Author: Kristen

Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 14 – Plan B

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14. “Stay Too Long” – Plan B

 

There is so much I love about Plan B’s album The Defamation of Strickland Banks. It’s one of those albums that should be listened to in its entirety from front to back. That’s the best way to get the complete story of a man who is wrongfully incarcerated. Plan B is UK born Ben Drew who uses not just his vocal abilities, but his skills as an artist and director to make Strickland Banks come to life in a series of songs and music videos. Known more for his rapping, I love how this album showcases his soulful singing voice. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the shows Plan B did in LA this year. But I keep coming back to this CD, and I think “Stay Too Long” does a great job showcasing the range on the album, so here it is!

~ Kristen

Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 13 – Vanaprasta

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13. “Nine Equals Nine” – Vanaprasta

The best night to go out in Los Angeles is Monday night. So many great shows and most of them are free. Venues like The Satellite (formally Spaceland) and Silverlake Lounge had some pretty choice Monday night residencies this year. Taylor Locke and The Roughs, Youngblood Hawke, Big Black Delta, Indians, etc. Vanaprasta at The Satellite was one of the residencies I enjoyed the most. It centered around the release of their album, Healthy Geometry, which has been getting quite a bit of play in my stereo. LMN also started doing a feature this year called The Band Exam and Vanaprasta was one of our willing participants.

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 1/2-1/8

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Happy 2012! I hope you all have been enjoying my end of year posts. I had a rockin’ New Year’s Eve last night at The Roxy with Semi Precious Weapons and friends. I’m very much looking forward to what the new year will bring. What life-changing shows will be attended. What new musical acts will be discovered. What fantastic journeys we will take. Maybe this will be the year I will follow one of my favorite bands around Europe…

But for now, let’s stick to bands I enjoy playing LA this week. Here’s my list:

 

Monday: Sabrosa Purr at The Viper Room (11:15)
ALSO: Brendan Hines, Toy Bombs, and Chasing Kings FREE at The Satellite (9pm)…thus begins another great month-long residency at The Satellite with Chasing Kings
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Lovers Drugs at Bootleg Bar (9pm)
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig and the Santa Fe Seven and Olin and the Moon at The Echo (10pm)

 

Weds: ?

 

Thursday: Tom Freund, George Stanford and friends at The Hotel Cafe (8, 9)

 

Friday: The Lumineers at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Paris Carney at Room 5 (8pm)
ALSO: Marcus Very Ordinary and Hanni El Khatib at Bootleg Bar (9,11)
ALSO: Dylan Chambers, Ernie Halter, and Kelley James at The Troubadour (8pm)

 

Saturday: Whispering Pines FREE at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Viza at The Key Club (11pm)

 

Sunday: The Mowgli’s at Bootleg Bar (10pm)

 

To Keep in Mind:
January 10th: Dead Sara at The Troubadour
January 11th: Zane Carney at Molly Malone’s
January 12th: Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
January 17th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
January 18th: Augustana at The El Rey
January 19th: Civil Twilight at Bootleg Bar
January 19th: Zane Carney at The Hotel Café
January 26th: Endoxi at The Roxy
January 29th: Tyrone Wells at Saint Rocke
January 31st: Atomic Tom at Bootleg Bar
Feb. 2nd: Mutemath at Club Nokia
Feb. 8th: Marketa Irglova at The Hotel Café
Feb. 9th: Joss Stone at The Troubadour
Feb. 14th: Twin Atlantic and You Me at Six at The Troubadour
Feb. 17th: Ryan Adams at The Hollywood Bowl
Feb. 19th: The Darkness at House of Blues Sunset
Feb. 21st: Scars on 45 at The Troubadour
March 9th: William Fitzsimmons at The Troubadour
March 13th-18th: SXSW (Austin, TX)
March 18th: Dia Frampton at The Troubadour
March 24th: Ani DiFranco at The Orpheum Theater
March 24th: Allen Stone at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

 

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Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 12 – Mariah McManus

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12. “Anyway” – Mariah McManus

 

I first saw Mariah McManus front her rock band Glare of Rockets several years ago…I think they might have opened for Carney at The Troubadour. I recall enjoying the band, but never heard from them again. Now Mariah is back with a solo album, Nice to Meet You, which is one of my favorite albums that came out this year. I love her unique voice and she is quite the talented songwriter. She also put out a Christmas album that spent the holiday season in my car player on repeat.  I anticipate big things from Mariah McManus. You should check her out.

~ Kristen

Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 11 – Parade of Lights

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11. “Other Voices” – Parade of Lights

One of the most traumatic experiences I had this year was the loss of my car for two weeks….bussing back and forth to campus wasn’t the worst experience, but not having a car seriously hindered my evening activities. The worst was the night my friends, Vegas-based Parade of Lights, were playing at The Viper Room and my hope for a ride fell through. Fortunately I have some awesome people in my life who understand what it means to miss one of your favorite bands. I don’t recall when I’ve ever been quite so grateful to be at a show. I may have hugged everyone a bit too hard that night…I was just so happy to be there. Anytime Parade of Lights plays in the LA area, I am there. They are one of my favorite bands to dance to.

~ Kristen

Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 10 – The Silent Comedy

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10. “The Prince” – The Silent Comedy 

The Silent Comedy, one of my favorite bands from San Diego, had an amazing year traveling the country, playing with Ryan Bingham, and making so many new fans and friends. The weekend of the San Diego Music Thing (one of my favorite music conferences), I traveled down a day early to see the boys play in Balboa Park. During my travels, however, there was a massive power outage that impacted the greater San Diego area and beyond. We ventured to the park anyway and The Silent Comedy played for us outside, unplugged via candlelight. Afterwards we all headed over to a friend’s pool for some late night swimming. Fortunately the power came on for the weekend’s events, but I will never forget the intimacy of that evening when The Silent Comedy played acoustic songs like this version of “The Prince”

Here’s another acoustic gem (and the song from last year’s mix):

 

~ Kristen

Kristen’s ’11 Mix – Track 9 – Ben Rector

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9. “When A Heart Breaks” – Ben Rector 

LMN spent some time in Nashville this year exploring a bit of the local music scene. I realized that I’ve been listening to quite a few Nashville-based artists. Butterfly Boucher, Matthew Perryman Jones, Gabe Dixon (and all the Ten of Tenn-ers), Neal Carpenter, Bonnie Bishop, Matt Wertz, etc. It was hard to select just one for this mix, but the one who had the greatest impact on me this year was probably Ben Rector.  I first heard of Ben a couple of years ago but this year was the first opportunity I had to see him, first opening for Matt Wertz at The Troubadour and later at The Hotel Cafe as part of my epic 4 venue/7band evening.  Ben Rector had a new album come out this year called Something Like This, which I quite enjoy, but I’m still hung up on Into The Morning which features “When a Heart Breaks”

~ Kristen