Just 48 hours before San Diego's The Donkeys set out on a nationwide tour, they join Rafter at the Soda Bar to the enjoyment of the hometown crowd.

Our San Diego picks for the week* // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
Kinetics and One Love drop an insanely unique track here. They drop this track by Rafter titled No F*cking around as a teaser of whats to come in their upcoming album Cross Faded Back To Normal with completely original production from One Love. Related posts: Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Kinetics and One Love Remix) Kinetics and One Love- 845 (Feat Krystyle) EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Kinetics and One Love
Along with the Away Team , one of the standout performers during 9th Wonder's showcase at Hopscotch 2010 was tough-talker KAZE. Like his cohorts, he, too, hails from North Carolina and absolutely rips it live. But he's got a harder edge to his delivery and his raps, like the Away Team if they were a little more aggressive. And yesterday, KAZE dropped his new mixtape, Jersey in the Rafters , which showcases everything I just wrote about. Plus, dude's backed by production from Illmind , 9th Wonder , and Buckwild while Diamond D [...]

Download: KAZE "Jersey In The Rafters" Mixtape 01. We Want It All [prod. K. Slack] 02. Dusk Til Dawn [prod. !llmind] 03. The Stereotype Remix [prod. Forty I] 04. 3 in the Chamber (ft. O.C., Torae & Kaze) [prod. Ayatollah] 05. Spirit of '94 [prod. 9th Wonder] 06. So Real (ft. Erv Ford & Wordsworth) [prod. Erv Ford] 07. Dynasty [prod. Analogic] 08. I Was Raised on It (The 80's) [prod. Erv Ford] 09. Nobody Like Me (ft. Edo G & Diamond D) [prod. Buckwild] [...]

>> '80s-styled hooks and boundless whimsicality makes Roberts & Lord 's forthcoming sugary longplayer Eponymous curiously arresting. The MySpace-spawned (really) duo of Californian Rafter Roberts and Londoner Simon Lord operates within a shifting grid of styles as varied as the bastardized Go Team! -goes-dancehall stomper "Windmill" or the exceptionally odd head-bobber "Mosquito." The gritty backing tracks were recorded to a four-track machine by Mr. Roberts in San Diego, and then sent through Intertubes to Mr. Lord, who added vocals and arranged things. While formally mediated by this swappy-swappy, the resulting music has [...]
CLICK PICTURE ABOVE TO VIEW PROMO VIDEO We've all done it. Stood in front of the mirror, hairbrush in hand, tennis racket across our chest dreaming of being on stage with a band behind, a crowd in front, lights in our eyes and & a mic in our hand. Now we give you the chance to make the dream a reality. Continue Reading After The Jump.... In the last two years SoulBrew Karaoke has [...]

Watch the SDMA nominee performing at the Habitat House Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

Photos by Chris Maroulakos via OwlandBear.com Tickets to the June 25 tUnE-yArDs performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles sold out. Admission was ridiculously inexpensive, but being in Los Angeles, I always put off buying them until last minute in hopes of an "in." Turns out being overly patient and perhaps ignorantly confident was a bad idea, especially for an artist I like so much . Tickets were cleaned up and scalpers were selling them for up to five times as much. Luckily for me, the final date of her w h [...]

The wildly brilliant act will play the Soda Bar on June 26. Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
![Safety In Numbers [3fer Edition]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3467706_lg.jpg)
Rafter Rafter has a new album out entitled Animal Feelings . It's a pop album that you don't have to feel dirty for liking. There will never be anyone lashing out at you for liking this album. It's the kind of Pop album that gets you "street cred" with the hipsters . If you would rather stick a pitchfork into the lower orifice of a hipster, then at least you will seem super cutting edge to your normal friends. [...]

MP3: Inspired and the Sleep - "Chops" With bassist Max Greenhaulgh at the center of Inspired and the Sleep, rhythm and musicianship take first priority. The Carlsbad trio takes the indie aesthetic to an unexpected level by mixing dance elements with rock riffs and jazz-inspired twists and turns. The band, originally Greenhaulgh's project but now [...] Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

Who says you can't go home again? Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

MP3: The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight MP3: Radiohead - The National Anthem (Live) MP3: Rafter - Gentle Men
We've been talking to bands and fans everywhere to get their favorite mosh pit stories. This week our Pit Story comes from Alex Oden of Black Epiphany and Mortiferous Scorn. Alex shared the following tale of fans taking the party just a bit too far at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha: I think the craziest thing I?ve ever seen in concert was at this club... Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

The pop wizard drew from a new genre for the album: metal. Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

Three of San Diego's finest bands will help the venue ring in the new year. Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

after getting it wrong for so long. rafter - no fucking around