Skank Your Art Does America

Maureen and I are doing it. We're embarking on the great American adventure... the cross-country road trip. I am currently en route to North Carolina where I am going to pick up my Toyota Camry, drive up to Brooklyn, pick up Maureen and hit the road where we will aim to see a show a day in a different city.

Our stops:
Chicago (Bat for Lashes)
Omaha
Denver (Deerhoof)
Las Vegas (Celine Dion???? hahaha. No seriously.)
Los Angeles
San Francisco

So if anyone has suggestions for shows in Omaha (10/3) and Las Vegas (10/5), please give us a shoutout and email us at skankyourartblog@gmail.com!

Check back here later this week to read about our crazy adventures!

P.S. Maureen... bring your iPod! ....And some Redbull.

Free Deerhoof Album

Do you like free stuff? Of course you do! San Francisco-based art rockers, Deerhoof, have released a free album on the Kill Rock Stars website (link below). Why do we love Deerhoof? Because they are absolutely bananas. Eclectic instrumentation, Satomi's near gibberish lyrics, and unconventional song structures... still don't believe us that they're bananas? Check out their music video for "The Perfect Me."



DOWNLOAD: Deerhoof mp3 Album

Sia Announces New Tour Dates

Her music kind of made us teary eyed when Claire left in her Prius to go to art school. Actually, I wasn't crying.. it was just raining on my face.

Anyway, Sia is back with a new LP, "some people have REAL problems" set to release on January 8, 2007. Beck will also make an appearance on the album. In preparation for the release, she will be touring the States.

Oct 22 San Diego CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Oct 24 Los Angeles CA @ El Rey Theater
Oct 25 San Francisco CA @ Fillmore
Oct 27 Portland OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Oct 28 Seattle WA @ Crocodile Cafe
Oct 29 Vancouver Media Club
Nov 1 Minneapolis MN @ Varsity Theater
Nov 2 Chicago IL @ Metro
Nov 4 Philadelphia PA @ World Cafe
Nov 5 NYC @ Highline Ballroom
Nov 7 Boston MA @ Paradise
Nov 8 Washington DC @ 9:30 Club

Apple does Feist

Prototypes had "Who's Gonna Sing?"
The Fratellis had "Flathead"
Orba Squara had "Perfect Timing (This Morning)"
... and the list goes on.

Lately, Apple has been pretty damn good at picking music for their commercials. Now, welcome Feist's "1234," which is featured in the new iPod Nano Pastels commercial.

A perfect interpretation, I must say!... Afterall, they did do it one camera shot :)

First Date with... St. Vincent

I was fanning through the CDs at the famous Ameoba Music (one of the best record stores ever!) in the Haight (SF) and came across St. Vincent's "Marry Me." To be honest, I knew very little about St. Vincent. I knew she was a part of Sufjan's entourage and a part of our favorite indie cult/army: Polyphonic Spree. I was definitely in for a surprise.

Armed with clever, but sincere lyrics and classy soprano pipes, the 24-year old Tulsa-born Annie Clark gives us a glimpse of her world in on her solid debut album released on Beggars Banquet on July 10th. While some tracks like, "Paris Is Burning," can be very dark, I would compare her to My Brightest Diamond, but way less moody.

The record incorporates elements of jazz, Broadway musicals, cabaret and electronica which will surely be pleasing to your ears especially since she plays a ton of the instruments on the album including, but not limited to, the xylophone, vibraphone, dulcimer, guitars, bass, piano, organ, Moog and the triangle! She definitely puts me to shame when it comes to the number of instruments she can play.

Check out the album -- it's surely a treat! Standout tracks include "Marry Me," "All My Stars Aligned," and "Landmines."

DOWNLOAD: "Now Now" - St. Vincent

DOWNLOAD: "Marry Me" - St. Vincent (via Said the Gramophone)

P.S. If you want to stalk Ms. Clark.. check out her blogger here.

Ferraby Lionheart @ Mercury Lounge

Last night [August 30th], I saw Ferraby Lionheart at Mercury Lounge. He has a pleasantly awkward demeanor, and his unique voice definitely steals the show. I don't know how to describe it.

Overall, the show was pretty mellow. In a good way though. He performed some solo acoustic songs on guitar and piano, and he also had a band for a lot of the songs from his new album Catch the Brass Ring. The band consisted of a drummer, a bass player and a trombonist. Apparently, Ferraby had just met the band the night before, so I won't fault them for not being tight at all. They were a nice addition to the show.

I'm mad at myself because I can't find the song that was my favorite last night. I could have sworn it was on Catch the Brass Ring, but it's not :(UPDATE: I found it! The song is "The Ballad of Gus and Sam" off Ferraby's self-titled EP. I LOVE this song and it was so great last night (MP3 below!). Anyway, other song highlights from last night include "Put Me In Your Play," "The Car Maker," "Under the Texas Sky" and "Small Planet."

Ferraby will be back at Merc on October 3rd with The Brunettes. Tix are on sale for $10.

Catch the Brass Ring is out this Tuesday, September 4th. Buy it at Insound.

As I was searching for this MP3, I found that Spin also has some interesting background on the song.

During the spooky session, a guitar amp in the room started making ghostly noises as the board "made references to a spirit named Gus, who confessed to murdering a girl named Sam," Lionheart told SPIN.com. "A couple of days later, one of the girls [at the Ouija session sit-in] said she was visited in her bedroom by the ghost of Sam. One time I was playing that song at a show, and the lights on the whole block went out. It's haunted."

DOWNLOAD: Ferraby Lionheart - "The Ballad of Gus and Sam" (MP3)

Ferraby Lionheart In NYC Tonight

Just wanted to remind you all that Ferraby Lionheart will be in NYC at the Mercury Lounge tonight!

Thursday, Aug. 30th (tonight)
come to The Mercury Lounge
8:00
Record Release Show
copies of the new album will be available
and i miss you

Need any better reasons?

DOWNLOAD: Ferraby Lionheart - "Small Planet" (MP3)

Feist and BSS @ McCarren Pool

I don't know how you could have walked away from McCarren Pool last night [August 29th] and not be in love with Feist. She was truly adorable.


I forgot that McCarren Pool has a 10PM curfew, so I only arrived at the venue for Kevin Drew and Broken Social Scene's last 3 songs. But those songs kicked ass. I saw Kevin and Brendan perform "Superconnected" on Sunday at the Book Eaters show, and it was a sub-par performance at best. Last night, however, it was rocking! I hope that they come around again soon and play one of their three hour shows. They closed with "Major Label Debut," and Feist came out to sing with them. Kevin and Feist were so cute together. Aw.

Shortly after, Feist came back on for her set. She opened with "When I Was A Young Girl," which was amazing. She was so cute and charming, and she managed to somehow turn McCarren Pool into an intimate venue. She sang a lot of songs off The Reminder, and quite a few off Let It Die as well. Last night was also the first night she was performing with her new guitar, and she encouraged the audience to help her name the guitar by putting suggestions in a box or throwing paper airplanes on stage. Some people were a little mean about it, but some others had good suggestions, like "McCarren" and "Mr Irkins." Um yeah...

She closed with "Mushaboom" and "1234." Then for her encore, she played a solo acoustic "Ituition." Next Grizzly Bear and BSS came out to sing "Sea Lion Woman" with her, and she closed with a slow dance of "Let It Die." Overall, it was a great show. I'm sad that I completely missed Grizzly Bear's set, because they were so good on Sunday night, but hopefully I'll get the chance to see them soon.

BSS pix via Kyle Dean Reinford on flickr.
Feist pix via RyanDombal on flickr.

Earlimart @ Joe's Pub

Last night [August 28th], I had the pleasure of seeing Earlimart at Joe's Pub. They played with what was billed as The String Dream Team, and if you know me, you know that I'm a sucker for strings.

Now I'm not going to pretend that I'm too familiar with their music, but from the moment they came on, I was mesmerized. They're great with dynamics and creating a nice atmosphere. I think that I like their new stuff better than their old stuff. But one of my favorites last night was an old one called "Heaven Adores You," which is on Treble & Tremble. They also played "Everybody Knows Everybody," "Nevermind the Phonecalls" and encored with "We Drink on the Job."

DOWNLOAD: Earlimart - "Nevermind the Phonecalls" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Earlimart - "Everybody Knows Everybody" (MP3)

Their new album Mentor Tormentor was released last week. Buy it at Insound.

The above picture is from Earlimart's recent visit to KEXP. I didn't get any photos last night because my camera still sucks and I didn't want to be the jerk with a camera and ruin the mood.

I Wanna Be Made

If I were to be made... I wouldn't waste it on muthafuckin-wanting to be a hipster! Just what the world needs.. another hipster, right?!

Made: I Wanna Be A Hipster is a 30 minute parody of the MTV self-improvement show. It's incredibly funny.. because you know it's so true. Skinny jeans, Cons, vintage tees... in other words .. the whole East Village basically.

Check out a small snippet:


If you want to watch the whole episode, go to here