Matt & Kim

So I was going to write about a new song that I had heard getting some airplay on XM recently by Matt & Kim a few weeks ago.  I looked online and saw their album,Sidewalks, was coming out this past Tuesday so I decided to wait and try and give you an idea of how good the whole album is.  I downloaded it on Tuesday morning and I have to say that I am pretty pleased with my purchase.  Matt & Kim are one of the many bands from Brooklyn that have a big underground following.  They are comprised of Matt and, get this, Kim.  Kim on the drums and Matt on the synthesizer and vocals.  They have garnered some solid commercial success in their time together.  Literally, commercials.  Bacardi, FIFA 10, XBOX Kinect Adventures, and a slew of TV shows like Community, Gossip Girl, and Entourage have featured various songs.  I first downloaded a song by them after hearing "Daylight" on that Bacardi commercial where the guy walks through all the different parties to get his Bacardi.  I enjoyed that taste and needed to know more of their music.  I downloaded a couple other songs from them, "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare" and "Lessons Learned".  Whenever any one of those three songs came up in a random playlist I would get a big smile on my face.  I can't help it, their songs just give off a very positive vibe and make me want to do something fun.  So anyway, back to this recent album.  The single, "Cameras" stays in the same mold as their other singles.  A driving beat with generally simple and upbeat lyrics.  I haven't seen them live, but have read that they are a lot of fun.  Just a couple people on stage with big smiles on their faces enjoying making people happy with their music.  Seems like a simple formula for success, but too often you go to a show and the people on stage are nothing but robots trying to make music that sounds exactly like the record.  Beyond "Cameras" I'd recommend "Ice Melts", and "Wires".  There a couple songs on the album that didn't grab me, but I'll definitely be moving a handful of tunes from Sidewalks into the random rotation.  I've included a couple videos below. One is for "Cameras", the other "Lessons Learned".  The video for the latter was apparently the inspiration for Erikah Badu's video last year where she walked through a park naked or something.  I didn't see it, just heard that it was controversial.  What about the kids?!?!?!!? Oh my!!!

Going to see Freelance Whales tomorrow night.  Hopefully they're as good as they looked in those NPR videos.  I'll be back next week with a review on the show if I can remember it.  Have a good one and please feel free to send me suggestions of any music that you'd want to share.  Till next time....