This could be a new obsession...

A friend just introduced me to a band called I Was a Cub Scout. Think Ben Gibbard (from Death Cab for Cutie) meets Torquil Campbell (singer for the band Stars), sung with a British accent. Damn this band is good. I must go google/wikipedia/itunes/myspace this new discovery now... more on I Was a Cub Scout in future posts I'm sure.
Happy Friday!

Check out this video from the band:

Reasons to join the Tide Pool...

This weekend I'll be taking a few lucky Tide Poolers to see the sold out Regina Spektor concert at Toad's Place... with a private meet and greet after the show! Have you signed up for the Tide Pool yet??? We're constantly giving away CDs, concert tickets and other cool things for our loyal listeners. Here's a sneak peek at a few giveaways we have coming up (for your eyes only).

Jack Johnson's new album, Sleep Through the Static
Shawn Mullins new album, Honeydew (win it before you can buy it in stores!)
Tickets to see comedian Martin Short
Gift certificates to your favorite local business' ...and lots more!

Join the Tide Pool here!

Last weekend I watched a documentary about the Pixies that came out a of couple of years ago. It's called Loud Quiet Loud and the cameras followed the band around on their sold out 2004 reunion tour (venues were selling out in 4 minutes!) Has anyone seen this? The film was great, but I couldn't help but notice that most of the members of the band have gone a little looney over the years (with the exception of guitarist Joey Santiago). Pixies have always been a band that people either love or hate (or people just don't know who they are). Fans got excited after the reunion tour because Frank Black illuded that Pixies would release a new album in the future. Unfortunately, just last month he told an interviewer, "The band did a successful reunion tour but that kinda fizzled out," before adding "They're not going to make a record." Bummer!! I've never been a big fan of Frank Black's solo stuff (although I was a big fan of bassist Kim Deal's band the Breeders). Just this morning, I read in the news that Frank Black has been collaborating with Modest Mouse singer/guitarist Isaac Brock and Larry Norman (a Christian artist who passed away on Sunday). The album will be released later this year apparently. It's crazy to think about how influential a band can be, even when they never break into the mainstream:

"No! That's just not right! The Pixies opening for us is like the Beatles opening for us. I won't allow it. There's no way we can follow the Pixies!" ~ Radiohead's Thom Yorke, after finding out the Pixies were going to play before them at Coachella.

"I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it (smiles). When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band - or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard." ~Kurt Cobain

Here they are performing "Where is My Mind?" (the song that inspired the title of this blog) on their reunion tour:

Thoughts on Monday's music news headlines:
~After seeing Juno get nominated for 4 Oscars (including best picture), any lingering belief I had that the Oscar's might have an ounce of credibility was dismissed. However, no one can deny the fact that Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's win for their song "Falling Slowly," was well deserved. And how about that performance and their acceptance speeches? I love them!
~Paul McCartney is back in the studio recording for a new album to be released this summer. Is anyone excited about this?
~There will be a new music festival in August called the Outside Lands Festival. They are expecting to sell 160,000 tickets (that's double the size of Bonnaroo!) The festival will be in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and the headliners will be Radiohead, Jack Johnson and Tom Petty. I'm thinking this could be the biggest festival of the summer.
~Noel Gallagher (Oasis) is selling his holiday home because he hates James Blunt, who lives next door. Wondering if James will serenade Noel with a rendition of "Goodbye My Lover" as he's pulling out of the driveway. That song is almost as annoying as "Beautiful." Almost. Must stop writing about James Blunt before I start ranting...

I am really liking the new album from The Helio Sequence called Keep Your Eyes Ahead. I'm having a hard time explainging their sound to people. I guess it could be electronic-ambient-psychadelic-indie rock. Maybe. The band is Brandon Summers on vocals/guitar and Benjamin Weikel on keyboards/drums. I've found it to be good driving music.

Check out the downloads below. Also, for those who would like to save any of the downloads I place on this site, just right click and hit "save target as." Then you can save the file as an MP3 on your computer. Happy Friday!

:: Download "Everyone Knows Everyone" by the Helio Sequence here ::
:: Download "Blood Bleeds Blood" by the Helio Sequence here ::
:: Download "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" by the Helio Sequence here ::

Frances Bean Cobain (daughter of Kurt and Courtney) is in Harper's Bazaar magazine and the pictures are making me feel kinda old. Wasn't she just a baby a few years ago? My favorite part of the article:

She counts Michael Stipe as her godfather and still winces when she remembers the untimely death of a rabbit given to her by Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. ("He's like, 'Promise it won't die,' and it did. And I was like, 'Oh, Billy, my bad.'")

So her parents are Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, her godfather is R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and she's friends with Billy Corgan? This girl needs to join a rock band and start writing songs! There's something kind of endearing about her too. Like when asked what her ambitions are, she says, "I want to be sublimely happy ...I want to be able to live in a way that isn't too hectic. Calm. And I want those around me to be sublimely happy as well." You can read the full article here.

U2 have gone back into the studio to record a new album! I've been getting some emails about the new U2 song we've been playing here at the Tide... the song "Wave of Sorrow" is off of the recent re-issue of the band's Joshua Tree album. It's a never before released song that Bono recently went back into the studio to record vocals for. The band is going to be recording their follow up to How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and no release date has been set yet.