Interestinthings Law, Startups, Music; maybe in that order

You could call me Francis

I saw Francis and the Lights perform at the Bowery Ballroom a couple of weeks ago (thanks to Arthur) and they just popped up in the shuffle to remind me how great that was. Their live show really is such an incredible performance, but it's a sharp contrast between that and the albums. Many of the funkiest tracks are a bit too funky to be truly heard unperformed, while the slower, more delicate numbers from the new album just seem flat on stage.

While there's some doubters out there, I still want to claim that the new album is great in its own right, even if it has a more structured, populist feel to it. It adds a striking amount of beauty to your day, but that's where it lives; on your iPod, in your ears as you go places. To be clear, I think this is a high and noble purpose for music; it is most of what I like and why I care about music. I spend a lot more time sitting/strolling quietly with headphones than I do freaking out on the dance floor with hundreds of my newest best friends, however much fun the latter is. So It'll Be Better is fantastic headphone music, and that's more than enough reason to check it out at their site (and do creep the back catalog if you haven't).

Also, as if they hadn't already been my new favorite band based on the music alone, they structured themselves as a startup and took an angel investment at a very early stage, which makes them kind of a fascinating experiment.