Dum Dum Girls, Minks, Dirty Beaches at Black Cat

I finished off this weekend’s epicness last night with a band that had been on my list to see for a while, Dum Dum Girls, along with some rising talent in Minks and Dirty Beaches. It was a rainy night in D.C. so I questioned my ability to bring myself to get into town, but I already had my ticket and had to see Dum Dum Girls after skipping their Merriweather Post Pavilion show with Vampire Weekend for the sole purpose of seeing them at a small venue.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “He Gets Me High”

This has been an awesome week for all girl lo-fi groups, as Vivian Girls dropped the first song from their upcoming album in “I Heard You Say,” and Dum Dum Girls follows it up with the title track from their upcoming EP, He Gets Me High. The scuzz that was present on I Will Be remains, but Dee Dee’s voice comes through clearer than ever, along with the backing harmonies. The chorus’ beat is extremely catchy, while the instrumentation feels almost heavy with girl power. I put “I Heard You Say” on repeat earlier in the week, and it looks like “He Gets Me High” will join it there. Plus, it’s a free download, so check it out via Pitchfork. Plus, read about how you could end up in an upcoming tour booklet.

–Daniel

Anna’s Extensive 2010 Reflection

Now that 2010 has ended, I finally feel ready to throw a few lists on here of what I dug music-wise during those 365 days. None of these are in order, the number of each is completely arbitrary because I loved so much this is just what I managed to extract from a year full of musical madness. So here it all is – better late than never, right?

A Fresh Heirs Christmas

Fresh Heirs with some of their top albums of the year:

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas or holiday of your choice! We still have some stuff left for 2010 so stay tuned. Then on to 2011!

Kevin’s Top 25 Albums of 2010

So finally I’m at the end of my lists that have explained my lack of constant posting in the past month. We’re in for a ride.

Listen: Daniel’s Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010 (UPDATED!)

Today at 4 p.m. I’m going to be counting down my Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010 on WMUC. It’s yet another year-end list so I admit it’s going to be something that you’ve heard before, but I think I’ve thrown in some surprises to make it worth your while. Like my Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Songs of 2010, this list will be a little different than my final Top 25 Albums of 2010 list because there are some albums that I couldn’t find a radio friendly track from. So don’t be too surprised when that list is a little different. After the show, I’m going to publish the list below and have the two-hour extravaganza available for download, so be sure to hit that up as well.

Head on over to wmucradio.com at 4 p.m. to stream the show or directly stream it here.

Check back after the show for some updates!

Enjoy.

EDIT: Download the show here!

UPDATE (6:41 p.m.): The show went well, and all around and away we go:

Daniel’s Top 25 (Radio Friendly) Albums of 2010

Review: Vampire Weekend at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Colombia, Maryland – a planned community, wedged in between D.C. and Baltimore filled with cul-de-sacs, “symphony” woods and a really big mall. Also its home to Merriweather Post Pavilion, the biggest Pavilion in the state of Maryland which served home to some of the biggest names in indie rock last night.

Weekend Shows, Part Deux

This weekend is looking to shape up to be just as awesome as last weekends, just with less Future Islands and hopefully unchill crowds.

A Review: Best Coast – Crazy For You

I often wish my life was as simple as Bethany Cosentino –aka Best Coast– makes her’s seem. In her world only a few things exist: cats, weed, Chipotle, Snooki, cats, and oh yeah, cats.

Her songwriting persona presents life in even simpler terms. Almost all of Crazy For You‘s themes are laid out plain as day. “I wish he was my boyfriend,” Cosentino sings on..”Boyfriend”, or “I want this till the end” on..”The End”. I think this might be the genius of the Best Coast discography. In the Holy Triumverate of lo-fi girl fronted groups –think Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, etc.– Best Coast is by far the most heavily influenced by the 60′s girl group vibe and it comes through on Crazy For You where she spends 12 songs talking about how she’s well..”crazy” for “you.”

People can and will complain that many of these songs sound too similar: sonically, thematically, atmospherically, and they would be absolutely right, but so what? Many artists write great albums by being keenly aware of what they do best. Best Coast is one of those artists. These songs are almost all unassailable. Crazy For You is better than I Will Be, Everything Goes Wrong, and –sorry Wavves– King of the Beach.

Simple themes, simple song structures, simply paced, simply wonderful. Prepare yourself Snacks. Soon you’ll be eating almost exclusively Fancy Fest.

–Marc

2010 Recap: Kevin’s View

With Fresh Heirs starting halfway through the year, recapping everything that has happened so far in 2010 would be a little unreasonable and a little tedious. So instead, we’re bringing you recaps from the staff that show what caught each writer’s eye so far in 2010, providing a little snapshot as we move into the future. Here’s Kevin’s view: