Local Music Nation

New Music Tuesday Featuring Harper Blynn, Butterfly Boucher, Neon Trees, and William Beckett

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Kristen

Another Tuesday, more great new music for your ears. Here’s what we recommend:

Harper Blynn– Busy Hands

Harper Blynn is a NYC-based band, but they have been spending a lot of time in LA this year…probably working on this record. Basically taking up residence at The Hotel Cafe, I had the pleasure of seeing the band play quite a few times. In addition, they played one of my top SXSW 2012 sets. This LMN Band Love is offering their new CD, Busy Hands, for free on their website so no excuse really. Go get it!

Butterfly Boucher– Butterfly Boucher

One of my favorite Ten out of Tenn artists, Australian native, Butterfly Boucher has been on my playlist since I first heard her song “Life is Short” off her debut album Flutterby (2003). She did a show recently in LA at Room 5 and I got to hear some of the new songs off her newest, self-titled album. I’m sold!

Get the album here.

Neon Trees– Picture Show

Neon Trees is my newest addiction and I’m so happy to have a follow up to their debut album Habits (2010). According to singer Tyler Glenn, Picture Show was written “as if it were a soundtrack” and encourages people to “listen this album as a piece or choose the songs that fit your moment.” It’s available on Amazon for only $7.99 to boot!

William Beckett– Walk The Talk EP

A new day has dawned for singer of now defunct band The Academy Is… William Beckett. He is newly liberated and flowing with musical juices (so he says). Today marks the release of his first of three eps. If you want to catch up with Mr. Beckett, you can catch him on Stage It or on tour. The ep is just $4 and available from Amazon in mp3 form or in a physical form here.

Also coming out today:

Jason Mraz – Love is a Four Letter Wordi
Dar Williams – In the Time of Gods
Our Lady Peace – Curve
Eric Hutchinson – Moving Up Living Down

~ Kristen and Amanda

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/16-4/23

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Kristen

So many great artists coming through LA this week. Could it be because we are in between Coachella weekends? I’ve been attempting to write these past couple of days and I’ve been using the Coachella live feed as my inspiration playlist (http://www.youtube.com/coachella). Hopefully next weekend I’ll be at the actual event (hence the extra day in calendar below). To keep up with my Coachella happenings, follow LMN on twitter (@_localmusicnat). I’ll be tweeting ‘til my phone dies!

And in the meantime, let’s get out to some shows (*indicates a 2012 Coachella artist)!

Monday: Band of Skulls*, We Are Augustines*, The Sheepdogs* at The El Rey (7:30)
ALSO: It’s A School Night at Bardot featuring Kimbra and Mini Mansions (9pm)…free with RSVP http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/losangeles/
ALSO: Manchester Orchestra* at The Music Box/Henry Fonda Theater (7pm)
ALSO: Eric Hutchinson with Holly Conlan and Jessie Payo at The Hotel Cafe (7, 9:30)
ALSO: A House for Lions FREE at Bootleg Bar (8pm)
ALSO Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: The Other Side of Morning (acoustic) at The W Hotel (9pm)
ALSO: Lovers Dugs at Dagonfly Bar (9pm)
ALSO: The Big Pink* and Miike Snow* at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Italian Japanese at The Satellite (8:30)
ALSO: Oh Darling at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: LP and Kimbra at The Troubadour (9:15, 10:30)
ALSO: David and Devine at WitZend (10pm)
ALSO: Kasabian* at The Fonda Theater (8pm)
ALSO: We Were Promised Jetpacks*, Chasing Kings, and Tristen at The Echo (8:30)

Weds: Maniac and Foxy Shazam at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: The Revival Tour 2012 at The Troubadour featuring Chuck Ragan, Cory Branan, Tommy Gabel, Nathaniel Rateliff at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: Dar Williams Record Release Show at The Largo (8pm)
ALSO: The Black Angels* at The Fonda Theater (8pm)

Thursday: Nico Vega, Standing Shadows, A House for Lions at The Roxy (7pm)
ALSO: The Big Pink* and IO Echo at The Echo (8:30)
ALSO: First Aid Kit* and Wild Flag* at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Missy Higgins and Gotye* at Nokia Theate LA Live (8pm)
ALSO: John Elliot and The Hereafter at Molly Malone’s (10pm)
ALSO: 0x0 and Blake Lewis at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Buddy at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)

Friday: Brendan James, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, and Dawn McCoy at The Hotel Cafe (7, 9:30, 10:30)
ALSO: Lakes at M Bar (?)
ALSO: Sonia Rao and Connie Lim at WitZend (9:30, 10:30)
ALSO: Telstar at Flying Saucers Café in Santa Monica (9pm)
ALSO: Coachella featuring The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, honeyhoney, etc.

Saturday: Coachella featuring Radiohead, The Shins, Kaiser Chiefs, AWOLNATION, We Are Augustines, St. Vincent, Laura Marling, The Big Pink, etc.

Sunday: Coachella featuring Fitz and the Tantrums, Band of Skulls, Florence + the Machine, Lissie, Gotye, First Aid Kit, etc.

Monday (April 23^rd): It’s A School Night at Bardot featuring LP and We Are Augustines* (9pm)…free with RSVP http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/losangeles/
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

To Keep in Mind:
April 24^th: The Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
April 24^th: Eve 6 at The Grammy Museum
April 25^th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
April 25^th: Dead Sara at Club Nokia
April 26^th: Jasmine Ash at The Roxy
April 26^th: Zoe Keating at The Largo
April 27^th: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
May 2^nd: Cage the Elephant at The Mayan
May 3^rd: James Morrison at The Avalon
May 6^th: Middle Class Rut at The Troubadour
May 8^th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium
May 10^th: Jay Nash at The Hotel Cafe
May 11^th: Imagine Dragons at The Troubadour
May 12^th: Augustana at The El Rey
May 19^th: Eric Hutchinson and Graffiti6 at The Troubadour
May 30^th: Eve 6 at The Troubadour
May 31^st: Greg Laswell at The El Rey
June 3^rd: Deas Vail at The Troubadour
June 5^th and 6^th: Ben Howard at The Troubadour
June 6^th: The Cordovas at Saint Rocke
June 7-10^th: Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN
June 13^thand 14^th: Phantom Planet at The Troubadour
June 16^th: Thrice at Club Nokia
June 23^rd: Milo Greene at The Troubadour
June 25^th: Graffiti6 at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

New Music Tuesday 4/10/12 Featuring Dead Sara, Scars on 45, Hoots & Hellmouth

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Kristen

Another great week for new tunes. Here are some must have’s for your collection.

Dead Sara– Dead Sara

I’ve been loving this rock band from LA for so long, it’s hard to believe this album is just coming out now. The year isn’t even half over, but this will be one of the best albums to come out this year. Guarenteed. Get into it!

you can find the album here

Scars on 45– Scars on 45

Another album I can’t believe isn’t out yet. I’ve been enjoying these Brits for several years now. I’m so happy they are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Haven’t heard the album yet, but I’m heading down to Long Beach tonight for the CD release party at Fingerprints and will be sure to pick it up there.

You can get it up here.

Hoots & Hellmouth – Salt

These Philly boys know how to put on a good show. I’m sure their new LP will be another must-have for my collection. You can listen to a stream of it here: http://www.hootsandhellmouth.com/index.php

Or just go ahead and download it here.

Other new albums to look into:

Halestorm- Strange Case Ofhttp://www.halestormrocks.com/
Sucre- A Minor Birdhttp://sucrediaries.blogspot.com/
Alabama Shakes- Boys & Girls http://www.alabamashakes.com/
Elliot Yamin – Let’s Get to What’s Real http://www.officialelliottyamin.com/
Emily Wells – Mama http://www.emilywellsmusic.com/
Imaginary Cities- Temporary Residenthttp://www.imaginarycities.ca/usep/
Trampled by Turtles – Stars and Satellites http://trampledbyturtles.com/

Listen! Learn! Love!

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar 4/9-4/15

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Kristen

Happy Easter everyone! It’s a time for rebirth and I certainly feel like my life is changing. I have this horrible feeling like the decisions I make in the next couple of weeks will have a profound influence on the rest of my life. At Easter mass, I prayed for the strength to make the right choices. Currently I’m failing at boiling some eggs for dying so clearly my prayers have not been heard quite yet.

Friday night, I was lucky enough to be at The Bootleg Theater to watch Garbage “rehearse” for their upcoming tour. Shirley Manson and company are still on top of their game, rocking out a lengthy set list of Garbage hits as well as a couple new tunes from their forthcoming record. Here’s a review of the show my friend Steve wrote. He borrowed some of my pictures. (http://www.antiquiet.com/shows/2012/04/garbage-bootleg-theater-la/ ). If you’re in LA, I hope you were able to get tickets to their El Rey shows this week…

Here’s what else is going on:

Monday: Garbage at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: Haim FREE at The Echoplex (10pm)
ALSO: Arlo Guthrie at The Grammy Museum (8pm)
ALSO: It’s a School Night at Bardot featuring Elle King and Nico Vega (9:30)…FREE with RSVP (http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/losangeles/)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: Nico Vega and Neon Trees at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO Garbage at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: Oh Land at The Echoplex (10pm)
ALSO: Scars on 45 Record Release Party at Footprints in Long Beach (7pm)

Weds: Mike Doughty at Bootleg Theater (8pm)…Book of Drugs reading, concert, and Q & A
ALSO: Jane Carrey at The Mint (8pm)
ALSO: The Civil Wars on Jimmy Kimmel Live! FREE with reservation on 1iota.com (5:30)

Thursday: Queen Caveat at The Roxy (9pm)
ALSO: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: The Honeytrees, Whispertown, and Sucre at Bootleg Bar (9,10,11)
ALSO: James Durbin at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Joseph Arthur at Largo (8pm)
ALSO: Republic of Letters at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)

Friday: Kill the Alarm at Room 5 (10pm)
ALSO: Keaton Simons at Witzend (10pm)
ALSO: The Dahls, Alexz Johnson at The Hotel Cafe (8,11)
ALSO: Coachella Weekend 1 begins!

Saturday: Bonnie Bishop and Jesse Thomas at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)
ALSO: Terra Naomi at Witzend (9pm)

Sunday: Adam Bones at The Roxy (8pm)

To Keep in Mind:
April 16^th: Band of Skulls, We Are Augustines, The Sheepdogs at The El Rey
April 17^th: The Big Pink at The El Rey
April 18^th: Dar Williams at The Largo
April 18^th: Nathaniel Rateliff at The Troubadour
April 19^th: Foxy Shazam at The Roxy
April 13^th-15^th AND 20^th– 22^nd: Coachella
April 24^th: The Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
April 24^th: Eve 6 at The Grammy Museum
April 25^th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
April 25^th: Dead Sara at Club Nokia
April 26^th: Jasmine Ash at The Roxy
April 26^th: Zoe Keating at The Largo
April 27^th: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
May 2^nd: Cage the Elephant at The Mayan
May 3^rd: James Morrison at The Avalon
May 6^th: Middle Class Rut at The Troubadour
May 8^th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium
May 10^th: Jay Nash at The Hotel Cafe
May 11^th: Imagine Dragons at The Troubadour
May 12^th: Augustana at The El Rey
May 19^th: Eric Hutchinson and Graffiti6 at The Troubadour
May 30^th: Eve 6 at The Troubadour
May 31^st: Greg Laswell at The El Rey
June 3^rd: Deas Vail at The Troubadour
June 5^th and 6^th: Ben Howard at The Troubadour
June 6^th: The Cordovas at Saint Rocke
June 7-10^th: Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN
June 13^thand 14^th: Phantom Planet at The Troubadour
June 16^th: Thrice at Club Nokia
June 23^rd: Milo Greene at The Troubadour
June 25^th: Graffiti6 at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

New Music Tuesday 4/3/12 Featuring The Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men, Ben Howard

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Kristen

Today has been quite chaotic. There is simply more to do than time to do it in. But I’m determined to get the word on on a few new CDs that come out today. So here it is. word.

The Lumineers– The Lumineers

The Lumineers have been a LMN Band Love for a little while now. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this album. It has been the soundtrack of my day. You should take a listen.

Buy it here.

Of Monsters and Men – My Head is An Animal

These guys made my SXSW ’12 mix with their song “Little Talks”. I am very much looking forward to checking the rest of the album out. Here’s a taste.

Amazon link

Ben Howard– Every Kingdom

Another artist from my SXSW ’12 mix has a CD coming out today. I already have a ticket to see Ben at The Troubadour in June. He’s playing two nights (5^th and 6^th). I think there are still tickets available for the second night.

Cd can be found here.

I’m not generally a fan of music videos, but this one really grabs me.

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/2-4/8

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Kristen

I’ve mostly been avoiding the internet today. I am not a fan of this whole April Fool’s business. I do not need to hear about another band breaking up even if it is a joke… There are, however, some good deals going around in celebration of the day. High Voltage Magazine is offering an April 1^st deal of 50% off a yearly subscription (http://www.iamhighvoltage.com/subscribe.html). Please check it out. I’m conducting an exciting interview tomorrow for my On the Rise piece for the Spring issue. The only place you can read it will be in the magazine, so here’s your chance to get it for ½ price!

In other news, some great shows this week. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing the lead singer of Augustana, Dan Layus, perform at The Hotel Cafe. His band’s last show at The El Rey will probably go down as one of my favorite shows of the year. Last I checked, there were still tickets available for the Hotel Cafe shows on both Weds and Thursday.

Here’s what else I’ve got for you:

Monday: Lemon Sun FREE at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: It’s A School Night at Bardot featuring Lelia Broussard and U.S. Royalty (10pm)…FREE with RSVP http://itsaschoolnight.com/
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: The Makepeace Brothers at The Mint (9:30)
ALSO: Queen Caveat at the 98.7FM Penthouse (5pm)…limited space so RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/426085190739950/

Weds: The Barr Brothers and Dan Layus (of Augustana) at The Hotel Cafe (8,9:30)
ALSO: Jane Carrey Band at The Mint (8pm)

Thursday: Dan Layus (of Augustana) at The Hotel Cafe (9:30)
ALSO: He’s My Brother She’s My Sister and The Pierces at The Troubadour (9:15, 10)
ALSO: Terra Naomi at WitZend (8pm)
ALSO: Brett Detar at The Silverlake Lounge (9pm)
ALSO: Prom for Hope at Club Nokia featuring Semi Precious Weapons (8pm)

Friday: Keaton Simons at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)
ALSO: The Nervous Wreckords and Transfer at The Viper Room (10, 11)
ALSO: The Gallery at On the Rox (10pm)

Saturday: Anais Mitchell and John Elliot at The Broad Stage (Edye Theater) (8pm)
ALSO: Roman Candle Wars at The Redwood Bar (9:30)
ALSO: Jesse Thomas at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Rodrigo y Gabriela at Hollywood Palladium (8pm)

Sunday: HAPPY EASTER!

To Keep in Mind:
April 10^th: Neon Trees at The Troubadour
April 11^th: Mike Doughty at Bootleg Theater
April 12^th: Joseph Arthur at The Largo
April 12^th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Café
April 13^th: Kill the Alarm at Room 5
April 16^th: Band of Skulls, We Are Augustines, The Sheepdogs at The El Rey
April 18^th: Dar Williams at The Largo
April 19^th: Foxy Shazam at The Roxy
April 13^th-15^th AND 20^th– 22^nd: Coachella
April 24^th: The Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
April 25^th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
April 25^th: Dead Sara at Club Nokia
April 26^th: Jasmine Ash at The Roxy
April 26^th: Zoe Keating at The Largo
April 27^th: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
May 2^nd: Cage the Elephant at The Mayan
May 3^rd: James Morrison at The Avalon
May 6^th: Middle Class Rut at The Troubadour
May 8^th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium
May 10^th: Jay Nash at The Hotel Cafe
May 11^th: Imagine Dragons at The Troubadour
May 12^th: Augustana at The El Rey
May 19^th: Eric Hutchinson and Graffiti6 at The Troubadour
May 30^th: Eve 6 at The Troubadour
May 31^st: Greg Laswell at The El Rey
June 3^rd: Deas Vail at The Troubadour
June 5^th and 6^th: Ben Howard at The Troubadour
June 7-10^th: Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN
June 13^thand 14^th: Phantom Planet at The Troubadour
June 16^th: Thrice at Club Nokia

~ Kristen