Our friend Josh Slater is an artist who has been doing some interesting projects recently. He designed a pyramid for the new MGMT video for Congratulations, and he also has been working on a project with us, designing a billboard for Smart Car which is going to be painted on Spring St. next week. Click “Read More” to see the MGMT video and for a a little get together of his for the Smart mural.

Josh’s drawing is going to be reproduced by Colossal Media on a 19 foot by 40 foot wall on Spring st (between Crosby and Lafayette Street, next to the 6 downtown train). The wall will start being prepped on the 27th and the painting will end on the 1st. To celebrate, he is going to have an opening party on Wednesday the 1st at Gatsby’s (63 Spring Street) from 6pm to around 10. Hope to see you there.

I went to the Apollo for the first time last week for the premiere of the Nike Air Force 1 documentary. I was excited to be there and also a little surprised by how small and cozy it was. And even with the coziness, I can’t imagine the weight it carries as a performer to be on stage there.

The video below is Viktor Longo and Eric Heger (as The HarpThrobs), performing Mad World by Tears for Fears at the Jazz Foundation fundraiser concert at the Apollo. Viktor is my ex-boyfriend’s little brother. I’d be excited for anyone I know to be singing at the Apollo, but I’m extra excited when it’s someone I’ve known since he was seven years old, and even more so when he sounds like this. Click “Read More” for the video.

Victoria Legrand scares the hell out of me. “Walk in the Park” may be one of the most beautifully crafted pop songs of our generation, yet seeing her croon lyrics like “In a matter of time, it will slip from my mind, in and out of my life, you would slip from my mind” while blankly staring beyond the physical world and thwarting about like Carrie White on prom night provokes a different sensation altogether. She wears only black, says little, and often spends the time she’s not singing lurched over her keyboards, letting her devil-may-care nest of hair flop about as if it were some crazed hippie on fire at Burning Man. If this were Salem 1692, it wouldn’t be out of line to assume that she wasn’t exactly on the town’s good side. And yet this instinctual fear is a big part of what makes Beach House so compelling: they push the limits of normalcy to the breaking point by building a world in which the everyday becomes increasingly bizarre, a world where something as mundane as a stroll through the neighborhood becomes the catalyst for a severe existential crisis. The songs, at their core, are rooted in a familiar pop formula. But rather than remain conventional, Beach House uses this tried-and-true structure to their advantage, reconstructing and pushing the boundaries to create a mood that is entirely their own. They’ve been branded as “dream pop”, and I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more fitting term. Their latest album, “Teen Dream”, makes a grand argument for the record as a cohesive whole, something that demands to be sat down with and listened to again and again. Their live show is no different. One wouldn’t think Prospect Park to be an ideal place to see this band, but the outdoor venue, coupled with beautiful weather and an approaching sunset, worked to their advantage. Somber tracks like “Silver Soul” and “Better Times” somehow became even more melancholy in this environment, while more upbeat songs like “Master of None” and “Norway” carried an added punch while remaining faithful to their recorded counterparts. With only organ, guitar and minimal drums behind her, Legrand’s voice remains the group’s most vital asset. When she asks, “Don’t I know you, better than the rest?”, I can’t help but hope she’s talking to me.

The National, however, carry a different kind of weight. Having honed their particular brand of American pop over the course of five albums spanning a decade, this show served as a sort of homecoming of sorts. Guitarist Bryce Dessner remarked that this is “the first show we’ve played where we can walk to”, and the band clearly felt at home here, playing a marathon 21 songs that drew from their last three albums. Their latest album, “High Violet”, has been universally praised as their finest effort, they recently played Radio City in addition to having being filmed by D.A. Pennebaker at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and last night wrapped up a sold-out show at Terminal 5. When I saw them in 2007 they were all casually dressed down in jeans and t-shirts; today they uniformly sport immaculate designer suits, yet still never fail to deliver dryly comical lines like “Sorrow found me when I was young—sorrow waited, sorrow won.” Some find their demeanor boring, but, like Beach House, this is a group that demands a sharp degree of attention before their craft can be fully realized. Songs like “Afraid of Everyone” and “Anyone’s Ghost” showcase singer Matt Berninger’s concise gift for constructing melodies that seem to trip over one-another, while highlights like “Mistaken For Strangers” and “Apartment Story” prove why Bryan Devendorf is the best drummer in rock music today—he’s less concerned with playing a backbeat than establishing a concise counterpoint to Berninger’s twisted musings on the quiet desperation of everyday people, adding a dramatic depth to stories that would likely fall flat otherwise. This is what makes the National such a compelling band: the ways in which each member adds their fabric to the whole, in the process creating movements that ultimately add up to be greater than the sum of their parts. The fact that they’re seeing success at this point shouldn’t be a revelation, but a relief.

Photo by: Jason Nocito

Nearly four years after tearing onto the underground music scene with her 2006 EP “Pop The Glock,”  Uffie gets us into a groove with the mixed-beat, genre-bending tracks of her recently released album, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans.

In the dressing room, just before performing at SOS Music Festival in Murcia, Spain, we managed to take a peek down her barrel and find out a little more about the up-and-coming artist.

Vanessa: Why the name Uffie?

Uffie: It’s what my dad has called me since I was born. He would always say, “enuff, enuff, enuff!” when speaking to me.

Vanessa: Where’d you grow up and why the move to France?

Uffie: I grew up between the States and Hong Kong. When I was fifteen, I visisted my dad in Paris and decided to stay… I really prefer European lifestyle and culture.

Vanessa: Do you play any instruments?

Uffie: Not yet.

Vanessa: Has music always been a part of your life or did you discover it when you grew up and started to play a part in the night scene?

Uffie: I have always loved music and my parents were always playing it in the house. I just never thought of being a musician until DJ Feadz got me into it.

Vanessa: What do you sing most about?

Uffie: My life. I think that these days I tend to write about things that confuse me. It’s as though, if I analyze them in the song, I will somehow figure them out. A night out… love… loneliness… Whatever it is that I’m feeling in the moment.

Vanessa: Are you more about lyrics or rhythm and beat?

Uffie: Depends on the song.

Vanessa: What artists are you working or planning on working with in the near future?

Uffie: That is a surprise that you will have to wait for!

Vanessa: Your music has been described as “anti-flow”. What does that mean? Where do you get your flow?

Uffie: I have no idea, actually (laughs). The flows just come naturally, through the rhythm, beat, and words. It just sort of comes out a certain way that fits.

Vanessa: It has been some time since “Pop the Glock,” and some of your earlier projects and collaborations got the underground scene’s attention. Tell us about the making of Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans.

Uffie: It was important for me to make something other than club tracks, to go deeper, and push myself more outside of my comfort zone, so the album criss-crosses a lot of moods and genres.

Vanessa: Do you have any plans to tour in the US?

Uffie: Oh yes! We should be on tour in late October and early November.

Vanessa: Name the top three artists on your mp3 player these days.

Uffie: The Flowers, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem.

Vanessa: Any artists that not enough people know about but should?

Uffie: The Flowers are really great…

Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans was released June 14, 2010 in Europe and June 22, 2010 in the US by the French electronic music label Ed Banger Records.

Check out one of our favorite tracks off of the new album here.

On a recent rainy evening in the basement of the Ace Hotel I was transported back through the decades. LA based singer Nicole Simone’s first ever NYC performance made me feel like I had stumbled across an underground nightclub in the 40’s with dark banquettes and cigarette girls pushing packs of Lucky Strike. Simone has that effect- evoking a startlingly nostalgic and sensuous sound with her moody and engrossing vocals. Backed by Kelly Pratt and Jon Natchez (of Arcade Fire and Beirut, respectively) who added a compliment of horns and mandolin, Simone’s sweet-as-pie demeanor was the icing on the cake. Her recent self-released debut EP features Bored to Death’s Jason Schwartzman on drums and banjo. Let’s hope she makes her way back to the east coast soon so we can all experience a little time travel.

Homemade Beige t-shirts at last night’s show with Violins. Click “Read More” for additional images.

This is one of the funniest videos I’ve seen in forever. I guess the chorus of this song translates to “hit him in the face with your ass.” You can go on youtube and see lots of folks trying to re-create this at home. Something to do when it’s hot out.

Maryland police were called to a bar this weekend to investigate reports that 16 year old Justin Beiber was drinking and it turned out to be the above woman, a lesbian named Katie. In her honor, I’ve thrown up a few images from the website Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Beiber for your viewing pleasure. In case you’re behind on this stuff, Biebs is the youngest male solo artist to have a number one album since Stevie Wonder was young. And, well, he looks like a lesbian. My favorite song by him isn’t really sung by him but by our friends Caroline and Jorge of Chairlift and the Violens, respectively. Video here. I know we’ve posted this before but it’s just that good. What’s a Beiber post without it? Click “Read More” for more Bieber lesbian images.

“Exclusive” Photo via TMZ.

This cute band from New Jersey plays drifty summer tunes – perfect listening for an afternoon of nostalgic reflection. They will be playing in New York at the MHOW, Northside Fest Woodsist showcase with Woods, Moon Duo, The Fresh and Onlys, Sic Alps on June 25.

In the mean time, you can have a sneaky listen to them here.