Playlist: Fall of Date

It’s that time of year again. Halloween has passed, the nights are getting colder, people start getting depressed that winter is coming (or the 50 degree weather we know as “winter” here in Los Angeles). Here’s some mood setting music to play when you cuddle up with that special winter lover or in your bed alone being sad. “Summer of Hate” is over. We call this: “Fall of Date.”

Fall of Date

CMJ 2009: Home is Where Your Friends Are

New Yorkers can make you feel really bad about living in Los Angeles.  There’s always this push-and-pull tension about which city is better.  Trust me, I spent a few days with some New York folk in Los Angeles just before flying to New York City for CMJ.  “You’re flying out for that?  That’s why I left New York this week!”  “LA traffic is the worst.”  “You guys waste so much gas!”  “It sucks you have to drive everywhere, how do you get drunk?”  “How come Los Angeles people make you feel weird for drinking in the afternoon?”  “They don’t even serve alcohol in strip clubs here?!”  Most of all—there is always the tension of who has the better music scene.  While Brooklyn has come out with some strong contenders in the scene battle I feel confident saying no other city has as unique a sound as what is currently coming out of Los Angeles.  This is what we set out to prove with the KXLU 88.9/Manimal Vinyl/This is Tightrope 2009 CMJ showcase.

The Los Angeles gods were certainly trying to keep me in Southern California as long as possible (or maybe my own irresponsibility was a factor).  After the woman helping me at Virgin America told me I couldn’t print my tickets because I was three days late for my flight, I suddenly did not feel quite as excited for my New York excursion.  I’d been running in to some bad luck lately beginning with a chipped front tooth.  Somewhere in the middle a railing was ripped from our neighbors cement steps by a drunk aquaintance at a party we’d thrown.  The bad luck did not end with the flight mishap but rather a bout with bronchitis.  I’d had a cough for two weeks straight but of course in New York it kicked in more-so than it had before.  I finally decided to get it treated when I began couging so hard I couldn’t breathe.  After one night in New York and zero showcases witnessed—I had to go to Boston (my original home) to see a doctor.  It was rather fitting the bout began at Manimal fest and ended at the Manimal showcase, as did the bad luck (I hope).

It would be unfair not to inform you that I had a strong hand in putting on this showcase.  If I did not inform you of this, I could not explain how this showcase changed my life.  I do not mean this in a corny way, though “life changing” usually comes off as corny.  I will tell you the short version of how it changed my life in the corniest way possible though, to keep things interesting.

I began a marketing company, This is Tightrope with my five closest friends.  We worked only with bands we were extremely passionate about and did it purely for the love of music.  A dear friend at KXLU suggested we speak to Paul Beahan of Manimal Vinyl about teaming up for a CMJ showcase.  From our first text, I knew he would be a magical human.  Paul quickly became a dear friend.  He quickly claimed me as part of the “Manimal family.”  Suddenly I found myself surrounded by more magical people, people who were making some of the best music I’d heard.  Many of these people I am now honored to call my friends.

I’ve always struggled with the concept of “home.”  Growing up, Boston never felt like “home.”  I don’t think Los Angeles truly felt like home until I became involved with Manimal.

Walking off the L train at Bedford ave, I nearly tripped on the mass of fixed gear bicycles waiting for their owners outside the train station.  Nothing says “welcome to Brooklyn” like a rainbow assortment of fixies.  As I stepped in to Cameo Gallery for the CMJ showcase that had been several months, countless hours of stress, and even a few tears in the making, I felt at home in Brooklyn.  It wasn’t because I felt I should move there or that I felt comfortable in the city, it was because of the faces I saw.  There in Brooklyn was the same Manimal family I’d left in Los Angeles.

“These are the bands we get to see every week in Los Angeles, we’re privileged to get to share this with you in New York,” said Eddie Chacon of The Polyamorous Affair.

Really, New York was privileged to experience it.

Kill Kill Kill lead singer, Eric Stiner committed a cardinal New York sin by removing his shoes before their set.  I could see the skeptical looks on Brooklynites’ faces but as the band faded from tuning their instruments to a performance charged with energy and distorted instrumentals—black socks never seemed so right.  Los Angels—1.  Brooklyn—0.

Nima Kazerouni , the brain child behind Long Beach based So Many Wizards, paralleled Kill Kill Kill’s energy.  Though we were taken from distorted yells to distorted love songs there seemed to be a direct link within the music allowing the bands to flow easily from one to the next.  I can’t explain exactly what this “Southern California sound” is but it has never felt more distinct than when taken to the opposite coast.  This was clear with the stellar So Many Wizards performance.

Even Los Angeles ex-patriots, EXITMUSIC did not lose their West Coast aura upon moving to Brooklyn.  The duo was angelic beneath the large white ceiling hanging.  The performance, filled with dreamy melodies and the creative use of a violin bow against a guitar made me wish they would move back to Los Angeles so I could see them often again.  Los Angeles—1.  Brooklyn—1.

At least we’ve still got VoicesVoices.—the much buzzed about female duo that mix noises on sound machines like adorable mad scientists.  The girls never fail to surprise new audiences with their talent, shotgunning instruments and creating sounds the world has never heard before but is certainly ready to experience.

The Polyamorous Affair brought a much needed—yet unexpected twist to the showcase.  Their Russian themed dance jams bring to mind the likes of Boney M. (the should-have-been disco super group of the seventies).  These two have a talent for creating irresistible pop songs.  Finally, the Brooklyn hipster elite unfolded their arms and joined to Los Angelenos in a dance party.

If there was one artist that seemed to belong in Brooklyn it was certainly Corridor with his dark melodies driven by several string instruments, all of which he plays himself.  With intricate finger work that gives the songs a middle eastern feel at times, he left the crowd in awe and haunted by his talent.

 

Of course every showcase needs a hype band and from the gentle sways of the speechless crowd, I’d say Warpaint lived up to it.  Fresh from tour with School of Seven Bells, the three-piece girl group (plus new drummer, Quinn of Corridor) harmonized there way in to the stone-cold hearts