The risky life of an L.A. 'Tamalero'
Selling tamales on the streets of Los Angeles is a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. Tamale vendors, or "Tamaleros," have to avoid obstacles like gangs, traffic, police and health inspectors to make only about $30 a day. Devin Browne talks to one Tamalero whose found ways to stay in business. - American Public Media - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Currently, Fuse is offering FREE downloadable tracks from the artists on the Lollapalooza lineup: http://fuse.tv/tours/lollapalooza2009/do
Modest Mouse premieres "King Rat" video directed by Heath Ledger
Modest Mouse's much anticipated "King Rat" video premiered today almost 2 years after the video's director Heath Ledger and the band decided to collaborate.
Ledger met Modest Mouse's Issac Brock in January 2007 through a mutual friend while they were both in Australia, and the idea of working together on the music video for "King Rat" was then loosely chatted about. In a 2007 VH1 interview Brock said, "The idea sort of dropped, but then he just sent me an email saying that he wanted to do it."
Before Ledger's passing he mapped out the video concept and after his untimely death the unfinished animation was completed by the Masses, which is a film and music company that Ledger was a partner in. The animated video concept shows the roles reversed of the hunter and the hunted. Whales master the fishing boat, while humans are the catch. The whales bait, catch, and skin humans before selling the remaining body parts to be processed into seal food. The video aimed to bring awareness to illegal commercial whale hunts taking place off the shores of Australia.
"Rat King" was a bonus track off of 2007's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, but the song is making an official appearance on their latest EP No One's First, and Your Next which was released today via Epic.
At the end of the video Modest Mouse writes, "This began with our friend, a great defender of life, and was completed in his spirit." which is the perfect line to go along with Ledger's purpose for the video. - examiner.com
www.LARemezcla.com: Free Downloads This Week: Pilar Diaz, Manu Chao, Hello Seahorse!...
LARemezcla focuses on the local latin culture of Los Angeles. In addition to offering music downloads and chances at free concert tickets in and around town, they offer a unique commentary on Lation based arts initiatives. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
I have a strong distaste for The Smell, but how could you not mention this line up! Also, please note that things get kicked off early. VOICEsVOICEs will play at combined set with Really, very at 9PM sharp!
WAR TAPES, Agent Ribbons, Sister Crayon, VOICEsVOICEs, REALLY, very
The Smell
And, this all affords me the opportunity to publish this:
Presented in association with KXLU:
WAR TAPES
Agent Ribbons
Sister Crayon
VOICEsVOICEs
REALLY, very
Plus DJ set from She Rocks!
They should be putting up today's performance at KCRW up soon. I'm definitely keeping a look out for that! Also, one of my local favorites will be opening. Get thee down to The Wiltern!
Lykke Li
The Deadly Syndrome
Wiltern
Breaking it up – alternative live video. Filmed by: Christian Haag from Lykke Li on Vimeo.
The Tings Tings, Hot Tub, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
Club Nokia
The Ting Tings - We WalkIt's hard to believe "That's Not My Name" shot to the top so quickly. On top of that, it was the Ting Tings' very first single released, which makes the meteoric rise even more impressive. But despite their stats — Katie White, raised by a record company manager and part of the bubblegum girl group TKO at 15, and Jules De Martino, long known for producing bands in Manchester — the Ting Tings' evolution towards their current, punchy, beat-crazy incarnation wasn't all that easy. As interest in cutesy girl groups waned in the late '90s, White found herself without direction or a job. She and de Martino met during that time working at a local music club together selling drinks and DJing, where touring bands like Le Tigre and the Gossip mutually awed them. Good thing, because Katie White's Spice Girls influence wore off quick — replaced by a need to play a guitar, tour, adopt more delinquent behavior, and wear better clothes. See them again tonight with Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, whose relentless happiness and remarkable instinct for hyper, pop concoctions make them a very hard act to follow. - Wendy Gilmartin, LA Weekly
THE SHORE
SEXTUS / IO PERRY / RED CAR / THE HOLLISTON STOPS / GARLAND
Spaceland
With:
Sextus || Watch
IO Perry || Listen
Redcar || Listen
The Holliston Stops
Garland
8:30pm / $8 / 21+
BOWERBIRDS
MEGAFAUN
Echo
Bowerbirds || Listen || Watch
On Bowerbirds’ 2007 debut, Hymns For A Dark Horse, the coupled-up North Carolina duo spun folksy tunes and gypsy rags about the wonders of nature, which made sense—the record was made with singer Phil Moore and accordionist Beth Tacular living in an Airstream trailer in the woods, building themselves a cabin between band practices. Just as fittingly, Bowerbirds’ sophomore LP, Upper Air, is a more intimate affair that finds the pair well nestled in a spare-but-sound set of songs. Most noticeably, the “Go-Earth!” Pollyannaism (which was impressively tolerable the last time around) has been replaced by a flair for verbiage on par with Andrew Bird and Elvis Perkins, the two singers most conjured by Moore’s syllable-stretching and emotive coo. There’s still a line drawn in the dirt between the natural world and civilization, but that divide is explored through narrative on “House Of Diamonds,” and lines like, “You are free from the greed of your culture / you are free from the lust for the luster of the diamond houses in the city’s cluster.” And this isn’t Upper Air’s primary focus: Love is, and on songs like “Ghost Life,” stones, dunes, and oceans are metaphorical fodder used to soften the tougher parts of romantic entanglement. Bowerbirds benefit from a more-is-less dynamic musically, as well. Moore and Tacular break out organ, piano, autoharp, violin, and upright bass, among other instruments (not to mention a killer boy-girl harmony), but all in a successful effort to arrive at a simpler, more measured sound epitomized by the soulful jangler “Northern Lights” and the delicate surge of “Teeth.” Upper Air is a comely album through and through, and certainly one of this year’s high-water marks for the acoustically inclined. – The Onion AV Club
Devendra Banhart Signs to Warner, Announces New Album
Pitchfork: Back in June, we reported that scraggly-voiced space cadet Devendra Banhart had finished work on a new album-- the follow-up to 2007's Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon-- and that he had departed XL for another label.
Well, now we know a few more things about that new album, thanks to a Stereogum report and information from Devendra's publicist. The album is due out in October on Warner and its oddly spaced titled is:
What We
Will Be
That's the cover art up there.
Banhart recorded the album with A Band of Bees' Paul Butler, and his backing band consists of plenty of folks Banhart has worked with before: Megapuss buddy Greg Rogove, Little Joy's Rodrigo Amarante, Luckey Remington, and Noah Georgeson. Andy Cabic also contributed to the album.
The tracklist is below, and it looks like the two profoundly goofy laid-back psych jams we Forkcasted a while back both made the cut. I wonder if B is bummed that "First Song for B" and "Last Song for B" come right next to each other on the album.
BAT FOR LASHES
'Sleep Alone'
Saw this today, and yeah, I continue to really really dig Alison!
THE KILLS
Alison Mosshart
Jamie Hince
"Fried My Little Brains,"
KEXP inStudio 8.1 from More Dust Than Digital on Vimeo.
Mark your calendars!!! The Fuck Yeah Fest is back!
The Black Lips, Lightning Bolt, Tim & Eric, Lucero, Converge, F* Up, The Thermals, No Age, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, Glass Candy, Japanther, Times New Viking, Darker My Love, Carbonas, Peanut Butter Wolf, Crystal Antlers, AA Bondy, Mika Miko, Har Mar Superstar, Nobunny, Telepathe, Cold Cave, The Strange Boys, Katie Stelmanis, Dios, NinjaSonik, Kurt Vile, Eat Skull, Avi Buffalo + More to be artists and comedians to be announced - SIGN UP HERE FOR MORE INFO
Free 'NPR Music At Newport' Samplers
To download two free 12-song samplers of music from the artists featured by NPR Music at the folk and jazz festivals in Newport, R.I., this August, click the images or "Download On iTunes" links below, and the songs will automatically begin downloading into your iTunes account. If you do not have an iTunes account, follow these instructions and then return to this page to click the links again.
Vaudeville and Wet Cassette Out Today on Itunes!
The day has finally arrived- JAXART in partnership with South Bay label OTIK Records have two awesome full length digital albums out today on Itunes!
Vaudeville's new "Devil's Knocking" LP and the debut from Wet Cassette "From God's Fang" featuring members of The Rolling Blackouts and The Voyeurs!
Head on down to the Itunes Store and pick up a copy!
Vaudeville on Itunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/We
Wet Cassette on Itunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/We
Karen O Creates Supergroup For 'Wild Things' Score; The Dead Weather's Jack Lawrence Joins The List
Alright, so on Friday, we gave you a first listen of Karen O's score to "Where The Wild Things Are" by putting a close ear to a 'WTWTA' featurette that starred director Spike Jonze and author Maurice Sendak talking about the creativity behind the clip, and it obviously featured some of the original music written for the film. The music is "childlike" as she said it would be and quite wonderful actually; everything that we had hoped for.
Some of it was really uptempo too and even Arcade Fire-like which makes sense given the fact that original test-screenings for the film early last year featured a lot of AF music (/Film spotted the AF similarities when they saw footage of 'Wild Things' at Comic-Con this weekend too) - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Discoveries From The Pitchfork Music Festival
All Songs Considered - Each summer, the Pitchfork Music Festival draws thousands of fans to Chicago to hear three day's worth of performances, by more than 40 bands. It's a mix of some of the best new and largely unknown, independent bands of the year. On this episode of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen talks with freelance reporter Jacob Ganz about some of the music Ganz discovered while covering this year's festival, which ended July 19. LISTEN AFTER THE JUMP
Download this show in the All Songs Considered podcast.
ROBBIE FRAN!!!
Online Poll: Jon Stewart Is America's Most Trusted Newsman
Well, in a result that he will probably accept as downright apocalyptic for America, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart has been selected, in an online poll conducted by Time Magazine, as America's Most Trusted Newscaster, post-Cronkite. Matched up against Brian Williams, Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, Stewart prevailed with 44 percent of the vote. Now, if we're being honest, he probably managed to prevail as the winner precisely because he was the odd man out in a field of network news anchors. - Huffington Post READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP
That there is our good friend Horchata! Tell 'em 'Chata!!!
Cal State trustees approve 20% fee hike, faculty and staff furloughs
As several hundred students shouted "vote no" just outside the door, California State University trustees voted this afternoon to raise student fees by 20% for this fall and furlough all staff, including college presidents, two days a month. - READ THE ARTICLE AFTER THE JUMP
A Folk Rock Dream Team, The Tallest Man On Earth, A Tribute To George Harrison, More...
All Songs Considered, - They call themselves The Monsters Of Folk: Jim James, frontman for the band My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and singer-guitarist M. Ward have joined together to form a kind of folk-rock dream team. The three have put together a new album of original work, with producer Mike Mogis at the helm. We've got a cut for you this week. Also on the show: Jim James has recorded a solo tribute album to George Harrison, under the name Yim Yames; Swedish singer Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. The Tallest Man On Earth; John Davis, formerly of the band Georgie James, has a new project called Title Tracks; Phil Elverum of The Microphones returns with a new band he's calling Mount Eerie; guitarist Bill Frisell composes new music for a series of rural photographs from the 1920s; and the sprawling, neo-psychedelic group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. LISTEN TO ALL THE TRACKS AFTER THE JUMP
hahahahahaha!
Forget the Trash Bag, Bring a Towel
By MELENA RYZIK
The only thing cooler than a pool party on a summer night in New York City is a secret pool party.
And the only thing cooler than that, as a few enterprising developers recently discovered, is a secret pool party in a pool made out of a Dumpster on the banks of the Gowanus Canal in industrial Brooklyn.
On a rented lot that’s hidden from the street they have erected what they call a lo-fi urban country club: three connected pools housed in Dumpsters; a boccie court; some lounge chairs, grills and cabanas. On Saturday night just three dozen people got the nod to check it out, at an afterparty for the art journal Cabinet. “Please don’t forward,” the invitation read. READ THE ARTICLE AFTER THE JUMP
Look what originally linked me to the article (the source link is off of ONTD). I laughed out loud. Hard. People are again avoiding my office. Here it is: Source, with pretty typical video of hipsters swimming in fucking dumpsters.
Oberst, Jim James and M. Ward Form Monsters Of Folk Supergroup
When Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis hit the road together in 2004 under the banner “An Evening With: Bright Eyes, Jim James and M. Ward,” insiders referred to the tour as “Monsters of Folk.” The name stuck, and now the quartet have announced an official release under the moniker: their self-titled album is due September 22nd.
The My Morning Jacket, She & Him and Bright Eyes members carved out time in Malibu and Omaha studios and spent two years working sessions into their already packed schedules; Mogis produced the album. The band’s reps promise an LP of road-worn, sun-soaked fables with brilliant choruses and some electronic elements.
Oberst is also the subject of a profile in the new issue of Rolling Stone, in which Conor talks spirituality, Leonard Cohen and retiring the Bright Eyes moniker to hit the road with the Mystic Valley Band. As for Monsters of Folk. check out their free MP3 download here!Sonic Youth In Concert
NPR.org, - After spending nearly 20 years delivering crunchy, underground guitar rock for a major label, Sonic Youth has returned to its indie roots for its 16th studio album, The Eternal. Out now on Matador Records, Sonic Youth's latest effort is among the band's finest, with a fuzzy, tightly orchestrated mix of psych-punk rock and noisy jams. The band showcased the album in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club July 7. - LISTEN TO THE SHOW AFTER THE JUMP
The following read is whole heartedly dedicated to Mat Ward!
Does The Music You Listen To Reflect Your Intelligence?
By Carrie Brownstein
Have you heard of or read the book Spent, by evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller? In it, Miller posits that "each of us is born with our own individual level of six big traits: intelligence, openness to new things, conscientiousness, agreeability, emotional stability and extroversion. These modules are built into humans and other animals (apparently squid can be shy)..."
According to Miller, "Driving an Acura, Infiniti, Subaru or Volkswagen is a sign of high intelligence. Driving a Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford or Hummer is a sign of low intelligence. Listening to Bjork is a sign of high intelligence, while listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd is a sign of low intelligence."
Naturally, it was that last tidbit that caught my eye.
Sure, most of us are music snobs, whether we want to admit it or not. And we are guilty of making snap judgments based on a Phish or Korn bumper sticker, an Evanescence or Fall Out Boy T-shirt, or, even worse, someone's glaring lack of musical knowledge (as in, "You've never heard of Black Flag?!"). But do we really think that country or Southern music fans are dumb, and that listeners of wackadoo Scandinavian music are smart? That seems like a stretch. - READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP
I was listening to this story over the weekend, really great perspective on the man's style and the times. Then, I looked up the page and found some additional footage that's a great compliment to the profile...
Johnny Cash's 'Big River'
By Mark O'Connor
Johnny Cash was a boyhood hero of mine. When I was 9 and 10 years old I would spend hours singing his songs and imitating the way he played the guitar. I even enlisted my mother to help me transcribe all the lyrics off of his albums. He sang about prisons, trains, about love lost and love found. One of my favorite songs of his is "Big River."
The rhythmic phrasing and vocal performance by Cash in "Big River" is remarkable; its energy and drive replaces any need for drums or percussion. Cash's own guitar strumming riff was quite memorable as well. He strummed up the neck with a dynamic crescendo. - LISTEN AFTER THE JUMP
La Santa Cecilia is a Los Angles based Latin group with a distinctly unique sound. Using traditional instruments in a non-traditional way, the band is able to create a sound that extends beyond the boundaries of the Latin genre. Each band member infuses his and her own musical influences into the group, making the music fun, danceable and romantic.
Proposal Seeks to have Sunset Junction Festival Free for 3 Zip Codes
From LAist:
Unless Sunset Junction Festival organizers address local resident concerns and businesses, the festival is unlikely to be permitted by the city. So far, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, who represents the area at a grassroots neighborhood level, has voted against the festival in its entirety. For their meeting tomorrow, the agenda (.pdf) lists has a motion for consideration that seeks to alleviate some of those concerns:
The SLNC has voted against the Sunset Junction Street Festival in its present form. This was done on behalf of the Silver Lake residents and businesses that endure hardships & extreme distress regarding parking, traffic, poor safety control and financial demands. I, Patricia McGrath therefore move that the SLNC ask that the following conditions be applied for 2009, if this festival is to be held this year: (1) All Silver Lake residents and their families in zip codes 90039, 90029 and 90026 be allowed entry for free; and (2) Separate beer gardens be designated for alcohol, so attending individuals and families can find and walk in alcohol-free environs.
Safe to say, that's a lot of people. Even if passed, it doesn't mean it becomes law, nor does it mean festival organizers have to make it so. Neighborhood Councils are only advisory to the City Council. But Councilmember Eric Garcetti has made it clear that the neighborhood council is playing an important and strong role in this case. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Diane Birch
In Concert
WXPN - Singer, songwriter and pianist Diane Birch sounds like a seasoned veteran, due in no small part to her extensive world travels as a child. But she's only just released her first album, Bible Belt, which skillfully blends soul, rock, jazz and pop. Hear Birch perform live in concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. LISTEN AFTER THE JUMP
Dirty Projectors: Balancing Head And Heart
By Will Hermes
It's been around 30 years — since the CBGB's era — since New York City has had a really vital rock scene. But they've sure got one now. Albums by Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear have already been flagged as two of this year's best. And I think another adventurous young band with Brooklyn roots, Dirty Projectors, has made a third.
An experimental rock group with a shifting lineup, led by recent Yale graduate David Longstreth, Dirty Projectors can be playfully high-concept; the band has made a song cycle whose storyline somehow involves Eagles singer Don Henley and a highly abstracted remake of the LP Rise Above by the '80s punk rockers in Black Flag. But Bitte Orca — the band's latest release, so named because Dirty Projectors liked the sound of it — is more straightforward. It focuses on the mixed male and female voices of the band members. While parts are influenced by modern R&B, the arrangements are far different. The single "Stillness Is the Move," for example, strikes me as a bit like Destiny's Child teaming up with Talking Heads.
Theresa Andersson
One-Woman Wall Of Sound
By Rita Houston
Theresa Andersson is a one-woman band, and this was never more apparent than when she strolled into the WFUV studios with no band members, but two engineers — most solo artists don't travel with any. When I booked the interview back in the early part of this year, it was because I had seen her on YouTube where she had recorded a live version of her song "Na, Na, Na" in her kitchen. The video went viral and her kitchen became famous.
Andersson's new album, Hummingbird, Go! seemed to go back to the "wall of sound" era with a full band and all the trimmings, and yet here she was by herself, surrounded by drums, tons of floor pedals, slide steel guitar and a guitar on her back, and playing them all while singing. I thought I was good at multi-tasking, but this was a whole other level. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Taco Trucks: 2, Government: 0
The County tried to regulate the time a taco trucks could operate in one place and lost. On Friday, a similar, but lesser known Los Angeles city ordinance from 2006 was struck down by a judge. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Directors dig into Beat era
New films tackle Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs
By STEVE CHAGOLLAN
If a handful of filmmakers get their way, they'll soon convince audiences the real Birth of the Cool predated punk music, the Summer of Love or even Elvis. Yes, the Beats are making a comeback in a spate of movies that summon the spirits of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs.
These writers and other key figures of the Beat Generation play prominent roles in three upcoming movies: "Howl," a narrative film from documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ("The Times of Harvey Milk"); "Kill Your Darlings" from Christine Vachon's Killer Films; and what could turn out to be the ultimate road movie: the long-awaited adaptation of Kerouac's "On the Road," by Walter Salles and Jose Rivera, the director and screenwriter behind "The Motorcycle Diaries." - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Grizzly Bear
An In-Studio Performance
Recorded Live At WNYC
The Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear releases one of the year's most hotly anticipated albums next week, but fans can hear some of its songs sooner than that: On Thursday, May 21, the group performed a special acoustic set, including material from Veckatimest, when it opened WNYC's American Music Festival with a live in-studio broadcast and webcast. Grizzly Bear performed new songs in the studio, with host David Garland welcoming the band and asking its members about their new music. LISTEN TO THE SET AFTER THE JUMP.
Exclusive Listen: Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse Team Up With David Lynch
Hear The Year's Most Mysterious Album In Its Entirety, Weeks Before Its Release
When the first cryptic bits of news about Dark Night of the Soul began trickling in earlier this year, it all sounded too good to be true. Though the whole project was shrouded in mystery, it appeared that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, two of the most inspired artists making music today, were collaborating on a new album. That alone was enough to get our geek gears spinning with excitement. But there was an unusual twist that few of us at NPR Music could make sense of: Director David Lynch was somehow involved. MORE AFTER THE JUMP
A Song That Gives You Chills, Dinosaur Jr., Black Moth Super Rainbow, More
All Songs Considered - Has there ever been a song that gives you chills down your spine every time you hear it? For Bob Boilen, it's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" written by Sandy Denny and performed by Fairport Convention. You can hear it on this edition of All Songs Considered and tell us the song that gives you chills — no matter what — on the blog. Also on the program: the sharp guitar playing of Sarah Siskind, adventures in sound with Black Moth Super Rainbow, the 12-string guitar explorations of James Blackshaw, the heavy emotions of Dinosaur Jr. and the electronic pop music of Passion Pit.
DENGUE FEVER
Sleepwalking Through the Mekong follows Los Angeles based band Dengue Fever on their recent journey to Cambodia to perform 60s and 70s Cambodian rock n' roll in the country where it was created and very nearly destroyed. The odyssey is a homecoming for singer Chhom Nimol and a transformation for the rest of the band as they perform with master musicians and record new songs along the way.
Yeah, as many of you know from seeing them live, they're really THAT good! check out this footage from their current tour.
Here's some video of on of Soko's few L.A. performances:
Echo Park Named One of Top 10 Great Neighborhoods
And when you hear that, you might find yourself asking which Realtor came up with that ranking. Luckily, this time there is some creditability behind the designation: the American Planning Association. They "singled out Echo Park because of its breathtaking topography set in the hills above downtown, historic architecture, pedestrian-oriented streets and stairways, and engaged residents who, over the years, have gone to great lengths to protect and preserve their community," according to an APA release (add: their website has more info and history on why EP was chosen) .... more after you click on the image!
SUBMIT YOUR PICTURES!!!
THE MAE-SHI @ Spaceland
THE MOVIES @ Spaceland
DENGUE FEVER @ Viper Room
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