I know I'm busy talking about SDMT this weekend, but if I don't post this now, I'll keep forgetting, sooo....
Filter Magazine and the Hard Rock Hotel have once again teamed up to bring a killer lineup of music to San Diego's greedy music snobs (I kid, I kid). This time around it will be with Divine Fits, the new project of Spoon's Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks. As usual, the show is completely free, just click the flyer to land on the RSVP page. You can expect a huge turnout for this one, so get there early. The show is on October 8 with doors opening at 9pm.
If for some reason you can't click the flyer, RSVP here.
You probably know Jake from all his time doing sound at the Casbah, or perhaps when he played with local band The Roman Spring. I'm proud to call Jake a friend. Jake is featured in the "Men Behind The Music" series from Filter Magazine and Dickies. Check it out.
The video for the Silversun Pickups new single "Panic Switch" was released this week, and starting today, the entire album is available online for streaming on MTV's "The Leak".
The album will be available from Dangerbird Records on April 14.
Silversun Pickups has also teamed up with Coachella, Virgin America and FILTER to offer one lucky fan a VIP flyaway trip for two complete with round-trip airfare, Coachella tickets and campground passes. For more information and to enter, Go Here to Filter's Contest.
Let's keep out fingers crossed that they hit the summer festivals, which likely won't be announced until after Coachella.
Fans of Gossip Girl, listen up. I've got some delightful swag so you can make your GG watching parties even more fun. Even if you don't watch the show regularly, check out the track listing on OMFGG (Original Music Featured on Gossip Girl) and you'll still wanna enter this contest. As a bonus, you'll get the Gossip Girl board game, Never Have I Ever, which I should emphasize is NOT a drinking game (though I suppose you'll make your own rules.)
Anyway, if you want a chance to win, email sddialedin AT gmail DOT com with the subject OMFGG and tell me your favorite character's name and why. Include your full name, address and phone number. (The prize pack will be mailed to you. I will call the winner to notify) Your information will not be shared except to Filter who is providing the prize pack. I will close the contest Sunday night at midnight, with a winner announced on Monday. For the rest of you, the album will be available everywhere on October 28.
The soundtrack’s release also sees the launch of the OMFGG , a site devoted to the music featured on Gossip Girl. Fans of OMFGG can create their own profiles, chat with other fans, stream songs, and more.
As a bonus, here's the track from the Virgins (who are playing TONIGHT at the Belly Up with Black Kids. Window Media
Track List:
1. The Kills – "Sour Cherry" 2. The Kooks – Do You Wanna" 3. Phantom Planet – "Do The Panic" 4. The Teenagers – "Feeling Better" 5. The Virgins – "One Week Of Danger (Demo Version)" 6. Nadia Oh – "Got Your Number" 7. Crystal Castles – "Crimewave" 8. The Republic Tigers – "Fight Song" 9. Junkie XL – "Cities In Dust" 10. The Ting Tings – "We Started Nothing" 11. Oppenheimer – "Breakfast In NYC" 12. The Pierces – "Three Wishes" 13. Albert Hammond Jr. – "Hard To Live In The City"
I would've liked to have taken a full week off to kick around and chill out as I normally do on or around my birthday, but that wasn't an option, but I still managed to take Friday and Monday off so I had an excellent 4 day birthday weekend. After Federico, I hung out with friends and got caught up on some of my HBO shows and movies. Come Friday, I had the chance to write a bit and indulge on even more TV, had a nice lunch, Jake hung out and we watched the 1st presidential debate before grabbing some dinner and heading to the Casbah for John Meeks. Even though he's finally starting to play some more, it had definitely been a while since I got to hear his lovely voice.
We stayed at the Casbah for most of Blackheart Procession, but it was packed, and thinking I'd see them the next day, I refrained from trying to get inside for pics. Mostly it was just about hanging out and getting my drink on, which, needless to say, was pretty much the theme of my weekend. More if you 'keep on reading'. After the Casbah, I finished the night at the Ken Club, catching just a couple songs from The Jury, but running into friends and hanging out till close, then kept the party going at my house afterwards.
Saturday I was in no rush but eventually headed out, stopping at the Ken Club for a bloody mary before walking to the Adams Avenue Street Fair. I was happy to catch The Roman Spring and it was the first time I saw them with their replacement for Jake since he's been on the road touring. I ran into friends and we had some beers at Dimille's before wandering down to see Republic of Letters who had a great crowd but the least attentive sound man ever. Even when there was awful feedback, he was nowhere to be found. Still, I thought they sounded great.
Here are some random shots from my walk over and the street fair.
After RoL, a group of people had amassed and we invaded Petro's deck and had drinks, but as everyone wandered to catch Black Heart Procession, my best friend came and we decided to escape and grab dinner at Burger Lounge. By the time I got back to Petro's everyone had for the most part gone their separate ways, so I walked back to the Ken with Christopher and Missy. The bar was a little crowded for my taste, and not very exciting at that, so when Jake called and said he was going to the Ruby Room, I was game. Except that I was confused and thought we were going to the Radio Room to see The Long And Short of It. It was fine though, and we went to check out the new place. By the time we got there it was 11:55, so when midnight hit, and officially my birthday, everyone was on a mission to get me...uh...happy. "Your birthday money is no good here," Sean, the new owner told me, and between Sean, Neal, Shiloh, T-Bone and Jake, I got plenty of drinks in me, sticking to my vodka tonics and a gazillion washington apple shots.
Jake dropped me off and I made my way to sleep, waking up to a trail of clothes in my living room. So I guess I can say it was a good night.
I once again took my time before heading back to the Street Fair. I met up with everyone back at Petro's house, even my sister, brother in law, and niece came to hang out. We watched Transfer who had a huge crowd.
After, it was back to Petro's before we all ended up going to Las M0rielanas for my birthday dinner. Though the place is a little hole in the wall, we had fun and everyone seemed to like the place a lot, and how could you not with a logo like this:
From dinner, everyone went their separate ways. Natalie drove me to my house to check on my pets before we headed to see RaRaRiot and The Morning Benders at the Casbah. It's safe to say by that point of the night, I was *ahem*, "happy", so sorry to anyone at the show who was annoyed by the drunk girl and her camera. That was certainly a fun show to celebrate the end of my birthday, for sure.
But like the energizer bunny, I don't stop, so after the show, Natalie dropped me off at the Chee Chee where I hung out with Scott and Todd who gave me a ride home. I can admit that at that point I was trashed which resulted in Scott and I fighting because he called me "Bro". No matter how 'down' I am or how in the 'friend zone' I am, I don't like being called bro by my friends. ew. But the texting that ensued was a sure sign that it was time for me to end my night. Finally.
Monday was pretty much a waste of a day as I slept off my haze and wasted away the day before heading back to the Casbah to sell merch for Filter. They had a ton of stuff, but fortunately the tour manager who doubled as a drum tech had it under control and organized by the time I arrived. The crowd wasn't as big as when they played in the spring, but the crowd loved them. As for myself, I was meah, but sometimes that happens. At the end of the night, I had to wait a while before getting paid, and no hookup on shirts or CDs, but I did get a personalized guitar pick. Woo-hoo. The band does not, like most bands, have any interest in meeting their fans after the show. I was beat after an exhausting weekend, but glowing inside thinking about all the great friends I have who made my weekend so special. Come Tuesday, it was nose to the grindstone yet again, but nothing could take away from how cool my weekend was. Thanks again to everyone who had a part in making my heart pitter-patter.
Saturday was a marathon night for me, and after Roots Fest and the Belly Up, Daniel and I were all over the place. He picked me up as soon as Natalie dropped me off and our first stop was at Chasers for Fkenal who were really kick ass.
They're all instrumental and the room was dark with all the lights out that allowed their projector to provide some video to their music. Definitely high energy and really smart song structures made for an entertaining set.
After they finished, we picked Natalie up from her house, but before U-31 we stopped at the taco shop across the street because I needed a quick taco, and the three of us were quite amused by the misspelling of "fajita".
We went across the street to U-31 and saw the Antic guys from Filter Magazine who were silkscreening t-shirts on the spot, but ain't no medium tee gonna fit these boobies, so I passed on the swag. While waiting outside for Natalie and Daniel's shirts to be made, we found out we'd already missed Wallpaper, and also that they were not gonna do the planned pop-up concert at La Posta, so I'll have to see Wallpaper some other time. We went in the bar and had a round, but we weren't really feeling the tijuana-esque scene and the bumping and grinding and people making out everywhere we looked, so we slurped our drinks and went to Bar Pink Elephant.
On our way, we were sad to see that Big Lots has closed down. Boo.
We got there before Two Sheds hit the stage and the bar was full of friends, and of course, my $4 stoli & tonic, so I was happy to be there. Two Sheds was pretty awesome and were a nice backdrop to us hanging in a couple booths with some friends. The vocals were beautiful and this style of music sounds better in the bar than the hard rock of Birds of Avalon, so maybe I wrote off Pink Elephant as a venue prematurely.
After the show, we swung by the Ken Club for one final bevvie and were greeted by my neighbor, Kittyhead who followed us home.
Then of course, we stayed up super late watching silly YouTube videos until Saturday turned to Sunday, putting the seal on another great San Diego weekend.
Ragged is this little supplemental magazine to Filter Magazine that comes out each quarter. The latest issue features San Diego's Grand Ole Party. Other featured artists include Kate Nash (cover), Monte Negro, Gran Ronde, Thrice, Switches.
The prize pack will be sent to you with a copy of the magazine as well as CDs from each of the artists mentioned. Boo Radley will pick a winner on Friday.
E-mail me with the subject "Ragged" to sddialedin AT gmail DOT com with your name, mailing address, and a contact phone number.
In the meantime, you can download the magazine here.
I've got some other contests coming down the pipeline, too. Stay tuned for some Vinyl from The Muslims and Sweettooth Records, tickets and CDs to see David Ford at the House of Blues this Wednesday, and some other random things coming up.
Saturday I felt really lucky to not only have a good game plan for the day leading into night, but I was able to find out set times so I could time things out perfectly. I arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel and after a little run around figuring out which entrance went up to the show, we got in quite breezily. Basically for the show, the entire 2nd floor was closed off for attendees, so people were hanging out all over. I got in touch with my host and he met us in the hall and hooked me up with a stack of drink tickets. Big thanks! While we were talking to him, he got word from downstairs that the show had officially sold out. 400 paid tickets at $15 a pop. Not too shabby for an all local show, I'd say.
I thought it was really cute that all the staff and bartenders were wearing Dirty Sweet shirts. After saying hi to a few friends, we made our way to the front for The Silent Comedy who gave another great performance, and it was nice to finally have real stage lighting so I could limit my camera flashes. They sounded great and I think the room really worked well for this kind of show.
When the band finished, we hung around for a little bit before my cell phone alarm told me it was time to head to the Casbah so as not to miss Blitzen Trapper. Dag stayed to watch Dirty Sweet, and I went off to hail a cab.
I was at the Casbah just a few minutes later and the band was just getting started, sounding just as awesome as they did the last two times I saw them at Cane's and Casbah, respectively, though my pictures are a whole bunch of suck.
It was a good time and I was grateful that Abraham was there and saved me a $30 cab ride home. And that's how my whirlwind Saturday drew to a close, hanging out at my house, rambling to my dear friend until my eyes couldn't stay open any longer. With all the activity, I have to say it was one of the best Saturdays I've had in a while and it makes me all that much more excited for yet another beautiful weekend in San Diego.
I mentioned that I worked the Filter show on Sunday at the Casbah, but to be completely honest, the show felt very, I don't know, disengaging? The band didn't hang around and were quickly ushered onstage and then immediately off when it ended. I was told it was their first sober show ever, and the night really felt absent of energy, though that could be because I was on the patio the whole night. I didn't even bother going into the venue to take pics. I've been mellow the rest of this week, though I'll post the pics from the Vinyl Radio reunion later this week. Till then, I'm shutting down and calling it a night.
I'm at the Casbah selling merch for Filter and I am so nauseous from all the smoke on the patio. Yesterday really kicked my ass. It was a marathon day and I'm in the midst of uploading all the pics, so I'll post about it later, but I set a personal record for most shows in one day. I went to the M-Theory Reeve Oliver in-store, the rock photography show at Tecolote Guitar Works, checked out Joshua Emery Blatchley and Silverbird at the Habitat House, saw The Silent Comedy at the Hard Rock Hotel, then Blitzen Trapper at the Casbah. The amazing thing was that between drinks and cab fare, I spent less than $30, so I really cannot complain at all, but perhaps I shouldn't have been drinking wine like it was water because I'm still hurting nearly a full later. Yowza.
Filter is onstage now, so I'm gonna try and check them out for a minute. Side note, the opening band is called Carlotta and the singer's got some pipes, so check them out if you get a chance. They're gonna be hitting Warped Tour this summer so you can say you read about them here first.
I don't know what it is about me, but I've always been a tough critic when it comes to chick vocalists. In my music collection, I'd estimate that less than 5% of my CDs are from female vocalists. I'll always be a fan of The Sundays, Natalie Merchant, and Hope Sandoval, but generally, I really have to be moved by a CD to get into it. I never really got into the Lily Allen CD that I was told would be the next big thing, I freakin despise Amy Winehouse, and I just couldn't jump on the whole Feist bandwagon. Their music really does nothing for me.
Perhaps because it's a lazy Saturday morning, perhaps because I'm in a really good mood, or perhaps because it arrived in my mailbox at the end of a hectic week, like a little postcard from the karma gods understanding just how I'd been feeling, for some reason from the first line of the first song to the last line of the last song, I love this disc.
So here's a piece of the press release:
New York City songstress Jaymay has confirmed a March 11th U.S. release for her debut full length Autumn Fallin' on Blue Note Records.
Currently touring the UK where Heavenly Recordings has released Autumn Fallin' to slew of 4-star reviews (see below), Jaymay got her start at a NYC open mic night in 2003. Soon after she was invited to play at various Lower East Side venues such as Pianos, Mercury Lounge, and her much buzzed about (and oversold) Living Room Residency, which moved Gothamist to gush "Girls with Guitars are everywhere in this city, but this one --like a siren--was pulling people into this room and leaving them silent, speechless even. Shocked and lulled into a stupor."
Jaymay eschewed the inevitable and numerous label offers that came in the wake of these shows, opting to self-release the beautiful Sea Green See Blue EP, which scored an "indie spotlight" on iTunes and frequent rotation on Los Angeles' influential KCRW. She then began work on Autumn Fallin’, a song cycle that vividly details the story of a New York City relationship gone south for the winter.
Ultimately, EMI made her an offer she creatively couldn't refuse, resulting in perfect homes at Heavenly Records in the UK and Blue Note here in the states.
Since then, Jaymay (born Jamie Kristine Seerman) has taken up residence in London, touring Europe and the UK with the likes of Bright Eyes, Jose Gonzales, Caribou, and Okkervil River.
I'm on my second listen through as I type and I still can't put my finger on why this chick is getting through to me, but I'm really digging it.
You can check out an MP3 HERE, her MySpace HERE, or her official site HERE.
"It's not that I hate you; I never loved you enough to hate you."
I've got some major recapping to do, but finding the balance between working, going out, then actually writing about it all has been pretty challenging of late. I'll do my best to do the last 4 nights some justice.
First, there was Wednesday night. Great Northern have been full-on road dogs this year, traversing the country and finding a way to play San Diego at least 4 times. I'd been to three of their four shows (I missed when they opened for LadyTron) and have felt honored that their label, Eenie Meanie Records, reached out to me at let me be a part of presenting their shows.
Recently, you might remember that I was invited by my friend Malinda to get a facial from The Undercarriage. It was such a great treat and we'd been talking about making something happen for a while, so here's what she and her business partner Kirsten came up with: why not offer touring bands a place to relax before a show, get some free services, have some drinks and snacks, and be able to have a little quiet time before a show? This is an offer the ladies would like to extend to other touring bands who come through town, and the way things went on Wednesday, I don't think we'll have any problem finding bands who want to be a part of it. All that is asked in return are some photo and video ops.
It wasn't until the late afternoon that we got final confirmation that the band would be coming by. Around 8 I arrived at the shop and the band was already there. Drinks were poured and we just hung out, while they rotated through the treatment rooms, getting eyebrow waxes, mini facials, and massages. Rachel, Ashley, Solon and Davey were awesome people to just hang with and we chatted about their tour, about CMJ, cities they love, and stations that have helped them (like 94/9). Oh, and they'd seen the YouTube videos I uploaded from the Belly Up show and they love them, so we had a great "Band of Horses are idiots" conversation. It was a relaxing great time. By 10, the band was all refreshed and we all headed to the Casbah.
We missed the opening band, but were there in time to catch Robbers on High Street. I was a little surprised how young the guys are. There are some songs reminiscent of Spoon (especially "The Fatalist") but to me there's also a similarity to Crowded House, one of my all time favorite bands. They played a great set and the crowd seemed to love them right back.
Robbers On High Street "Across Your Knee"
Robbers On High Street Setlist, Casbah, 11-07-07
Great Northern took the stage and once again, sounded great. Before the show I warned them that I would be flash happy and also asked what song I should record, and Rachel was nice enough to cue me when they were going to play a new song that is not on their album. The set was great and the whole vibe of the show was one great party.
That meant even better times after the show as we all hung out with Robbers and GN taking some really silly photos. It was a late night and made Thursday morning a little challenging, but it was so worth it. Because of the way the Casbah is set up sans a real dressing room, bands are completely accessible to fans if they want to be, and if they don't want to be bothered, they usually have to hide in their vans or busses. I've met a lot of really great bands, and really nice bands, but there are few who embrace their fans like the Robbers and Great Nothern do. Big thanks to them, Eenie Meanie, Filter Magazine, Sneak Attack, and The Undercarriage for what was another amazing night in San Diego.
