White Rabbits “Heavy Metal” [VIDEO]

I’ve been a fan of White Rabbits since their 2007 album Fort Nightly. They took a step forward with their sound on their sophomore album It’s Frightening. This teaser track, from their forthcoming album Milk Famous, available March 6 on TBD Records. The first official single, “Temporary,” will be released around the release of the album. Look for the band on tour in the US this fall.

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Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Announces 2010 Lineup

This has been a great Tuesday so far. First the M’s sign pitching ace Felix Hernandez to a 5 year extension at bargain bin prices. Then news that the Seahawks will hire John Schneider as their GM (he was the Green Bay Packers Director of Football Operations). And to top it all off, the Coachella lineup comes out, and it is RIDICULOUS.

Friday, April 16:
Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, the Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, the Avett Brothers, Calle 13, the Whitest Boy Alive, the Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartley, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall As Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan

Saturday, April 17:
Muse, Faith No More, Tiesto, MGMT, David Guetta, the Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed & Cambria, Kaskade, 2ManyDJs, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, the xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, the Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnector, Frigtened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, Rx Bandits, the Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze and Klever, Zoe, the Temper Trap, Portugal the Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner

Sunday, April 18:
Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke ????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, the Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence + the Machine, Yann Tierson, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, the Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, the Middle East, Hadouken!, the Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One eskimO

For more details, visit coachella.com.

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Top 10 Albums Of 2009

It’s time, ladies and gents, for my year-end top 10 list. If you missed the 2008 list, read it here.

This time of year it seems that EVERYONE is doing a top 10 albums of the year list. And sometimes I read the big publications’ lists and think, “How the hell did you include that album?!” This list was compiles entirely by yours truly. If you think some of these don’t belong, well, that’s where your wrong. These are MY top 10 albums of 2009, and hopefully you’ll enjoy many of them, too. (Song titles that are in bold are streaming after each entry.)

So when Santa drops off gift cards for iTunes/Amazon/eMusic in your stocking, these are some suggestions for spending that free cash on some music that I think is pretty dang good.

Let me know what you think of this list in the comments section. What are some of YOUR favorite albums that aren’t listed here?

10. Muse – The Resistance (Sep 15): This album was included in my recent Twenty-some Suggestions post, and is one of several from that mini-series that made the end-of-year list. Muse have been trying to take over America for since their 2004 album Absolution was released. Along with a solid tour schedule, and an amazing (if lip-synced) live show, this band has become a favorite to the Twilight set as they have appeared on both of the soundtracks for the Twilight Saga movies. It’s never a bad thing to be on the hottest soundtrack of the year, that’s for sure. But beyond that, they consistently make great music. The lead single from The Resistance, “The Uprising,” has been #1 on the Modern Rock charts for something like three months! This album may not be chock full of hit singles, but it is chock full of great songs (and even an orchestral suite!). In addition to the single, check out “Undisclosed Desires” and “I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’ouvre A Ta Voix)“.

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Concerts: 2009

The last couple years, I’ve kept a running list of the concerts I’ve attended, and 2009 will be no different. So I start a list of my 2009 concerts. As before, the list will be updated as concerts are attended.

1. Jan 17: David Archuleta at Stanfield Artist Lounge, Park City, UT
2. Jan 20: O.A.R. w/ Eric Hutchinson at The Depot, Salt Lake City, UT
3. Jan 21: Bouncing Souls, X-Dance at Elevate, SLC, UT
4. Jan 23: Lenka at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
5. Jan 24: Adele w/ James Morrison at Murray Theatre, Murray, UT
6. Feb 10: Katy Perry w/ The Daylights at In The Venue, SLC, UT
7. Feb 13: P.O.S. w/ Mictlan, Sims at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
8. Feb 21: The Submarines, the Morning Benders at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
9. Feb 28: MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice at McKay Events Center, Orem, UT
10. Mar 18: Thriving Ivory at Murray Theater, Murray, UT
11. Mar 31: Blue October at the Depot, SLC, UT
12. Apr 1: Ten Out of Tenn feat. Erin McCarley and more at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
13. Apr 2: Pelican w/ Eagle Twin, Tombs, Bird Eater at Club Vegas, SLC, UT
14. Apr 8: Lily Allen at In The Venue, SLC, UT
15. Apr 9: The Ting Tings at In The Venue, SLC, UT
16. Apr 17-19: Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Field, Indio, CA
17. Apr 22: Carolina Liar at Gallivan Center, SLC, UT
18. Apr 28: Serena Ryder at Avalon Theater, SLC, UT
19. May 1: Lenka at Avalon Theater, SLC, UT
20. May 12: Anya Marina (opening for The Virgins) at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
21. May 12: Keane at Kingsbury Hall, SLC, UT
22. May 17: Flight of the Conchords at Abravanel Hall, SLC, UT
23. May 21: Dirtyheads w/ Pilot Speed at Upper Deck, Scottsdale, AZ
24. Jun 25: White Rabbits at Urban Lounge, SLC, UT
25. Jul 13: Death Cab For Cutie w/ Andrew Bird at Red Butte Gardens, SLC, UT
26. Jul 18: The Fray w/ Jack’s Mannequin at USANA Ampthitheatre, West Valley, UT
27. Jul 19: Tool at EnergySolutions Arena, SLC, UT
28. Jul 22: Kid Cudi w/ Asher Roth at Harry O’s, Park City, UT
29. Jul 31: Sonic Youth at Gallivan Center, SLC, UT
30. Aug 4: Needtobreathe w/ Cameron Rafati, the State Room, SLC, UT
31. Aug 8: Warped Tour at Utah State Fairpark, SLC, UT
32. Aug 16: Green Day w/ Franz Ferdinand at ESA, SLC, UT
33. Aug 18: The Dead Weather at the Depot, SLC, UT
34. Aug 21: Matt Hires at the State Room, SLC, UT
35. Sep 1: Modest Mouse at In the Venue, SLC, UT
36. Sep 8: Fun. at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
37. Sep 12: Psychedelic Furs at Club Sound, SLC, UT
38. Sep 22: Arctic Monkeys w/ the Airborne Toxic Event at In the Venue, SLC, UT
39. Sep 23: Autolux w/ the Furs at Urban Lounge, SLC, UT
40. Sep 24: Rancid at In The Venue, SLC, UT
41. Sep 28: Pearl Jam w/ Ben Harper & Relentless7 at E Center, West Valley City, UT
42. Oct 2: Colbie Caillat at In The Venue, SLC, UT
43. Oct 7: Passion Pit at Urban Loung, SLC, UT
44. Oct 10: Snow Patrol at McKay Events Center, Orem, UT
45. Oct 11: Owl City at In the Venue, SLC, UT
46. Oct 17: Ingrid Michaelson at In the Venue, SLC, UT
47. Oct 28: Mat Kearney w/ Vedera at In the Venue, SLC, UT
48. Oct 30: The Sounds at In the Venue, SLC, UT
49. Nov 6: Regina Spektor at In the Venue, SLC, UT
50. Dec 8: Ten Out Of Tenn at Kilby Court, SLC, UT

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New Music Spotlight #104: White Rabbits

I featured White Rabbits on the NMS back in May, and brought the song back today because the band is performing tonight at Urban Lounge. The group is a six-piece based in NYC and their song “Percussion Gun” is starting to make some waves. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie Levinson, one of the drummers in the band, and you can hear the interview after the jump.

Response to this was pretty positive. Scott said they weren’t bad, and that he was going to look into their other musice. Several anonymous texters responded, one saying “That new song was bitchin’.” There weren’t any negative responses at all for White Rabbits, it was a clean sweep.

Take the jump to hear the complete interview with Levinson and to watch the video for “Percussion Gun.”

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New Music Spotlight #80: White Rabbits

White Rabbits were behind my #2 album of 2007, their debut album Fort Nightly, and I’ve been a vocal fan of theirs ever since. Now, with their sophomore release (out today!) they are coming to Salt Lake (they had to cancel their last trip to Utah) to play a show on June 25th at Urban Lounge. Today’s NMS is the lead single from their new album, It’s Frightening. They performed “Percussion Gun” on the Late Show with David Letterman yesterday; you can see that performance and the official video after the jump.

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Twenty-some Suggestions For Your Aural Enjoyment

I just finished writing an email to some of my friends and family with these suggestions of bands to check out. When I was almost finished, I thought to myself, “This would make for a good blog post.” And so I copied the meat and potatoes of the email and pasted it right here for you, because I love you that much.

So here you are, twenty-some bands you should check out. Believe me, your ears will appreciate what you’ve done for them.

Each suggestions comes with a blurb and a link to the band’s MySpace page so you can preview before going about either purchasing or illegally downloading (not a suggestion, I just know how you thieving bastards work!). Read on, if you dare…

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White Rabbits “Percussion Gun” [video]

White Rabbits burst into my consciousness back in 2007 with their debut album Fort Nightly. That album went on to be included in my year-end Top 10 list (which was lost in the Great Google Gaffe of ’08). Since then, I’ve been wanting to see them live (they cancelled their Salt Lake show last year), and anticipating their next album. I anticipate no more!

This weekend I downloaded their latest effort, It’s Frightening, and have only been able to listen to it once, but early indications are that it is a great album. Perhaps less accessible and immediately catchy than their previous, but no less enjoyable for my ears. This morning, Pitchfork posted on their Twitter a link to the Rabbits’ new video for “Percussion Gun.” I’ve posted it here.

Check it out after the jump.

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