As a musician, I am embarrassed to say that until recently I never owned nice audio equipment. I recently set out to change this state of affairs and here is an example of one major upgrade – high performance headphones.

AIAIAI’s TMA-1 headphones are designed by Danish design firm KiBisi, further developed in cooperation with Tartelet Records, Mannhandle and Thank You For Clapping, and tested by a plethora of amazing DJs including Matthew Dear, James Murphy, Ellen Allien and A-Trak.

The TMA-1’s have everything I enjoy in a product.  The packaging is stunning, featuring a geometric pattern of stop, pause, play, fast forward, and rewind icons.  The headphones are housed in foam that resembles studio soundproofing.  Unlike the box, the TMA-1 name and visual inspiration comes from the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey and it’s pretty easy to tell: matte black with minimal branding, only a slight AIAIAI imprint on the inside of the nylon headband. The headphones are beautifully simple.

Most importantly, the headphones sound amazing and are super comfortable with an easy to adjust click system. No frills or tacky shiny parts, these headphones are flat out bad-ass ear pleasers. The sound is incredibly well balanced and the high end treble isn’t too tinny so you can bump these things loud without feeling like your ears are exploding.

As Dr. Dre’s and other flashy cans are saturating the market, consider these as an alternative. The TMA-1 is just a set of headphones, and that’s all it needs to be. If you’re in NYC go pick them up at either Dijital Fix location, or otherwise nab them from The Ghostly Store. MSRP: $200.

I managed to catch Body Language for a bumpin’ show this past Labor Day weekend at Brooklyn Bowl. I snapped this video of their new track ‘Social Studies’ and was pleasantly surprised that the sound wasn’t blown out. BK Bowl is a huge venue, and as such, I think the sound gets a little muddy and some of the vocals seemed to get lost in the mix. That being said, Body Language put on an awesome show and I can’t wait to catch them at their next one.

Little Anchor is playing with Uncles & Boyd Shropshire tonight at Zebulon! Come check us out! The whole thing kicks off at 9pm. This will be my last show before surgery so I hope you get a chance to make it out!

One of the best drummers I’m fortunate enough to play with in Little Anchor and Circle Circle Dot, Ian Chang, also happens to be the drummer for the amazing electronic/pop/awesome band, Body Language.

Peep Body Language’s new jam, “Social Studies.” The track will see a release featuring remixes by Sepalcure, Hardmix and Two Fresh on August 31st. This song is infectious.

Go download the track for free at The Music Slut.

Another awesome poster from Barclay Douglas. Little Anchor will be playing an intimate acoustic show at Pete’s Candy Store tomorrow night. Come check us out!

http://myspace.com/thisislittleanchor

Here are some awesome photos of the Little Anchor Pianos gig by freelance writer/photographer Emily Tan! Check out her flickr for her shots of other artists!

So the Little Anchor EPs look awesome in person, but if you couldn’t nab the limited run (hand numbered by Alexa!) from our Pianos show, the EP is now available digitally through a few online retailers! The beautiful jacket design is by Barclay Douglas.

Get the EP through iTunes or Amazon.

http://www.myspace.com/thisislittleanchor

I’m a little bit dismayed that I only just found out about the wonder that is Janelle Monáe. This is her track ‘Tightrope’ which features Big Boi of Outkast fame. This song, first of all, is incredible. Janelle has an amazing voice and at times, channels the greatness of Michael Jackson and James Brown. There is so much soul in this music it’s ridiculous. The song takes cues from old school jazz with some slick jazz lines, R&B, hip-hop, dance, pop, and this chick is quietly singing ‘Happy Birthday’ at the end of the song. Random, but sweet. Definitely hearing a background line reminiscent of the background lines in Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘A Night in Tunisia.’

Now, the music video for the track, is perhaps the best music video I’ve seen in a long, long time. Janelle is just so fucking cool. What a badass! The shoes, the dancing, the vibe – I haven’t been in awe like this about a music video since the late 90’s. There is also a video of her and the band performing the track live on Letterman and that is also pretty brilliant.

Do yourself a favor and pick up Janelle’s album, The ArchAndroid – the album’s songs are of a pretty eclectic variety and yet, it’s super cohesive and a seriously awesome listen.

http://www.jmonae.com/

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the Little Anchor EP release show! Anni Rossi played an amazing set, too. Here are some sweet photos that Gao Di took. The Little Anchor Sunland EP is out now! Contact Alexa to get a hold of one – digital release coming in July.

Blatantly singing a few ‘Ooohs’ in this last one.

And here are some great ones from Vida Chang:

Thanks again, everyone! See you next time – full band record in the near future!

http://www.myspace.com/thisislittleanchor

Little Anchor will be playing at Pianos in the Lower East Side on Thursday, June 17th. Come check us out, we’re on before Anni Rossi. We go on at 8, so be there on time! $8 bucks at the door.

Thursday will see the release of the Sunland EP which features 5 awesome Alexa Cabellon originals. Alexa struggled with a suitable band name for a while and after multiple bad suggestions I can proudly say – I named this band! Woooo! Full band recording is in the near future – stay in touch! Awesome band emblem by Barclay Douglas.

To get you ready for the Thursday night gig, here is a clip of ‘Circles and Circles’ from our show at Glasslands last month.

Pianos is located at 158 Ludlow Street.
http://myspace.com/thisislittleanchor

There is just something about Tokyo Police Club’s albums, but I find myself being able to listen to them the whole way through and be interested the entire time. Tokyo Police Club’s second full-length album, Champ, has as many good songs as the first album. Fun and catchy melodies, great instrumental breaks – this album is rocking the whole way through. Some favourites are: ‘Favorite Colour,’ ‘Breakneck Speed,’ ‘Bambi,’ ‘Gone,’ but honestly, I have already listened to the album a few times through and I’m into it all.

The album features great songs and I’m down for that. Listen to ‘Gone’ below.

LISTEN:

http://tokyopoliceclub.com/

Some day 2, some day 3 – in the middle of tracking guitars right about now!

Tracking drums and bass. Rehearsing.

Setting up at Gigantic.