LA, here I come

I'm off to LA to see Tom and Katie's baby! I'll bring my electronic equipment, however, not sure if I'll update until I get back Monday. Who knows though? All depends on how much fun and trouble I get into...

mp3: Art Brut - Moving to L.A.

In case you get really bored, here's what I did last time I was out there in November.

Cheers,
- Steve

HowWasTheShow.com 4th Anniversary Party 5/27/06 @ Turf Club

All photos from the Anniversary party here. Slideshow here.

The event featured: The Debut, Stook, The Alarmists, White Light Riot, and Alva Star.

Oh. My. God. I got home @ 6am Sunday morning from this show and associated after-party. Can't tell you the last time I had so much fun watching bands and hanging out with old and new friends. Nice to see and meet everybody! Can't wait to see the paparazzi photographs... Update: Here they are.

Steve McPherson, music editor of Pulse, wrote the "guest" review on HowWasTheShow.

I'm still in "holiday mode" aka "lazy mode". More to come tomorrow before I leave for LA for a few days. Somehow this tune has something to do with my trip...

mp3: Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance

- Steve

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!

Colonial Vipers Attack live @ Uptown Bar 5/26/06

All photos from Colonial Vipers Attack here. Slideshow here.

These guys were great last night! For more info on the band scroll down to my previous post.

- Steve

Colonial Vipers Attack tonight @ Uptown Bar

Let's explore more local talent today. I'm actually happy to finally post on these guys as I saw them for their CD release party March 11th @ Turf Club. Regular life got in the way and I never got around to cover them... this should make up for it, hopefully.

Colonial Vipers Attack are a 5-piece (including former members of Divorcee, Faux Jean, The Spring Collection, and The Melismatics) from Minneapolis, and yes, they got their name from Battlestar Galactica. That's cool all in itself already. Even cooler, though, they write and perform great music.

You know my blog is named after an Oasis tune, right? Well, these guys remind me a lot of my favorite boys from Manchester. They had (and probably still have) that same really loud (and I mean "really loud") wall-of-sound @ Turf Club a few months ago (I'm a total sucker for that). Great interview with Chris Pavlich, lead singer of the band on Pulse.

I'm not really all that good at describing what bands sound like. To me, they sound destinctively British, especially Oasis and Noel Gallagher, and throw in a bit of the Verve. Highly recommended, here are a couple of mp3s:

mp3: Colonial Vipers Attack - Beatiful Fall
mp3: Colonial Vipers Attack - Unnoticed

They're a blogger/internet friendly band. Therefore more tunes available for download and/or sampling both on their website and MySpace. Most importantly, they're playing this Friday, 5/26/06 @ The Uptown Bar. Here's the poster:



I'll see you @ the gig! Make sure you purchase their excellent self-titled debut at the show.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

To help you celebrate, here's some new hip-hop mixtape action for you. Enjoy:

mp3: DJ Green Lantern feat. Dead Prez, Saigon, Immortal Technique & Just Blaze - Impeach The President

mp3: Papoose - Alphabetical Slaughter

- Steve

P.S. I know by now you've heard plenty about Lily Allen (MySpace)... However, make sure you download her "My First Mixtape" (Warning: 70MB). It's great and really unclassifiable... (via Stereogum)

P.P.S. Vanilla Ice is still around and playing here this Saturday. Seriously.

Cloud Cult live / Pet Shop Boys / SOUND team etc...

(Cloud Cult live @ Varsity Theater 5/20/06)

All photos from Cloud Cult here. Slideshow here.

Well, it was just a question of time, it's bound to happen... Not all my reviews can feature the words "amazing", "brilliant", "blew me away", "spectacular", and so on. Once in a while I catch a show and I really don't feel the vibe. Forgot to tell you until now, that's what happened at Cloud Cult's (MySpace) homecoming show @ Varsity Theater last Saturday. Get this... I left 30 minutes into Cloud Cult's set! I just couldn't take it... While the music, light-show, and on-stage painters were pretty good, the lead singer's voice and stage demeanor just really bugged me. When he dedicated a song to his his young son which led into a cover of "You are my Sunshine", I said "I'm outta' here"... Sorry folks, I just don't get it. Don't get me wrong though, these guys are really talented, just not my cup of tea. My buddy Brody (who I couldn't find in the packed venue) absolutely loved it. You can read his review here. He's also got nice reviews, photos, and videos of Matt Costa and Imogen Heap, which I skipped. Head over and leave him a comment...

mp3: Cloud Cult - Living on the Outside of Your Skin
mp3: Cloud Cult - Car Crash



If you've read my blog for a while (I'm really sorry), you probably know I'm a pretty big Pet Shop Boys fan. Yes, I may be the only heterosexual male. Easy target I know... Anyway, they just released their 9th (!) studio album Fundamental and it's starting to grow on me. A few more listens and I should know where it fits in their discography (Update: it's pretty awesome). Until then, here are a few remixes I really like from the Special Edition of their new CD:

mp3: Pet Shop Boys - Fugitive (Richard X Extended Mix)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys - Flamboyant (Michael Mayer Kompakt Mix)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys feat. Elton John - In Private (Stuart Crichton Club Mix) (highly recommended)



SOUND team (MySpace). Yeah, I realize they've been well covered in the blogosphere. Here's why I'm posting on them:

1) My sister recently temped a day for EMI in LA. She got to take a bunch of free promo CDs and asked me "Is SOUND team any good"? I replied "Hell yeah, that CD is not even out yet!". As I still don't have the CD, I'm pretty jealous...

2) My friend Amy messaged me on MySpace "Steve, you really have to change your profile tune... you've had the same tune for ages now". OK, I did... check the updated profile here.

3) Great new bands need to be posted on! These guys from Austin definitely get my vote of approval. Sounding a bit of an electronica version of Spoon I just can't resist. Plus, they're blogger and internet friendly. A lot of tunes are available for sampling and downloading via their website and MySpace page. Check it out. Looking forward to their gig @ 400 bar 6/26/06...

mp3: SOUND team - Movie Monster (highly recommended)
mp3: SOUND team - Your Eyes Are Liars
mp3: SOUND team - Don't Turn Away
mp3: SOUND team - The Fastest Man Alive

Their new album Movie Monster drops 6/6/06, National Day of Slayer.

Crazy... I just realized I missed Gnarls Barkley on Conan while typing this post. Ahhh, it's ok, should be on YouTube shortly. Update: Here it is.

Are you ready for World Cup Soccer action soon?! C over @ Scatter o' Light has a fantasy league going for any of you bloggers who are interested. See, she does things other than reporting on Bono's latest hair cut(s) once in a while ;) I've said it before, and I'll say it again "she rocks"!

Last but not least... Locals, what are you doing this Saturday? You should be going to this:



More info on the event here. Stop by, you can tell me how "gay" I am for liking the Pet Shop Boys...

Have a nice Thursday everybody!

- Steve

P.S. You may have heard about Arctic Monkeys' bass player Andy Nicholson leaving the band temporarily due to "exhaustion" (at least it didn't have the "nervous" part in it). Well, this is the same bassist who outdrank Noel Gallagher recently... Since I love posting Oasis quotes, here's what Noel had to say about the evening:

“I ended up in their aftershow and the bass player goes to the bar and comes back with this tray of tequilas.

" Normally when somebody asks if you want one you say ‘no’ but this kid just went up and bought them. I thought ‘I can’t be drinking that, it’s nearly two in the morning.’ I couldn’t say no though because I didn’t want to let the side down. He was banging them down. I was about to urinate.

“I was speaking to my missus through semaphore to get her off the dancefloor and rescue me.

“She came over saying ‘we’ve got to go home’ and I was acting all surprised, saying ‘What, already?’

“I can’t remember getting home.”

P.P.S. You can stream The Walkmen live on NPR tonight.

The Alarmists live @ Varsity Theater 5/19/06

(The Alarmists live @ Varsity Theater 5/19/06)

All photos from The Alarmists here. Slideshow here.
All photos from This World Fair here. Slideshow here.
All photos from The TV Sound here. Slideshow here.

Please allow me to officially jump on The Alarmists bandwagon...

Last Friday I decided to check out some local talent at the HowWasTheShow.com sponsored The TV Sound's CD release party @ Varsity Theater. I ran into David, Andrea, and the rest of the really nice and cool HWTS peeps (funny post by Andrea here). Also on the bill for the evening were opening bands The Alarmists and This World Fair. The Alarmists, who I was mainly there for, really blew me away... they sounded really great live,with a distinctive British wall-of-sound. Reminded me of Elbow quite a bit...

HowWasTheShow has a full review and great pictures of the evening and prior Alarmists gigs.

mp3: The Alarmists - She Will Love Again (Hey Kid)



Their excellent new CD/EP A Detail Of Soldiers officially drops June 6th, and their CD Release Party is June 9th @ Varsity Theater. They're also playing HowWasTheShow's 4th Anniversary Party this Saturday 5/27 @ Turf Club. Go catch 'em live, buy a T-shirt, and buy the CD!



The Alarmists Website
The Alarmists MySpace

- Steve

Wrap-up: Islands / Frog Eyes / Sunset Rubdown live @ First Avenue 5/16/06

So last week kind of just flew by... I did a pretty poor job wrapping up the loose ends on this gig.

Last Tuesday (as mentioned in this post) I headed out to watch Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, and Islands live @ First Avenue. I was actually quite pissed off as it turned out I missed Sunset Rubdown (due to me mowing the lawn earlier). Damn! Well, I'm over it by now. I watched Frog Eyes, who I highly disliked, even though Spencer Krug (from Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade) played with them on keyboards for this gig. Montreal's Islands were quite impressive live... They had approx. 7 band members on the stage all dressed in white... kinda cult-Polyphonic Spree like, actually. I had never heard their music before and I wound up really liking it. After the gig Brody and I talked with Spencer Krug for a while... very cool and talented guy to say the least. Photos from the night are on Flickr. I also filmed one of my infamous low-fi videos of Islands performing, which is on YouTube.

mp3: Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
mp3: Islands - Rough Gem

Raconteurs

I'm kinda' excited... Just picked up Raconteurs tickets for their gig @ First Avenue 8/3/06.

In case you missed Conan last night, here's the video of them performing "Steady, As She Goes" / "Hands":



- Steve

Swimming

"Yesterday when I was mad"... I missed Sunset Rubdown. Then, luckily I got to watch Islands.

Words and mulitmedia content to follow...

Update: Photos are on Flickr and Brody has a recap of the evening.

- Steve

An evening with the Secret Machines @ First Avenue 5/12/06

All photos from the Secret Machines here. Slideshow here.

Video of "Nowhere Again" live here. Video of "First Wave Intact" live here.

The Secret Machines didn't have an opening band last Friday. The didn't need one. They gave an absolutely stunning performance at First Avenue. The sound and light show were incredible. Brody has more on the show.

One funny thing... Secret Machines had a strict "No Photography" rule in place. WTF! Don't you know that's like telling a little kid he/she can't do something? Yeah, I wound up with 262 pictures (30 of which make it onto Flickr) and 2 videos from the gig... Ha ha...

On a completely different topic... Here are some tunes I really enjoyed earlier this week:

mp3: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Summertime
mp3: Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Redemption Song (Bob Marley Cover)
mp3: The Damned – Help! (Beatles Cover)
mp3: Fiona Apple - Across the Universe (Beatles Cover)
mp3: Josh Rouse - Straight To Hell (Clash Cover)

And this may be one of the best and funniest music videos ever made:



Happy Mother's Day! Love you Mom!
- Steve

Sigur Ros live @ Orpheum Theater 5/8/06

All photos from Sigur Ros here. Slideshow here.

I'm a bit late with this recap... other local bloggers already covered it pretty well. Highlight for me was the closing tune "Popplagið". One of the greatest multi-media assaults I've ever experienced in a live concert setting... Wow! Jaw-droppingly amazing. If you're prone to seizures I'd recommend leaving a Sigur Ros show early...

Royalty, Etc. Records / Sound Gallery Warehouse Party 5/6/06

All photos from the Warehouse Party here. Slideshow here.

Last Saturday my buddy Vieng and I checked out the Royalty, Etc. Records / Sound Gallery Warehouse Party which featured 9 live bands. We were lucky enough to catch the final four. They were:

Middlepicker (featuring one really cute bassist!)
Space Camp
White Elephant
Harp and Finial

I really enjoyed all four as they peformed pretty rockin' sets. Do check them out at a venue near you soon!

Lesson learned from the night: Open Bar = My buddy Vieng turning into the "ladies man". Check the pictures for further evidence.

[Untitled]

I am suffering from "nervous exhaustion" at the moment. Just kidding... crazy week! An actual update to come later today...

- Steve

24 hour party people

Just got back from Sigur Ros live @ Orpheum. I think I'll attempt to summarize the last couple of gigs later today...

In the meanwhile, this song goes out to my buddy pictured above. I think he had a pretty good time at the Royalty, Etc. Warehouse Party Saturday night...

mp3: Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People

Red Sox vs Yankees later today,
Steve

Ice Cube / Diamond Nights / Priestess live @ First Avenue 5/4/06

All photos from Ice Cube here. Slideshow here. Video of "Fuck Tha Police" live here.

I think by now my second-hand weed high has worn off so I can try to summarize the events from Thursday. What a night! Almost as crazy as my Arcade Fire / M.I.A. / Architecture in Helsinki "crawl" last year. Definitely equally as fun.

First, let me start out by sending a huge "Thank you" to the ab-fab Sarah for giving me access to the night's musical entertainment. She rocks.

Kinda' weird how some nights turn out. I was just expecting to watch Diamond Nights (MySpace) and Priestess (MySpace), instead the definite highlight of the whole evening was catching Ice Cube (MySpace) in the main room. I haven't been to that level hip-hop show in a while and totally forgot what it was like...

Ice Cube's set started around 9pm. The place was packed and smelled of marijuana. The crowd was soooo into it, it's hard to describe... There was crazy dancing, waving hands into the air (like they just didn't care). Musically, Ice Cube played mainly his solo numbers. However, one definite highlight of the show was his mini-NWA tribue, which consisted of "Straight Outta Compton" and "Fuck Tha Police" among a couple of others. Another highlight, "It Was A Good Day", gave me goose bumps it was so good... Ice Cube has been around for 20 years now and definitely still is a crazy motherfucker! His new album "Laugh Now Cry Later" drops 6/6/06.

mp3: Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day



All photos from Diamond Nights here. Slideshow here.

After the Ice Cube set it was time to head over to the 7th Street Entry to catch Diamond Nights. Local blog Perfect Porridge wrote a good review here. I'm not a huge fan of their music, however, live these boys rocked out in a Spinal Tap/Darkness kind of way. Very entertaining to say the least! The lead singer Morgan must have spent 1/3 of the show, not on-stage, but in the crowd... And yes, their hair looked great! What a bunch of rock 'n' rollers...



All photos from Priestess here. Slideshow here.

Priestess was the final band of the evening in the Entry. They really sounded great live and delivered a solid set. Had a chance to hang with them before the show for a little while... very nice guys. They played @ SxSW a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. When asked who else they watched and enjoyed during the festival, they replied "Kris Kristofferson was amazing". Funny I thought...

OK, that's it for the recap. A bit brief, I know...

Time to take a couple of days off from the old interweb thing. As you know, we here at TheRocknRollStar love Nelly Furtado and we love bootie shaking dancing action. Here's her new video:



In other news, I finally figured out who's been making some mysterious noises in my attic. Say hello to my new little squirrel roommate (bugger):



Enjoy your weekend,
Steve

A crazy motherfu*ker....

You wanna' know what it's like to see Ice Cube, Diamond Nights, and Priestess all in the same night?! Stay tuned... words and multi-media to come next post...

It was a good day,
- Steve

P.S. Ok, I'll give you one more sneak-peak picture:

False Alarm

Let's take a little break from the internet's most hyped bands for a second. Check out this tune, it's been on constant repeat for me lately:

mp3: KT Tunstall - False Alarm (highly recommended!)

Reminds me (this tune) a bit of Emily Haines from Metric... equally as good/great. Check out the rest of her album as KT is definitely very talented...

KT Tunstall Website
KT Tunstall MySpace
Amazon: KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope

Plus, she's cute! What more do you need!?

- Steve

Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

You know by now I love(d) The Libertines, right? Kind of shocking I didn't notice this until today...

You can stream Dirty Pretty Things' new album Waterloo To Anywhere in its entirety on NME. Registration is required, but if you'd rather not, can easily be bypassed by BugMeNot:

My NME Username: superextragrav
Password: superextragrav1

The album drops in the UK on May 8th. I've read conflicting reports regarding the US release date. From the couple of times I've listened to it, I "fucking love it". NME does too.

mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead
mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - You Fucking Love It

Also, the French Blog Special things // Special Songs has a full Dirty Pretty Things concert bootleg in downloadable mp3s. See, you can even practice your high-school level French reading skills a bit today...

Dirty Pretty Things Website
Dirty Pretty Things MySpace
Amazon: Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

Enjoy,
Steve

Ladyflash

Missed the fantastic, booty shaking, Go! Team performance at Coachella Sunday night? I love YouTube:



Make sure you watch the whole video for some serious Ninja dancing action!

More 2006 Coachella performances here.

YouTube Related: Colbert Roast here.

- Steve

Briefly

I had a great weekend. Here are a couple of my favorite photos:


My sister Victoria visited from LA and stayed at my house. Her living quarters for the weekend were clearly marked... Miss ya' already Sis!


My little niece Rayna had her baptism yesterday. Sooo cute... Congratulations! Pictured here with Grandma.

Gotta' go... watching/streaming the end of Coachella at the moment... The Go! Team just kicked some serious booty!

More words and possibly even music content to come later. Have a geat Monday!

- Steve