The Llano Idea

I remember when I was first getting into indie music back in high school people would name bands that I had to listen to if I was serious about learning and appreciating this new genre of music.  Some of those bands were Neutral Milk Hotel, Pavement, the Pixies, Belle & Sebastian, Wilco, Weezer, the Flaming Lips and Yo La Tengo. What do all these bands have in common? They all got big, or “hit their stride” as Whitey Corngood would put it, either in the late 80’s or the 90’s.

So now I bring you this question: What do you think are going to be those highly iconic bands that will represent this current decade? I was discussing this question with Whitey Corngood and El Primo, and this is the list we came up with together in no particular order.

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Column Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Belle & Sebastian, Bright Eyes, daft punk, Death Cab for Cutie, Dirty Proyectors, Fiery Furnaces, Flaming Lips, Grizzly Bear, Hot Chip, Kanye West, Kings of Leon, KTXT, KTXT-FM, LCD Sound System, llano idea, Lubbock, M.I.A., M83, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, Pavement, Pixies, Ryan Adams, Sigur Ros, Spoon, Strokes, Sufjan Stevens, tech, Ted Leo and the Pharmacist, Texas, The Decemberist, The new Pornagraphers, The Rapture, The Shins, Tv On The Radio, Weezer, White Stripes, Wilco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yo La tengo

Though not my first time taking a bite out of the Big Apple, this trip was certainly the most fun.  The Llano Idea was proud to have taken part in the CMJ Music Marathon, a week-long party/festival disguised as a business/educational seminar.  Think SXSW, only a lot more expensive.  Armed with a cheap, Maria Sharapova-approved Canon camera, I did my best to capture the wildest/most notable/most trendy moments of my journey.

My first evening, straight off the plane, was spent at Santos Party House.  Pretty cool place, though I would never see drink prices this high for the rest of the week.  I mean, I know it’s New York, but come on….$10 for a well drink?

Restless People played their first show ever in front of a giant crowd in the Manhattan venue.  I’ll spare you the poor photography I executed…guess I was shaking my money-maker a bit too hard.  Fun dance group, check them out.  Really got the crowd going, though the next band was the one people were excited to see.

Georgia native Washed Out played his first NY show and did not disappoint, though there really wasn’t much to see, aside from a litany of projection screens showing experimental videography.  Really set the mood right for a very chill and overall enjoyable performance from this much-hyped performer.

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Feature Cake Shop, CMJ, Cold Cave, Depeche Mode, Force Field PR, Free Energy, Glasser, High Places, Javelin, Joy Division, Mercury Lounge, New York Dolls, Piano's, Restless People, Rubberband, Santos Party House, Stereogum, Still Flyin', Strokes, Studio, Surfer Blood, Terrorbird Media, The Golden Filter, the xx, Warpaint, Washed Out, Webster Hall, Weezer

Cymbals Eat Guitars take the post-punk genre to another level, incorporating fuzzy guitars, ever-changing vocal inflections matching mood, and soaring, unpredictable melodies washed in a background of spastic rhythmic changing.

They started out in high school sounding very different, however.  The band tried their luck as a Weezer cover band before making the switch to writing original tunes that identify with their truer sound, a mixture of early Modest Mouse, Fugazi, and At the Drive In.  Unlike any of those comparisons, however, Cymbals Eat Guitars have a distinct sense of beautiful melody; vocalist Joseph D’Agostino screams in anger in front of an ear-shattering instrumental break, then jumps into a croon alongside a beautiful soundscape of sweet indie-pop, reminiscent of 90’s legends Neutral Milk Hotel. Read more…

Column, Music At the Drive In, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Fugazi, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Weezer

Once again, our computers at Llano Idea headquarters have crashed beyond reason, and we are working hard with our streaming host providers to resolve the situation.  If all goes according to plan, our stream should be back up and running very soon.

You may notice, however, if you look to the right of this post, that the final songs played before our mysterious shutdown were all by….THE CARS!!  Just what we needed….

If the curse continues, look for mysterious postings about Weezer’s Green Album.

News Ric Ocasek, Weezer