Tagged: California

[Music Video] Best Friends – holychild

I love everything about holychild’s music video for their bouncy Summer tune, “Best Friends.” From the wide angle shots, to the late afternoon shadows, to the beautiful and desolate setting of Bombay Beach, California – the entire production is absolutely solid.

From DC to LA, holychild seems to be moving at an exorbitant rate. Learn more about the group here, and be sure to keep tabs on these guys – I’m excited to see what comes next.

BONUS:   The location alone in “Best Friends” reminded me of the interesting documentary titled Bombay Beach which tells of local’s tales and features some incredible music. I believe it’s on Netflix too..

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[Meet] Sir Sly

sir sly

I am totally admittedly and regrettably late on Sir Sly, an impressive little trio out of Southern California.

After catching only one track of their’s I knew the next 15 minutes were going to be spent clicking through and through. Their single,“Gold,” sounds like that more-beat driven indie rock such as what The Neighbourhood produces. It’s incredibly tight instrumentation, melancholic like Local Natives yet very smooth, and just a touch of electronic manipulation. Very LA sounding, and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Lucky for us, all of the above tracks are available online and 7″ via Neon Gold. Keep track of what they’re up to here.

[Post-Chella] Edition three.

coachella camp site

And finally, I’m back. I’m not going to lie, Tuesday was an incredibly rough start.

A scratchy throat to wake up with, a looming inbox that I keep trying to prolong taking care of, and realizing I barely have anything to eat in the cupboards. As fast as Coachella did arrive on the calendar, it no sooner got the fuck out and dropped me back into reality.

I really hate writing recaps of these sorts of experiences. Sometimes, I just don’t want to reflect. I want to keep the good memories alive and well within my head. But, I feel there’s such a bad stereotype on these things. I think a lot of my friends believe I’m crazy for going year after year, buying the tickets almost 365 days in advance, and spending hellishly hot days out in the desert sun.

It’s no secret that these festivals are on the pricey side of things. They even offer installment payment plans. But you get what you pay for. Hundreds of live acts from an eclectic array of musicians. I can go from hardcore hip-hop to fuzzy, lo-fi bedroom rock and old school legends in the matter of a handful of hours. All within walking distance on lush, isolated polo grounds – this place is painstakingly put together from the art installations to the flow of traffic, they do a wonderful job.

One of my favorite things about this now-becoming-annual-trip is the camping. Coming from gritty Philadelphia to panoramic Southern California really opens my eyes and has become a fun getaway. Sure, waking up before 7 am every day solely due to the fact that you’re baking inside your tent can probably get old but the element of roughing it up for the next 4-5 days with plenty of friends is enough to make me forget.

Being an extremely obsessed music lover, I’m always asked who I’m going to see. There’s definitely plenty of artists I’d love to see live…but I know chances are that it probably won’t happen. I found the best way to enjoy myself is to go with the flow, have a rough idea but always be open to plan B.

So, here were my favorites from the weekend.

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Happy Coachella!

coachella music festival 2013

Well gang, the oasis that lands dead in the middle of my hectic spring schedule is finally here. Just before 6am I will already be on a plane headed for LAX where I will be meeting friends to continue the drive East into the desert.

Music festivals come in all different shapes and sizes but Coachella has been my most favorite of them all. It’s more than the fashion, who you saw, etc. It’s about being in a gorgeous environment with nothing but music all day and all night. Surrounded by dozens of friends, camping under the Indio sky, it’s simply just nice to be in the moment and off of any electronic devices and away from life’s responsibilities.

So with that being said, the blog will return at some point next week when I can peel myself off of the ground. Catch the festival live via YouTube or see if I somehow emerge onto the Internet during my 5-day stay.

Do I even know what I’m waiting for?

mikal cronin

I’m ready for this warm weather to start becoming the norm. Especially after playing Mikal Cronin’s newest music on loop.

The Californian makes some of the tightest indie rock I’ve heard in awhile. Part surf rock to thrashing power-pop choruses all within the same song pretty much wins my ears instantly. Well structured tracks about the basic things that bring us down in life recreated into sunny anthems will most definitely leave you wanting ocean air and long coastal highways.

Listen to a few singles releases below and get your pre-order of his forthcoming album, MCII (via Merge), due out May 7th.

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[Coachella] 11 days.

I really can’t believe Coachella is upon us in less than 2 weeks. In 11 days I will be finding myself under the Indio sky among the lush polo grounds with music all around me. It’s a pretty incredible experience.

Another group I’ve stumbled upon during my annual pre-Coachella research period is LA’s Vintage Kicks. A group that sounds like a rougher Michael Kiwanuka with crunchier guitars and a hell of lot more percussion. The rock and soul sound is recorded incredibly tight in their album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions, which is the culmination of a 3-day long sessions recording many of the songs straight through. If this is how their chemistry translates in such a short amount of time, I can only imagine the bond I’ll witness on stage.

Listen to the album below and be sure to check out the video for their song, “Blues Hand Me Down.”

You may also recognize the guys from their rockstar appearance in a Supercuts commercial.

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[Coachella] 25 days

the neighbourhood

Powerful vocals, tight production, and an always thumping percussion keep The Neighbourhood on a level most musicians strive to reach. Their sound is impeccably put together well.

Their first release, I’m Sorry, is a driving 6-track album that operates smoothly from song to song. With tracks such as the catchy “Sweater Weather” and slowed-down “Wires,” I’m confident these Cali boys have some serious staying power. Super pumped to check out their live show, be sure to stream a few tracks from release below.

BONUS:  what a fantastic video.

ROYALTY – JONWAYNE

jonwayne

Check out this new squishy fuzzy sounding, glitch-hop kind of 8bit boom bap rap track from the big homie Jonwayne. “Royalty” is a track that didn’t make the cut for the Wayniac’s new album that should be dropping some time this Summer.

Royalty – Jonwayne

Also, check out his recent appearance on The Passion of The Weiss’s podcast, “Shots Fired,” where he, Milo, Jeff Weiss, and MC Nocando nerd out about independent rap.

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Sierra City Center (Diamond Club) – TEAMS

TEAMS

Yessssss! Finally TEAMS has released his brand new California sun, surf, psych-rock, summer heat inspired Sierra City Center (Diamond Club). The new album, which he recorded in Sierra City and Trinity Center, California “during the insane summer heat,“ is a slightly new direction than his previous work, featuring more singing, “psychedelic” sounding songs, and some rippin’ guitar solos by Snow Wite.

You can definitely hear the influence the California heat had on the creation of this project. On a side note and also in quite juxtaposition (weather-wise at least) TEAMS recently transplanted to Russia and then Germany and has been busy playing shows and [presumably - by me at least] working on his second full length LP, OneWorld開発.

Listen to Sierra City Center (Diamond Club) below and be on the lookout for a physical tape release this Spring/Summer by Gnar Tapes & Shit.

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[Sunday Listening] Coachella 2013 edition.

coachella 2013

2013 will mark my 3rd pilgrimage across the United States to my most favorite event of the year. 2 hours east of L.A. amid the panoramic mountain ranges, the unique palm trees, and the SoCal culture my East Coast self is completely devoid of, is probably the best music festival in this country.

It’s beyond what you could ever think. More than music, even. It’s a true getaway from life, a weekend where you can enjoy the sun, the lush polo field grass, and some truly great music.

To start off the countdown right, a friend of mine who also makes the yearly jaunt has created 3 fabulous Spotify playlists for each of the 3 days. Listen below and be sure to create your account through Coachella, tickets go on sale in 2 days.

Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

See y’all in 75 days!

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