Floating Away

Artists I love that do not love LA

I don't why this city gets the rap that it does. I have been here for less than a year and I have truly enjoyed it. There are some great music venues and great artists come through on a weekly basis, but recently, I keep reading about artists going on tour in support of new music and skipping over LA.

Here is a breakdown:

Elvis Costello. I love this man. I have loved everything he has ever done (except for North, which was unbelievably dissapointing).  One of my greatest live music memories is of Costello at the State Theater in Detroit.  It was just him and Steve Neive (from the Attractions).  They played for hours and had 5 encores!  Costello did great renditions of classic songs with the help of just Nieve.  Two years ago, when I heard that he was basically doing the same thing, recording some of his hit songs with an orchestra I looked all over the internet for orchestral versions of songs I loved.  I found a couple, but really looked forward to some official recording.  Stereogum reminded me that it is coming out at the end of this month.  He is doing a short tour and going to San Francisco, but not LA. Let's hope for a Hollywood Bowl summer show.

MP3: Elvis Costello - Shipbuilding (Live at the Royal Festival Hall, London 10/11/03)
MP3: Elvis Costello & The Metropole Orkest - Watching the Detectives (from Stereogum)

Cloud Cult. Central Village and Brooklyn Vegan wrote about this CD before I randomly found it in a used pile with some other great CDs.  Immediately upon listening to it, I loved it and was one of my favorite records of last year.  It was one of those albums that no one really heard, but if you did, it was impossible not to love.  I read that they booked a west coast tour and got super excited only to find out that they are skipping over LA.  I emailed them and they said they just don't have the fanbase in LA. Should have written about them sooner. 

MP3: Cloud Cult - Living on the Outside of Your Skin
MP3: Cloud Cult - Mr. Tambourine Man (live on KEXP)

Destroyer. I bought this CD last week and can not stop listening to it.  Dan Bejar, the man behind the album is a part time New Pornographer and has put out some stellar albums of his own, but nothing I have really gotten into.  I was given one of his earlier albums last year (Streethawk: A Seduction) and liked it, but wasn't blown away by it.  This on the other hand has really been making me happy.  When the Fiery Furnaces opened with songs over nine minutes on Blueberry Boat, I thought it was bold and cocky, but Destroyer's nine minute opening track is one of the strongerst on the album.  Go figure. Destroyer goes on tour at the end of March and is hitting up the west coast, but not LA.

MP3: Destroyer - Painter In Your Pocket

Metal Hearts. Again, I have to thank Jeff at Central Village for his great post about this band.  I had never heard of them before,  but totally connected on the music time and place idea that he wrote about.  Its a great CD, that is produced really well.  I have listened to it a lot in my car, but I can tell this is a great headphones album.  Imagine trying to sleep with calm whispers in your ear all night long.  That is this abum.  Again, the Metal Hearts are on tour prepping for SXSW, but are not coming anywhere near the west coast. Hopefully one day soon they will.

MP3: Metal Hearts - Socialize
MP3: Metal Hearts - Midnight's Sun

"Street Fight" by Marshall Curry

Last summer, I was reading through Time Out NY and read an article about an upcoming PBS movie called "Street Fight".  The article caught my eye mainly because of the name Cory Booker.  I knew absolutely nothing about Cory Booker except that several of my old supervisors left their jobs to help work on his 2002 campaign for mayor of Newark, NJ. The documentary by Marshall Curry, documented Cory Booker's campaign and tried to get a look inside the campaign of the incumbent (Mayor Sharpe James).  I tivoed the movie not expecting much, but was blown away by not only how great a movie it was, but also how corrupt and terrible Sharpe James and the dissident that Newark threw at Cory Booker.   I was also incredibly inspired by Cory Booker and felt that if there ever was a voice for our generation, Cory Booker could be it. 

The movie aired a couple of times and while I became a HUGE fan of Cory Booker, I was under the assumption that this was one of those movies that would go straight to DVD and I would forget about.  Last week, in the LA Weekly, I was shocked and delighted to read that Street Fight was nominated for a best Documentary Oscar. I cannot recommend this movie enough. This quote pretty much sums up why you MUST see this film while it is in the theaters:

"Last month, Street Fight became one of the five nominees for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, and, like Booker himself, it’s the clear underdog in a race against cuddly penguins, mutant fish, paraplegic rugby players and free-falling Enron executives. Curry’s film doesn’t have nearly as sexy a hook — it’s about the art and artifice of local politics, and that rarely sells tickets — and so it’s no real surprise that it’s only just now arriving in theaters. Still, this is classical activist filmmaking of the first order, a movie with the power to turn hearts, change minds and, just maybe, right the wayward course of an entire city." (From LA Weekly)

Street Fight is playing at the Laemmle Fairfax and the Laemmle One Colorado Cinema in Pasadena.

 

Will Joey Jump the Shark, too?

Confession: My first concert was New Kids on The Block at the Universal Amphitheater.  It was a birthday gift from my parents to my sister and I got to tag along.  My sister LOVED all of the New Kids, but especially Joey McIntyre. 

Somehow, I am able to spew out Joey's recent cameos (from Boston Public to Wicked to Dancing with the Stars) so it came as no surprise that I caught his latest endevour in last Thursday's LA Times. 

"New Kids on the Block alum Joey McIntyre, who made his Broadway debut as Prince Flyero in "Wicked," heads the cast as king of cool Fonz in the new stage musical "Happy Days," which is based on the 1970s TV sitcom."

I really don't know what is more offensive about this, the fact that someone thought it would be a good idea to make a Happy Days the Musical or the fact that Joey McIntyre screams cool so much that he could play the Fonz or that someone else thought a great tag line for the show would be: "Aaay! It's a Musical!" Really. It hurts on many levels.

My only hope is that years from now, when Arrested Development does some sort of 20 year reunion, Joey McIntyre can be a guest star and jump over a shark on his way to Burger King.  That would tie it all together for me.

"Happy Days" will be playing at the Falcon Theater in Burbank until March 12. You can even see the show for free by being an usher!

UPDATE: This morning I woke up to find that the LA Times reviewed the show over the weekend and came up with a strikingly similar title: 'Happy' Jumps The Shark.  Does the staff of the Times read our blog?

Float Away From Here: Thursday Edition

Many things to share on this fine Thursday:

- The last Chocolate Genius residency night is tonight at Largo. Don't miss it. According to Largo, there is still space for reservations, so come down early for dinner.  Joe Henry opens up.

- Josh Rouse tickets at the Henry Fonda Theater goes on sale Friday at 10 am.

- Jax's Hump Day Picks made me laugh out loud with Cheney's Got a Gun

- I am very excited for the new Rhett Miller album and Irene at brokencalm points us to some local dates and info on the new Rhett Miller album.  His duet with Rachael Yamagata is streaming on his myspace page.

Rhett Miller LA dates:
March 02, 2006 - Tower Records (Sunset) - Los Angeles, CA (8PM)
March 28, 2006 - Galaxy Theater - Santa Ana, CA
March 29, 2006 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA

The Henry Fonda show and the Galaxy Theater shows are on sale now at ticketmaster.

"Death Penalty" Starring Morgan Freeman and Edward James Olmos

California is all about killing people recently. With the death of Tookie Williams behind them, they have now moved on to Michael Morales.  While reading through this story on CNN, I was struck by how easy it is to be a casting director in this town.

I figure Morgan Freeman is a shoo in for the prison spokesman.

And Edward James Olmos can play Michael Morales.

Floating Away ... to Chicago ... because there is no indie scene in LA

Last week, Dan and I saw Stars at the Avalon in LA.  They played a great live show.  The one-two vocal punch of Torquill and Amy is unmatched by any other group.  The only problem with the LA show was the crowd.  Unfortunately, I'm beginning to realize that this is a function of being in LA.  Besides the random chick who kept hitting on our friend Adam, people just weren't as into it as they would be in NYC.  Perhaps, this is because the typical audience at an Indie show in LA consists of High School freshmen and sophomores.

This past weekend, I was in Chicago.  Knowing how much I love Stars, Jackie got tickets to see them at Metro on Friday the 17th.  Unlike LA, the crowd was really into it.  Of course, the trade off for this environment is personal space...however, not as claustrophobic as seeing The Arcade Fire, for instance, at Webster Hall.  There were also some audio level problems throughout the night, making it really hard to pick up Torquill at times.  More pics from the show after the jump.

MP3:  Stars

The worst part of both these shows, for me, was watching The Elected perform.  It's not their music that's bad to watch, it's the performance.  Does the lead singer really need a vest and the ever so cliche Indie / dirty sanchez mustache?  The Chicago show was their last night opening for Stars, so they were allowed out during the encore to add to the percussion section.  Of course, it seemed more like a special ed music class...not that there's anything wrong with special ed.  Cause there's not.

What else did I do in Chicago (besides freeze my ass off)?  Well, we saw the great dolphin show at the aquarium (note to the staff of the dolphin show...more dolphin jumping...less talking).  And saw a GIANT crab.  Beat those crab legs, Hooters!

Brokeback Luge: Matt and Al Strike Again

Are you looking for a cure for your Torino Fever?  Thankfully, the Today Show has a remedy for you.  If watching Al lay on top of Matt while racing down the luge track doesn't cure you...I'm sorry, but there's really nothing else we can do.

Floating Away Artist Profile: Chocolate Genius

Thursday Residency at Largo: Chocolate Genius
Floating Away will be there February 16 and February 23

I honestly wish I could tell you why I first picked up “Black Music” by Chocolate Genius (Marc Anthony Thompson).  Years later, I credit CMJ New Music Monthly, but am fuzzy on the details.  Black Music came out in the summer before I was to begin my sophomore year of college and it was just what I needed.  Calm and soothing, full of great instrumentation, it was the soundtrack to my life. “Black Music” is incredible and one of my favorite albums ever.  The song My Mom is one of his saddest songs and the highlight on the album.  A beautiful recount of a man trying to reconnect to his mother only to find that she does not remember him. 

Black Music became a rotational favorite at late night after parties with my roommates and he attracted a mini fan club amongst my friends.  Time passed and while I still reached for Black Music, I had moved on to other music.  Two years later, I moved to New York.  God Music, his second album, came out the summer of 2001, and he continued to push his music in all directions.  Later that year, I saw the first of many NY area Chocolate Genius shows.  The most memorable was at The Bottom Line where (with 4 other people watching) I saw him do a night of covers. The best: “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera, which changed the way I listened to that song forever.

Godmusic came out in 2001, and he always teased his fans with some sort of musical contribution here and there.  He appeared on the soundtrack to many films (American Splendor, I am Sam, HBO’s Everyday People).  He also released two home recorded albums at his shows.

Then finally, late last year, his third studio album came out: Black Yankee Rock.  This album is everything I wanted it to be.  An unbelievably strong collection of songs with help from an extraordinary list of musicians (Van Dyke Parks, Marc Ribot, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Stephanie McKay and more).  The album, like his others, just gets better and better with each listen.  Each week I seem to be really into a different song and end up asking myself, How did I not love this the first time I heard it?

Floating away saw him late last year when he came through to visit Largo.  I was very unfamiliar with the new album and was pleased by his new material.  Don't miss this great opportunity to see Chocolate Genius. We will see you there.

Hear Chocolate Genius on NPR.
Be his friend on MySpace

MP3:  Escape or Ten Pound Headache (live on KEXP)

How To Be A Mensch This Valentine's Day

Mensch (n.) = an all around good guy

The key to being a Mensch is doing something for others without expecting anything in return.  Today, Valentine's Day, is a perfect excuse to try out your skills.  You see, for many reasons, girls love the Valentine's Day.  It doesn't have to be your girlfriend, or your mom.  Just wish every girl you see a happy V-Day.  You'll be well on your way to Menschdom.

Looking for more examples on how to be a Mensch?  Guy Kawasaki recently posted five simple rules.

Still confused?  Here are some real-life Mensches:

1.  Jack Bauer.  Enough Said.  The man would do anything for his country, no matter the consequence.

2.  George O'Malley.  What he did for Dr. Bailey was pure Mensch.  They don't teach that kind of response.  By the way, did you notice that Bailey's son's middle name is George?

3.  David M. Rogers.  2001 Michigan Grad.  This kid oozes Menschiness.  Here's a quick bio:  Who is David Rogers? David is an honest man with simple pleasures and lots of generosity. For instance, let's say you just started college...and you were getting your dorm room all set up...and you mentioned in passing..."man, I should get some of those yaffa blocks." Dave is the guy who would magically appear later that day with Jaffa blocks. Ladies, he's a keeper. The easiest way to his heart? Take him to a Cubs/Tiger game and get him a half dozen or so hot dogs. One other thing for the ladies to know...Dave loves to cuddle!

Feel free to share your own Menschy experiences...

Josh Rouse Tour Dates

One of the highlights of 2006 so far is seeing Josh Rouse at his solo acoustic show at the Troubadour.  As expected, he is doing a full tour in support of his new album, Subtitulo.

No information on when tickets go on sale.
Subtitulo comes out March 21st.

California Dates:
4/18 - Great American Music Hall, SF
4/19 - Henry Fonda Theater, LA

MP3: Quiet Town - Josh Rouse (from Subtitulo)
MP3: Jersey Clowns - Josh Rouse (from Subtitulo)
MP3: His Majesty Rides - Josh Rouse (from Subtitulo)