Up on Intraffik.com: August Playlist

I'm up on Intraffik.com with my August Playlist.

Here's a list of the bands.

Matahari
Chinese Man
Jolly Joker
Magma Hotel
Static of the Gods
Idyllists
Shanghai River
EZ Tiger
Boxcar Drifters
The Cigarette Bums

Check out the link, because there is much more: songs, videos and photos.

A Movie Review: The Other Guys

The Other Guys. This movie is a comedy about two detectives who don't exactly fit personality-wise. They stumble on a bit case that might make them the top guys in the force if they can solve it. Here's my problem with this movie, I couldn't figure out the Mark Wahlberg character, Terry Hoitz. Was he supposed to be the straight guy or a bumbling fool. I don't know. His character seemed to switch personalities every ten minutes. If that character was better defined, I probably would have loved this movie . . . unfortunately, it wasn't so I can't recommend this movie.

FYI: If interested, feel free to follow me at www.twitter.com/notesfromvivace.

JT Spangler, Shannon Curtis and Aaron Beaumont at Bootleg Theater

It was off to the Bootleg Theater to catch Aaron Beaumont, Shannon Curtis and JT Spangler. This will eventually find its way to intraffik.com so keeping this limited to some photos.





FYI: If interested, feel free to follow me at www.twitter.com/notesfromvivace.

A Movie Review: The Expendables

The Expendables. Okay, I couldn't help it, I loved this movie. It was like going back to the 80s/90s and watching all those body-count movies. And even though it lasted only a minute or two, it was great fun seeing Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis sharing some screen time. I will admit there was a little too much brain matter exploding all over the screen for my taste (almost had a District 9 bloodbath feel to it), but who cares. This is the perfect popcorn summer movie to put your brain to rest and enjoy the roller coaster action ride.

Up on intraffik.com: Some Prague photos

Up on Intraffik.com with some Prague photos. This is the last of the series. Hope folks who read it liked it.

I've decided to open a Twitter Account

If you're interested, follow me on Twitter. The Twitter account will focus on music, movies, sports and random thoughts -- probably not economic news.

Up on intraffik.com: Prague Part III

Up on Intraffik.com with Part III on Prague. Go check it out.

Congrats to Queen Kwong: Levi's Commercial

Congrats to Queen Kwong for getting her song 'Pet' placed in a Levi's campaign across the pond.

There is also a webpage dedicated to her.

Pollyn, Eastern Conference Champions, Ghostland Observatory and a Miles Davis Bitches Brew Album Celebration at Sunset Junction

It was off to Sunset Junction on Saturday. I arrived around 5 p.m. I immediately went to The Fold Stage. Pollyn was just about to start their set. Hot thing about the band, the two backup singers also play trombones. They had some fans who were wearing "Pollyn" stickers across their shirts. Eastern Conference Champions was next. A handful of my friends arrived around this time. I told them they had to catch this band. They loved Eastern Conference Champions. And why not? This band is awesome. And of the handful of times I've seen them, this was their best set -- though my friends were complaining about the volume from the speakers, I had my earplugs on so I was okay though I could feel the sound waves pulsing through my body. The sound guy in fact had to request that they lower the volume a couple of times.

To Eastern Conference Champions: Where's your bass?
Response: We locked him up.

We left that stage and slowly made our way to the opposite end of the Junction to catch Fishbone and Bad Brains, but . . . my friend who was really into seeing these two bands sent us to the wrong stage. Instead we caught the Miles Davis/Bitches Brew Album Celebration. Hey, not a very bad mix-up I'd argue. Next up was Ghostland Observatory. I'd gotten separated from my friends. They figured they were at the wrong stage and so took off. They obviously didn't send me a text or anything like that. I was close to the front of the stage and was surrounded by a group of individuals who were very excited about seeing Ghostland Observatory. If I heard right, a couple of them had followed the band from Las Vegas to Washington to Sunset Junction. Hey, if those fans were so devoted, I figured I'd stick around to see Ghostland Observatory. The keyboard/electronic/percussionist guy wears a cape during his set. The fans around me had brought some capes with them and tossed them on stage to get him to sign them. Did I like Ghostland Observatory? Hey, even if my feet were killing me, I felt like their set was a song or two short. Of course, Sunset Junction thought they were going on too long as the sound guy apparently decided to kill their set. Or maybe it was a technical glitch. For the second to last song, the lead singer's microphone shut off. Ghostland Observatory went with one last song and that was that. Ghostland Observatory did go on a bit later than planned as it seemed that they were waiting for their laser show to warm up before going on stage.

Comment 1: They're fake.
Comment 2: I like fake breasts.

Pollyn





Eastern Conference Champions











Miles Davis/Bitches Brew Celebration







Ghostland Observatory

A movie review: Salt

Salt. This movie starts with a background story and then from there the action starts. And the action just builds and builds and builds. Spoiler alert. And yes, maybe it goes over-board with the climatic scene in the White House bunker, but if ‘24’ can do it why can’t ‘Salt.’ Before the movie opened, there was all this talk about Angelina Jolie breaking out as the only female action star. And then after it opened a little soft (even though it currently seems to be showing some great legs), I believe I read a simi-snide comment about how maybe folks didn’t want to see a ‘Wanted’ remake. I’ll tell you one thing, I was more than happy to see this ‘Wanted’ remake. It is a fun movie with twists and turns that will keep you engaged throughout.

Jessie Deluxe, Buffalo Medicine and Non Ultra Joy at El Cid

It was off to El Cid to catch Jessie Deluxe, Non Ultra Joy and Buffalo Medicine. It was an interesting night of music and conversation at El Cid. Too bad I didn’t have my pencil out to write down some cool musician comments. First up for the night was Jessie Deluxe. She was doing an acoustic set for the night. She had a nice fan base there. I think most of the crowd was there to support her as I noticed that El Cid cleared out after she finished. There was an amusing moment during her set. She was doing some opera-volume singing and a Rob Z artwork that was hung up on the curtain fell down. I don’t know if she noticed, but the crowd had a good chuckle. Next up was Buffalo Medicine from Pennsylvania. They are on tour to help raise funds for Haiti. They’re two singer-songwriters. They split the lead duties between the two of them. They ended their set with Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene.’ My last band of the night was Non Ultra Joy. I only stayed for a part of their set. During their set-up, they were having some casual conversations with each other. I noticed one guy in the band was well prepared for technical difficulties. They had trouble getting one of their guitars hooked up properly so a suitcase was opened and a small flashlight was taken out so that they could have some additional light in hooking everything up. Now that is pre-work preparation. Love it. They were great. For a relatively new band (one of the guys used to be part of Spider Problem), they rock.

Jessie Deluxe



Buffalo Medicine





Non Ultra Joy

Elyse Porterfield (aka Jenny the disgruntled assistant)

So Elyse Porterfield lives in Glendale, CA. Anyways, the original "I Quit" dry-erase board series from Jenny.

And then the "It's a joke".

And now the hometown (well, she's actually from Colorado) coverage, Glendale News-Press with photos.

All very fun.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook that he'd like to marry her. Unfortunately, she has already gotten numerous marriage proposals.

Up on Intraffik: Prague Part II

I'm up on Intraffik.com again with part 2 on my Prague vacation.

Future Ghost and Useless Keys at Silverlake Lounge

I did one of my random music nights. I was there to see this band called Useless Keys simply because I found their band name interesting. I was able to catch the back half of Future Ghost's set. The bass player is also in this band called Kissing Cousins. They seemed to have some fun on stage with the bass player playfully sticking her tongue at the guitarist as they ended their set. Useless Keys came on next. For just wanting to catch some random act based on their name, I think I did rather well. I enjoyed their set a lot. I essentially went home satisfied that I had randomly picked a couple great bands to see.

Future Ghost



Useless Keys

Red Cortez, Restavrant, and Robotanists at Bloomfest

It was off to Bloomfest for an artwalk and then some music. I can't lie, I was a bit disappointed with the artwalk. Maybe I showed up too late, 6 p.m. There were a number of galleries listed on the handout, but I only saw three that were opened. I actually ran into someone at one spot who came over and asked, "What are you here for?" "I'm here for the artwalk, but I'm not having much luck." He replied, "I'm a bit confused by all of this." Yes, it was a bit confusing. Perhaps we arrived too late, because we were the only ones around this area. Of course, perhaps it didn't help that the artwalk was spread out and in areas that perhaps folks didn't feel comfortable walking around on their own.

The last three bands of the night were pretty cool. Red Cortez, Restavrant and Robotanists. I've seen Red Cortez and Robotanists once each. Restavrant was new for me. It wasn't technically Restavrant. Just one half of the band, but that one half blew the audience away. A friend of mind told me that you pronounce the band name as Restaurant. The 'v' is a Latin (Roman) twist. Afterwards, a small crowd crowded around the single Restavrant band member. The Robotanists were the last band of the night. It was too bad that half the crowd disappeared before they went on stage. Of course, I can't blame the crowd. It was cold. I can't believe I'm saying that. It is mid-August and most of us in Los Angeles are forced to carry a jacket around if we know we're going to be hanging out at night. I even noticed a blanket being used.

Red Cortez





Restavrant





Robotanists

The Dollyrots at the Bootleg

I went off to the Bootleg to catch The Dollyrots. It's been awhile since I last saw -- way too long ago. Since this was their CD release party they went on for longer than the normal 30 minute set. They went on for about an hour and I'll tell you it surely didn't seem like an hour.

After about their second song, I noticed that one of Luis's guitar strings was broken. He went on with the set, playing with a broken string for about three or four more songs. Kelly at one point after giving him the why-don't-you-switch-guitar looks commented, "We don't need guitar strings."

A guy in a bunny costume jumped on stage for one song and hung out with Luis for awhile. Kelly told him, "Come over here, bunny." A young woman in the audience tried to get the bunny to go over to Kelly, but perhaps the person inside didn't understand -- it looked like it was pretty hard to see and hear inside the custom. The person got off the stage after one song. A couple songs later, the bunny went back on stage. But this bunny was much shorter -- a new person, the young woman who had attempted to get the original bunny to hang near Kelly. Kelly got some love this time around.

The audience loved the show. They wanted an encore. The Dollyrots obliged. And then everyone hung out afterwards, a big home coming love fest.

Vanaprasta, Tomorrows Tulips and White Arrows at Spaceland

I'd call this parents' day at Spaceland. The parents of the lead singer for Vanaprasta were at the front of the stage and very proud of their son -- the father urging the mother to take photos at various times during the set. And I sort of suspect that the father for one of the members of Tomorrows Tulips was also in the audience. There was this strange resemblance there.

Vanaprasta started out their set with some forehead hugs. This is the third time I've seen Vanaprasta. For some reason, each time I see them, I feel like they're shifting their style just a bit. This time around, they seemed just a bit more mellow than the last time I saw them. Maybe it had to do with where I was standing. I think the band has two personalities on stage. Those on one part of the stage are in constant motion while on the other stage one of the band members is slightly more reserved (partially due to the fact that he plays the keyboards part of the time). Perhaps this impacts how I view the band for a specific night.

Tomorrows Tulips is a two piece band and is definitely in the mellow camp. I enjoyed their sound. Towards the end of their set, the sound guy thought they were finished up and so asked if they were done. The lead singer responded, "We have two more. Do we have time?" Yes, they did. And at the end of their set, the drummer put on her jacket. It was chilly not only outside, but also inside Spaceland. For some reason, I think their band name should read "Tomorrow's," but I don't see the apostrophe on their website so I'm leaving it out in this blog. I do notice that various other websites (including Spaceland) have their name as Tomorrow's Tulips.

The residency band for August is White Arrows. Before their set started, I noticed one of the guys in the band writing out the song list for everyone in the band. While he was kneeling on the ground replicating the song list for everyone, one of the guys grabbed the paper he was copying from. He was like, "Hey, give me that back." They played their whole set with the lights out. There were some low level spotlights going on, but essentially they played in the dark -- and they aren't even shoegaze. They had a couple guest musicians come up on stage for two songs. One, a guitarist, had to join shortly into one song as he was searching for the electric guitar plug.

Vanaprasta



Tomorrows Tulips







(just thought this was interesting)



White Arrows

Lucy Schwartz @ The Standard

My friend/editor over at intraffik.com recommended that I go check out Lucy Schwartz at The Standard. All I can say is wow. A 45 minute set felt like 15 minutes. I'll put up more on intraffik.com at a later point.