Thursday, December 15, 2011

i’ll be your emmylou, and i’ll be your june @firstaidkitband

[first aid kit - "emmylou" live on KCRW]

love love love love love.

check out their entire live set @ kcrw here & an interview by tavitulle for rookie mag.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

playing video games

weird video for an excellent song. creepy rainy day time.
[lana del rey - video games]

Saturday, October 22, 2011

all of the ghouls come out to play

[florence + the machine - shake it out]



FLAWLESS.

sorry for being so MIA, internet peoples. i'm back at work and it's been fun adjusting to a normal workweek again. patrick stump (formerly of Fall Out Boy) coming up on monday @ the viper room with elisa. also, can we please talk about halloweekend? it is going to be AMAZE. what are you all dressing up as?

Friday, September 16, 2011

party in the USA

this tokyo police club project has been floating about my internetz radar recently (i almost typed "gloating about," what the what)... finally found them all in one neat little package on soundcloud & discovered that they have an album release date for this "10 Covers, 10 Days, 10 Years" project. it'll be released as a digital album on October 4th, both on iTunes and with special commemorative packaging on their website.

Tokyo Police Club: 10 Days, 10 Covers, 10 Years by TokyoPoliceClub

which is your favorite cover? xx

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

new @lights video for "toes"

lights has a new album, siberia, dropping on 10/4 (same day as people & things by jack's mannequin; interesting timing, warner). check out her new video below.

[lights - toes (music video)]

in other news, i've been following #nyfw this past week, and recently discovered this: http://www.youtube.com/liverunway! watched the elie tahari (my favorite suits are by him) runway with my mother. loved the flowing sash-like designs. and gold gold gold. one model definitely needed more double-sided tape for her top... awk.

the missoni for target debacle: i'll save that for when i actually get the goods. i am told that a friend's friend was prominently featured in tori spelling's blog-- she kindly gave a baby missoni outfit to the 99 months pregnant (mrs. spelling's words, not mine) mom. celebrities! they're just like us. stay tuned...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

i learned to fly on my own

this past sunday, e and i got to catch a very cool performance by lucy schwartz with the heartstrings (string quartet) in a bat!cave. actually, this was @ bronson caves in griffith park, but it was a LEGIT (man-made) cave. she was charming and delightful and all those adjectives; we sat around on chairs (or blankets) and watched a very chill and cozy set.  the performance (five or six songs) was videotaped, and she mentioned we can expect to see it on her site in about a few weeks.  here's the view from the inside:

here's a video from a similar performance she did at bardot.
["Gravity" Lucy Schwartz & The Heartstrings @ Bardot]

and here's me, either lifting off or getting blown off the cliff! i'm a terrible jumper. really, though, does it not look like i'm flying backwards?

Monday, September 05, 2011

culture collide @FILTERmagazine 2011

filter culture collide is back again! last year, i got a free tote and caught some sweet acts @ the satellite (formerly spaceland) and the block party.

the fest is happening in LA on october 6 through 9, 2011, and includes the following acts:

Does It Offend You, Yeah? (UK), Avi Buffalo (USA), The Elected (USA), The Morning After Girls (Australia), The Gift (Portugal), Midnight Surfer (USA), Laura Jansen (the Netherlands), Hands (USA), The Lanskies (France), Carina Round (UK), Cosmic Kids (USA), Sparkadia (Australia), Holger (Brazil) Bixel Boys (USA), You Say France & I Whistle (Sweden), Tropicool (USA), Da Brasilians (France), Hypernova (Iran) and Surf Ambassador Hendo (USA). These artists will be performing alongside the previously announced line-up of CSS, Lindstrøm, Gang Gang Dance, Liam Finn, Datarock, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Ximina Sarinana, Isobel Campbell, and many other bands from 23 participating countries.

also, if you must know-- a limited number of festival wristbands, which provide access to all Culture Collide showcases, are available for $20 and can be purchased here.  the whole weekend includes live shows, film screenings, happy hours featuring free food and drink from around the world, and intimate acoustic sets at eight of LA's historic venues including The Echo, Echoplex, Taix, 826LA, Swinghouse Studios, The Church, Reform Academy and Stories Books & Cafe. concluding the festival weekend is the TOYOTA ANTICS block party, a free all-day event in echo park on sunday, october 9.

for more info, please visit the following links:
culturecolide.com
facebook.com/FILTERMagazine
twitter.com/FILTERMagazine


who are you excited to see?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

baby fever

i held a baby this weekend, and (after my initial terror) i liked it. video soon.

- meow

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

show us your bones

last month, i was able to catch milo greene with ampersandblues at a free UCLA Hammer Museum Also, I Like to Rock show, as well as at the last night of the RACES residency at bootleg theater. RACES reminds me of arcade fire, for sure.  super huge crowds and so much excellence at both shows, including a lil band from long beach called pageants at the bootleg gig-- they sounded very low-fi and i was instantly reminded of best coast. no surprise there-- turns out (according to their wiki page) they are recording with bobb bruno of best coast. t/f can someone confirm?

check out further loveliness from milo greene. way to get signed by alex pastavas' label in like, 2.5 seconds. hahah

[milo greene - autumn trees]


this fall, they've got the coveted slot of opening for the civil wars--who recently recorded a daytrotter session on 8/9/11 (best part: the session is totally downloadable).  the LA date is @ the wiltern on 11/19/11, so grab your tickets here before they're gone.

the next week (i think), i followed up with the same KCRW/Hammer Museum series to check out the charming lil three-piece lady danville. i had seen them "open" for jack's mannequin @ the viper room previously (by "open," i mean they played the same night at a less favorable set time-- after the show).  they were super nice and adorable and begged my friend(s) to stay, so that's why i was there. and was immediately won over.

i caught some of their set when they embarked on the jack's mannequin tour earlier this summer, but i missed out on their cover of MGMT's "kids," which, if you know me, is probably my favorite-ist song of all time. so here ya go:

Lady Danville - Kids (MGMT Cover) by CivEZ

Thursday, August 11, 2011

dancehall queen

[robyn - call your girlfriend]
 um, will someone please show me how to dance like robyn? loves it.

Monday, July 18, 2011

video round-up: "cure your moody monday" edition

[demi lovato - skyscraper]


totally obsessed with this song rn. i confess that i've never really been a fan of her music (basically, i've really never heard anything by her but this song) and i thought the title was a little... cheesy. but, after watching part of this interview she did with e! online and hearing her talk about the demons she has struggled with, you can't help but smile and appreciate the ballad for the glorious-ness that it is: an anthem.

[freelance whales - enzymes]

Freelance Whales - Enzymes from NEUE on Vimeo.
fireworks! growing old! growing young! existential questions with explosions and things. bubbles and flowers... yay!

[washed out - eyes be closed]

via stereogum this a.m. i want her shades... or the whole outfit.

Monday, June 27, 2011

the hello sessions by @milogreene

milo greene features my mostly friend/sometimes foe graham fink of the outline (i mean, being facebook friends counts, amirite?). you can stream the hello sessions below. "1957" is a free download over on their bandcamp page. dreamy good.



they'll be part of one of the kcrw summer nights lineups @ the hammer museum on thursday, 7/21 w/ grouplove and recently were recipients of a tweet-out by the civil wars (another recent favorite of mine). check out a live session of "1957" below.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

to live and ride in LA: the real rebels

move over, annoying and loud bikers of the harley-davidson variety. you know who is more punk than you? here's who: non-motorized (of the pedaling with your feet variety; novel idea, i know), environmentally-friendly bike riders. on bikes. with no brakes.

dwell on that for a bit.



i was given the opportunity to preview a screener of to live and ride in LA, a documentary about bikers who race through the streets of LA with, for all intents and purposes, a complete disregard for the rules of traffic-- riding in groups or alone, streaking through the LA riverbed or freeways, doing tricks off of ramps, etc. i don't condone breaking the law (particularly traffic laws, they're for your and the public's safety, sheesh), but the element of breaking these rules makes watching the film all the more thrilling.  there isn't much of a storyline in the beginning; a lot of introductions and profiles, but the film comes together as race day approaches. you see how a pretty diverse group of angelenos (replete with buddy holly glass-wearing and/or bearded and/or pabst blue ribbon-swilling hipsters) come together to live, ride, race, and sometimes party throughout this amazing city i call home.

the soundtrack is droolworthy, btw. heard some willowz (shout out to dim mak records), sea wolf, small black (previously feat. on my blog as one of my favorite videos ever), silversun pickups... for more info on the film and the soundtrack, be sure to drop by their site: http://www.trafikpictures.com/tlr/

toodles.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

noisetrade: graham colton, the civil wars

free download of graham colton's album, pacific coast eyes, for one week only (through next tuesday, methinks)! donations/tips suggested, but it's a give-what-you-can sort of deal.



per his NoiseTrade page-- for fans of: Counting Crows, Augustana, Matt Nathanson, Better Than Ezra. look, i didn't write that, so don't blame me if you consider it to be inaccurate. i still enjoyed the album.

i also downloaded this without listening to it first: the civil wars' live at eddie's attic.  why? because this KCRW sesh was so good.

aaaand, as you may have noticed due to increased blog/twitter activity... i am officially #funemployed. goal for the time being is to try to write or post something at least every other day. making up for lost time, as it were. apologies in advance if you get some inane fluffy pieces about the weather, my breakfast, or ramblings about life (it sucks? JUSTKIDDING. life is peachy cos i've got one; am constantly grateful for that.).

until the next post,
xx

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

she always wears blue

william beckett. melting twenty-teen hearts everywhere. hahaha



and several submissions re: #hairwatch2011.

@billbeckett: getting my hair snipped! #crybabystyle

@billbeckett: RT Now that's an idea! I'd look like Powder. @alldoneup You should shave your head.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

summertime, one more hollywood bowl show

september 25, 2011 @ 6pm, check it:
tv on the radio
arctic monkeys
panda bear (aka Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox)
warpaint
smith westerns

can we say 110% likely chance of it selling out?

on sale time/date: saturday, june 18, 2011 @

  • hollywoodbowl.com
  • hollywood bowl box office (12PM – 6PM, Tuesday – Sunday), 
  • via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000, 
  • or through ticketmaster

(ps, if you want to hang with all of your friends, groups of 10 or more can call 323.850.2050 for information about special rates, subject to availability.)

Friday, June 03, 2011

#LOFNOTC

cue: a typical friday night. i am sitting at a computer, tip-typing away and/or single-y rofling at some youtube vids or episodes of park & rec/ 30 rock/ community/ wishing ben wyatt were my boyfriend/ all of the above.

last friday night (not the katy perry song, though that thing is DARN catchy) was an atypical friday night. my non-hipster partner in crime and she-of-biting-wit, g-vive was celebrating her birthday, so the crew was rounded up in westLA. we started off @ steingarten (service was tortoise-slow, unfortch) and ended up at the wellesbourne, a lovely library-themed bar. i had seen quite a few photos via various bibliophile circles on the internet, so it was neat to experience it firsthand. the drinks (at least mine) were not overpriced and the bartenders are dressed quite dapper-like... A++

a few days before that was jack's mannequin @ the roxy. boyce avenue was the opener; enjoyed that a lot. late nights are not for me...

a few recommendations for the night, and then i'm off to bed!

check out a bunch of free shows all summer-- pasadena, westwood, and dtLA, courtesy of kcrw's summer nights series. i mean, look at the lineup for the hammer museum events! wicked. i've underlined the bands i'm interested in seeing, in case anyone out there wants to come with.

Thursday, July 7 at 7PM
Graffiti6 + Eastern Conference Champions
KCRW DJ Dan Wilcox

Thursday, July 14 at 7PM
The Soft Pack + Hanni El Khatib
KCRW DJ Chuck P

Thursday, July 21at 7PM
Grouplove + Milo Greene
KCRW DJ Eric J. Lawrence

Thursday, July 28 at 7PM
The Henry Clay People + Lady Danville
KCRW DJ Chris Douridas

lastly, i was sent a link to a trailer for this amazing-looking documentary, to live and ride in LA, which is out digitally (dvd/itunes/etcetera) on 6/21/11.  it spotlights the fixed-gear bike culture (i.e. bikes with no brakes) and commuting in LA traffic... illegally... on the freeways, no less. the soundtrack is by dangerbird records (feat. silversun pickups, hot hot heat, darker my love, minus the bear, and more). check it:



finally, according to reputable twit-sources, i guess bikelock is playing a show on friday (6/10, not 6/11... i think) at the roxy. paging @chaotic_flower, paging. at one bikelock show that i remember (notice how carefully i've worded that), i think someone got sprayed in the face with beer. it wasn't me.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

grool shows

guess what? this is going to be an amazing post because i am totally sleep-deprived. bear with me...

first up, the scoop on free tix. did you know that filter magazine has a weekly newsletter that lists tons of giveaways? sign yourself up @ filtermagazine.com.  por ejemplo, this week, FILTER is giving away a pair of tickets to see the following shows:
5/5 Calexico @ Echoplex
5/6 Junip, Acrylics @ El Rey
5/9 Junip @ Detroit Bar
5/10 Mogwai @The Mayan
5/14 of Montreal @ The Avalon
to win the tickets, email win@filtermmm.com with the show you want to see along with the date, venue and most importantly, your name in the body of the email. buena suerte! (lest i come off too one-sided here, i believe losanjealous.com also does a weekly (or so newsletter) and thescenestar.typepad.com/ is also an excellent place to scour for giveaways, set times, and pre-sale passwords.)

next point, not free tickets, but pre-sale tix for the hollywood bowl summer season lineup of 2011. check out these amazing shows happening soon/now/then/etc. and nab your tickets at pre-sale before the "regular" (read: plebian) folk get them. so you can be grool (great + cool) and tell all your friends (you've got your gun to my head)-- "i have tickets to The National. what did you ever do?"

TIX ON SALE MAY 7. i only shout because i care.
PRESALE CODE: [TBA] i stand corrected, i've learned that presale already started 5/03.

check it:
Grease Sing-A-Long
LA Phil Presents Grease Sing-A-Long
Friday, June 24, 8:30pm at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists: Didi Conn ("Frenchy"), host
7:00pm Pre-show • 8:30pm Film

Hall & Oates
LA Phil Presents July 4th Fireworks Spectacular with special guests
Daryl Hall & John Oates
Saturday, Sunday & Monday, July 2-4, 7:30pm, at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists:
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Daryl Hall & John Oates, special guest
Thomas Wilkins, conductor

Dolly Parton
LA Phil Presents Dolly Parton
Friday & Saturday, July 22-23, 8:30pm at the Hollywood Bowl

Serge Gainsbourg
LA Phil Presents Serge Gainsbourg Tribute with Jean Claude Vannier
Sunday, August 28, 7:00pm at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists: Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Jean Claude Vannier
Beck, special guest
Sean Lennon, special guest
Charlotte Kemp Muhl, special guest
Ed Droste, special guest
Victoria Legrand, special guest
Mike Patton, special guest
China Forbes, special guest
Nika Roza Danilova (Zola Jesus), special guest
Additional special guests to be announced
Anne Litt, host

The National, Neko Case and Sharon Van Etten
LA Phil Presents The National • Neko Case • Sharon Van Etten
Sunday, September 11, 7:00pm at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists:
The National
Neko Case
Sharon Van Etten
Jason Bentley, host

Global Soul with Rickey Minor, Stevie Wonder, and Friends
LA Phil Presents Global Soul with Rickey Minor, Stevie Wonder, and Friends
Sunday, July 24, 7:00pm at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists:
Rickey Minor
Stevie Wonder
Janelle Monáe, special guest
Grace Potter, special guest
Rocky Dawuni, special guest
Ceci Bastida, special guest
Bombino, special guest
The Soul Seekers, special guest
Additional artists to be announced
Garth Trinidad, host

Totally 80's Hollywood Bowl
LA Phil Presents Totally 80s Hollywood Bowl
Friday, September 2, 7:30pm at the Hollywood Bowl
Artists:
The Human League
B-52s
The Fixx
Berlin
Terri Nunn, host

till next time...

Monday, April 11, 2011

swept away

legitimately would like to know if @thegraduate sold their souls to the devil. you know, in like, an agnostic sense. why are their songs so consistently good?

ANSWER ME.

recently, i got around to downloading the graduate's every other time, an EP companion (of sorts) featuring b-sides to their recent release, only every time. don't ask me what the album titles mean, i'm not feeling very ~deep~ right now.  you could say that i am overwhelmed with things we shall not speak of (work/life/packing/#firstworldproblems), so i just take new music as it happens, as i stumble across it, and enjoy it for what it is.

just listen up: you can stream the songs for free, and then download them (preferably the entire album, obvs) for whatever price you choose. yep, radiohead-style. today, they released another set of songs on an EP titled sea legs. same deal-- listen, and then pay-what-you-want for the songs you want.

ain't life grand?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

trying to find the in-betweens

[the naked and famous - "young blood"]



current earworm.

also, you can stream holy ghost!'s album here for another day or so before it comes out. they'll be hitting the echoplex on monday, april 18, along with chairlift. show and ticket info here. i've had two tickets sitting in my shopping cart, but i'm on the fence. if i survive the coachella weekend relatively intact, i'm hoping i'll make it there.

speaking of coachella, in case you were interested-- which i'm sure you are-- i have been able to procure appropriate footwear, a gigantic old-lady hat, and some hair ties. what i need to do now is to pack...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

i hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited

the theme of this past weekend (most likely): i ate too much and now you're going to have to roll me home in a wheelbarrow. #gluttonyisgrand. this week's theme is: eating better + getting up off my butt. it's working.. possibly, if you ignore the fries i had at hotel cafe earlier tonight...

if you can watch this without feeling a shred of something-- regret, sadness, awe.. you're dead inside. and dead to me, thx. (link via @gknolle)



stream her entire album 21 (coming out on 2/22/11) on NPR.com here | and check out three songs @ adele's tiny desk concert.

Monday, February 14, 2011

psst: @flo_tweet kroq presale

Florence + The Machine Plus Special Guest Hanni el Ehatib
@ The Greek Theatre on June 13, 2011
KROQ PRESALE: Thursday, February 17 at 10am-10pm
p/w: KROQFLORENCE
regular/plebian on-sale: Friday 2/18 at 10am

so, who wants to go?! i will brave the craptastic parking at the greek for this.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

i know a lot of good people in la

one of my favorite songs of the moment, by brett dennen:

[brett dennen - sydney, i'll come runnin' (testify) preview]


things to do this week:
Monday, January 24th @ Spaceland @ 9pm
Lucy Schwartz, The Fling, Belle Brigade and Jenny O - FREE!

Wednesday, January 26th @ The Echo @ 11pm
Foster The People - FREE show residency (check out some of their songs below... "pumped up kicks," which is very reminiscent to me of "young folks" by peter bjorn and john, has been all over STAR 98.7 lately)




Thursday, January 27th @ Mountain Bar @ 9:30pm
Boobs4Food "Together We Can" Concert to benefit LA Regional Food Bank
Cover: $10 presale on Eventbrite (includes 1 raffle ticket)/ $12 at the door (cash only, includes 1 raffle ticket)/ additional raffle tickets: 1 for $2, 5 for $5
... was "can" supposed to be punny? if so, excellent work.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

i resolve to...

1. craft more
2. laugh more
3. communicate better
4. stress less
5. eat less junk
6. photo & document (blog) more
... and tie up any loose ends from 2010.

happy new year, from me to you.  for reference, here is my list of resolutions from 2009. #3 and 4, i owned you. let's not talk about the others.