musings / music / misc: July 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006

transmorgified engagement photos

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

current playlist

Monday, July 24, 2006

flaming lips, os mutantes & thievery corporation @ the hollywood bowl

i wanted to like the flaming lips. i really did. even though i admittedly think nearly all the "indie" groups are crap, the kooky psychedelica of the 'lips and their substantial history clearly set them apart. for a bunch of cats from oklahoma city, they've done alright for themselves. but they pretty much sucked at tbe bowl. the main problem was wayne coyne, the vocalist. no matter how symmetrical his name may be, or how much we liked his "golden path" collab with chemical bros, he just doesn't have the pipes to belt it out at the 'bowl. she swallowed the poor fella up whole, with only some muted, whiney noises making it out of his throat. lo siento my man, i'm sure you can find plenty of small clubs where you sound perfectly fine (given considerable amounts of booze).

os mutantes were cool, but they sounded a little rusty to be honest. the bebel gilberto cover (baby, i *think* she did the original) was a nice touch and well done. thievery sounded good and marched out their normal parade of vocalists to match their live band. they come a long ways since they were 2 guys stoically playing records behind the turntables in fancy suits. i don't think they nailed it quite as well as their show last year at the wiltern, but it was a solid performance and much more worthy of the headliner spot than the boys from oklahoma city...

next up: gotan project, zero 7, jose gonzales in late august

Monday, July 17, 2006

lily allen

if you have checked out her stuff yet, yer missing out. contagious beats and sly lyrics, perfect summer-time tunes.
http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/

she's apparently already blowing up in the UK, LDN is getting some play on kcrw, but don't miss her mixtape. It's about as eclectic as it comes: dizzee rascal, odb, creedence clearwater revival, rod stewart, and even some good ole' fashioned yodeling. it gets no more eclectic than that, but somehow it all works together. All available off of her site, gratis.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

summer shows, take I

opening night @ the hollywoodbowl
big win here was surprising not santana, who turned in a solid but forgettable performance, but rather the blue man group performing with the LA philharmonic. george lopez is still funny as hell, he intro'd santana and was the most charasmatic presence of the event. nice start to the 'bowl season.
http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tix/performance_detail.cfm?id=2695

om summer sessions @ vanguard
i went to this with little expectations, hoping that the new, larger venue hadn't ruined "deep', LA's version of NYC's body and soul sunday house music party. true enough, the new venue is a little larger but the crowd fills it out nicely by midnight and the extra space works out just fine. the star of the evening (for as long as i lasted, it was a school nite) was chuck love. he not only dj'd a solid set of soulful house, but played the guitar, french horn, flute, and belted out a few tracks with his pipes. excellent stuff!! i'd almost bought om summer sessions before and now i'm planning to pick it up on my next amoeba pilgramage (i like it, but i like used prices even better).

kinky & sidestepper @ california plaza (downtown lala land)
best event of the summer thus far and free, courtesy of kcrw. sidestepper churned out a great performance which was not dissimilar to their performance at the bowl last year. fun, slightly electric latin beats and vocals. kinky on the other hand, was out of this world. i'd heard they were good live but we were blown away. for those of you unacquainted with kinky, they've been around for a while now making partytime electrorock from a latin perspective. we'd arrived early to make sure we got good seats but even the people at the back were dancing by the end of the show. i'd highly recommend catching their show.

http://www.grandperformances.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/season_schedule.show_detail/s_id/131

karsh kale, dhamaal sound system @ the getty center (los angeles)
i had high hopes for karsh kale and little other expectations for others on the bill. again, the price was right (free!) so even if it was mediocre it's tough to complain. karsh kale wasn't bad but never really hit a crescendo, i expected a little more from him live. the crowd kept expecting him to go big but he turned out a decent but relatively uninspired performance of electro-indian tracks. the highlight of the evening for me was dhamaal sound system from SF, who were clearly engaged with the audience and having fun while playing funky world beats. the dj and vocalist were focal points, freestyling with the crowd and playing right to their audience.

http://www.getty.edu/visit/events/summer_sessions_2006.html

Friday, July 07, 2006

get-toe

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

why i can't live in nyc

... when medjool dates run over 150 bucks, it's just too damn expensive!!! good lawd almighty. hats off to mai for the catch while shopping for picnic grub near central park. i know organic stuff is a little pricier but this seems over the top ;-)