Tonight! Other Lives at the Belly Up

Other Lives are playing at the Belly Up tonight. I love these guys and I have been waiting for a long time for their return. I know this week is crazy good for music but tonight with Other Lives and Sunday with Givers are easily my picks of the week.

Check out some of these newer videos:

WATCH - "Easy Way Out"
WATCH - "Reconfiguration" video
WATCH - "2 Pyramids" video
WATCH - Other Lives on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic

From the press release:
Other Lives is comprised of Josh Onstott, Jonathon Mooney and Jesse Tabish. Rituals is a pure encapsulation of the band's relentless drive for precision.The trio relocated to Portland, Oregon from their hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma to record the album. Tabish says the relocation had a direct influence that can be heard through Rituals.

"There was a spirit of change," Tabish offers. "We had done [2011's second LP] Tamer Animals, which was very close to us and about our home. So the next record was about the spontaneity of travel and being isolated. For the first times in our lives we were moving off on our own away from our families and kind of coming into our own. I wanted the songs to reflect that new spirit."

"This one was a real journey," Tabish says of the 18 months spent writing more than 60 songs for Rituals, a constant creative outlet for the relentless sonic architect amid a rigorous few years of touring their debut album. "It was a long time spent searching for a new identity," the soft-spoken singer continues of the writing process, "still trying to retain the past of our musical palate but also really trying to stretch ourselves into a new type of music." The album was produced by Mooney, Tabish and Joey Waronker (Eels, Atoms for Peace, Beck, etc.).

While Rituals marks a new chapter in Other Lives' story, it's also a continuation of a decade-plus passage. "I feel really lucky to be able to have a band and people around me that have been so supportive and we've stuck together all these years and still don't hate each other," Tabish says. "All three of us are like brothers. I don't think that will ever go away. I loved those kids then and I love them now. There's that mutual feeling. If I want to go have a beer with anyone it would be those two guys. That kind of says something."

Here's some videos I shot of the band in Vegas during their residency at The Cosmopolitan in 2011.

Other Lives w/ Indians @ Casbah- 11.04.12

 

A couple weeks ago Stillwater, OK- based five piece Other Lives made their return to SD and treated the sold out Casbah crowd to an outstanding set of genre bending tunes.  Danish multi-instrumentalist Indians kicked off the evening with his one man show as the sole Sunday night opener.  More words and photos below.

SXSW: Friday. The night Bill Murray Grabbed My Ass.

I got home so late on Thursday that The Heavy Guilt were all home and more or less in bed when I returned. The next morning, I awoke to everyone getting ready, closed my eyes for one more snooze and woke up over an hour later to an empty house. I probably needed the sleep.

When I finally got myself ready for the day, I navigated to a nearby bustop about a mile from the house. I am so glad I learned the transit system because I probably saved $200 from last year on cabs alone. While at the busstop, I met an older gentleman from Austin who was bussing to meet his wife downtown to partake in the SouthBy fun. It made for a fun busride as he and the driver pointed out Austin landmarks and architecture. Things like "the owl building". The driver said there is a building with the same rooftop design in every capitol city in the US. They also said this specific building was the most expensive per square foot in all of the history of Texas. An Aussie girl chimed in that the rumor is that the architect was from Rice, so when you look at it cockeyed, the owl looks right at the University of Texas at Austin. I'll have to factcheck all of that when I get home. They also pointed out the tower famous for a shooting in the 60s. Gonna have to look that one up, too. In return, I alerted them to the Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show movie screening and concert as we past the LBJ lawn at the UT. This figures into my weekend, but I'll get to that later. (more after the  jump)

Other Lives & JBM at Cafe Du Nord 12.6.2011

This week Jeff and I flew up to San Francisco for Other Lives at Cafe Du Nord. The band is doing a short west coast run and not coming down south and since they're going to be opening for Radiohead in the spring, we figured there wouldn't be another opportunity to see the band for a while unless we can score some Radiohead tickets for the Phoenix show. The trip had some snafus and I'll save all of that for my diary post, but in the meantime, I wanted to share the videos from the show. The room was awesome and though there was some crowd chatter, the layout of the room allowed the talkers to be in the back of the bar while we could be up front and enjoy every note.

JBM opened the night. If you don't have his record, not even in july, I highly recommend picking it up. He's been to the Casbah a couple times as well as the Belly Up, and I suspect he'll tour again when his new record comes out in July.

JBM

JBM

Other Lives are obviously one of my favorite bands around and it was great seeing them and catching up with Josh about their experience in Europe. I didn't take too many photos since I filmed the show, but here are a few.

There are four videos, sorry I don't have titles for three of them.



This is the playlist from Other Lives:
1. As I Lay My Head Down & Dark Horse
2. Landforms & Desert
3. For 12
4. Tamer Animals
5. E Minor
6. Weather
7. Dust Bowl III
8. Black Tables
9. The Partisan (Leonard Cohen cover)
10. Dust Bowl II

Other Lives Announce Tour Supporting Radiohead

So remember how on Sunday I posted this video? Well, the very next day, I had an email announcing Other Lives tour for the remainder of 2011 and that they'll be main support for the 2012 Radiohead tour. I know I'm a  couple days late in posting, but I didn't really feel any urgency to post it since the tour isn't coming to SD. I guess I just wanted to say I'm so stoked for Other Lives and every time I've seen them this year (Soda Bar, Casbah, The Cosmopolitan in Vegas, Spreckels with Bon Iver) I've been blown away, not just for their solid performances, but in their kindness and humility as people. I'm happy that Thom Yorke agrees. I'm also super excited because Southwest has $39 each way to the Bay area, so Cafe du Nord, here we come. Then again, if the band is looking for a show between LA and Santa Cruz, I can totally make something happen. (Hit me up, Jackie!)

Other Lives 2012 U.S. Tour With Radiohead + Headlining Shows

12/05/11 - Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, CA *
12/06/11 - Cafe du Nord - San Francisco, CA *
12/08/11 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR *
12/09/11 - Media Club - Vancouver, BC *
12/11/11 - The Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA *
12/14/11 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO *
02/27/11 - American Airlines Arena - Miami, FL ^
02/29/11 - St. Pete Times Forum - Tampa, FL ^
03/01/11 - Philips Arena - Atlanta, GA ^
03/03/11 - Toyota Center - Houston, TX ^
03/05/11 - American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX ^
03/07/11 - Frank Erwin Center - Austin, TX ^
03/09/11 - Scottrade Center - St. Louis, MO ^
03/11/11 - Sprint Center - Kansas City, MO ^
03/13/11 - 1st Bank Center - Broomfield, CO ^
03/15/11 - Jobing.com Arena - Glendale, AZ ^

* w/ JBM
^ w/ Radiohead

Other Lives in France

It's a lovely rainy day in San Diego and I love curling up and listening to great music. Oher Lives have been touring relentlessly and Josh posted this concert on Facebook, so I thought I'd share it with you. See you at Bar Pink tonight.

Other Lives & Bon Iver at Spreckels Theatre, September 17-18, 2011

There really are no words for how awesome Bon Iver and Other Lives were this weekend. I'll be posting photos on SoundDiego and you can also see them on my Facebook Page. Kinda dismal lighting for my little point and shoot, but hopefully the video compensates for what I lack in equipment and skill. Thanks to the Casbah, Other Lives, Justin and crew, Phil, Jesse, Jeff, and all of the awesome tweets and facebook messages for picking me up this weekend when I was really, really down. I'm going into this week really trying to figure my shit out, but at least for the weekend, I remembered why I do all of this. Enjoy the video playlist from Saturday night. Click the >| button to jump from video to video.

Playlist videos:

1. Other Lives "As I Lay My Head Down"
2. Other Lives "Fiction" & "Tamer Animals"
3. Bon Iver "Perth"
4. Bon Iver "Beach Baby", "Hinnom, TX", "Wash"
5. Bon Iver "Holocene" & "re: Stacks"
6. Bon Iver "Creature Fear" & "Flume"
7. Bon Iver "Beth/Rest" & "For Emma"
8. Bon Iver "Skinny Love" & "The Wolves (Act I & II)"

If anyone is hiring a blogger/booker/social media strategist/whatever, let's talk. I also have some banner ad avails, so hit me up.

This Weekend: Bon Iver & Other Lives @ Spreckels

I know, I know, these shows both sold out in less than an hour combined, but let me let you in on a little secret (for those of you who might not already know this). When big bands tour, generally a certain number of tickets are set aside for each show among the promoter, the venue, and the bands performing. Sometimes it's just a few, sometimes it's hundreds (which major acts like Bon Jovi and Britney Spears then resell at ridonkulous prices for profits to secondary ticketers like StubHub). I don't know how Bon Iver and Other Lives fare in this, but with every other show I've been to at Spreckels, "production holds" and "obstructed view" seats have been released at noon the day of the show. I believe some tickets for Friday might have actually been released today, but you might wanna try the box office tomorrow or Saturday if you're looking for tickets to either show.

But what I really want to tell you is that if you already have tickets, don't casually show up to the show when you think Bon Iver is gonna start because you DO NOT WANT to miss Other Lives. The blew everyone away that was in the room when they played the Soda Bar earlier this year, then again at the Casbah, and I even went out to Vegas to see them during their residency at the Cosmopolitan. Trust me.

Other Lives "Tamer Animals"

I went to Vegas last week and I promised a whole bunch of videos of Other Lives but they're taking much longer to upload than I planned. I wish I had more to say about my trip other than it being awesome, but mostly I just want YOU to love Other Lives like I do. This is probably one of the better video clips because it doesn't have a bartender's head in my view, but those ones are coming, too. It's true, you may love Bon Iver, but you will be blown away when Other Lives opens at Spreckels next month. I filmed the greater part of the four sets I caught, so I'll put those in a playlist, but until then, please enjoy.

Bon Iver at Spreckels: 2nd Show Added-Tickets onsale Friday!

I'm gonna be honest. I had a rough start to the week.

I was recovering from Comic-Con. After 5 non-stop days and nights of walking, hanging out at parties with free booze, and then staying up crazy late trying to work (but often getting sidetracked on Turntable.FM), I was worn down. I've grown to love Con that there's also this depression that sets in when you have to find the next big thing to look forward to. I hit some shows this week as well as the Gaglione Brothers 1 year party for their Mission Gorge store, and still hadn't quite gotten enough sleep. Then yesterday I found out that a close friend was hospitalized with way too many ailments for a 28 year old to handle and I didn't sleep much just hoping he would be okay.

Today, however, was a great day and after having fun on the radio, I got to talk to my friend for over an hour and it sounds like he's going to be okay after some procedures, but just hearing him laugh was enough motivation to catch up on all of this stuff I'd neglected. Like Bon Iver.

Earlier this week, the Casbah announced that Bon Iver and Other Lives would be playing a second night in San Diego. The show is September 17 and tickets go onsale tomorrow at noon. There's a presale (password is fm949) happening right now but personally if I was buying tickets, I'd go sit at the box office and skip the fees at noon tomorrow.

Get tickets here.

Oh, and one more reason there's a spring in my step? Jeff and I have made plans to go to Vegas next weekend to see Other Lives at the Book and Stage at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I talked to Josh from the band today and it looks like I'll get my interview and some hang time in while I'm there, in addition to the FOUR sets we'll get to see on Friday & Saturday nights. (though they're also there Wednesday and Thursday). So yeah. It's good to have things to look forward to.

Video: Other Lives at the Casbah 6/30/2011

Remember last week when I was so excited to see Other Lives at the Casbah? Well, it turns out the band was even better than I remembered. To make it even better, they're all so nice and gracious and, well, those Oklahoma accents can make this old gray heart flutter. I'm sure the Rosebuds were awesome, too, but my attention was elsewhere and I really look forward to seeing these guys back again in the fall with Bon Iver. I haven't had the chance to add titles to the videos; I'll try to get to it this weekend.

Thursday Night: Other Lives at the Casbah

Look, I know Elliott posted that great preview about Sondre Lerche at the Belly Up. I also have been strongly suggesting that you RSVP to our free SoundDiego Live event at the House of Blues featuring Republic of Letters, Parker and the Numberman, and Black Resume. On top of that, there's great music at the San Diego County Fair, 91X is having a Battle of the Bands at West Coast Tavern, and Michael McGraw is over at Eleven, but I would be lying if I said that I haven't been waiting for tonight's Casbah show since Other Lives played their last note at the Soda Bar in May. This band is easily one of my favorites of the year (though they're touring on Tamer Animals, their second full length album). I mean, when I went to NYC, I considered going a few days early just to catch the band in Philly. Their instrumentation, vocals and songwriting all meet to create an impeccable live show. They already have their next show in San Diego booked, but they're opening for the sold out Bon Iver show at Spreckels, so see them in an intimate venue while you can. This is a co-headline show with The Rosebuds, who will also be opening for a portion of Bon Iver's tour, so you don't wanna miss them either.

Seriously, these guys are the real deal. Don't miss them. Click right or left arrows to see most of their Soda Bar set. (and sorry, apparently I never got around to adding titles)

Other Lives at Soda Bar, 5.19.2011

Last night was great for music in San Diego. Natalie and I started off with a great dinner at West Coast Tavern, though it resulted in us getting to Habitat House a little later than planned. The living room was packed for The Shivers, so we listened for a bit from the foyer, but I needed to get to Soda Bar where she dropped me off for Other Lives. The band is from Oklahoma and were absolutely amazing. Their record, Tamer Animals, was released on Tuesday on tbd/White Iris Records and if you haven't heard them yet, you will definitely be hearing a lot about them soon because their record is stunning and their performance was incredible. I don't think I've ever seen a band with more gear at the Soda Bar, and watching them switch instruments was pretty amazing. I filmed the whole show, sorry about the clueless photographer who kept stopping in front of me, but I think otherwise the videos are pretty representative of the show. I think maybe I've changed the way I watch and listen to bands lately. I mean, I notice the bands that I've been following for years that continue to put out music and tour but seem to kinda keep their same level of recognition, and then you have bands like Frightened Rabbit or The National who played their small club tours and then grew to much larger shows. As I was watching Other Lives, I couldn't help but think of Fleet Foxes and I was already imagining this band on the stage at Spreckels. It might not happen right away, but I'm certain that if they keep their shit together, they've got nothing but big things ahead...and we can all say we saw them first at the Soda Bar.

You can grab a free MP3 of the title track from Paste here.

Incidentally, since I was filming the whole show on one camera, I busted out my old Cybershot for the photos. The blur makes me a little nostalgic.







The band is performing live on KCRW this morning (11:15ish, I believe). Tune in here.

Jeff's Weekly Pick: Other Lives @ Soda Bar Thursday May 19, 2011

Indie rock band Other Lives will be opening for drummer S. Carey this Thursday at Soda Bar. Touring to promote their recently released sophomore album, Tamer Animals, the Stillwater Oklahoma band is one of the best kept secrets on the independent music landscape. I am particularly drawn to the understated hypnotic nature of the music, which is clearly evident upon first listen. This is a band that is in harmony with one another, seemingly on a clear path to compose and perform songs that are well thought out. In fact, the core members have been together for a number of years, including lead Jesse Tabish, cellist Jenny Hsu and drummer Colby Owens. The lyrics take a back seat to the mood the album creates as a whole. This is indie rock of the highest quality, and Other Lives appears to be headed in the right direction. Your chance to see the band live in the cozy confines of the Soda Bar comes this Thursday. An impressive start to the evening for sure.




Watch a video of For 12 below.