There are times when I kick myself for not knowing every little thing that happens in NYC. This is once of those times! Sara Bareilles apparently played an exclusive show at Rockwood Music Hall here in NYC on August 4th. Lucky for us, Baeble Music was in the house.
According to Baeble, Ms. Bareilles played to a crowd of contest winners and fans alike at the cozy Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1. Be sure to check out the performance footage of the singer and her band performing “King of Anything” and “Uncharted” off her upcoming album Kaleidoscope Heart (Sept. 7) as well as previous hits “Love Song” and “Gravity” from her debut album Little Voice.
Katy Perry celebrated the release of her sophomore album, Teenage Dream, with a live concert event, which was broadcast online at CBS.com.
Ms. Perry clad in a trademark skimpy and glittery dress opened the show with “Hot n’ Cold,” one of her many hook-friendly singles off her debut album One of the Boys. After exchanging pleasantries with her fans, she launched into “Kissed a Girl,” which took the audience a moment to recognize it as a result of her re-arranging the intro with a sultry, jazz-infused sound. While I dug the new arrangement, thankfully, Ms. Perry segued into the original version for her die-hard fans sake – proving familiarity is a good thing sometimes.
Now, much is made (and has been made over the years) of “pop stars” who pre-record vocals and lip-sync, so I have to go ahead and give Ms. Perry props for singing live throughout the entire energetic set, though it’s sad that we’ve come to a point in music where mediocracy is an acceptable standard. Throughout the set, Ms. Perry’s pitch was completely off, which made it pretty much unbearable to listen through. Such was the case on the stripped down rendition of “Thinking of You,” which featured Ms. Perry on acoustic guitar with minimal band backing. If anything, she should’ve nailed the ballad vocally, but struggled through it. All things considered, her songs are confectionery greatness after post-production, but live — the girl is a mess.
Spoon were on “Late Night with Not Conan O’Brien” last night and performed Transference album closer “Nobody Gets Me But You” with a (frankly) underused Questlove. Not that I forgot how good this latest LP is, but seeing this made me listen to again.
In related news, Spoon’s in town cos they’re playing Madison Square Garden with Arcade Firetonight. For those of us who never got tickets, remember that tomorrow night’s performance will be streaming live on YouTube.
Brooklyn hip-hop/soul artist Theophilus London stopped by IFC’s “Dinner with the Band” yesterday and played a couple tracks, “Feelings Involved” and “Cold Pillow,” for the assembled guests. Check out the live performances below, and if you have not listened to Theophilus London yet, you MUST.
The Broken Bells, aka Danger Mouseand Shins’ frontman James Mercer, stopped by SIRIUS Radio for a live performance of “The Ghost Inside.” There’s not much to say about this performance other than it’s a must watch – yup – it’s THAT good. Check it out below.
There was probably a time when this song made total sense. When you figure it out, please let us know.
Perhaps the Spice Girls did a better job at fooling us than we realized. At first, Wannabe just sounded like a pointless song with random lyrics. A second listen brought on a curious thought that maybe these girls were a little freaky. Then TRT friend Ashley Arrison was kind enough to let us know via Twitter that we weren’t the only ones confused by the lyrics.
“If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends.”
Thankfully, these girls are hardly relevant anymore, and with any luck, we won’t be forced to endure many more of their songs. On the other hand, they make for easy Bad Music Monday picks.
Our apologies. This song is apparently so bad that all embedding options were disabled for the official video. Instead, you get footage of a live performance in Paris.
We’ve seen a few sides to Keri Hilsonup until now — there’s the catchy songwriter for pop’s massive stars like Britney Spears and the Pussycat Dolls. The there’s her vocal guest appearances on just about every Timbaland song for the past year that slowly helped her gain mainstream notoriety, which she’s managed to successfully parlay into her own budding solo career. Still, the songs we’re accustomed to hearing from Ms. Hilson have remained pretty stylized with slick production.
So, when I stumbled upon this acoustic performance of “Knock You Down” from Billboard.com, I immediately fell in love. This is exactly the type of performance video I’ve been waiting to see from Hilson. Admittedly, it’s taken me quite a while to warm up to her talents over the last year (almost to the day), my turning point being when she dropped the “Turnin Me On” Remix with Lil Wayne. There was a certain swag about her in that song, pure confidence, that as a solo artist, she was lacking up until then.
You’ve heard me wax-poetic on how completely amazing Tony Lucca is in the past so I’ll keep this post short. Just two days ago, Mr. Lucca premiered his newest song “Anchored” during an appearance on Peter Himmelman’s “Furious World.” Check out the performance below. Oh, and you’re welcome.
At P3 Guld 2010 (what is sure to be Forest’s fave awards show), Sweden’s very best came together to honor and appreciate the past year’s musical accomplishments. Much like the Grammys and other so-so American music award shows, this show featured a collabo performance that just must be shared –most notably, one with Robyn (!!) and Spank Rock. The song is great and only made better by some sweet hip hop dancers and a touching embrace between our girl Robyn and Spank Rock. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), it does not feature any male-head-on-male-crotch pantomime.
“Backseat” video & mp3 after the cut, along with a clip of Fever Ray‘s awesome-creepy Artist of the Year acceptance speech, featuring her melting face from the picture on the right. Between Fever Ray’s Karin Dreijer Andersson and Lady Gaga – I am feeling the fuck out of the current non-traditional pop music and subsequent artistry. (more…)
I’d like to nominate my first pick for bands most likely to be “makin’ it” in 2010. I should note that I’m no expert, having poured a lot of recommendations behind Bad Ronald way back in the day.
Still, I’m fairly comfortable with my assertion that Team William is awesome. Check out the two videos below – one is a live compilation of three songs, and the other is their very cool video for “I Walk Away.”
Band Stats:
Origin: Belgium
Age: Three Years
Super Powers: Upbeat Indie Pop/Rock, Cute Accents
Reasons for Makin’ It: The song “Walk Away” is way too infectious for the indie circuit to ignore and it’s Max Fleischer-inspired video is solid gold.
We started as a three friends having conversations about music during lunches together at the office. Since then we have expanded to seven members, including a Chi-town native, and the conversations have gotten bigger and better. The Round Table has grown into a casual setting where music aficionados can gather to discuss all things music. Topics include (but not limited to) artists and bands, new music releases, concerts, recording industry news and concerns, and the occasional nugget of entertainment gossip. We have tastes that cover the entire music spectrum and love to share them (and our opinions) with each other. We are The Round Table! Come join the conversation!
There are times when I kick myself for not knowing every little thing that happens in NYC. This is once of those times! Sara Bareilles apparently played an exclusive show at Rockwood Music Hall here in NYC on August 4th. Lucky for us, Baeble Music was in the house.
