Los Angeles - Tonight at The Hotel Cafe catch Andy Zipf for his debut performance at the venue.
The show starts at 7 so get there early. Also slated for the evening - Ken Oak Band @ 8pm - Meiko @ 9pm (Click here for Tix) - Astra Heights @ 10pm - Yellow Red Sparks @ 11pm

The evening looks to be one of fun and up and comers in the LA scene. Get there early and make sure you say hey while you’re there. Since Andy’s an East Coast guy and I’m still getting my feet wet since moving to the left coast. Besides, The Hotel Cafe is a great venue and relays an intimacy with artists that isn’t as common anymore. It’s like the setting to those stories that we’ve all heard about when Dylan was traveling around the country sharing his music in exchange for a hot meal, quality conversation and a little money for gas.

Also Check out Andy Zipf on THE DROP here.

To get a feel of what Andy’s like live - Check out Into The Hill - They recorded some songs from Pfriends on Pfilm and are sharing them on their site.

Tuesday is another brick in the changing landscape of digital communication. Cult Classics, LLC. launches it’s “Cult of Sincerity” film and releases the entire thing…. yes the whole thing to YouTube.com (Check it out here) Continue Reading

After much thought and deliberation the offices of The Drop have moved. This is especially exciting since I don’t have to drive at least 1.5 hours to see a national tour. Continue Reading

The turn of a new year is rife with a plethora of bands and albums I somehow managed to miss the previous year (or two). As hard as I try to keep up with the latest and greatest in indie rock, a lot of outstanding stuff manages to stay under the radar, at least at the time of it’s release. Continue Reading

One night only, Lofts 11 presents “DC Greenheart Exhibit”, featuring works from 19 Artists including Local Favorites; Matt Sesow, Kelly Towles, J. Coleman, Dana Ellyn, Anna U Davis and Joe Portnoy. An exhibition of new painting, drawings, and photographs priced at $500 or less. Art will showcase Environmental Awareness with a touch of Valentines Day inspiration. 10% of all sale proceeds will benefit earthecho.org in support of saving our water planet. Continue Reading

All around creative genius, PJ Sykes launched his 3rd photo show this past week and finally is getting noticed. The Washington Post Called PJ a “visual DJ” and uses his photos to inspire viewers to check out the bands in the photos. If you’re in the DC market, the photoshow is at Strangeland Records 7203 Columbia Pike (Second Floor), Annandale 703.750.1571 Stop in and tell’em THE DROP sent you.

You can see more PJ Sykes artwork by visiting www.pjsykes.com

On behalf of the writers here, we wish you a safe Thanksgiving Holiday and plenty of Tryptophan induced comas and football watching til your eyes fall out… if that’s your thing.

William Fitzsimmons continues to get more and more attention for his music. The end of last month Zach Braff encouraged his blog readers to grab up as much of his music as possible. Fitzsimmons recently reported that he's heading back to the studio to work on his third release and I thought that's a great reason to celebrate.

Here's how to get it.
Join the Facebook group for THE DROP - if you aren’t already a part of it.
Invite someone new to join the Facebook group for THE DROP
Have each of your invitees post on the group Facebook wall who invited them (so you get credit)

The person with the most invites wins.

What do you win?
A William Fitzsimmons Prize pack featuring:
The album “Goodnight”
The album “Until When We Are Ghosts”
A William Fitzsimmons sticker
A William Fitzsimmons T-shirt

Thanks a lot and I’ll be tabulating results and the deadline will be 11/15. Best of luck!

If you want a sample of Williams music - Check out the interview and track on THE DROP

Nada Surf will be releasing their new record, “LUCKY,” on February 5th, 2008 on Barsuk Records, and will be offering fans the opportunity to hear and download “See These Bones” at www.myspace.com/nadasurf starting today. “LUCKY” is Nada Surf’s fifth record and third for Seattle indie Barsuk Records, following the successful and critically lauded “Let Go” (2003) and “The Weight is a Gift” (2005).

“LUCKY” was co-produced by the band and John Goodmanson (Death Cab For Cutie, Blonde Redhead, Sleater-Kinney). Many great artists make guest appearances on the record, including:
Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard, Ed Harcourt, John Roderick of the Long Winters, and guitarist Phil Wandscher of Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. To help announce the coming of the new record, Nada Surf is about to embark on a national headlining tour. The dates begin October 13 in Philadelphia and end November 2 in Baltimore. Sea Wolf will be supporting.

The “LUCKY” tracklisting is:
Weightless
Whose Authority
Beautiful Beat
Here Goes Something
From Now On
I Like What You Say
Ice on the Wing
The Film Did Not Go ‘Round
The Fox
Are You Lightning?
See These Bones

The dates for the fall tour are below:

10/13 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
10/15 Columbus, OH Basement
10/16 Cincinnati, OH 20th Century
10/17 Louisville, KY Jim Porters
10/18 Indianapolis, IN Birdy’s
10/19 Chicago, IL Schubas
10/20 Chicago, IL Schubas
10/22 St. Louis, MO Gargoyle Club
10/23 Nashville, TN Exit Inn
10/24 Birmingham, AL Bottle Tree
10/26 Tampa, FL State Theatre
10/27 St. Augustine, FL Café Eleven
10/29 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
10/30 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
10/31 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
11/1 Charlottesville, VA Satellite Ballroom – UVA
11/2 Baltimore, MD 8 x 10

The week prior to the album release, Nada Surf will play a number of acoustic shows on the West Coast, and then head East for two hometown shows. All shows for this 2008 run go on sale October 19th. The dates are below:

1/30 Seattle, WA The Triple Door (acoustic)
1/31 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge (acoustic)
2/2 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall (acoustic)
2/7 Brooklyn, NY The Music Hall of Williamsburg

Listen or Download Below

Friday marked the launch if the NY Film Festival and the launch of Wes Anderson’s (Life Aquatic, The Royal Tennenbaums) latest film “The Darjeeling Limited”. The film features another band of brilliant social oddballs, starring Adrian Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Swartzman as brothers traveling across India. In a stroke of marketing genius, Mr Anderson has made available a pre-quel or pre short available through iTunes and gives some back story on Jason Swartzman’s character in a tawdry take of relationship woes with Miss Natalie Portman. I highly recommend downloading this precursor film.

Get it here