In Rotation : Girls - "Vomit"

Lead singer and songwriter of the San Francisco based rock group Girls, Christopher Owens shows off some major skills in his recent song "Vomit." Off the 2011 album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the song starts with the lone strum of guitar followed by a tortured and breathy, whisper-like of a vocal.  An air builds around the music before bursting in an intense outbreak of unadulterated rock filled with heavy guitar and drums. Pulling back, Owens plays with the listener giving them just a taste before slowing it back down to drag out the longing feeling within the lyrics, continuing to build up for an epic ending that completely encases the song.

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In Concert : JEFF the Brotherhood @ The Midland

Currently on tour opening for The Kills, brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall are bringing their two-man powered group JEFF the Brotherhood to center stage.  With fast drums and scuzzy guitars, JEFF's music is a mixture of psychedelic, grunge, and punk rock.  The band has that appealingly unrefined and gritty sound straight out of their garage.  One standout from their setlist is the 2011 single "Whatever I Want" released on Third Man Records.  The song is highly addictive with its driving beat, psychedelic jam session, and unsuspecting lyrics.

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In Concert : The Kills @ The Midland

Fresh on the beginning of their North American tour, The Kills arrived in Kansas City for their second stop. Like a boxer preparing for battle, Alison paced across the stage getting charged up for an electrifying performance.   The beats were heavy, the guitars bluesy, and the energy alive.  Their music filled the venue with an air of thick humidity, dripping with sex.

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In Rotation : Radical Face - "Welcome Home"

Home, such a simple word with complex meaning.  Typically a place of security and comfort, yet a time comes when we are compelled to leave in search to achieve fulfillment in the idea that there is more out beyond the fence gate.  It is after we leave that it is realized Home is a place we are able to go back and visit, but not truly be able to return to how we remember.  In Radical Face's 2007 release of their album Ghost, Ben Cooper alludes to this notion with a simple feel good melody in "Welcome Home".    


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In Rotation : Gotye - "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Sultry, sexy, seductive.  Gotye has created a modern day tango in his new single "Somebody That I Used to Know" featuring Kimbra.   The song starts out quiet, almost distant in nature, with Gotye hung up on a past love.  The tension builds up to the entangled confrontation with his present lover, who cannot live to up the idolized version of what he remembers and leaves him wanting a future they can never live up to.

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In Rotation : Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It's a Corporate World

There's an easiness to the music from new band Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr that comes off really organic. "Nothing But Our Love," originally from their Horse Power EP, showcases the simplicity that can go into making a transportively beautiful song. Filled with dreamy vocals and upbeat indie-pop beats, the group's first album, It's a Corporate World, envelopes the listener like a warm blanket. Making sure not to suffocate the listener with said blanket, "When I Open My Eyes" brings a nice relief to the album with a bit more aggressive tones, while "We Almost Lost Detroit" goes into a blues-funk bender which really livens up the mood. Both additions show the exporative side to Daniell Zott and Joshua Epstein's music, adding dimension to the album without going too far outside the sound of the other tracks.


Notable Tracks:
1."Morning Thought"
2. "Nothing But Our Love"
5. "When I Open My Eyes"
11. "We Almost Lost Detroit"
12. "The Fisherman"

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In Rotation : Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

One of the most influential musician/producers, Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) teams up with Italian cinematic composer Daniele Luppi, the result of which is a retro contemporary homage to 1960's Italian Western cinema - Rome.  Rome is a collection of instrumental tracks portraying a hauntingly scene of isolationism such as a lone tumbleweed on the vast open dusty landscape.  The landscape is interrupted by storied moments of featured vocals provided by Jack White and Norah Jones, providing the listener/observer a momentary insight into the lives of those who inhabit this dreamlike world.  The album is intoxicating, a derivation where the cinematic musical composition precedes the filmed picture.

Notable Tracks:
2. "The Rose with the Broken Neck"
4.  "Season's Trees"
7.  "Two Against One"
10.  "Black"
11.  "Problem Queen"

         
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