Quilt - "Tired and Buttered"

Quilt, a folksy psych-pop band from Boston, are set to release their sophomore record Held in Splendor on January 28 via Mexican Summer. Check out the single "Tired and Buttered" below.

Kanye West played Barclays Center

After some technical difficulties plagued the early stages of this tour, Kanye finally rolled into Brooklyn for a four night New York city run. Yet even before Mr. West took the stage, New York's own A Tribe Called Quest dazzled the borough for the first of their last two shows ever! Bewitching the audience with their classic rhymes, the trio ignited the crowd with their on point dance moves, verses and killer style. An immediate flashback to the golden age of hip hop, A Tribe were far from the caliber one would expect from an opener and instead acted as if they were headlining the night. And in a small way they did just that. For many raised on hip hop, there is no greater group that A Tribe Called Quest. Their fusion of jazz and alternative hip hop forever left a mark on the community and without a doubt, laid the path for many of today's superstars. The highlight of their opening slot came with the back-to-back-to-back combination of "Scenario" (complete with a cameo from Busta Rhymes!!), "Can I Kick It?" and "Check The Rhyme" which many will argue is the greatest trifecta in their illustrious career. To catch them for one of the last times was truly a privilege.

Not to be outdone, Kanye put on what was perhaps the spectacle of the year. Backed by what can only be compared to the Super Mega Aggro Crag from Nickelodeon's Global Guts, Yeezus himself rose to the occasion to deliver one of the most spellbinding and hypnotizing displays of showmanship one could possibly imagine. Ego aside, there are not many other people on the planet that can deliver on this level. Kanye wants to be the celebrity and stops at nothing to achieve it. After welcoming an ensemble of extras to act as his followers, Ye spit through the majority of his recent Yeezus along with other smash singles "Clique", "Mercy" and "Cold" before annihilating the crowd through the power of his pageant. A mountain beast with glowing eyes, a snow storm, and a real-life Jesus were all no match for the power and magnitude that Kanye was able to display. A career spanning setlist only helped to remind the crowd that there is no other entertainer on the planet, let alone hip hop star, that is able to contain the excitement level and sheer genius capabilities of this man. The forever brilliant "Runaway" saw a much anticipated rant, in which he confirmed his love for Bey's "Single Ladies", his distaste for the fashion industry, and how Drake was the most deserved of this year's VMAs, and he pulled out all of the stops by busting through some of his most cherished hits. "Stronger", "Through the Wire", "Jesus Walks", and "Flashing Lights" saw the audience rise to new levels of admiration, and that was after a terrorizing rendition of "Blood on the Leaves", which he insisted no one even wanted to hear. Show, performance, extravaganza, what ever it is you want to call the Yeezus tour of 2013, one thing is for sure, you're not likely to see something on this level of entertainment and celebration any time soon. There are times when Kanye may be the most hated person on the planet, but his ability to put on a show has never been in question. If anything, this show challenges people to find someone even close to taking his crown.

My Bloody Valentine played Hammerstein Ballroom

By now it's infamous. The grand finale of an epic My Bloody Valentine concert that ends in the elaborate, painful, noise "holocaust" where the band holds out a single not for what seems like an eternity. But, in the words of the Talking Heads, "my god, how did we get here?"

Emerging from the shadows, the shoegaze legends walked onstage to a back drop of swirling colors and dove straight into the classics. "Sometimes" kickstarted the evening on an almost light note, before the band began to build to the insanely high decibels which have made them notorious over the years. While their Roseland set of 2008 was one of the most mesmerizing experiences I've ever witnessed, tonight's show had some small hiccups yest was in no way less fantastic. They whipped through "When You Sleep" at a frightening speed and the mighty "Only Shallow" was too over powering for it's own good. Still, some of the tracks played tonight were the best they've ever sounded and made you understand that as perfect as their records are, this is a band meant for the stage. Their performance is a transfixing phenomenon. While long time fans were treated to an excellent assortment of Loveless tracks and even a few extra surprises like "Honey Power" (!) and "Cigarette in Your Bed", the new tracks from this year's sensational mbv were given new physicality that fit the band's illustrious catalogue like a glove. "To Here Knows When" and "Soon" were treated with ample strobes and surges of kaleidoscopic images that induced sensory overload to the max while "New You" blazzed with stunning precision. The buzz saw guitars of "Only Tomorrow" reached new levels of brilliance as they pierced through the crowd at deafening volumes and the helicopter effects of "Wonder 2" made for a mind altering experience. For a band that delivers such intensity, the members seem to step out of the spotlight and let the music speak for itself. Debbie Googe stood firmly planted (although watching her gauge away at her bass was gripping) and the blissful Bilinda Butcher cooed out her spellbinding vocals while solidifying her stance stage right. As the night progressed, the kinks seemed to be ironed out and the rest of the show was flawless. "Nothing Much to Lose" was dazzling and aggressive and produced one of the most sublime moments of the evening. And then it happened. Kevin took to the mic to say "thank you, this is our last show for a long time" and to anyone that has been a fan of My Bloody Valentine for a period of time, these words can sound terrifying. For years, many accepted the fact that this was a band of the past. One that was locked away and only to be remembered on record. Their reemergence to the scene in 2008 was more than most could've ever hoped for and with the release of their new record this year, it seems almost selfish to ask for anything more from these four pioneers. With nothing left but "You Made Me Realise", the crowd cheered with infinite joy as the most pulverizing and brutal experience in music erupted from the stage. To call it just a song doesn't give it the credit it deserves. This is a true physical experience that takes the song out of just the auditory realm and brings it to the physical one as well. The tremble of the floor and the shaking of your clothes are all a part of the act. Watching the crowd raise their hands to the heavens and let the adventure take over their entire body and mind is unlike anything else you're likely to undergo in a musical setting.  As it began to end and the jet engine like rumble slowly descended, it became very apparent that this could be a special moment. The last show on a tour in support of an album that was over twenty years in the making. How long will it be before this happens again? That part isn't as important. What important is that it happened and we were there.

No Joy - "Starchild is Dead"

Much like A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Asobi Seksu, Montreal's No Joy do an excellent job of marrying the ever so similar styles of dream-pop and shoegaze into a beautiful bliss of twisted guitars and melody. "Starchild is Dead", off their new EP Pastel and Pass Out, leans more on the heavier shoegaze side with ripping guitars, but still sends the listener off to dreamland.

Mutual Benefit - Love's Crushing Diamond

Love's Crushing Diamond is the proper debut album from Boston outfit Mutual Benefit and recalls earlier 2000s indie rock. Any of these tracks could easily fit on a high school mix CD buried between Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and any other prominent freak-folk/lo-fi track from the not too distant past. Still, the simple pleasures and delicacy found here are not stale pieces left over from a time most didn't know they missed. If anything, Mutual Benefit seems to have added another chapter. It's more like a new friend that meshes so well with the ones you already have. It's immediately comfortable yet still offers something compelling with each listen.

Arcade Fire - "Afterlife"

After dropping by Bushwick, Brooklyn for some secretive performances this past weekend as The Reflektors, Arcade Fire continue their mysteriously wonderful marketing campaign with the lyric video for "Afterlife". The track continues with the disco-tinged aspects that we heard on lead single "Reflektor" while still feeling like classic Arcade Fire. The album drops next week. Scream and shout!

Fuck Buttons played (Le) Poisson Rouge

England's Fuck Buttons dropped by (Le) Poisson Rouge for a one-off performance during New York City's sprawling CMJ music marathon week to deliver an astounding set of their wildly experimental brand of electro-noise. Combining the enthralling elements of high intensity electronica with pulverizing blasts of dense textures washed in droning reverb sounds like a daunting task, but this duo makes it seem so effortless. For a band that makes such brutally loud and heavy music, it's remarkable how well they're able to translate their efforts live and make it appealing towards an audience that might not particularly enjoy music on such an extreme scale. Their recent release Soft Focus is perhaps some of their most accessible music to date, one friend put it as "M83 and Godspeed You! Black Emperor coming together to make a hardcore record" and that isn't too far off the mark. Still, while that might not sound like something enjoyable, there are certain aspects of the music that can be appealing to anyone with a taste for driving beats and pulsating rhythms. Fuck Buttons are far from the EDM scene, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone in the crowd who wasn't getting their groove on to the exceptionally sharp trance inducing tempos unleashed during their live set. It's rather hard to find a band that has the ability to make abrasive music sound so appealing (Deafheaven's recent metal masterpiece Sunbather and My Bloody Valentine are two others that come to mind, but are still so different) and yet Fuck Buttons are seamlessly able to bridge a gap that most others cannot come close to replicating. Hell, even their name is rather intimidating, but once the overall shock of their grating tendencies wears off, you're left with beautifully intricate sonic pleasures that leave one craving more. In-fact, after the house lights and music came on once the show seemed to have come to an end, fans weren't ready for the night to be over so the band came back for one more song. To no surprise, they totally obliterated it and before waving farewell to rapturous applause.

Nine Inch Nails and Godspeed You! Black Emperor played Prudential Center

The Tension 2013 Tour crashed into Newark's Prudential Center for the second and final New York City area show this week and post-rock titans Godspeed You! Black Emperor handled the opening duties for the show. With their typical venues being small intimate (and non-corporate sponsored), this was a rather bizarre setting for the band. Hearing their delicate rumbles transform into monstrous storms in such a cavernous space felt extremely out of place. Nevertheless, the group was still in top form. Slowly assembling onstage in near darkness, grainy and out of focus film began to backlight the band as their tracks swelled to epic proportions. While Godspeed and Nine Inch Nails seem like such great tour mates, it was evident that those strictly in attendance for the headliner did not know what to make of them and chatted away through their all to brief set.

As the lights darkened for NIN, all the chatter disappeared. When the curtain fell, the band was revealed in stark cubes of light as Trent led his impressive backing band into a full on rage, starting with the recent "Copy of A" and never turning back. The show catapulted to a start by banging out classics "1,000,000", "Terrible Lie" and "March of the Pigs" to which the audience erupted in chaos. Slowly the lights transformed and the show was taken to a new level. NIN may have been off the map for a few years, but this spectacle was something to behold and as near perfect as a show could be. Everything was on cue and seemed to go off without a hitch. Lights seemed to come from every part of the stage and just when it seemed to be peaking, another set of light encircled the band providing one of the most visually arresting performances I've ever witnessed. The set certainly favored Hesitation Marks, Trent's excellent come back record, but there were plenty of old favorites thrown in the mix as well. The main set ended with "The Hand That Feeds" and "Head Like a Hole" which were met with enormous joy. During the encore, Trent introduced a cover of Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans" to much amazement before closing out the night with a haunting rendition of "Hurt". Listening to an arena of people sing that song isn't something I'll soon forget. These days, playing an arena doesn't come with the same accolades as it did in the past, but Trent and company are here to raise the bar and take people back to a time when big budget rock music was something worth caring about and from which to be inspired. With the brakes slammed on side project How to Destroy Angels, it doesn't seem like NIN will be slipping back into darkness anytime soon, and with a stage show that impressive, perhaps only Radiohead (another band still praised for their 90s glory) can conquer an arena like Trent Reznor.

Burial + Four Tet - Unreleased

Four Tet and Burial are no strangers to collaboration. On Sunday, Four Tet did an 8 hour takeover of Rinse FM and shared an old unreleased track which you can now check out below. While there's no word on any upcoming releases from dubstep mastermind Burial, Four Tet will release Beautiful Rewind on October 15.

Phoenix played Barclays Center

"I'm just trying to be cool" sings Thomas Mars on Phoenix's most recent (and highly underrated) record, Bankrupt! and given this path of following other big indie bands (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Atoms for Peace) at Barclays recently, they seem to be doing just that. And they're exceeding thoroughly. After playing rather intimate shows earlier in the year at Music Hall of Williamsburg and the Apollo, Barclays seemed like a giant next step with high anticipation and the band pulled out all the stops. A career set spanning early tracks like "Run Run Run", "Long Distance Call" and "Rally" were much welcomed amongst recent crowd favorites "Lisztomania" and "Lasso", but the medleys of "Too Young" with "Girlfriend" and "Bankrupt" and "Sunset" were impeccable. Even new songs had an extra sparkle to them tonight and with much more depth than on record and while Bankrupt! may not have produced monster hits like their previous record, there are still plenty of infectious grooves and hard hitting melodies. The man behind the drums pounded intense hardcore rhythms that took the heavy synth-pop tunes to a new height. The pure power behind each song made the band sound bigger than ever and confirm their status of arena level rock. As the synths belted out the opening to the band's biggest hit, "1901", a jolt of energy took over the stadium and it wouldn't let up. As the band ripped into "If I Ever Feel Better", the party was rocking enough for Thomas to pop up in the middle of the floor atop a stellar synth for an electric "Funky Square Dance". As the band carried into "Rome" for the encore, Mars took to the crowd and made his way all the way to the back of the arena amidst a reprise of show opener "Entertainment", before crowd surfing back to the stage. For one last wow-factor, the band then invited the crowd to join them onstage to close out the show. "Ok, everyone get on stage" yelled Mars. "Come on! Do it! When are you all gonna get to do this again?" For one night, these dapper Frenchmen brought their brand of splashy new wave anthems to Brooklyn and invited everyone to join the party. Gentlemen, there is no need for you to try. You're already there.