Have you ever heard of a band called Cloud Cult?

Their schtick (not to reduce them to just being a band with a gimmick — but they do have a schtick) is that they have a painter create a work of visual art while they do their concerts. The band’s sound is urgent rock and roll augmented by a small string section — so it’s very conducive for painters to get “in the zone.”

So they recently showed up on Carson Daly’s show to perform. You can see the clip below.

If you liked the music and, more importantly, the painting you can buy it on eBay. As of this writing it’s only about $335 — which is a lot for bloggers, but not for people who buy original artwork.

Via Brooklyn Vegan.

PS — I give Carson Daly a hard time, which he probably doesn’t deserve. Seems like a nice enough guy — he dated the lovely Jennifer Love Hewitt after all. However, it is very easy and his show has some inexcusably bad comedy.

It’s true that kids who grew up in the 80s are now at the age when we’re steering the edgiest music out there. This phenomenon is evidenced by Crystal Castles’ debut, which features a lot of inspiration from 8-bit video game sounds, augmented by digital hardcore shouts. The band, named for She-Ra’s castle (see, another TV tie-in), has previously remixed a lot of other bands’ material.

Personally, I like Crystal Castles at their most intense — when the electronic blips are going out of control and singer Alice Glass is screaming the hardest. Not that you asked, but if you want to download some songs, I’d recommend Xxzxcuzx Me or Alice Practice. However, their video is for a more subdued track called Courtship Dating. You can kind of get a feel for their vibe here — at least the darkness and robotic tendencies.

I’m declaring today Los Campesinos Day.  In honor of this Welsh band, you can’t use any vowels all day.

I’ve covered this band before in these virtual pages, but a lot of awesome stuff is happening with this band behind the scenes at TiFaux.  First of all, TiFaux John and I saw them on Friday (they were great!). Second of all, I wrote my second Washington Post article on them.  Third of all, TiFaux Cristin’s brother’s band, Titus Andronicus, will be opening up for them tonight.

In any case, the band’s new album “Hold On Now, Youngster” is out now and you should definitely give it a listen. Here’s a song that won’t be on the album, but you can still buy it off iTunes if you’re feeling the urge.  It’s called “International TweeXCore Underground.”

Mates of State have been around forever (well, probably 2001 or so), but they’re still doing their two-person show.

They’re a husband and wife duo who play keys and drums and sing their little hearts out. In recent years, they’ve begun adding wee babes to their brood, all the while trying as hard as they can to eschew the label of “cute.” Sometimes, though, the shoe just fits.

I’m really digging their new album, Re-Arrange Us. I was a huge fan of their first three records and on their previous one, Bring It Back, I kind of thought they stumbled a bit. The songs were too long and there wasn’t a whole lot of joy in the record — one of the qualities that drew me to them. The new album contains that old fashioned exuberance with a more developed, less gimmicky sound.

The new single, “Get Better,” isn’t necessarily joyous, but it definitely has a sweet, swelling quality that is very nice.

Here’s a Hulu clip of the song where they’re dressed up like animals.

In the battle of who has better culture between New York and Washington, it’s never really been a fair fight. I get it — NY wins. There was never really a contest.

But every once in a while we’ll pull something out of our hats that’s completely awesome. It’s nice to know we’re still trying.

That thing I’m referring to is D.C.’s own Pancake Mountain — an TV show made by local indie folk for the next generation of indie folk. Pancake Mountain is a self-described “excuse to act really silly and call it our job” where kids mingle with indie rock stars. And they have managed to get a pretty impressive list of alumni.

Here’s a little selection:

• Ted Leo does both The Wheels on the Bus and Little Dawn
• M.I.A. teaches the kids to dance
• The Arcade Fire plays Wake Up and Haiti
• The Go! Team works the kids into a frenzy

To give you a little taste, here’s Jenny Lewis and her beloved Watson Twins playing “Fernando.” Note the woman to the right holding a baby wearing oversized headphones. Makes my ovaries hurt a little bit.

The show’s newest DVD contains performances by Nellie McKay, Tilly and the Wall and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips (I can only imagine the kids freaking out at the guys in animal costumes).

Week’s over.

This is a nice song to listen to at the end of a warm Friday afternoon.

It’s She and Him, a collaboration of singer-songwriter M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel, on Craig Ferguson. Corny, I know, but I like the relaxed, twangy vocals.

Kind of makes me want a mint julep. And an old dog named Sal.

(via Stereogum)

I was watching last week’s Grey’s Anatomy (it was strangely comforting to return to Seattle Grace, even though no one changed and everyone is still just as annoying as ever) the other night and I came across this Dodge Journey commercial. I didn’t care about the product — not really looking for something to schlep the kids to soccer practice in — but the song was awesome. What’s more, it sounded familiar.

The song is by Grandaddy and is called A.M. 180. It is delightful, with its crunchy guitars and kindergarten bloops and bleeps. You might remember it from 28 Days Later, which is probably what triggered some sort of response in the recesses of my brain.

And you can download it here!

Meanwhile, enough with Meredith and the not talking during the long-overdue therapy.

I was watching something the other day.

True story.

But during the commercials, this song came on during a spot for Lexus. I really loved it and was immediately thrust into “must Google obsessively until I find out who did this track” mode. Here’s the commercial.

Sadly, my Googling yielded the answer that the music was made specifically for the commercial and there is no song to download, much less a whole album to get.

However, this song gets me excited to listen to The Album Leaf — the one-man-band of Jimmy LaVelle that is mostly instrumental, atmospheric and melodic. The Album Leaf has a nice mixture of electronic and organic textures, as well as a variety of instruments and sounds. I tend to like the instrumental tracks better than the ones with vocals — but what can ya do?

Here’s the video for The Album Leaf’s “Wherever I Go.” If you like that, try my favorite song off the same album — “Into the Sea.”

I know I’ve already done a (few) music posts recently, but I feel like I should get this out there while it’s still bouncing around in my head.

The other night I was out (way past my bedtime) to see the Most Serene Republic — a band I’ve posted about and doted upon before. I didn’t know much about the openers (although my concert buddy was a fan), so I was really surprised when I found that Liam Finn pretty much blew me away.

Finn is a New Zealand native (who was born in 1983, according to Wikipedia — this makes me feel incredibly depressed and ancient) whose dad was in that band Crowded House. His live show is amazing, even though it’s just him and a supporting female vocalist. He uses a loop pedal to create a huge band sound — then walks over to the drum kit and just bashes out a beat as if that were his primary instrument. It’s incredible.

Apparently he was on Letterman last month. Who knew? Check out his performance and make sure you watch it til the end if you watch it at all. And if he is coming to your area, for God’s sake, see him.

(Pssst… and you didn’t hear it from me, but CultureBully has an mp3 of the performance here)

While we’re on a music kick, I thought I’d point out the fact that the new Mitsubishi ad campaign features songs by The Go! Team.

Here’s the latest commercial, featuring the song “Doing it Right.”

And here’s the real video.

I’m just keeping you in the loop. The other spot features the song “Grip Like a Vice,” which I actually like more.