Britney Spears + Morning Benders – Till The World Ends

I am not ashamed. This is not a guilty pleasure. I will go out on a limb and say that this is a genuinely good dance song. If you don’t like it, then at least check out the Morning Benders’ (who are apparently Britney fans, as per the sticker on Chris Chu’s guitar) remix of it, which is pretty cool stuff.

Britney Spears – Till The World Ends

Morning Benders – Till The World Ends

The Morning Benders – Japan Echo EP

The Morning Benders have put together an EP with the proceeds going to the Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund. Only two of the eight tracks are new (the rest are remixes), but the music sounds awesome. You can download the album on their website for a donation of $5, $15, $25, $40, $50, or $100

Singer and guitarist Chris Chu had this to say:

My Favorite 25 Albums of 2010: 10 – 1

And now, Part 2 of the best albums of 2010:

My Favorite 10 11 Singles of 2010

In this musical day and age, the single has once again become the most important item to further an artist’s career. It started off as the single, in the 60s when bands were forced by their record companies to put out a new single every few weeks. Then we moved to the golden age of the album, where bands were allowed the creativity and given the time to properly craft entire musical theses, instead of mere thoughts. Then we moved to the music video, and now, in the age of the internet, mixtapes, and iTunes downloads – the single is the most powerful musical item once again.

While I prefer albums, I must admit that as a blogger, singles are my bread and butter. Leaked albums are few and far between these days, so single releases or leaks are what I’m able to hear, share, and write about the most. And so, I present to you my favorite 10 11 singles of 2010:

The Morning Benders – Central Park Summerstage (7-28-10)

In yesterday’s post, I briefly mentioned that The Morning Benders opened up The Black Keys’ show last night. But a brief mention is not enough for this band. Nay, a full review is necessary.

Now, at first glance, The Morning Benders might look a bit like Vampire Weekend. A young indie-rock band. They dress like hipsters complete with skinny jeans rolled up, boat shoes, button down shirts half unbuttoned, and wayfarers. But that’s where the comparisons end. Everything I hated about the Vampire Weekend concert I not-so-recently attended was perfected in this show.

Shall we list these things? We shall.

The Black Keys – Central Park Summerstage (7-28-10)

The sun was just beginning to set beyond the trees over the west side of the park. The Morning Benders had just wowed us with a fantastically mature set for a band of children (I have no idea how old they actually are, but none of them look a day over 18) and we were basking in the glow of the sun, the park, and the music still ringing in our ears. And that’s when Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach, the two men who make up The Black Keys, took the stage. As far as I know, there are only three bands in the world that can utilize a duo to sound fuller than most other 4 or 5 piece bands: The White Stripes, Sleigh Bells, and our very own Black Keys.

The Best 10 16 Albums of The 1st Half of 2010

We’ve just about reached the halfway point of the year, and with it comes the time for us to take a gander back at all the amazing new albums released this year. We had some great debut albums and  myriad later releases, in a year that has so far released few of the albums I was excited about (Radiohead, The Strokes, Arcade Fire) but still has managed to keep me highly entertained.

So here it is: my list of the best, the most interesting, the quirkiest, and the stuff I just love to listen to; all combined into a no-order-necessary and no-nonsense list. Check out the tracks, buy the albums, and as always – enjoy the music.

Subway Mix 1

I’ve decided to introduce a new feature to this blog. As I have to take the subway every day to get to school, I spend a lot of time listening to music in transit. And while I haven’t been doing this enough, I really need to start making subway mixes. My transit from door to door comes to about 30 +/- 3 minutes on average, so I’m going to be rolling out a few mixes that are approximately 35 minutes, just in case there are any delays in transit.

I tried to include some old stuff, some new stuff, and some stuff you may not know yet. Enjoy!

Note: Songs are available for STREAM ONLY. If you like the song, buy the album.

The Morning Benders – Promises

The Morning Benders: Big Echo

Using the multilayered vocal approach that has worked so well for bands like Fleet Foxes, The Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, and more recently Local Natives, The Morning Benders have come out with the perfect album at the perfect time.

To quote Pitchfork, “The album is a homecoming of sorts, as it finds the Morning Benders correcting their PacNW indie pop identity crisis in favor of a more coastal, kaleidoscopic California haze.”

The band members look like guys from 9th grade band class, guys who were probably members of the AV Club, and spent their high school years quietly smoking alone. But it seems to have paid off in a big way, because these musicians have added an important album to the musical canon of 2010 with Big Echo.

Check out the track, buy the album for yourself, and check these guys out next time they roll into your town.

The Morning Benders – Promises