Castledoor's Last Show, LANME's First Show: Tomorrow Night at Spaceland

I was hoping not to have to use the "Band Breakups" label again (and especially on CER's one year anniversary), but Castledoor has just announced that tomorrow night will be their final show. No reasons given yet, but if the past is any indication, having their hopes of breaking out of the local scene dashed repeatedly over the years likely has something to do with it. The breakup is especially jarring as it comes on the heels of their recent completion of recording for a new EP, and indications that things were once again looking up.

Castledoor will be opening for the last night of Princeton's Spaceland residency. They should be on at 10pm, preceded by the debut of LANME (Los Angeles New Music Ensemble), who describe tomorrow's performance as "[t]he first run of a series of ground-breaking compositions that fuse together rock, post-minimalism, hip hop, and electronics."

One band ending, one ensemble beginning. And all for free. Definitely worth attending. Sadly, I will be out of town for work.

Castledoor's final music video (the song begins at around 00:45):



A look back at Castledoor through the eyes of CER:

Castledoor at Echoplex (4/28/2009) and at Temporary Spaces (5/1/2009)

Album Review: Castledoor's Shouting at Mountains

Castledoor, Local Natives @ Spaceland (6/22/2009)

The Harlem Shakes: R.I.P. (2006-2009)

A very sad goodbye to the Harlem Shakes, one of my favorite non-local bands of 2009. They first came to my attention when I was looking up bands that were playing at SXSW this year. Kevin Bronson's Buzzbands.la party was all local bands with the Harlem Shakes as the one exception. I fired up their myspace page and after hearing less than 30 seconds of "Niagara Falls" I was hooked. "Technicolor Health" is unquestionably one of my favorite albums of the year.

I heard the news Friday night but couldn't find confirmation so I ignored it. But it's true, and very disappointing. I sincerely enjoyed seeing them twice at SXSW and for both of their LA dates opening for Passion Pit. After their Passion Pit tour I kept waiting for an announcement of their next LA date -- I was preemptively excited for them to headline The Echo or Spaceland, but it wasn't meant to be.

For the uninitiated: http://www.myspace.com/harlemshakes

MP3s (from Radio Exile):

Harlem Shakes – “Y Control” (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)

Harlem Shakes – “Niagara Falls”

Harlem Shakes – “Sickos”

Videos I took during their LA dates:





CER Posts re: The Shakes

Passion Pit, Harlem Shakes @ Troubadour (5/28/2009)

Passion Pit, Harlem Shakes @ Echoplex (5/29/2009)

SXSW 2009 Wrapup