July 2009
1 post
Woe Is Me and My Obsession With This CD...
Besides the beach, BBQs, longer days, and beer, summer also means touring bands, and less frequent blogging due to enjoying outdoor activities such as lunch at the beach. Now before writing about the band whose album plays on constant rotation in my iPod, let me cover a few locals first.
In mid June, I went ahead and made the rounds around the local spots to catch Gossip Tree, Goldiggers!, and...
June 2009
2 posts
Blip! Braakk! Zppfff!
Summer pretty much arrived, but the economic recession, a full-time job, and a totally tits! camping trip put a hamper on how many $5 shows I could attend so far this month, also a new partner in crime prys me away from attending, luckily, we both like the same music, so we may see some guest posts from her in the near future. With that in mind, we went over to The Smell last week to catch...
Oi! Skate, Slip n' Slide!
Oi! Such a blur these past couple of weeks between the Vermont House, Mr. T’s Bowl, Pehrspace, and a 30 pack of bud light somewhere in between.
In the middle of the month the Vermont House shows returned after a brief hiatus do to the tenant’s touring commitments. As always it featured touring bands (Nuclear Animals/Total Bros) and residents from The Smell, No Paws (No Lions), a duo...
May 2009
3 posts
Sound Checked...
The best residency of the month continued last Thursday at The Regent Theatre with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. The venue thankfully addressed the sound issues that plagued the theatre last week, making every band on the bill sound top rate.
I didn’t think it possible for Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros to play a set less than an hour and a half, but last Thursday they...
One Homecoming and Another Going...
Last Monday, The Echo Curio hosted The Monolators Digital EP Release show for Ruby I’m Changing My Number, a well attended affair with many close friends present, including Mary and Eli’s little one, Ivan, who just couldn’t keep the energy up to stay up for their parent’s set and slept through it, I hold nothing against one of the coolest 4 year olds I know.
Gumshoe...
For Once, No April Showers...
As always, the month of April never disappoints me for as long as I remember, I sense it coincides with my birthday falling on this month, and somehow the universe or the flying spaghetti monster aligns events to fall right in place, as opposed to July, something bad always happens in that month, usually involving money. Appropriately, I attended the shows that quite possibly showcased some of the...
April 2009
5 posts
The Blood, The Beer, and The Sweaty...
…cue Ennio Morricone
I’m going to keep the Coachella blog short cause 1) you knew someone who went already 2) more than enough coverage exists already 3) I should strictly stick to LA bands 4) I refused to carry around a camera in that environment and mosh (so you get crappy mobile photos at most) 5) twitter more than made up for it…
Friday:
Molotov - Sounded Good Puto!
...
It whipped out and about...close your eyes!
Well now, don’t we have quite a bit to catch up on…
Now before I move on to a formal Coachella post, an audio post did go up here. Let’s discuss the great shows taking place before it.
Non+ and Mikki and the Mauses teamed up for quite an epic cassette release show at L’Keg on the 10th featuring Showgirls, a nude drummer, and members from No Age, Mika Miko, Har Mar, and...
A live post after Crystal Castles’ Coachella...
The Late Night Come Down...
Bloody Robots, an experimental minimal bass and drum duo, played their first show in about 6 months at The Smell last Wednesday. The layoff did not seem to affect them at all, as they picked up right where they left off with their relentless minimal assault of punk-metal goodness on yo senses.
Later that night, Laco$te played a rather experimental and obscure set of electronic beats with lead...
Young Money, Part Deux
…Sunday, March 29, I headed out to KSCR’s first annual music festival, with a great lineup showcasing some of the area’s most featured acts, Mika Miko, Happy Hollows, and Crystal Antlers.
I tried to catch wunderkids, Avi Buffalo’s set, but arrived too late, in theory, in reality I arrived too early since Blank Blue cancelled their set due to illness, which left many...
Young Money Happens In Big Pink Houses?
Needing to get the awful aftertaste of Cabo’s infinite music rotation of Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Flo Rida, and Katy Perry (I still shudder when I hear it over any speaker, however faint and distance it may sound), I got back to normal by heading out to Pehrspace, Vermont House, Silver Factory, and a big pink house, Sunday has its own story.
Thursday night, things seemed pretty competitive, well...
March 2009
5 posts
El Squid No!
First, let me list what I missed by not staying in L.A. for the past week:
Monday - Mika Miko at The Smell, not cool
Tuesday - The Gleeson’s annual St. Patrick’s Day party with Syl, which always leads to stories the next day about what a certain acting family did this time, very not cool…
I only mention those two days because the other days on vacation in Cabo San Lucas I very...
The Lamb and The Riot
Went to an abudance of shows before the start of vacation from work, home, God, lent, etc. starting on Thursday at of The Smell for Thee Oh Sees led by former members of The Coachwhips, which of course brought out members of one of the area’s best bands, 400 Blows. The night felt like a showcase for some of The Smell’s greatest lo-fi hits. Local residents, Bipolar Bear, who sound like...
Where on Friday? Oh, Vermont on Saturday
The Where Gallery in Silverlake hosts an exhibition this month featuring photography from three of Los Angeles’ best indie rock photographers, Simon Cardoza, Koga, and Ben Hoste. The exhibition features prints from the mentioned photographers of predominant Eastside bands such as Happy Hollows, No Age, Airborne Toxic Event, etc.
Each Friday over the duration of the exhibition, the gallery...
Getting In Sync With The Hood
The gentrification of my neighborhood, East Hollywood, has brought with it a great deal of creativity and culture (and increased property value) to a once humble community of working class Latinos, Filipinos, and Armenians. These new elements came to the foreground this past weekend through the great lineup of local music present at Synchronicity Space on Friday night, and the street fair/bike...
February 2009
5 posts
You recognize me, I recognize you, then...
Ended up at Pehrspace on Friday night, missed the opening act, but managed to catch the remainder of the groups.
First saw Mega Wand, which compromised of a pair of girls doing what all art loving girls do best in their late teens/early 20s, play in an abstract electro noise-rock band based on their childhood memories of 8 bit play.
Kill Kill Kill played a set of ambient noise in the vein of...
Wednesday in the HLP
Wednesday night LA Underground presented a great small show heavily featuring side projects from local acts at Mr. T’s Bowl in Highland Park, which I must admit not only looks different cosmetically inside, but feels a bit different since the new policies took affect, the atmosphere local patrons consistently brought night in and night out felt missing.
As the side project of The Monolators...
Beaten, Bruised, and Healing...
Though I sit here licking my wounds, an amazing week nonetheless in LA, which culminated oddly enough, on Friday the 13th, in quite possibly the funnest night I’ve enjoyed in a while.
Wednesday, Jola and K-rah brought the Lover’s Rock mix to Audiocide at the Broadway Bar, hilarious choice for opening song, too expicit for here, but you can never go wrong with UGK circa 1992.
...
Valentine's Weekend - I Cho Cho Choose Party!
I’ll say it now, I HATE Valentine’s Day, this dates way back to my kindergarten days, eventhough I had two girlfriends in class, I never felt Valentine’s, as a 5 year old I found it useless, see some traits or opinions you are just born with. For the more free-spirited inclined, this weekends offers plenty options, highlights and appropriate Valentine’s playlist below,...
Inauguartion Day
The greatest day in 8 years has come and gone for Americans, the inauguration of Barack Obama, finally real change has crept into American politics, and as much as we have have dogged the Bush administration, doesn’t he deserve a bit of credit for pushing this nation to that end.
I remember back when Bush became our president-elect the conversation my friends and I had on our high school...
January 2009
1 post
Top of the Pops 2008
Honorable Mention: R. Kelly - 12 Play: Fourth Quarter When does this man not cease to amaze his audience with his ingenious tales of promiscuity, case in point… “There’s a very good chance that it might be mine / Oh, I know I hit it, yeah, There’s a very good chance that it might be mine / Oh, I should have used protection, yeah / There’s a very good chance that it...