What the Heck!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

We all know a few of the bigger fests (
Bonnaroo,
Coachella,
blah blah blah), and despite the mass grass field genocide we all partake in via attendance/dancing/running/stomping on the fairgrounds, we love them. But how about the small festivals of music around the states?
One festival lodged in the Pacific Northwest in Anacortes, Washington, hidden away from the spotlight, even though it's been called "The Greatest Music Festival of All Time, Ever," is
What the Heck Fest. What exactly is What the Heck Fest? A ton of good music from Washington (and a handful of friends from elsewhere) going down over a couple days in summer. Simple. But they put it bit better:
"What the heck fest is how we care; an unconventional gathering in warm traditions of food and music. New and old friends who give as much attention as they get, while keeping plenty in reserve until this marathon of song.
Production values increase as the artist’s respect for the audience’s imagination decreases…and in direct proportion to the replacement of Idealism with titillation."
If you're up in this area on July 17, 18, and 19, within a few hour drive at least, then go. It's only $35! Washington just makes good music. A little forest, a little city, a "little" rain, good people - what else could you expect?Oh, and the line up? So good! Just a few on the list:
D+
Karl Blau
Kimya Dawson
Mirah
LAKE
Labels: anacortes, festivals, Shows
Hotel Cafe Tour @ Henry Fonda 11/18
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Last night we got the pleasure of checkin' out the last show of the
Hotel Cafe Tour and it was totally amazing. It was our first time seeing this many talented artists in one night. The bill jumped arounf from artist to artist, acoustic and full band versions of songs, and special collaborations with the other artists. I think one of the best things about a show is when the artist and performers have fun on stage instead of playing with the look of just trying to get it over with. Last night featured songs from
Jaymay,
Emily Wells,
Lenka,
Meiko,
Rachael Yamagata and
Thao Nguyen.
I would say I definitely enjoyed Lenka and Thao Nguyen's performances the most. Sydney Australia's Lenka performed several songs from her self titled debut album
Lenka including my favorite
Don't Let Me Fall. Thao Nguyen has amazing stage presence or it could just be the fact that I love her songs. She performed several of her songs with lots of energy and movement. She also headed up the encore with Feet Asleep and everyone was up on stage singin' along. Thanks so much to Patrice of SeptemberGurl PR for hookin' up BBQCHICKENROBOT.

Labels: Shows
Margot's Animal and Not Animal!
Thursday, October 09, 2008

Our friend Helen Hoang was on scene for the
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's Troubadour show right here in LA. Here's her recap!
Some things that were noted for:
Aesthetics
1. The super awesome animal masks they had on when they entered the stage, obviously to represent the title of their new album.
2. The cool backdrop (of a forrest/natural setting) and lamps on stage. They even had a big cut out paper kitten in the background (from the paper kitten nightmare song perhaps??)
3. The Casey Tennis's cats imprinted on the back of his shirt (or at least I think they looked like cats from afar)
The Music
1. Vocalist, Emily does have more vocal parts in some of the songs on the new album, which makes the new album all that much better because she has such a beautiful voice!
2. Casey Tennis's "Percussion Tree" that involved a several paint cans and also a 5 gallon bottle that he banged on throughout the show
3. They also included paint cans in which all members of the band used to create the beat for "as tall as cliffs" during their encore. This was cool because it engaged the audience into clapping to the beat. Once again, this added detail definitely enhanced their performance.
Casey continues to exert wild energy on stage with rad moves while being totally engulfed in the music. Everyone else including Hubert Glover, on the trumpet, was very lively and they flowed so well together. Overall, it was a good performance that seemed to go by really fast. Love the new songs on the album...many of which have whimsical lyrics. Whimsical is good though, it keeps music alive and lovely.
'There have been delays in the release of Margot's second full length due to disagreements between the band and Epic records regarding the song selection of the album. Animal! is Margot's preferred version of their second full-length, while Not Animal is Epic's. Five songs appear on both releases (there are 12 tracks on each album). On their Myspace page, the band has said they would like fans to listen to Animal first.'
Checkout two tracks below and get the release
here.
There's Talk Of Mine ShaftsAs Tall As Cliffspost contributed by Helen HoangLabels: Shows
Bearded Baby Live @ The Crosby!
Thursday, July 03, 2008

Really quick; our DJ friends
Bearded Baby (
Co.Fee and
Teebs) will be doin' their first live show this Saturday the 5th at the
Crosby in Santa Ana. Nosaj Thing will be performing live and a DJ set from Mike Ill, those should be enough to get your toes tappin'. We've got some tracks for you to check out from Bearded Baby. See you there!
Thai BellsHealth - Crimewave (Bearded_Baby_remix)Labels: Shows
The Jealous Girlfriends and Sea Wolf Perform At The Mercury Lounge
Friday, May 30, 2008

With her raspy, gravelly voice, Holly Miranda of The Jealous Girlfriends announces, "My microphone smells like ass" to which her fellow bandmate Josh Abbott replies, "My microphone smells like a urinal."
Together they launch into song. This is the random, silly stage banter that occurs in a Jealous Girlfriends' show. But more important than these inane conversations onstage, is the fact that, The Jealous Girlfriends know how to put on one rockin'
show.
Between the beer and the-just-barely-audible-because-I'm-losing-my-voice sound quality of Miranda's voice, it's a surprise that the lady can belt it out. But she does, well, and amazingly in songs like
Organs On The Kitchen Floor, partnering up with Alex Lipsen on the keys, and on
Something In the Water.
Their heavily guitar-based sound, plus the fact that I was standing by the speakers, makes for one loud show but a fun one and one that made me develop a girl-crush on Holly Miranda.
Something In the WaterOrgans On the Kitchen Floor
Part II: Sea Wolf
If I could think of a non-cheesy metaphor of ideal pairings like wine and cheese, or whatever, I'd think of one now but I can't. Simply put, Sea Wolf was a great complement to The Jealous Girlfriends, just because, well, they were more chill.
From the beatific, bhudda-like peaceful-look on Alex Church's face, I knew the set was going to be solid. And it was. From the keys, to the cello, to the twelve-year-old looking bassist, the pieces of Sea Wolf were a combination of random parts that made for beautiful sound.
The highlight of the set was a semi-newish song called
Song of the Magpie - part of Augusten Burroughs' new audiobook,
A Wolf At The Table: A Memoir of My Father. There's something stultifyingly beautiful about this song. It's the lilting violin intro, the plucked bits, the melancholic strains of the violin scattered here and there that really convey the deep, emotional damage, perhaps turned to beauty, that Burroughs endured with his abusive, alcoholic father that Alex Church may have imagined while penning this song.
I don't know why, but this song gets me every time, especially the refrain of "I forgive you." It gets into my bones, it gets into my hair. Pun intended. The live version was a thousand times better and more emotionally impacting as you would imagine, than the produced recording we have here. But that experience can of course, only be captured by going to a live show.
Song of the MagpieBlack DirtShow date: May 28th, 2008
Labels: indie, Shows
Lykke Li & El Perro Del Mar at the EL REY 5/19
Thursday, May 22, 2008

As I slowly waltz up to the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles around eight, I sense the muggy heat of the day finally drifting up, up and away, and I smile as I see the marquee above the theatre boast in big black letters, “Lykke Li, El Perro Del Mar”.
The theatre is only beginning to fill up a handful of people at a time, as the crooning voice of the opening performer,
Anna Ternheim, drifts into the outside crowd. I quickly make my way in, so as not to miss it, for I am immediately feeling myself being put under a spell by the soothing velvet flow of her voice. It reminds me of Cat Power’s older works with a hint of Jesca Hoop’s extended soothing harmonization. Standing alone on the stage, accompanied by her acoustic guitar and the rise and fall of prerecorded violin noises, she seems to capture the crowd into complete silence. The background beats dropped with a slowed down hint of Portishead-like influence.
Soonafter,
Lykke Li is on stage, all clad in black, baggy 90’s pants suit and blouse, with a cacophany of gold around her neck. Bells, a peace sign, thick chain, and gold kazoo all hang off of her neck and shake around as she leads the audience into her first song, “Time Flies”. She holds in her hands a tiny tonky-sounding piano and her voice resonates in flowing echoes across the intimate El Rey atmosphere. Then her four piece band joins her with some acoustic guitar, keyboards, and slightly muffled yet strong drum background beats. Her hair is tucked into the back of her blouse and covers the sides of her face, yet when she starts singing “Dance, Dance, Dance”, she breaks out into an almost bird-like dance and the hair flies out with an explosion of movement and light and puts the audience in awe. Throughout this band’s performance, there are sounds of cowbell, tambourines being hit with drum sticks, an ample amount of kazoo solos, as well as beautiful background vocal harmonies of multiplied voices.

Being from Stockholm, Sweden, Lykke Li and her band bring a sound that doesn’t ring a familiar bell of generic repetition, but breathss a fresh perspective of making simple music with a new approach. For instance, in the song “Dance, Dance, Dance”, the only background to Lykke’s voice is drumsticks being hit on the rim of the toms and a one-stringed base line on the acoustic guitar. Yet this song makes you want to sway your hips and dance dance dance in all its’ simplicity. In the song “Little Bit”, there is a wooden xylophone-like background accompanied by a cowbell and quietly swooping, extended harmonized flute and organ noises.
El Perro Del Mar comes onstage to join Lykke Li on one of her songs, and so does Lykke Li, later on El Perro’s last song. The two bands seem very closely tied together and bring a sense of intimacy to the show and the audience’s experience of the music, for it just intertwines and goes on and on. Finally, when it is officially El Perro’s turn, the audience explodes with yells and claps as she walks forth, just her and her acoustic guitar, sporting a long, golden blouse, a miniskirt and black tights, no shoes. She opens with “Party”, a seemingly ironic title for a song of such poignant and heart-gripping lyrics and melody in minor notes. She brings a nearly eerie sound as she whistles along with her guitar. As she moves into her second song, “Dog”, the keyboardist (who also accompanied Lykke Li) joins her as well as another keyboardist, a drummer and another guitarist. She, like Lykke, uses Hare Krishna-looking bells to accompany her lyrics, which again, brought simplicity, yet fullness to her music. Her slightly strained and fragile voice carries sorrow, yet hopeful aspirations at the same time. Despite this, the cheery accompaniment, seemingly from a different era, brings a beautiful juxtaposition of despair in the world, yet ability to find the happy side to it as well. She asks the audience, “Are you happy with the world right now?”, as most people mumble yes and no, she continues, “I get moments where I am happy with the world but it’s in a naïve type of way”. Then she goes on to sing “Glory to the World” and take us again, into a whole different world of sound.
All in all, this was a night that swept me away into different eras, emotions, and countries all at the same time, all within a time span of a couple hours.
Review by Green RussianLabels: indie, Shows, swedish
The Dodos Live Webcast From Amoeba TONIGHT!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What's up friends, we are totally excited to let you know about an awesome
Dodos show tonight at
Amoeba in Hollywood! It's FREE! They'll be rockin' tunes to support their latest,
Visiter. But it gets even better!! It will all be streaming live via
Amoeba.com so you can sit back comfortable from your little huts! Catch it @10:00pm EST, 7:00pm PST. Freshen up your ears below. See u there!
JodiAshley Fools
p.s. I've been working on a short film for the past 2 days. We've been shooting day & night so couldnt do any updates, but not to faulter, we got lots and lots of music in the next week!
Labels: amoeba, Shows
2008 Plug Awards! And The Winners Are....
Friday, March 07, 2008

Here is a quick list of the winners of the night! Congrats to everyone! And a special mad props congrats to
Stereo Gum for Music Blog Of The Year!
Album of the Year - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
New Artist of the Year - Justice
Female Artist of the Year - Annie Clark (St. Vincent)
Male Artist of the Year - Andrew Bird
Indie Rock Album of the Year - Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Americana Album of the Year - Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Metal Album of the Year - The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
Hip Hop Album of the Year - Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
Punk Album of the Year - Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
Electronic/ Dance Album of the Year - Justice
DJ Album of the Year - Hot Chip - DJ Kicks
Avant Album of the Year - Liars - Liars
Arist of the Year - Radiohead
Song of the Year - The National - Fake Empire
Live Act of the Year - Arcade Fire
Music Video of the Year - Battles - Atlas
Album Art/Packaging of the Year - Menomena - Friend and Foe
Record Label of the Year - Merge
Live Music Venue of the Year - Bowery Ballroom, NY,NY
Music Festival of the Year - Coachella!
Music Website of the Year - Pitchfork Media
Music Blog of the Year - Stereogum
Magazine of the Year - Paste
Online Radio Station of the Year - KCRW
Record Store of the Year - Other Music, NY, NY
Zine of the Year - Wax Poetixs
Online Record Store of the Year - iTunes (wha? shocker)
College/NOn-Comm Radio Station of the Year - KEXP Seattle, WA
Specialty Show of the Year - Sirius: Left of Center - Blog Radio
I love the Plug awards! 10 gajillion times better than the Grammy's in my opinion.
Labels: awards, Shows
Nicole Atkins At The Troubadour!
Nicole Atkins rocked the stage in black patent heels on Thursday at the Troubadour in LA, declaring her love in a sultry and powerful voice. Opening for Atkins was five-man band
The Parlor Mob, who delivered a Zeppelin-esque kickback to rock n' roll. For a band hidden behind their long hair, The Parlor Mob quickly wailed their way into my heart and audiences'. One of the two guitarists brought enough character to the stage with his eclectic dance moves that made up for the shy bassist who never turned away from the drummer (who took swigs of beer between songs).
Following The Parlor Mob was
Let's Go Sailing, comprised of female leads backed up by their men on guitar and drums. Put this band in the run-through-a-meadow, or for times-of-major-catharsis genre, a perfect furrow for Nicole Atkins. Taking the stage just before 10 pm, the confident songbird of New Jersey charmed the audience with four talented musicians backing her hometown-inspired feel good songs.
With a website picture that does not do her justice, the short-statured Atkins had the audience smitten by the second song. A more energetic Brandi Carlile, the quirky Atkins talked with the crowd between songs. Letting the crowd in on the secret of her third song Atkins explained that in her hometown of Asbury Park there was a carousel she visited often with her grandfather before it was shut down. The band then tore into a catchy tune, complete with a xylophone, which artistically captured the spirit of childhood and carousels. Ending with 'Love Surreal,' Atkins and band brought an original sound to the stage that has obvious staying power.
The show was gooood! Check some music below!
From the awesome "Neptune City" album
Show coverage by Laurel A. Robertson
Labels: Shows
No Reservations in Hell
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Contributed by TheVillageIdiotWelcome back, Bourdain. We've missed you.
Last week, Anthony Bourdain returned for the fifth season of his show, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and let me tell you. It was about damn time. I thought I'd be in rerun hell for the duration of the writers' strike.
Bourdain's sometimes puzzling, never boring and always irreverent food/travel show is a welcome treat in today's nuclear wasteland of TV programming. As a subset of food TV (Not The Food Network), Bourdain's show is even more striking when compared to other so-called "food/travel shows." Let's face it, food TV has gone down the drain: "Giada’s Weekend Getaway?" – I can’t stop looking at her forehead; "Have Fork. Will Travel?" – give me a forking break.
Part of what makes No Reservations so fun is that for an hour a week, we can all be armchair tourists. It's not a substitute for actually traveling. There is no substitute for that, but if anything Bourdain makes me want to travel more than ever. Every week, it's a poignant reminder of why I put up with all this finance crap.
In light of the new year and all that resolutions setting, I think we can take a few lessons from Bourdain's examples.
1. Go Off the Beaten Path - In some remote village in Peru – high (buzzing mildly) on coca leaves for altitude sickness – I've seen Bourdain drink fermented corn liquor that gets its start in the fermentation process by being chewed and then spit out into a giant vat of other chewed up stuff. Even if the stuff sucks, it will still be a great story.
2. Eat Anything and Lots of It - In one night, Bourdain will visit at least four or five restaurants or food stands and eat anything they shove under his nose. Any cut of meat, any kind of entrail, it's all fair game and he loves it all. Sure, different strokes for different folks, but there is a reason why we eat the stuff we do and it usually has to do with how good it tastes. If you never try it, you'll never know.
3. Don't be Afraid of Cursing - Bourdain’s always bursting to use an expletive. "Take that you vegetarian f*ckwads!" Obscenities makes any language exciting.
P.S. Did I mention he hates vegetarians?
4. Drink Anything Alcoholic and Lots of it - He spends every episode being drunk or on his way to being drunk. After most nights of taping on the show, the last shot is usually of him noticeably staggering off to this hotel room. On more than a few occasions, the footage of him the next morning waking up hungover are hilarious as well. If he is wearing the sunglasses and his voice is ten octaves deeper and scratchier, you know he's feeling like crap, but for the sake of the viewers, he is going to fake feeling okay for work. Who hasn't spent the day in the office a little hungover/drunk?
5. Smoke - Everyone knows smoking makes you look cool and no one makes it looks better than Bourdain and the flagrant disregard for his health. He makes smoking two packs a day look cool. My excuse for not smoking two packs a day? I'm not cool.
6. The Party Don't Stop For Anyone - Bombs what? Show me the next party! That's exactly what Bourdain did in Beirut while the Israelis were bombing the city. His subsequent week long sequestering at a hotel due to the bombs and subsequent rescue by U.S. Marines were a small price to pay. After all, what is life other than a series of parties until you get to that big one in the sky?
7. Laugh at yourself and others, often - Bourdain will be the first one to laugh at Bourdain. A valuable lesson really. My feeling is, if I can't laugh at myself, then I shouldn't be allowed to laugh at anyone else. Now that would be a tragedy.
8. If its Unhealthy, Eat it and Ask for Seconds - Bourdain takes almost maniac glee in rubbing his fat-oozing, grease-dripping, oil-splattered street food in front of the camera, almost as if to say, "vegetarians and health freaks, you poor, sad, little fools." I’m not saying go out and lick the first chicken cart you see, but all this guilt over unhealthy eating is stupid. Stop dieting and start exercising.
Now you know why I watch this show and so should you.
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Mondays, 10PM
The Travel Channel
The Man Himself: http://www.anthonybourdain.com/copy.asp?g=1&id=7
Bourdain's TV Blog: http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/
Bourdain in Beirut: http://travel.discovery.com/tv/bourdain/journals/beirut/beirut.html
Labels: Food, ShoutsOfAdoration, Shows
HIDDEN DETOUR PARTIES w/ Ed Banger Recs & The Villians!!!
Sunday, October 07, 2007
I heard about the
Hidden Detour Party about two days before the event and I had absolutely no idea what to expect except that there would be lots of dancing. And I guess that's all we really needed to know! Boost Mobile & Fader put on 2 parties at these hidden locations in LA and the only way to go was to rsvp/text to get a text back of the address on the days of, raver status true. We went Friday night for the
Ed Banger crew.
Quick History: Pedro Winter a.k.a. Busy P runs
Ed Banger Recs since '02, it was part of Headbanger Entertainment. Most of the acts are French electro/house DJs and Artists including heavyweights
DaftPunk! Friday night was one of the best DJ live sets we have ever heard/seen/experienced. Some of the DJs included Kavinsky, So-Me, Justice, Mehdi and of course Busy P. We danced to mixes, remixes, mashups done way proper on the 1s and 2s of Feist, Beastie, some old school, lots of dance and house beats. You could definitely feel the anticipation from all the boiling point build-ups and follow-the-leader beat drops. LA brings the eclectic crowds out; clubbers to indierockers and Rec heads to some older folks (dance knows no age). I remember
Googling the location, street viewing, and realizing there wasn't really anything there other than some random/regular downtown warehouses. Turned out to be a
perfect spot.


These parties of course were lead-ups to Saturday's
L.A. Detour Festival which included Moving Units, The Ed Banger Crew, Teddybears etc. etc. I do say good show.
Labels: Dance, Electronic, Events, indie, Shows
Calvin Harris Creates Disco and Produces Stuff!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The U.S. release of "
I Created Disco" is finally here! The album was just released yesterday off the
Almost Gold Recordings (Peter Bjorn & John, etc.) and you can get it on
Amazon for 11 bucks! If you haven't heard by now,
Calvin Harris is the 23 year old hailing from Scotland who's responsible for creating dance chaos all over the U.K. and at this point probably all over the world with his super catchy synthy-rich electro-indie goodness. He's created quite the buzz here in the U.S. with tracks like "Merrymaking At My Place" and "Acceptable in the '80s" along with
music videos that set examples of what to do when listening to his new album.
Currently he is touring with the likes of a full band to back up the traveling party and he'll be showin' some love here in the states, well two states. He'll be creating a crazy dance party at the
Mercury Lounge in NYC on September 12th, and for all you westcoastin' Calvin will be at
The Echo in Echo Park, Los Angeles on Friday September 14th (Next Weekend!! Only $8) with a special
Club Underground Hang the DJs! It's gonna be a dance extravaganza!
If these aren't already in heavy rotation on your playlists, no worries, get'em now!
“My tunes aren't supposed to invoke deep thought within people; they're just to get you dancing." -Calvin Harris
Labels: Electronic, Events, indie, Shows
"Aliens in America" deserves a warm welcome
Monday, September 03, 2007

With a name like Aliens in America, it may come as a surprise that this new CW show has the makings of becoming a hit.
What the show focuses on is, alien, in the strictest sense of the word: outsider. Enter main character Justin Tolchuck, an adorable loser who is all skin and bones and curly hair. He gets beat up every year, and has never gotten any girl action. Expecting this year to be different with the removal of his braces, he finds, to his horror, his name at number 8 on his high school’s annual list of “Most Bangable Girls”.
In an attempt to cure him of eternal loserdom, his overprotective, overbearing mom gets an exchange student that she hopes will help Justin rise to popularity. What the Tolchucks expected was a strapping, tall handsome young man from Sweden. What the Toluchucks got was Raja, from Pakistan. Chaos ensues. Raja's first day at the American high school consists of comments such as “Abu, where’s my slurpee?” and then having his entire history class blaming him for the 9-11 events.
What makes this show inherently intersting is not only this awkward, randomly unsual situation but also the depth of the characters involved: there is dorky Justin, who is actually quite lovable and humorous in his own right, but trying incredibly hard to fit in. And then there is Raja, who is so outstandingly different from all the other kids at school, but doesn't give a rat's ass about trying to fit in.
My favorite scene is when Raja, after facing an onslaught at his first day of school comes home to a depressed Justin splayed out on the couch:
“Justin, do you pray?” Raja asks.
“Well, I usually eat a brownie or buy a CD or something,” says Justin.
“Justin, that entire pan of brownies is empty.”
“It was a rough week.”
The actors (Dan Byrd, and Adhir Kalyan) who plays these boys work well with each other, portraying humor, wit and sincerity in their characters. Dan Byrd, in particular, plays the loveable, humorous loser so well that you just want to keep watching him. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to seeing whatever social tortures he will face next week.
------
Aliens in America, CW 8:30 pm pacific time
Labels: ShoutsOfAdoration, Shows, tv
LAST NIGHT: The Koop Islands Tour Live @ The El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles
Thursday, August 16, 2007


Many Thanks to our friends over at
KCRW for guest listin' us for last night's show. The
Koop, Swedes duo-Magnus Zingmark & Oscar Simonsson, along with a great line up, performed one of the best shows we've seen this summer! They performed
Waltz For Koop favorites like "Tonight" and "Baby" as well as several pieces from last year's
Koop Islands release.

The Line up: the lovely Hilde Louise Asbjørnsen on the Mic, Karl Frid on trumpet/percussions with his suspenders and slicked back hair, Mattias Stahl on Marimbas/Vibraphone with his amazing 4 stick mad skills, Martin Hoper on Bass, and Ola Bothzèn on the Drums...white tops, suspenders, added to the very classy show with an eclectic audience, not to mention the ambiance of the
El Rey. Other than this crunk-a-saurus too early-too much girl being totally wack!, it was a
beautiful show, and you can tell the band was havin' a great time which really adds a lot to the performance.

Best Moments: Hilde Louise came back out with a different dress, When the bass and drum were
feeding off eachother in a swingin' jam session with a layed out track from the Mac. Small Solos and last but not least, TWO encores!!! You just can't beat Two encores from the Koop. If you haven't heard of the Koop, no worries, we got you
covered. Think Jazz-a-tonic + Electro-acoustic + real live swingin' sounds, loungey vocals and you're halfway there.

Chill out to these tracks this weekend!
Waltz for Koop TonightBabyCome To MeI See a Different YouAlso Thanks to our friend Tsega Dinka for his awesome shots above. More from his Flickr set
here. Also stay tuned to this post, we will hopefully have some live video from the show! Happy Friday!
Labels: jazz, Music, Shows
A Case of the Emperor's Clothes
Tuesday, August 07, 2007

We just came back from
The Bordello. There was a small show last night. Did you know it's the oldest bar in Los Angeles? It still has Burlesque shows, and looks really neat. Definitely go on their site and check their photo gallery. They got shows of indie, soul, jazz, etc. weekly.
Our new friends,
Princeton performed without their usual band and it was still awesome. The brothers harmonize off eachother's vocals while creating fun indie folk rhythmics that even my dad would enjoy. They have a few shows lined up and we recommend that you go see them if you're into havin' a good time, pick up that EP, "A Case of the Emperor's Clothes".
Listen!
BlackbeardThe Indifference CurveTokyo, JapanHere are some upcoming dates...
Aug 16 2007 7:30P
Pershing Square/ Echo 'walk through the park' concert series Downtown LA, California (This is a free show!)
Aug 25 2007 8:00P
The Troubador w/ Au Revoir Simone West Hollywood, California
Sep 1 2007 12:00P
San Diego Pop Fest @ The Habitat San Diego, California
Sep 2 2007 8:00P
Eagle Rock Sunday Night Bowling and Drinking Club @All Star Lanes Eagle Rock, California
Sep 22 2007 8:00P
Pehrspace w/ Samara Lubelski Los Angeles, California
Have a swell tuesday.
Labels: indie, Shows
Last Night: Common @ the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Jackie Chan is such a sweet sweet sweet man, yet very violent. Yay! The whole night both him and Chris Tucker were showin' mad love to eachother. It was cute as crud! Common opened with "The People" off his new album
Finding Forever, which dropped yesterday. He had a buncha people backin' him up on stage. He went on to perform "U, Black Maybe", "Drivin' Me Wild" along with one of my older favs: "The Light"...Mid performance he did a 5 minute freestyle and I was way impressed. Not cause he could but cause he wasn't flowin with words like duck, chuck and ....

Here are some free tracks to get you a preview!
Yo our flash player went wackasaurus this morning so we changed it up. It's a building project. Any suggestions? hit us up!
Labels: Events, hiphop, Music, Shows
Awesome Awesome Hotel Cafe Line-up this Saturday!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Hey if you are in the LA area this weekend come check out our friend
Libbie Linton at the
Hotel Cafe. She is hailing from Utah and we'll finally get to see her perform live; her set will begin at around 7pm Saturday, 7/28. This 89.9
KCRW event is featuring
Sara Lov of the Devics. Also on the bill,
Let's Go Sailing, Wendy Wang/
The Sweet Hurt,
Princeton, and Amnion. I think for the most part, this is gonna be a mostly acoustic show, ..I said mostly or atleast half,..so if you are into that, it will be another awesome night of music. Come out and support your local artists! I think it's 8 bucks at the door or advance tickets through the Hotel Cafe website. Tan Panda and I will be there or be
square.
Check out these tracks nowwwww!
Labels: Shows
"I'm crawling through landmines/I know 'cause I planted them"
Monday, July 23, 2007

When I first heard "Paris is Burning" I instantly took note of the fluctuations of the song and Annie Clark's vocals right on point. Her new album, "
Marry Me" dropped at your music store earlier this month. If you haven't already picked it up, do so now! It's a little soul, rock and indietronic mished in with clapping, tambourines, trumpets, choirs etc.
St. Vincent, is just one of the products of her incredible talent. Her multi-instrumentalist skillz stretch into acts such as
The Polyphonic Spree (scroll down) and Sufjan Steven's travelling band to name a couple. Earlier this year she toured with
Jollie Holland (serious blues). I can't believe she is only 23!! She's one of those people that make you wonder what you've been doing your whole life. sadness =) Check out these tracks!
If you are over here with us on the West Coast, definitely go see her at
The Echo next Saturday, 8/04. Hopefully Tan Panda and I will be in cognito. Full tour dates
here! She'll also be in San Deigo at the Casbah Sunday...out of curiousity, does anyone else think she looks like a certain actress? Let us know!
Labels: Music, Shows, st. vincent
MICE PARADE @ the Echo & Quick 6 Mix!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Last Night's show was supposed to start at
8:30 @ the
Echo. But the case wasn't the time nor venue. Due to serious technical/crapped systems & stuff not working, the show moved downstairs to Echoplex, begun around
10:30! The Echoplex is such a sweet venue and you can tell by the seating, larger stage, & the
clean bathrooms! (unheard of). Here are some pic of the show.
Kira Kira,
Caroline, and
Tom Brosseau opened with shorter sets w/ regards to time but Tom really rocked. Kira Kira played (played with) a lot of...things. Sounds like Mum + Sigur Ros.


Mice Parade is an anagram of Adam Pierce, the band's lead. The set included the usual ensemble; Doug Scharin of HiM, vibraphonist Dylan Cristy of Dylan Group (who last night was also lead clapper), Caroline "filling" Kristín's vocals (who did her a short 4-5 song set as an opener), & I especially took note of Dan Lippel's awesome strumming. Adam also doubled & bounced with Doug on a 2nd drum kit for "Nights Wave" if I remember correctly. Caroline did an awesome job w/ "Boatroom" from Bem Vinda-Vontade. They also played a few off their latest self titled album including "Tales of Las Negras" & "Sneaky Red"...If only the set was longer....
Quick 6 Mix
I have a lot of new music but haven't had the time to listen to much of it, but here are some picks of the week. They are all pretty indie-poppppy-ness!
Winter Kids - Hear Me Out
Castledoor - Burn the Maps
The Willowz - Evil Son
Kubichek! - That Pop Carry On
4 or 5 Magicians - Your Fictitious Character
Throw Me the Statue - Lolita
Elsewhere:
Some awesome videos I've been watching:
The Airborne Toxic Event - Does this mean you're Moving On video
The Go! Team - Lady Flash video
Feist - 1,2,3,4 video
Above: Surrah, Beef, Merk, SeanBLabels: Instrumental, Music, Quick6mix, Shows
Midweek Music Mix! Food for your Ears!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

I'm really liking the new
Blonde Redhead album "23" which has a great consistent sound with their other stuff. They are actually playing tomorrow at the Glass House and I am guessing the tickets are long gone. They will also be performing at
Coachella with a gazillion awesome bands! I will do a short Coachella entry next week for some of my favorite bands playing. Something totally strange: The hits on my site go up around 75-120 hits on average a day. Who the crap is looking at this site? If you are reading this, hit me up with a comment. I'm curious. Alright here is some new music and some old favorites for the early midweek mix!
Blonde Redhead -
23Mice Parade has come out with a self-titled new 7th album on
FatCatRecs. For me it is
highly anticipated. Beautiful new instrumentals with Kristen Anna Vattysdottir on the mics (and other interesting instruments). With Peirce's lead, Kristen's voice becomes less creepish and more
essential to the sound. When it's there, it's there. Mice Parade will be ending their U.S. tour on the westcoast with 3 shows in California then heading off to Japan and Taiwan. You will definitely see me at the
Echo in LA on Jun, 07th. The new CD is dropping the 8th of May.
TWO NEW songs just for you!
Mice Parade -
Sneaky Red &
Double Dolphins On the NickelFun pop from another great Swedish band.
Agent Simple -
Friday A favorite Canadian group with a late '06 release. Def check out Blankets EP
The Acorn -
Brokered Heart Bear Colony -
Sharks Great Locals, also check out the music video via
myspace.
The Bird and the Bee -
Again and AgainOne of my fav. 90s bands but a lesser known song.
The Cardigans -
In The AfternoonDear and The Headlights -
Oh No!At the beginning he sounds like Cake...right?
The Foreign Resort -
MorningYou know that girl you hear singing on those Sufjan tracks?
Katrina Kerns -
Run With MeSame way I felt about Michelle Branch, - high school and + rock.
KT Tunstall -
Suddenly I SeeNorwegian Singer songwriter. Why do accents disappear when singing?
Marit Larsen -
Under the SurfaceMoonbabies -
CocobelleMore Canadian goodness with a beautiful cello(?) at the beginning.
Oh Bijou -
Widths and CurvesThe acoustic version, thank you to
Kharkoal.
Saves the Day -
In My Waking LifeThe State of Samuel -
The Residents of Gloom The Second Band -
A Song I can't Recall Seu Jorge -
Team ZissouLoe & The Nastys -
Penny WaltzThe New Amsterdams -
Stay on the PhoneOkay that's 21 songs for you to enjoy for a while. I will be updating less frequently (Like once a week) cause I'm getting busier. Does anyone want to be a contributor to
BBQCHICKENROBOT.com? That would really help out. I will show you the ways of finding music...from what I know.
Someone brought up an interesting point the other day. We go crazy when people die in the U.S. and we careless when they die outside of the U.S....even U.S. troops. Would someone please tell me why?
Today a Chinese Oil field in Ethiopia was attacked by rebels and 74 people died and some Chinese workers were kidnapped. Feelin' the pain?
Read upLabels: Events, MIX, Music, Shows