New Year's Eve: Pomona and Music

It was off to a secret location in Pomona for New Year's Eve. At this location, I got to catch Horror Squad, Kids Say the Darndest Things, Discretions and Rad Company. It is nice to head out somewhere where everyone appears to know each other.  This secret location has that Kiss or Kill feel to it.  Someone brought cupcakes.  Another brought some celebratory items.  And honestly, I think we celebrated 2012 about 12 seconds too early.

Noticed:  just a little ways off, in the middle of nowhere, a large bounce house was set up and a group of kids were having fun.  So two groups in a secret location were celebrating 2012.

Horror Squad



Kids Say the Darndest Things



Discretions



Rad Company

Raw Geronimo and Josh Boyd & the Bedroom Band playing at The Mime

I'm not sure I've ever really gotten a full set of Raw Geronimo. I caught a brief set at The Standard and then saw them perform at Origami Records. I noticed that they were playing at The Mime and so I decided I definitely needed to go. First up for me was Josh Boyd and the Bedroom Band and their mask wearing front man.  Then came Raw Geronimo and the let it all hang out lead singer.  What a fun band with ancient rhythms meant to send the fan base into a trance. 

Josh Boyd and the Bedroom Band



Raw Geronimo

My Top 10 list of 2011 Bands

Okay, so as 2011 started out, I was concerned that I wasn't seeing that many new bands that I found interesting.  Then the middle of the year hit and my Los Angeles music life improved.  It improved to the point that my initial 2011 list of candidates needed significant cuts to get down to ten (ish).

Here's my criteria on putting a band on my list:  I try to see a band twice before putting them on this list.  So I initially saw some of these bands in 2010.

Best Coast. I saw them at the 2010 FYF Fest. I saw them again at Make Music Pasadena. Their sound makes you happy to be alive on a summer day.

Black Flamingo. So you want to feel gothic? Do you want to be swept away by chants that cry out and then disappear?

The Child. I caught this band, because Lauren Rocket joined them. And then I kept going back and back again. 'Boomerange' will hook you.

Family of the Year. Americana at its finest.

He's My Brother, She's My Sister. Expressions of joy. You can tell they love life (I guess I should clarify this as being when they're on stage as I don't know them personally).

Lonely Trees. Monsters are Waiting II? That is perhaps not appropriate to say, but if you wanted to see Annalee Fery back on stage . . .

Love Grenades. I saw them at Silverlake Jubilee and fell in love.

The Mots Nouveaux. This is an Aaron Beaumont project that is still focused on the 20s, but with a female lead.

Raining Jane. One can sit back at Hotel Cafe and enjoy.

Sabrosa Purr. I saw this band a couple years back. I thought they were okay, but not anything special. Then fast forward and I say sometimes it takes a band a little time to find their sound. Wow.  Or maybe I just didn't realize how special they were at the time.  Whatever, just go check them out.

Extra:

We Are The World. I only saw this band once at Silverlake Jubilee. Unreal.

And just a quick look at my list from 2010 (yeah, last year my ten turned into 12):

Cold Cave
Future Ghost
Lonely Wild
Lucy Schwartz
Nico Vega
Rocket
Seasons
The Like
Gliss
The Submarines
High Life Cavaliers
Eastern Conference Champions

He's My Brother, She's My Sister at Harvard & Stone

It was off to Harvard and Stone to catch He's My Brother, She's My Sister.  Before going to Harvard and Stone, I wanted to know when they planned to hit the stage.  I went to their facebook page and I saw that they planned to go on at 11 p.m. sharp.  I figured that in "musician talk" that meant 11:30 p.m., but I decided to show up at 10:45 p.m. just in case.  And would you know it, they started right at 11 p.m.

They performed two sets Thursday night.  I only stayed for the first set -- I'm one of those folks that goes to bed way too early.  Their first set was just over 30 minutes.  And it was a beautiful set.  Tap dancing.  Bass thumping.  Brother-Sister pairing.  And an enthusiastic crowd.  What more can one want -- other than the ability to stay out longer to catch a second set, so so sad I wasn't able to do so.  I hope them the best on their upcoming tour.  I'll be sure to catch them when they come back to Los Angeles.

Future Dancing and Cody the Band at The Bootleg

A pleasant night at The Bootleg with Future Dancing and Cody the Band. Though it was post-Christmas, there was still that feeling of Christmas cheer. And the two bands presented sets that felt like one could hang around the fireplace while listening.




Cody the Band




Future Dancing

Queen Kwong, Hexham Heads and The Singularity at Club Moscow

As usually, Club Moscow booked a wide range of music genres on this specific Wednesday night. First up was the sophistical dance music of The Singularity. I say sophisticated, because the lead singer had a glass of wine. Not a slam. Just a style statement. And I'm pretty sure I was hanging out in line with their friends. We then had Queen Kwong with lead singer, Carré Callaway, saying that she had no funny jokes for us. This change in bands had us going from dance to rock.  As the set came to a close, we were entertained with the awesome screaming style that Queen Kwong throws at their audience. Did Carré notice someone texting during her last song and decide to scream into that person’s face? Best of luck to Queen Kwong as they head off to New York to record an album.  I'm looking for to the release.  Ending the night was Hexham Heads. A shoegaze sounding band with a willingness to slow things down.  And so a fun night at Club Moscow: dance to rock to shoegaze.

The Singularity



Queen Kwong



Hexham Heads

Hank and Cupcakes, The Mo-odds and FIM at Los Goblos

At Los Gobles, FIM, The Mo-odds and Hank and Cupcakes played. This was my first time seeing FIM. The Mo-odds rocked it as always. The interesting find for the night was Hanks and Cupcakes.  They’re from New York, which immediately reminded me of Matt and Kim.  Both have a female drummer who draws you in with their charisma. Well, okay, Matt plays keys and Hank plays bass. I guess I should just say that they are both from the New York area and are two piece bands and both bands make you want to dance and both bands make me wonder about how cool it might be to hang out in New York for a month to catch its local music scene. Though I will admit there was not a ton of dancing at Los Gobles, but I blame it on the weather. Yes, we were inside at Los Gobles, but it was still freezing. I think everyone had iced up and weren’t able to give Hank and Cupcakes the Los Angeles welcome they deserved. My suggestion to Hank and Cupcakes: I think you should play Club Moscow.  I'm betting the audience would love you there (not that we didn't love you at Los Gobles).

FIM



The Mo-odds



Hank and Cupcakes

Manhattan Murder Mystery and Jonny Corndawg at The Satellite

Satellite. First off was Jonny Corndawg, a travelling musician. He gave us a country inspired set that had the audience tuned in. He told folks to say hello as he wanted to make some friends out in Los Angeles. Hopefully, some did. Manhattan Murder Mystery hit the stage next. Now the audience went crazy for them. A small mosh pit immediately formed. And as is the norm for Manhattan Murder Mystery, they had a ton of musicians on stage with them. I am under the impression that they are a three person band. For this night, they had five others join them on stage. And to go with their free form of what a band is, random folks walked up on stage, delivering drinks and just standing around for a bit. To end the set, they had a number of folks join them on stage, dancing around to the craziness of their music. As always, their lead singer slipped away as the music ended. My question: what’s up with the vomiting on stage? Props for singing through an illness.

Jonny Corndawg



Manhattan Murder Mystery

A Movie Review: A Dangerous Method

A Dangerous Method. This is a well made movie, but a bore. It looks into the relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). Though I found it a bore, I think this is a movie that those who are into psychology will really enjoy. There is a lot of talk about psychoanalysis. If you're someone like me who went to the movie more to see Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen and aren't into the theories of psychology, you might feel like taking a nap. For those unlike me, I could see how you could love the theories that come out of this movie.

Eastern Conference Champions, Happy Hollows and Gothic Tropic at Bootleg

The normal door/ticket folks were back at The Bootleg versus my previous visit. Cool. The local music scene world was back to normal.

Gothic Tropic hit the stage first. They're a three piece band where I would say they're all playing to their own sound. And yet it all works. This is probably why they're called Gothic Tropic.

Eastern Conference Champions came up second. As always, they rocked the audience. I over-heard one conversation where this was said, "They're one of only two local bands that I'll catch every time." The second band was Vanaprasta. Yeah, I love Eastern Conference Champions. As happens maybe once or twice a month, I noticed that I had a huge smile on my face. They introduced a Christmas song towards the end of their set. I believe you can download it from their Facebook page.

The Happy Hollows ended the night.  Lead singer Sarah must have one of the sweetest personalities of Los Angeles bands.  After about three or four songs, one of her guitar strings broke (per Sarah, this was the first time it ever happened to her while on stage).  As the last bars of the song were being played, she ran off stage and into the back room.  Her band mate ran after her, but she quickly re-emerged with another guitar.  He thought she'd gotten electrocuted.  She replied, "Being electrocuted would have been much worse."  As for their sound, they seem to be changing it up just a bit.  I was waiting for Sarah to go crazy on stage.  There were those moments, but their sound was just a little bit less frenzy.  It'll be interesting seeing how they transform only the next year.  

Gothic Tropic



Eastern Conference Champions



The Happy Hollows

The Child and Alright Alright at Three Clubs

It was off to Three Clubs to catch The Child and Alright Alright. I walked in and first off said hello to Lauren Rocket. It was then off to the other room to catch the back end of Alright Alright. The band makes use of the trumpet. I always love a band that has a trumpet. The Child, as I've probably mentioned, is now one of my favorite local bands. Interesting how quickly sets finish when you're watching one of your favorite bands. Noticed: IO Echo walked into the house.

Comment from the night: I'm not that kind of girl.

Alright Alright



The Child

Huffington Post Top 30 2011 Songs: three Los Angeles bands

From the Huffington Post (Kristi York Wooten, 13 December 2011) we have The 30 Best Songs of 2011 .

Three local LA Bands make this top 30 list. 1. Active Child. 9. Foster the People. 13. Group Love. And I have to mention an FYF favorite at 26, Cold Cave.

A Movie Review: The Artist

The Artist. It is a silent movie shot in black and white. Perhaps the only difference between this movie and movies from the 1920s is that there is a soundtrack versus a live band. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent screen movie star. After the premier of one of his movies, he has a chance encounter with Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). Peppy has the look and soon finds that she is making a career in the movie business. When sound arrives, she really takes off. She is the new face of the new technology. George; however, is placed into retirement. His wife leaves him. He finds himself living in a small apartment. His life is falling apart.

I enjoyed this movie though perhaps not so much as to say it should win best picture. I wish I could read lips better. But don’t worry if you’re as bad as I am. Key dialogue is highlighted just as they were in the 1920s. There are also very interesting themes in the movie. Sometimes great people need to learn to swallow their pride. Sometimes you just shouldn’t write someone off just because times have changed. Sometimes you find out who truly loves you when times are tough.