brent katz

so one of my best friends in the world, possibly the funniest kid i've ever known, is an extremely talented and beautiful musician. his name is brent katz, and he played drums in the former best indie band out around, the harlem shakes.


i've been sitting on this for months (since around november) because it wasn't remastered when he gave it to me, but if and when he ever actually puts out his first solo album, i HIGHLY recommend picking it up. it's a great pop album. it has a diverse range of songs, some cute and sweet (jupiter, florida), others somewhat creepy (haunted prison), each one more brilliant and clever than the last (i especially love track 9, agent's song).


the album is untitled as far as i know, so i can't really help you out there. i dont even know if he's released it/is planning to. i hope that he does, though, because i think it's incredible and it would be a shame if he didn't share it with the world.

keep in mind, it's unlike a lot of his former projects and the work he did with the harlem shakes. but you won't be disappointed.

favorite tracks:

kangaroo court
haunted prison
agent's song
jupiter, florida

This is really late. apologies.

Went to the Phoenix/Passion Pit show in NYC in central park at the summerstage. Passion Pit opened. I love them so dearly. I saw them earlier this summer in DC at the black cat--the harlem shakes opened the show. Gotta say they were way better in DC. Maybe it was due to the fact that most of the audience was unfamiliar with them [whereas I was twirling in circles and screaming/singing at the top of my lungs like an idiot]. the vibe just wasn't right. I was one of a handful of people who knew any lyrics to any of the songs. nobody else even made that "oh this song sounds familiar" head nod. Tre sad.

It also may have been the fact that the show was at an outdoors venue. The sound was a bit off. The only other explanation [and maybe the most logical] is that the guys gravitated towards a softer, less electronica/dance music vibe. which bummed me out completely because i just wanted to get my groove on.

Overall, i love passion pit. they could have [and i've seen it] been better.

Phoenix, however, was incredible. they really delivered. I went on the second night and the park was just packed. it was insanity. everyone there was a true phoenix fan because anywhere you looked was a new face belting out the same lines.

The band had loads of energy and they sounded exactly like they do on their records [which is always nice to hear]. They opened with my FAVORITE song [or at least top 5] of theirs, lisztomania. it was pretty much epic.

The set was a little over an hour and a half, which is surprisingly long for a show like this. but i guess it makes sense. these guys have been around for quite some time so they have lots of material to keep the fans happy.

Thomas Mars, the singer, was brilliant. constantly dancing around the stage, engaging the audience in the show. he even went into the audience [shockingly deep in comparison to a lot of the superficial, show attempts by other artists] for a good solid minute.

The guys are all super nice and humble. They're all family dudes. I had backstage/trailer access thanks to a very good friend of mine and it was really sweet to see them with their tots, backstage eating vegetable sticks and chips as opposed to the typical sex, drugs, and rock & roll scene normally witnessed backstage at these events.

Passion pit will be back in NYC on January 8th, at Terminal 5. I recommend going to the show if you haven't seen them. They are a very good live show [particularly indoors].

Phoenix, unfortunately is heading back to Europe for a while. Hopefully they'll be back in the near future.

sad news

i'm sort of devastated to say that the harlem shakes have decided to disband as a group. they had a fantastic album drop this past year. i listen to it all the time. if you don't already have it, get it. they make feel good indie pop/rock and they make you want to just get up and dance.

look forward to new solo projects from various members of the band. the drummer, brent katz, is actually finishing up his first [hopefully of many] solo album. the keyboardist, kendrick, also has a project in the works, i believe. as does todd, the guitarist.

rock on

recent shows in the district

been realllllll lazy on the post front. law school will do that to you.

went to a few shows recently.

starting off with the hold steady. i gotta say i wasn't particularly impressed. it may have been the massive hangover holding me back [i went to the show sober as i couldn't stomach the idea of drinking again] but i just wasn't feeling the same excitement and energy that i normally would associate with an amazing show. the fans were pretty cool, though. it was a really eclectic mix of people and all sorts of ages, which is refreshing [but also expected considering how long the band has been around]. almost everyone seemed like a diehard fan, too. lots of people rocking out and singing along to every line.

the singer is pretty good, as is the rest of the band. i guess a part of what threw me off is that these guys are no spring chickens anymore. so it's a little weird to see some middle aged dudes jumping around on stage, raging, and singing about getting trashed and one night stands. on a side note, one of the guitarists was smokin hot. sorry, had to throw that in there. i'm only human.

i left a little early but they ended up putting on a pretty decent encore [from what i heard].

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next show i saw was THE dopeness. ghostland observatory is brilliant. gotta say i'm bummed cause i missed them at all points west so i could watch the black keys and mgmt [who, if you didn't already know, are wackkkkkk live].

again, went to the show sober. went with my girl, R, who was also sober. we were a little nervous cause these guys have heavy bass and a laser show that is timed to the songs. we figured we were gonna miss out by staying in the land of sobriety.

we were totally wrong. this was one of the best shows i've seen in dc, one of the best shows i've seen sober, and possibly just one of the best shows i've ever seen in my life.

homeboy to stage left, with the synthesizer rocked out in his usual cape. i think i'm in love.......meanwhile, my man on vocals with the long braids and shades was beyond brilliant. he was constantly on the move, constantly changing it up, everything he did i liked. white boys got flavor.

the lasers just added to the production. it was actually mesmerizing. i was sober but i felt like i was on something so i can only imagine what the other kiddies were feeling. everyone was dancing and jumping around and there was just lots of love all around between everyone. me and my girl were getting pushed in every direction by countless large, intoxicated dudes but we were honestly having the time of our lives.

if you get a chance to check them out, GO SEE GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY.

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Last show i saw recently was miike snow. i can't say much about them because i missed most of the show but i was definitely impressed. the crowd was fully feeling it, too [with the exception of a few chicks who were sort of wack]. even the slower jams they played were done so well that they were danceable.

i would definitely recommend seeing a miike snow show. they aren't ghostland, but who is? they're still fresh as hell. you know it's a good show when some of your friends who weren't really fans before the show immediately buy their records after.

i am SO behind in the times. forgive me. let me start off with a post for my friend, E.

Andrew W. K. has a new album coming out, entitled 55 Cadillac. It's apparently filled with spontaneous solo piano improvisations and is due out on my birthday, september 8th. he's going to tour with the calder quartet starting on september 29th, and he will be in nyc at Joe's Pub on october 2nd. not to be missed....

and no, i didn't get swine flu at all points west. i contracted it the tues/weds before the festival. the timing of my fever starting 2nd day into the festival was just a coincidence.

i apologize for not updating this. i have all sorts of things to say about all points west. and photos. plus other music news. unfortunately i have swine flu so give me a few more days and i will hit you with a bevy of new posts! enjoy the rest of your week!!

ok so i'm really on neon indian's situation right now. he dropped a new track entitled should have taken acid with you. it's exactly what it should sound like.

the vocals sound sort of like some 80s danceparty love song [think depeche mode i just can't get enough, or human league don't you want me baby]. and if you don't know this already, i LOVE 80s danceparties [except for journey. ew.]. his voice is very smooth, mellow, and pouty.
the beat is really intricate. the steady underlying beat makes me feel like i'm in a videogame. then there are sporadically thrown in horns and what sounds like a machine gun, as well as what sounds like an alien space ship landing, going off softly in every so often.
i've never done acid but this song makes me think i know what it would be like.

http://www.reactable.com/reactable/

sort of like how i see in my everyday life...

If you can find it, download the mixtape for the very best.

track 3 is called tengazako. it's to the MIA paperplanes beat. it's really hot.
track 5 is called cape cod kwassa kwassa [vampire weekend fans...]. it samples the beat from that track. i prefer the original, but this is a fun alternative!

i also really like track 13 dinosaur on the ark.

while were on the subject, check out the warm heart of africa remix by architecture in helsinki [another great band]. its really fun and danceworthy. it's heavy on the horns.