‘FROM OUT OF NOWHERE’ – ONE LAST FAREWELL…
2005 was quite an eventful year in my life. A year that brought lots and lots of new people into my world. I think if we all look back at that year, we can agree that 2005 was an electric year. Things were happening, and in our world we were the people that were making them happen. The music industry had not yet reached the low point that it’s at today, and there seemed to be more bands than ever putting on some great live shows not just in LA but all around the US. They were determined to get noticed and many were actually putting forth the effort to take their act to the next level. Obviously, I’m not talking about the musical mainstream, I’m talking about the local bands from all around the world. It seemed that every town had it’s own clutch of bands that were working hard to leave their hometowns to make an impression on the rest of the population, taking risks left and right.
This year of taking chances, was also the year that I met the members of the band Jealousy Curve hailing from Philadelphia. As I was re-organizing some stuff around my home about a month back, I actually came across an advanced copy of what would become their “Life as an Addict” freshman release in a box full of EP’s that I’ve accumulated over the years and have yet to part ways with. Jealousy Curve was a finalist in a “Best Unsigned Band Search” that a company I was a part of put on via their website. The votes poured in for this band, and we around the office agreed that they were definitely deserving of this status after listening to a few of their tracks. Part of their prize was to play a set during our SXSW showcase, where the winner would be decided.
None of us had seen their live show, nor any footage of it. I will mention though, that these guys were on a lot of industry people’s radars due to their own hard work and merit. It was safe to say we weren’t sure what to expect that drizzly March day in Austin. Our expectations (if we had any) were completely blown away as soon as this band hit the stage and started their first song, the music from their instruments filled the room and none of us could move. We were completely enraptured as their lead singer Leavy (Mike Leavy) not only belted out their songs (for me standouts had to have been “Selfish Thing,” “The World is You,” and “Gravity”) but also proved to be an amazing front man unexpectedly turning the bar counter into a stage, not an extraordinary thing, but a move that caught all of us off guard. For the duration of their set no one moved, no one ordered drinks, we all just watched as Fash’s (Steven LaFashia’s) guitar made sounds we may not have heard before and Mike O’ Brien’s (this was pre-Dave Sikorski time) bass filled the room. I think we were all a little scared that somehow Shane Rozum was going to kill his kit with the intensity with which he was drumming, I’ve met a lot of drummers in my life and I have to admit
that Rozum has got to be one of the best technically that I’ve seen, possessing a mastery on the kit that only comes from a combination of natural talent and lots of sweat equity. As if that wasn’t enough they closed with an amazing (signature) cover of “Purple Rain.” So, it’s safe to say the band was declared our Best Unsigned Band in the U.S. for 2005. Even the venue’s staff and owners all ended up crushing hard on this band, inviting them back to play whenever they wanted. I’m positive that no one that was at this show ever forgot this live performance. This was the type of performance you hope to witness during events like SXSW.
The best part of this band was that all of these guys were just the nicest guys. I recall after this show somehow, Rozum’s splintered drumsticks ended up with a confused me. (more…)
Name That Tune: The Importance of Putting Song Lyrics on the Internet
More and more these days, the music of independent unsigned music artists is integrated into our daily lives. Creative music licensing. It’s pretty much everywhere – on TV, obviously on the radio (online and traditional formats), at the gas pump, in department stores, grocery stores, the list goes on and on.
Thanks to insomnia, just in one day while flipping through channels I heard a few of our friend’s bands on TV (which will remain the most popular vehicle for song placements for quite some time to come) as I attempted to clear out my DVR’s recordings.
This was a few months ago, and I’d initially planned to publish this post at that time (if you can believe it, that was back in January) after having had a similar encounter with an all too familiar soundtrack comprised of more friend’s bands which included: Spider Problem’s “Cha, Cha” on some “Gossip Girl” teaser, Bang Sugar Bang’s “Where’s the Fun in That?” on a re-run of “The Hills” (I think it was a re-run I hadn’t seen that show in eons?), and of course with Samsung having gone the way of Sprint with featuring a local LA band late last year, (The Happy Hollows) on their Google Phone Commercial (Sprint featured iO Echo on their Palm Pre commercial). Just because the programming isn’t quality (but then again, I’m also not necessarily the target market of the shows mentioned), that doesn’t mean the music getting played isn’t and people won’t take notice of it.
I’m sure there was a lot more that I didn’t catch. In fact a couple of years ago I couldn’t watch many of the shows on TV without hearing a band I knew on shows. This will only become more and more true for years to come. Some of those that I recall included, but aren’t limited to: The New Fidelity, Silver Needle, Bang Sugar Bang, The Mulhollands, The Waking Hours, and The Automatic Music Explosion all on the WB and MTV, Get Set Go on Grey’s Anatomy (they even made the soundtrack)– those are just some I can think of off the top of my head, the list goes on and on. I won’t even get started on films.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but songs have a tendency to stick in my head. Name of song and artist not always so much. At least not at first listen, unless I happen to know them personally or it’s all over the place (an example from earlier in the year, Phoenix’s “Listomania”). At times all I can remember is a few of the lyrics, and those lyrics won’t get out of my head. I want to hear them again.
So what do I do?
Hope that episode plays again and they announce the artist name and song title? (more…)
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: The Radio Dept – ‘Clinging To A Scheme’
I’m about to make a statement here that might blow your minds. Radio Department > Miike Snow. There I said it. Let the angry emails come flooding in. Miike Snow has captured the American audience in a way that fellow swedes The Radio Dept never will. Miike Snow has been selling out shows left and right and filling up tents at Coachella. I’m guessing if the Radio Dept was asked to play Coachella they’d be pulling the thankless 12:30 pm set…and that’s OK. If you’ve ever hit a 12:30 set at a festival it is pretty inspiring because the band is giving it their all for the handful of people who bothered to show up and its hard to tell who appreciates the early efforts more. Let Miike Snow have the crowds. I’ll gladly go see The Radio Dept at a small venue and hear their beautifully crafted shoegazey dream pop surrounded by a small set of non-sweaty hipsters…who will instantly drop them if they’re ever able to amass any semblance of popularity. Ah the cycle of life.
For now The Radio Dept remains a hidden gem. “Clinging To a Scheme” builds off of 2006’s “Pet Grief“ in a way that makes you realize that those 12:30 sets might very well be a thing of the past sooner than expected. Delicate textures and melodies wash over the tracks in a waves of emotion that are enhanced by the lost love crooning vocals that together throw your mind into a Vicodin and Tecate like haze that you won’t want to escape from. Consider this the lead album for the soon to be created Sleep Mix #3!
Highlights: “Domestic Scene,” “Heaven’s On Fire,” “The Video Dept,” “Never Follow Suit”
OUT TO SEE…METRIC
I noticed via Facebook that a friend was buying tickets to see Metric. This was a band I wanted to see live. I mentioned to her sometime later that I was thinking about buying a ticket for Metric. She said, “Yes, buy a ticket.” I tried getting other friends to come along, but no one seemed interested. In fact, none of them had even heard of Metric. Shame on them. I headed over to the Palladium on a Saturday morning, getting a ticket without the service charge.
Sidebar Reflection. I’ve written this ‘Notes from Vivace’ column for over a year now. My life has certain cycles. The Metric concert occurred on March 26th. What happens in March? March Madness. College basketball. How many of you read that Great Northern blog I wrote a year ago?
Here’s what I wrote on May 3rd, 2009:
“Let’s talk sports briefly. If you enjoy sports, you’ve experienced your favorite team suffering through more than its share of blow out losses. This is what you go through as a fan, but it particularly hurts when that type of loss ends a post-season run. For example, the Boston Celtics blowing out the LA Lakers last season. That one hurt. And so it happened again on a still too recent Thursday night when one of my favorite teams, the Duke Blue Devils, fell victim to a blow out loss in March Madness. The Villanova Wildcats just took them apart. It was a game that if played during the regular season, I would have turned off the television (perfect example being the Duke v. Clemson game). But since it was March Madness, I felt compelled to watch the full game. For some tortured reason, I felt that by watching the game I was showing my support for their over-all successful season.
What does this have to do with the local music scene? Well . . . after the game ended, I headed off to The Roxy to catch Great Northern. (Yes, the two events’ only connection is in the fact that one followed the other.) I felt a tad miserable driving the streets of Los Angeles that night. Driving down Sunset, I kept thinking, “How is it possible that Duke couldn’t find an open shot all game long? How could Villanova contest every single shot the whole night?”
Current state sidebar. Once again, Duke played a March Madness (Duke vs. Purdue) game on a night I was heading off to see a band. For this year’s game, I did the DVR thing. I watched the first 10 minutes. The score was tight. I then took off for the Palladium and listened to the last couple minutes of the first half on the radio. While at the Palladium, a friend told me that Duke was up by two points. After the show, I headed straight home. Of course, I couldn’t help myself and turned the car radio on to KNX 1070. Duke had won. This provided relief, but I still watched the rest of the game (including the portion I’d heard over the radio).
Parking. $5 parking at the abandoned Old Spaghetti Factory. Admittedly, you need to walk a couple blocks to the Palladium, but it isn’t like you’re hiking up Mount Whitney.
A larger group of friends. I learned the day of the event that a couple other friends were going to show up that night so there was a group of five that ended up at the Palladium. (more…)
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: MOBY ‘WAIT FOR ME’
Moby hasn’t been relevant for quite some time so i figured why not talk about his most recent album. “Wait for Me” came out at the end of 2009, a full ten years after his breakthrough shining moment, 1999’s “Play.” After “Play“, Moby released three other albums that, according to Pitchfork, wouldn’t have added up to a 10. They can be quite harsh at times. Sadly their scoring does change the way the music loving population looks at an artist. Because of these failures, ”Wait For me” went largely ignored. Present company included. Truth be told “Wait For Me” would still be unnoticed on my iTunes if I hadn’t gotten tired of my sleep play list. You see i suffer, like most people I’m sure, from the inability to sleep in a silent space. Some people uses fans for ambient noise, other people use the gentle caress of a TV. Those wouldn’t work for me. I get cold and distracted easily. (Goodfellasis on AMC! Hmm, I own it on bluray..and this is edited and full of commercials, but what the hell! Why not?!) Me? I use a specially crafted iTunes play list. My rules are simple: It has to be seven and 1/2 hours long (as that is how much I’d like to sleep) and it has to contain full albums. No singles. The jarring changes would throw off my REMS (not of the Michael Stipe variety). After growing tired of Sleep Mix #1 (Antlers – “Hospice,” Beck – “Sea Change,” Bon Iver – “For Emma,” Pink Floyd – “Animals,” Cass McCombs – “Catcacombs,” etc) I created Sleep Mix #2, highlighted by JJ, Jonsi, Beach House, and Johnny Cash. When I needed to flesh it out to the appropriate length I blindly threw Moby’s “Wait For Me” in for filler. After doing that I found myself stirring from my sleep every morning while the play list was was playing at almost exactly the same spot. My subconscious was hearing something and responding to it favorably. I’d get up to check my iTunes to see what was causing this reaction and every time it was Moby. I hated myself for it. What can I say? There is no Pitchfork in dreamland. I’ve since gone out of my way to listen to the album while I’ve been wide awake and it holds up! Strings wail like tortured souls on “Shot In The Back Of The Head” and I’m reminded that I’ve been told I’m a fan of downer music. Perhaps that’s what resonates with me on this album because it is an epic downer ride full of soul and heartache cut to the most beautiful ambient soundscapes. This album deserved my attention and my subconscious knew it. Now I’m letting you know it. Let us not forget this is the same guy that created ” God Moving Over the Face of Waters” so you owe him a second chance.
Highlights: “Shot In The Back Of The Head,” “Mistake,” “Division,” “Study War”
Our Friends Are Great…ZexSports
It’s always important for us here at TRAffIK to support our friends in whatever they do just as they support us. It’s only right that we give them some props on this site from time to time. Espree Devora and her company ZexSports have been big supporters of who we are and what we do on a personal and professional level.
If you aren’t familiar with ZexSports, it is the “most comprehensive database of quality action sports events.” So, if you’re looking to find out what’s going on in the worlds of BMX, MOTO, Skate, Skim, Snow, Surf, or Wake then http://zexsports.com is where you need to head. They get the info direct from the source–the action sports companies, the pro athletes–because those are their friends.
Here is a sneak peek into that world via their video “A Day in the Life” with Rick Thorne, who stresses the importance of hard work (which we couldn’t agree with more). Also making cameos in the video are the Von Zipper crew as well as our friends of Draven/Select Distribution (found on Part 2 – which if you’ve never been to their offices/warehouse you should make the trek down to the OC as they’ve got a lot of cool stuff)