Their name is not a typo — you pronounce Blacks& "black sand" — but the music from the new four-headed collaboration seems better suited for white sand, as in tropical beaches. Featuring bassist Donald Ely and guitarist Craig "Tiger" Smith (both of whom played with lamentably overlooked indie rockers the Sea of Cortez ) along with singer Justin Taylor and drummer Julian Bellin (Polls), Blacks& dispenses warm, minimalist pop with a touch of tropical funk and a dusting of romanticism. Their first EP "A Ghost That Follows Me," which hits digital retailers April 3, tastes like something [...]
Today: The second of four installments in the countdown of our favorite local albums of the year. [ On Monday, Nos. 20 through 16 .] 15. Hanni El Khatib , "Will the Guns Come Out" (Innovative Leisure) Unabashedly retro and undeniably testosterone-charged, the San Francisco-bred skater/shredder's garage-soul is full of salt and sharp edges and, as advertised, "songs for anyone who's ever been shot or hit by a train." El Khatib is the latest, and one of [...]
Blogophilia 21 Songs from Blogs: July 5, 2010 – August 31, 2010 Ripped at 320 kbps VBR Gapless Mix Download All Files in One Zip TRACKLIST 01 Intro – Weak Soul Patch 02 Night and Day – Chief 03 Justine – Unicycle Loves You 04 No One's Fucking to the Radio – The Streets on Fire [...]
I spent some time on my recent vacation thinking about whether indie-rock is dead, or whether its frazzled head is merely bobbing in an ocean of couture music — the waves of preening electro, faux folk and calculated retro-pop that proliferate. My long drives in the desert were accompanied by a handful** of CDs (remember those?) that, at times, I feel like I'm the only one who likes. The freshest one in the box, the Sea of Cortez's "Make it Sound," got the most spins. It's remarkable. Ever since the Sea of Cortez unveiled their epic (not a [...]
I nearly wanted to dismiss these guys because they looked like just another clueless indie band that doesn't even bother to get a somewhat decent bio online so one could somewhat reasonably help promote them. That is a real and recurring pain in the ass for a blog like this. But listening to their album stream soon changed my mind. This is pretty good stuff, so to hell with the bio... make sure you give it a listen. For all I care they could be the forefront of an extraterrestial invading force of aliens - hey, they are from L.A. [...]
Tweet Listen to "Make It Sound" , the new album by The Sea Of Cortez below. A little over a year ago this young band appeared on my radar who impressed me enough to write an Introduction piece about them. The five piece from LA at that time only had a couple of songs to their name but now, more than a year later, they're done with their debut full-length. Back then [...]
PRINCETON. THERAPIES SON, SEA OF CORTEZ, AND HANDS ON MONDAY DEC. 13TH AT THE ECHO, 1822 WEST SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 8:30PM/ FREE/ 21+.
Tonight's top 4 shows that won't dent your holiday shopping budget (because they're free): ► Tonight's installment of Sweaters is local collective Black Iris' holiday party, featuring the Dead Trees (pictured; they just released a 7-inch on the collective's White Iris imprint) and El Sportivo , the side project of Foreign Born/Fool's Gold guitar god Lewis Pesacov. ||| Download: Dead Trees, "Back to L.A." ► Princeton has finished recording a new [...]
Top show that's probably worth the road trip: ☛ Blonde Redhead (with Olof Arnalds opening) plays the Glass House in Pomona. The trio's new album"Penny Sparkle" is more ambient than "233 (the Buzz Bands album of the year in '07) — easy stuff in which to lose yourself, as the five songs they perform in the "4AD Sessions" video reveal. Blonde Redhead is at the Music Box on Tuesday and Wednesday too. ||| Download: "Not Getting There" and see my post back [...]
The Sea of Cortez, " The Shores " (MP3 courtesy of AOL ) *Note* This will probably be all I post for this weekend. I know--I suck. I've been distracted this week--changes at work (good changes, but still took my focus from other things) Website Facebook Man, Luke Wilson and his friends look angry about something.
Filed under: Free MP3 Download of the Day Artist: The Sea of Cortez Hail From: Los Angeles Song: 'The Shores' Album: 'Testing the Waters' Sound Like : Local Natives , Grizzly Bear In Their Words: "It was a pretty long process. It was a bunch of ideas that we all got together. 'The Shores' has been in the works since maybe even [...]
[Raising a glass today to birthday guy Bob Mould ...] Top 4 shows tonight if you're not an Alice in Chains fan: ☛ L.A. quartet the 88 celebrates the release of its new, self-titled album at the Troubadour, and there's plenty to celebrate on this one — Keith Slettedahl, Adam Merrin, Todd O'Keefe and Anthony Zimmitti have never been sharper. See our premiere of "They Ought to See You Know" from last month, and AOL also gave some well-deserved love [...]
It's Tuesday and great music releases each Tuesday. So we want you to be sure to spend your money wisely and consider your options, especially with this economy. THINGS YOU CAN BUY FOR JUST $2.00 (feel free to comment and add to this list) 1 California Haas avocado 2.3 Cheese Burgers from McDonalds A Facebook gift for your loved one Headphones on a Virgin America Flight 1 load of laundry and potentially half [...]
The Sea of Cortez - The Shores I've been sitting on this one for a while now, mainly because I forgot about it… Anyhow this L.A. band really have quite a unique sound. You want to say they sound like so and so but then 24.67 seconds later you wanna say they sound like someone else. Which really keeps you listening because it gives you this feeling of what's gonna happen. It starts off by creating a scene for you where you're walking through thick brush where you can't see any more than 2 feet [...]
With only a couple of songs that are publicly available at the moment, you might think it difficult to fully get behind a band, especially in this day and age when we're spoiled with numerous ways and means for bands to let us hear their music. Not with L.A. quintet The Sea Of Cortez, whose couple of songs are bringing together Yaesayer and The Shins and having them make babies in a lush and spacious field at night, then raising those babies on The Flaming Lips' back catalogue until they're old enough to form a Beck-fronted, Grandaddy-inspired amalgamation of all of the [...]
Top 3 shows to hit if you aren't helping David Lowery celebrate his 50th birthday the Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven show at the Echoplex: ☛ The Rumble — the monthly free show at 3 Clubs — goes off with the Sea of Cortez [get this track ], Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. , [get this track ] and Slang Chickens. ☛ Futurebirds [ see yesterday's post ] soar in from Athens, Ga., to hit the Silverlake Lounge, supported by Lesands , Eyes Lips Eyes [...]
Sep 8, 2010, 9:03pm
Fmly
Tomorrow night our FRNDS at Future Sounds are putting on an awesome free show at the 3 of Clubs as part of their Rumble series. Slang Chickens will be rocking it with their country punk aesthetic. They will also be joined by The Sea of Cortez and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. who has been on the tip of everyone's tongue lately. Did I mention it's free?! Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Vocal Chords Slang Chickens at FMLY RIDE
Summer is over... yeah, I know we have about two weeks before it's over on the calendar, but school has started, I am working my tail off, and Labor Day weekend is just about over. Thank goodness for football. Did you see that ECU Hail Mary? Maybe you should: A good weekend for me as an alumnus of Penn State and an employee of East Carolina, I enjoyed my football weekend. Ahhh, but this blog is about music... ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BLOGOPHILIA??? [...]
As alluring a shapeshifter as "The Shores" might be, there's a wry conceptual disconnect in the Sea of Cortez's first single. The six-minute track begins with moody atmospherics, pulsates a little, and then Christian Thomas sings: "Testing the waters from the shore." Which, of course, is no way to gauge anything. The accelerating rhythms and melody in the song offer plenty of payoff, though, with a bit of the anthemic feel of Arcade Fire/Broken Social Scene/Band of Horses. The L.A.-via-San Diego indie-rockers will be dipping their toes in the lake this fall when they release their five-track "Testing [...]
The Sea Of Cortez - "The Shores" from the 2010 self-released album Make It Sound.
Buzz Bands
The Dadada
Totally Fuzzy
Listen Before You Buy
L.A. RECORD
Cerulean's Love of Music
Spinner.com
Winnie Cooper
Head Underwater
Raised on Indie
Video: 2:54 - "Creeping"
Sleeve: “1991″ by Azealia Banks
Tango In the Attic: "Sellotape"
