Wednesday, March 17, 2010

LA Bands To See @ SXSW

This is a day late (and the font is a little off), but for those of you lucky enough to be in Austin and looking for the best LA has to offer, here's CER's SXSW recommendations:

Family of the Year
  • Thursday: 1:30 @ Cafe Mundi
  • Friday: 5:00 @ Maggie Mae's, 8:00 @ Ale House
His Orchestra
  • Thursday: 5:00 @ Creekside Lounge
Best Coast
  • Thursday: 3:00 @ Fader Fort, 4:00 @ Red Fez
  • Friday: 3:30 @ Emo’s, 6:00 @ Klub Krucial
  • Saturday: 2:00 @ Maggie Mae’s, 4:00 @ Mexican American Cultural Center, 6:45 @ Max’s Wine Dive, 11:00 @ Barbarella
Letting Up Despite Great Faults
  • Thursday: 10:30 @ Sneakerfest
  • Friday: 1:30 @ Clive Bar
  • Saturday: 1:00 @ Moose Lodge, 2:45PM @ Home Slice Pizza
Happy Hollows
  • Thursday 12:30 @ Scoot Inn, 3:00 @ Lustre Pearl, 4:30 @ Lambert’s
  • Friday: 1:30 @ Republic Live, 8:00 @ Guero’s
  • Saturday: 5:00 @ Home Slice Pizza
Casxio
  • Thursday: 5:00 @ Blind Pig rooftop, 10:10 @ Malverde
  • Friday: 5:15 @ Shangri-La
  • Saturday: 2:40 @ Peckerheads
Henry Clay People
  • Thursday: 2:00 @ Threadgill’s, 3:45 @ Lambert’s, 8:30 @ Club de Ville
  • Friday: 3:30 @ Anne’s on 6th, 6:00 @ Pure Volume House
  • Saturday: 2:30 @ Kung Fu Saloon, 6:00 @ Home Slice Pizza
Nico Stai
  • Thursday: 8:00 @ Uncorked Bar
  • Friday: 3:00 @ The Acquarium, 10:30 @ Maggie Mae's
  • Saturday: 2:00 @ The Shangri-la
Also, Kittens Ablaze’s showcase is at 1am on Friday night at Wave.

I'm jealous of all of you. Have fun.

Monday, March 8, 2010

The Henry Clay People Sign to TBD Records, To Tour With Drive by Truckers

It's great to see the bands we love get the recognition they deserve. In January The Henry Clay People opened for Olin & The Moon's residency at the Echo and their set consisted of their entire unreleased new album, played front to back. If you've seen HCP play anytime over the past 6 to 8 months, you've already heard a lot of the songs. There's multiple winners on it, including "End of an Empire," and two of the four new songs they wrote for their April Spaceland residency. The album will also include re-recordings of "This Ain't a Scene" and "Working Part Time," which appeared on their previous release, For Cheap or For Free. I do lament, though, the omission of "The Switch Kids" (CER's subtitle is taken from that song).

We now know when we'll see the album, and on what label. And we also know that HCP will be playing 10 sets at SXSW, which should be a record (Local Natives only play a measly nine. Time to step up your game, guys). From the band:

Hello friends, strangers, loved ones, and whoever else cares to read this-

We are extremely pleased to announce that we will be releasing our new record "Somewhere on the Golden Coast" in early June of 2010 on TBD Records (Radiohead, White Rabbits, Port O'Brien). The record was recorded mostly at The Ship in Eagle Rock, CA by Aaron Espinoza and at Rollercoaster in Burbank, with David Newton. Aaron's new imprint The Ship Records is also helping with the release.

The idea was to track the record as live as possible onto tape, leaving that dirt under the fingernails kinda feel. So yeah, there is a good amount of dirt, but hopefully other stuff too. We threw a couple of tracks on the ole myspace. Check back in case we decide to throw a couple more on.
We're also happy to announce a whole tone of upcoming dates, kicking off with 10 shows at SXSW in Austin, an LA show with Admiral Radley (Grandaddy/Earlimart super band), and some dates with Drive by Truckers (more to come too).
More later!

Love,
The Henry Clay People

upcoming dates;

SXSW Schedule

3/17 Wednesday
12:50 – QuinnStorm & C3 Presents @ Lamberts
2:20 – LittleRadio @ Red Eye Fly
Night – Stubbs inside between outside sets for NPR showcase, two sets

3/18 Thursday
2:00 – Roky Erikson’s Ice-Cream Social @ Threadgill’s
3:45 – Aquarium Drunkard @ Lamberts
8:30 – Billions Showcase @ Club Deville

3/19 Friday
3:30 – Buddyhead @ Annies on 6th
6:00 – Pure Volume @ 504 Trinity St

3/20 Saturday
2:30 – Pianos NYC @ Kung Fu Saloon
5:15 – The Ship & WOXY @ Homeslice
_____________

3/24 - Bootleg Theatre - Los Angeles, CA w/ Admiral Radley
5/5 – Rialto Theatre – Tucson, AZ w/ Drive-By Truckers
5/6 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA w/ Drive-By Truckers
5/7 - Avalon - Los Angeles, CA w/ Drive-By Truckers
5/8 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA w/ Drive-By Truckers
5/12 – In The Venue – Salt Lake City, UT w/ Drive-By Truckers

For an "inside" perspective, check out Mouse's take over at Classical Geek Theatre.

What 2 Go 2: March 8 - 14


I'm excited for this week. Every band listed below is be one that I have never seen before (with one exception that I think you'll let slide).

Monday: Seaspin, Repeater and The Romany Rye at the Silverlake Lounge. Night Two of Seaspin's March residency.
  • Seaspin is a female-fronted band playing dark shoegazy rock. Interestingly, the primary members of Seaspin were formerly of Your Enemies' Friends.
  • Repeater is a post-punk band from Long Beach.
  • The Romany Rye is a great folk-rock/alt-country band.
Personally, I'm very interested in seeing The Romany Rye, and since they're on at 9, I'll be happily parking myself at the Silverlake Lounge all night. Repeater's on at 10, and Seaspin is on at 11.

Tuesday: Another night to spend at the Silverlake Lounge, although this time it will cost you $8. Random Patterns (9pm), Superhumanoids (10pm), and his Orchestra (12pm).
  • Random Patterns is, understandably, sometimes random and hard to classify. But they should be fun, and I heard good things about their set opening for the Happy Hollows residency last year.
  • Superhumanoids describe themselves as "an electronic experiment to escape the everyday of the everyday," but there's a lot more indie rock in there than the description would lead one to believe. They've got a good sound.
  • his Orchestra. Piano-powered indie pop with some unusual instruments thrown in for good measure. I've been trying to see this band for over 6 months. They're scheduled to hit the stage at midnight, but I'll stay as late as necessary in order to finally see them. (Bonus: the band is fronted by the oldest son in Big Love.)
Wednesday: If you got tickets to see Delta Spirit at the Bootleg, have fun. It's sold out.

Saturday: Two shows to check out:
  • First, the one repeat of the week: Best Coast claims to be doing an in-store performance at the Bloomingdale's at the [edit: Beverly Center, not Century City Mall] in the afternoon. I don't know if this is actually going to happen (and my mind is boggling just thinking about it), but if does, I will of course be there to witness it, and I'll bring my camera.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Keeping Up: LA Band Name Changes

It's noteworthy how many LA bands have changed their names over the last few months. So far we have:
  1. The Afternoons, who are now Shadow Shadow Shade (See them tonight at the Echo at 10pm with The Rhone Occupation)
  2. The Jakes, who are now Young the Giant (Eshon's new project is called Backwards Forwards.)
  3. The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, who are now Walking Sleep (They have the April Echo residency)
And new names coming soon . . .
I will refrain from commenting on the quality of these new names -- my blog is named like a record label.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tonight at the Bootleg Theater: Gold Motel & Family of the Year

And we're back. CER is returning, hopefully in full force, after ramping down for a few months. SXSW 2010 may not be in the cards, but it's time to jump back into LA music.

So let's start off big tonight at the Bootleg Theater. Unfortunately it's an all ages show, but it promises to be an exciting one. Gold Motel, the new solo project from Greta of The Hush Sound, is scheduled to be on at 10pm, and Family of the Year (not to be confused with Story of the Year, or Father of the Year) wraps things up at 11:30. Michael Runion plays in between.

FOTY is definitely a band to keep your eye on. You can name your price for digital downloads of their LP and EP on their website. Tonight is their last show before they head out on a tour that takes them to SXSW.