Tape Deck Mountain, Braids + Asobi Seksu @ Casbah- 03.12.11

A bit of mid-fi post rock mixed with a hefty dose of indie rock/ shoegaze tunes was the word last Friday as local boys Tape Deck Mountain opened up for Braids (via Montreal) and NYC's own Asobi Seksu at the Casbah. More after the jump...

After touring the local scene for the past couple years, Tape Deck Mountain has been steadily building up buzz following the release of their debut full-length album Ghosts. Friday night kicked off as TDM worked their way through several tracks from both that album (including the exceptional 'In The Dirt') and their debut EP Secret Serf, as well as a very interesting cover of Danzig's 'Mother'. The special brand of rock that they bring to the stage mixes infrequent guitar melodies and solid bass lines with serious reverb and a constant tweaking of the double-stacked pedals at lead man Travis Trevisan's feet. All in all it was a very solid live representation of their studio work, but it is a sound that could benefit from focusing their efforts in one direction or another.

Tape Deck Mountain:

Braids followed up by taking the evening in a different direction with their special brand of experimental rock.. The lights were turned way (way) down low as the Canadian quintet took the stage for what ended up as the set of the night. I had picked up their debut album Native Speaker some time ago and was instantly hooked. Lead singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston has a voice that falls somewhere in between Bjork and Bat For Lashes that absolutely took over the Casbah. If nearly duplicating the sound produced in a studio during a live performance is the mark of a gifted group, these folks have talent in spades. Backing vox, keyboard and steady drum and bass lines blended perfectly with Standell-Preston's guitar and dynamic vocals over the course of the 45+ minute set as they played most of the tracks from their album. Expect to see these guys headlining shows in the very near future.

Braids:

Asobi Seksu took the stage on a somber note, as lead singer Yuki Chikudate led off with words concerning how she had been unable to contact any of her family in Japan since the earthquake hit the day before (she has since updated the band's Facebook page notifying everyone that she has been in touch with her family and all are well). The crowd had clearly shown up with some extra love for her and her bandmates as their hour long show was punctuated with the occasional 'I love you Yuki!'. The supporting bass and kit work was channeled by Yuki's amazing voice and keyboard skills, as well as guitarist/ vocalist James Hanna's impressive melodies into a pleasing blend of shoegaze-y dream pop that kept those in attendance's attention through the end of the evening.

Asobi Seksu:

For more from the evening click here and the rest of my concert photography click here.

_______________________
All images copyright © Nate Vandermeulen, All Rights Reserved.
Please ask for permission before downloading or linking to them.

Video: Tape Deck Mountain "It Goes Down"

Tape Deck Mountain - It Goes Down from Travis Trevisan on Vimeo.

I got this little press release that Tape Deck Mountain released a new video today. However, in looking at Travis Trevisan's page, it appears it's already been there for a month. Such is pr, I suppose. Regardless, the local boys deserve your love, so check it out, then see them live on March 5 at the Che Cafe with Velveteen.

Rosey's Diary: Another Week in Music (9/5-9/130

I've accumulated a couple more week's worth of photos, so I guess it's time to catch up again. I've posted about the Music Awards, The Rumble, and a couple other things in between, but I'm gonna rewind a little bit, back to the night of the SDRL open house. Because what I forgot to mention was that after that show, I went to Bar Pink to see The Drowning Men. It has been a while since those boys have been written up on sd:di, and I'm not sure why...seems like I've just always got something going on whenever they play, but they're really talented and I'm always struck by their stage presence when I see them. How is it that I don't know these guys? So weird.

The Drowning Men


For the rest of my diary, click 'keep on reading'.


The next day brought about a matinee show at the Casbah, featuring The Thermals & Tape Deck Mountain. This was an especially fun show because it had been a while since I was at a show lined up with a group of friends all up front. I don't know why that is, but seems like for a lot of the touring shows lately, I'm like, "who are all these people?" That's cool and all, I love the diversity of the crowds, but on this night, I was among friends and we all had fun, despite the guy who thought he was in the band that I had to restrain. Tape Deck was rad, and I think it was their first set on the main stage at Casbah, so that was cool. Travis broke his pic and it was funny that I let him borrow my 'pic of destiny' that Evan had given me a few months back that I keep in my hearos case. Pic of Destiny saves the day!

So The Thermals were awesome and I don't think the show sold out completely, but it was packed and everyone seemed to love it; the show was full of sing along moments, including high fives from the bro, that I later found out was a friend of a friend. He was in town from Florida with his band for Awesome Fast. "I thought you were gonna kill him," James said to me after the show. In truth, I was just trying to help him not get tossed by the third song.

The Thermals




After the show, Kevin and I went to Evan's house for his co-birthday party. Despite feeling old as shit watching these 20 somethings throw down some intense games of beer pong and flip cup, it was a fun party in an amazing house among good friends. It was also fun to play some ping pong at the end of the night. I won every game I played but I had a clear sober advantage, so I look forward to playing again when (1) everyone is sober or (2) I'm as shitfaced as they were.

The next day was Labor Day, which also happened to fall on my Dad's birthday. My cousin came down from LA as a last hoorah before she moves to Philadelphia to become the DMM at Free People, a subsidiary of Urban Outfitters. Helloooo, family discount!
We spent most of the day and night with family and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Johanna with her Bratz laptop.

Johanna, Blogger In Training


Later that night, it was time for Anti-Monday League with Republic of Letters, the debut of The Nervous Wreckords, and Hotel St. George. Republic of Letters sounded great after being in the studio for some time. Brian Karscig recorded their forthcoming record and he clearly talked Chris into diversifying a bit, and so there are these really great keyboard parts that never existed before in their music. I loved it and really look forward to the new record. The Casbah was packed for The Nervous Wreckords. The guys from Louis XIV were there to show support which I thought was cool, and the bar was packed for their set. Brian Karscig is at the helm, joined by Maren Parusel on guitar/keys and Shaun Cornell from Transfer among others. The show was a kick off before they joined The Killers for part of their tour. Playing a slew of catchy aongs, they got mixed reviews from the few people I talked to but I dug it and from what I hear, the tour is going well. Hotel St. George closed out the night, but the Casbah seemed to clear out. I know it's tough on a Monday night, especially after a holiday, but it was still a bummer.

The Nervous Wreckords


Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I had to be downtown in the afternoon, so I ended up going downtown with Jake and waiting for him during his weekly gig, grabbing some cheap tacos and beer at La Puerta to catch up with Billy who I know back from his Jewel Box days. God, that was like 10 years ago.

My cousin was still in town, so Wednesday was more family time and birthday dinner for my dad at Point Loma Seafoods, then time chasing down Johanna in the park. Since I haven't been talking about my family as much as I used to on this site, I'll just say that my sister is very close to having her second daughter, expected on October 4. Johanna is going to have a little sister! This time of year is always full of family time because it's my grandma's birthday (9/2) and this year she turned 101! My dad's is 9/7, my mom's is 9/20, I'm 9/28, my cousin is 10/13, and soon we can add Nadia to the group. Johanna is running and talking and bossing people around and has an adorable sense of humor, so she's pretty much a spitting image of me at her age (or so I'm told). Gone are the days when I could take dozens of pictures of her in one sitting. I can barely keep up with her, let alone take pictures while I'm doing it.

Johanna




The next day was the San Diego Music Awards, which I've written about here. But if you'd like to read Seth Combs' ranty rant, click here.

Friday night, it was me and @mcbrandt13 again (Kevin, but I like calling people by their twitter names). He was sick, but was a total trooper and we went to Bar Pink. It was a no photo night for me; just wasn't in the mood. Syndicate opened the show with their synthy 80s sound, followed by Yourself and The Air, a really great band (from Chicago?), but it was late and I couldn't trick Kevin into staying more than 3 songs into their set. (He only planned on going out for 'one drink' in the first place, so he dropped me at Josh's house where we played poker till the wee hours with Josh's brother and his friend and Kitty. I won. I love that I get to publicly rub that in.

Saturday night rolled around and I did merch for Soulsavers. I was so excited to see Mark Lanegan in the flesh for the first time ever, and though I didn't really get to see the show, being there for the soundcheck of Revival gave me chills. I snuck a couple pics, as well as a couple of Jonneine Zapata and her band. I guess my only complaint was that the show might've been better suited for a weeknight, because all three performances were pretty mellow and it seemed like people really wanted to get into the show, but there was something a bit too mellow about the vibe. Jonneine was really cool as was her band, and it was nice to see people spending money on new music.

Soulsavers/Joennine Zapata




I closed up the week hanging out with my family at the Brazilian parade in PB. My sister and her husband spent a lot of time in Brazil and Central and South America, so she always digs the vibe. Me, well, sometimes I realize I'm more conservative than I let on. My eyes were bugged out at the amount of flesh revealed in one parade. I love the drum lines and the capoeira action, and there's tons of dancing going on, but these women shake their near nude bodies in ways I didn't know possible. Craziness.

Brazilian Parade


From there, it was on to The Rumble. I touched briefly on this monthly event, but should say that if you missed it because of the NFL, the VMAs, or the True Blood finale, know that the next one will be a Saturday matinee, on October 10. The Jakes, U.S.E., and Rafter all gave great performances and it couldn't be beat with the free food from Phil's and even some complimentary Trumer Pils for a lucky few. There will be more of the good stuff next month, with three great bands and killer sponsors, so save the date now. You'll be hearing a lot about The Rumble on this site and I'll post the lineup soon.

That wrapped up the last couple weeks. It is only midday Wednesday and I've already got more good stuff for the week, but it's time I get to those weekend listings.

Rosey's Diary: April 4-11, 2009

When I last left off my diary posts, I finally got to April. This entry picks up on the second week of April and includes The Pheromones (the band), Vegas (The City), The Corner (the bar), The Knew (the band) and some other random stuff. One day I will get back to daily posts. One day...


Saturday (April 4) was a mellow day. I kicked around the neighborhood, ate at Ponce's, talked to my parents who celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. By nightfall, I was ready for a big night. I have to admit, I was slightly nervous about seeing The Pheromones at 710 Beach Club. It was their CD release party and it was my first time ever at the bar. There's a whole comfort zone thing that happens when you go to the same places over and over; you become accustomed to door guys giving a hug instead of inspecting I.D., you get used to bartenders knowing your drink and actually being friendly. I don't like to leave the comfort zone very often.

The other part is that I met Craig, bassist for the Pheromones, a while back when Jake invited him to my house for a little after hours hanging out. We have become friends and keep in touch here and there. We went to the G.O.P. show at the Beauty Bar together and he gave me an advance of The Pheromones CD. That was an enlightening night because I said I don't like soul or funk and this was blasphemy to Craig. Being wise beyond his years, he recommended some bands and forced me out of my aural comfort zone. Not only did he open my eyes and ears, but when it came time to listen to The Pheromones CD, I totally got it. Still, I prefer to make nice with bands AFTER I'm sure that I like their music because otherwise it can just be weird.

Jake and I made our way to PB, circled for parking, and marvelled at our surroundings. I honestly don't know if I've ever been to P.B. on a Saturday night. Ever. That seems totally crazy to me, but it's true. There was a huge line at 710 when we got there, with probably 75 people waiting to get in, and another line with about a dozen people who were guestlisted, also waiting to get in. The bar was at capacity and they had to move out a bunch of tables and barstools to allow more people. That took about 20 minutes or so, in which time we made contact with Craig. When they finally allowed the lines to move, Craig walked us in ahead of both lines and made me experience a total rock star moment. It's the little things that get me giddy.

Since it was my first time at 710, the first thing I had to do was assess drink prices and then the stage and lighting. A Corona & shot of Cazadores was $13. youch. I went up toward the front as a band was wrapping up their set. I don't know who they were but they had a Jason Mraz thing going on, even down to the fedora. Jake and I were there for a hit and run, however, so we planned on only sticking around for The Pheromones.

One thing can be said, whatever 710 is doing, they know their crowd. These are people who want to rock out, drink heavily, and dance to a live band. And that they did. The stage is pretty small but it seems to work. I guess my overall verdict is that it would take some serious arm twisting for me to go back there but I appreciate what they're doing for P.B. which isn't exactly known as a hub of live music.

As for The Pheromones, the boys know how to bring it and oh, was it broughten. I was taking pictures, but between constantly flashing lights, getting pushed by Hollywood Tan spokesmodels, and having beers splashed all over me, these were the best I could do.







All in all it was a good night. Like I said, I'm not convinced I'll be back at 710 anytime soon, but to a more important point, I HIGHLY recommend that bands play there to diversify their audience a little bit. The people are there to party (as a verb), the Bros talk smack about bros, and a lot of them are walking home so they are there to get piss drunk, and they have money to burn on drinks & merch.

The next morning I was picked up early in the a.m. and headed out to Las Vegas with my family. A couple things happened along the way. First, they told me we were staying at The Flamingo on the Strip instead of Main Street in Downtown, so I was a little bummed by that because Main Street has a free wi-fi lobby. The other thing was that I was going Twitter happy and about half-way to Vegas, I dropped my phone in the console between the driver & passenger seat and it just stopped working. I was freaking out that I would spend 3 days in Vegas with no phone or internet. Someone shoot me.


I really can't complain, however. We did some shopping, our room was really nice, and I got to spend more time with my niece than I have before. I gave in and paid for wi-fi in the room for a 24 hour period, and that was enough for Johanna and I to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy about 100 times, and also to send the SOS that I would need a new phone. I know people love Vegas, but I'm not really one of them, so I made the best of the time with my family and couldn't wait to get home.

I thought I would chill out when I got back, but on Thursday Todd suggested we hit the Padres day game. I have yet to attend a game this season...in fact, I think I skipped last season entirely, so why not? Unfortunately we had the same plan as other people and by the first pitch, we were told it would still take 45 minutes to reach the ticket office from where we were in line. Lame. Pretty sad, too, considering the attendance that day was around 27,000 people. I wonder how many other people left because of the box office logjam.

We wandered around downtown and decided to see if Abraham was working at The Corner, and thankfully he was. We grubbed. The Corner has got a killer bar menu, so I took some pics of our bucket of fried pickles and the bucket of tater tots:

That was just appetizers...I had the ahi burger which was fresh and delicious and had mountains of diced ahi with just enough kick to require a couple beers to wash it down. From there we wandered to Tivoli for a couple beers, then bussed back to Kensington for some margaritas at Ponce's and called it a day.

Friday rolled around and I realized I had quasi-planned a BBQ with Denver band The Knew. I stocked up on supplies at Costco but by the time 7pm rolled around, everyone was doing different things and it ended up just being a couple friends, the band, and me. The Knew were awesome guys and we headed to The Ken where they were playing with Writer and Tape Deck Mountain. It was a good show with bad lighting, so I just took a few photos of The Knew and I really look forward to getting these guys back in town.



Saturday I decided to have a laid back day in the neighborhood and got a call from Petro that they were hanging out at his place, so I hung out there for the afternoon, then went to Toronado to meet Devin. That night ended up being a bit of a marathon night because after Toronado we went to Bar Pink which was packed way before El Ten Eleven even started. Not feeling the crowd, I suggested Soda Bar where we chilled in a booth while NY Rifles, Lady Vain, and Says Rally played. I don't know which band was which, but this guy was just too awesome to not take a picture of.



And required booth shots with my friends:


Devin took off and I finished the night at the Ken where I caught Incomplete Neighbor and wrapped up another fine week of San Diego livin. I took the next two nights off from music and got some work done, caught up on Hulu, got on a new project and tried to make some steps closer to this big website upgrade we're slowly but surely working on. Next diary I'll pick up from where I've left off.

Rosey's Diary: March 18-25, 2009

My last diary post left off at St. Patrick's Day and all I can say is that waking up the next day wasn't nearly as awful as I expected. So let me catch you up with the week after St. Patty's Day. Click 'keep on reading' for all the Pho King goods.



3.18.09: Gavin Newsom Townhall; Jamuel Saxon, The One AM Radio, Tapedeck Mountain @ Soda Bar

After St. Patrick's day, I had another experience that made me glad to be a Twitter user. The Burger Lounge (@Burger_Lounge), which happens to be across the street, had another special for their Twitter followers, this time free frings. Nothing better than a grass-fed burger with fries and onion rings to soak up the rest of the booze from the night before. Later that afternoon, I made my way to a school in City Heights were Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco wooed a crowd of mostly progressive supporters. I was going to do a full write up about the talk, but I realize I was so receptive to everything that he said that I didn't consider that perhaps he's just talking like a politician. I was definitely in my "hope and change" ra-ra-ra mode. Instead, here's a link of Dave Rolland's response to the evening. I will mention that there were representatives from The Nation of Islam who have some big issues with Newsom in San Francisco and made for a few tense moments. Mostly though, I liked what Gavin had to say and I'll be watching as he likely will run for Governor in 2010.





After the townhall, I made my way to Soda Bar excited to see Dangerbird Records artist The One AM Radio along with locals Tape Deck Mountain and Jamuel Saxon. I thought it was a strange lineup because the album I have from The One AM Radio is slow and quiet and always reminded me a bit of Elliott Smith, which was confirmed last time I saw him perform at Che Cafe. So Tape Deck Mountain played and sounded great as usual then The One AM Radio came on and were so different than I expected. They were upbeat, happy, and more than anything, no longer a one piece, now a full band. I liked the change and thought the band was great, it just took me a little by surprise. I only snapped a couple photos of the night because of prohibitive lighting, but here's The One AM Radio in their latest incarnation.

Jamuel Saxon finished off the night including a pretty sweet Michael Jackson cover. I also have to say I'm really a fan of the vibe at Soda Bar. I love getting a booth and being able to hang out and watch good bands, drink any of the great beers on draft, and just chill out. It helps it's so close to home for me.

3.19.09: 91X @ The Field, I Love You, Man @ Reading Gaslamp 15, Dinner at The Field, Tiltwheel @ Beauty Bar

I had planned on going to a couple events that were media type schmoozefests but fortunately I was saved when I saw Mat Diablo from 91X tweet that they were at The Field in Downtown giving away movie passes to "I Love You, Man". I don't see movies often, but I heart Paul Rudd in a big way and the movie came highly recommended by Daye, who had been to an early screening of the film a month before it's release. It lived up to my comedic expectations. Before the movie I got the chance to talk to Josh and Mat from 91X who hooked us up with scrip for The Field, so after the movie we returned to get some bar food before moving on to the next destination.

We got to Tiltwheel at the Beauty Bar as they'd just started but everyone there was well, um, lubricated?, and it made for a fun show, including Josh Mosh taking the stage for a song so Davey could smoke and drink his beer. It made me realize it had been a long time since I'd been to show with the fast crowd and it was a really good time. And I certainly never thought it would be at the Beauty Bar. I was especially happy that night because a friend of mine gave me a Blind Lady Alehouse hoodie. Score!

After Tiltwheel, the bulk of the crowd moved on to the Ken Club and it turned out that Miggs was DJ-ing and my old upstairs neighbor was in town. Needless to say they came over for an after party that got pretty ridiculous because Miggs' volume is always at 11. My current upstairs neighbor didn't get much sleep that night and I feel shitty for it, but there's no turning Miggs volume down.

3.20.09: Grand Ole Party, Ale Mania, Dirty Legs @ Soda Bar

Come Friday I was pretty excited to finally see Grand Ole Party as it had been some time since I last saw them play. Peter had asked me to help get the word out about ticketing because it was the biggest show Soda Bar had planned and they didn't want to overwhelm the space. The show sold out within about an hour of going on sale at 6 pm. In retrospect, they probably could've allowed another 50 people in the bar for the show, but we got there early, got a booth, enjoyed the Mission IPA on draft and just enjoyed the show and the fact that people weren't shoved into the bar like sardines. The Dirty Legs was an all chick band that played bratty punk, wearing their influences on their sleeves. Ale Mania appeared to be a new project of some of the guys from The Sess, but to be honest, I stayed in our booth and couldn't really see over the crowd. And even with earplugs, I couldn't really make out the band all that well. Grand Ole Party played late in the night and played entirely new material for the whole set. At this point in the night we sat up on the back of the booth to be able to see Kristin but I knew photos would be a disaster, so I just kicked back. The band left a couple days later to go record in Atlanta, so expect their new album later this year.

3.21.09: Album Release Party for The Long and Short of It, Kill Me Tomorrow, Fing @ Casbah

Saturday was one of those San Diego days with absolutely perfect weather. I had lunch with a my sister, b-i-l and niece at Lefty's and then met up with Todd and some friends for some beers at Blind Lady. Inevitably, a couple beers and a walk home and I took a brief nap before heading down to the Casbah to see Fing, Kill Me Tomorrow, and The Long And Short of It. You can see photos from Natalie or Michael. My camera just couldn't take that lighting. Also, I was kicking it over near the bar because Joe from The Roman Spring came out for the first time since his accident and it was just really good to see my friend getting better. All three bands delivered aggressive and powerful sets. The Long And The Short of It played their entire album from front to back- "if you wanna know the setlist, you can go buy the record." The band is always loud, but it was mixed so well, Ben's vocals were clear and his lyrics particularly powerful. It was a great night to be certain. I love nights when nearly the entire Casbah staff comes out to support one of their own.

3.22-25.09: The next couple days for me were catch-up days. I caught up on e-mail, posting, listings, watching shows I'd missed, seeing movies I'd not seen. I planned on seeing These Arms Are Snakes at Casbah on Tuesday, but I had a birthday dinner at Ponce's with my friends, some cake and ice cream at my house afterward, then made my way to the Ken Club where I got sucked in to karaoke night and never left. No complaints though, my neighborhood friends were there and even though I don't participate in karaoke, I still like being a witness. Abraham and I tried to connect but since it didn't happen Tuesday night, he showed up at my place on Wednesday afternoon with a 6 pack and we caught up before he, Todd and I decided to grab lunch. We tried to hit Minh Ky in City Heights (Menlo & El Cajon, just east of Hoover High), but were surprised to see it was closed on Wednesdays. So we crossed the street and went to Pho King. Let's just say we couldn't stop laughing. "Give me a Pho King menu." "Where is the Pho King waitress." Can I have some Pho King water?" Sometimes it's okay to act like an adolescent. I would love Pho King to sponsor this website. The food kicked ass, too. And that leaves me with Wednesday night, the first night of the Luce Loft. That will be another diary post.

Overdue Recap: Tape Deck Mountain & Hotel St. George @ Whistle Stop, 11.14.08

Eager to be a bit more loose and comfortable with friends after an evening at the Marriott, I picked up Dagart and we went to the Whistle Stop to check out Tape Deck Mountain (finally!) and to see Hotel St. George for their CD release party.



full post if you 'keep on reading'



The bar was crowded as it always is on a Friday night. Lots of people were out to hang out and check out the bands. Tape Deck Mountain started out the night, and Travis sounded great. They're a two-piece, with distortion pedals a plenty and the drummer also playing keys and synth. I dug it, and the crowd clearly did, too.



I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Binder's parents, who were in town from Colorado for the weekend, and they seemed to be happy with the show. I don't really know how Hotel St. George keeps pumping out CDs, but they do, and they were not only playing new material from their CD Hundreds and Thousands, but even newer stuff that they have written since recording the album. They had a wall to wall crowd (as they should) and it was a loose and fun set.



We stayed for a little bit after the set ended, but eventually I dropped Dag at his place then closed out the night at the Ken to hang with my peeps. It was definitely a full night and though I was exhausted by the time I got home, I ended up staying up late and making a blogger blunder by posting news that was "NFB" (not for blogging). That resulted in waking up to some panicked phone calls, a friend showing up at my house, and me spending Saturday posting a bunch of videos and random blog things to fix my error and to fuck with the blog aggregators that repost my blog. (My posts automatically show up on a few sites that I have no control over.) I guarantee that will not happen again. Sorry to my friends for causing that freak out. Regardless, Saturday was a good day. I will get to that in another post.