Floating Away

Radars to the Sky, Henry Clay People Saturday Night at the Echo

At the risk of me sounding like I work for Jax, I am incredibly excited for Saturday night's show at the Echo.  Seemingly overnight, I have become a Radars To The Sky groupie and I am looking forward to seeing them headline their first show in LA.  The band was able to pick the lineup and they did a stellar job of adding fellow up and comers The Henry Clay People and Tigers Can Bite You.  The show is sponsored by Rock Insider, KXLU and Radio Free Silverlake.  Print out the flyer below and the show is only $5 to get in. 

Only 72 Hours 'Til iPhone Mania is Fully Unleashed

Today, David Colker of the LA Times wrote, "Across America, people are planning to line up for hours and even camp out overnight [yada, yada, yada, to get an iPhone]."  Seriously, David, overnight?  That's the best you could think of?

As you may already know, the lines have already started.  Yesterday, Greg and his buddy, were the first to line up for the iPhone.  That's right, 4 DAYS before it goes on sale.  Turns out that many of these blazingly early adopters are using the queue as a marketing platform in its own right.  Today I found out that a former work colleague had started the queue at the SoHo store in the name of Keep A Child Alive.  They are going to auction off the iPhone, two bluetooth headsets (not sure why you need 2), and two tickets on Virgin Air with all proceeds going to the foundation.

While the lines are very entertaining, the most iPhone-related hilarity comes directly from Sprint and Verizon.  Naturally, these companies are worried that they may lose millions of current and future customers who would prefer the iPhone, only available at AT&T.  To better arm their sales force, Sprint and Verizon have distributed a number of key talking points on the subject of why customers should stay clear of the iPhone.  My top 5 below:

5.    "Concerned about coverage? I think you’ll see that we are comparable or better than all other carriers. Let me show you the map on our Power Network Coverage Tool to verify your coverage area."

4.    "We have many handsets that are MP3 players."

3.    "The Upstage takes external mini-disks for unlimited storage."

2.    "Sure we have less expensive phones than the iPhone. The MotoQ, for example, is only $79 and is an MP3 player, PDA, camera, mobile internet device, and of course, a phone."

1.    "The iPhone is an Apple product and has some nice features. It also has a nice price. Do you really need all those features in one device?"

So will I be in line come 6pm this Friday?  No.  For starters, I'd like to hold out for the second version which will no doubt be better and cheaper.  For non starters, Apple has made the set up extremely easy thanks to the iTunes software.  If you really want one, save the hassle and order at apple.com.  It might take a week to get to you, but better than spending days and nights next to this guy:

Los Angeles Magazine's Best New Bars in LA

This month's Los Angeles Magazine has a section on LA's Best New Bars.  While there are bars I have never been to and never plan on going to, props to Los Angeles for including three great bars that I really enjoy on the list. 

Hyperion Tavern is a bar that I just love.  Its a bit hard to find the first time (no signage on a dark street), but once you are there, you will love it.  It's the kind of place where you show up alone and leave with tons of friends.  We stopped by there one night after checking out a show at Spaceland and ending up in a congo line.  No joke.  The place is a no frills blast and I might add, my favorite bathroom in all of Los Angeles.
It is also home of the fabled Guitar Hero Wednesday nights. 

Another bar on the list, Edison, has become a favorite of mine for after work on a Friday when its still just lawyers and other government employees exploring the vastness of the space and unwinding from the week.  Come 9 or 10 pm, the place is a nightmare. 

The last pick I was happy with is a Culver City bar called Vinum Populi.  The place is right next to the Italian restaurant Ugo and is essentially a self serve wine bar.  I like wine a lot, but don't know exactly what I like in a wine.  Vinum Populi is perfect for wine beginners like me.  You get a self serve card and you can walk around trying wine from 1 ounce wine dispensers. 

Los Angeles Magazine Best New Bars in LA:
Best Post Rehab Cocktail: Winston's, West Hollywood
Best Damn Dive, Period: R Bar, Koreatown
Best Homespun Hospitality: Seven Grand, Downtown
Best Fermented Malt: The Village Idiot, Hollywood
Best Place to Get Lit: Edison, Downtown
Best Totalitarian Barware: Bar Lubitsch, West Hollywood
Best New Concept: Vinum Populi, Culver City
Best City Sanctuary: X Bar, Century City
Best Neighborhood Hideaway: Hyperion Tavern, Silverlake
Best Business Write-Off: Sidebar, Beverly Hills

Sea Level Records Going Away Party, Division Day and The Switch @ Safari Sams 6/22/07

Friday night, everybody who is in a band in Los Angeles headed over to Safari Sams.  I saw members of Silversun Pickups, Earlimart, The Broken West, Airborne Toxic Event, Radars to the Sky, and Lets Go Sailing.  I am sure there are many people that I didn't see/recognize/meet.  It was my first time at Safari Sam's and I was very impressed.  It has everything I like in a good music venue.  It's incredibly well lit (for photos), the stage is very high (so you can be in the back and still see the show), tons of free parking, and lots of great vantage points (upstairs, side areas, etc).  I hope to get back there again soon.

Where the hell did the Switch come from? They were incredible! I love any band that has a woman that plays trumpet AND violin AND sings back up.  From the moment they started playing, I knew I was going to love these guys.  They do the country roots rock thing brilliantly.  I picked up their EP and  have been playing it all weekend.  Lead singer Aaron Kyle's has a hoarse voice that is very remiscent of Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade.  Expect some great things from these guys.

MP3: Tongue Tied - The Switch

I hadn't seen Division Day in so long, it was just great to see those guys.  They are so nice and I am so happy that they have found a wonderful home at Eenie Meenie Records.  Their good stuff still sounds good and their great stuff sounded wonderful.  I kind of wish they could play Tigers and Tap Tap Click Click over and over again.

Division Day closed out the night by inviting The Switch back on stage and both bands played an incredible cover of Boyz II Men's It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.  It killed.  It was a great way to say goodbye to a great record store - by having two small LA bands play their hearts out to an audience of other LA bands that have been there before.  Thanks again to Todd and Sea Level Records for the impact he has had on the Los Angeles music scene.  It would be a much different place without you. 

Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential Restaurants

This is why I will never win a Pulitzer Prize.  When I tell someone about how great Apple Pan burgers are, I say they taste great and the tillamook cheddar is just incredible.  When LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold describes it, he says:

The top and bottom buns of an Apple Pan burger are crisped and slightly oily, crunchy at the edges, working toward a near-complete softness at the middle; the pickles are resilient dill chips; the sheaf of fresh iceberg lettuce provides a dozen-layered crispness at the core. The beef, generally cooked to a perfect, pink-centered medium, is juicy and full flavored; the cheese, half melted to a kind of sharp graininess, is good Tillamook Cheddar. And come dessert time, no matter how many waiting people may be crowded in behind you, no matter how hungrily they stare at your enormous slice of pie, the veteran countermen will always draw you another cup of coffee from the gas-fired urn and hand it over with a dram of fresh, heavy cream. My family has been regulars at least since Lew Alcindor played freshman ball.

Now that's writing.  The Apple Pan was selected as one of Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles.  Read the other 98 here.

Gentlemen, Start Your Browsers

Some great shows go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 am.  Good luck playing ticketmaster roulette. 

July 19: Ryan Adams @ Elbell Theater
Aug 29: Wilco @ The Greek
Sept 10 and 11: Spoon @ the Fonda
Sept 19: The White Stripes and Cold War Kids @ The Forum
Sept 18 and 19: Amy Winehouse and Paolo Nutini @ The Wiltern

LCD Soundsystem, Yacht @ The El Rey, 6/11/07

LCD Soundsystem's set at Coachella has been a highlight of my year, but I think tonight James Murphy just topped himself.  He played the second of three sold out nights at the El Rey and the place was just plain crazy for LCD Soundsystem.  I doubt there was a dry shirt in the entire place.  Plain and simple, he just destroyed.  James on the cowbell, Nancy on the keys, these guys can do no wrong and tonight they proved that they put on one of the best live shows around.  Highlights include a ridiculously long version "Yeah"that just went on and on and on until I literally couldn't move anymore, a great version of Joy Division's "No Love Lost" and of course "All My Friends" (which could be my favorite song of the year).  Oh, man.  I sort of love James Murphy.

LCD will be on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today at 11 am and at the El Rey again tonight. 

YACHT (one half of The Blow) opened up.  Talk about a perfect match for LCD Soundsystem.  How often do you see a scrawny kid pushing play on his iBook and singing along.  It was nothing I would ever reach for, but I would love to see him again. 

Airborne Toxic Event, The Happy Hollows, Radars to the Sky @ The Troubadour 6/9/07

After seeing The Airborne Toxic Event several months back at the Echo and writing this post, we received some "hate comments" in the comments about this band (ok, so hate comments is a bit bold, but we rarely get comments, so we can take some liberties here).  I really liked them when I saw them at the Echo but wanted to see them again with the criticism in mind.  I was also incredibly excited to see Radars to the Sky, who I have been dying to see for some time, and the Happy Hollows, who I have never seen play a full set.

The Airborne Toxic Event: 

So, everything thats being said (negatively) about this band, that they are fabricated, that they know what it takes to make a great indie band and are playing to our indie hearts, that they have been given pointers about their stage show, etc.  They might be true. I don't know. I am not here to be an investigative reporter.  I am here to say that knowing what I know and reading the criticism of the band, I still loved their set, sang along to them and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I can see why people hate the band. They're really great and most indie snobs hate great things.  They seemingly came out of nowhere looking and acting like a full formed band.  I had a moment last night in the balcony, watching their set, that the band just seemed way to big for the Troubadour.  I felt like I won some radio contest to see this big band play a small venue.  That's a weird feeling to get from an unsigned band with just one tour under their belt.  I think that's where a lot of the anger comes from.  On the other hand, I did catch myself saying, oh, I can see that, a few times.  They definitely do a lot of things that seem a bit forced.  There is a lot of what seem to be choreographed moves on stage and I could have done without the anti-war rant towards the end of the set.  In the end though, the crowd loved it, the band had a great time, so does it really matter? 

Radars to the Sky: 

Radars to the Sky opened the set up to a crowd of mostly band families, parents and friends, but hopefully they won over some new fans too.  I have written about them before and have been playing "Long Walk Home" for months, but this was actually the first time I have seen them live.  Their live show is incredibly strong and Andrew, the lead singer, has an incredible stage presence that makes the band a joy to watch.  I am looking forward to seeing more of these guys (I assume they might be taking a maternity break soon, but I could be wrong). 

The Happy Hollows:

These guys didn't do it for me.  I actually loved their music, but the singing really didn't do it for me.  It could have been the sound. It could have been me.  I don't know.  There was just something about the band that I wasn't feeling.  I think I am getting old.  I had to put my earplugs in and everything.

Wilco announces West Coast Dates

I have been thoroughly enjoying Sky Blue Sky and been anticipating seeing Wilco play this new stuff live.  After announcing dates everywhere else in the country, Wilco finally got around to setting up dates on the West Coast:

Aug 21: Marymoor Park, Seattle, WA
Aug 22: Edgefield, Portland, OR
Aug 24: Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA
Aug 29: Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA

No info on on sales yet, but go here for all tour dates.

Human Tetris

This is one of the funnier things I have seen in a while.