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.

Video Encounter: Kittens Ablaze "This Machine is Dying"

Kittens Ablaze's set at SXSW was one of the Top 5 I witnessed. That's saying something, considering I saw bands play for 6-8 hours a day for four straight days. One of the highlights of KA's set: Michelle, the cellist, smashing her instrument at the end of the second to last song. Completely unexpected; I didn't even realize what she was doing for a couple seconds. And then she whipped out another cello for the final tune. Here's video of some of the smashing. Unfortunately it misses the first swing, which hit one of her band mates in the arm.



My immediate thoughts during and after their set was "this is Ra Ra Riot with balls." It's not the most apt description, but it gets the point across.

Anyway, the Brooklyn-based band just released a video for "This Machine is Dying." One thing to note is that their drummer is the lead vocalist. This explains some of the live shots, which feature vocals without anyone appearing to sing them.

What 2 Go 2 (W2G2): June 1 - June 7

It would be hard to beat last week, so I'm skipping town. That reasoning isn't accurate, but I won't be in LA from Tuesday to Sunday, and my flight tomorrow is too early for me to reasonably attend the Castledoor residency show at Spaceland. So no LA shows for me this week, and the blog will be a little slow as well.

But if I were in LA it would be a good week, and a week where I could see a bunch of local bands I have not yet seen.

Monday: Castledoor residency at Spaceland. The Monolators, who I have not seen but very much want to, open. Oh well #1.

Tuesday: Tough call.

• Olin & The Moon's record release show at the Echo. Soon-to-be-tourmates Leslie & The Badgers join in, along with Eagle and Talon and Deep Sea Diver.

• But if I were in town, I'd probably be at The Bordello seeing The Movies play their first show in many moons. Seasons opens. Haven't seen Seasons yet, and have only seen The Movies once. Oh well #2.
  

Thursday: Fol Chen at the Echo. Haven't seen them yet either, and it's their last show before they go to London. Double oh well.

Friday: I'll be in New York, and hopefully seeing Kittens Ablaze as the sun sets at Hillstock's Rooftop Kickoff Party in Brooklyn. I'm very much looking forward to this.

That's all I got. Enjoy the week.

News & Notes: May 28 (Local Natives, Divisadero, Discovery, and more)

• Local Natives first ever release: UK Label Chess Club Records is releasing Local Natives' "Sun Hands" on June 7. It's a vinyl release and limited to 500 copies. Cards & Quarters is the B Side. You can pre-order your copy here. The release coincides with Local Natives' first ever trip to the UK.

• On Tuesday JAXART Records released Divisadero's album "Lefty" in electronic format. So now you can buy it on iTunes, eMusic, or Amazon, and stream it from Rhapsody. A free MP3 from the album can be downloaded here.

• Pitchfork interview with Discovery. Most disappointing part: "I don't think we're ever going to play any Discovery shows, so there's only so far it can go, really."

• For you New Yorkers, Kittens Ablaze will be opening for Natalie Portman's Shaved Head on June 20th at Santos.

• Go West Young Man dropped out of Sunday's show at Dakota Lounge. I'm probably dropping out too.

• This has already made the rounds, but http://lab.andre-michelle.com/tonematrix is really fun. It's a tone matrix where you can make your own beats.
  

Video Encounter: My SXSW Videos

Advance apologies for the audio and video quality.

Kittens Ablaze at Wave on Friday.



Local Natives playing "Airplanes" at Wave on Saturday.



Cage the Elephant at Antone's on Saturday night.



Some strange electrical stuff that I'll explain more about later when I figure out what it is