Author: Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 5/16-5/22

Posted on by Kristen

Annnnd another week is upon us. Where did the last one go? I’m not quite sure. It was a rough one. By Friday, my stress-induced eye twitch was pretty constant. I knew if I was going to make it through the weekend’s to do list, I needed to take measures. I went to the only place I knew could make me forget about my stressors for an evening, found myself a seat and didn’t move for about seven hours. That place, of course, being The Hotel Cafe. And by the end of the magical evening of music, I was singing along with Daniel Bedingfield covering Chantal Kreviazuk’s “Feels Like Home” and all was once again right with the world.

 

This week is not looking to be any easier. Fortunately there are more opportunities for great live shows starting Monday night with one of my favorite Las Vegas-based bands, Imagine Dragons!

 

As for the rest, here’s what I’ve got:

 

 

Monday: Imagine Dragons at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Yael Naim at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Stephen Kellogg at Bootleg Theater (8:30)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 featuring Adrianne, Rob Giles, Garrison Starr, and Joel Eckels (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Alberta Cross and Chasing Kings at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Jenni Alpert and Lelia Broussard at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)

 

Weds: Patrick Park at Bootleg Theater (9pm)
ALSO: Matthew Mayfield and Kevin Devine at The Hotel Cafe (8,9:30)
ALSO: Golden State at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Of Verona at Silverlake Lounge (9pm)
ALSO: The Watkins Family at Largo at The Coronet (8:30)
ALSO: Johnny Flynn at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at Molly Malone’s (8pm)
ALSO: Shawn Mullins and Susanna Hoffs at The Mint (9pm)
ALSO: Semi Precious Weapons at On the Rox (10pm)…FREE with RSVP

 

Thursday: Paris Carney and So & So at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)
ALSO: Irontom (formally The Bellows) at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)

 

Friday: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Kina Grannis at Largo at the Coronet (8:30)

 

Saturday: Saint Motel’s Judgement Day with Queen Caveat at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: The Janks & The Shivers at The Hotel Cafe (10:30)
ALSO: Sabrosa Purr and 100 Monkeys at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: Viza at The Key Club (11pm)
ALSO: Jamestown Revival at Molly Malone’s (10:45)

 

Sunday: Chasing Avalanche and Run Run Run at The Viper Room (8,10)
ALSO: Dead Sara at Bardot (10:30)
ALSO: Alice Smith at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)

 

To Keep in Mind:

May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 1st: Parade of Lights at Silverlake Lounge
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 6th and 7th: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9th: Adele at Hollywood Palladium
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

 

The Other Side of Morning CD Release 5/14

Posted on by Kristen

The Other Side of Morning has their first full length record out this week! The CD is entitled  Letters From Your Love, The Madman. It has indeed been a long time coming and I’m super excited to see and hear the new tunes. In celebration of the event, the band will be playing this Saturday May 14th at The Loft. For details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159847907408063

Don’t miss it!

Seems like they’ve got someone helping them with promotion:

And here’s a vid for one of their new tunes:

 

 

~ Kristen

New Band Alert: Hot Brush

Posted on by Kristen

According to the band, Hot Brush is defined as an intense moment/experience; enlightenment; an alignment of fate. If it is fate that brought together Jace (Alright Junior) and Elissa (Karma Bat) on their musical journeys, then certainly we should pay attention! This duo from Philadelphia only has a couple songs up for our listening pleasure, but I’m quite excited about what I hear.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Jace’s voice and I find it only enhanced by the sweetness of Elissa’s harmonies in “Bloodfed Trees”. I’m also digging the pluckiness of the ukulele which is a fantastic juxtaposition to the darker lyrical tones. The other Hot Brush tune “Dr. Fuller” (see below) is another gem. It reminds me of a darker version of Egyptian’s “Doctor Doctor“…it’s as if Hot Brush is the east coast’s answer to the west coast’s power duo of Aja (Nico Vega) and Dan (Imagine Dragons). But I digress…

If you’re in Philadelphia, you need to go check out Hot Brush (and kindly report back). They have a couple shows on the calendar. May 30th at Kung Fu Necktie and June 1st at PJ Ryan’s Underground in Pheonixville.

In the meantime, like them on facebook, follow them on twitter, listen to some tunes on reverb nation, and generally fall in love with some new music! yay!

 


~ Kristen

 

New Music Tuesday: Kill The Alarm, Hugo, Manchester Orchestra

Posted on by Kristen

It’s new music Tuesday! Anything you’ve been looking forward to? The return of The Cars? Or perhaps, the much buzzed about Christina Perri…or maybe SNL spawned The Lonely Island? Gleeks out there might be interested to check out Matthew Morrison’s new album. While you’re in the music-buying mood, might I suggest some CDs I’ve been looking forward to that officially come out today:

 

Against The Grain– Kill The Alarm

I’ve been a big fan of anything by Garen Gueyikian for quite some time. He hasn’t put out much in the way of new original music in ages, so I’m most excited about the release of this EP, Against The Grain, from his band, Kill The Alarm. I can’t wait to give it a proper listen (here).

Here’s an acoustic performance of the first single, “Don’t Run Away”

 

Old Tyme Religion– Hugo

I first came across the bluesy-rock of NYC-based Hugo at SXSW. I’ve been jamming out to Old Tyme Religion for a couple weeks now, but it’s official release is today. To learn more about Hugo, read this recent interview. To go straight to the downloading bit, here’s the itunes link.

You might be familiar with Hugo’s take on Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”, but I’m really digging this track:

 

Simple Math– Manchester Orchestra

The “I’ve Got Friends” hitmakers have a new CD out today. I haven’t heard any of Simple Math yet, but I don’t need to to know that I will need this album in my collection. This band puts on one of the best live shows and I will need to be familiar with all their new tunes to more fully enjoy their June 2nd show at The Music Box.

The band stopped by the studio for my favorite radio station in December. Here’s an acoustic version of the title track off their new album.

 

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 5/9-5/15

Posted on by Kristen

This week, electro dance pop group, Viva City, are in town all the way from the UK. These boys played an important role in my SXSW experience in Austin this year and even made my list of top sets. I’m quite excited to have them back in my life for a week. If you’re in the mood for some dancing, come to The Viper Room on Monday, Saint Rocke on Tuesday, and The Silverlake Lounge on Thursday. Added bonus, Monday and Tuesday my friend Eli James will be joining Viva City performing his unique set behind his one-of-a-kind light-up drum kit. The makings for a great dance party indeed!

 

Lots of good shows this week. Here’s my list:

 

Monday: Eli James, Viva City, That Noise at The Viper Room (8pm)
ALSO: Taylor Locke and The Roughs FREE at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: KT Tunstall with Charlie Mars and Meiko at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Dom Liberati at Bar Lubitsch (8pm)
ALSO: Ivan & Alyosha at The Autry (7pm)
ALSO: Cage 9 FREE at The Troubadour (10:45)
ALSO: Chris Robinson Brotherhood at The Echoplex (8:30)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Viva City and Eli James at Saint Rocke (8:30, 9:30)
ALSO: Alberta Cross at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Pinback at The El Rey (9pm)
ALSO: Red Circle Underground at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)

 

Weds: Semi Precious Weapons at On the Rox (10pm)…FREE with RSVP (rsvp@semipreciousweapons.com)
ALSO: Beatnik Jr. FREE at 3 Clubs (10pm)
ALSO: Leighton Meester and Kevin Devine at The Hotel Cafe (7,9:30)
ALSO: Agent Ribbons and Le Butcherettes at Bootleg Theater (9,11)
ALSO: The Greenhornes at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Colin Hay at Largo at The Coronet (8pm)

 

Thursday: Viva City at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: Brian Wright at The Hotel Cafe (9:30)
ALSO: Hayes Carll at The Troubadour (10pm)

 

Friday: The Creepshow at The Hotel Cafe featuring Ferras, Daniel Bedingfield, Shawn Hlookoff, etc. (10pm)
ALSO: Love and a .38 at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: The Kills at The Music Box (8pm)

 

Saturday: The Other Side of Morning CD release at The Loft (9pm)
ALSO: Andrew Ripp and The Daylights at The Hotel Cafe (11:30)
ALSO: Peter Bjorn and John TWO sets at The El Rey (8,11)

 

Sunday: Jake Newton and Schuyler Fisk at Saint Rocke (9pm)
ALSO: The Black Angels at The El Rey (9pm)
ALSO: Eisley at The Troubadour (10:15)

 

 

To Keep in Mind:

May 20th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
May 21st: Saint Motel at The Roxy
May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 6th and 7th: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9th: Adele at Hollywood Palladium
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 11th: The Head and The Heart at The Hotel Cafe
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

 

~ Kristen

 

Watch This: Lovers Drugs “1925”

Posted on by Kristen

The third video from Lovers Drugs self-titled EP was released this week. It’s for their song “1925” and appears to be about a young woman watching a dance performance that goes terribly wrong. The band portrays both stage musicians and the woman’s saviors. Set in sepia tones, the beauty of the ballad and the dancers is in contrast to the more disturbing title cards announcing acts entitled “a tragic love is born” or “doubt triumphs over instinct.”  I enjoy the song, but I’m even more intrigued by the story in the video.

This video is just one in a series made for songs off Lovers Drugs’ EP. There will be a video for each of the six songs and together they will tell the story of this disturbed young woman, named Jackie. What we know so far of Jackie and her tale is what we can see by watching previously released videos for “Into the Light” and “Jackie Says”.  Jackie seems confined in this blue-tinted world; locked in a barren room, being forced to take medication… Her form of escape is provided by Lovers Drugs who sing to her, bringing color and light to her world.

I asked Dean, bassist for Lovers Drugs, how this new “1925” video fits into Jackie’s story. Here is his response:

“As you’ve already assessed, Jackie is a troubled young lady fighting her demons both real and imagined. You can see in the “Jackie Says” video that she is living in a mental half-way house. She often dreams of the outside world and flirts with methods of evading her surroundings whether that be a physical escape or a mental escapade, hence the 1925 theme.”

The full story of Jackie won’t be apparent until the complete 20 min. short combining all of the songs is released sometime in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime we can only speculate. How did Jackie end up where she is? Will she ever really escape or will she be confined to the world of blue forever? Will Lovers Drugs help set her free? What is the importance of all of those keys?

Okay, I’m really looking forward to the full video!

~ Kristen

For you to catch up: