David Bazan shines down on the City of Angeles on November 8, 2008. Live at Fuller. Get tickets online at EmpyFramesProductions.com And while you’re there check out the free tracks on their blog. Tickets are selling super fast - get them while you can.

CMJ 2008 is just around the corner and Holler, Wild Rose! will be back this year at the The Rebel Group Showcase on October 23rd at 7:00pm at Fontana’s.

If you are making the trip to New York this year for the festival, we hope you’ll stop by! All attendees will get a free preview copy of the “Marylawn Hair” video on DVD!

Here are the rest of the details on the showcase and you can visit: www.myspace.com/hollerwildrose to check out some video stills. (Look for the Marlylawn Hair video photo album)

CMJ 2008 - The Rebel Group Showcase
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008
Time: 7:00pm - 1:00am

Location: Fontana’s Street: 105 Eldridge Street New York, NY
Website: www. fontanasnyc. com

7:00 Holler, Wild Rose!

7:50 Arms

8:40 The Lovely Sparrows

9:30 Pepi Ginsberg

10:20 Jukebox The Ghost

11:10 The Forms

12:00 Bottle Up & Go

Wilco Live at the White River State Park: Indianapolis

A cool summer night in an outdoor amphitheater with a good friend and a lawn chair is exactly how I wanted to spend a day this summer. It helped even more with my favorite band, Wilco playing through the speakers. I flew to Indy from LA solely to see this show. There are some adventures you must take in order to see your favorite band at least once a year. The show couldn’t have been better. Bon Iver (when of the best records released this year, For Emma Forever Ago) opened the night with a quick 20 minute set. As the sun set Wilco took the stage and played the fantastic high-energy opener, “Via Chicago”. The set was tight, fluid, and really enjoyable. Most of the songs I have seen live before but there is nothing like the breakdown in the song “Spiders” to hear music at it’s finest. With similar patterns being woven with the skills and abilities of Nels Cline’s guitar playing there really is nothing like it.

Other highlights included many songs (including “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”) from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. A new song, “Sunny Feelings” that are reminiscent to the throwback 70s feel of Sky Blue Sky. Dueling guitars from Nels and Pat in AMs “Hoodoo Voodoo.” A double encore! Also the horn trio, Total Pros added depth and increased the energy.

I love this band. So much so that I have traveled great distances to see them play as well as some of my favorite music memories attached to this band. I have made friends and never enemies and have had some great conversations about the depth and perception of a band like Wilco. They have been called Americas Radiohead and I don’t think that’s to far off. A great experience….thanks Indianapolis I had a great time.

If you have never heard Wilco live check out their Roadcase for three live shows in St. Louis.

My Morning Jacket’s Evil Urges took my by a but of surprise. The earlier release, Z received critical acclaim and this new record definitely has me talking as well. The record runs in and out of 70s rock, Prince esque vocal bursts, and stripped down ballads that are more sweet than make one want to roll the eyes.

The record is strong. At first it’s a little intimidating and moments where I wonder where these songs took their roots and how they ended up together on the record. It’s a fun record taking a number of twists and turns. It’s fun that each song represents a different influence. The 70s rock bands, the vocals of Prince and Wayne Cohen (the Flaming Lips), doo-woop, soul, and soft songs that James Taylor or Paul Simon could easily have written. I think the record shares the beauty of mystique. It’s not easy to pin down or figure out exactly but that’s what I enjoy about this record and enjoy most about this band.

With the disappointing boring release of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida it’s nice to know that bands are willing and able to explore musical genres and styles. I like when a record makes you go back and give it another go around. Evil Urges begs you to do this. There seem to be an erasure of boundaries of what is cool and what shouldn’t be done on this record. It is strong and worth being heard and then reheard.

All that being said the record is smart and accessible. I had it playing with my father around and he wanted a copy (my dad is great but music is not his thing). The hard working rock band will be on tour this summer. If they are in your town you must check them out. I hear they are even better live.

Summer/Fall 2008 Tour Dates:
8/15 - Nashville, TN - Riverfront Park
8/16 - Louisville, KY - The Great Lawn @ Waterfront Park
8/18 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
8/19 - Council Bluffs, IA - Stir Cove
8/21 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
8/23 - Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
8/24 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s
8/27 - Atlanta, GA - Fox Theater
8/29 - Miami, FL - The Fillmore Miami Beach
8/30 - Orlando, FL - House of Blues
8/31 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
9/3 - Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
9/4 - Charlottesville, VA - Charlottesville Pavilion
9/5 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing
9/6 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
9/19 - San Francisco, CA - Greek Theatre
9/21 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
9/23 - Phoenix, AZ - Marquee Theatre
9/24 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
9/25 - San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theatre
9/27 - Portland, OR - McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
9/28 - Seattle, WA - McCaw Hall
10/2 - Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre
10/3 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater
10/4 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
10/9 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
10/10 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre

Summers in LA are normally hot. The hot where you don’t want to go outside because there is smog in the air and you are afraid that your now exposed legs may stick to the leather in the overly hot interior of your car. But the weather has been nice the last couple of weeks and the thought of enjoying the outdoors has been all so appealing. So last weekend some friends and I grabbed the bus to the hollywood bowl and saw the high energy of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Feist .

Hosted by local NPR station, KCRW, the outdoors show was a fun way to spend a late July Sunday evening. Sharon Jones was fun, high energy, and quite exciting. Before I knew it there were many people around me dancing with their friends and quite enjoying themselves with the soulful vocal stylings from Sharon Jones. She has the ability to command the stage with full control that reminds anyone of James Brown. She has skills to move her body while she tells her stories with with amazing funk musicians back her up. She brought the energy and she certainly brought the funk and what I thought was a fantastic opening act for someone that what I thought would have high energy as well…..

…..Feist. The last time I saw Feist it was high energy, fun, and took a large space and made it feel like everyone in the room could be my next best friend. This time I felt like Feist was sad, dealing with something so much bigger than herself. The set was stripped down, choosing to open with a poem that harkened the old west and folk americana tales. She was dressed in a dress with fringe down the arms and a cowboy hat. The songs she chose were sad in nature and the songs like, “I Feel it All” and the every popular “1 2 3 4″ seemed to be pulled back, slowed down, and a new way of hearing songs that are often heard as a copy of the recorded version.

We were surprised after what seemed like ten songs that she bowed and said good night. With a song to finish out the encore the show was over and evening complete. I was a bit surprised by her set. After the super high energy and true crowd amper, Sharon Jones, Feist just seemed to lack the energy to make my feet keep dancing.

Overall the evening was fun and it made me believe in the beauty of humanity and the what can happen when you are surrounded by strangers. I had to sit by myself because of the late purchase of my ticket but I never felt alone. I was offered cheese, wine, crackers, and potato chips by strangers that never knew my name. It was a beautiful cool evening. An energy in the air of picnicking lovers and friends. I felt lucky to be in a space that in a city that is known to be isolated and individualistic and didn’t feel alone for one moment.

The Watson Twins are not LA natives but native to the LA music scene. That’s pretty normal in a place of transience and the mecca for corporate music hullabaloo. The Watson Twins released their newest record, Fire Songs, with a record release party at Hollywoods finest, Amoeba Music. Between the stacks J. Geils Band and Fugazi I heard the soulful harmonies of these twin sisters sing ballads from their newest record. The sound was not the best, but I wasn’t expecting much when a make shift stage is erected for an hour long performance once a week. Continue Reading

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.

Tonight starts this years rendition of The Mid Atlantic College Radio Conference or MACRoCk. For The Drop our man on the scene is Adam Bodine. Continue Reading

March 7, 2008 (Los Angeles, CA) – Four years since they parted ways, platinum-selling group SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER have decided to reunite and will make their first appearance in four years together next week at SXSW (Thursday, March 14 @ The Tap Room).
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