Song of the Day: “Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham

Since its release, I’ve been listening to a lot of Hugo’s Old Tyme Religion. It’s a great CD and I’ve been enjoying it…but driving into work the other day, my roommate and I made the decision that the general tone of the album was just too positive for our current state. Posing questions like “what in the world were you born to do” was just too much…

I needed to find a song that more accurately reflected my current outlook on life. I flipped through my Ipod until I landed on this song. Tracy Bonham’s “Mother Mother” fit so perfectly I put it on repeat.  Tracy may scream “everything’s fine” but we all know what she really means. Plus, it’s highly cathartic to join in.

I’ve seen The Veronicas do a version of this song live. Jess does a fine job with the screaming…

 

 

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/25-5/1

SO full right now. So so very full. The annual Easter party was full of friends and food and eggs that now look like angry birds…what more could you want!?! Why music of course! I’m trying to clear some room in my stomach for the french fries that will hopefully accompany more friends and some awesome tunes at Saint Rocke tonight…assuming I will be able to move by then…

I will definitely be able to move by Monday night because I got my ticket for The Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite the instant they went on sale (AKA wouldn’t miss it for the world). There are tons of great shows this week. I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully my work schedule will permit me to partake!

Here’s my dream list:

Monday: Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite (8:30)
ALSO: The Head & The Heart at The Troubadour (10:15)…unfortunately sold out…but if you don’t know this band from Seattle, you should
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: The Chris Robinson Brotherhood at The Echoplex (8:30)

 

Tuesday: Madi Diaz and Joe Firstman at The Hotel Cafe (8,10)
ALSO: The Filthy Souls at The Piano Bar (midnight)
ALSO: Airborne Toxic Event at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Jonathan Clark and Satellite at Molly Malone’s (8,9)…last night of the residency!
ALSO: Alien Ant Farm, Finger Eleven, and Papa Roach at The House of Blues Sunset (8:30)

 

Weds: Joe Firstman at Saint Rocke (9:45)
ALSO: Andy Clockwise CD Release with George Stanford at The Troubadour (8:30)
ALSO: High Voltage Night at The Mint featuring Maren Parusel (8pm)
ALSO: The Ditty Bops at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: The Airborne Toxic Event at The El Rey (8pm)

Thursday: Purple Melon and Rival Sons FREE at Hard Rock Cafe (10,10:50)
ALSO: Little Hurricane at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)
ALSO: of Verona and The Canyons at Molly Malone’s (8,9)
ALSO: The White Buffalo at The Mint (10pm)
ALSO: The Airborne Toxic Event at The Music Box (9pm)

 

Friday: Queen Caveat at Bardot (11:30)
ALSO: Milk Carton Kids at Saint Rocke (10pm)
ALSO: Jenni Alpert and Rob Giles at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)

 

Saturday: Joe Purdy and The Milk Carton Kids at The Troubadour (9pm)
ALSO: Prohibition Rose and Inverse at The Viper Room (9, 9:50)
ALSO: The Boxer Rebellion at The Roxy (10pm)

 

Sunday: Thao & Mirah at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: The White Buffalo at Saint Rocke (9pm)

 

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
May 2nd: Xavier Rudd at The El Rey
May 4th: The Pipettes at The Satellite
May 7th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 14th: The Other Side of Morning CD Release
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
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 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
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 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
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

http://twitter.com/#!/_localmusicnat

 

New Band Love: Parade of Lights

It’s been about six months since we first heard and fell in love with Parade of Lights so this post is waaaaay overdue. If you’re looking for some perfectly crafted pop music that just makes you want to DANCE, look no farther than Las Vegas based Parade of Lights. Ryan Daly (vocals, guitar), Matt Frey (keys, guitar), Randy Schulte (bass, keys), and Anthony Improgo (drums) have known each other for years. They used to play together in a group called Polus. Then they drifted apart with Anthony drumming for Metro Station and Matt on tour with 30 Seconds to Mars.  But now they are back together, rechristened Parade of Lights!

The first time I saw them, I was instantly drawn to their sound; catchy and fun…tunes that you just can’t get out of your head. One of the great things about following a young band is watching them develop. At the Parade of Lights show a couple weekends ago at The Vault in Temecula, I was amazed at the growth and maturity that had occurred over the last several months. The band seems to be adding more texture to their songs, infusing softer openings and head banging outros to their boppin’ pop core. I actually stopped jumping up and down for a few seconds just to marvel at their progress. I thought, it’s time to get the word out there. The world needs to know about Parade of Lights!

Fortunately for you, many of the band’s songs are available for FREE download on their facebook page. “Starstruck” is the song that made my end of 2010 mix…but it’s “Young Again” that’s been swimming in my head more recently.

If you’re curious as to how Parade of Lights got their name (we were!), watch what they said when we asked them about it:

No Parade of Lights shows on the horizon, but we’ll be sure to let you know if they come anywhere near Southern California…

~ Kristen

Egyptian EP on ITunes!

SO excited that Egyptian (that’s Aja Volkman from Nico Vega and Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons…if you didn’t know) finally have some tunes out for sale.

Check out their EP on ITunes. It includes track 15 off my 2010 end of year music mix!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/egyptian-ep/id433029207

What’s next? Some live dates? We can only hope…

 

~ Kristen

 

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/18-4/24

Still singing and dancing to music from last night’s adventure at The Troubadour. Ben Rector and Matt Wertz were both fantastic, bringing me back to my days of Tyler Hilton, Gavin Degraw, and that ilk. I spent a lot of time in 2004-5 this week between last night and Weds night’s venture to The Hotel Cafe to see Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump busting beats with his new solo tunes. The highlight of last week, however, was Biffy Clyro down at The Belly Up. I cannot be effusive enough in the written word to describe the experience, so I won’t even try.

Let’s just say this week has a lot to live up to. If I could pick just one show it would be Thursday night at Molly Malone’s. Zane Carney (of my very first LA band love, Carney) is in town from NYC where he, as well as the rest of the band, have been very busy with the new Spiderman musical. Zane’s playing three sets; the first with a jazz band, the second with his sister Paris Carney, and the third with Stephen Hovsepian as a duo, Great Work. I am excited about the music (Zane is a master of the guitar and always a pleasure to watch), but I’m also excited about catching up with my Carney family, the first group of people I met when I moved out to LA, the majority of whom I have not seen since Carney departed.

But that’s not all that’s going on this week. It’ll be a busy one:

 

Monday: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Lauryn Hill at Club Nokia (7pm)

 

Tuesday: Dead Sara at The Viper Room…opening for Duff McKagan’s new band, Loaded (8:30)
ALSO: Eliza Doolittle and Plan B at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: The Material at Whiskey a Go Go (8pm)
ALSO: Armada and Infantree at Saint Rocke (8:30, 9:30)
ALSO: The Muddy Reds at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: Jonathan Clark and Satellite at Molly Malone’s (8,9)
ALSO: Paul Simon at The Music Box (7pm)

 

Weds: Ellie Goulding at The Music Box (7pm)
ALSO: Amie Miriello and Ruby Friedman Orchestra at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)

 

Thursday: An evening with Zane Carney at Molly Malone’s (8: Zane Carney, John Daversa, and Sam Gendel play jazz; 9: Zane and Paris Carney; 10: The Zane and Stephan Show)
ALSO: Deep Dark Robot at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: The Pretty Reckless FREE at Hard Rock Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Kurt Vile and The Violators at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Brian Wright at The Foundry on Melrose (8:30)

 

Friday: Purple Melon at The Roxy (9pm)
ALSO: Hugo at The Viper Room (9pm)
ALSO: Lakes at The Hotel Cafe (midnight)
ALSO: Matthew Jordan at Pi (part of a songwriters in the round session, starts at 9pm)
ALSO: Eastern Conference Champions at The Echo (10pm)

 

Saturday: I do have a friend who will be dressing up like a crab and singing “Under The Sea” at The Troubadour…that might be interesting…

 

Sunday: Justin Hopkins Songwriter in the Round Series and Hugo at Saint Rocke (8,10)
ALSO: Viza at The El Rey (7:30)

 

To Keep in Mind:
April 25th: Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite
April 25th: The Head & The Heart at The Troubadour
April 27th: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour
April 29th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at Saint Rocke
April 30th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at The Troubadour
May 2nd: Xavier Rudd at The El Rey
May 4th: The Pipettes at The Satellite
May 7th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 14th: The Other Side of Morning CD Release
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
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 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
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 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
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

 

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/11-4/17

Last night, I ventured down to Temecula where I met up with Amanda and we danced the night away with good friends and one of our favorite bands, Parade of Lights. I want to do it all again (well aside from that drive). Fortunately, if this week plays out as planned, last night was an enjoyable preview for what is to come!

The amazing tunes continue tonight with The Milk Carton Boys at The Hotel Cafe. As for the rest…check my schedule below (pay particular attention to Thursday…eeeeep!).

 

Monday: The Janks at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: The Canyons at Molly Malone’s (9:30)
ALSO: Chris Robinson Brotherhood at The Echoplex (8:30)
ALSO: The Filthy Souls at The Central in Santa Monica (8:30)
ALSO: Cage 9 FREE at The Viper Room (10:15)
ALSO: Tsunami Relief Benefit for Japan at Room 5 featuring so many amazing artists including Paris Carney, Joel Eckels, Gabriel Mann, Chris Pierce, Kyler England, Jenni Alpert, Keaton Simons, David and Devine, John Elliot, and MORE…seriously WOW (8pm)

 

Tuesday: The Stone Foxes and Chasing Kings at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Jonathan Clark and Satellite at Molly Malone’s (8,9)
ALSO: Queens of the Stone Age at The Wiltern (7:30)
ALSO: Ryan Calhoun at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)

 

Weds: Nico Vega and Imagine Dragons at The Slidebar in Fullerton (8:30)
ALSO: Patrick Stump at The Hotel Cafe (two shows, 7pm and 10pm)
ALSO: Greg Laswell at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Queens of the Stone Age at The Wiltern (7:30)

 

Thursday: Dynamite Walls and BIFFY CLYRO at The BellyUp in Solana Beach (8pm)…$6 tickets folks…seriously, you can’t miss it!
ALSO: Electric Touch at 3 Clubs (9pm)
ALSO: Allen Stone at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)
ALSO: The Canyons at Molly Malone’s (9pm)

 

Friday: Scarlet Grey and Assemble the Skyline at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: Matthew Jordan at Pi (9pm)

 

Saturday: Ben Rector and Matt Wertz at The Troubadour (9pm)
ALSO: Garrison Starr and Raining Jane at The Hotel Cafe (9,10)
ALSO: The Lonely Forest at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa (9pm)
ALSO: 10,000 Maniacs at The House of Blues Sunset (8pm)
ALSO: Infantree at The Echo (5pm)

 

Sunday: Greg Laswell at Saint Rocke (8:30)

 

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
April 20th: Ellie Goulding at The Music Box
April 22nd: Purple Melon at The Roxy
April 25th: Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite
April 25th: The Head & The Heart at The Troubadour
April 27th: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour
May 2nd: Xavier Rudd at The El Rey
May 4th: The Pipettes at The Satellite
May 7th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (SC)

~ Kristen