Pearl emerges...

New Bat For Lashes music video for Pearl's Dream!!
Watch it now!

Bat For Lashes - "Pearl's Dream"

Matt and Kim @ Werkstatt, Köln

So last Saturday Matt & Kim played at the Werkstatt in Cologne.


If you don't know who Matt & Kim are I strongly suggest you go and check them out right now. They are the incarnation of happiness. Watch their amazing video to Yea Yeah, the liberating video to Lesson Learned and the hit Daylight which is featured in a Bacardi commercial!!

They have released two albums, the self titled 'Matt & Kim' and their newest release 'Grand'.


It was my first time seeing them live and it was really amazing. They were supposed to hit the stage at 0:30am, which turned into 0:50am and they played for half an hour. Even though their set was so short (I think it was because of the time line of the club) it was still packed with lots of energy and it was a hell lot of fun. I was standing front and center with the other fans that actually knew them and were able to sing along.
The set list contained songs from both their albums. I can't remember all of the songs but they did play Cutdown, Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare, Cinders, It's A Fact, Yea Yeah, Silver Tiles and the last song was Daylight.

picture by Michael Mitulla

At the end of the half hour show the club was boiling hot and Matt, Kim and the crowd, me included, were dripping sweat. And I mean literally dripping, Matt in particular. Proof:

picture by Michael Mitulla

They left the stage and went right into the audience to talk to people. I got to talk to both of them for a while, told them I follow them on twitter and asked Kim if she got to visit any museums (she had said in a blog she wanted to go to as many museums as possible while in Europe) and she told me she was really bummed because she didn't go to any museums at all because they had been so busy with traveling, setting up and sound checking etc. We agreed that they had to come back to Germany, not just to play shows but to check out some museums too :D They both were really really nice and they signed my CD.


It probably was one of my favorite concerts this year. It was just so amazing, energetic and fun.
If you read reviews about Matt & Kim they almost every time write that Kim is always smiling while drumming. I can confirm this. Her smile is so contagious that it puts you in a good mood just from watching. It doesn't hurt that she is a total cutie too.


Both of them are extremely good looking. Man crush Matt:


They are probably the cutest and most amazing couple in the music industry.



They have 5 songs up for free (including Daylight and Yea Yeah) on their website.
Check them out on MySpace
and on Twitter.

Bat For Lashes @ Kulturkirche, Köln

I went to see Bat For Lashes play last night at the Kulturkirche in Cologne. The show was fantastic and I thought the location was pretty great too. It's a small, old church and the sound was pretty cool.

The show started with opener Marybell Katastrophy, the solo project from Marie Holjund of the Tiger Tunes.

I think they did ok but it was not my cup of tea. I did enjoy the performance though.

When MK finished, the stage was cleared and set up for B4L. Self decorated with angel figures with colorful shining wings, candles, chains of lights, a funny looking lamp and other weird stuff you could find at a garage sale, gave the stage an intimate and dreamy atmosphere.
Bat For Lashes a.k.a. Natasha Khan with live band Ben Christophers, Charlotte Hatherley and Sarah Jones entered the stage and started the show with "Glass" and "Sleep Alone", the first two tracks of B4L new album "Two Suns".
For the next song "Horse and I" live band member Charlotte Hatherley joined Natasha on the keyboard and playing other various instruments. I was able to capture a pretty decent video of this fantastic moment.

I'm still wondering what kind of an instrument it was that Charlotte used at 1:15.
The band used a lot of interesting instruments and especially Charlotte and Ben switched a lot between songs. But Natasha did too, when she wasn't singing and dancing she played the keyboard, auto harp and guitar, as well as tambourine and bells.
The music was great, the band knew what they were doing and it sounded amazing. Especially the great drumming of Sarah Jones stood out as well as her joined background vocals with the amazing Charlotte Hatherley.
But the best aspect of the show was definitely Natasha Khan's amazingly beautiful voice. Her vocal range is fantastic and she did not miss a tune.

picture by subtle_sarcasm

After finishing their main set they came out for two more encores. The first song of the encore was a stripped down version of "Prescilla" with Natasha alone on stage singing and playing auto harp. "Good Love", "Moon & Moon" and "Two Planets" completed the encore.
When they came out a second time the whole crowd was excited because they hadn't played their big hit "Daniel" yet. And that's what came. A powerful "Daniel" was the end of the ~70min set and Natasha and band left the stage waving and smiling.
I managed to get a set list and we waited outside for a while but they didn't come out, Natasha had said earlier that her mother was in attendance, so we figured they were busy and left.


It was a really fantastic concert and hearing Natasha sing her songs live added another dimension to it. I highly recommend her latest album "Two Suns" and to see her live if you get the chance.
Here she is with "Daniel" on Letterman:

LeftRightLeftRightLeft

Ever since I've heard "Yellow" for the first time I've been a Coldplay fan. Not a massive one but I enjoy and like their music. "Clocks" is still one of my all time favorite songs. As a late Christmas gift I got a ticket to one of their upcoming shows and I'm pretty stoked to see them play live.
Speaking of live... As a thank you to their fans they released the live album "LeftRightLeftRightLeft" as a free download this Friday on their official website. If you haven't yet, you should download it, it's really great and well... free!
Download it here: http://www.coldplay.com/lrlrl/lr.html

And you wanna camp out and I wanna fuck around

One of my favorite new bands is An Horse. Kate Cooper on guitar and vocals and Damon Cox on drums and vocals. They are from Australia and play great indie rock/pop with heartfelt lyrics. They released their full length album "Rearrange Beds" in early 2009 and it has become one of my all time favorite albums. I got introduced to them through Tegan and Sara, they toured with them last year in the U.S. and Australia and Sara Quin helped them with the recording of "Rearrange Beds" and doing A&R work.

They recently filmed a video for their song "Camp Out". It was shot in Vancouver, B.C. and directed by Angela Kendall.



The two are on tour right now playing some dates in Canada and the States and are coming over to Europe, England particularly, the end of June and July. For more info check their MySpace! Add them on Twitter too.

Here they are performing "Camp Out" on Letterman!

I celebrate the first

Just as Tegan and Sara are singing in their song "The First":

You'll have, you'll have to excuse me
Please please, please excuse me
You'll have, you'll have to excuse me
This will be my first time

This is my first blog post with many to come I hope. I'm not sure what I'll be talking about but usually I always have something to say. A lot of posts will probably be about music news, new music I discovered or old music I rediscovered. I'll see how it goes as I post more.

The name of this blog derives from the Incubus song "Wish You Were Here".

The world's a roller coaster and I am not strapped in.
Maybe I should hold with care, but my hands are busy in the air.

I love this song and this line in particular.

So, that's it for now. Take care.