Unless you’re living under a rock somewhere you’ve no doubt heard the song “Somebody I Used To Know” by Gotye. Due to it’s fame a lot of covers have been surfacing on the YouTubes. This is one I spotted on Facebook, where Ingrid Michaelson posted it herself. I’ve liked Ingrid’s music since 2008, and this is just an illustration of why. Her voice is so sultry. I loves it.

Ingrid has a new album, Human Again, coming out January 24th. Find it on Amazon and iTunes for preorder.

I’ve written a couple concert reviews for the Audio Perv, and recently covered Deck the Hall Ball for them. 1077 the end’s winter concert festival has been going for 20 years now, and this one was stupendous:

Radio stations often put together disjointed lineups for such things as a holiday show like 107.7 The End’s Deck the Hall Ball. Because an alternative rock station like this plays so many bands from innumerable sub-genres, it can be difficult to find several acts that fit reasonably well together and can draw a large audience at the same time. In the 20th annual edition of the station’s winter festival, the end brought in some of alternative’s heaviest hitters. With Grammy nominated acts like Mumford & Sons and Death Cab For Cutie as headliners along with young up-and-comers Cage the Elephant, Foster the People, Young the Giant, Two Door Cinema Club and Grouplove lending support.

Because Deck the Hall Ball had so many bands this year, it was necessary to start rather early for a weekday. Grouplove took the stage at 4pm, and traffic kept me from getting to the venue on time to see their set. However, I had a chance to speak with the band later in the evening, and they noted that they’ll be back in Seattle with Young the Giant in April next year. I saw them in Salt Lake City earlier this year, and I can attest that they are a phenomenal live band. They plan to start work on their sophomore release this summer, after the tour with Young the Giant.

Read the whole review, with pictures, at the Audio Perv.

I’m not a huge fan of the MIB series, but they’ve been good movies. Not great, but worth watching. With that said, when I first started reading about MIB3 I thought it was going to be terrible. With this trailer I now think it will be another fun-to-watch movie. Will Smith is back, Tommy Lee Jones is back, and Josh Brolin is…back?

According to Paste Magazine:

In this third film, Agent J must go back to the 1960s to save Agent K from dying. Yup, through the Men in Black series, they’ve apparently had the power to time-travel.

In addition to the return of Smith, Jones, Rip Torn as Zed, and Barry Sonnenfeld as director, this newest installment will add Emma Thompson, Bill Hader, Michael Stuhlbarg and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement. Men in Black 3 will also be the film’s first installment in 3D.

MIB3 will hit theaters on May 25.

1. Jan 20: Neon Trees with the Codi Jordan Band at the House of Blues Foundation Room at Star Bar, Park City, UT
2. Jan 22: People Under the Stairs with Scenic Byway at Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
3. Feb 15: Best Coast with Wavves at Urban Lounge
4. Feb 17: Pendulum at In the Venue, SLC, UT
5. Feb 25: King Niko, the Suicycles, Broken Spells at A Beuford Gifford’s Libation Emporium, Provo, UT
6. Mar 5: King Niko, Long Distance Operator, the Suicycles at Bar Deluxe, SLC, UT
7. Mar 18: The Codi Jordan Band with King Niko at the Complex, SLC, UT
8. Mar 22: She Wants Revenge with The Californian at Bar Deluxe
9. Mar 29: Foster the People with Grouplove and the Steelwells at Kilby Court, SLC, UT
10. Mar 29: Electric Six with the Constellations at Urban Lounge
11. Apr 15-17: Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Field, Indio, CA
12. Apr 20: The Codi Jordan Band at the Complex
13. May 6: The Black Angels at Urban Lounge
14. May 24: U2 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, SLC, UT
15. Jun 4: Ratatat at the Complex
16. Jun 7: Foster the People at Urban Lounge
17. Jul 30: Soundgarden at the Gorge, George, WA
18. Sep 4-5: Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (Day Two and Day Three) at Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
19. Sep 6: Bring Me the Horizon at Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
20. Sep 7: Brand New at Showbox SoDo
21. Oct 2: Sleeper Agent at the Vera Project, Seattle, WA
22. Oct 22: Death Cab For Cutie at Key Arena, Seattle WA
23. Dec 7: 1077 the end’s Deck the Hall Ball with Mumford & Sons, Death Cab For Cutie, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People, Young the Giant, Two Door Cinema Club and Grouplove at Key Arena

Today, according to Some Kind of Awesome, Swedish group Miike Snow debuted a new song from their forthcoming sophomore release on BBC 1′s Zane Lowe. The video is a minimalist one, simply following a man running down a highway in what appears to be the American Southwest.

Florence + the Machine released their sophomore album Ceremonials last month, and it is brilliant. “No Light, No Light” is the second single from the newfound diva. The album will place very high on my end of year albums list.

Check out the band’s performance on SNL last weekend over at the Audio Perv.

Pick up Ceremonials on iTunes or Amazon.

Death Cab For Cutie made a triumphant return to their native area when the band performed at Seattle’s Key Arena on Saturday. Lead singer Ben Gibbard made sure to let the crowd know that the band was, in fact, from the Seattle area by repeatedly stating “It’s good to be home.” or “We’re from here.” While Gibbard isn’t the best at on-stage banter between songs, he is deft at crowd pleasing. The set list was chock full of Death Cab’s hits, but also featured several songs from early releases like We Have the Facts and We Are Voting Yes and The Photo Album. I’ve seen Death Cab For Cutie a handful of times over the last 4 years, and they are extremely consistent live. They get more into their on-stage jam sessions each time I see them, and they’re near-lullaby songs are heavier when performed live. Which makes Gibbard’s comparison to Led Zeppelin (because Zepp played in arenas like DCFC did this night) more understandable than if they kept their music as toned down as it is on their albums.

With a “What’s up, Seattle?” when the band members first walked on stage, Gibbard whipped the already roaring crowd into frenzy, which seemed to crescendo with the first few bass notes of “I Will Possess Your Heart,” the song that kicked off the more than two hours of music to come. With Gibbard and guitarist/keyboardist Chris Walla frequently making trips to the keyboard set up on stage, the band kept from being stagnant on stage, and Nick Harmer always manages to find his way around stage, as well. And though Gibbard may not be the best at banter, he was successful in riling the 8,000 or so people in the Key Arena into a screaming mass several times with simple dedications to the opener the Head and the Heart, or a seemingly benign “Thank you.”

With the crowd fully engaged with the band, the four former Western Washington University students delivered an energized set that spanned nearly their entire catalog, and featured many great deep tracks for balance with the bands ever growing hit list. With swirling guitars, layered keys, thick bass and banging drums the four members work off each other and create many memorable moments in their long set.

Perhaps the highlight of the show was when a small drum kit was set up on stage near Harmer. While the band began to jam together, Gibbard sat at the kit with his back to audience and began hitting the drums with conviction as he and Jason McGerr synced for a tandem drum solo that led into “We Looked Like Giants.” While the band is currently tour in support of this year’s Codes & Keys, they played as many songs from Transatlanticism and Plans, and only one fewer from Narrow Stairs, illustrating the well balanced set list.

Death Cab For Cutie is a great live band, and I’ll continue to see them whenever I have the chance because they are consistent, among many other reasons. I have never seen an off show from this group, and they are exceptionally good at playing their brand of piano-tinged indie-rock.

The band now heads to Europe for a string of dates (mostly in the United Kingdom), before returning for an already sold out show in Portland on December 8. There are rumors that they’ll play another show in Seattle this fall/winter. They’ll release a remix EP, Keys & Codes, November 22 on Atlantic Records.

Lou Reed and Metallica will release Lulu November 1st. I had been rather excited to hear this album until I watched the trailer above. Metallica’s music comes off really generic and Reed’s vocals are, shall we say, “meh.” Granted, it’s just one track, and only a snippet at that, but it sure doesn’t make me want to download a leak and track through the album.

What do you think?

King Niko is a band in Salt Lake City that makes some really good synth-pop. This is one of my favorite songs from the group. Damn, I miss getting drunk with these guys!

The band will be performing at this weekend’s X96 Big Ass Show at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake. Tickets available through smithstix.com and Graywhale locations.

Follow King Niko on Facebook and Twitter. You can find a lot of their music on SoundCloud.

The October 5 pic shows the “sidewalk” in my neighborhood. I walk this to and from the bus stop each morning and afternoon. It’s feels very safe when I’m walking along the street. There’s a lot of sarcasm in this post.