[Watch] Grimes - "Genesis" Live on Fallon

Last night the wonderful Claire Boucher, AKA Grimes, was on the late night American TV circuit. I was surprised to find out it was actually her debut on the TV Stateside considering we've already seen her on Jools Holland earlier in the year but hey, we'll take what we can get from her. She visited Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform a track from her album Visions in the shape of "Genesis". Give it a watch at the top of the page.

[Watch] Breton's Entire Set From La Route du Rock

Now here's something that doesn't happen on a daily basis. London-based band (and my personal favorite of the year) Breton had the privilege of performing in a castle over the weekend at France's 22nd annual La Route du Rock festival in the seaside city of St. Malo. The fine folks over at Arte.tv were amazing enough to record their entire set for those of us who couldn't travel the thousands of miles away to experience it for ourselves.

I'm not gonna lie, it's hard not to have a proud rock mama grin while watching this. To think at one point my brain considered them headlining the Bowery Ballroom to be a beautiful moment for them. This certainly knocks that right out of the water. Not that you still shouldn't go to their Bowery Ballroom show next month, because you totally should, if not merely for the sake of watching me make a complete fool out of myself dancing around.

Don't live in NYC? Make sure you catch them as they tour around Europe before pass through North America for a few weeks.

Also, make sure you pick up their debut album Other People's Problems if you haven't already.

BRETON UPCOMING TOUR DATES

AUGUST

16_ Pukkelpop – Kiewit-Hasselt – BELGIUM
24_ Steinbergasse /w Franz Ferdinand – Winterthur – SWITZERLAND
25_Obstiwiesen Festival – Ulm – GERMANY

SEPTEMBER

04_ DC9 – Washington DC – USA
05_ North Star Bar – Philadelphia PA – USA
06_ Bowery Ballroom – New York NY – USA
07_ The Middle East –  Cambridge MA – USA
09_ The Rivoli – Toronto ON – CANADA
11_ Magic Stick Lounge – Detroit MI – USA
12_ The Empty Bottle – Chicago IL – USA
13_ The Electric Owl – Vancouver BC – CANADA
15_ Rotture – Portland OR – USA
18_ The Echo – Los Angeles CA – USA
19_ Brick & Mortar Hall – San Francisco CA – USA
23_ Consortium – Dijon – FRANCE
24_ Le Grand Mix – Tourcoing – FRANCE
25_ La Lune Des Pirates – Amiens – FRANCE
27_ La Gaîté Lyrique - Paris – FRANCE
28_ Brain Damage – Centre Di Tri Postal – Begles – FRANCE

OCTOBER

24_ Scala – London – UK

DECEMBER

7_Club Control – Bucharest – ROMANIA

11_ Les Aventuriers – Salle Jaqcues Brel – Fontenay-sous-Bois – FRANCE

[Watch] Norah Jones - "Say Goodbye" Live on Leno

We've already got to enjoy Alabama Shakes rocking the stage on Jimmy Kimmel Live! but as well as that last night, the beautiful Norah Jones brought her sultry vocals to Leno. Up at the top you can enjoy a performance of her track "Say Goodbye" courtesy of The Audio Perv.

Norah's new album ...Little Broken Hearts is out now.

[Night Out] Alt-J @ Mercury Lounge (8/6/2012): How Not To Be 'That Guy' At A Show

credit: @SproutdrAfter pilling into the back room at Mercury Lounge and making a move towards the stage with Sprout, we nestled in amongst a happy group of fans and eagerly awaited to dance our faces off to some Alt-J jams, which for the most part they did. It's always a really great experience when not only does the band deliver a solid performance, but the fans are actively participating in the show instead of bobbing with their arms folded looking disinterested. A lovely blonde girl to my right at one point stopped and looked at me to say, "Have you ever heard these guys before!? I love them so much!" It's that kind of fan energy that I thrive off of when I'm in a crowd.

Wanna know what will stop a good evening almost completely dead in its tracks for me? "That Guy". You know, that guy. The guy who selfishly ignores the people around him for his the sake of how he thinks his experience should be, no matter how rude or obnoxious he is all night? I have to admit, had initially debated whether or not to even bring up this guy because by the end of the night I was so aggravated with the guy that I was ready to make sure he could never have children again, but after a day to cool off about the whole ordeal I decided that there probably aren't enough reminders circulating these days about how not to treat people at shows.

So there we were, the dedicated happy fans on the left side of the stage when suddenly the guy in the very front just off to the left of center stage starts convulsing (or what he would call "dancing") to the point where he's starting to knock into people. It was clear everyone thought: "Okay dude, you're having fun, just take it easy." But of course he doesn't. His next round of convulsing after stoping to take a breather and grind up on his girlfriend and lick/make out with her a little was to make sure he flailed his arms around enough that he was knocking people in the head and face a bunch. At this point people around me are all looking at each other like, "What the crap?", some are chuckling, and others started trying to get pictures of this musical exorcism of sorts in action.

"That Guy"

All this time, mind you, our dear friend Sprout is to the right of him trying to dodge his arms and snap some great photos of the night, thus earning her +1 to the fullest of her abilities. During round three of the girlfriend grinding/flailing combo I saw his arm smack Sprout's camera which rammed into her face and gave her a nice whack to the nose. It was then that I had enough and the rock mama deep down inside of me stepped in. In between songs I grabbed this guy and gave him a good shaking. After he spun around I leaned over and said over the chatter of the crowd, "Could you please do me a favor? My friend over here *points to Sprout* is trying to get photos of the band because this is like... our job and stuff? Maybe look out for her please?" To which the guy seemed to happily agree to, but proceeded to go about his flailing/grinding business as if nothing ever happened. For a moment I thought we might be able to get rid of him, because all of a sudden in the middle of the set he squeezes through the sold out crowd to go get a drink for himself. (Un)fortunately enough, other people are a lot nicer than I am and let him back up to join his girlfriend once more. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty great show, but if it had been devoid of "that guy" I would probably remember it even more fondly than I already do.

If you are "that guy" at shows and do things that remotely resemble this, I just have one thing to say to you:

You, my fellow human being, are a douche. Like, the douchiest of douches.

Seriously though, the internet. This is your friendly reminder of the moment to remember to be cool to each other when you're at shows. We're all trying to have a good time and being thoughtful of everyone else having a good time will probably save you from getting pushed or having a drink spill on you or something of that nature.

If you haven't pre-ordered Alt-J's debut album, An Awesome Wave, make sure you do that ASAP. It drops on September 18th via Canvasback Music (it's out now in the UK, btw). You can also befriend the band on Twitter and Facebook.

[Watch] City & Colour - "Fragile Bird"

We've not really heard much from Dallas Green since the release of his album Little Hell last year but that doesn't mean to say he's been doing nothing. At Bonnaroo City & Colour performed a bare bones version of "Fragile Bird" at something called the The Hay Bale Sessions. These sessions take place "tucked away backstage at Bonnaroo, buried beneath a stack of hay bales, is a room where artists duck out of the weekend's madness to play stripped-down versions of their songs." Take a listen to the beautiful rendition of the song up at the top in the video and thank Antiquiet for the heads up.

Dallas will be pretty busy following the news of an Alexisonfire farewell tour as well as his upcoming City & Colour festival dates.

[Watch] Grouplove - "Itchin’ on a Photograph" Live on Conan

Earlier in the week Grouplove performed on the late night TV circuit. They visited Conan O'Brien to lay down a live version of "Itchin’ on a Photograph" which features on their latest release, Never Trust a Happy Song. If you missed it earlier in the week don't fret, you can re-watch the performance at the top of the page via The Audio Perv.

[Contest] [NYC-Only] Win A Pair Of Tickets To See Big Black Delta Tomorrow Night (8/9) @ Pianos!

Big Black Delta is rolling through NYC tomorrow night in support of his remix EP for "IFUCKINGLOVEYOU" which is the first single on his newly formed/cleverly-titled label Masters of Bates. Additionally, this month the band will be releasing a digital-only tour EP on August 21st featuring three other tracks, "Betamax", "LeonardMcGeonardvsDrunkenCalculator" and "Put The Gun On The Floor" along with the current single.

If you are having one of "those" weeks, are in dire need of a show as badly as I do AND happen to live in the NYC area then shoot us an email before noon EDT tomorrow (8/9) for a chance to win a pair of tickets to catch BBD live at SKOA's favorite watering hole, Pianos. Obvs show is 21+ only, but you know we have to say it just in case. A winner will be selected at noon and notified shortly thereafter that they've won. To save time, please make sure you include your full name in the email so we can get you on the list ASAP.

If you haven't picked up the ifuckingloveyou remix EP yet, here's a sampling of what you're missing out on:

Although the show starts at 7pm, the SKOA NYC crew will be down their early sipping happy hour margaritas and feasting on some happy hour nachos. Did we mention they have a killer happy hour? Either way, if you see us, you should come say hi before/after the show.

If you don't live in NYC, make sure you catch him on tour supporting M83, Cursive and Jane's Addiction.

BIG BLACK DELTA LIVE DATES (headline dates in bold)
 
AUGUST
8th                         Central Park Summerstage, New York NY ^
9th                         Pianos, New York NY
10th                       DC9, Washington DC
11th                       Brooklyn Bowl, New York, NY
17th                       Pianos, New York NY
18th                       MGM Grand Theatre / Foxwoods, Mashantucket CT #
20th                       Artpark, Lewiston NY #
22nd                      Stage AE, Pittsburgh PA #
23rd                       Old National Centre - Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, IN #
24th                       Empty Bottle, Chicago IL  
25th                       Orpheum Theatre, Omaha NE #
26th                       Pikes Peak Centre, Colorado Springs CO #
27th                       Larimer Lounge, Denver CO
28th                       The Great SaltAir, Salt Lake City UT #
29th                       Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise ID #
31st                        Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver BC #
 
SEPTEMBER
4th                         Keller Auditorium, Portland OR
5th                         Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, Reno NV
6th                         Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco CA
7th                         Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles CA  
 
%With Cursive
^With M83
#With Jane's Addiction

[News] Beck Confirms Details For 'Beck Hansen's Song Reader', Announces Suprise Show At Bimbo's On 8/9/2012

(mockup, not actual photo of the songbook

Today Beck fans around the world are both rejoicing and scratching their heads. In addition to springing a last minute surprise show at Bimbo's in San Fransico this Thursday (8/9) before setting foot on stage at Outside Lands Festival (which if you've been following along our very own Adrian will be attending), Beck has also confirmed details of what his website creepily(?) refers to as the "long-gestating" Beck Hansen's Song Reader, which will be released this December by book publisher McSweeney's.

"A book publisher?" you ask. Yes. Beck has decided to one up everyone releasing cassette tapes and is re-crowning himself as the King of Random by releasing an 108-page song booklet featuring 20 never before released or recorded songs with20 individual full-color song booklets-18 featuring original lyrics, and 2 instrumentals-with covers from more than a dozen different artists.

This is equal parts exciting and frustrating for someone like me, who's only musical abilities is playing an iPod, but as it was noted in the press release: "The songs here are as unfailingly exciting as you’d expect from their author, but if you want to hear “Do We? We Do,” or “Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard,” bringing them to life depends on you. Devoted fans have already created a Tumblr page in anticipation of the inevitable versions of the songs that will hit the internet shortly after the "album" is released.

Tickets for Thursday's show at Bimbo's go on sale at noon PDT today on Ticketmaster. To learn more about Song Reader head over to Beck's website. McSweeny also has more samples of some of the artwork as well.

If you're on Twitter and in need of a chuckle, have a look at tweets with the hashtag #BeckFutureAlbumIdeas courtesy of myself and other fellow Beck fans. Feel free to contribute your most creatively whacked out ideas if you'd like.