GRAND new album hit's daylight!

Matt & Kim's new album 'Grand' is a more energetic mix of pumpingly rhythmic and punked-out hits one right after the other...instant favorites include "Daylight", "Lessons Learned", "Good 'ol Fashioned Nightmare" and "I Wanna". The fact that they've teamed up with Cut Copy for the second half of their nation-wide tour is an even bigger reason to get up on the dance floor and celebrate a recession-priced concert! Matt & Kim's record release party will be held tonight at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg (8pm) and while it has sold out, I wouldn't quite give up hope that fans with extra tixs at the show or on craigslist will be willing to bargain away their $10 face-value tickets in exchange for a copy of the new CD and a six pack. If not, catch the act in spring back here on the east coast with electropop deities, Cut Copy and enjoy two of this year's top bands under one rockin' roof.

happy holidays!

hey peps,
i will be taking a highly anticipated vaykay to the more southern and warmer climates of brazil for the next few weeks in search of new and exciting music such as award-winning //dj marky//and my current brazilian pop/rock fav's o rappa and papas da lingua. I will be setting aside my blogging updates until my return in mid-january but promise ta share with you any and all new brazilian music that I can fit into my maxed out carry-on bags. happy holidays!
be well,
nycfreelancer :: (aka. yer ear candy muse)

//dj marky//dj award winner 2008//

FINAL CD GIVEAWAY WINNER IS...

...donna444444! Please email me for details on how to claim your prize at: nycfreelancer [at] gmail.com. Congrats to all the winners of our December CD giveaway and Happy Holidays to you all!

Last chance to enter this week's giveaway...

Leave a comment below with your favorite music genre(s) of this year by midnight TONIGHT (EST) for a chance to win one of the following CDs FREE!

Cat Power Jukebox

Vampire Weekend (self-titled)

kaYeWest Graduation

:: Final CD Giveaway ::

Note: The final CD giveaway drawing has been moved from this Friday to Christmas Eve (Wednesday) so be sure to enter by Tuesday at midnight (EST) by adding your comment below with your favorite musical genre(s) of this year as well as which of the three CDs {Vampire Weekend, Cat Power or Kanye West} you'd like sent to you if you win. Then just check back on Christmas Eve to see if you were the lucky winner and be sure to contact me at NYCFreelancer [at] gmail.com if you are within two days for further instructions on how to claim your prize. 

My iPod's 31 most played albums in 2008...

:: 3rd CD GIVEAWAY ::

It seems over the last year alone I have gone through many musical phases...namely electronica, folk, songs to meditate and sun salute to, chill indie rock and french pop. What are the genres you gave into most this year? Leave a comment below with your favorite musical genre(s) of the year for a chance to win one of the following three CDs from my list below [Cat Power's Jukebox, Vampire Weekend's debut album or Kanye's Graduation] and I'll draw the final CD winner of our December music giveaway 

{ON CHRISTMAS EVE!}. So be sure to enter before Wednesday!

Now for a look at my iPod's 31 most played albums over the last year (in no particular order)...

1. Brazilian Girls - New York City

2. She & Him - Volume One

3. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

4. Bishop Allen - The Broken String

5. This Is Ivy League - This Is Ivy League

6. My Morning Jacket - At Dawn

7. as in Rebekkamaria - Queen of France

8. American Analog Set - Know By Heart

9. Metric - Live It Out

10. Nada Surf - Lucky

11. RaTaTaT - LP3

12. Santogold - Santogold

13. Loane - Jamais seule (Never Alone)

14. Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un M'a Dit (Someone Told Me)

15. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

16. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

17. The National - Boxer

18. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (Distortion is a'ight too)

19. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Rodrigo Y Gabriela

20. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block

21. John Butler Trio - Grand National

22. The Weepies - Say I Am You (Hideaway is decent as well)

23. Morrissey - The Best of Morriseey

24 & 25. Cat Power - Jukebox (and) Moon Pix

26 & 27. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin (and) Everything All the Time

28 & 29. TJ Rehmi - Invisible Rain (and) The Warm Chill

30. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (and love what he got goin' on with Life In Marvelous Times single)

31. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak (Graduation was good but keep this up Kanye and you'll have my ears locked down for keeps!)

P.S. Congrats to Haley, the winner of last week's giveaway! The venue you describe sounds amazing. To claim your prize, please email me at: nycfreelancer [at] gmail.com

Last chance to enter this week's giveaway...

Prince, Morrissey or Ricky Nelson...you choose your favorite "Best Of" mix and comment on last Friday's entry TODAY for your chance to win your freebie CD of choice...gifted from me to you. Happy Holidays!

Feelin' French? Great Albums for Under $10!

While I do consider myself a music junkie, I tend to go through phases with music overplaying new artists within a month and rarely taking the time to buy new albums for myself. Having OD-ed on this year's hot albums like Santogold and Vampire Weekend (especially when they're overplayed on every ABC and WB show and UrbanOutfitters across America...thanks guys!) I felt compelled to search overseas for something fresh and exciting enough to buy. I found my new musical zest for life in the genre of French pop and despite the fact I cannot understand one lyrical word, I feel like this new phase could be played out well into the new year or perhaps until I learn to be semi-fluent in French. Here are a few of the top groups in my Feelin' French playlist:

Loane
One of the few whose entire album is available on iTunes ($9.99) and well worth buying. Best bets include: Danser and Jamais seule, though the entire album is golden.

Carla Bruni
First heard her Quelqu'un M'a Dit in a yoga class and was struck by the uniqueness of a more bluegrass/acoustic folk sound set to French lyrics and come to find out that beautiful singing voice belongs to that modelesque first lady over there in France...a stunner to the eyes in a sea of political stiffs and pure sultry silkiness to the ears. All three of her albums are available on iTunes for $9-10 each...her second one entirely in English sans accent but still great...buy them...NOW...and...yah, you're welcome.

Mauss et Charlie
Mauss is more alternative rock than any of these other groups, namely because of the incorporation of drums. I'm actually not so much a fan of Mauss' solo stuff as I am of this great collaboration with gorgeous french female vocalist Charlie in Je recherche.

Ridan
Give the haunting Ulysse a listen. Ridan's sound is straight up French pop and both previous and newer albums are full of classic french melodic winners.

Da Silva
Check out this French pop artist's beautifully raspy vocals in Au moment des amours and De la haut. You may also wanna take a listen to the melodically relaxed and smooth Tout va pour le mieux. Da Silva's newest album, De beaux jours a venir, is also available through iTunes for a mere $8.01.

Zoe Avril
Zoe encompasses elements of the traditional circus-like french folk genre in her sweetly fresh acoustic pop rock. Try on the playful On ne changera pas le monde for size.

DJs and VJs of Then and Now

I was at a holiday party at a NYC recording studio last Thursday hosted by none other than the Godfather of Turntablism, King of back spinin' and cuttin', Guru of beat-jugglin', phase shiftin' and needle droppin' ... DJ Grandmaster Flash. He is about as sick as it gets when it comes to scratching like a mad man and it doesn't seem that this innovative mastah is going anywhere but up. He had that dance floor hopping all night long and even took a moment to step out of the clear-cased DJ corner booth to MC while he viewed the dance floor and get some love from his adoring fans (see my shameless photo op above).  

Looking back on how the creation of hip hop and how it influenced such as Grandmaster himself, the man who FIRST used the turntable as an instrument, and the direction DJs are going today, there has been is still is a vast amount of growth and creativity in this arena. One of the best DJs I've seen "live" recently was through the YouTube Live online concert feed (recorded from San Fran), showcasing some of the best talent the world over as judged by the popularity of their YouTube videos. VJ (video jockey)/Scratch DJ Mike Relm rocked the stage and clogged up commenting abilities on the YouTube Live streaming site during his scratch set performance combining Santogold rthymic genius with Ok Go's popular stair master music video as well as a ridiculous scratchin' he did to the baby duo Charlie and his older brother. But despite added technology and flashy videography, some classic techniques and sounds just can't be beat, at least that's the opinion of this blogger/music lover after experiencing the mix magic of Mistah Flash in the flesh. Flash had announced to the crowd a new album to be released in February of next year and if your passport is up-to-date you can catch Mike Relm the rest of this month at the Jingle Bell Rock tour in Canada (or on his straight to DVD flick Clown Alley - currently out of stock on his site but if you're desperate I think they still have some in the UK...passport or extra shipping costs may apply).

You're Truly Remarkable RebekkahMaria

Add an air of quirky panache to Scandinavian electro-pop and combine with a Bjork-like sense of fashion and you've got the recipe for As In RebekkaMaria as presented in her album Queen of France. This front woman of Danish-Swedish band, Lampshade, released her first solo endeavor this summer that has put her name in bold and brighter lights the world over and currently on tour in Sweden. I'd actually highly recommend givin' a listen to Rebekka Maria Andersson's alter persona in Lampshades as a Swedish rocker melding with a sweet Kate Nash edginess to produce a classic indie pop (with lyrics I can't understand nor care to). It is what its is. And it's all good.