You are currently browsing the archive for the 'Live Minstrelsies' chapter.
Every summer a little company by the name of Little Radio decides to host a series of shows every Sunday called Summer Camp throughout the summer. Along with good bands (for the most part) there’s a big blow up Slip ‘n Slide, badminten, a moon bounce, food, a pool, ping pong, and general drunken merriment.
June 21rst (the second one this summer, and one of the few on a Saturday) No Age and a few other bands such as The Deadly Syndrome and The Explorers Club battled the heat and put on some performances for us to enjoy. Below are some of the general shenanigans that took place.
Blah Blah free shows Mondays at Spaceland, The Echo, and Silverlake Lounge. You all know this, old news, but the good news is most the bands that play these residencies are good. Mondays for the month of June at The Echo is housing a band called Rumspringa (picture above, and playing some other night at The Echo).
You may have noticed this band called Casxio rocking the funk and dance parties around town recently. As mentioned in other posts, they smartly have been tackling the Silverlake/Echo Park scene and haven’t looked back since they started. Friday, the 23rd of May, Casxio came to the Echo Plex and as usual created a nice atmosphere of greatness. The sound the last two times this band has played there has been great and it seems the Echo Plex, along with many good bands who play there, suites them nicely. So drop your elitist snooty I’m better than music LA attitude and come dance with these fine young gentleman and lady at a club near you.
Sorry fellow Indie Schmarmers for taking so long to get this one on the site, I have been a bit busy recently. But alas, here it is, the weirdest show I’ve ever seen and delivered by no less than MGMT. Back in early May, on some date that I forgot, MGMT played a “secret” show in a parking lot on the USC campus. As one would expect, the show was packed full with douche bags and dirty whores. The entire crowd smelled like a Victoria Secret store mixed with your grandpa’s breath after he smoked two packs of Lucky Strikes. Yum.
Cursive have recently been preparing to enter the studio to record the follow up to 2006’s Happy Hollow. In the mean time, they have been a bit busy giving the fans a few chances to check out some new material both live, on the road, and recorded before the record comes out.
Cursive recently recorded sessions at Daytrotter and WOXY which can be heard here and here. On Monday the 19th of May, they also recorded a live session for Sound Opinions in Omaha. The show will be available as a podcast within the next couple weeks, so keep an eye out because we all know art is hard…boom.
I have been hearing the name “The Morning Benders” around town recently, and it wasn’t until Thursday May 8th at their CD release show that I was able to really soak them in. As mentioned in our review of their sophomore release Talking Through Tin Cans, they not too long ago played with The Weather Underground and Airborne Toxic Event for their January residency. Since then they have been making good strides, including aquiring an upcoming tour with The Kooks.
There comes a time in every man’s life where he realizes that he should save up a couple hundred dollars and fly to New York for All Tomorrow’s Parties (Friday 19th September to Sunday 21st September inclusive at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, NY), or get his company to send him, as does Indie Schmarm…except that whole part where that’s not true. This year, New York’s ATP line-up has proven to turn some heads with such acts as Built to Spill, Low, Mogwai, Thurston Moore, and a great up and coming band called My Bloody Valentine. I hear great things about these guys and everyone is buzzing about their first live show at this year’s ATP.
Valentino has grown to be one of those friends’ bands whom I go see because they are just good. They also happen to be the kind of group that is always in on some joke or smiling about something. Over the last few months front man Aaron Leigh and the original sibling crew, Sarah Rayne and Zach Leigh, have recruited Mack Slevin on guitar (Flashing Red Lights, Ghost Kings, Darci Cash, Hungry Birds), Mike Hendry on bass (Flashing Red Lights, Ghost Kings), and Jeff Baird on drums (Darci Cash) into the family. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
It’s no secret, that us here at the Schmarm love Ryan Adams and would basically give up each of our first borns to spend 5 minutes in his presence…but until then we’re lucky enough to have been able to catch him last Wednesday night at his sold out performance with backing band, The Cardinals at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
The Parson Red Heads this The Parson Red Heads that, yadda yadda yadda…Monday residency at Spaceland all January…no big deal…KCRW and Indie 103.1 performances within two days of each other a few weeks back…no big deal…some of the nicest people playing some of the best music in LA…absolutely a big deal. For the unfortunate who haven’t seen these young Oregon and what not folk play, you will have a chance tonight for their last residency show at Spaceland. The last three Mondays have brought some great bands along with some great times. Some of the highlights over the course of the month included Flashing Red Lights, Francisco The Man!, Mezzanine Owls, Taylor Goldsmith, and Everest. Tonight we go out with a bang with The Idaho Falls, Papercranes, and The Monolators. There will be a dance contest during the Red Heads set, so bring your work out gear.
PS, Don’t leave the milk at home.
Dane Sundseth
The Parson Red Heads every Monday night in January at Spaceland
Our favorite Los Angeles band has the Monday night residency at our favorite Los Angeles venue Spaceland for all of January. There’s three more chances to catch them and if the first week was any indication, Monday night is going to be THE night of each week this month.
I enjoy being pleasantly surprised by bands. After thousands of shows and seeing thousands of local bands in LA, it really all starts to sound the same. Being the complete schmarm and snob that I am, it takes kind of a lot to impress me off a first impression. I do recognize good music when I see it though and I’m not one of those LA elitist club goers who A) Just want to be seen at a venue/club or B) Have no soul. The later is usually found in LA. The Weather Underground however will be sure to penetrate any veneer anyone puts on. They have catchy songs and the singer Harley moves around so much on stage that even in your heated cocktail conversation about Ron Paul, you’ll take notice. On the 29th of November they caught my and others attention yet again. You can get an idea by the fact that my shitty camera can’t keep up with the movements of Harley. They simply just rock.
I remember talking to the singer of Casxio, Lucas Guerin, a few years ago telling him to start a band because his solo stuff was really good. He kept saying he was trying, and was looking for people, but to no avail. Then one day out of nowhere it seems, it happened. He pulled Zach Schrock (Drums), Eric Saez (Guitar), and Andrea Choe (Keys) out of the magic band member hat and had a band. With this full band, Lucas could realize his funk dreams and bring more soul to music than any white man ever has…yes even more than Justin Timberlake. Casxio then smartly started to play in the Silverlake area…which is the only thing resembling a scene in Los Angeles, and not too long after booked a Monday residency at the Silverlake Lounge.
Things happen, then they don’t. Birds come, then they go. White Magic came, then they went. White Magic came to The Echo Saturday, November 24th…late at night. I will say right off the bat, that The Echo was pretty packed, and was packed the entire time for their set even though they didn’t finish apparently until 1:30am (I went home half way through because I’m old). Ill be honest, it’s hard to say what I thought about what I saw of their set. The amount of time it took for them to arrive, set up and play, was just too long. They started to put their gear on stage at 11pm, and by the time they actually started playing it was 12:30am. They weren’t even having technical difficulties it seemed…the bassist didn’t have a tuner, so he had to tune several times with the keyboardist/singer, Mira Billotte, who’s keyboard was being weird and transposing itself differently (total guess), then they meandered, then went into a worm hole, then came back, then didn’t? I was annoyed and tired by the time they went on and felt a bit biased as a result, but people were into it and they seemed to have some avid fans.
When one thinks of Thanksgiving, one usually thinks of turkey, stuffing, gravy, and the works, but when you have some of The Parson Red Heads over for Thanksgiving, it’ll usually end up being something like a breakfast, a tofu scramble with pumpkin pie and other desserts, toped off with mimosas. As you all may or may not have noticed, I’ve been mentioning The Parson Red Heads a lot recently on Indie Schmarm. I honestly believe they are the next ones to get some serious attention from the “Silverlake scene” and actually already are. In the last year or two, Cold War Kids and Silversun Pickups came out of the “scene”, and the Red Heads are right on their tales. They’ve played shows with Cold War Kids and other bands such as Cursive, Maria Taylor, The Autumn Defense, The Mother Hips, and in August played The Sunset Junction.
Friday, November 16th, I caught Six Organs of Admittance at Amoeba. I don’t know much about Six Organs of Admittance other than it’s all one man Ben Chasney and whomever he gets to play on his records. He also plays guitar for Comets On Fire and has worked with a bunch of groups including, The Fucking Champs, Current 93, Magik Markers, Badgerlore, among others.
(A fan picking up some She Wants Revenge records)
Hardly does a show come around that brings so much anger and grief in someone it makes them want to tie their dicks to a railing and jump. She Wants Revenge accomplishes this just being them and further accomplished this with their show at the Henry Fonda Saturday the 10th of November. They first of all get to tour in a really big tour bus, and if that’s not insult to injury, people are paying money to support this band. I hope their shows elsewhere have little to no people attending because they are an embarrassment to music and not one person should pay even one cent to further their cause. No person who’s actually into music listens to She Wants Revenge. It’s all scarf toting, leather jacket heroin addicts who need each other for their popularity contest. By the way, the winner wins a crack of rock or a rock of crack and a blow job from this guy.
Upon entering Silverlake Lounge Tuesday night to catch Robert Francis’ set, all I knew about him was what his press release had told me; he was 19, from LA, Ry Cooder gave him his first guitar and was a student of John Frusciante when he was 16 (somehow Frusciante found time between recording and releasing 1,000 solo albums). Granted I had listened to a couple songs online briefly and enjoyed what I heard. So I decided to check him out live. I got there as he and his band were beginning their second song and immediately knew I was going to like him due to the fact that A) he was holding a beer (underage drinking is something I passionately support) and B) he had a pedal steel player (this is always a good thing, any band is better with pedal steel). Luckily my quick judgment was backed up with a half hour of great music.
I was browsing around looking for something else on the Tube as one does, and I ran across these videos of a huge marching band (Pride of Arizona) doing Radiohead songs, fully orchestrated with line formations and flag waving. Whoever put this together and did this with their marching band deserves a Grammy. The amount of work and time to do this is mind blowing. Then they go and do not just one song, but 6 songs (well close to half of each). I might be way behind the times on finding this, and if so, let me still have my glory and excitement.
Sweden’s Shout Out Louds ended their Tank Farm/Future Sounds sponsored American tour with Nico Vega and Johnossi Monday night at Los Angeles’ Henry Fonda Theater. All stops were pulled out and people waiting in line were treated with a skate demo on Hollywood Blvd and an invite only pre-party took place on the Fonda’s roof with complimentary red bull and vodka’s and some tasty burrito’s. An after party also took place with Dim Mak head Steve Aoki helming DJ duties. Big thanks to Tank Farm Future Sounds and Plus One Music for the great night!
If you haven’t at least heard the name The Parson Red Heads while living in LA and going out to shows, being a hipster and eating at Bright Spot (who got rid of the roaches and are now are rated an A), then something didn’t go right for you at birth. Only a few months after moving from Oregon to LA, they signed with Yukon Records and in August released their first official full length King Giraffe. Since before that release they had already played with Maria Taylor, Cursive, Mother Hips, The Autumn Defense, Earlimart, and played in the Sunset Junction just this past August, and now are currently on a 3 week tour up the West Coast. They are on the brink of explosion and it’s literally any day now before “it happens” for them. They are already getting played on raio stations and getting talked about on blogs and other music sites alike. To top all that off, they are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
The last couple nights have been wrought with no sleep accompanied by extreme business. Friday included some painting of a wall or two so I was covered in paint when I get home that night and all I wanted to do was lay down on the couch and watch Gladiator. Not 30 minutes in I get a call from a friend telling me that Sunset Rubdown is playing tonight and that he’s going to go and they are leaving to go down there pretty much right then. Just that day I was thinking how excited I was for the show and was wondering when it was and hadn’t heard anything about it so it was probably next week sometime. So I hang up the phone, stare at my roommate, swear some and without showering and still covered in paint I gathered myself and headed out. ANY other band at that moment save Radiohead at the Troubadour and I probably would have just stayed in like a little girl and cuddled with my blanky. That all being said, I forgot my camera in a fit of annoyance and rushing out so there’s no photos and I didn’t write down the set list of this show either. I just wanted to talk about it and let you imagine how good Spencer looks playing music.
Ben Kweller’s fan base is mixed to say the least. At any one of his shows you can find teenage guys and girls who probably wouldn’t have talked to him if he attended their high school, a scattering of indie kids who look a little ashamed to be there, some Dave Mathews fans who love him by association and random dudes wearing Flogging Molly shirts who are only familiar with the fiver year old single “Wasted and Ready”.
Wednesday the 25th of September was a fun night of music. We had Summer Darling, Amateurs, Mezzanine Owls, and of course The Monolators. Oh yeah, it also happened to be a CD/EP release party for The Monolators. They decided to do something really cool and release an EP on vinyl with a bar code upon which you can use to download it online for your enjoyment in the car or on the computer…or perhaps a light jog. The self released EP is titled You Look Good On The Train and you can get it by contacting them, or better yet, a show where you can see them live at the same time. It never hurts to use one stone.
Some bands come, and some bands go. This band didn’t just do that. No. They graced us with a bit more at Spaceland, Friday September 21rst…at around 11:30pm. Now to be honest I didn’t have the urge to throw my panties on stage like other unexpecting great live bands that I’ve seen such as Annuals and (old) Mae, but I still felt a tingle regardless. The band seemed to know what they were doing and the musician ship was definitely on par. The lead guitarist/other goodies, Fred Wallace, played a unique style of crazy finger picking guitar mixed with pedals to give it an almost Mascis feel at times, while one of the vocalists, Rachel Cox, brought it down nicely at times to give them an almost Day of Lions on a country binge sort of sound. They also brought out a bit more pizzazz than on their recordings, which is always nice when seeing a live show.
There are those few in the music industry that really work for it, regardless of not being taken that seriously at times. I refer to the gentleman in Wolf Parade. Dan has been nearly as busy as Spencer in other musical endeavors, Spencer however having the edge with Swan Lake, Sunset Rubdown and the occasional Frog Eyes. It’s rare one dedicates himself to do the amount of work Spencer does, following in similar foot steps to musicians like Ben Gibbard and the entirety of the Arts and Crafts crew, and I love every bit of it.
I was really tired last Wednesday night. I’d been to shows Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night and my day job requires me to get up at 6:30 am every morning so to say the least, I was dragging…oh and I had a bad cold. So when it came time to go to the Troubadour to see Jesse Malin on Wednesday night, I was seriously debating over whether to go or not. Well, I’m glad I went, because the Brooklyn based singer-songwriter gave me my favorite show of the year so far (that is saying A LOT) and jerked me out of my lethargic daze quicker than all the coffee and red bull had been trying to do that day.
Wednesday, June 20th, Dave Bazan graced us with a few songs acoustically at Spaceland. He recently got off tour with Ben Gibbard, coming through LA at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and now a few months later here he was again, but with 1/4th the crowd and 1/10th the great headliner. He opened up with “Cold Beer and Cigarettes” followed Immediately by the Headphone’s song “Hot Girls”. From there he played a cover of which I didn’t know (unlike any good schmarm who should) followed by “Shit Talker”, “I Do”, “Selling Advertistments”, another cover “L’ Amour Stories” by Deerhoof, “Fewer Broken Pieces”, “Priests and Paramedics” and closed with “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. It’s acoustic and Dave Bazan, always a good time. If you haven’t seen him yet, I recommend you do the next time he rolls out with any project.
There’s nothing finer for me than walking into a land of “fashionable” kids who think wearing a fur hat with swim trunks, a fanny pack, flip-flops, talking on the cell in the pool, and giving head to Cobrasnake at the same time is the coolest thing in the world. Well such was the the case this last Sunday at the Summer Camp Little Radio festival. Though to be fair, Cobrasnake was no where to be found as far as I could tell. The cool factor was replaced with the likes of Annie from Giant Drag and Anton from Brian Jonestown Massacre. Aside from the interesting folk that roam these kind of parties and festivals in Downtown LA, it was actually a pretty fun festival. They had a moon bounce, a rather big slip-’n-slide, ping pong, a little pool, badminton, and unlimited beer with a small admission fee of $10.
It’s time again for concert news given to those who are out of the loop and where life has them by the sack. It is our duty we feel to help the less fortunate. So get the pen and paper out and go nuts.
Deftones
6/6 Providence, RI @ Lupo’s
6/7 Worcester, MA @ Palladium
6/8-9 New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
6/10 Albany, NY @ Washington Avenue Armory
6/11 Niagara Falls, NY @ Dome Theatre
6/12 Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
Read the rest of this post »
Dinosaur Jr. played the Troubadour in West Hollywood on May 11 for the first of a three night affair at the legendary venue. The group is touring in support of their recent release Beyond, the bands first since 1997’s Hand it Over, and also the first time since 1988’s Bug that the original lineup of J Mascis (vocals, guitar), Lou Barlow (bass, vocals) and Edward “Murph” Patrick Murphy (drums) have recorded together.
Few bands excite me when I hear they are playing a show at some random bar. Usually the sound is shitty, the crowd is loud and fucking totally disrespectful, and the band’s not really into the performance because of it.
When a friend of mine told me that The Ghost Kings were going to be playing another show in Downtown L.A. at this new revamped bar Bordello (former name Little Perdo’s) on First street, I flipped out. When I randomly saw this band play at the Lava Lounge a few months back, I was completely blown away with their strong stage presence and fun antics. It made it a real show worth seeing.
I have a weird keyboard. It’s one of the ones that’s broken in the center so the G key and H key are a good 2 inches apart. It was weird at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. I now have trouble typing on regular keyboards. I feel I had to get that off my chest first. Begin chunky sentence fragments: I saw Sunset Rubdown April 24th at the Troubadour. That’s what this review is about so maybe I should stick on topic. Maybe I wont. Xiu Xiu played as well. In fact they closed the show. Hey check it out, I can make a Xiu Xiu song too. Join me. Bang on your desk two times with your fist. Make a hooting noise. Clap once. Touch your head. There! You now successfully wrote your own Xiu Xiu song! The drummer was great though. He had a HUGE kick drum about 50 inches or so in diameter, or so it seemed. His ride cymbal was about the same in size. He wailed on that thing and the best part of being in Xiu Xiu aside from not at all, is doing whatever you want when you want. Hit a cymbal here…sure! Fart here…OK!
Last Friday I was wounded by cougars. These cougars weren’t your classic gross 35 year olds hitting the bar scene or your typical animal types, but a super metal rock band who goes by the name Wounded Cougar. Boy was I wounded by the rock they brought. My ears hurt by the end of the set accompanied by a huge boner upon my face. The singer who goes by “Stallion” brings all the necessary rock moves and demeanor a front man needs to have to be in such a rock band. He is accompanied by other rock studs of which the 80’s wish it saw.
It’s time again for concert news given to those who are out of the loop and where life has them by the sack. It is our duty we feel to help the less fortunate. So get the pen and paper out and go nuts. This particular segment is mostly dedicated to our European followers.
Wilco:
Maria Taylor graced L.A. with her presence just this past Saturday at The Echo. Unbeknownst to us though, this was an early show, so our theory of arriving at 8:30 to be safe was shattered when we arrived to Maria already beginning her set. Shows should never begin at 5:30.
We did a post recently where we gave some concert dates for those who are out of the loop and where life has them by the sack. It is our duty we feel to help the less fortunate. So get the pen and paper out and go nuts.
Yo La Tengo:
4/5 New Orleans LA, Tipitina’s
4/6 Houston TX, Warehouse Live
4/7 Austin TX, Stubb’s
4/8 Dallas TX, Granada
4/10 Tulsa OK, Cain’s
4/11 Lawrence, KS Granada
4/13 Indianapolis IN, Vogue
4/14 Madison WI, Barrymore
4/16 Newport KY, Southgate House
4/17 Cleveland OH, Beachland Ballroom
4/18 Detroit MI Majestic, Theatre
4/20 Northampton MA, Academy of Music
4/21 Providence RI, Brown University, Meehan Auditorium (with the Flaming Lips)*
4/29 New York NY, Webster Hall
On April 10th one of our favorite bands here at the Schmarm, Bright Eyes, will be appearing on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, presumably to play songs off of Cassadaga. Expect a handful of totally gnarly performances and Nic Harcourt’s trademark deeply penetrating interview questions such as, “So you’re from…[paper shuffling]…Omaha. So…tell me about that.”
In addition, fellow bad-ass-songwriter-with-a-new-record-out Maria Taylor will also be on the “MBE” on April 1st. So…bring your nerves of steel.
You can listen to and/or watch the show here.
Yours,
Torquil Crossingham
Hey everyone! I realized that we don’t let you all know who’s playing where and when as much as we should. Don’t you hate it when you look down and see a band is playing, then look at the date, then check your calender and realize that the dates don’t line up because the one written on the ad is earlier? It’s horrible I know. So, we feel it is our duty to help the less fortunate and those who are forgetful and assist in the sharing of information for tour dates. I just picked some random bands for this round, mostly ones that we care about, so get the pen and paper out and go nuts:
March 7th, The El Rey Theater, Los Angeles
Ah, the El Rey…or, for those of you who don’t habla Espaniol, the The Rey. They’ve got a quaint 80’s Santa Fe truckstop diner annexed to the venue where you can procure a bottle of water and a urine-sample-cup’s worth of french fries for the low, low price of $9. It’s pretty sweet. Also, the place smells real nice. I think that’s what attracts most folks to the venue.
Once a year a celebration happens to give thanks on behalf of a dawn which was forged at some time in the past. And not at just some random time in the past, but one year in the past exactly. On this day one often gives presents, thanks, or maybe it’s just another day. On March 3rd, 2007, there was however a different kind of celebration. This wasn’t something given to us because a year had gone by, no, this was just plain in your face rock your balls off good music brought to you by the band Annuals.
Langhorne Slim made a random stop in LA last night as the first of a four act free night at Spaceland. The New York City based songwriter (who is currently without a label after V2 Records recent collapse) delighted an appreciative audience with his brand of indie folk that ranged from bittersweet ballads to raucous hootenannies. Currently one of the best live acts you could see, Langhorne could easily be employed as a cartoon character if music should ever fail him. But with songs like set closer “Honey Pie” off of last year’s Engine EP, that’s not likely to happen.
Singer songwriter, poet of the indie/emo world, side project extraordinaire and star guy Mr. Ben Gibbard is going to be doing a solo tour this May. Accompanying the now huge rock star, will be none other than Mr. David Bazan and Mr. Jonathan Rice. So, in a nutshell, you’ll be going.
You ever go to the Hollywood Bowl, soak in the night sky, and see the stars as if they were a “wizards cap”? Hmmmm? Ahhh yes, summer concerts. *SIGH*. Well to kick off the summer right nice, July 7th The Decemberists will be playing the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Signing with Capitol records it seems has done The Decemberists well. They are currently on tour in Europe, and on March 21rst will start a tour with My Brightest Diamond in North America.
For those who haven’t seen I’m Trying To Break Your Heart…well maybe all you need is a shot in the arm…oh what’s up? High five! That documentary is one of the best things ever put to film and released. Speaking of documentaries, a friend just told me he wants to see one about the life and times of a homeless person. I’d like to see that too. But, I think Wilco would win still by a hair.
*Note: Sorry, I lost this post and had to find it, better late than never!
Ahh yes, The Troubadour. The only remaining true venue on the west side of the Sunset Shit errrr I mean Strip… no I had it right the first time, the Sunset Shit. It truly is. It’s the largest piece of shit in LA please don’t be fooled into it’s bingenheimer ways. All you see is these teeny-bopping whores from Laguna Beach coming out of the Roxy with cameras and lights blaring, doing 14 takes just to get their walking right… jeesus please for the love of anything still holy go the F back to Laguna Beach, you too Dan Tana and your fucking love for that show, damn you all to an eternity of teenagehood. But alas, thankfully the Troub sits off of Sunset down on Santa Monica Blvd, just at the edge of the extremely angry, die hard punch you in the ass gay, and the president of Capitol Records house.
Ok enough of all of that. The Album Leaf played the Troubadour last night (October 8th) as the first night of their US tour for the new album “Into The Blue Again” and boy oh boy was it a fanfuckingtastic show.
Ok, first of all, I have to say that the Ghost Kings DO NOT exist. Second of all, everyone is in The Ghost Kings…except for a few people whom I have yet to discover. I do hear Brandon Flowers is out though, which is understandable. With that being said, I will continue to write a review about their live show on Friday the 20th of October at the Lava Lounge with The Parson Redheads, The Absentee, Ric Veda and Casxio.
My night began pacing around the Adidas store on Melrose where they were hosting a party for the trendy magazine “Nylon”. I drank a couple of beers, looked at some shoes and did my best to make my appearance known. The air was filled with schmarmy 20-30 year old elitists. After my picture was snapped by some nerdy looking kid with a $1200 camera, I knew it was time to go.
I lagged on this post due to games and late night excursions, my bad. Anyway, there’s a street up in a little town connected to L.A. in some fashion or another called “Briggs.” The band The Briggs pretty much grew up half a block from that street, but they say their name has no affiliation with it. I think they’re lying, and I’m out to expose them.
Ryan Adams. House of Blues San Diego, September 9th 2006. I was there. You don’t know. There’s no way to really portray that right on the internet. Just imagine the washed out “assistant roadie” hangin’ out at the Rainbow Room on a Thursday night telling some chick how he “worked” with “The Stones” for the American Tour of ‘72. Nearly in tears crying out, “You don’t know! I was there!” …Will Ferrell would actually play a pretty good bing now that I think about it.
Ryan Adams. House of Blues San Diego, September 9th 2006. I was there. You don’t know.
The Tyde had a record release show Sunday, August 27th. Their new record was actually released August 29th on Rough Trade…
*bing*
…but you know how these things go. You play a free show at The Echo a few days before, rock a house, then sell some cds, and only then can you watch a hipster’s dance party afterward. At least Devendra was there to keep things grounded. I don’t know about using the “official” rating system for The Tyde show on this one. I feel like just giving you all a simple low down and seeing what happens.
When the right person comes along with the right idea and the right way of living, we think, “Hey, this guys needs to be a part of the Indie Schmarm roster somehow, some way in some shape and some form.” Who better than our main squeeze Loren. This gentleman knows the ins and outs of L.A., especially where to find all the right clothes for the best deals. You want coffee? Loren’s the man. You want a good hole in the wall awesome bar? Loren’s the go-to guy. You want to experience L.A. at its finest and not so finest? Don’t hesitate to ask. More on Loren later though and his quest to conquer L.A. Today we open up with a review. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Loren:
I am bitter. I am jaded. I am beyond shocked and pissed off regarding the types of people who go to shows now.
Last Saturday night I went to see Wolf Parade at the Wiltern. I was extremely excited to see them play again as I saw them play at the El Rey at the beginning of the year. I have been in love with this band for over a year now and I have spent days scouring the internet searching for original recordings and their self released albums. I was really excited for the show.
I’m lying around the apartment today and it occurred to me that I’m really quite obsessed with Feist. It might be approaching unhealthy levels, only time will tell. I love Feist’s solo work, but her work in BSS is like eating a tub of ice cream then taking the greatest, longest, softest shit afterward. It’s that good. The self titled record would have been amazing without Feist, but she added so much to that record and made that record flawless* regardless of certain other performers. Her voice is the best female voice I’ve ever heard. That’s one man’s opinion, which is law according to me. She has the most soul for a white chick that I’ve ever heard. (If anyone thinks about Joss Stone after that sentence they’re banned from Indie Schmarm).
You don’t know what’s missing in your life. There’s a hole there, deep down in your soul. A big, marionette-shaped hole. You have no idea.
You don’t think you need rapping grizzly bears.
You don’t think you need a stage within a stage.
You don’t think you need musicians talking on cell phones during their own show.
You don’t think you need an air-lifted 20-foot boombox.
You don’t think you need the puppeteers from Team America skillfully crafting more realistic rock’n'roll stage moves than the Rolling Stones have in the past 25 years.
But you DO need all of these things. And Beck knows this. So he’s stepping up to deliver for the greater good of mankind with…
PUPPETRON! (A live music experience of sorts.)
Do yourself a favor. Don’t worry if you have to drive to New Mexico. Make it happen.
There are some tour dates at Beck.com.
Yours,
Torquil Crossingham
If you came by this website looking for newbie news or up-to-date news on the latest “insert clever name” band you should just leave now. Upon reading this sentence then you’ve made it through a hazing process. Not THE process cause there will be many. If you don’t know why the subject is Talking Heads by the end of this review then…hold on, my Wilco playlist is acting up…ok back on track, then you…should just take a look at the meaning of something that you should take a look at, and look at that.
Just this last weekend a few friends and I took a journey to see Radiohead in Berkeley. But us being a big huge conglom…that’s right, conglom, I’ll just say for this purpose that I got a chance to check out Radiohead this past weekend (said in a nonchalant way of course). Well, there’s no way to actually talk about a Radiohead show than for you to just go, but if you’re the poor sap who can’t pull your balls up into your chode and make it to a show, then I’ll fill you in as to what you’re missing out on (in a nonchalant way of course).