FEAR AND LOATHING AND OBSESSING OVER ROCK BANDS…
My trip to Vegas with a girl, a bottle of Vodka, and tickets to see one of the greatest rock bands!!!
It all started with an idea, a very simple and yet dangerous idea. How hard would it be for me to sneak into Coachella? This is the first year concert goers couldn’t buy single day passes. As it turned out this is the first year also where I was ABSOLUTELY going to spend the money and buy tickets for Saturday and Sunday – but the organizers of Coachella went and screwed that up for me! But I digress. So I began thinking of ways to scale a fence, bypass a security guard or ten and get into Coachella without dropping hundreds of dollars for a three day pass and another three hundred dollars on hotels, etc.
I started trying to enlist people to go along with this plan of mine and no one seemed all that interested in driving for 2 hours to “maybe” get into a show – or “maybe” get arrested (although I really don’t think that would happen – we’d simply be escorted from the premises). So the next and possibly more subdued idea for my plan was to legally get a chance to see Muse. Then it hit me – LAS VEGAS BABY!!!
I had been checking the Muse website to see where and when they would be around Los Angeles but I was positive the show would be sold out. Turns out Vegas still had tickets and I was now determined to see this band that I’ve been playing on my iPod, in my car, while I cook dinner, when I’m taking a shower. MUSE! Over and over and over again. I sent out a FB message saying I was thinking of getting tickets to see Muse in Las Vegas and immediately one of my best Girl-Fridays said they were down!
I believe the next thought went something like this: HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT.
We were extremely excited to have a girls-trip, Vegas, and Muse weekend all rolled into one!
More plotting, scheduling of hotels, and then contemplating what we would do when we got to town went on. We decided on The Luxor Hotel, for it’s proximity to Mandalay Bay and on vodka for obvious reasons. Hunter S. Thompson kept being mentioned over and over again and there were some thoughts that maybe we might get into a fair amount of trouble…all of these things were good in our book. The big day arrived and we packed up the car with the appropriate amount of booze (ok, a lot of booze), fashionable glittery items, shoes, all of the Muse CD’s I own, and we were off. (more…)
The Robotanists EP Release Party Downtown LA 04/10/10
(click on images to enlarge)
Ever since I got ahold of their new EP, “Shapes and Variations,” I’ve been a huge fan of the Robotanists. Sure, it hasn’t been a long time, but it’s been a whirlwind of a romance. If you’re a regular TRAffIK reader than you’ve read my glowing musings about Sarah, Daniel, and the rest of the Robotanists. If not, you should do yourself a favor and go read it now before you continue. Go ahead. I’ll wait…..
OK, now that we’re all up to speed….I saw them play this past weekend in a loft setting straight out of “How To Make It In America.” The Robotanists failed to disappoint…unlike that awful HBO turdfest. (Seriously, did we really need an East Coast Entourage) The band’s set list mixed in some old tracks, covers, and a new track that highlighted their rich pop driven sounds and unique arrangements . I expected to enjoy their set, and I did, but after sitting through it I went home with a newfound appreciation for the band. When listening to their recordings it is easy to get lost in Sarah Ellquist’s magnetic voice so it was refreshing to see them live and have other members stand out along with her shining vocals — most notably the driving rhythms Preston Phillips drums and Daniel de Blanke’s guitar solos. Don’t believe me? Check out the video below of them covering the INXS classic “Never Tear Us Apart. (I was going to yell out “Suck on that, Beck!” but I thought better of it. Beck seems like a guy who holds grudges and I didn’t want the Robotanists getting in the middle of that.) They rocked their set and on top of that they couldn’t have been nicer people.
I expect this band to really take off in 2010. If anyone deserves to “Make it in America” it is the Robotanists
Set list:
1) “Close Down The Woods”
2) “Never Tear Us Apart” (INXS Cover)
3) “Lack There Of”
4) “Dance Dance Dance” (Lykke Li cover)
5) “How We Met Before’
6) “Wait A Minute Here”
7) “Subtlety is Underrated”
They’ll be playing a free set @ Spaceland at the end of the month. Go! For all you less frugal/lazy WestSiders (I too used to be like you) you can check them out at the Dakota Lounge on 10th & Wilshire (used to be the Temple Bar) on May 23rd.
Misc Notes:
If you’re looking to become their #1 superfan it is too late. The position has already been filled by the girl who danced throughout the entire set and belted out all the words to EVERY song and coupled them with heartfelt hand gestures that may or may not have been sign language.
The Atlantic Line followed the Robotanists and they were the pleasant surprise of the night. Check out their site where you can download their album for free
The least pleasant surprise of the night: The Blame Andy.Com guy with the shady mustache getting angry with me when I returned form the bathroom and told him he was in my seat. Imagine the Jamie Kennedy bush exchange in Harold and Kumar. It was as awkward as that. I’m still not very sure what www.blameandy.com is and I really don’t want to find out.
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Yep, LCD has leaked! This is all happening!
With the anticipation of this weekend’s Coachella in the air what better way to celebrate than with a leak of LCD Soundsystem’s highly anticipated third album. With Friday’s set right around the corner the timing of this leak could not have been any better. Just yesterday, I was asked what song had me most excited for Coachella and my immediate answer was LCD’s “All My Friends” so obviously I’m pretty pumped about this leaked album. This album all but guarantees that Little Dragon and Imogen Heap will be playing to crickets and tumbleweeds. Insert your own “Hide and Seek” joke here.
LCD Soundsystem, (A.K.A James Murphy) has claimed that this will be his last album and if that’s truly the case then he’s going out on top. Musically, I tend to lead a life of over-hyped anticipation and subsequent letdowns. No fault to the artists but my mind takes me to places where the artist simply can’t reach. The sooner an album leaks the better for me. It gives me less time to build up my false towers. I’m learned to take steps to avoid this self-destructive pattern. I made sure to avoid street date info as not to expect this to come out for awhile. I also avoided the 1-2 leaked tracks that have been peppering the music blogs and twitter feeds. I was more or a less a blank slate when I received it in my inbox today. No hype. No letdown. Simple science. I knew I had to temper myself because the “Sound Of Silver” was a longtime favorite and is still in heavy rotation on my iPod.
As the lead track “Dance Yourself Clean” started up with its slight downer vibes I wondered where the LCD party was. I was sure I was destined to sing “LCD I Love You, but you’re bringing me down“. Then at the 3:08 mark the drums kicked in, shaking off the bad mojo with them, and I haven’t looked back since. If This is All Happening is truly his last album it is one epic swan song. This album is full of amazing tracks. I’m only on my second spin of it but I feel confident in saying this might very well might be your soundtrack to the summer. I want to say so much more but my mind is swimming in the beats and layers. This album has altered my ability to think straight.
LCD, it’s a helluva drug.
Highlights: “All I Want,” “Home,” “Dance Yourself Clean, ” “I Can Change”
STREAM THE ALBUM HERE
…and as always go support LCD Soundsystem when they hit your town.
OUT TO SEE: CAN TOO MUCH MUSIC LEAD TO ILLNESS? I’M SICK…
I had less than ideal health this past winter. I’m not saying I was ever on my deathbed. In fact, over the course of a year I only missed three days of work due to illness (if an Internet source is correct, the average full time worker takes 8.5 days of sick leave). The situation is that starting around December, I went through this routine of getting colds that lasted about three days. I’d recover and then figure I could just go back to my normal routine, and then about two weeks later the sniffles would return.
I am either getting old or perhaps it is just bad luck.
Sidebar. As I write the first draft of this column, I am fighting back another bout of a sore throat and runny nose (that in fact in retrospect lasted longer than three days).
One friend recommended that I give up the night life and go for 8-9 hours of sleep. Perhaps she is making an appropriate recommendation. Of course, I argued that exercising out in the cold winter nights probably contributes a tad; you know, breathing in cold air –- this is what I’d like to believe.
My latest run of bad luck illness hit after four nights of music scattered amid three days of cold winter night exercising.
Here’s what perhaps led to this latest illness.
Monday: I headed off to Spaceland to catch Castledoor (pictured left) and Princeton (pictured right). I’ve previously made reference to Castledoor. What was unique about this night was the fact that it might have been 
Castledoor’s last ever set. At a minimum, it was their last set in their current form. Really sad. It was only the second time I’d seen them and I was liking them. As for Princeton, it was their residency month. For their last song, they invited anyone so willing to come up on stage. A number of folks got on stage and they had a dance party. (I would post photos of the dance party, but I’m not sure people would appreciate having their photos up on intraffik.com.) Two friends were supposed to meet me at Spaceland. Both made it to Spaceland, but didn’t get inside. When I arrived at 10 p.m. I walked right in, but it was already crowded inside Spaceland. I sent off warning texts. Unfortunately, my friends got caught in the long line that quickly formed outside after 10 p.m. Interestingly, they know each other and I’m sure they were standing in line at the same time, but neither noticed the other.
Tuesday: I was off to see Oh, The Spanish Moss and Roll the Tanks. Siria mentioned this night briefly in her ‘What I Listened to . . .’ column. I have to give props to Oh, The Spanish Moss. Their bassist had just quit on them before their gig. They decided to play anyways. Who needs a bassist anyways? As for Roll the Tanks, there was an interesting situation where one of their amps started picking up a Spanish radio station. You couldn’t hear it while they were playing, but in between songs you’d hear Spanish coming from the amp. It was amusing for the audience, but frustrating for the band. (more…)
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be
I probably shouldn’t admit to this but I spend a lot of my weekend days in Venice at a magical place called On The Waterfront Cafe. It’s a Swiss/German beer garden with delicious beer, the best giant pretzel you’ll ever taste, and it offers up some insanely awesome people watching. If that didn’t sell then you then check out their site that looks it was crafted in 1996. Looks good right? Just in case the site wasn’t dated enough their major selling point is it is the very same beergarden “As seen on TV’s Pacific Blue!” This blatant disregard for modernization is another part of it’s charms. You’ll feel like you’ve time-traveled back to 1996 when you hang out there and you commingle with the burnt out lifelong Dogtown residents. Adding to that feeling is the spotty cell coverage there. For some reason the garden patio, besides being a hotbed for blackouts, is a black hole for cell signals. Good luck twittering, facebooking, and foursquaring. Texting and call coverage are spotty at best. You really are back in 1996. Your iPhone is more or less transformed into a Motorola Startec. I mention this because at the garden, after many a dinger, people have arguments that require the use of Wiki, Google, and IMDB. Since everyone is getting banged up, those apps act as the sober friend who rolls their eyes and is forced to squash stupid drunken disagreements centered on questions like: What was the name of the teacher in “Stand And Deliver” (Jaime Escalante. Sadly I already knew this), Is Ellen Page a Lesbian (I say yes), Who sang “I’ve Seen Better Days ” (Citizen King), and Can dogs look up? (No, according to Big AL) .
So obviously no one is solving serious world problems at the garden, but people still need answers. One argument I missed out on recently was that “There are no good girl bands.” Apparently one of my friends told a girl that there were never any good girl bands nor will there ever be. Ladies and Gentleman, we have a guest speaker for How Not to Woo Girls 101: Intro to Blatant Sexism. Without the power of the Internet he did seem to have a point. People on the pro girl side were weakly throwing out names like the Go Gos, The Bangles, and now, thanks to that ridiculous movie that just so happened to spawn this conversation, The Runaways. Name checking two 80’s group and one 70’s exploitative flash in the pan is not the way to win an argument. If I was there I would have defended the female population by throwing out two present day all girl band that can stand head to head with any dudes: LA’s Warpaint and The Dum Dum Girls. I saw Warpaint open for Yeasayer at The Museum of Natural History and they more than held their own. They downright rocked. Part of me wished I could have seen them when my future wife, Shannyn Sossamon, was behind the drum kit but it was probably for the best. I already have an unhealthy thing for girl drummers so seeing her pounding on a high hat would have been way too much for me to handle. Plus, let’s be honest does anyone think she could have kept up on “Krimson” like their current drummer? I can answer that sans my iPhone: No.
I expect big things from Warpaint in 2010. (more…)
DELTRON3030 RECOMMENDED: Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
The Gorillaz, a goofy side project for Damon Albarn did something that Blur could never do stateside - They became popular. Sure gay dudes and fat chicks really dug Blur and “Song #2″ became an arena Anthem, but they never saw their US popularity match the level of love they received across the pond. The same can’t be said for the Gorillaz. Their first two albums sold 15 million copies, well exceeding anything Blur ever did. Damon easily could have grown bitter that his 2D counterpart thrashed him the way his nemesis Noel Gallagher used to during the mid 90’s Brit-Pop wave, but he instead embraced the role of pied piper of the whacked out Gorillaz army. Twelve years since their inception and initial success the Gorillaz are in the midst of their greatest triumph – They have become a full on band (more on that later), they released an amazing new record Plastic Beach, and they’re headlining Coachella. The fact that Plastic Beach was on everyone’s most anticipated album of 2010 list is a testament to the work that Albarn and his collaborators have put out in the past. Not bad for a “fake” band.
After weeks of scouring the internet for a leak of Plastic Beach, and ending up with an album of old remixes and then an album full of Rick Astely’s “Never Going to Give You Up” (yep. I got
rick-rolled), I decided to do the unthinkable and wait until the album was officially released to purchase it. My patience wore thin as the days closed in on the release but it was totally worth the wait. It is a fantastically crafted album that as It turns out it is something more…and at times something less then what you’d expect from the Gorilaz.
Right off the bat Plastic Beach leads off with an Orchestral Intro and you can just tell that this isn’t going to be your typical Gorillaz LP. The intro seques into a forced guest appearance by Snoop Dogg, AKA pop music’s biggest one trick pony. Even with him ruining the slow glide atmosphere you can’t help but feel like you’re being invited into a different Gorillaz world. A hitless world of flowing atmosphere and sprawling sounds. Albarn’s mostly one man show (he writes all the music, lyrics, and more or less plays all the instruments) is assisted on this third album by an eclectic crew of guests (besides the unfortunate Snoop Dogg) headed by Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, and Little Dragon. They all bring sounds to their tracks that offer nice compliments to the familiar Albarn pitch, especially Bobby Womack. He’s the rug that ties the room together,man. He absolutely murders his two tracks. I love this album. I love it because of what it is. I love it because of what it isn’t. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t love it right away. In a way that’s the beauty of it is the different soundscapes, the variety of guests, and the “newness” of it all combine to create a sound that welcomes you to revisit the world over and over again.
Albarn was quoted as saying “‘I’m making this one the most pop record I’ve ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth.” In many ways he succeeded. While you’d be hard pressed to find a top ten chart burner in the vein of ”Dirty Harry” or “Feel Good, Inc” there’s a plethora of tracks here that together as a whole outshine the previously released Gorillaz single material. In a world that constantly pushes singles and is comfortable digesting tracks via the iTunes ”Dollar Menu” it is refreshing to see an artist, who has had enormousness single sales history, to strive for something greater. He’s created a whole new world for the listener to travel to. I suppose that is what Snoop Dogg meant when he said “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach.” The Gorillaz will be bringing the Plastic Beach to the Polo Fields of Indio, CA for Coachella. To flesh out the band Albarn has recruited Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (who also appear on the album), performing on guitar and bass respectively. So you’re getting a Clash reunion of sorts to go along with a live Gorillaz concert. Like I said, not bad for a “fake” band.
Highlights: ”Stylo,” “On Melancholy Hill,” ”Superfast Jellyfish,” ”Some Kind of Nature,”