
The boys in Paddle Boat mentioned the Santa Barbara-based Gardens & Villa to me last year, having played a house show with them while touring up the coast in early 2010. An email from our Indigenous friends in Los Angeles reminded me to give them a listen, and to say the least, I'm impressed. Here's two tracks off their forthcoming record, due out on Secretly Canadian this summer. Catch Gardens & Villa at The Casbah this Wednesday opening for Tapes n' Tapes or 04.29 at Soda Bar with Cuckoo Chaos.
Posted By zack | 3/15/2011 | 10:07 PM | Add a Comment
After a year of scavenging for reclaimed wood and stock-piling all sorts of collectibles, Wes Bruce built forts all over San Diego County. From gulleys and sewers to galleries and museums, Wes' experiential structures moved everyone who spent a moment or the night under their patched roof. Film-maker Bryan Bangerter followed Wes for the better half of 2010, and has edited down a forty-five minute documentary primarily focusing on Wes' giant fort installation at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. The film will premiere this Wednesday at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park accompanied by a site specific installation built by Wes in MoPA's atrium and live music by Joel P West. You can reserve your ticket for the screening here and RSVP on Facebook here. Should be a magical evening.

Posted By zack | 3/11/2011 | 4:06 PM | Add a Comment
The backing track to the video above is your preview to the B Side of Writer's Miss Mermaid 7 Inch, an alternate version of "Swamp Fire Lake" recorded, mixed, and mastered in one day by Andy and Jayme of Writer, Travis and Paul of Tape Deck Mountain, and Brad Lee at SDRL. Pick up a copy of the 7 Inch from Loud And Clear Records for $5 bucks. For now here's Miss Mermaid to refresh your memory.
Front page photo and Miss Mermaid image shot by Charles Bergquist.
The brothers Ralph are hitting the road to SXSW this weekend. Here's a rundown of their next two weeks worth of shows.
Tue 3/8 - Long Beach, CA @ The Prospector // 10pm
Wed 3/9 - Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge // 9pm
Thu 3/10 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah // 9pm
Sat 3/12 - Las Vegas, NV // Neon Reverb Fest @ Bunkhouse // 6pm
Sun 3/13 - Scottsdale, AZ @ Rogue Bar // 9pm
Tue 3/15 - Marfa, TX @ Padre's Marfa // 8pm
Wed 3/16 - Austin, TX // SXSW @ Lustre Pearl // 1pm
Fri 3/18 - Austin, TX // SXSW @ Maison De'Toile // 1pm
Fri 3/18 - Dallas, TX @ City Tavern // 9pm
Sat 3/19 - Austin, TX // SXSW @ The Grackle // 12pm
Sat 3/19 - Austin, TX // SXSW @ Republic Square Park // 2:15pm
Sun 3/20 - Lubbock, TX @ Bash Riprock's // 9pm
Mon 3/21 - Albuquerque, NM @ The Kosmos // 8pm
Tue 3/22 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress // 8pm

Posted By zack | 3/9/2011 | 11:14 AM | Add a Comment

Tape Deck Mountain released a video for It Goes Down, the second track off their Secret Serf EP. The home-made video features the full cast of characters that live over at the Maple / Montclair compound in South Park. Catch Tape Deck Mountain live this Friday at The Casbah with Asobi Seksu and Braids.
Posted By zack | 3/7/2011 | 3:04 PM | Add a Comment

Mrs. Magician and Ale Mania are teaming up for a dual record release show this Saturday at Soda Bar. Mrs. Magician's 7 inch features the surf-pop track The Spells, and is available now via Loud And Clear Records.

Ale Mania is dropping their first full length entitled A, Who Sings That Beat, put out by San Diego's Volar Records. Have a listen to "Robot Universe" below and be sure to make it down to Soda Bar on Saturday night.

Posted By zack | 3/3/2011 | 2:03 PM | Add a Comment