September 30th, 2008
So. its 1:45 am, and I am driving through this amazing city. Los Angeles. The fog rolling in covers the lights of the la downtown skyline and I find myself driving fast. And faster. I hit about 90, something about just being relaxed, and I notice how fast I am driving. I look down to the iPod and notice, I started driving a little faster as this song that I have never heard before is playing. Something. Subtle. Suddenly I look at the iPod and realize its band that contacted Loudvine recently. I must admit, I do not even recall putting this in my iPod. The band, is The Beeters. The Song is “Heavy Heart.” Something about this beautiful combination; new music, open lanes and peaceful LA actually have me accelerating on the gas.
The Beeters, like my driving is picking up momentum. I like this band. I wonder who they are. Their song(s) start to pump me up. After all I am tired, yet I feel like I am getting a second wind. I play it for a second time. It could not have been that good, right? I then play a third time and realize I really like these guys. This four piece quartet from Los Angeles is starting to make wave. Play “Heavy Heart” below.
The Beeters: Heavy Heart
Their music makes me want to pick up the pace. It makes me want to continue my night. It invigorates me and makes me wonder who is this band what are they are all about. But being on the freeway and pushing 100 is not the time to check their myspace. What is important about The Beeters is that the bands music works. And with its energy, you know the band is working for you as well. Telling you to trust them, to come in and to give them a listen. Rock. Pure and simple. It makes you feel like you need to step up your energy levels. Its pulsating and reminds me how caffeine used to make me feel when I first started using it, giving me a nice little buzz that made me crave more. Even though its been a while that I have gone the pure rock and roll route, The Beeters are like that first buzz, their good, they leave you wanting more. Be sure to check them at The Eagle Rock Festival on October 4th at 8 PM.
Tags: Beeters, Loudvine, MP3's, Music, The
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September 29th, 2008
I woke up this morning. Beyond exhaustion. And dam proud of that. What an amazing weekend, bookmarked by wonderful, local bands, at every step of the way. Yesterday Loudvine.com hit up the Abbot Kinney Festival and along with the warm sun and wonderful people we got to chill with, it was the perfect end to two of the best days I have had in a long while. I will let the Vids speak for how much fun I had yesterday.
Tags: Abbot, Caref, Chris Pierce, Festival, Hotel, Indie, Kinney, Loudvine, Music, Tapes, War
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September 28th, 2008
Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of props for our work at Loudvine.com. But what we keep saying to everyone is that we are just as good as all the bands we are meeting and listening to and getting to know. This thing is bigger then us. Amidst the background of a city that is bursting with talent, we realize, our mission at Loudvine.com is really quite simple. Listen. The music will speak for itself. People will come. Get people to know about as many of the shows that we can figure out and let our members know about them. Motivate through great nights in Los Angeles listening to cool music.
Take last night for instance. In what amounts to someone’s living room with a bunch of the coolest, most laid back people you’ll ever meet, you realize that the really talented musicians in Los Angeles have a lot of support. And not just from blogs and sites like Loudvine.com, but by people, a community that comes out and supports its own because the music and people behind the music are charismatic enough to get people all over town to come listen to them when there are a bunch of things going on. But lets face it, people would not come if, in today’s environment, they have not at least heard a few mp3’s and they liked what they heard.
Often, we hear the word “side project,” as if its some bastard, ill-conceived project of someone from another, more popular band. But that is not the case with the side project Very. Brian Cleary set up a lifetime’s worth of equipment and blasted into his past last night doing a solo show for the first time in ten years. Talented, inspired, and definitely on his own this night(without The Movies), a bit tentative at first, Brian turned to his music and took us on a musical journey for a few minutes. The side project is here and all grown up. Bursting at the seams of an experimental and ambient, trilogy-like sound, Very was back doing something truly his own and very unique.
Often the side project shows someone’s range and personal taste, even more personally then you are accustomed to. But lets say this, when you’re playing solo to a full house at the Echo Curio, there is no faking it. You are either good or you are not that good. Brian was good and the perfect reflection to what is happening in Los Angeles. Musicians taking that step, that vulnerability needed to create, passionately, what they have inside and taking us in different directions then what we are accoustmed to. Keep informed as we keep delivering the shows that really matter via Loudvine.com, like last nights show.
Tags: Curio, Echo, Experimental, Indie, Loudvine, Music, Very
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September 25th, 2008
Its always cool to see some local guys make good on the rock and roll dream and play to an ecstatic crowd as they keep blowing up. Thought I’d keep it simple and just put some Vids from last nights Cold War Kids show at The Music Box. Best of luck to these guys on their tour and promoting the new album.
For more Vids on Cold War Kids, Click here:
Tags: Box, Cold, Hollywood, Indie, Kids, Loudvine, Music, War
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September 24th, 2008
My phone rang last evening. It was the Obama’s campaign requesting my presence at Spaceland for a night of LA music and a voter registration drive with all proceeds to go to his campaign. In all actuality, I was probably taking a nap late yesterday afternoon and dreamed that my phone rang from someone as important as the Obama campaign.
But then again, the mere thought of the wrong woman in the white house and the real estate mogul as our fearless leader, prompted me to hop into the shower and get to Spaceland in a flash, where my cash contribution hopefully insures we end this nightmare and put our boy into the White House. And to know that I would get to see about 6 bands, made it all that much easier to rally a few friends as well. Thanks again to Filter Magazine, The 008 Movement and Spaceland for putting this on last night. A few vids from last night.
Electrocute:
Willoughby:
The Bird and The Bee:
Tags: Bee, Bird, Electrocute, Indie, Loudvine, Obama, Spaceland, Willoughby
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September 21st, 2008
I love this Internet thing. Part of it is the hustle that allows it to flourish. Part of its power is the democratic ideal behind it. All can be heard. And part of it is that it is viral and its efforts can be heard and passed along. So lately I have been getting quite a few mp3 submissions to Loudvine. And I live by these words:
I won’t write about anything that does make its way into my iPod and I won’t write about anything that I won’t play loud enough to annoy my neighbors. I am not an ‘critic,’ but one thing about me is that I am certain I know my style.
I won’t come off like I know more then you. One thing I don’t do is compare this artist to that artist, talk about some sub-genre bullshit and compare it to something else. Its music, we do not constantly need points of reference. Music should just take us where it needs to take us. But one thing I do talk about is the one thing I do know about music–whether it moves me or not.
Take for instance, to my surprise, getting hit up via Loudvine to listen to So Many Wizards. I know nothing about So Many Wizards except this:
You are listening to Fly A Kite (from the TREE EP):
fly a kite (peaks)
Its visual, it takes me on a stroll, almost like walking down some Parisian garden, you know the type with km’s of dirt roads taking you to the secluded beauty that you and your lover look for. So Many Wizards style sets a mood for me. In about three minutes of pretty melodies it holds me captive and takes me a on a little journey of a different sort. The music is organic, original and makes me wonder who is behind the music. It sets me on a trip, slightly haunting, in their sound that makes me want to listen to it again. And Again. The song(and others as well) have courage, it makes you feel like their is hope at the end this little magical journey that lasts three minutes. And really, what else can we hope, but hope and love? So we get both in this good music by So Many Wizards.
Seriously when the music stands on its own, we don’t need to know anything else. The music is the thing that really matters. So Many Wizards matches our requirements to write about them:
Its in the ipod, its playing, and it moves us. Check So Many Wizards and we will let you know about their upcoming gigs as soon as we know about them.
Tags: Indie, Loudvine, Many, MP3's, Music, review, So, Wizards
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September 20th, 2008
Ok, so now we all know how old I am. I remember Digable Planets when they first came out. And really, has anything changed? I had a crush on Ladybug then and I still have a crush on Ladybug after all these years. Watching them perform last night at The El Rey, I was reminded, yes I am getting older. And with the backdrop of this amazing city and good friends, I am ok with that as long as I get a chance to experience shows like I did last night. Digable Planets, in this era of overly produced beats by producers with technology on steroids, brought me back, if even for just one night, to the time where you are moved by the sheer, raw, purely talented MC, rocking the 1 – 2’s. Flashback. Backed by Jedi of J5, I was in heaven last night.
True there was a little bit of drama between the security guards and my posse and some other funny little issues surfacing last night. But with all the amazing live music in Los Angeles last night I had some serious options as to where to go. I am glad I had a flashback to a past moment, when I was really first discovering the power of hip hop music through bands like Digable Planets.
Tags: Digable, El, Hip, Hop, Music, Planets, Rey
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September 17th, 2008
I have been on the east coast a bit lately. I have really missed Los Angeles. Don’t get me wrong, NYC is an amazing place. From getting lost in the bronx to puking on Lexington to amazing pizza on lower east side, it was a great trip. But on my flight back to the left coast, I knew exactly what had to be done. Leave the bags unpacked and make my way into Hollywood for some music. I am totally jet lagged as I make towards Boardners last night. I am having doubts, a man of my age, this tired and out on a school night, but how happy I would be just getting back to the basics, made me push on through. Back in Los Angeles and feeling great.
Waiting for the nights lineup which included Tenlons Fort, Manhattan Murder Mystery and The Poor Excuses, I must admit, I was excited about the live music I would hear. I was determined to hear two of these bands that I had not heard perform live before. But it was also great running into a bunch of people I usually see around town. So here I am just chillan and I start listening to Tenlons Fort.
Tenlons Fort, nomadic in place of residence only. His voice echos and reverberates through you, it does not lie because you can’t bullshit it when its only you with an acoustic guitar and a keyboardist, totally exposed at Boardners. Talk about being exposed, yet its real, Tenlons Fort tender voice, is powerful and still resonates with you at the end of the song as beautifully as it did at the beginning of the song. Tenlons Fort will be back in Los Angeles shortly and performing with a full band and I would not miss him perform.
As the night evolved, I was excited to see The Poor Excuses. My new thing is to just show up to shows we are going to cover for Loudvine without knowing too much about a band. I had heard one song, really only one song and I was intrigued enough to come out.
I figure, this way, the music can just stand on its own. So I as sat there and watched this quartet with their punk rock suits(no jackets but tie and dress shirts, of course) assemble on this little stage and their friends hover close to the stage as well, I was wondering to myself, are they any good? I figured, I was tired, and if I did not like them, I would listen to two songs and leave. Then their set began. Two songs became three and three, well we know what happened. You know whats coming, yep, I have another new favorite band from Los Angeles.
Let me know tell you something about these guys stage presence. The only poor excuse you have is if you are not listening to these guys. Besides the fact that they utterly killed their set, they have star power. It starts up front with the lead singer and ripples through the rest of the band. They perform effortlessly on stage. The Poor Excuses are loud, their sounds moves through you with an easy groove, and you feel like you need to dance. I guess the whole point of this Internet thing is to discover bands we like and tell ALL our friends to get their stuff and start passing the word. Our mission today, is to tell at least ten of our friends about The Poor Excuses.
Los Angeles is in the middle of a revitalization, a movement, call it whatever you want, but this city is desperately in need of it, and its led by the likes of the bands I saw last night. Bands like this make me feel like I am living through something special, where good music is finally winning out and it is connecting us all. And in a music time capsule to be discovered long after I am gone, I would want the aliens that discover us to listen to the few MP3’s of Tenlons Fort and The Poor Excuses I left behind for them knowing that I witnessed something special last night and that this should live on.
From the acoustic and inspiring folk melodies of Tenlons Fort to the gripping, and never ending power of The Poor Excuses, I knew I had made the right decision to go out last night. Los Angeles and its bands continue to amaze me.
Tags: Boardners, Excuses, Fort, Independent, Indie, Lets, Loudvine, Music, Poor, Tenlons
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September 9th, 2008
What do you get when you mix Deepak Chopra and melodramatic music in the apocalypse? Seriously I do now know myself. But when you came across a band and sound such as Deepakalypse, and you know nothing about them, your mind wonders what the name is all about. Now if I worked for Rolling Stone or something, I would probably already know everything about these guys. But here it goes; it is actually one guy, Deepak Supar.
The exciting thing is that here at Loudvine.com, we’re not critics of music. We’re fans of music. Who are we to say this and that about a band? All we want is to listen to a bunch of music and talk about the stuff we really like. I am reminded, its great knowing absolutely nothing about this guy, so I can simply do and say, what we are supposed to do and say on Loudvine.com, which is this— hey, guys here is another artist we really like, go ahead and download(whoops, I mean purchase) their mp3’s. The music speaks for itself.
Deepakalypse is one of those musicians, whose sound is larger than a one man show. This is because, this one guy, seems to put everything he’s got into his music. Singer and composer Deepak Supar, with his guitar and assortment of synthetic tricks, weaves music that evolves from song to song. In one song, you hear deep blues with traces of ragtime(at least I did) to rockabilly and the next, you hear pure, 6-string folk guitar strumming that makes you wonder back to a time past.
Radio Transmitter MP3:
std_d9553dad64a6c75bb80d41cda74bd4ba12
This guys music connects me with a stripped down version of music, where it does not lie and am reminded that Deepakalypse has some serious range. And what’s the deal with this guy coming to us from that Mecca of emerging music—Ventura? Seriously I wish I had this guy around when I lived in that area. I would pleaded with him to just lurk around while he recorded new stuff.
The sounds of Deepakalypse are authentic, and it’s pure. There is a vagabond energy(very Djangoish) to the sounds of Deepakalypse, like someone truly yearning for something that he cannot find and that music is a way of bringing him closer to his actual destination, wherever that may be. He has been all over and performing in some great cities, from Paris, to New York and other places places with his music. I think his next destination should be Los Angeles because it would be cool to see this guy live somewhere in Hollywood.
Tags: Deepakalypse, Loudvine, Music, review
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September 5th, 2008
I get this question a lot via email these days. So this is what we are going to do.
Send us one or two MP3′ and please no more.
Send it to info (at) loudvine.com and if we like it, we will play it on the blog and kiss your ass a little by writing about it so all our friends, who are constantly looking for new music, can know about it as well.
We’re excited about this, since that is the whole point behind this crazy thing called Loudvine–to help as many bands as we can and get the word out on you.
Tags: Loudvine, MP3's, Music, News
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