Your New Favorite Band: St. Lucia

Folks, I've found it: your new favorite band. And its name is St. Lucia.

Actually it's Jean-Philip Grobler, a South African born (now based in Brooklyn) indie pop beat master. He will remind you of the '80s but not take you exactly there. Grobler brings in some acoustic guitars as well as a saxophone that is featured prominently in multiple songs on his debut album When The Night. St. Lucia is anthemic, dance tunes.

The synths are driving, the drums are pounding and every song is danceable in its own way. Grobler's vocal choices are essential to his songs. His voice (a young Sting if Sting danced a little more) is strong and layered, making a big wall of sound. He also brings a female vocal to compliment his voice well. It's breath of fresh air.

Guitars, synths, saxophone, vocals--all leading to a big, playful sound for all the freaks in the night. Let loose with St. Lucia.

I highly recommend St. Lucia for fans of M83, Passion Pit, and Ellie Goulding. In January, St. Lucia will begin a tour of major cities on the East and West Coast.

Need to hear songs: Closer Than This, The Night Comes Again, Elevate

St. Lucia live on Jimmy Kimmel performing Elevate

 

 

 



Music video for September

Lily Allen "Hard Out Here"

Lily Allen is no stranger to the modern day behavior and view of women in the spotlight. The paparazzi and tabloids in England followed her around everywhere making her a constantly subject of the pictures and articles. She hardly stood for it though.

Before she took a break from music to focus on her family and to get away, she was never shy with what was on her mind. "The Fear" describes women being forced to take off the clothes to get famous and "22" explains that life is over for women after 22.

Recently, we found out that Allen is back after a four year break when she released "Hard Out Here," a direct cheeky poke at the twerkers of the world.

"Don't need to shake my ass for you 'cause I got a brain."

Taking the title from Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," she says it's hard out here for a bitch. The video is especially direct. She starts by laying on a surgical table as doctors try to perfect it to beauty's standards while her manager says the Letterman and Kimmel have passed her over. From there, many music videos with scandalous female dancing and flashy everything.

Glad to see Lily Allen is back. Exactly what we were looking for.

KROQ Announces Huge Almost Acoustic Christmas Show

There are thousands of people in Los Angeles who had their prayers answered with the best KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas this year. KROQ has brought together the best of the alternative/indie rock world for two nights of fantastic music.

Night 1: Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Foals, Cage the Elephant, Grouplove, AFI, New Politics

Night 2: Arcade Fire, Lorde, Phoenix, Portugal. the Man, Fitz and the Tantrums, Atlas Genius, The Neighbourhood, Bastille, Capital Cities

Tickets run from $96-$177 and night 1 is already sold out. The show is held at Shrine Auditorium.

The jam packed lineup will absolutely deliver and you have KROQ to think for that.  

Cover of the Week

 

"The Suburbs" by Mr Little Jeans

Mr Little Jeans is Norwegian born Monica Birkenes and she transforms Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" into a darker tune filled with swerving overdubs and layered vocals. Her take on the song sounds more like the minute and a half part of "The Suburbs" that Arcade Fire included at the end of their album.

Her vocals reflect the almost whispering and nonchalant voice of Win Butler, but instead of a quiet drum beat, Mr Little Jeans emphasizes the orchestration and adds her eerie synths with a haunting wail in the background.

Still, her voice and transformation shows her ability to know the music in its essence. Watch out for Mr Little Jeans debut full length album and catch her single "Oh Sailor."

For reference, I have included the Arcade Fire original version of The Suburbs.

Check This Guy Out Too

While you are here...

You need to check out The Weekly Feed. This is just a quick shout out to a WFPK DJ in Louisville doing it his own way and killing it. Good tunes and a stellar interview every episode. Kyle has recently sat down with Queen of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, and Matt & Kim.

"It's a one hour specialty show hosted by Kyle Meredith from the WFPK studios in Louisville, KY. We find the newest, best, and most discussed tracks making waves across the net and compile them all into a mixtape bent on keeping you up-to-date."
  http://www.theweeklyfeed.org/

This guy is my favorite.

Review: Wet "You're the Best"

Wet (Neon Gold Records) new song "You're The Best" is catchy beyond belief. It begins with vocals through a vocoder and a simple beat. When they take that as far as it can go, a great strong guitar chord comes in a la Phoenix and turns the song into a fantastic tune. The vocals are so fitting for the music and the atmospheric emptiness in parts of the song makes the sounds the listener does get that much more valuable.

This one will stay in your head all day. So good.

Gotta Have Good Tourmates

I'm a fan of music first and foremost. That's the way I look at music initially. Anything that makes me happy as a fan will make me happy as a critic. As a fan, something that really makes me appreciate what a band does for a fan is filling the bill. Picking cohesive tour mates can really set the tour on fire.

Filling the bill can get the headliner's fans amped before they get on stage. Having fans in the palm of a band's hand from start to finish is hard to do so with the right opening band, they are already locked and loaded for the headliner. Sometimes a great bill has three or four bands as opposed to the normal two, but I say the more the merrier. 

Another benefit for a good opening act is it will bring fans of the opening act to the headliner's show. More bands equals more fan bases for the headliner's music because if fans were wise they would stay till the end. They already paid for the ticket. 

Doing this can also benefit the fan and opening band in a more inclusive way. A fan might show up at the headliner's show, a band they already like, and totally get blown away by the opening act, a band they had never heard of. This has happened to me many times--so much so that I buy their album. 

The best example of this for me was when I saw Passion Pit in Convington, Kentucky just outside of Cincinnati. When I bought the tickets, they had not even announced the openers yet. They ended up being Youngblood Hawke and Hollerado. I bought the Hollerado disc at the show and later got Youngblood Hawke's EP in Indianapolis when they opened for GROUPLOVE. I play those bands all the time now and had not even heard of them before the Passion Pit show. 

A full bill is underestimated and can benefit all parties involved. Headliners needs to put thought into who opens for them because it can bring more fans and hype to the show. They also must make sure the opening band can apply to their bands too. Gotta work together to help yourself. 

Recent and upcoming loaded tours to note:

Walk the Moon w/ The Mowgli's and smallpools

New Politics w/ Sleeper Agent and Magic Man

Fitz & the Tantrums & Capital Cities w/ The Beat Band

Atlas Genius w/ Family of the Year and The Colourist

The Orwells & Fidlar w The Kingston Springs

Local Louisville spotlight:

Iron Bells w/ Buffalo Rodeo, Vice Tricks, and Smoke Shop Kids