[Outside Lands 2012] Top Five Songs We Can't Wait to Hear Live

This Friday marks the beginning of this year's Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, the fifth edition of the cultural highlight. SKOA will be attending the festival this year, and each day leading up to the festival we will be dishing out a feature focused on the bands set to appear at Outside Lands. Today, our spotlight is focused on the top five songs we cannot wait to hear live at the festival.

No matter how good a band's repertoire is, there is always one song that stands out, one song that automatically comes to mind whenever you think about said band. That recollection is even more potent when you go to see them live in concert, bringing the immediate hope that they will play that song live and it will be even better than the studio quality version. Of all the bands playing at Outside Lands this year, there are five that have songs so damn good that we're shaking with excitement to hear them live. Now, keep in mind all of these songs are relatively new, having been released at various times over the past year or so, but that doesn't mean they aren't highlights in the catalogues of these artists. Rather, it's the opposite. These songs are gems in the handfuls of songs these bands have given us over the course of their long, or short, careers, and they are sure to be as good if not better live in concert. Check out our top five picks after the jump.

NOTE: For all of our Outside Lands coverage, head here.

Bloc Party - "Octopus":

Jack White - "Sixteen Saltines":

Alabama Shakes - "Hold On":

Tame Impala - "Apocalypse Dreams":

Passion Pit - "Constant Conversations":

[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] Big Boi x Little Dragon - "Mama Told Me"

For a vitaminwater and FADER Uncapped event, Big Boi previewed his new album Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors along with announcing the guests it would feature. Swedish band Little Dragon were one of those named and during the performance at the event he brought them out for to playback their collaborative track "Mama Told Me". Check out the performance at the top.

Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors due out on the 13th of November.

[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.

[Night Out] Theophilus London Slipper Launch Party @ The Black Tag 8/1/2012

credit: @sproutdrI remember two SXSWs ago when I was filling in for The Audio Perv last minute on the red black carpet at the 2011 MTV Woodies that I briefly got some facetime with Theophilus London and we were talking about the shoe he had designed for Cole Haan. I hadn't really been keeping up with him much past the mixtapes and his full-length, Timez Are Weird These Days, when those dropped. When I heard that he had continued to dabble in clothing and specifically shoe design, I jumped at the chance to feast my eyes on his latest pair of slippers with his signature LVRS branding on them courtesy of a partnership with Del Toro. Sprout and I love us some white wine and shoes, so this event was a total win-win for us.  Theophilus London's Blue Suede Buck Shoes by Cole HaanUpon arrival at the packed boutique, I noticed that there were more than just the Cole Haans and Del Toros on display. I soon found out as I was directed to the makeshift bar that he had designed everything in the room, which included sequin shirts, baseball caps, and a few different T-shirt designs. I should also mention that this particular slipper launch was timed with the release of his latest mixtape, Rose Island Vol. 1, which you can go grab over on his website.

After a few awkward moments of people looking down at their phones and grabbing drinks, the room was filled with chatter and people started to make their way around the room looking at all of the different pieces on display. I'll admit, I had a hard time keeping my hands off the sequin shirts and the slippers. I even made a pathetic attempt to model with the shoes but couldn't quite get my blue steel pose down well enough. I gained a little more respect for models after seeing how silly I looked when I peeked over Sprout's shoulder at the LCD display on her camera.

My best "blue steel" with the LVRS slippersIf I had slightly larger feet (US mens size 8-13 to be exact) and weren't on such a stritct blogger budget (sticker price is $360 for these loverlies), I would be all over these shoes. There's just enough to the design that both ladies and gents can pull off. Great work, Mr. London. I hope you're really proud of yourself.

If you've got the spare change and my shoe modeling really sold you on these, you can grab these limited edtion (but not hand numbered, bummer) shoes over on Del Toros website.

Oh! MTVStyle was also there pointing their cameras all over the place and managed to get London to open up about about the LVRS brand and the shoes he's designed. You can check that out below:

Get More: MTV Shows

You can also check out more of Sprout's photos from the party here: 

[Download] Labrynth Ear - "Urchin"

On a daily basis many of us are surrounded by music. Heck I spend almost every waking moment listening to it with a rare break in recent weeks to watch the new season of Breaking Bad (so, so good!). My girlfriend is also a big music geek and often points me in the direction of some great little bands ranging from the heaviest metal to the quietest folk. A few months ago though she recommended a band called Labyrinth Ear to me and I haven't looked back. The project comes from two Londoners, Tom and Emily and the other day I saw that Pretty Much Amazing had premiered a new track from them titled "Urchin". Hit play below and marinate in the sound of something great. We'll be keeping a close eye on the project in the coming months. 

[Watch] Dark Time Sunshine - "Never Cry Wolf" Feat. Reva DeVito (Video)

Onry Ozzborn and Zavala drop their latest visuals to the Dark Time Sunshine cut "Never Cry Wolf" featuring the wonderful Reva DeVito from their new LP ANX.  Come take a creepy stroll thorugh the woods with DTS by checking out the new video above and if you missed out on our review of DTS' latest LP then you missed out on us explaining how it is the duo's best work to date and we highly suggest you read up on the LP as well as listen to the full album stream.

ANX out now via Fake Four, Inc. Pick it up. DO IT. Also catch DTS on tour with Aesop Rock, peep the dates below.

07.31 - Montreal, Quebec @ Corona Theatre | Buy Tickets 
08.02 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club | Buy Tickets 
08.03 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza | Buy Tickets 
08.04 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer | Buy Tickets 
08.05 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club | Buy Tickets 
08.07 - Atlanta, GA @ The Loft | Buy Tickets 
08.09 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater | Buy Tickets 
08.10 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s | Buy Tickets 
08.11 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk | Buy Tickets 
08.13 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater | Buy Tickets 
08.14 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater | Buy Tickets 
08.15 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up | Buy Tickets 
08.30 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst 
08.31 - Bakersfield, CA @ B-Ryers 
09.01 - Las Vegas, NV @ Las Vegas County Saloon 
09.02 - Los Angeles, CA @ Fuck Yeah Fest | Buy Tickets 
09.07 - Spokane, WA @ The A Club 
09.08 - Yakima, WA @ Seasons Performance Hall 
09.10 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall 
09.12 - Arcata, CA @ John Van Duzer Hall 
09.13 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades 
09.14 - Chico, CA @ El Rey Theatre 
09.16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore | Buy Tickets

[Listen] White Denim - "Darlene" x "Gas On F"

White Denim have released two previously unheard track titled "Darlene" and "Gas On F". Both tracks were recorded during their Takes Place In Your Work Space and you can stream them over on Gorilla vs. Bear. Treat yourself, the weekend is nearly upon is. Again.