Random Musing: Weezer write State Farm jingle

There's an endless debate about art vs. commerce and usually anyone who fancies themselves a legitimate artist tries to at least shy away from purely commercial output. Any yet, here comes Weezer who have this strange knack for polarizing its fans (who either want the band to sound like they used to or go away OR are more than okay with anything Weezer puts out based on the band's established "street cred") releasing a jingle for State Farm. Before you get all indignant, give it a listen. It doesn't even sound like a jingle until you heard the trademark "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there". If more jingles sounded like this, I think less people would care about a band's desire to make money and just sit back and enjoy it. Give the jingle a listen and revel in the vintage Weezer sound of days long gone by. There's something to be said for Cuomo's ability to so easily tap into his younger self.



You win this one, Weezer.

53rd Grammy Awards Go Indie...kinda

As the Grammys approach, I realize that this is the only year I've actually been interested in them. Normally the Grammy Awards tend to be a pretty predictable affair filled with nominations for the most popular and mostly similar sounding music. But this year with the nomination of The Arcade Fire's The Suburbs for Album of the Year, I sensed change in the air. And when I checked out other Grammy Nominees I was pretty surprised to see Ray LaMontagne nominated for multiple categories (like Song of the Year for "Beg Steal or Borrow"), Mumford & Sons up for Best New Artist, Sarah Bareilles up for Best Female Vocal Performance (though the fact that she's up against Norah Jones, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga makes her chances of winning plummet immensely), in addition to all sorts of surprising Grammy nods.

Taking a look at the nominees you'll notice this: All of a sudden, The Grammy's are becoming more Indie friendly. What does this mean? Well I'm not sure exactly. The fact that several big name Indie artists are put up against some multiple Grammy award-winning and award-nominated group is both hopefully and not at the same time. While you hope the "underdogs" wins, there's always going to be some doubt as to whether they're actually going to or if they do, why they actually won. Cynicism aside though, you definitely have to admit that the 53rd Grammy Awards are definitely going to be interesting to watch.

Random Musing: New tUnE-yArDs songs

This post was inspired by me trying to find out the new songs tUnE-yArDs played at the Central Park Summerstage show and stumbling upon a bunch of new songs. Enjoy these songs that you won't find on the album!

Live at The Rock Shop


"You Yes You"


Two songs the second of which is "Gangsta". No idea what the first one is but it's new and she played it at Summerstage as well.


Live at Soundscapes

Random Musing: Tomas Kalnoky solo gig videos

So I mentioned earlier that Tomas Kalnoky was playing two solo acoustic shows in NYC and LA under the "Toh Kay" moniker. I wasn't able to attend (curse you 21+ shows) but thanks to the marvels of the internet was able to find these videos where he plays song from Catch 22's Keasbey Nights era to the latest Streetlight original album. Enjoy some Toh Kay aka Tomas Kalnoky of Streetlight Manifesto at his Joe's Pub performance in NYC.

"Heres To Life"


"Sick & Sad"


"Would You Be Impressed?"


"A Better Place, A Better Time" (with explanitory interludes)

Random Musing: Ingrid covers "Toxic"

It's not secret that "Toxic" is Britney Spears' most catchy pop number. So combine that with the talented and always lovely Ingrid Michaelson and you get awesomeness on a grand scale. She even throws in some choreography for good measure. This video was actually brought to my attention by Ingrid herself via tweet. Enjoy Ingrid Michaelson covering "Toxic" at Bonnaroo 2010:

Random Musing: Maps & Atlases & The Willie Brown Bears

So this clip features a middle school drum-line from San Francisco's Willie Brown Academy by the name of the Willie Brown Bears. They had the unique experience of getting a chance to play with Chicago indie outfit, Maps & Atlases. Enjoy the interesting video.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Maps & Atlases from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Random Musing: Horse Feathers and the Oregon Ballet

So after I attended the Horse Feathers concert in Poughkeepsie, folk musician John Craigie came to town and aftermentioning the concert mentioned Horse Feathers' collaboration with dancers. Intrigued I looked on Youtube and found some videos and found some info. Horse Feathers originally collaborated with the Oregon Ballet Theatre in November performing live accompaniment to original choreography in a show called Uprising. The show was so popular that they reprised the performance earlier this year in January. Enjoy some of the videos I found:

"Working Poor"


"Heathen's Kiss"


"In Our Blood"