fun and spacey for a lazy day

GENERATIONALS - "YOU GOT ME" (2011)

VIDEO OF THE DAY: victim of trap

Watch the video and see the products of neglect unravel before your eyes. The video was shot at the abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed and edited by Teddy Smith Studio and released in 2010. I like how this video captures how what once was a place of fun and adventure is now a desolate ghost-town. I can't help but connect this to memory and all that is lost and left behind as time moves forward (be it childhood, people, places, etc.). And when we look back we see joy, sadness, and maybe disaster. But never fear, there's always hope for a better future. Enjoy:

"I've seen plans, they turn to dust. Does it remind you of things you've been trying to deny?"

WHAT'S IN MY IPOD: playlist

The wind is fierce and so are my movements. Here's a very random playlist I compiled yesterday in the hopes of listening to it while jogging. However, due to the unexpected explosion of my car I was unable to do so:

1. Imidiwan Ma Tennam (feat. Nels Cline) - Tinariwen

2. Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

3. Mezmorized - Wiz Khalifa

4. The Bad in Each Other - Feist

5. Yours Forever - Generationals

6. Amor Fati - Washed Out

7. Ciervos - ASTRO

CONCERT EXPERIENCE: SXSS part 2

photo taken by Cristina Lopez

    It was January 2011 and I found out Generationals were coming back to Laredo for a show. I remember thinking March 19th was far away and out of reach but suddenly "bam!" and it was saturday March 19. The show featuring Generationals was part of B Live Promotion's SXSS (South by South Sur) showcase and included opening bands Milktooth of Tennesse and Floating Action of North Carolina. Anyone in attendance will tell you that the night was a blast. It was a killer show that fueled our souls.

    The show began with Milktooth a little before 11pm. The crowd was fairly small and there was a huge gap between the audience and the stage. We were too shy to cross the forbidden barrier zone but eventually we made our way to the front and only a few feet from Milktooth's David Condos as he motioned his hand over some sort of theremin on his keyboard during the very cool song "Diviner's Mouth." As a whole their music doesn't vary much from mellow alternative sounds. My favorite parts of their set were the performances of "Your Arrows" and "If no one ever stops me." The quality of the sound within the Old No.2 building during Milktooth's set was fantastic. The sound was crisp, clean, and comfortable to the ears.

   Several minutes after Milktooth cleared the stage Floating Action got behind their gear ready to play. Being past 11:30pm the crowd grew and we were a foot from the stage.The lead singer Seth Kauffman was quite flamboyant dawning blue polyester pants, a brown suede coat, and a red beard situated on his face. The band started playing and it was instant love. These guys have soul! Having heard Desert Etiquette days prior to the show I was happy to see that their set consisted of songs mostly off that album. They looked so confident where they stood as their groovy tunes blared from the amps. The bassist ceased to smile and that made me smile. With some help from Grant Widmer of the Generationals, the highlight of their set was definitely the final song they played called "don't stop loving me now." The next day my brother who was in attendance and is a Generationals fan, told me that Floating Action's set was his favorite part of the night. He was totally impressed and now he won't stop telling me how much he likes Desert Etiquette.

     Next up were the Generationals and it was their turn to show off their good stuff. Everyone in the room seemed excited with expectations to be blown away. It was almost 1am and the crowd was fairly large. We huddled together facing the stage as Ted and Grant strapped on their guitars. Last year it was Ted, Grant, and Tess on stage but this time around there were five guys (two guitarists, a bassist, keyboardist, and drummer). It defnitely added to the execution of the songs. In spite of the guys having to rush through the set for lack of time, Generationals put on a great, fun, dance-worthy show. The crowd kept getting roudier and happier as the Generationals played each of the nine songs on their set. Then unfortunately "the gens" announced that they were about to play the final song, "Trust." They took some shots and began to play the catchy guitar and bass riffs. When it ended we pleaded for an encore shouting "otra! otra! otra!" The choir of "otras!" was a priceless moment, as it was last year, but this time there was an air of die-hard love and appreciation coming from our smiling faces as we pounded our fists in the air towards the stage. Then the coolest thing happened, the band added some beats to our "otra's!" and it sounded like the chorus of a banging hip-hop song. And then Grant announced that they would play "una mas" one more song for us and even though we wished they would have played ten more songs it was nice that the night ended with "when they fight they fight." The encore song was the highlight of the night since everyone in sight was singing and dancing. It ended and the applause ensued. It's a fact, Laredo loves the Generationals.

Scroll down for video and setlists!

video:

Milktooth- if no one ever stops me

Floating Action- Robespierre

Generationals- Trust

part of Milktooth's setlist:

The Serving Plate

Your Arrows

If no one ever stops me

Sovereignty

Diviner's Mouth



Floating Action setlist:

Rincon

Robespierre

Modern Gunslinger

The Balance

Please Reveal

50 Lashes

Marie Claire

Don't Stop Loving Me Now

Generationals setlist:
Exterior-Street-Day

Nobody Could Change Your Mind

Angry Charlie

Goose & Gander (new album)

Dirty Mister Dirty (new album)

Ten/ twenty/ ten (new album)

Please Be It (new album)

Our Time

Trust

When They Fight, They Fight

ALBUM REVIEW: actor-caster



     I don't know if its my natural intuitive love for the Generationals but Actor-Caster--the Generationals sophmore album-- is top notch. From a 1-10 scale I give it a 9.2. Am I being biased? Maybe. Generationals have not lost their talent or style. "The Gens" are on a roller-coaster but they aren't going downhill. Actor-Caster is so good that "the gens" can keep climbing up the x&y graph. Exponential growth here! Not an ounce of dissapointment came over me as I listened to Generationals' follow-up album. If anything I sometimes thought "what!?... wow did they just go there?" but then after those thoughts I would think "they sure nailed it!" Take track 3, "yours forever," it features electronic synth sounds: as you listen to it you might wonder if the internet messed things up and changed up the artists on the playlist for Yeasayer , Ruby Suns or Million Young but then you know you're wrong when you hear Ted Joyner's voice. Generationals maintain their quirky style in tracks like "you say it too" which features some ooh-wee-ooh-wee-ooh's mimicking the sounds of the theme song of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. All I know is that I can't wait to acquire a hard-copy so that I can stream it all day long and everywhere I go. The former comment probably convinced you that I am totally biased but seriously Actor-Caster features ten good uplifting songs.


Favorite Tracks: ten-twenty ten, you say it too, dirty mister dirty, greenleaf, please be it


The album is officially out March 29 (Park the Van Records) but you can stream the entire album here (KCRW's website) or here (AOL listening party) for a limited time.

MY TRACKS OF THE DAY

Ten tracks on my mind

1. Dirty Beaches: True Blue

2. Generationals: Ten-twenty-ten

Ten-Twenty-Ten by Generationals from Jubadaba on Vimeo.

3. James Blake: Limit to your love (Feist cover)

4. Guadalupe Plata: Pobre Mary

listen here

5. Gold Panda: You

6. Mexican Mavis: Boy & Bear

7. No Gold: Rainforts

8. Kurt Vile: Jesus Fever

9. Millionyoung: Mien

10. The Raveonettes: Forget that you're young

ON REPEAT: greenleaf



     Generationals... I love those guys. But not in a crazy teenage way. Rather, I appreciate their music. If I were asked to recommend cool indie-pop music of the present time I would shout out "Generationals." And if you are new to their music then never fear! The band is fairly new to the music scene having released a total of 1 album, 1 EP, and a song for the movie Going the Distance. Below is "greenleaf" their latest release from their second full-length album Actor-Caster out March 29. Their legacy continues as their new song exemplifies their ability to constuct catchy pop/rock tunes. That little piano jingle keeps replaying in my head and before you know it I'm searching for the repeat button. "Greenleaf" non-stop!

Generationals - Greenleaf by gulshah 

You can get a free and legitimate download here or here. Plus they will be in Laredo, TX March 19. For more info visit: http://blivepromotions.com/.

***Bored? Listen to their first album Con Law in its entirety here.

MY TRACK OF THE DAY: trust

Generationals recently released "Trust" which will be on their EP coming out November 16. Their debut album Con Law is great from start to finish. I can replay it for days and not get tired of it. Like Con Law "Trust" is not a disappointment. Like their previous stuff its upbeat and quirky. You can get a free download of the song along with some remixes of "When they fight they fight" at http://www.parkthevan.com/generationals/remix/tumblr.html.

  

Plus, here's a video of Generationals playing Trust in Laredo earlier this year: