Unlike intr0vert, I will not be going to SXSW. Instead, I have to live vicariously through my co-author, who will actually be a part of the action with KAV. So I put together a short list of the bands I’d like to see, were I actually going. I have pretty great taste in music, so if you are lucky enough to be going, you should check them out.
Neon Trees: These electro-punk rockers from Utah have an album (‘Habits’) coming out this month. Their single, ‘Animal’, and it’s accompanying video caught my attention for the following reasons: I love handclaps. I am envious of their style and hairdos. Their drummer looks like the hipster love-child of Sarah McLachlan and Samantha Malone. Their shit makes me shake my ass. These are all really good reasons. You must watch this acoustic version of ‘Animal’, it really shows their versatility. They’re coming to Chicago next month with 30 Seconds to Mars, and if I’m lucky enough to get to see them live, expect a review/interview.
I saw Band of Skulls 4 times in 2009 and I still haven’t had enough of this UK trio. I’ve RSVP’d for a couple parties @ SXSW so hopefully I’ll be able to catch them sometime soon. I need my fix! Here’s there new video for the song “Friends” from the New Moon Soundrack.
Living doll Janelle Monáe will finally be releasing her “debut” album The ArchAndroidon May 18 of this year. I know, that seems pretty far in the future, well, that’s how Cindi Mayweather rolls. Fret not, she has released two tracks “Tightrope” (f/Big Boi of Outkast) and “Cold War” which you can preview on her website and will be touring this spring. Prepare to be inspired if you haven’t seen or heard Ms. Monáe live, I’m convinced she’s a cyborg. No mortal woman can dance that hard and sing so pitch-perfectly…unless it’s actually Prince in drag.
Janelle Monáe Spring Tour MARCH
15 Washington, DC Black Cat
17 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
18 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
21 San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord
22 San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord
23 Los Angeles, CA (Buy Tix) The Viper Room (see you there!)
24 Los Angeles, CA (Buy Tix) The Viper Room (see you there!)
29 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
30 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
31 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
APRIL
2 St. Andrews Detroit, MI
5 Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta, GA
6 Smith’s Olde Bar Atlanta, GA
9 Joe’s Pub New York, NY
10 Joe’s Pub New York, NY
Happy Hearts Beneift for Haiti WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
BOOTLEG THEATRE 2220 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
(free parking behind Praise Christian Church)
$15, 18+ (Buy Tickets)
The Fold presents… a Benefit for Haiti featuring:
PETE YORN
TIM KASHER (Cursive)
CRAIG WEDREN (Shudder to Think)
+ Special Guests
The event will be hosted by the hilarious NICK KROLL(The League), DAVID WAIN(The State, Stella) and NICHOLAS SHUMAKER and more. Proceeds go to benefit Happy Hearts, an organization that specializes in secondary response efforts.
I think it would be a drastic conflict of interest to slurp on a friends band and make an out and out recommendation for you to be into them, so I won’t do that. I’d like to preserve the little bit of integrity I have left so I will instead tell you with absolute honesty that of all of the regular bands that I see on the strip (and I see A LOT of bands on the strip), one of very few that I actually enjoy seeing at least once a month is Lady Sinatra. Their own brand of Rock & Roll is as hard, fast and loud as it is difficult to pin down directly. I sometimes swear that I hear a bit of Motörhead in the backbeat mixed with a bit of that indefinable Sunset Strip sound. The musicianship is tight and the swagger is loose. If you’ve got a girl that likes to strip then put on “Girl, You’ll Be A Trainwreck Soon” off of their 2nd album Hisses & Kisses and let her do her thing. The band (@LadySinatra) was at one point giving away a free download of the record in exchange for a Tweet, but that offer may have expired. It’s still available through iTunes.
Lead singer and head of Loose Fang Records, Bunny Holliday recently sat down with evergrowing institution The Real Sunset Strip w/Scheff and The Hawk for the short interview/artist profile above (shot by photographer Andrew Herrold) which should give you a taste of their sound.
But to catch them in action they’ll be playing Monday February 15th at Crazy Girls Gentleman’s Club (Sunset & LaBrea) in West Hollywood with Sink To See and brilliant newcomers Jacuzzis (fb event). Full Disclosure: I’m playing that show, too. But if you haven’t seen Lady Sinatra in on their home turf at The Viper Room then you just haven’t seen them in their destructively natural habitat. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve categorized this as “You Should Know:” but really, if you haven’t heard of Montreal fireball Melissa Auf der Maur then you need a serious lesson in Alt Rock history. After Kristen Pfaff’s overdose, Melissa became her replacement as bassist of Hole and in 2000 MAdM would replace D’Arcy Wretzky in Smashing Pumpkins until it’s initial dissolution. Her 2004 solo album titled simply Auf der Maur would go on to sell over 180,000 copies worldwide.
Now that you know who she is you should know that her latest SELF-RELEASED solo album Out Of Our Minds is a vibrant, layered work with touches of Kate Bush with newer hints of artists like A Perfect Circle, Azure Ray and Blonde Redhead. Her electro-rock orchestrations have a very epic swing and play into the delicate blasts of her voice. And it could be my stubbornly approaching 30 yrs-old ears but in songs like “Meet Me On The Dark Side” I still hear a bit of that 20th century “alternative rock” sound remaining in the songs structure which might actually be a welcome appeal to people of my generation and the Gen X’ers just before us. Of the 5 tracks I have been given to preview the standout is still the title track but a close 2nd is “The Key” which almost has a Queens of the Stone Age vibe, not so coincidentally. MAdM has also worked with them in the past. Album guests include Jordon Zadorozny (Sam Roberts), Chris Goss (QOTSA, UNKLE), Alan Molder (Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins), Mike Frazer (Franz Ferdinand, ACDC) with a special duet with Glenn Danzig.
Out Of Our Minds is following the modern trend to remonitize music by appealing to hardcore fans by offering the solo record along with various other media in cost escalating tiers. Along with the solo record there is also an accompanying Graphic Novel by Brooklyn artist Jack Forbes as well as a 28-minute HD film, directed by Tony Stone which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and a vinyl picture disc (among other standard merch). All of this is set for release this March 23rd.
A free MP3 of the title track is available at xmadmx.com when you sign up for updates. Warning for sensitive listeners: In title track Out Of Our Minds, “Fire” and “Desire” lyrically interchange. But because she is a redhead, I think we can make an exception.
In L.A. you are encouraged not to acknowledge a celebrity’s existence —certainly don’t say anything to them, that’s what tourists do! It’s understandable why. After all we are all human beings who wish to be rewarded for our deeds but allowed our personal freedoms including the right to peace and privacy. But I’ll have been a citizen of the The City of Angels for 3 years come Valentine’s Day (romantic I know) and I don’t give a fuck what you say, if I want to talk to someone regardless of who they are…I’m gonna. Of course even I have my rules and standards. You never, ever bother a famous person with their kids or at dinner…EVER! And I want it very clear that I’m not trying to bother anyone just because they are famous. It’s ALWAYS about WHAT they do, which is why they are famous to begin with unless they are a non-celebrity like cast members of The Hills*. I’m not going to say something unless I really have something to say. Problem is, you always think of something to say out-of-the-blue 5 minutes later. Fortunately this afternoon. I had just such a 2nd chance.
You should know that I have an EAGLE-EYE for personalities. Some people just have that “glow-of-importance” to them. Maybe I can subconsciously observe their aura. I know that sounds ridiculous.** I have no real explanation for it. When I first moved to California my inner dialog after a quick glance at someone was always, “That person looks a lot like _________.” only to realize at 2nd glance that it most likely was that person, just doing whatever. I’ve learned now to accept that it probably is that person as it proves true more likely than not.
Last March I recommended Echo Park dance troupe/electrosiezure We Are The World as a band “You Should Know” and really, this recommendation is for your own good if you feel that music needs an artistic boost removed from the cult of celebrity currently seized ahold of iTunes. Finally the Echo Park quarted have made a hauntingly spectacular video for standout track “Clay Stones” in anticipation of their first release, a single of the song available today via IAMSOUND (still saying pre-sale). The Vinyl will be out 2/23 on Manimal.
And as I’ve said before if you get the chance to catch their kenetic live show (of which they play very few) consider yourself very lucky. Their myspace page indicates an upcoming February residency here in Los Angeles but a venue has yet to be revealed. Rest assured I will be making as many trips to Silverlake/Echo Park this month as necessary.
I consider myself a pretty bigButch Walker fan. After meeting him after a festival with The Marvelous 3 in 1999 I’ve followed his career intensely. All the while mystified because for the life of me I just can’t understand how this guy isn’t bigger than all of the artists he writes & produces for?
Butch is in the midst of a series of shows in LA, NYC, Chicago and hometown Atlanta where he’s dedicated each night to one of his specific solo records. During his November residency at The Hotel Cafe in LA I caught the first night where he played the 2004’s Letters (still my favorite BW solo effort) with his entire biker gang in tow.
February 2, Butch will release his 5th solo album, Groundhog Day: The AlbumI Liked It Better When You Had No Heart on VINYL! With a regular CD/Download dropping Feb 23…but you should probably get a record player anyway.
He’s calling his new band The Black Widows which seems a bit forced in an Is-Ryan-Adams-Starting-A-Death-Metal-band? kind of way. But I’d imagine it opens up a lot of possibilities for his graphic designer. Butch can do no wrong by me, bring it!
I met Kate Micucci for the first time a couple years ago at a BBQ Joint in Chinatown LA that was having a comedy night and made her a “You Should Know:” artist just after I launched this incarnation of AvantTrash. I have a fetish for the Uke and this girl is the closest thing to a ukulele hero since Tiny Tim orAsian Babies. Besides that She and her partner in Garfunkel & Oates (Riki Lindhome) are both very funny and talented actresses to boot (You might recognize them from Scrubs or the remake of Last House on the Left). With G&O they write songs about a variety of brilliant subjects: 3rd wheel dates, Self-Esteem being low enough to date someone less than ideal, The smugness of pregnant women, and Douchebags (to name a few). Their lyrics blend a crass and beautiful truth with a much-more-than-folk sound coming from whichever 2 instruments they happen to be holding (Guitar, Uke, Keys…and Kazoos). It’s coincidental that tonight they made their debut on Jay Leno on the same night I made them the 7th day of Xmas (I’ve had all 12 days planned out for a month). I caught a preview of their Leno performance during their Holiday Spectacular at the UCB Theatre last week. They were even nice enough to give everyone in the theatre CD’s and DVDs…and candy. A fitting wrap up to the year is their video I posted last year around this time for “Present Face”. You may recognize a few more comedians in this video than you did last year, they aren’t the only ones that had a good 2009.
Good thing about the economy being in the can, less people exchanging awkward gifts.
Lincoln/Grand Island, NE’s garage rock tornado, Brimstone Howl have a new album coming out TODAY (Nov.24th) on Alive Records. Big Deal. What’s He Done Lately?* was recorded at The Distillery in Costa Mesa, CA with engineer/producer Mike McHugh, known for his work with Black Lips, Jon Spencer and Andre Williams. The album has a less aggressive sound that Lead Singer/Guitarist John Ziegler admits is thematically “a little brighter” than their previous work but describes the goal of the album as ‘heat’. If you buy this album on Vinyl then you should feel the heat that Ziegler, Guitarist Nick Waggoner and Drummer Calvin Retzlaff were going for when they recorded Big Deal… in FULL ANALOG! From Tape to a Wax Master, this is certainly a warm record.
Have a listen for yourself! Here’s a free download of “Suicide Blues” off of Big Deal. What’s He Done Lately? The orange vinyl edition is available for $13 at the BOMP store.
*Yeah, the title is a Joey Ramone quote about Phil Spector.
Recently signed to Perez Hilton’s label and even more recently signed to a huge deal with Interscope, New York glam punks SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS are a quartet of handsome gents burning high energy Rock N’ Roll that will sting your ears and tease your nethers. It’s danceably infectious AC/DC-meets-Rocky Horror swagger has been lighting up clubs for the past 3 years with fabulously filthy/gorgeous frontman Justin Tranter tearing up stages and after parties like a platinum-blond transvestite GODZILLA!
“I GOT A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET AND A GUN IN MY PURSE SCREAM SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS OR YOU MIGHT GET HURT!”
Rounding out the group is the unstoppable trio of Dynamite Drummer Dan Crean, Wig-Afficianato Guitarist Stevy Pyne and Bass Beast Cole Whittle using every inch of every stage at every show. As an exception to the rule, typically you would find an act that rocks this hard and dirty and looks this good to be light on real musical talent but SPW actually met at the prestigious Berklee College of music in Boston.
“STICKY WITH CHAMPAGNE, THAT’S OK IT’S HER BIRTHDAY!”
SPW will be doing 2 shows at The Viper Room in November: Friday the 13th & Wed the 25th. An excellent review of a trio of shows at The Viper Room last July can be found on their blog. A recent interview by Sunset Strip Ambassador and Buzzfinder Brent X. Mendoza with Lead Singer and Daytime Jewlery Designer Justin Tranter (Fetty) can be found @ TheSunsetStrip.com.
“HER HAIR, HER HAIR, HER HAIR IS ON FIRE! SHE DON’T NO WATER LET HER FUCKING HEAD BURN!”
Semi Precious Weapons are currently recording their follow up to 2008’s We Love You with Jack Joseph Puig in Los Angeles and will be opening for Lady Gaga on The Monster Ball Tour (LA Shows @ Nokia Dec 21-23).
Esser is a man. ESSER is also a band …a fucking great one. Really the band at its core is just Benjamin Esser himself, a snotty, sarcastic British 20-something with a fashion sense as sharp as his wit and a gravity defying Pompadour. But to reproduce the magic Ben made on his computer he requires the full resources of his guitarist/loopmaster Matt Lord, brother Reuben Esser on Drums and Bassist Paul Taylor Wale just to cover the sonic bases laid down on his record Braveface.
Unfortunately the album is only available in the US as an IMPORT. But if there is any justice in the world or intelligence left in the music industry (I just checked, there isn’t.) then maybe one day you’ll actually be able to buy an Esser record here in the states.
Until then the next best thing you can do is catch them live. Also unfortunately, they just finished a destructive 25-city US tour with DATAROCK so you may have to wait a little while…or move to England.
We at AvantTrash come from the Midwest. Nebraska, specifically. The dead center of the country. The Heartland. The Great Plains. Sound boring? It can be! (There’s a reason most of us fled to the big city besides the outstanding warrants.) But when there is an absence of “something to do”, you are afforded the unique opportunity to make your own good time. This is not a vacuum of creativity, it is a ground as fertile as the dirt beneath your feet. When you don’t have a venue for your band in the Midwest, you go underground…literally. Most bands I’ve ever been in came not from garages, but basements. Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen were subterranean.
There’s a house in Omaha that for the better part of 20 years has been a kind of artists commune. It’s parties are as notorious as it’s residents. Infamous even. It’s called Hotel Frank and this is the environment that Capgun Coup was borne from. Their new record Maudlin has that lazy lo-fi punk sound nailed. Each song on this album sounds like it could come from a different record. I guess that shows their flexibility as artists but cuts in a bit to the territory of the Black Lips and Jay Reatard, but a bit more sophisticated. So even at times a bit like a dirty, midwest Little Joy, but without all the cuteness.
Capgun Coup’s sophomore album Maudlin comes out TODAY and is the follow up to 2007’s Brought to You by Nebraskafish both albums are available for purchase via Conor Oberst*’s Team LoveRecords website.
If you’ve seen Michael Jackson’s This Is It or if you’ve been paying attention to AvantTrash.com since June then you’ve been hearing us talk about MJ’s 24-year-old Australian virtuoso guitarist Orianthi. Her solo album Believe was just released on October 24th and her first single “According to You” is the iTunes Free Single of the Week. It’s poppier than most of what we would recommend here (It’s kinda Kelly Clarkson with a guitar) but this woman is defnitely the total package and worth checking out. Download the single and if you don’t like it then it’s still worth the price.
One of my favorite albums of late summer/early fall is Sea Wolf’s latest White Water, White Bloom (itunes). There is something soothing and hypnotic about the rhythm of Alex Church’s acoustic guitar that, when paired with his lazily romantic lyrics makes this record work amazingly well in more intimate, laid back environments. I was also bumping it in the tour van for a string of dates up and down the west coast. Now I can’t hear this record and not think about the changing leaves.
In the spirit of Halloween, below is the video for “Wicked Blood” off of White Water, White Bloom starring fan of the LA music scene Shannyn Sossamon (Rules of Attaction, A Knight’s Tale). I met her once sitting next to her at an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert at The Regent downtown and she was even more beautiful in person. Speaking of beautiful actors…
Because AvantTrash is a very vampire friendly place, I’m glad to announce that on November 6th, Sea Wolf, alongside Band of Skulls, Death Cab for Cutie and Anya Marina will be performing in a special Twilight: New Moon event at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles. Select cast members will be on hand for a Q&A afterwards. Bring your earplugs, the vampy teens will be in full effect.
