Tuesday, October 31, 2006
The 2006 CMJ Music Marathon begins tonight in what we like to call the annual ass kicking of New York with a barrage of Los Angeles bands coming through town and taking names. Here's a quick night by night highlight of what is to come...
How appropriate the fest begins on Halloween since there are lineups so good on this night it's scary. Heavens, the newish project from Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba and F-Minus's Josiah Steinbrick, headlines over at Sine-e with Ima Robot (new album Monument to Masses out now) and Mickey Avalon (new self-titled album out next week on MySpace Records). Meanwhile, the lovely Amy Cooper showcases over at BLVD with The Skies of America (new album Shine out now) and Two Loons For Tea who are not from Los Angeles but deserve some attention because they're good and their upcoming album Nine Lucid Dreams was recorded partly at The Boat. Over at the Living Room, the Hotel Cafe Tour rolls through town with Joshua Radin, Cary Brothers, Meiko, Joe Purdy, and others in tow. Finally, over at Pianos, Irving headlines with Monsters Are Waiting and Run Run Run. Yeah, crazy... and that's just night one.
Night dos sees the almight Cold War Kids and The Bird and the Bee with others at the Bowery Ballroom.
Stones Throw's Chrome Children Tour hits BB King's on Thursday with Peanut Butter Wolf, J Rocc, Madlib, Aloe Blacc and the rest of the crew celebrating ten years of doing real hip-hop. Also that evening, Silversun Pickups perform at Pianos with Darker My Love, La Rocca, and Peter Walker; Earlimart and Lavender Diamond showcase at Northsix; and Kennedy and Le Meu Le Purr perform at Crash Mansion. Also must not forget the afternoon one-offs with SSPU at Puma and Tom Brosseau with The Spores at the Lincoln Center day stage.
Winding down the week, The Starlite Desperation, Die Princess Die, and Anavan making mincemeat of the Lit Lounge on Friday while The Watson Twins and Shooter Jennings perform at Irving Plaza on 11/4.
Other local bands worth checking out but not on "L.A."-centric lineups are Listing Ship (10/31), The Spores (11/1), Hello Stranger (11/1), Gliss (11/1), Tom Brosseau (11/1), Ferraby Lionheart (11/1), The Elected (11/2), Icebird (11/2), Sean Na Na (11/2), The Little Ones (11/3), The Broken West (11/3), The Airborne Toxic Event (11/3), Eleni Mandell (11/3), Annie Stela (11/3), Motorcycle Boy (11/4), Saul Williams (11/4), The Willowz (11/4), Dmonstrations (11/4), The Tyde (11/4).
Amy Cooper - "Tonight We Fly" (MP3)
Anavan - "Eel Air Camera" (MP3)
Cold War Kids - "In Harmony in Silver" (MP3)
Darker My Love - "What's A Man's Paris" (MP3)
Ferraby Lionheart - "Tickets to Crickets" (MP3)
Gliss - "Blue Sky" (MP3)
Lavender Diamond - "You Broke My Heart" (MP3)
Listing Ship - "Ichabod Crane" (MP3)
Monsters Are Waiting - "Nobody" (MP3)
Tom Brosseau - "Empty Houses Are Loneley" (MP3)
Friday, October 27, 2006
Whilst everyone readies themselves for their flights to CMJ next week, we ready ourselves with another hefty week of Los Angeles loving...
Mellowdrone was added to the Figurines show tonight at Spaceland. Very crowded that show will be. Also expect another herd for The Bird and the Bee's October finale tonight at the SLL... You might have heard about some show tomorrow night, but there are plenty of other things to do around town. Bad Dudes, Epsilons, and Holy Curtain are over at The Smell. Huge lineup. The pairing of Mika Miko and Los Super Elegantes at The Echo is going to be legendary. The Sweet Hurt plays over at M Bar. The band recently did an in-studio with Killradio and Hershfield has been cool enough to showcase them that night. Also, the annual Monster Massive should be just that with the likes of Paul van Dyk, Fischerspooner (DJ set), and Judge Jules spinning... Halloween night is always nuts in Los Angeles. You can be amongst the half million revelers at the WeHo Carnaval where the likes of Tiffany, K. Fed, and Better Than Ezra are performing. Or you can go to Safari Sam's for MSTRKRFT and Totally Radd!!. Or perhaps Ladytron and Midnight Movies at the El Rey. Or Dios (Malos) and The Blood Arm at the Echo. Or Brazilian Girls at the Wiltern. And we haven't even mentioned the show we're actually going to... The wonderful Eleisha Eagle performs at Tangier on 11/1 before she heads back down south for a few dates. Trackers should be tracking this one with a gold star... And finally, get ready for Unity on 11/3.
Rest in peace, Sandy...
Mellowdrone - "Oh My" (MP3)
Figurines - "Rivalry" (MP3)
The Sweet Hurt - "Lost Again" (MP3)
Eleisha Eagle - "My Birthday" (MP3)
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
After a bit of a hiatus from doing shows we're getting back into the thick of things with one we can hardly believe is actually happening. Getting any one of these bands on a night would have been a gift, but the fact they've all been gathered together for a single evening is an absolute coup. Johnnie Cocaine has asked us to get in the spirit of Halloween with a costume contest. First prize is $100 but we may throw in some giveaways for runners-up. And for those who can't afford the outlandish $5 door cover we're doing a little guestlist thing over at Upcoming.org. We cannot wait for this...
October 28, 2006
Los Angeles Loves...
@ the Cocaine
366 E 2nd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
All Ages / $5 / 9pm
Google Maps
Los Angeles Loves... CASTLEDOOR
Despite being nearly unknown to most everyone, Castledoor is one of the best bands in Los Angeles. There, we said it. Their Follow the Dove mini-album is simply one of the finest releases this decade and the look and feel of this band begs for sold out concert halls and magazine covers. If you're not convinced, you haven't heard "Burn the Maps".
Castledoor - "Burn the Maps" (MP3)
Los Angeles Loves... THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT
TATE recently had a roomful of hipsters scratching their head at the Echo wondering how that show could have been their debut performance. Bands don't usually sound that good even after a decade on the road let alone their first show ever.
The Airborne Toxic Event - "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" (MP3)
Los Angeles Loves... THE SHARK THAT ATE MY FRIEND
TSTAMF is an OC trio that that rocks two Korgs and a disco beat. As simple as that sounds, it's actually quite brilliant. Without even trying, they've already garnered some press and a legion of fans that (together with their cohorts PHMF and FFR) busted down a record number of house parties over the past summer. Thanks to them, we now have criminal record.
The Shark That Ate My Friend - "keyskeyskeys" (MP3)
Los Angeles Loves... PRS HLTN, MTHRFCKRS!!
PHMF are a boy/girl/iPod trio that takes us back to the J.J. Fad and Sweet Tea days of booty bass rap but with just the right amount of upperclass vulgarity to make us smile at how filthy rich they are. Fans of Uffie, Annie, and MIA should be on top of this with quickness.
PRS HLTN, MTHRFCKRS!! - "OC Rox" (MP3)
Los Angeles Loves... THE MONOLATORS
You all know them, still same old M. Yeah, we do a lot of shows with The Monolators, but only because we love them so. Plus, Mary and Eli are nicer than Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama combined except neither Ms. Theresa nor Mr. Lama could have made a better album than Our Tears Have Wings.
The Monolators - "14 Degrees" (MP3)
Sunday, October 22, 2006
We have to say we're still getting used to seeing Liz McGrath all dolled up in her band Miss Derringer. Don't get us wrong, she's always been an über fashionista since her old school punk days, but she's taken it to another level with this new look and sound and we love every bit of it. Their new record Lullabies is more refined and cohesive than their first, an album that by the way made our Top 10 in 2003 -- although it officially came out in 2004. The band recently performed at Alex's Bar in Long Beach, which kind of served as their CD release show since Liz has been off doing crazy things like getting married and stuff (devastated). Still, the world is a better place with Mrs. Derringer creating, where it be her magnificent works of art or the music she makes. The lady is going to be a legend when all is said and done, mark our words on that.
Miss Derringer performs at the Viper Room on 10/23 and at the Derby on 11/15. The new album Lullabies is out now on Sympathy For the Record Industry.
Miss Derringer on MySpace.
Miss Derringer - "He Hung on a Sunday" (MP3)
Miss Derringer - "Better Run Away From Me" (Directed by Zalman King)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
What a week we have before us... Beginning tonight with you know what. But if you can't make it out for this, no hard feelings, there are about a thousand amazing lineups tonight. Like Anavan and Bipolar Bear at the Smell; In Waves, Polus, and Innaway at The Scene; The Airborne Toxic Event at El Cid; The Parson Red Heads at Lava Lounge; Priscilla Ahn at the Hotel Cafe; The Bird and the Bee at the Silverlake Lounge; Jon Brion at Largo... and so on. You could literally drive around town blindfolded tonight and wreck into a good show (but please don't do that)... Chris Holmes was recently added to the Placebo/She Wants Revenge tour, which made that tour a whole lost more interesting. Mr. Holmes can often be seen around town behind the decks at clubs where we're not cool enough to be. He also spends quite a lot of time in production booths recording good records for good artists. However, these solo dates are a bit of a rarity. So our advice to all those checking out this tour: Get there early... On Monday, the beautiful Miss Derringer performs with Eagle and Talon at the Viper Room. Look for a feature on Miss D over the weekend if you're good... Also on Monday, The Autumns perform at the Troubadour. We'll be stagefront for this one. Ok, have a good week everyone.
Chris Holmes - "Glory" (MP3)
The Parson Red Heads - "I'm Always at Hand" (MP3)
Bipolar Bear - "Bogota" (MP3)
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The Monolators are having their 2nd annual video release show tomorrow at the Airliner in downtown. We've been waiting for this night since the 1st annual video release show, mainly because we love music videos, we love The Monolators, and we love music videos containing the The Monolators. For this year's spectacular, they've invited their usual cohorts 8-bit, The Mormons, and E>K>U>K -- a lovely la-underground lineup if we ever did see one so of course we had to be apart of it. 8-bit will be premiering their new video for "HLP", The Mormons debut their video for "Half-Polyester Protection", and E>K>U>K presents "KeMo Thera-P" for the first time. And we can hardly wait to see The Monolators vid for "We Fell Dead". Videos will be followed with performances. Performances will be followed with drunkenness. Drunkenness will be followed by makeout sessions, which we will then videotape for next year's video release show. So, here's the deal:
October 20, 2006
8-BIT
THE MORMONS
E>K>U>K
THE MONOLATORS
The Airliner
2419 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90031
$5 / 18+ / 9pm
Google Maps
8-bit - "Oxygen" (MP3)
The Mormons - "Half-Polyester Protection" (MP3)
E>K>U>K - "KeMo Thera-P" (MP3)
The Monolators - "We Fell Dead" (MP3)
We've been anxiously awaiting the return of Boston's Kayo Dot since we missed their last stop in town earlier this year. Luckily for us, the genius that is Ovrcast (who by the way are absolutely killing it these last few months) recently wrangled them in for a latenight set and we couldn't have been more pleased. KD's richly orchestrated dark metal was an instant hit with us when their 2003 album Choirs of the Eye was released. The ominous undertones that swell throughout the record are layered with all the perfect amount of dissonant melodies and irregular meters that make prog metal specialists wet their pants. But don't worry, this isn't devil music (even Satan likes choruses). Still, Kayo Dot doesn't write songs for radio or for cereal commercials or for hit tv shows. And this is why we love them.
Pick up the new Kayo Dot/Bloody Panda 12" split out now on Holy Roar Records.
Kayo Dot on MySpace.
Kayo Dot - "Aura on an Asylum Wall" (MP3)
Kayo Dot - "Wayfarer" (MP3)
Kayo Dot - "The Manifold Curiosity" (MP3)
Friday, October 13, 2006
Real quick-like... It would be foolish not to be at Largo tonight. Gillian & David is one thing, but wait until you see their supporting cast. Like whoa... For those not wanting to stand in long lines that stretch down to Damiano's, the alternatives tonight would be Kristin Hersh at El Cid or Mika Miko at The Smell... The Section Quartet perform Radiohead's OK Computer at The Echo on 10/15. The Black Pine open. If that isn't a head music elitist's wet dream lineup, we don't know what is... Winter Flowers continue their residency on 10/16 and also have an in-store at Amoeba on 10/17 for their new self-titled album... Also on 10/17, The Tyde open for The Black Angels at the Troubadour. Rademaker promises us something epic that night and they never fail us, but it better be quick since Matmos is playing RecCenter on the other side of town... Arthur Nights begin 10/19 at The Palace Theatre (note venue change) with Devendra, Espers, and a whole bunch of other bands we all love. This lineup reaffirms that we are utterly spoiled with too many good shows in Los Angeles (weloveyou).
The Section Quartet - "Airbag" (MP3)
Winter Flowers - "Hey Ho" (MP3)
The Tyde - "Brock Landers" (MP3)
The Tyde - "Brock Landers" (Quicktime Video)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
While many music fests work hard to be very Euro in scale and magnitude, sometimes simply asking a few local bands and artists to come out and play a couple tunes can be just as good or even better, as in the case of this year's Eagle Rock Music Fest. It was a rather casual evening of music, food, and kids running around in circles. Walking to and fro down Colorado to all the stages and booths was just how it should be, effortless. So down the ol' boulevard we strolled to see The Parson Red Heads (congratulations to Brette and Evan!) then a bit of Jet Fuel then Future Pigeon then Inara and Eleni then The Movies, all within a few steps from each other. However, the show stealer was undoubtedly The Mormons who nomadically caravaned around the festival with a battery-powered amp and vest-mounted percussion. Supposedly, they did a few encore performances over at Detour as well. Bravo.
Special thanks to the organizers of this event. Hopefully, we'll be able to help out more next year.
The Mormons perform at The Unknown Theater on 10/14 and at The Airliner on 10/20.
The Mormons - "Half-Polyester Protection" (MP3)
The Mormons - "Karaoke Death Machine" (MP3)
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
So after attending the Eagle Rock Music Festival (which we'll post about tomorrow), we went downtown, but not for Detour. Detour was kid's stuff compared to the lineup at Dave's warehouse on 6th St. 400 Blows, Triclops!, and Qui were brilliant. The crowd was beautiful. And the drunk girl with the Garciaparra jersey climbing the halfpipe was awesome. The legendary David Yow joined Qui for a few classic punk rock tunes. Old school fans were yelling for him to get naked, but it was not to be on this night. We shot some video and took some pics but none of this footage will do this show justice so we recommend you find out for yourselves sometime.
A new record from SF's Triclops! is coming soon on GSL (we cannot wait for this) and 400 Blows is currently on a month-long tour of the greater United States, finishing up back home with a show on 11/11 at The Echo.
400 Blows - "Beauty of Internal Darkness" (MP3)
Triclops! - "Jewel of Oakland" (MP3)
Qui - "Gash" (MP3)
400 BLOWS U.S. TOUR>>
10/11/06 - Bottom of the Hill San Francisco CA
10/12/06 - Diablo's Downtown Eugene OR
10/13/06 - Towne Lounge Portland OR
10/14/06 - The Funhouse Seattle WA
10/15/06 - 1009 w. sussex ave Missoula MT
10/17/06 - Benders Tavern Denver CO
10/18/06 - Record Bar Kansas City MO
10/19/06 - The Nomad Minneapolis MN
10/20/06 - TBA Chicago IL
10/21/06 - Little Brothers Columbus OH w/Wolf Eyes
10/22/06 - Mac's Bar Lansing MI
10/23/06 - ON Pittsburgh PA
10/24/06 - Bug Jar Rochester NY
10/25/06 - Club Midway New York NY
10/26/06 - Knitting Factory New York NY
10/27/06 - Talking Head Baltimore MD
10/28/06 - TBA Boston MA
10/30/06 - Lenny's Bar Atlanta GA
10/31/06 - Checkpoint Charlie's New Orleans LA w/Stinking Lizaveta
11/01/06 - Rudyard's Houston TX
11/02/06 - The Vortex Beaumont TX
11/03/06 - The Sanctuary San AntonioTX
11/04/06 - Emo's Austin TX
11/05/06 - Crossroads Lubbock TX
11/06/06 - Burt's Tiki Lounge Albuquerque NM
11/07/06 - 5 E. Cottage Flagstaff AZ
11/08/06 - Cooler Lounge Las Vegas NV
11/09/06 - Narducci's Bakersfield CA
11/11/06 - The Echo Los Angeles CA
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Airborne Toxic Event's debut at the Echo was a huge surprise to us. First of all, we shouldn't have even been there at all, but at the last minute the crew didn't feel like driving down to the Detroit for Asobi Seksku and Darker My Love. And then we remembered a nice little piece of unsolicited email that TATE threw in our inbox and so we decided on checking out their big show. And even though we know that the message went to probably hundreds of cooler bloggers, we're a sucker for good marketing especially when the band is actually good. So a rather crowded Echo welcomed the new group with open arms and we must say we're very impressed. We're in love with "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" -- with a title like that it's hard not to be. The Smiths/Cure/Psychedelic Furs influences are pretty obvious but we hear hints of The Clash, The Pogues, and Shelleyann Orphan in there at times. The result is yet another UK-sounding band based in Los Angeles (a la Mighty Six Ninety, Gran Ronde, etc.) and this is a good thing.
The Airborne Toxic Event performs at El Cid on 10/20 and showcases at CMJ on 11/3.
The Airborne Toxic Event - "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses" (MP3)
The Airborne Toxic Event - "Does This Mean You're Moving On?" (MP3)
The Airborne Toxic Event - "Wishing Well" (MP3)
Friday, October 06, 2006
As usual, another very busy week ahead of us so we'll make this quick so you can get back to work on your busy Friday.
Tonight, the Bird and the Bee begin their October residency at the Silverlake Lounge. Since her residency at the SLL six years ago with the amazing band Merrick, Ms. George has probably done more weekly residencies around town than any other band in Los Angeles music history so if you want to see how it's supposed to be done be sure to check these shows out. She's a pro. And get there early. There will be industry heads VIPing their way to the head of the line... Also tonight is a fantastic lineup at Mr. T's Bowl with The Exfriends, The Monolators, and The Breakups, three of our favorite bands all in a row all for free. How convenient and affordable. However, Ms. Mendenhall will not be playing with The Exfriends tonight. She's in Korea (the non-nuclear one) but will be back just in time for her first L.A. solo show in quite awhile at Tangier on 10/11 with a special guest or two. Not to be outdone, Ms. Palmer of The Breakups won't be there either, which is equally disheartening. At least Mrs. Chartkoff of The Monolators will be there to console us... Tomorrow, the 8th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival returns with its biggest and best lineup ever. Headlined by Monsters Are Waiting, The Parson Red Heads, Great Northern, The Movies, Jesca Hoop, Inara George, and others, this fest beats out Detour in terms of sheer local-ness -- but we still may sneak over to see Basement Jaxx and Blackalicious... The Meeting Places begin their October Monday residency at the SLL on 10/9 with the Antarcticans. New EP Numbered Days out now.. On 10/10, head on down to Fingerprints for the Cold War Kids in-store for the release of their "new" album Robbers & Cowards, which is basically a greatest hits compilation from their previous EPs... Oh, and we're presenting a big show on 10/28 that you might want to check out. Details next week.
The Bird and the Bee - "Fucking Boyfriend (Ralphi Rosa-Jody DB radio edit)" (MP3)
The Exfriends - "Carrie's Freckles" (MP3)
The Meeting Places - "Until It's Gone" (MP3)
Thursday, October 05, 2006
6 years. Or 2293 days. Or 55,000 hours. That's how long it had been since we last saw Patrick Park perform.
On a random evening in Silver Lake we were first introduced to the Park when he opened for Rilo Kiley and Irving at the Silverlake Lounge in June of 2000. We were standing at the back of the room when all of a sudden a tall, messy-haired fella came on stage and busted out some folk-style fingerpicking leading up to some of the sweetest, most heartfelt tunes we'd heard in a long while. While sensitive boy singer-songwriters are commonplace these days, back then it was kind of a rarity. We remember the crowd being obnoxiously loud and so overbearing that Mr. Park seemed to rush through his set just to get off stage as quickly as possible. As he did so, we stopped him to grab a few copies of the now famous "Basement Tapes" demo cassette and that was the last we'd see him onstage for 6 years. Or 2293 days. Or 55,000 hours. (Ok, we've caught bits and pieces of his sets over the years but that would ruin this whole sentimental story, so shut it).
Fast forward to Spaceland last week where Mr. Park coincidentally opened for the aforementioned Sea Wolf and it was just like old times, except the crowd was a bit more respectful and his hair wasn't as messy. He's now also toting around a new 3-song demo EP that is just wonderful. In any case, it was really good seeing him onstage again and hopefully it won't be another six years until the next time.
Patrick Park performs at the Hotel Cafe on 10/7.
Patrick Park on MySpace.
Patrick Park - "Stay With Me Tomorrow" (MP3)
Check out his website to download "Life Is A Song" off his upcoming new record and other tracks.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The third installment of the always entertaining The Underground Guide to Los Angeles was recently released and Skylight Books hosted its launch with the editors Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry on hand to read excerpts a few weeks ago. The book is filled with lots of not-so-underground hip locales around town that most people who have lived here more than a year already know about or at least heard about through the millions of different resources on Los Angeles. Much more indispensable, however, are the various writers' takes on places that most Angelenos know as just "that place where all the hipsters go." ("Hipster," incidentally, is considered a bad thing in this book -- we're glad they got the memo).
Particularly enjoyable are comments from our favorite writers, known to most in the club/bar/concert/restaurant/house party/bed hopping scene as glitterati literati legends. Libby Molyneaux and Joe Hill's fascinating bike route guide through the hidden treasures of Laurel Canyon. Margaret Cho's wonderful insider view of our underappreciated downtown area -- which most people in the valley consider another country (totally serious) and to others it just scares the shit out of them. Ryan "The Mad Lovers" Leach's old school rock take on L.A. is probably the most spiteful and although a lot of what he writes is true (his blurb on The Sunset Strip is dead accurate), he could relax a bit. It takes all kinds, Mr. Leach. And we'll read anything Pleasant Gehman puts to paper.
Most people kind of can figure out after the first few pageturns that this is just another "Best of L.A." thing, but what's wrong with that? L.A. is just too big and badass to be covered by just one resource. In fact, everyone should be doing their own BoLA's so that we can finally put to rest who makes the best damn burger in Los Angeles (cough, cough... Apple Pan). Our longtime favorite scenester columnist Lina Lecaro summed it up best: "There is so goddamn much to do here that sometimes, nothing feels like it will do." Los Angeles loves you, Ms. Lecaro.
The Underground Guide to Los Angeles is available everywhere where books are sold but buy it at Skylight Books because that's our favorite bookstore and that's where all the hipsters go to buy their issues of BlackBook and anti-Bush/9-11 conspiracy literature.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
A few local music sites recently went through a makeover and we thought we'd mention them since... well, we're waiting for a 45-minute 3D composite to render and you know how long that takes on an overclocked 386.
Let's start with KCRW.com since G used to work there way back when the site looked worse then KXLU's travesty does now and learned all about multi-threaded streaming and shit. Webmaster Jason Georges took over for JB like in 2001 or something and he's done a pretty good job with the uptime since thousands of audiophiles are on there daily trying to rip video and audio from their archives. Looks like it got the fancy schmancy treatment this time around with a much more organized navigation scheme. We like. Now if they could only play some good music...
Thank goodness the Troubadour.com finally got a facelift. The previous design was like that since pretty much its launch like five years ago or something. The Flash gallery is a nice idea, but where's all the scandalous greenroom shots? It might also be good to get some of those old videos when Richard Pryor and Elton John performed there or at least link to some YouTube junk if they can't license it. Their RSS feed is glitchy so no newsfeeding yet, boys and girls. And it was designed by Ticketmaster-owned Cottonblend, so it's only a matter of time before there are surcharges to logon to the site.
Anyway, we were going to post about some other new sites, but G says that this is getting boring. We'll just say that for those local sites that are going to be revamping, don't try to be too fancy unless it's done by a decent designer otherwise it will look like the Temple Bar or worse yet the Lava Lounge. Damn shame. By the way, KXLU is having their pledge drive next week so donate a few bucks so that they can afford to have someone throw them a pixel or two.
Let's face it, last week was loaded. We tried to make it out to everything but it just was not to be. So we had to prioritize... Maimou played their first L.A. show in two years so of course we had to be stagefront. We almost cried went they opened with "Bed Spins" and ended with "Wonkatania" (yes, that "Wonkatania"). It's a shame that it might be another few years until the next reunion, but we'll wait... Had to skip one show in order to get ourselves over to the Silverlake Lounge for the "It's about damn time" pairing of Tom Brosseau and Ferraby Lionheart opening for the lovely Nina Nastasia. Those boys had to have been separated at birth or something. Brosseau has been on tour for the last ten years so it was good to catch up with him and all his cross-continental adventures in support of his new records. Mr. Lionheart played quite a few new songs that we hear he's recording over at Red Rockets Glare with the beautifully manicured Raymond Richards of the Idaho Falls. In any case, we're betting that the Brosseau/Lionheart teamup join forces again someday. For your sake and ours... As for Thursday, how could we or anyone pass up Mika Miko opening up for The Gossip, two of the greatest live bands ever conceived? This show was too fun, not to mention 95% filled with indie rock chicks. Bonus.
Maimou on Myspace.
Tom Brosseau on MySpace.
Ferraby Lionheart on MySpace.
Mika Miko on MySpace.
The Gossip on MySpace.
Maimou - "Crush" (MP3)
Tom Brosseau - "Empty Houses Are Lonely" (MP3)
Ferraby Lionheart - "The Ballad of Gus and Sam" (MP3)
The Gossip - "Fire/Sign" (MP3)
Mika Miko performing the best song on CYSLFB:
Ferraby's new video for "A Crack in Time":
Monday, October 02, 2006
"Sea Wolf is like one of the best bands I've ever seen."
That was overheard while hundreds piled outside of Spaceland after the band ended a month-long residency at the club and we can hardly disagree. Alex Church has always been our favorite Irving member (if you have to choose just one) and the fact that he started his own project made us ecstatic from day one. Their September free weeklies might be a thing of the past in the very near future -- they're already headlining the Troubadour in December -- so if you missed them, shame shame shame. Irving, by the way, head out on tour at the end of October toward CMJ and return on 11/16 at Spaceland with +/- in tow. Dates below:
10/21/2006 - Seattle, WA - at Paradox
10/23/2006 - Salt Lake City, UT - 8pm at Kilby Court
10/25/2006 - Denver, CO - 8pm at Hi Dive
10/26/2006 - Des Moines, IA - 8pm at Vaudeville Mews
10/27/2006 - Urbana, IL - 11pm at Independent Media Center
10/28/2006 - Chicago, IL - 10pm at Beat Kitchen
10/30/2006 - Cambridge, MA - at Middle East
10/31/2006 - NYC, NY - KCRW CMJ Showcase - 8pm at Piano's
11/02/2006 - NYC, NY - CMJ Juryrig Party - 1:00pm free show at Cake Shop
11/03/2006 - New London, CT - 10pm all-ages at College Center Crow's Nest
11/04/2006 - Brooklyn, NY - 7pm at Union Hall with Monsters Are Waiting
11/05/2006 - Philadelphia, PA - 8pm at Johnny Brenda's
11/07/2006 - Atlanta, GA - 8pm at The Earl with +/- and The Tyde
11/08/2006 - Birmingham, AL - 9pm at Bottle Tree with +/-
11/10/2006 - Denton, TX - 9pm at Hailey's with +/-
11/11/2006 - Austin, TX - 8pm at Austin Music Hall with +/-
11/14/2006 - Phoenix, AZ - 8pm at Modified Arts with +/-
11/15/2006 - Tucson, AZ - 10:30pm at Plush with +/-
11/16/2006 - Los Angeles, CA - 9pm at Spaceland with +/-
11/17/2006 - San Francisco, CA - 10pm at Bottom of the Hill
Sea Wolf performs at the Troubadour on 12/2.
Sea Wolf on MySpace.
Irving on MySpace.
Sea Wolf - "Middle Distance Runner" (MP3)
