Back to what we do, i've heard stranger things

Switching from wanting to work towards preserving the environment into the evil music industry world was a tough thing for my parents to digest. My mother was a bit easier to convince. She likes to call me her little dreamer or her wild child, tossing around examples of how i am creative, moved to New York and always liked to dance and sing. She overlooked my unpaid internships, even longer unpaid volunteer positions, job hopping and financial instability and concentrates on my stubborn devotion of spirit and will. My father, always on the opposite side of the fighting line just sticks out his chin and goes silent. From time to time he will pipe up and tell me how he read about McCartney going on tour or the 200 trucks it takes to transport the latest U2 stage from city to city. Thank goodness being stubborn in our family gets you a long way and love carries me through the rest of it. All my happy memories of music tie themselves in one way or another to my parents or my sister. Maybe it is because there are only four of us that I feel loyal to my little nest. Most of it is because when my parents shared their music it was like a peep behind the magical wizard curtain. My dad would share stories from his Cornell days, my mom would share stories of her first time seeing Elvis on TV. It was like talking to them like I would my friends after a show. When I find bands I really love, my favorite sort of sound it always reminds me of my dad. Mostly because of their cover of one of my absolute favorite S&G songs, Cecilia The Local Natives caught my attention and made me immediately want to email their video to my dad. Hailing from Silver Lake, California their music is drenched with desert depth and saturated with golden sunshine. This area is a hotbed of melodic folk rock as of late spawning some of my favorites like Robert Francis and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zones. Many of these artists have been overlooked by the blogging community (ROBERT FRANCIS--SERIOUSLY PEOPLE YOU WILL LOVE) but i have a feeling like their neighbors to the north (PORTLAND) this will not last long.

For those of you planning out your CMJ calendars they will be in town next week at the following showcases:

*******Local Natives at CMJ**********:
Oct 22 - 3PM - Fontana’s (Aquarium Drunkard / Intelligent Noise Showcase) - NYC
Oct 23 - 12AM - CMJ Showcase @ Mercury Lounge w/ Patrick Watson, Alec Ounsworth, Sean Bones and more (21+) - NYC
Oct 23 - 8PM - Santo’s Party House (Neon Gold / Chess Club Showcase) - NYC
Oct 24 - 2PM - TBD (Brooklyn Vegan Party) - NYC
Oct 24 - 5PM - The Delancey (Deli Magazine Showcase) - NYC

From there they will be touring with TWO of my FAVORITE new artists, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Fool’s Gold. Fool's Gold are on my list to check out next week. From what I have heard they are going to be a band I can easily find myself loving to bits and pieces. Check out the rest of Local Natives' tour dates here:

Nov 1-The Clubhouse w/ White Rabbits-Phoenix, Arizona
Nov 2-El Rey w/ White Rabbits-Los Angeles, California
Nov 4-Slim’s w/ White Rabbits-San Francisco, California
Nov 5-Wonder Ballroom w/ White Rabbits-Portland, Oregon
Nov 6-Biltmore Cabaret w/ White Rabbits-Vancouver, British Columbia
*Nov 10-3rd & Lindsley-Nashville, Tennessee
*Nov 11-40 Watt Club-Athens, Georgia
*Nov 15-First Unitarian Church-Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
*Nov 16-Black Cat-Washington DC, Washington DC
*Nov 17-Bowery Ballroom-New York, New York
Nov 20-The Starving Artist-Keene, New Hampshire
*Nov 21-Pearl Street Downstairs-Northampton, Massachusetts
*Nov 22-Club Metronome-Burlington, Vermont
*Nov 23-Petit Campus-Montreal, Quebec
*Nov 24-El Mocambo -Toronto, Ontario
*Nov 27-Lincoln Hall-Chicago, Illinois
*Nov 28-High Noon Saloon-Madison, Wisconsin
*Nov 29-Varsity Theater-Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Dec 1-Boulder Theater-Boulder, Colorado
*Dec 2-Velour-Provo, Utah
*Dec 3-The Neurolux-Boise, Idaho
*Dec 5-Neumo’s-Seattle, Washington
*Dec 8-Biltmore Cabaret-Vancouver, British Columbia
*Dec 9-Doug Fir Lounge-Portland, Oregon
*Dec 10-W.O.W. Hall-Eugene, Oregon
*Dates with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros AND Fool’s Gold

In the meantime check out their cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Cecilia....LOVELOVELOVE, if this does not make you happy then I don't know what will.

The next coming...

It is officially October. I never thought I was going to survive September, but I made it. Now it is a new month. My most favorite of all months of the year, all shiny and fresh. Forget December. October is the new December. Speaking of things being new Justin Vernon's latest project has finally hit the masses and is receiving (are we really surprised) so much lovins you would think it was a new Radiohead record. Which led me to make a statement so daring and bold, or so simple and obvious that I had to write about it. It is early in his career to make such comparisons but I think Justin Vernon could possibly have the potential of being such an brilliant and bold musician, songwriter, visionary, force field that he could be the next *Thom Yorke.* Maybe I have been listening to both of their new projects back to back too much. Or maybe I have watched the video for "Island, IS" one too many times. Either way, Unmap is something to let slowly dissolve into each distinct and divine level of resolution until it has completely molded into an overall form of succinct and disturbingly exquisite record. For that is exactly what it is.

*The video can be watched here and was directed by Michinori Saigo. Buy Unmap here.

*Radiohead Clips