Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
About a month ago Paste Magazine asked the questions, “Is Indie Dead?” I have since been asking myself that question and have been involved in an in depth conversation with other music blogs about the subject. Here is my input to the question, feel free to add to the conversation:
What is indie?
To me indie rock which describes the do-it-yourself attitudes of the artists and bands. The less major corporate labels are part of the decision-making processes, the more ‘indie’ and autonomous the music is. The spirit of indie rock is supposed to be free to explore sounds, emotions, and lyrical subjects that don’t appeal to the mainstream or mass profit. While mainstream music is, “What do people like now? Lets do more of that and milk this cash cow ’til it’s dry. Then we’ll find the next trend, dumb it down, and do the same. Over and over.” While with indie rock, “What do people like now? Who cares? We’re going to do what we like and hope people like it as much as we do.”
what has been done?
It’s been a slow process but I think with the internet, the recent collaborations with high profile artists with ‘indie’ acts, the rising success and commercialization of festivals, and sudden departure from traditional record distribution, bands that wouldn’t get exposure a decade ago are now getting recognized for their talent. However, we have a long way to go before we see Joanna Newsom playing the Grammys. Only time will tell what this all means.
what has it achieved?
With Vampire Weekend as #1 on the Billboard and the Twilight 2 soundtrack, the term ‘indie rock’ is being used as ‘music I don’t hear on the radio.’ The real achievement is that there is more hope that creativity is being more appreciated. This paves the way for more acts to experiment and emerge with some truly original ideas. Now is Vampire Weekend as #1 on the Billboard and the Twilight 2 soundtrack a good thing? The new VW is trite and annoying and the T2 soundtrack was boring aside from a handful of tracks…but it could be a whole lot worse. What I’d like to achieve is that we scrap the term indie rock and reserve it for the definition of the movement alone. I shouldn’t have to describe Grizzly Bear as indie rock, but as a mellow rock band. I cringe every time I have to use the term because it’s way too broad of a definition. I really don’t know what it’s going to take to phase it out, but I’m trying to do my part. (which I kind of fail at because I used it in my last post).
Where is it heading?
Gradually it’s heading in a good direction. Whether you like VW, AniCo, M.I.A., or The xx, it’s better than the current state of popular music and its eventual self destruction. My other thought is, “Do I want this music to be popular?” It’s kind of a high school mentality, but when I see The Swell Season play in San Fran to a sea of middle aged, over emotional, ex-hippies with disposable income….I can’t help but wish it wasn’t so. Actually,….you know what? …. I have no idea where it’s heading. But I have to admit, it’s a pretty exciting time.
Tags: indie music
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Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Today, I fly out to Honolulu to see my brother. While I’m out there I’ll be seeing Andrew Bird at the Pipeline Cafe and trying to see what kind of music scene #50 has to offer. I’ll be checking in from time to time but don’t expect that much updates.
If you’re in the Bay Area this week though, check out Daedelus, Nosaj Thing, and Jogger at the Mighty tonight, St. Vincent and Wildbirds & Peacedrums at at the Great American Music Hall and Editors and The Antlers at the Warfield on Monday, Vivian Girls, Best Coast, and The Bananas at the Bottom of the Hill on Tuesday, Eyedea & Abilities, dosh, and Grieves at the Bottom of the Hill on Wednesday, Wild Beasts, Still Life Still, and the Magic Bullets at the Independent on Thursday, and The Album Leaf and Sea Wolf at the Great American Music Hall on Friday.
For more Bay Area shows, go to epic sauce. Or for more Bay Area music news, click the Links tab and there’s a plethora of great websites to choose from.
I’ll be in touch…
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[mp3] Nosaj Thing – Ioio from Mary-Anne Hobbs Presents: Wild Angels (2009)
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[mp3] The Album Leaf – Blank Pages from A Chorus Of Storytellers (2010)
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[mp3] Magic Bullets – The Book is Closed from Lives For Romance (2008)
Tags: andrew bird, Best Coast, Daedelus, Dosh, Editors, Eyedea & Abilities, Grieves, hawaii, honolulu, Jogger, Nosaj Thing, Peacedrums, Sea Wolf, St. Vincent, Still Life Still, the album leaf, The Antlers, The Bananas, the Magic Bullets, Vivian Girls, Wild Beasts, Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Posted in Concerts, Music, News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Well…I apologize for being a bit late in announcing this (I kind of knew about it for a while) because there are no more spots in this contest, however, this should be something interesting to watch. If you’re in the Mission District and see a bunch of wackos dressed as pirates, here’s why…
Tomorrow is the Treasure Island Treasure Hunt at the Hotel Biron from 6pm to 7pm! Treasure Island Music Festival and The Bay Bridged are bringing indie music fans and people who have a lot of time on their hands together for a treasure hunt and a chance to win tickets to this year’s festival as well as VIP passes, gift packs, and more for the winners! Feel free to swing by the Mission and watch the chaos ensue because after the hunt at 9:30pm, there will be a party at a Mission District bar (not yet announced which one though).
Click here for more info.
Tags: The Bay Bridged, Treasure Island Music Festival, Treasure Island Treasure Hunt
Posted in Concerts, News | No Comments »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
We’re hosting another show and this time it’s going to HUGE! We have yet to announce our special guest headliner who will blow your mind! Anyway, the line-up alone already is wicked awesome. Oso is a one of a kind math rock/folk act from Santa Barbara with one of the most overlooked albums of 2008, Kuno Esama. Benjamin Henderson is kind of a local South Bay rock hero with bands like Delta Activity and The Good Hustle under his belt and his own solo act which will be featured at the Flux 53 on Oakland at 8pm. Do whatever it takes to come out and OH!…I almost forgot, BYOB! So swing by and rock the fuck out with us. More info about the show will arise during the week. I am very excited about this.
Tonight we have an awesome line-up with The Gaslight Anthem, Murder by Death, and Frank Turner at The Fillmore, and Grouper, Christina Carter, Barn Owl, Ilyas Ahmed, Common Eider, King Eider, Sun Circle and Brendon Murray at Cafe Du Nord.
Monday finds the newly re-united The Get Up Kids, Youth Group and Pretty & Nice at The Fillmore and the face melting line-up with In Flames and Between the Buried and Me rocks The Grand Ballroom At the Regency Center.
Tuesday has the sold out Bon Iver and Megafaun at The Fillmore (busy week for The Fillmore, eh?), Pet Shop Boys at The Warfield, and The Most Serene Republic and Grand Archives at the Bottom of the Hill.
Wednesday we have Rodrigo y Gabriela at Oakland’s The Fox Theater and the amazing Portugal. The Man performs with Drug Rug and Robert Francis at The Independent.
Thursday, Bon Iver and Megafaun do The Fox Theater in Oakland, OM and Lichens soothe The Independent, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Nightman Cometh Live will be at Nob Hill Masonic Center, and Manic Street Preachers does The Fillmore.
Friday we have Kid Koala, Dynomite D, and The Slew at The Independent and Billy Talent and Poison the Well rips up Slim’s. Oh yeah and our show at Flux 53 with Oso and Ben Henderson is going on (GO TO THAT!).
Lastly, Saturday hosts !!! and Indian Jewelry rocking out at The Independent.
See you out there!
Murder by Death – 
Boy Decide from In Bocca Al Lupo (2006)
Bon Iver – Skinny Love from For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Kid Koala – Fender Bender from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (2000)
Indian Jewelry – Hello! Africa from Free Gold (2008)
Oso – The War Years from Kuno Esama (2008)
Drug Rug – Coffee In The Morning from Paint The Fence Invisible (2009)
Tags: !!!, Benjamin Henderson, Bon Iver, Drug Rug, Flux 53, Indian Jewelry, kata rokkar presents, Kid Koala, Megafaun, Murder by Death, Oso, The Fillmore, The Get Up Kids, The Good Hustle
Posted in Concerts, Music, News, This Week In Bay Area Live Shows | 1 Comment »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Tenacious D have announced that they will perform as Sunday, August 30th headliner at this year’s Outside Lands Festival, replacing Beastie Boys who canceled due to Adam “MCA” Yauch diagnosed with Parotid gland cancer.
So New Jersey’s All Points West gets Jay-Z and we get the D? I’m not sure how I feel about this just yet. There’s no doubt it will be fun, but as a replacement? My assumption is that they’ll find another performer to make it a double-bill. Because this will most definitely not increase ticket sales. I understand that this has been a hard year for Outside Lands and this is way last minute. But I can’t say I’m impressed. Maybe I need to listen to ‘Wonder Boy’ again…
Thoughts?
Tags: BEASTIE BOYS, outside lands festival, Tenacious D, Tenacious D outside lands
Posted in Music, News | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Here’s my best attempt at explaining what happen this past weekend at the San Diego Comic-Con for us…
- I missed the Avatar screening but from what I’ve heard it was phenomenal. Welcome back, James Cameron.
- Got to see Terry Gilliam and Vern Troyer talk about Heath Ledger’s last film and see some unreleased footage involving Tom Waits as Satan. It looks….okay, the special effects need work and it’s a bit over-the-top. We’ll see what happens with this…
- There’s this movie called Pandorum coming out that looks like garbage.
- There’s this movie called Kick-Ass coming out that looks FUCKING AWESOME! Think if Mystery Men and Superbad combined into a film that was actually funny, Seriously, this looks good.
- After standing on line for hours, we got to sit on the District 9 panel. Which at first seemed like a bad idea to replace the Halo movie. But it isn’t. District 9 looks like the movie of the year. I am not exaggerating. Probably the best Science Fiction film of our generation. Take my word for it, this is going to be huge.
- We got to hear Peter Jackson & James Cameron talk for an hour about film and the importance of characters, story, and a thick plot. Highlight: A fan stands and says in the Q&A, “… Michael Bay…” *(booo hisssss)* “Wait wait, I know where I’m going with this”
- We missed Iron Man 2 but whatever. There’s always this. (saw Favreau though)
- We got badges that said ‘Professional’ (no, it didn’t get us 1st class access or laid)
- 2 New Words Learned: Swag (free shit you’ll never keep) and Cosplay (people dressing up as Superheroes or whatever)
- Watching people dressed up in costume and playing Rock Band can be extremely entertaining.
- The new Green Hornet car looks really cool
- There’s this Cube car that’s the very definition of ‘Fugly‘
- Saw Jennifer Carpenter, Megan Fox, Jimmy Fallon, Adam West, Brent Spiner and Leonard Nimoy
- I thought this was really cool
- Twilight is gay.
- Scott (cribble) screened his film “She Farted and Created the World” to a 1/4 filled convention room but ended up getting a rave response with a few questions on the film and the story behind it. It went over well. So well that people were hounding him for free buttons and stickers. Well done!
- STAR WARS! How cares right? Well apparently people still do and we weren’t one of them. But the crowd in Hall H went apeshit over the Star Wars Concert coming soon thanks to hype-master, voice of C-3PO and utter pretencious boob Anthony Daniels. Luckily Attack of the Show hosts Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn made light of the hype by subtley poking fun at the cast of The Clone Wars and Mr. “Human Cyborg Relations” Daniels.
- Tori Amos is an indie music icon. Who knew?
- I don’t know what this is…
- I got attacked by this monster beetle who wanted to eat my bag for some reason (better my bag than my face)
- L. Ron Hubbard has comic books! This was a conversation I had with the lady at the desk, Lady at Desk: “Are you a fan of his work?’ Me: “Oh absolutely! I have them all.” Lady at Desk: “really?!?!” Me: “Oh yeah!” Lady at Desk: “Do you want a poster?” Me: “No”
- Saw a MF Doom mask and was about to buy it before I realized how bizarre it would look in my carry-on bag.
Son of Robot – She Farted And Did Not Make It On The Soundtrack
Tags: comic, comic-con, comiccon, cribble, kata rokkar, Son of Robot
Posted in Art and Photography, Film, TV and Video's, News, Web Site | No Comments »
