Wreck The Tape Deck

I like The Very Best. I like them because their music is infectiously happy and it helps me through the frigid New York winters (waaaahhh I hate you LA). Here’s Very Best’s frontman Esau Mwamwaya with Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend doing “Warm Heart of Africa” and it looks like the two of them are having a blast poppin and lockin around the streets of NYC (is that canal street?). I smell a buddy-cop comedy in their future.

TINT Awesome, Music, New York, Videos esau mwamwaya, Ezra Koenig, hipster swine, indie, music videos, New York, the very best, vampire weekend, warm heart of africa

And it’s daunting… the schedule page for this year’s CMJ festival is just a mess, there’s an incredible amount of performers all week and the best way to narrow it down into something coherent is to pick a favorite venue and see what’s happening there all week. Here are some manageable schedules listed by venues I recommend:

Le Poisson Rouge (featuring Atlas Sound, The Very Best, Choir of Young Believers, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Miles Benjamin Anthony Davis)
The Music Hall of Williamsburg (featuring The Antlers, Fanfarlo, Atlas Sound, The xx)
Bowery Electric (featuring Angry vs. The Bear, Black Taxi)
Bowery Ballroom (featuring Fanfarlo, Midnight Juggernauts, Dolorean)
B.B. King’s Blues Club (featuring Raekwon, Busta Rhymes, Styles P and Kids in the Hall)
The Knitting Factory (featuring Miles Benjamin Anthony Davis, Wild Yaks)
Mercury Lounge (featuring The xx, Mumford and Sons, Dutchess and The Duke, Moondoggies)
Cake Shop (featuring Crystal Antlers, Kittens Ablaze)

BEST BAND NAME (involving cute animals burning): Care Bears on Fire
RUNNER UP: Kittens Ablaze

WTF is happening!? Why are there so many colors? All of this stuff happens within the course of 4 hours?? AHHHHHH why are kittens on fire!?!?!!

Still need help deciding? I understand, this is one of those moments where you’re presented with so many choices that you literally freeze up, go into shock mode, wet yourself, burn a kitten or 2 and end up doing nothing. Well Pitchfork also tries to make sense of things with their guide to CMJ here but beware, it’s still massive and somewhat confusing. Just change your trousers and get out there people.

TINT Awesome, Music, New York, Stuff 2 Do Angry vs. The Bear, atlas sound, Black Taxi, busta rhymes, Choir of Young Believers, cmj festival, concerts, crystal antlers, cymbals eat guitars, Dolorean, Dutchess and The Duke, fanfarlo, Kids In The Hall, Kittens Ablaze, live shows, Midnight Juggernauts, Miles Benjamin Anthony Davis, Moondoggies, Mumford and Sons, Music, nyc, panels, Raekwon, showcase, Styles P, the very best, The xx, wild yaks

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Cymbals Eat Guitars – “And the Hazy Sea”

This is our final update on the Pitchfork 2K9 schedule, barring any last second changes. Our previous update was missing a lot of these bands, plus the time schedule and stages weren’t listed yet. This should be the final lineup (*Updates are in bold):

Built to Spill 8:40 (A)
The Jesus Lizard 7:20 (C)
Yo La Tengo 6:10 (A)
Tortoise 5:00 (C)

The National 8:40 (A)
The Black Lips 8:30 (B) (moved from Sunday)
Matt & Kim 7:30 (B)
Beirut 7:25 (C)
Lindstrøm 6:30 (B)
Doom 6:15 (A)
Wavves 5:30 (B)
Yeasayer 5:15 (C)
Ponytail 4:30 (B)
Final Fantasy 4:15 (A)
Bowerbirds 3:35 (B)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 3:20 (C)
The Antlers 2:40 (B)
Fucked Up 2:30 (A)
Plants and Animals 1:45 (C)
The Dutchess and The Duke 1:45 (B)
Cymbals Eat Guitars 1:00 (A)
Disappears 1:00 (B)


The Flaming Lips 8:40 (A)
The Very Best 8:30 (B)
Mew 7:30 (B)
Grizzly Bear 7:25 (C)
Vivian Girls 6:30 (B)
M83 6:15 (A)
Japandroids 5:30 (B)
The Walkmen 5:15 (C)
DJ/Rupture 4:30 (B)
The Thermals 4:15 (A)
Women 3:35 (B)
Pharoahe Monch 3:20 (C)
Killer Whales 2:40 (B)
Blitzen Trapper 2:30 (A)
Frightened Rabbit 1:45 (C)
Dianogah 1:45 (B)
The Mae Shi 1:00 (A)
Michael Columbia 1:00 (B)

The concert takes place on July 17th – July 19th in Chicago’s Union Park. They’ve added some great bands, The Thermals, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Beirut… this has shaped up to be an amazing event. At this point, tickets for Sunday are SOLD OUT. So are two-day passes. There are limited tickets left for Friday and Saturday so if you still wanna be one of the cool kids, get tix here. More info here.

TINT Awesome, Music, Stuff 2 Do, Three Thumbs Up and the hazy sea, beirut, Blitzen Trapper, bowerbirds, Built to Spill, charles hamilton, chicago, concert, cymbals eat guitars, dj/rupture, DOOM, festival, final fantasy, Frightened Rabbit, fucked UP, Grizzly Bear, killer whales, lindstrom, m83, mew, michael columbia, mp3, Music, Pharoahe Monch, pitchfork, pitchfork festival, plants and animals, ponytail, summer music festivals, the antlers, The Black Lips, the duchess and the duke, the flaming lips, The Jesus Lizard, The National, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the thermals, the very best, The Walkmen, tickets, Tortoise, union park, Vivian Girls, wavves, women, yeasayer, Yo La Tengo

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The Very Best ft. Ezra of Vampire Weekend – “Warm Heart of Africa”

The Very Best just announced the release of their debut album, Warm Heart of Africa, coming this fall, along with a US tour (well, more accurately, a few rare US shows in July, thank goodness I live in the culture hub of the universe). The Very Best consists of Radioclit (2 european producer dudes) and Esau Mwamwaya (a Malawian singer) and the mixtape they dropped in 08 was shockingly great. This debut is on my “most anticipated of 09″ list.

Download three new tracks here, or go listen on the band’s myspace page.

The Very Best Tour Dates

July 16 Los Angeles  The Echoplex
July 17 San Francisco  Mighty
July 18 New York  Le Poisson Rouge
July 19 Chicago Pitchfork Music Festival

TINT Awesome, Music debut album, esau mwamwaya, ezra, hipster swine, malawian, mixtape, radioclit, the very best, tour dates, vampire weekend, warm heart of africa

Good morning nation. Just want to continue getting everyone excited about the Pitchfork Festival going down in mid-July. The first update was in the beginning of April, here’s what’s happened since (*UPDATES are in bold):

Friday, July 17
“Write the Night: Set Lists by Request”:
Built to Spill
The Jesus Lizard
Yo La Tengo
Tortoise

Saturday, July 18
The National
Pharoahe Monch (moved to Sunday)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
DOOM
Yeasayer
Fucked Up
Plants and Animals
Matt & Kim
Lindstrøm
Wavves
Ponytail
Charles Hamilton
The Duchess and The Duke
Disappears
+ many more!

Sunday, July 19
The Flaming Lips
Grizzly Bear
The Walkmen
Vivian Girls
M83
Pharoahe Monch
Blitzen Trapper
Frightened Rabbit
The Mae Shi
The Black Lips
The Very Best
Mew
Japandroids
DJ/Rupture
Women
Dianogah
+ many more!

Wow. The addition of M83, Blitzen Trapper, Frightened Rabbit, The Black Lips, DOOM, Yeasayer, Wavves… Damn, it’s looking a lot more fun.

This is going to get bigger and better so I’m gonna keep you updated as soon as word gets out. Tickets are on sale now for $35. The action takes place July 17th to July 19th in Chicago’s Union Park.

TINT Awesome, Music, Stuff 2 Do Blitzen Trapper, Built to Spill, charles hamilton, chicago, concert, dj/rupture, DOOM, Frightened Rabbit, fucked UP, Grizzly Bear, lindstrom, m83, mew, Music, Pharoahe Monch, pitchfork festival, plants and animals, ponytail, summer music festivals, The Black Lips, the duchess and the duke, the flaming lips, The Jesus Lizard, The National, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the very best, The Walkmen, tickets, Tortoise, union park, Vivian Girls, wavves, women, yeasayer, Yo La Tengo