Birds of a Black Feather at The Satellite

It was a Thursday night at The Satellite where I got to catch Birds of a Black Feather play their first set.  Two of the band members were formerly part of one of my all time favorite local bands, The Mulhollands.  The Mulhollands had a touch of pop inspiration.  That is gone and now replaced with a rock sound that has just a touch of Southern inspiration.  There is also a toy piano.  Birds of a Black Feather performed a thirty minute set before a sizable 9 p.m. audience.  You'll be catching future blog posts on this site about this band, because they're added to my list of bands that I like to catch on a regular basis.

The August 2012 Playlist

The August Playlist

Deep Sea Goes: Waiting
Location: Silverlake Lounge

Cold Showers: BC
Location: Dilettante

Dudes Night: Everybody Woes
Location: Blue Star


Young Turks: Knife Club
Location: Blue Star


Red City Radio: Spinning In Circles Is A Gateway Drug
Location: Blue Star


Tribes: We Were Children
Location: Bootleg


Meg Myers: Curbstomp
Location: Bootleg


Monsters Calling Home: Growing Up
Location: Roxy



Active Child: Hanging On
Location: MOCA


Francisco the Man: Franklin Ave
Location: Satellite


Bonus Tracks

IO Echo: When the Lilies Die
Location: Dilettante


Pu$$y Cow: Pervy
Location: Blue Star 


honeyhoney: Ohio
Location: Roxy 


Zola Jesus: Vessel
Location: MOCA

Cults: Abducted
Location: MOCA


Quick Notes: The songs on The Deepseas Goes latest album are 1. What 2. Are 3. You 4. Waiting 5. For? I went to see IO Echo (love them) and came away finding a new band that I really like: Cold Showers. I want to see them again. Red City Radio came in from Oklahoma City while Tribes came in from the UK. Meg Myers and Francisco the Man were excellent August residency bands. The five bonus tracks are bands covered by Intraffik in the past. Click on the links to read up.

Summer 2012 movies

My Summary of the 2012 Summer movies that I caught.

Highly Recommend

1.  ParaNorman

Fun

2.  Dark Knight Rises
3.  Snow White and the Huntsman
4.  Moonrise Kingdom
5.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
6.  Marvel's The Avengers
7.  The Intouchables
8.  The Expendables 2
9.  Ted
10.  Ruby Sparks

Okay

11.  Prometheus
12.  Premium Rush
13.  Safety Not Guaranteed
14.  Men in Black III

Neutral

15.  Hope Springs
16.  The Amazing Spider-Man
17.  Beasts of the Southern Wild

Not for Me

18.  Brave
19.  Savages
20.  The Campaign

I took a look at my 2011 movie rankings.  I saw a similar number of movies.  Twenty this year and twenty-one last year.  I think both years are weighted about equally when it comes to good and bad movies -- that I saw, of course.  I will say this though, last year I thought there were a number of movies that I felt deserved an Oscar nod.  This year, I'm not sure any of the movies I saw deserve an Oscar nod.  I loved ParaNorman, but I'm not sure that this is an Oscar level film.  Dark Knight Rises was fun and good, but I think an Oscar nominated movie should have less plot holes.  I know critics loved Beasts of the Southern Wild, but I wasn't sold.

A Movie Review: ParaNorman

ParaNorman. A story about a kid who sees ghosts and is called upon to save the town from a vengeful witch who is getting ready to rise from the grave. I haven’t been too keen on animations recently, but this one was well worth it. It had fun characters. It had an interesting storyline. And it also had a good lesson: sometimes we need to re-think our beliefs, because they could be wrong.

I'm Up on Intraffik: Lobster Fest Part II

I'm up on Intraffik with a post on Lobster Fest.

 Part II includes:

NO
JJAMZ
Dum Dum Girls

I'm up on Intraffik: Lobster Fest Part 1

I'm up on Intraffik with a post on Lobster Fest.

Part I highlights:

Sara Radle
Davis Fetter
Damselles & TC4
Youngblood Hawke
TAIKOPROJECT
Lilli Haydn

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Oakland Raiders: 31-34

I only caught 3 quarters of this game as the first quarter of this game wasn't televised due to an over-time Kansas City/New Orleans game.

What one can like:  Big Ben looked solid.

What looked bad:  Where's the defense?

Where's the running game?

Why are their receivers suddenly having problems hanging onto the ball?

Turn it around, Steelers.  You're not looking top notch.

Monsters Calling Home on Jimmy Kimmel

A band I caught by chance at the Roxy got a nice surprise.

Muslic Cleric versus Woman

Sometimes you read a story and you start laughing. If true, CLASSIC.

From Bloomberg (Ladane Nasseri, 19 September 2012), Iran Cleric Pummeled by ‘Badly Covered’ Woman After Warning:

An Iranian cleric said he was beaten by a woman in the northern province of Semnan after giving her a warning for being “badly covered,” the state-run Mehr news agency reported.

The Lonely Wild at Satellite

The Lonely Wild is the residency band at the Satellite.  I love this band and one of the reasons is I never know what to expect.  What do I mean by this?  I could be totally wrong, but sometimes their sets are rocking and sometimes they slow it down.  This one was also unique.  Either they added a number of new songs or they were taking a totally different spin on all their songs.  I swear that I barely recognized a couple of my favorite songs.  Yeah for surprises.  I'm betting the next time I see them there will be a whole new spin on things.  

Chicano Batman at Satellite

Chicano Batman is a sonic spin on a Latin sound.  I saw this band a couple year's back at Bloomfest.  It is nice to know that they're still around.

Noticed #1:  one of the band members was doing stretching exercises before the set started.

Noticed #2:  a friend jumped on stage to take some smart phone photos.

Battleme at Satellite

Has there ever been a bad band that came through Los Angeles from Portland? I haven't seen one yet. Battleme kept he streak alive.  This band just blew the doors off the hinges.  Their opening song highlighted their singer's falsetto voice and their speed rock style.  They questioned if the crowd was too quiet.  I don't know, for a 9 p.m. band, they had the crowd rocking.

Comment of the set about their manager:  He's a f*cking right wing Republican, but he's a great songwriter.

A Movie Review: The Expandables 2

The Expendables 2. This is one of those movies that probably needs footnotes for younger viewers to get all the inside jokes. For example, “I’ll be back” has a prominent role in the movie. This is a movie where guns blast at a rapid pace. In fact, there are at least 2 plot holes in the movie that are most likely purposely written in so that we can get more guns blazing. Just like the first movie, there are so many heads exploding that it made me squimish, but this movie is a thrill ride for those of us who were looking for a summer macho moive.

Up on Intraffik, a Movie Review: The Intouchables

I'm up on Intraffik with a movie review, The Intouchables.

Up on Intraffik, a Movie Review: Ruby Sparks

Posted awhile back, but a good one. Up on Intraffik, a movie review of Ruby Sparks.

Rock Child at Silverlake Lounge

Rock Child was the last band I saw on Monday night at Silverlake Lounge.  I didn't know what to expect.  I noticed that their Facebook page has only about 200 likes.  They must have just set up their Facebook page, because their Myspace page is around 4,000 friends.  The Myspace friends seems like a more appropriate number, because this band is top notch.  This set was like the Sunset Strip meeting Silver Lake.


 

Joe Jane Band at Silverlake Lounge

Joe Jane Band was the second band up at Silverlake Lounge this past Monday.  Though the first band up, Jeff Crosby and the Refugees, on Monday was more Americana, Joe Jane Band brought a punk sensibility to the night.  The guitarist wore a "Showtime Sports" t-shirt.  The drummer a "Musicians Institute" t-shirt.  The bassist a "Nirvana" t-shirt.  The lead singer, a non-nondescript t-shirt.  Why I noticed this, I have no clue.  Over-all, a great set.

Jeff Crosby and the Refugees playing Silverlake Lounge

Jeff Crosby and the Refugees was the first band up on a Monday night at the Silverlake Lounge.  They hit the stage with some good Americana rock.  Lead singer Jeff Crosby just recently returned from a vacation in Columbia.  That's actually interesting as I've started thinking about heading over to Columbia for a vacation.  I've read that the drug wars are dying down and that it is now a much safer country.  He also seems like an individual that has an interest in the community as he briefly talked about a guy who hangs out on the street corner near the Lounge, who likes to play chess.

Comment of the night: This next one will be on our next EP, which we'll put out when we're not broke.

Intraffik Radio: A September 2012 List

I've uploaded some songs to our Intraffik editor. If you catch any of these songs on Intraffik radio, you'll know who put them there.  

Now, Now

Thread
School Friends  

Old Man Markley 

For Better For Worse
Do Me Like You Do  

Seasons

Real Dreams
Light, Lost  

The Janks

Don't Hide Your Eyes
Hands of Time

Jail Weddings

When We're Together (We Let Ourselves Go)
I Thought You Were Someone I Knew

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos: 19-31

And so the NFL starts with Pittsburgh losing a 2nd straight game to the Broncos.  This time it wasn't Tebow, but Manning who guided Denver past the Steelers.  I was seriously hoping Manning would be rusty.  Not so.

Pittsburgh led 10-7 at half time.  The Pittsburgh offense then held the ball for a significant amount of time to start off the 3rd quarter, which I sort of assumed should have kept the defense rested.  But I suppose when one is playing a non-rusty Manning, it doesn't really matter.  A 71 yard pass and you're like, "Mercy."

The Steelers offense looks like it needs a running game.  The Steelers defense looks like it needs to face a quarterback other than Manning or -- let's add -- Brady.

A Movie Review: Premium Rush

Premium Rush. Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bike messenger in New York City. He is given a package to deliver that catches the eye of a dirty cop named Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon).  An entertaining movie develops with the bad guy chasing down our hero and along the way other good guys end up inadvertently siding with the bad cop.  This movie won't go down as a classic, but it still ranks as a crowd-pleaser.  

A Movie Review: Hope Springs

Hope Springs. I was drawn to this movie because of Meryl Streep. Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) and Kay (Meryl Streep) are married, but aren’t married in reality. Kay feels this desire for more.  She comes across a book about marriage written by Dr. Feld (Steve Carell). She finds out that Dr. Feld also works one-on-one with married couples. She signs the two of them up. Arnold resists, but finally breaks down.

The movie shows how over a week this couple is able to repair their marriage. This movie had its moments, but I wouldn’t call it a solid thumbs up. My problem with the movie is that from my vantage point, it is Arnold who seems to be the main reason for the breakdown of the marriage (admittedly, Kay does have some role, but it just seems the focus is on an emotionally detached Arnold). Since both Arnold and Kay appear to be good human beings, I feel that the movie would work better if both shared equal responsibility.  Perhaps this conclusion is due to my being a male.  A female might better see the flaws within Kay.

I did have a laugh at one scene where Arnold argues that they aren’t in the same tax bracket as Dr. Feld’s other clients. Hmm. Arnold is a partner at an accounting firm. Kay is a co-owner of a shop. They live in a two story house. Their kitchen is top notch. Their furniture is top notch. They eat well. They aren’t top 1%, but they probably are in the top 5%.

A Movie Review: Brave

Brave. Okay, first off, Stonehenge is in England not Scotland.  That is only one example of the issues I had with this movie.  A second issue was that the accents were so "authentic" (I'm putting that in air quotes as Scots might disagree, who knows) that I actually had a hard time understanding what was being said on occasion.

The basic story is that Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is a red headed princess who has a tomboy attitude towards life.  Her father Fergus (voiced by Billy Connolly) is the chosen king of the four clans.  The queen is Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson).  The queen is a traditionalist (in terms of the role of women) and wants Merida to act like a lady.  Her father is more accepting of Merida's desires, but defers to his wife.

A day arrives that destroys the family.  The three clans are sending suitors for Merida's hand.  Well, she'll have none of it.  Merida is so upset that with the help of a witch, she casts an evil spell on her mother.

Maybe I'm just getting old and can't take cartoons anymore, but the movie just didn't do it for me.  And then when Merida goes to her mother and says something like, "You were always there for me," I almost gagged.  The mother wasn't evil or anything like that but I'd hardly call her someone who was always there for Merida.  Maybe the mother was there in terms of always wanting to squash Merida's dreams.

A Movie Review: The Campaign

The Campaign. This would seem like a funny film with Will Ferrell (Cam Brady) and Zach Galifianakis (Marty Huggins) going at it during an election. Brady is perhaps described as a Blue Dog Democrat while Huggins is a blend between East Coast Republican with a streak of libertarian values. It even has a couple billionaires in the mix, trying for the Trading Places duo of Randolph and Mortimer Duke. My problem with the movie starts with the political shenanigans. Making ill advised campaign mistakes and exaggerating them is one thing, but having Brady seduce Huggins’ wife is a totally different issue. And also the two billionaires don’t even rank anywhere near the fun of Randolph and Mortimer Duke. This is a No Vote movie.

Kitten, Sky Ferreira and Spaceships at Bootleg

It was off to Bootleg to catch Sky Ferreira, Spaceships and Kitten.

I'm going to highlight this in a future Intraffik post so I'll just leave you with some photos for now.

Sky Ferreira



Spaceships

Kitten

A Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) is damaged both emotionally and physically. With a relatively peaceful Gotham, Batman is allowed to go into seclusion – also aided by the fact that he is accused of murder. This seclusion lasts for a number of years, but evil arises in the form of Bane (Tom Hardy), a muscle man with a desire to destroy Gotham. This is an enjoyable film – helped along by the most beautiful Anne Hathaway. It runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes so make sure you hit the bathroom first, but it didn’t feel like a long movie.

Though I loved The Dark Knight and actually believe it to be the superior movie, I felt it had too my climatic moments. This movie just builds and builds until the end. The reason I feel The Dark Knight is a better movie isn’t so much because it is the Joker vs. Bane. I felt that this current movie just has too many holes in it. Now the following might be considered spoilers; so be warned . . . 1. We learn that Bane destroys Bruce Wayne’s fortune by making fraudulent futures contracts. Why wouldn’t Bruce Wayne go after his money? I know that perhaps money isn’t his main concern and Fox (Morgan Freeman) does make brief mention that the money can probably be returned, but Bruce Wayne seems to just wave him off. So maybe he isn’t concerned about money, but there is another side to the trade and he probably just made Bane a very rich man. 2. I think the timeline simply doesn’t work well. The best example being Wayne’s injured back. Admittedly, “24” had the same timing problems and “24” – excluding a couple seasons – was one of the best action series in TV history, but it still irked.

Is this one of the better summer popcorn movies? Yes, but I just feel a little bit more care to the details was needed.

A Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man. I really wanted to love this movie.  Andrew Garfield does a wonderful job as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, giving Peter Parker a social awkwardness that is endearing while Emma Stone gives Gwen Stacy a sassy flair.  However, I felt there were one too many cheesy moments.  Like Spider-Man telling Gwen Stacy he was going to toss her out the window or crane operators helping out Spider-Man or reptiles heading off to their apparent new leader, The Lizard.  I couldn't help rolling my eyes.  I would say see this movie because of the talented two young actors, but I suspect you might just roll your eyes like I did.

Cults and Lord Huron at MOCA

I headed off to MOCA over a week ago to catch Lord Huron and Cults. This is a rather delayed post due to the fact that I took off on vacation the next day.

Quote of the night (Lord Huron) after there was clapping in the audience after announcing that they were playing their final song:  Is that joy I hear, because this is our last song?

Cults gave a magical performance.  The crowd wanted more, but they reminded us that we'd all have to deal with a massive fine if they went past 10 p.m.

At this point, I think Cults ranks as a Los Angeles band versus a New York band, especially when Madeline's brother lives out here.  Their Facebook page still lists New York as their current location, but I think that needs to get switched over.

Lord Huron

Cults

On Vacation: Photo Series from my last vacation -- Lisbon

On Vacation: Photo Series from my last vacation -- Lisbon