords give it a cultish feel. The lyrics are unsurprisingly vague, repetitive in the creepiest ways. “The streets are just blankets and we sleep on their silky corpse / Covered up by them, why would we ever want to wake up?” is a hell of a way to open the song. Each chorus, if you could call it that, has Brock whisper-howl-grunting, “We just do not know.” At clear odds with the song’s title, the narrator must be lying about something. And not to jump to conclusions, but real estate developers are known for lying. Though it may be way too early to hurl thematic guesses around, big picture, Modest Mouse are attempting to tell us something about the American Dream. Hey, 2015 is as good a year as any to examine society through song.
Tom Hanks’ son Chet Hanx releases worst rap video of all time
In efforts to step out of his father’s shadows, Tom Hanks’ son, Chet Hanx, formerly known as Chet Haze, has begun to forge a career with club music in mind.
Hanx released a video for his single “The Thirst,” just in case you didn’t pick up on his uber-whiteness from the track alone.
The video, filmed by Armen, encompasses a day in the life of this super hip street thug, which obviously entails – what else? – hooking up with prostitutes. He sings about how his woman comes after each call, accompanied by various shots driving in his car calling on women and then ending up with them in a hotel room.
The best part is the over-dramatized shots of water splats as a male voice whispers through your speakers the word “splash” (you can’t make this up) and the awkward white-boy dancing that starts at the two minute thirty second line. It’s actually painful to watch.
Luckily, after a few goes, the video does create some ironic hilarity and even may be worthy of a hardy drinking game to those who dare.
I think it’s safe to say that Colin is the Hanks’ best shot at a legacy.
WATCH: Megafauna: “This Town”
Megafauna describe themselves as 90s post-rock, and the new video for “This Town” proves this comparison to be more than appropriate. The aggro Pixies-on-speed track makes good use of guitar shredding and a jarring 6/8 time signature to get the job done, and the distinct old time-alt feel pairs real well with the surreal imagery used.
Though obviously shot in much higher def than was available twenty years ago, the video borrows plenty of visual tricks from everyone’s favorite decade. The whole affair is very dream-like – sequence after sequence of stream-of-consciousness images appear, lacking context but still somehow making a grain of sense. The video’s heroine, played by lead singer Dani Neff, trips her way through seemingly unrelated memories – visiting the fair as a child, getting felt up by a dude at a bar, and journaling in her bedroom. Each memory leaves a literal imprint in the form of neon paint. Her suburban hood is subtly presented as stifling and duplicitous, a barrier overcome when Dani musses her white dress with enough paint to cover up the traces others have left on her. As a bonus, eagle-eyed viewers may notice the wink to Siamese Dream in the girl who stands in for Dani’s id.