In the midst of my interview with The Airborne Toxic Event comes confirmation of the "label-whose-name-shall-not-be -spoken" (heh). Full-length record slated for July release. The Airborne Toxic Event Signs with Majordomo Records The Airborne Toxic Event, whose danceable, literate rock-noir captured the fancy of L.A. audiences (and radio programmers) over the last year, has signed with Majordomo
Act I of IV ACT II of IV "Caught in the crossbow of ideas and journeys/sit here reliving the other self's mournings/Caught in the crossbow of ideas and dawnings/stand I"-Call on Me-Lou Reed (MP3) Later that same evening, after the band completes their meeting, we reconvene again. I'm told the Jameson bottle took a beating on our break. Anna goes to yoga, Daren and Noah say g'bye, and Mikel,
The Airborne Toxic Event (ATE), a soon-to-be-signed band out of Los Feliz, CA, create music that runs counter to the "it's-got-a-good-beat-and-I-ca n-dance-to-it" mentality of pop radio marketing these days. ATE songs will make you dance (in fact, I dare you to stop yourself), but ATE's music also has depth; these aren't your kid sister's emo or top 40 songs about love, lust, and yearning, baby.
So SXSW is often the starting point for spring band tours and this year is no exception. I think I'll be spending close to half my mortgage payment on concert tickets between this month and next. And of course, it makes sense one or two would wind up on the same night but did it just have to be for Devotchka and Los Campesinos!, two bands I should have caught at SX but didn't?? So now I have to
DAY 3 Day 3 had a lot going on, and after Day 2 mess ups, I was determined to get it right. My trainer took my measurements upon my return and found I'd lost 4.5" off my thighs, which didn't surprise me given the 76756879 miles I probably walked Day 3 alone… 1. Delorentos After missing them on Day 1, I finally got to catch Delorentos out of Dublin. Gotta love cute Irish boys. I only stayed
(Day 2 begins here.) DAY 2 (continued) The talk with Ken Bethea took awhile so the guys went on without me. (I don't know how anyone survived before without texting capabilities at these things, it is essential.) As I mentioned before, sleep and food are kind of as-you-go at this thing, but I decided to take full advantage of a sushi bar that was near the 8 pm venue. I was still trying to
DAY 2 So Day 2 started out a bit of a clusterfuck. I only had until 3 pm to catch anyone at day parties because we had passes to the invite-only New West Records party, and it seemed either the schedules were posted wrong or bands weren't being timely. Three bands I'd wanted to see via their mp3s, Born in the Flood, Driving By Night, and Delorentos, I wound up missing because of stuff like
So as I mentioned a few posts back I'm in the process of finishing up an interview with a great band we caught at SXSW this year, The Airborne Toxic Event. In the course of my research beforehand, I'd found the article below, then, apparently, forgot about it. Airborne's lead songwriter, singer, and rhythm guitarist Mikel Jollett was a freelance writer prior to the band and wrote the article
(Day 1 begins here.) DAY 1 (continued) 7. The Playing Favorites As we'd often split up with our sometimes-varying band schedules, phone texting proved essential for coordinating and commenting on stuff we were all seeing. John had gone to see The Playing Favorites, and I'd had them on my schedule too, but for whatever reason Pinstripe had been ranked higher (and I wasn't quite "aware enough" at
As I mentioned before, I recently returned from the yearly music portion of SXSW 2008 in Austin, TX. The plan to go had been in the works for a few years now (it isn't a cheap couple of days) but this year, I'm happy to say I finally got my ass on a plane. As there's day parties and night performances I saw A LOT of music over the 6 days I was there. But as you'll read, it was well worth it.
What does Dr. Pepper want with Axel Rose? Why, what everyone wants, a new way to promote their product. The NY Post's Page Six today reports the following: March 26, 2008 -- TIRED of a world in which Americans idolize wannabe singers, and where musicals about high school students pass as rock 'n' roll, Dr Pepper is begging Axl Rose to finally release this year his 17-years-in-the-making album, "
Over the past few days, I've been trying to find the how-to's regarding putting mp3's up on a blog. It's something I've long wanted to do and if this is to be a proper music blog, I felt it should have some sound, especially when I'm posting band interviews. While I don't have an interview with these guys, I fell in love with this song when Showtime started using it in the commercials for their
I'm finally getting back in the swing of "real life" after 6 days in Austin, TX at SXSW to start the writing about 6 days in Austin, TX at SXSW. My friends told me getting readjusted would take some time and they weren't kidding. What they forgot to mention was how jacked up my sleep schedule would get. I should explain a little about Southby first for you folks who haven't been part of what my
I read a quote recently by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, "Poems are poems. Song lyrics are for songs." I was sort of struck by that. I guess I always thought of some song lyrics like poetry but not necessarily in a sense of a schematic structure of words, or "poetry" according to its Webster's Dictionary meaning...they are those things in a literal sense, but I see them as something
One thing I wanted to do with this new soapbox here is to make it more music-oriented. While Designs On You started out that way with a lean towards music from the Triangle (Chapel Hill, NC if you don't know the area), it sort of got side-tracked over time. One idea I had way back when I was doing a radio show in undergrad, as I too am a writer,was to interview artists about how they create the
I keep reading all this crap how last night's Oscars sucked and the winners were, in the words of one NY Post columnist, "all people in movies no one has ever seen, like has anyone even seen La Vie en Rose?" (He, apparently, has found the one rock in Manhattan to live under that isn't in proximity to a theater or prefers movies with Hillary Duff and definitely no subtitles. La Vie en Rose was
Now, I love Wilco but have yet to see them live. In fact, it's almost a conspiracy theory....I've tried to see Wilco like 987876765 times and every time, something comes up....I either can't score tickets (something I'm typically pretty good at), or my system completely screws up while I'm trying to get tickets, or, as was the case when I had tickets to see Tweedy solo in upstate NY, my flight
Oh how long, it's been so long. More to come....
Between Love & Like
Beck - 'I Just Started Hating Some People Today' [Listen]
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Princesse - Tell Me | MP3
