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Today’s Listen: Jamie Cullum

Posted on by Amanda

Today, I started listening to Jamie Cullum’s new CD, The Pursuit. Every since his song “Twentysomething” spoke to my very soul, I’ve been a fan. Plus, you really can’t go wrong in my book with piano-based songs.  I was a little concerned because people were saying this was Jamie’s attempt to get away from his jazzy piano style that made him so popular. One look at the cover (a piano that is being blown to smithereens) would also indicate this was his intent. Fortunately, for me, this is not true. Granted he gives us songs like “Music is Through” that sound more like…well everything else that I don’t really listen to…but even through the maze of synthesized beats, he still can’t resist busting out the snazzy piano solo.
People seem to like his cover of Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music” which is great, and gives me a whole new appreciation of that song.  But as far as covers go, I tend to gravitate more towards his version of “Not While I’m Around”…a classic from my childhood which means a lot more to me than Rihanna’s booty shaker. Listening to this new CD actually made me crave one of Jamie’s older offerings, Pointless Nostalgic, which also showed us his great diversity of tastes as he covers several of my fave tunes including Gershwins’ “Ain’t Necessarily So” and Radiohead’s “High and Dry.”  

All in all, I feel it is another great addition to the Jamie Cullum library, meant to be pulled out on rainy days and lazy afternoons.

http://www.jamiecullum.com/

Enjoy Cullum’s take on “High and Dry”!

~ Kristen

p.s. Jamie Cullum is playing The Avalon this Thursday, but unfortunately, it’s sold out. If you still want to see some piano playing genius, go to Cafe Was that night at 9:30 to check out Matthew Jordan…do it!

Get Back Loretta @ Soma

Posted on by Amanda

Happy Sunday!

I hope you all had a restful day after this crazy week we had! We had some awesome shows didn’t we? I know I needed to lay low after all that.

While I don’t yet have a list of shows for this upcoming week I do have a review of the Get Back Loretta show at Soma. I thought I’d share it with you fine folks…

Arguably everyone who came to the show Friday night was there for them. I saw quite a few people (myself included) lazing around the hallways waiting for the clock to turn 9:55 p.m. which was the magic Get Back time.

We got to see glimpses of them on stage but they weren’t really doing a sound check as others were doing it for them. I wondered what was up, then the lights went off on stage and no one was to be found. Next thing we know, the intro for Dreams Got Scattered starts up but it is a disembodied sound since we can’t see anyone. The lights go on, everyone comes on stage, and Chris Wilson (one of the new guitarists) comes out from behind the giant monitor as they explode into the song full swing.

It’s exactly that electric energy and antics that Get Back Loretta played with for their entire set. They played old favorites from Over The Wall as well as new ones from Where Did You Go? They also played an older song I was not familiar with but I enjoyed. We also got the pleasure of being the debut audience for a brand new song! It was glorious with a nice hook that kept us going. =D

I don’t think it is really fair to talk about Get Back and not mention their new guitarists. Joey Bradford is the younger brother of Steven Bradford whom you all know as the bass man and the singer of Get Back. Joey has his own band, Thieves and Liars who are currently on hiatus but despite that, Joey has talent for keeping the rhythm going and complementing the other guitar (as well as other instruments). The other new guitarist is Chris Wilson who also has his own band called Endoxi. I don’t think I have ever seen fingers move as fast as Wilson’s do on a guitar (live anyways). He brings a “harder” feel to the band but I think the energy it gives them helps lift everything up. There are some snazzy guitar solos in there that are hard to miss. It’s a win situation all around. They both add such a nice spice and flavor to the mix. It’s like adding a few extra spices to the Chex mix, if you get what I mean. It makes a good thing better!

Get Back Loretta has another show coming up April 16th so mark your calendars! You won’t want to miss out!

Until next time!
~Amanda

Kristen's LA Concert Calendar 3/15-3/21

Posted on by Amanda

Howdy Folks!

There are two very important things happening this week. First is the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. This is one of the biggest music (and film) festivals of the year. So many of my favorite bands are going to be there…unfortunately this means, not so many are going to be around this week. And this is incredibly unfortunate considering important thing #2 which is that this Thursday is my birthday! Life would be perfect if I were in Texas this week, but alas that is not my fate. Instead, I will be listening to all the artists that will be playing in Austin via the internet and compiling my best of SXSW ’10 list (last year’s introduced me to bands such as Nico Vega and The Crash Kings!!).

There are still some excellent shows this week if you’re looking for some live music! And if you’re looking to get me something for my birthday…just forward to me the names of some of your favorite bands (especially if you think I haven’t heard of them)…new music is the best gift! 🙂

This week’s shows:

Monday: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at House of Blues Anaheim (8pm)

ALSO: Paris Carney at Room 5 (8pm)

ALSO: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour (8pm)

ALSO: She & Him at Largo at the Coronet (8pm)

Tuesday: The Swell Season at Largo at the Coronet (8:30)

ALSO: The Classic Crime at Chain Reaction in Anaheim (8pm)

Weds: Kingsize at The Silverlake Lounge (9pm)

ALSO: Brooke White, Nina Storey, and Tommy King at The Hotel Cafe (8,9,10)

ALSO: The Shakers at Kibitz Room (Canter’s Deli)…part of their residency (11pm)

ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society

Thursday: Watkins Family Hour at Largo at the Coronet (8pm)…fave Nickel Creek siblings Sara and Sean Watkins with special guests!

ALSO: Terra Naomi at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)

ALSO: Mississippi Man at The Roxy (8pm)

ALSO: New Found Glory at the House of Blues (8:30)

Friday: Brian Fallon (of Gaslight Anthem) at The Troubadour (9pm)

Saturday: The Elizabeth Kill at The Cat Club (10:30)

ALSO: Beth Hart at The Echo (7pm)

Sunday: Tears for Fears at The Wiltern (6:30)

To Keep in Mind:

March 26th: Nico Vega and Metric at Hollywood Palladium

March 27th: San Diego Indie Fest featuring Metric

March 27th/28th: Bamboozled Left featuring Something Corporate and AFI

March 31st: The Silent Comedy at Bootleg

April 6th: Paper Tongues at The Troubadour

April 9th: Lights and Owl City at Club Nokia

April 12th: Butch Walker at El Rey

April 16th: George Stanford CD release at The Hotel Café

April 16th-19th: Coachella

May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   

June 10-13th: BONNAROO

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar 3/15-3/21

Posted on by Amanda

Howdy Folks!
There are two very important things happening this week. First is the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. This is one of the biggest music (and film) festivals of the year. So many of my favorite bands are going to be there…unfortunately this means, not so many are going to be around this week. And this is incredibly unfortunate considering important thing #2 which is that this Thursday is my birthday! Life would be perfect if I were in Texas this week, but alas that is not my fate. Instead, I will be listening to all the artists that will be playing in Austin via the internet and compiling my best of SXSW ’10 list (last year’s introduced me to bands such as Nico Vega and The Crash Kings!!).

There are still some excellent shows this week if you’re looking for some live music! And if you’re looking to get me something for my birthday…just forward to me the names of some of your favorite bands (especially if you think I haven’t heard of them)…new music is the best gift! 🙂

This week’s shows:

Monday: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at House of Blues Anaheim (8pm)

ALSO: Paris Carney at Room 5 (8pm)

ALSO: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour (8pm)

ALSO: She & Him at Largo at the Coronet (8pm)

Tuesday: The Swell Season at Largo at the Coronet (8:30)

ALSO: The Classic Crime at Chain Reaction in Anaheim (8pm)

Weds: Kingsize at The Silverlake Lounge (9pm)

ALSO: Brooke White, Nina Storey, and Tommy King at The Hotel Cafe (8,9,10)

ALSO: The Shakers at Kibitz Room (Canter’s Deli)…part of their residency (11pm)

ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society

Thursday: Watkins Family Hour at Largo at the Coronet (8pm)…fave Nickel Creek siblings Sara and Sean Watkins with special guests!

ALSO: Terra Naomi at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)

ALSO: Mississippi Man at The Roxy (8pm)

ALSO: New Found Glory at the House of Blues (8:30)

Friday: Brian Fallon (of Gaslight Anthem) at The Troubadour (9pm)

Saturday: The Elizabeth Kill at The Cat Club (10:30)

ALSO: Beth Hart at The Echo (7pm)

Sunday: Tears for Fears at The Wiltern (6:30)

To Keep in Mind:

March 26th: Nico Vega and Metric at Hollywood Palladium

March 27th: San Diego Indie Fest featuring Metric

March 27th/28th: Bamboozled Left featuring Something Corporate and AFI

March 31st: The Silent Comedy at Bootleg

April 6th: Paper Tongues at The Troubadour

April 9th: Lights and Owl City at Club Nokia

April 12th: Butch Walker at El Rey

April 16th: George Stanford CD release at The Hotel Café

April 16th-19th: Coachella

May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   

June 10-13th: BONNAROO

~ Kristen

Bleecker Street: 3/12/10

Posted on by Amanda

What an amazing night for music! Marti Heil  always gathers a fantastic collection of musicians…If you haven’t yet gone to Hear NoHo  the first Thursday of every month, you should check it out! Anyway, tonight’s fare featured Matthew Jordan who killed it on the keyboard and reminded me why I love piano-driven music. He was followed by the instrumental trio, Trio Non Grata, and Kenneth Pattengale who sang a collection of beautiful but sad songs with his James Taylor-esque voice.  The star of the show was the amazing Miss Paris Carney  who wrangled a crack team of musicians and special guests to perform some of her own songs (which are fantastic) as well as a couple select covers, including one of my personal favorite songs, The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” featuring Kris Karlsson on lead vocals. And just when I thought things couldn’t get any better (seriously, how can you top a The Band cover?!?), Reeve Carney came on stage to do a little impromptu set. For those of you who don’t know me…at all…the band Reeve sings in, Carney, was the first local LA band I discovered (at Bonnaroo ’07) and was able to follow around (Molly Malone’s residency) and is still one of my very favorite LA bands.

I love Marti’s events because they always end with me putting even more artists on my watch list. Here are some upcoming shows I learned about tonight that are immediately going onto my calendar:

  • Matthew Jordan:
    • March 25th at Cafe Was (FREE)
    • April 28th at The Hotel Cafe
  • Paris Carney:
    • March 15th: Room 5
    • March 22nd: Room 5
  • Carney: May 15th at The El Rey

~ Kristen

Tonight!

Posted on by Amanda

I would love to post about the awesomeness of last night’s Get Back Loretta show but I’m short for time. Instead, I thought I would post a video of The Silent Comedy doing an acoustic set in the efforts of getting you to come downtown and see them do an acoustic show at Voyeur during the dinner hour tonight!

If you are in more of a party mood, head to Blond Martini to celebrate Alice in Wonderland at the event Voices in Wonderland. Yes it is themed and yes you should dress up and go!