The Useless Critic 2.0

Do you like My Morning Jacket? If not, LISTEN TO THEM. They are a fantastic fucking band and I am constantly surprised at how much I love them and just want to hug Jim James' big bear body for making such great albums. I first got into them after I got into Monsters of Folk (a band Jim James was a part of along with M. Ward, Mike Mogis and Conor Oberst), and now I consider them one of my favorite bands. It just suxxx that I missed them in LA last week. How could I do this to myself???? Here they are performing on Conan last week. They are performing my favorite track from their amazing new album, Circuital . Did I spell that right? Oh well. I should care. But anyway. Here it is: It helps that Adam Levine and Nick Kroll are on the show, too. BUT WAIT. What's that? Take a look at the awesome backing singers. I spy The Watson Twins. And look at that!!! Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond and The Living Sisters!! These are also all bands/groups you should definitely check out ...

I was beyond excited for this show. waiting in the line with the row of fake Zooeys, I had to stop and close my eyes and adjust myself for a few times to realize I was seeing a girl that I've basically built an altar to in my mind for the past year. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEY. I feel like this post should just be photospam, really. who cares what I have to say in the wake of such event! I saw ZOOEY IN THE FLESH! my grandchildren will know about this! what followed was :/. She & Him were good, captivating, energetic- but the audience was limpid. the audience sucked the soul out this show with their pointed little American Apparel-draped teeth. that's a tad bit too dramatic I guess- the audience got a little more bearable as the night went on. but still. I've never had a group of people ruin such an event for me. reallllllly! like, how do you NOT sing along to "Home" or "Ridin' In My Car?" Jesus. People are so weird sometimes! The show was sold out, for ...

oh wait you're married to Ben Gibbard WELL NEVER MIND. but seriously! SERIOUSLY! this music video is too adorable. I haven't been this excited about a music video since Feist's "1234." And Volume Two? OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD. She & Him - In The Sun from Merge Records on Vimeo . They will be in CLEVELAND come June 10th. words cannot describe.

Because I fell behind!! "French Navy"- Camera Obscura strikes me as classic Camera Obscura . I was really shocked this came off their latest album. O_______________________O so happy! worth a listen. "Never Had Nobody Like You"- M. Ward good summer song. featuring Zooey on back-up. aw. very laidback . "Dying In Africa"- Sally Shapiro hyped-up ambient cover of an Italian disco (is that why they call it? Italopop ?) song. I've heard the original is way better but I can't help but love this because I loved it first. LISTEN TO IT WITH THE LIGHTS OFF. "No You Girls"- Franz Ferdinand I wrote about this record a long time ago (when the blog was first new! HA) and how much I enjoyed it. then I played it to death. but there are still some upstanding tracks to be had. except Franz Ferdinand will never be as good as they could be. :( "Gimme Sympathy"- Metric Pretty awesome that Metric, at long last, finally released a GOOD album. I mean t...