It was another amazing weekend in San Diego and probably hot as hell at Coachella. I missed out this year and would be a little more bummed if I didn't spend the weekend cruising around the beach with friends and sipping vodka arnold palmers poolside at the Marriott. I would have liked to have seen M. Ward play on Friday along with a few others. His song and new music video for "Rave On" makes me feel all warm and summery inside. Oh well, there's always next year to lather on sunscreen and sweat bullets in the desert heat.
Posted By carly | 4/20/2009 | 8:09 AM | View Comments (1)
Pecha Kucha Night does not involve me having a few too many beers, totally butchering Bennie and the Jets and eventually getting booed off the stage. Well, two out of three might happen...
Pecha Kucha is an international creative meetup hosted in 180+ cities world wide. 10 presenters, from a variety of design-based fields, are alotted 20 slides and 20 seconds to speak on each. The topics can range from Public Art to Vertical Farming; this month features Architectural Photographer, Mike Torrey, Holiday Matinee's Dave Brown and yours truly will be discussing the growth and sustainability of San Diego's creative community.
Monday April 20th will be San Diego's second installment of the quarterly gathering, hosted at The Pearl in Point Loma. Presentations start at 8pm sharp, more info here.
Posted By zack | 4/19/2009 | 10:56 PM | Add a Comment
This saturday at M-Theory and around the country, local record stores will be celebrated. About every band you know and care about is releasing special singles, eps and what-have-you for this one day event. M-Theory also has a great local lineup of in-store performances on tap... Info below from M-Theory.
Record Store Day Festivities at M-Theory : Sat. April 18th from 10am-8pm. Guest cashiers Pall Jenkins of Black Heart Procession/Three Mile Pilot & Jimmy Lavalle of Album Leaf! Sidewalk sale with super cheap LPs & CDs. Food and drinks as well.
12pm- Maren Parusel in-store!
1pm- The Silent Comedy stripped down!
2pm- Anya Marina plays live!
4pm- Dramarama performs!
6pm- Menomena Foosball Tournament - Beat Menomena, win merch!
9pm- Menomena, Calico Horse & Writer play The Casbah!
There are also a ton of exclusive indie releases by the likes of Bad Religion, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Decemberists, Depeche Mode, Bob Dylan, Flaming Lips, Black Keys, Flight of the Conchords, Ben Harper, Janes Addiction, Jesus Lizard, Sublime, Jenny Lewis, Rodriguez, Serge Gainsbourg, MC5, Wheedles Groove, Lykke Li, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, New Order, Oasis, Queen, Pretenders, Sonic Youth, Beck, Jay Reatard, Smiths, Pavement, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stooges, Thao, Silversun Pickups, Rivers Cuomo, Derek Trucks, Jason Mraz, Wilco and more!??
Check out more information about the day around the world at recordstoreday.com
Posted By zack | 4/16/2009 | 12:52 AM | View Comments (5)
So Goldenvoice finally released the set times for Coachella. While I'm still uncertain why they release set times 72 hours before the show begins, I'm glad it's here. In January, I put together a playlist on my iTunes of artists that were announced for the festival. Amongst the top were The Cure, anything by Paul Mccartney, The Silversun Pickups, Atmosphere and Band of Horses.
I always try to introduce myself to new bands during this time, so I can be more acquainted with bands that I'd like to see versus bands that I know I'm gonna see. Usually this balances out to bands that I've heard of versus ones that I've never even heard of.
Coachella does one thing extremely well. They balance. Regardless of your taste or preferred musical genre, you're always going to enjoy something there you weren't expecting to like. This year proves to be no exception.
So, quickly, I'll break down a few artists that I've grown to like over the past few months, that you should definitely check out.
First off, The Knux. An indie hip hop family band out of New Orleans that has really blown my lid. Two brothers who emerged from the wake of the devestation that we now refer to as Katrina, and decided to make fun, danceable tunes despite the circumstances. They play the big stage on Sunday at 1:35pm. Get there early and start your last day off with a bang.
Antony & the Johnsons. With the release this year of This Crying Light, Antony has created a buzz worldwide. Most music conoseiurs already knew about this sweet voice, where until February I had not. If you want a rest from your typical rock music and discover something absolutely beautiful, give Antony your ears on Sunday at 5:25 at the Outdoor theatre. Only dissapointment is that you're gonna have to split the set with Peter Bjorn & John on the main stage. With their breakout hit from the movie Juno, Young Folks, the trio recently released Living Thing, a mature followup to their playful beginnings.
Haven't heard of Lykke Li? Why not? She's a swedish breakout that has collaberated on many many projects. Lately she worked with former Coachella performing duo Royksopp. She's on Sunday at 4 right before Antony. If you're a guy, definitely go - cause she's hot, and an awesome performer. If you're a girl, this is your dancing opportunity. Shake it.
As for Saturday...
Blitzen Trapper has been the buzz of the indie world lately. Such a good band with such a great vibe, it's mid day Saturday jollies. Of course you want to check out TV on The Radio to see if they can live up to the hype that's surrounded them for the past couple years, I know that's exactly why I'm going to check them out. Can they really pull it off live? I guess we'll wait and see.
Band of Horses is totally a scheduling conflict with Junior Boys which is a crying shame despite how much I like both of their last albums. My decision in this one will probably be that Junior Boys really doesn't roll through as much as Band of Horses, seeing as how they're Canadian and all. But, I saw their YouTube videos of live performances and can't actually say that I was dying to buy a ticket to see them anyways. The new album, Begone Dull Care has gotten rave reviews, and a couple tracks into it I was impressed, so they're really high up on my maybe list. Maybe.
And most of all, Friday.
This is friggin tough. Friday is the DAY that I wish spanned over 3 days. I don't know where to begin and end, so I'll go with these must-see's. The Silversun Pickups (seen em live, they killed it, the new album is THAT good). Patton & Rahzel (how do they get away with this shit? a veteran rocker teams w/ a former The Roots member, and it works? yes, very well) Noah & The Whale, The Ting Tings, and The Airborne Toxic Event. This is honestly overload. The Ting Tings are awesome Manchester 'shake your ass' rock, that is just party centered, be there. Airborne Toxic Event is just breaking out on the mainstream indie, and for good reason, they're changing the rules of indie. Yes, you can be a band and play 7 minute songs that hold water for all 7 minutes.
Of course. I know. You really want to see Paul Mccartney, The Cure, and The Killers (just to say you did, even if you don't like them). Do it. Go see whatever bands you want, and check out bands you wouldn't buy a ticket to go see normally.
Like I said, if Coachella does one thing well, it's that they really mix it up. You never know who is gonna blow your socks off, and who is going to be surprisingly bad. Just make sure when you step through the gates at the Polo Grounds in Indio, you're open to a good time. Cause in the end, that's all that matters.
Why don't you tell us who are you stoked about seeing this weekend..?
Posted By dustin | 4/14/2009 | 10:04 PM | View Comments (2)