Beach House Gives FREE “Norway”

Beach House just gave us a sneak peak of their soon-to-be-released album Teen Dream by giving away a FREE download of their track “Norway.” Check it out!

“Norway” by Beach House

Free show: The Drums @ Spaceland

The Drums, who are amazing, will be playing a FREE 21+ show at Spaceland in Silverlake (Los Angeles) tomorrow. GO!

Who:

THE HAPPY HOLLOWS
THE DRUMS
EVAN WAY
RANDOM PATTERNS

When:

Monday, November 16th 2009 at 8:30 pm

Where:

Club Spaceland

Notes:

Only 21+

I’m diggin’…

These are the five top tracks and albums that I’m diggin’ at this very moment:

Track – Album – Artist

1. “Four Letter Word” – Music For Men - The Gossip
2. “Fireflies” – El Radio - Chris Garneau
3. “The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me” – Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
4. “Winter Games” – Person to Person – Foreign Born
5. “Pa Pa Power” – Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones

Follow my playlist on Lala which carries all the songs I talk about (it’s FREE):

Playlist

Bishop Allen @ the Echoplex

This is the second time I’ve seen Bishop Allen and this show was certainly much more appealing than the previous one. The first time I saw them was at the Troubadour and I felt that it was a bit lackluster. However, the energy and stage presence was so much better this time.

For this show, the venue organizers did this really cool thing were showgoers were able to flow in and out of the Echo (which sits above the Echoplex) and the Echoplex. Two different shows were going on simultaneously in both venues with a diverse lineup.

This night, I went with a fellow journalist friend named Aneesah who’s pretty damn rad and way too funny hen she’s had some drinks. Before the show, we stopped at a local taco place on Sunset blvd. and had some delicious tacos with horchata. During our meal, a cute server approached us and complimented Aneesah’s braids and we broke out in laughter because it was so damn awkward; it was a Kodak moment.

After our girlish thrill, we headed to the Echo. There was a small line near the entrance but we were in in no time. We handed our ID’s, which is this still exciting since I just turned 21, paid our $8 measly dollars (a great deal by the way) and headed down the dark staircase leading to the Echoplex.

We found our way to the bar and seeking an Adios for Aneesah to get her drink on. The bartender neared and we ordered the drink. He quickly prepared it and placed it before Aneesah. “It’s 11 dollards” he said. Aneesah’s mouth dropped and  we looked at each other in disbelief. We split the bill to save each other from near bankruptcy. I decided to instead opt for a vodka cranberry for $6.

We walked in the dimly lighted room and plopped onto an empty oversized, raised chair and sipped our drinks. We waited for about 15 minutes, slowly losing our inhibitions. The stage light up and we walked towards it as four people lined up at center stage.

Darwin Steeez jammed to several 80’s classic tunes and Top 40 songs such as Beyonce’ s “Single Ladies.” The band complimented their songs with quirky dance moves straight from the streets of Brooklyn when Beat Boys were hot. Their set was fun and musically fruitful.

Next was Throw Me At The Statue. Their sound was solid but the stage presence was lacking. It seemed as though much of the crowd felt the same way because the crowd slowly started to thin out and conversations began to overpower the performance.

Headlining, Bishop Allen quickly set up their gear and began. They played such songs as “Click, Click, Click,” “Butterfly Nets,” and “Middle Management.” Their stage presence as they avoided just standing around. Overall, it was a healthy performance and people were raving about the band as they left at the end of the night.

It was a great night filled with random, unnecessary laughs and beautifully creative music. And Aneesah had a blast as well.

Song of The Day: Ben Kweller

Reminiscing in Kweller songs, I came across this jewel. I haven’t played much of his stuff recently but playing his tracks again feels so good.

Ben Kweller has had a steadily matured throughout his musical career and he isn’t afraid to cross through genres, thus, his sound is constantly changing.

His newest album Changing Horses has Texan touch as he delved into his roots for its inspiration. Yet, before all of this, there was “Wasted and Ready” from his break through album Sha Sha.

Check out the song…

Darker My Love @ The Barn

Darker My Love stopped by The Barn and put on an outstanding performance. The band quickly traveled throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s; mixing influences such as The Jam and The Who into a wonderful mesh of sounds.

Check out the rest of the pictures after the jump…

The return of “me”

It seems as though I haven’t posted any new material recently and that’s because I haven’t. I’ve been held up juggling life and we all know how tough, annoying, and tedious that can be but I have returned to the cyber world with a whole grip of new music for all of you.

I’ve also been tirelessly planning (and plotting) new artist pieces and interviews which have proven extremely time consuming, robbing me of precious blogging opportunities. So…expect that rad stuff up in the near future.

While I was gone, I checked out the new Gossip album, Music For Men, and it’s terrific. To continue with the good vibes, I’ve posted one of the tracks featured on the album called “Four Letter Word” that I absolutely love. Enjoy!

Song of The Day

Adorable and quirky Regina Spektor has struck melodic gold with her newest album Far. All of the songs on the album are lovely as they are distinctive of Spektor’s fun persona. However, in Far, Spektor has blossomed into a well-tuned lady and she confronts deeper issues such as religion and universal criticism of our society; she does so in such a playful, subtle manner

This is surely one my favorite albums this year and I suggest you invest in a copy, you won’t be disappointed.

I love all the songs so it’s tough to pick out one track so I’ve posted the videos for three. Check them out…

Nirvana Live At Reading, Never-Before-Released

I’m not much of a Nirvana fan, don’t send me hate mail, I just never got into them and never truly enjoyed the grunge era. However, I know that many of you love Nirvana so I am sure this will please all those of you.

Nirvana’s 1992 Reading concert, never-before-released, will debut in November. This historic concert is certainly a big deal since it includes three unrecorded songs, “Tourette’s,” “All Apologies,” and “Dumb” which were performed at that concert.

Limited edition CD+DVD Deluxe Edition of the Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued on November 3, 2009. DVD, CD, 2LP version will soon follow on November 24, 2009.

Check out the FULL track listing…

New Wildbirds & Peacedrums “My Heart” Video

Swedish duo, Wildbirds & Peacedrums just released their newest video “My Heart” from their recent album The Snake.

Check out the video…