As It Turns Out, Sun Screen Dyes Beards Blue. Neon Blue. Guess Who Shaved When He Got Home.

The SoCo Fest was last Saturday and, to say the least, it freaking rocked. Highlights of the day include: (Almost) every band that played (Laylights, Eagle Seagull, Maneline, DJ Stareyes, The Dead Confederates, The Hot IQs, Bassnectar, Blonde Redhead, Gnarls Barkley), Death+Taxes handing out free issues and free subscriptions, shirts screen printed in front of you, and Rock Band Contests that my friends and I won, winning a Guitar and other things. Also, DJ Stareyes playing Prodigy songs ... it made the day even more spectacular.

Laylights: As good as ever, but no real big surprise. Maybe I've seen them too often. Their new stuff is actually really good and warrants a few listens. Unfortunately I only have older stuff:

Laylights - Sparrow

Eagle Seagull: I'd heard a few songs before, but holy christ am I going to have to look into this band further now that I've seen them. Apparently they've got a new album coming out next year. I'm excited for it, to say the least. Maybe the most interesting bass lines I've ever heard.

Eagle Seagull - Your Beauty is A Knife I Turn on My Throat

ManeLine: Heck yes! Super duo packing a competent DJ and spitting rhymes that, at least, were sonically pleasing. I couldn't really understand what was being said because of the acoustics, but the two that are Maneline and their slew of collaborators who joined them all knew what they were doing as far as making music that sounds great.

ManeLine - Good & Bad

DJ Stareyes: She played Prodigy songs. How in the heck am I expected to say anything less than "she is my new favorite DJ" or "I have a terrible crazy crush on this chica now"

Star Eyes - Strobe

The Dead Confederates: Tom described them as what seemed to be Grunge-revivalists. I can see where he gets that, but I think they're more towards shoegaze/noise rock than anything else. I was off winning things at the Rock Band Competition while most of their set played through, but, based on what I heard, I think that I wouldn't have been in the mood for the whole set, because it was kind of a downer. They were noisey as hell though.

The Dead Confederates - The Rat

The Hot IQs: I was mostly busy getting settled in VIP when they were playing, but man ... from where I was I could tell that they were rocking better that I'd heard in a long time. But maybe I've just seen them too often. Either way, this sounded like it was one of their best performances.

The Hot IQs - Nightstand (this one is for Margaret)

Bassnectar: Like Girltalk, but with more Reggae. Less "let's go freaking nuts" and more "lets bop around." Tom's favorite of the day.

Bassnectar - Stomp

Blonde Redhead: I've been waiting to see these guys for ... oh ... lets just say forever and get that whole exaggeration thing out of the way now. Blonde Redhead is one of my absolute all time favorite bands, so to finally get to see them live, and for free nonetheless, was more than terrific. Every part of their set was phenomenal, at least, to me. So terribly pleased.

Blonde Redhead - Falling Man

Gnarls Barkley: I have a deeper respect for Cee-lo's lyrics and Gnarls Barkley as a whole now that I've seen them live. Every song had this deep emotional feeling to it that I just didn't get while listening to the albums. I have a feeling that when I go back and listen through the albums, I'm going to get an entirely different experience. Transformer was the highlight of the set. They slowed it down and just let it hang in the air for a long time, replacing any abrasive qualities in the original song with overwhelming warmth.

Gnarls Barkley - Transformer

Here are too many pictures and not enough words (some of the pics are taken from the center of the VIP section, which was a little ways away from the stage, so the pics might be a little blurry or pixelated):

"Usually I Play This For A Bunch of Drunk People In A Bar, But Because We're At A Festival, I Expect EVERYONE To Put Their Boob In My Drink."

Did you hear about this shit? If not, check it out. Wes Anderson is basically a god. and, if not that, a damn good director, and probably a good person to boot.

Go see Darjeeling Limited when it comes out (Jan 8th I believe...).

Also: Radiohead's new album is ready for pre-order. Here's a hint: you can pay nothing for it. But since they're doing all this out for their own pocket, I recommend paying the boys for their hard work.

One more thing: Gorillaz D-Sides announced

But now, on to music:

Day 2 of Monolith started out with me getting there hella early. So I went and gave a little visit to the vendors and browsed their various wares. First I stopped by the WOXY.COM booth and chatted with Matt Shiv for a good half an hour. He's quite the awesome dude if I may say so myself. After that I came across a booth selling Xiu Xiu shirts, Sunset Rubdown shirts, Frog Eyes shirts, and a few other equally as awesome shirts. Unfortunately they had no smalls. The Home-tapes Records booth next to them did, and I purchased a Shedding shirt and a Slaraffenland shirt, as well as picking up a sampler (which is actually damn good). While ending my transaction Laylights began to perform, and my day truely began.

I'd last seen the Laylights last year at the South Park Music Festival, and, like Everything Absent or Distorted, they have grown in the past year. But, unlike Everything Absent or Distorted, they haven't grown a lot. Regardless, however, they were a lot of fun, and playing first was some damn good press. I don't foresee them going very far however, because their sound is a very basic "we're just gonna play some local indie rock music." But maybe I'm just looking to hard for music that's weird and innovative.

Laylights - Sheets & Drapes

Laylights finished up their short set fairly quickly, so I moseyed on downstairs at a relaxed pace (my legs weren't killing me at this point, thank god, but I wasn't in any rush to destroy my ability to fly up and down the stairs to get to the next big thing). Via Audio were just finishing up setting up when I arrived at the WOXY.COM stage, which I, so far, had not been disappointed at, so I was fairly excited to see what the WOXY.COM stage had to provide this day. Via Audio reminded me a lot of Great Northern, but with a You Say Party! We Say Die! danceyness. The super inventive drummer, guitar player clearly influenced by Buckethead, and young Feist-ish girl on vocals made them someone to stand up and notice.

Via Audio (Live on the WOXY.COM Stage)

I rushed upstairs as soon as I could pull myself from Via Audio's tractor beam to see Bob Log III, someone I'd been waiting to see for a long while. He was in the middle of a song when i got to his stage, but it was easy to get right into the moment. He sat there with one of the oldest guitars I'd ever seen, hitting a bass drum with his right foot, and hitting a crash cymbal with his left. Occasionally he would activate a sound pad, which would add drum effects to his undenyably good guitar parts. After drawing the song out longer than anyone would have thought possible, he, seemingly as bewildered as the audience, exclaimed "How'd I do that!?", making reference to the fact that he is a one man band. Oh technology, what would we do with out you. From there Bob Log III had as much fun with the audience as they had with him. He somehow got a good number of women to stick their breast in his beer, wooing them with his hit "Boob Scotch." He got some of those same women to sit on his lap while he played a song. He reminded me of a more relaxed Scott H. Biram. Loved it.

Bob Log III - I Want Your Shit On My Leg

The Little Ones were playing just over the barrier on the main stage. I don't remember if I pointed this out before, but a lot of the bands on the main stage were remotely disappointing, mostly, if not purely, because I just didn't feel close enough, and it wasn't loud enough, and ... well ... it just wasn't intimate enough; something I'm very used to when I go to concerts. The Little Ones were no exception. They were super chill, Rooney-esq even. They sent out this "feel good" vibe. I just wasn't that interested... Sorry guys, maybe next time.

The Little Ones (Daytrotter Set)

And with that I was back down to the WOXY.COM stage for another "must see." I had been pining to see Forget Cassettes for months, so to finally experience their live show was ... magical. Their set was Unforgettable. They were orchestral, they were beautiful, they were inventive/innovative, they were some of the most talented musicians to perform at Monolith. These guys too had a sort of Great Northern feel to them, but in a different sense then with Via Audio. They made music that drain your heart of color, while filling your soul with fire. I straight up loved Forget Cassettes, and will be seeing them every time they come through.

Forget Cassettes (Live on the WOXY.COM Stage)

I went back out to the main stage, regardless of the fact that I knew I probably wouldn't like it because of the lack of intimacy, to see Margot & the Nuclear So & So's. Margot & co. are a part of this new wave of (what I like to call) Orchestral Indie Rock. They, like the Arcade Fire or the Polyphonic Spree have this big big big sound, huge crescendos, touching melodies, and just an all around haunting sense of "holy shit this sound is bigger than anything"-ness. Unfortunately, they played the main stage, and I hella wasn't close enough to enjoy it, so, instead of staying and listening and being pissed off that I wasn't enjoying it enough, I went and got something to eat and wait up in front of the New Belgium Stage.

Margot & the Nuclear So & So's - Quiet As A Mouse

Matt & Kim. Oh how I do love thee. I've seen them more than a few times, and every time ... every time it has been stupendous. This time was NO different. They continued to be the smile-en-ist people on the planet, emanating love and happiness. The only real problem was now I've heard the same songs quite a few times... all I'm saying is that I'd like to hear some new material. That didn't take away from the magic that was Matt & Kim on the top of Red Rocks, with the sun majestically coming over the clouds at just the right time.... beautiful. Please move to Denver Matt & Kim.

Matt & Kim - 5K

I'm on the home stretch! More Soon!

Monolith Sampler 5

Cameron McGill - What the Hell (I Love This Girl Danielle)
Laylights - Sparrow
The Thieves (mysparizzilytizzily)
Machine Gun Blues - I Wanna Be Sexy
The Swayback - All Bad News
Minus Story - Stitch Me Up
Gregory Alan Isakov - February
Nina Storey - Over Now
Stranger Lazy - Is It Paul Walter?

Again, here's The Whole Dang Thing, .rar'd up nice and easy for you.