Deltron 3030 Recommended: Vampire Weekend – Contra
“Have you ever heard of this new band…they’re called Vampire Weekend” – Redacted (01/05/10)
This precious sentence came from a friend who just last week was seduced by the charms of 2008’s buzziest band. Her future in the A&R Department is not looking so good but to be honest there was something refreshingly beautiful about her statement. She managed to avoid the hyper cycle of buzz and backlash that the Internet generated before this band ever released an album. The Internet is both a blessing and a curse for new artists. Hipster credit is earned and burned in months. This girl however apparently couldn’t access the internet from the rock she lived under so she wasn’t swayed by any snide blogger’s Vampire hate rants. Nor was she turned off by the endless stream of bros who decided that this band would be the new heroes of their popped collar Polo set. She was oblivious to them. No she was simply moved by the music.. There’s no hype machine in her mind. She does not accept payolla.
It helps that Vampire Weekend is a really good band. I’m sure many people wrote them off as one hit wonders who could do nothing but ape the music styling of Paul Simon circa Graceland but Contra is proof against that. There is refreshing sense of newness to this release. The addition of classical strings have given the band a new layer of depth and emotion that some said was missing in their freshman effort. I’ve listened to this album pretty much non stop since I got it and I’ve grown quite fond of it , sans “Horchata”. I’d rant more but then I’d contradict every thing I said in my previous paragraph. No one likes a hypocrite.
Highlights: “Cousins,” “I Think Ur A Contra,” “Giving Up The Gun,” “Run”
TIME SERVED
As you may be aware this month on Ammunition Radio on IsGoodRadio.com (podcast can be found at ammunition.podomatic.com), January’s guest co-host Amanda Jones and I have been discussing the musical experiences of our youth. We both grew up in two different worlds, she being a Los Angeles native took advantage of everything it had to offer and has the stories to share that come with such an experience. I grew up approximately two and a half hours north of here in Bakersfield, that although only a short drive was a completely different experience.
This past Sunday (and also next Sunday), we invited our talented friend and drummer Mr. John Montgomery (Bottom 12, It, Resonant Heads, Year of the Dragon, Cakecutter, The VCR) onto the show to also discuss his experiences with the LA music scene and beyond as he’s been a working musician who’s also heavily involved in the licensing/publishing side of the music business.
Last Sunday, we had my roommate and host of What’s So Funny? Sarah Longuieul whose father was one of the owners of music venue The Coach House, discussing her own experiences growing up in Orange County with members of U.S. Bombs, Angry Samoans, and the Smut Peddlers.
Although, I am from the “born in the 80’s” generation, there were some parralels within all three of our music experiences and we’ve all seen many of the same bands (just possibly at different points in their careers) and share mutual friends with many of those members of those “old school” bands.
Although, I’ve been trying not to incorporate too much country into Ammunition, everyone that knows me well, knows that Country music is a constant with me, most of my first concerts were Country music shows (at now defunct places like Cadillac Ranch and Mesa Marin Raceway or the “historic” Fox Theatres, and later consistently at Buck Owen’s The Crystal Palace). The “Bakersfield Sound,” built primarily by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and Wynn Stewart has always been a pillar of influence in the Country music genre. With the addition of the Crystal Palace, a who’s who of Country music was always “passing through.” Just like LA has a lot of film and musical history, there is a lot of country music history in Bakersfield. I was especially sad to hear about the closing down of the Buck Owen’s Recording Studios last year, and funny enough my childhood friend (who probably hangs out with my parents more than I do nowadays) Danny Garone’s band, the Iron Outlaws, ended up being the last band to record there.
You can see some footage of the final days of the studios in this documentary by N.L. Belardes for ABC Channel 23
Aside from that Country scene, growing up in Bakersfield there was definitely a fairly healthy music scene throughout my youth, (especially after the addition of Jerry’s Pizza in the early 90’s which had the teens and pre-teens taking busses from the southwest, and everywhere else in town, to downtown’s Chester Avenue for local as well as established primarily punk, power pop, and alternative rock acts.) (more…)
Deltron 3030 Recommended: The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band – ‘The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band’
Going from funky car chase music to Al Green soul crooning The Phenomenal Hand Clap Band’s self titled album is a scatter shot ode to all things 70’s. However giving so much attention to the Me Decade wasn’t enough for this band. They went further down the time line to 1981 and channeled their inner Blondie circa “Rapture” with “15 to 20″ thanks to a guest vocals assist from Lady Tigra. Fault me if you will but I’m going to pigeonhole Blondie and that sound to the 70’s as well. It just wraps things in a nice neat bow…and calling Blondie’s “Rapture” an 80’s song just doesn’t seem right to me. That track was covered in more coke and polyester than a Brady Bunch wrap party.
LA, if you have nothing to do and have $10 to spare they’re playing the Echo tonight. It’ll be worth the price of admission to see how this eight piece ensemble (9 with Lady Tigra) plan on fitting on the Echo’s tiny stage.
Highlights: “Baby,” “15 to 20,” “The Martyr, You’ll Disappear
Out to See…ZAZA
I like to take random individual day-offs throughout the year. In mid-December, I took my last random day off of 2009. What did I do on this day?
I started off doing some typical holiday shopping. I spent the morning shopping at the Citadel Outlet Mall, bought some clothes. I spent the longest amount of time looking at running shoes. I try to exercise four times a week. My current (old) running shoes were long past their replacement date so I looked around a handful of stores, looking at various pairs of shoes.
From there I headed off to Hollywood Park for horse racing. I’ve always been intrigued by horse racing. I grew up reading the Black Stallion books. Someday I’d love to see all the Triple Crown races in person. I placed some bets. I bet rather conservatively, at least in my opinion, attempting to keep losses/gains in a low range of plus or minus $20. During the first three races I didn’t place any winning bets. I decided to develop an on the fly mathematical formula to make future bets. It wasn’t anything exotic, just adding variables together. And amazingly my luck turned around. I’m convinced I’ve found the mathematical horse racing formula equivalent to card counting in Vegas. Okay, so this over-confidence is how the next time I head off to the tracks I’ll lose $50 dollars versus winning $10 this time around.
After all that fun, I got stuck in traffic for about an hour, which drained all my excitement about my winning $10 at the races. As soon as I got home I took an hour nap.
I wasted some time doing who knows what and then it was Spaceland time. ZAZA, a band from NY, was playing at Spaceland. I previously saw ZAZA opening up for IO Echo at the Echoplex in early 2009. (more…)
An Open Letter to No One in Particular…
by Jonathan Slowik
April 10, 2008. It’s been 612 days since I last sat on this beach at night. I wrote a letter that night too, but to a different recipient. Much has transpired in the meantime—not all of it entirely surprising, but I certainly didn’t think that at this point in my life, I would still be trekking to the beach at night, alone.
The Ferris wheel has undergone a makeover since that spring night. Instead of flashing your garden variety carnival lights, it now screams a long, intricate, and positively psychedelic light show from the pier. Amusing, I have to admit. But I’ve always preferred the view to the north—brake lights snaking along the PCH, stretching to the twinkling lights of Malibu, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet a confused sky.
The Los Angeles stratosphere can never really decide what color it wants to be at night, but usually ends up settling on some shade of barely visible pink. In Santa Monica, where Ocean Avenue resorts meet the black nothingness of the Pacific, all bets are off. Pink, black, gray—it’s all of these things and none of them. With diminished competition from sodium vapor lamps, dozens of stars meekly peer from behind the fabric, unsure if they’re invited.
The beach, at night, always seems like a good place to get some questions answered. I think the solitude, the calming, rhythmic crashing of the waves, and the crisp ocean air facilitate the kind of free associations we don’t normally make. Sounds like just the elixir for a night like this, since our minds don’t seem to wander as much as they used to.
Tonight’s ocean, however, is not fielding questions. Rather than that rhythmic crashing I so often find, the scene I encounter is decidedly unfriendly—a constant barrage of waves crest far from the shore and then spit foam for as long as the rising sand will allow. Bathed in moonlight, the menacing water is quite haunting, like something from a spooky scene in a children’s movie. I begin to wonder if a younger me would be frightened or delighted, and realize I’m making some free associations after all.
After a time, an oldish man approaches and stands facing the water, gazing longingly at the waves. It appears to be a good time to call it a night. He seems like he has some questions for the ocean, and perhaps he will find it more receptive than me. I’m content to trudge back across the cold sand, blanket in hand, no conclusions made—except that, improbably, it’s a beautiful night, and we should do this again sometime.
photo originally published here
A Note from Siria, Welcome to a New Year…
Many of you may see this as belated, but I personally feel that well wishes for the new year can be communicated throughout the whole month of January (I feel quite the opposite however, when it comes to Christmas lights remaining present past the first or second week of a new year). I actually have a tradition of sending out Happy New Year’s cards as opposed to Holiday cards to those I don’t get to see on a regular basis and they rarely go out before the second week of January.
With that said, “Happy New Year, the game done changed!”
That was a statement that stuck with me ever since I coverd the Feel Mode 2 DVD release last summer.
A lot has changed, this is true. However, in the end it doesn’t necessarily mean the rules have completely changed.
As I have listened to some of my friends and colleagues sharing their goals for the new year, I hope that in this next year follow-through will be more constant (including with myself). I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions, but if I did they would primarily include making more time to spend with friends and loved ones as those who know me personally know I get pulled in various directions constantly and making time is usually my hardest challenge. (more…)