squaregirls

when I catch you upside down

2008-12-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

if you missed the last minute No Age show at Pehrspace last night - don't despair. cause tonight is your second chance to see them for free @ the Troubadour.
this show is presented by Shockhound so visit them at here to RSVP to get in for free!!
and if you've never seen No Age live, trust us when we say don't miss them. we missed their free 2am bridge show at SXSW last year and we're still kicking ourselves for it.

In the end you'll still be you

2008-11-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well...it's been an interesting week. We've seen America finally take a stand and put the most deserving man in the highest position in the world. We've also seen California give into misinformation and deceit and make an egregious mistake. We pissed away a major opportunity to stand up and show the world we would fight against discrimination and intolerance and show that all people regardless of sexual orientation are created equal. But some of us are still standing and there is no doubt the fight will continue.

And now for a show plug...
If you feel like celebrating Obama's victory, or cursing California's ignorance - join us tonight! We'll be djing in between sets at the Scene for Black Kites, The Health Club, Thailand and Avi Buffalo

It's going to be a great show and we hope you will join us!

Also, I've been streaming dublab for the better part of the day. Listen here and support the proton drive and squaregirl Marion!

~sqg//kristen

And Both Agreed We All Had a Smashing Time

2008-11-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

In what will, I'm sure come as shocking news to all of you who check in here regularly, I have left myself not nearly enough time to create the sort of all encompassing update post that I need to create before running off to where it is that I need to be. In this case, it just so happens that where I need to be is dublab, by noon, so that I can play a few records, and encourage you to donate money so that we can stay on the air, er internet. Surely you know what I mean, dublab would really like to continue to exist, and we can't do that without you help. Please click here to listen, and then here to donate. Thank you.

Then tonight, Squaregirls are presenting/DJ-ing this show at the Scene Bar:

Squaregirl Kristen, and Squareboy Chris have done a lot to help this come together, they are pretty crazy about all of the bands, and would really love nothing more than to share that with you. Since I woke up this morning with something that bears a suspicious resemblance to the stomach flu, I think I will do us all a favor and sit this one out.

Ah, and last but not least, there are finally pictures from last month's Hungry Beat! online. Glance through them, sigh over all of the fun you missed (or relive the fun if you were there,) and mark your calendar for November 29th because we definitely want to see you at the next one!

Here was our playlist from October to offer, perhaps, even more incentive?

Hungry Beat! Playlist 10/25
Michael:

Always - Love and Death in Metroland
Action Painting! - These Things Happen
Jilted John - True Love
Vic Godard and Subway Sect - Vertical Integration
Teenage Filmstars - Apologize
Television Personalities - Smashing Time
Echo & the Bunnymen - Villiers Terrace (Peel Session)
Echo & the Bunnymen - Read it in Books (Peel Session)
Felt - Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow

Marion:

Black Tambourine - Throw Aggi Off the Bridge
Tullycraft - Josie
Soup Dragons - Whole Wide World
Orange Juice - Can't Help Myself
The Temptaions - Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue
White Sisters - Nothing Out There
Cashmeres - Showstopper
Martha & the Vandellas - I Promise to Wait My Love
The Pastels - Sit on it Mother
Horowitz - Tracyanne
Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill
Heavenly - Tool

YY:

St. Christopher - And I Wonder
Felt - Spanish House
Teenage Fanclub - Every Picture I Paint
Rocketship - I Love You Like the Way That I Used To
Shop Assistants - What a Way to Die
Mighty Mighty - Law
The June Brides - Cold
The Long Blondes - Never to be Repeated
Comet Gain - Baby's Alright
Dolly Mixture - How Come You're a Hit With the Boys Jane?
Love is All - Wishing Well

B-Rok

The Four Tops - Don't Bring Back Memories (RIP, Levi Stubbs)
Towanda Barnes - You Don't Mean It
Sunny & the Sunliners - If I Could See You Now
The Exciters - Blowin' Up My Mind
Lorenzo Manley - Swoop Down on You
The Superlatives - Lonely in a Crowd
Belle & Sebastian - Dirty Dream 2
Orange Juice - Lovesick
Derek Martin - Sly Girl
Marvin & Tammi - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
The Vontastics - I'll Never Say Goodbye
The Impressions - You've Been Cheatin'
The Pastels - Comin' Through
The Shangri-Las - Give Him a Great Big Kiss

Maximo Park:

The Wave Pictures - I Want You to Walk All Over Me
Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times
The Beach Boys - Do It Again
The Servants - The Sun a Small Star
The Fall - C.R.E.E.P (12" remix)
My Bloody Valentine - Off Your Face
The Go-Betweens - Newton Told Me
Beat Happening - Noise
The Rubinoos - Hard to Get
Bob & Fred - I'll be on my Way
Serge Gainsbourg - Requiem Pour un Con
Dusty Springfield - Stay Awhile
The Research - My Baby Knows When I'm Sad
The Flatmates - Could Be in Heaven
The Wedding Present - My Favorite Dress
The Zombies - Time of The Season
The Siddeleys -What Went Wrong This Time
Jeremy Jay - Airwalker

Michael:

New Order - Love Vigilantes
The Stone Roses - She Bangs the Drums
The Happy Mondays - Olive Oil (Peel Session)
The Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays (Peel Session)
The Smiths - What Difference Does it Make (Peel Session)

Jukebox:

Orange Juice - Rip it Up (Long Version)
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
T Rex - Solid Gold Easy Action
Sparks - Angst in My Pants
The Primitives - Crash
Blondie - X Offender
The Pastels - Anne Boleyn
Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes
Belle & Sebastian - We Are The Sleepyheads
Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi
Serge Gainsbourg - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Altered Images - Don't Talk to Me About Love

... As per usual there was more, but we ran out of space to write it all down. Maximo Park closed the night on a rather fun note for us. Huge thanks again to those guys for stopping by to hang out with us and play some good songs!

Resident Hungry Beat! DJ Michael deserves a huge amount of credit as well for being very conscious of the fact that our club night fell on the 4th anniversary of John Peel's untimely passing, and paying tribute during his sets. So many of the bands that we love and whose records we play regularly greatly benefited from Peel's influence. Thank you again Michael for making sure to acknowledge that!

We'll see you all again next month!

Love,
Hungry Beat!

Oh, and Hungry Beat is on Facebook now, so join our group group!

Alright, that really is all that I have for you today, I promise.

~sqg marion

Another Summer Slipped Away Without Me Noticing

2008-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hello!

So, in the hopes of somehow discovering an escape route from the severe writer's block that I have been trapped inside for the past several weeks I thought that a well timed promo post was in order.

If you are in Southern California this weekend you should take full advantage of your opportunity to see the sure to be fabulous Crystal Stilts, and Cause Co-Motion up to three times this weekend. Both bands are clearly doing their part to showcase just how exciting of a town Brooklyn is for indiepop right NOW, and both bands are releasing records for Slumberland. OH, and on a related side note I just noticed that official release date for the debut full length from perhaps the most exciting (Brooklyn based, naturally) indiepop band in the country right now, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart has been set for February third. Just a few days before my birthday! But it would be far to easy to get sucked into making this a post about how great the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are, and how great Slumberland releases tend to be in general. Please allow me to shift my focus back to the two great Slumberland bands that will be in town this weekend.

First of all, spend your Halloween in indiepop's Southern California home base, Oxnard. Not only will you get to catch some of Brooklyn's finest, you also have the opportunity to catch such squaregirls favorites as Catwalk, The Tartans, and Sea Lions, and um, me DJ-ing. A-hah, there's that element of self promotion that you've come to know and expect from a squaregirls post. I'm truly excited about this show, and really honored to have been asked to play records around some of my favorite bands of the moment. And, I'll be DJ-ing alongside one of my fellow Hungry Beat! cohorts Brian Cunningham (B-rok.) Brian is one of my favorite people to DJ with as we seem to play the perfect opposite ratio of pop to soul, and since Brian has so many good records his presence on the decks mathematically increases the fun level in the room by somewhere around 300 percent. Here are the details:

Friday October 31 - Special Halloween Show
@ The Kenji Shack 4300 Santa Clara Ave.
Oxnard, CA 93030 For Directions: (805) 485-1415
7PM/ $3/ ALL AGES

For the hardcore fans (or those of you who reside in San Diego) you can catch the Crystal Stilts/ca-USE co-MOTION portion of things at the Che Cafe on Saturday November 1st...

... But all of you Los Angeles folks are probably going to want to take Saturday to rest up for the action on Sunday at Part Time Punks:

Indiepop nights at PTP always tend to be something special, and I have a feeling that this one will be no exception!

We'll hope to see you out and about this weekend!

Oh, and I'm finally catching up on my finances, which means I've been able to order quite a few new records, and if you are at all interested in my thoughts on some of those records please check here as I may have just beaten this writer's block thing. At least for now...

~ sqg marion

let this groove set in your shoes

2008-10-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

this is going to be quick and involve a large amount of cutting and pasting. maybe it's something in the soon to be Halloween air - the forces of evil have once again cut off my internet (and phone line!) so i'm currently milking off someone's wireless network and the connection is rather spotty. you know what's a sure bet though?? all the fun you're going to have this weekend!

~ tomorrow night @ spaceland ~
Monolator's Don't Dance record release!!!
Squaregirls are co-presenting the Monolator’s record release show with our beloved RFSL (head over to RFSL for an in depth interview with Monolator's main man Eli Chartoff). They’ll be joined by Correatown, You Me & Iowa, and Summer Darling at Spaceland.
Squaregirls have had the immense pleasure to hear an advance of Don't Dance and it's goddamn good. Read WIF's review of it here.
But we guarantee you that nothing, and we mean nothing, compares to seeing the Monolator's live. It’s going to be an amazing night and we hope you can join us!

then head on over to pehrspace for the second installment of hungry beat!
sqg Marion’s & friend's monthly dance night which features a revolving cast of DJ's spinning new and classic indie pop and northern soul.

Ronettes or Mo-dettes?
"Million Tears" or "Tears of a Clown?"
"Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch," or Honeybunch?

No need to make such difficult choices. Hear it all this Saturday as we mix and match some of our favorite indiepop, and northern soul related dance tracks!

With Special Guest DJs: the lads from MAXIMO PARK!
and DJ Jukebox from Substance!

Also, do be sure to bring your beverage of choice since Pehrspace does not contain a bar. A-hem. (This also means it doesn't have to end at 2am--it's really up the madness in your area.)

For the most specific directions, head over here.

See you Saturday!

And if that ain't enough Indiepop for ye, then see you Sunday, too!

it's going to be a great weekend!
~sqg kristen

The Girl's Alright with Us

2008-10-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's before 10 AM, I've had way to much coffee, and I've listened to the unbelievably fantastic new Love is All single, "Wishing Well," about eight times now. I think it's going to be a good day!

I'm considerably more certain that it will be a good evening since squaregirl Kristen and I are dj-ing here:

O.k. I'm resisting the urge to play "Wishing Well" one more time, and letting the rest of the Love is All portion of my itunes play itself out so that I can focus my attention on informing you to what is sure to be a pretty great show tonight. The ultra-feminine electro-pop of Hearts of Palm UK has inspired us squaregirls to dig through our records to find our best girl related songs, i.e. all girls, girl singer, girl in the title, etc. to play for the portions of their album release show tonight that we are responsible for. Add Fol Chen - who never play the same show twice, but always play something interesting - to this mix, and The Sweet Hurt - who I know absolutely nothing about, but the L.A. blog force seems to love - to the mix, and you've got what I think is the potential for quite a fun party...

... So, we'll see you tonight?

Rip It Up And...

2008-10-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, squaregirl Marion here! It is quite late, and I am quite tired, and I have to be at work kind of early tomorrow. In other words I will keep this post brief.

I started a new blog. I've had a bit of trouble focusing lately. There have been so many things that I've wanted to write about, yet, I couldn't seem to get the words onto the page. I'm just barely keeping up with my Web in Front column, but I would prefer to be writing more than the every five weeks or so that that entails. I thought that a new blog might be a worthwhile experiment. This new blog, Paint the Words in Pastel Blue, will ideally become a nice mix of reviews, and other random musings about pop songs. It is also safe to say that there might be a slight indiepop slant to this new site...

Check it out here, if you are so inclined. The first post also happens to be my first attempt at a straightforward album review.

Squaregirls will remain, any other squaregirl can post anything she wishes to post here. I, however, am going to leave this blog strictly to promote any projects that we might be taking on, and/or to alert you to DJ gigs, shows we are presenting, radio sessions, etc.

So on that note, my latest Web In Front Column is posted here.

And there is a Creation Records tribute set that I was a part of in the dublab archive now here. My friends Laura and Maura (the Auras) joined me for this one. They were a lot of fun to do a radio show with. My opinions about the overall wonderfulness of Creation Records may not be quite as firm as the appear to be in this session, but it's still an overall worthwhile statement to make. Most early (even some mid) Creation is very, very good. Plus it's a great thing to always be learning, reassessing your opinions, and the things that you believe to be true. Right?

Oh, and speaking of dublab I will be on from 4pm to 6pm on October 14th as part of this upcoming week's Tuesday Transmissions. I'd be honored if you would let me provide a small part of the soundtrack to your work day. It's far enough away too, that I could probably be persuaded to take a request or two. In fact, two hours is quite a bit of space to fill so requests are more than welcome!

The next night, October 15th we will be DJ-ing the Hearts of Palm UK's album release show. I'll add a more proper post about how much fun that has the potential to be, along with the flier sometime early next week.

Alright, I think I've covered everything that i can think of, and my exhaustion is bordering on delirium, so goodnight.

~sqg marion

Sorting Through...

2008-10-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

O.k., I'll admit to being a bit lazy for just reposting our myspace blog about our first Hungry Beat! night here. I think it says it all though. Also, below the playlist are some of my personal favorite pictures of the night!

HUNGRY BEAT PLAYLIST 9/27:

Each DJ's first set is posted below. The music went on quite a bit longer, and by the end we were doing things a bit more tag team style. We'll probably go further in that direction in the future, as it's really fun that way. It is worth noting that we did play the Pat Powdrill song "Do It" that was sent to us courtesy of our club night hero, How Does It Feel to be Loved later on in the evening. If anyone has any questions about anything else that was played, or if you want to see the rest of the play list posted here, please do not hesitate to ask! We had the best time on Saturday night, and that is entirely thanks to all of the wonderful people who came out to dance with us. Please join us at Pehrspace on October 25th when do it all over again!

Love,
Hungry Beat!

Marion:
The Pastels - Heaven's Above
Melody Dog - Futuristic Lover
Courtney Love (Lois Maffeo/Pat Maley) - The Second Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Honeybunch - Hey Blue Sky The Lucksmiths - Smokers in Love
14 Iced Bears - Balloon Song
My Bloody Valentine - Paint a Rainbow
Poptarts - Girly Pop
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday
The Flatmates - Could be in Heaven
Razorcuts - Storyteller
The Wake - Talk About the Past

YY:
Girls at Our Best! - Fashion
Felt - Ballad of the Band
Biff Bang Pow! - Someone Stole My Wheels
Revolving Paint Dream - Green Sea Blue
Jazzateers - Heartbeat
Too Much - Silex Pistols
The Siddeleys - Sunshine Thuggery
The Wake - Crush the Flowers
Shop Assitants - I Don't Want to be Friends With You
Modettes - White Mice
Love is All - Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up, Fall Out
Househunters - Dorsal Fin
Aislers Set - Mission Bells

Goodwill:
The Monkees - Hold On Girl
The Olympics - Same Old Thing
Stevie Wonder - Aint That Asking For Trouble
The Radiants - Choo Choo
The Supremes - When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
Jay & the Techniques - Keep the Ball Rolling
The Marvelettes - Your Love is Gonna Save Me
The Parliments - (I Wanna) Testify
The Ronettes - You Came, You Saw, You Conquered

Michael Stock:

The Creation - Making Time
The Stone Roses - Here It Comes
Primal Scream - It Happens
New Order - Ceremony
The Flatmates - Happy All the Time
My Bloody Valentine - Sunny Sundae Smile
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Never Understand
Jesse Garon - Presence
14 Iced Bears - Inside
The Pooh Sticks - Heroes & Villians
The Shop Assistants - Safety Net
The Wedding Present - Brassneck
Beat Happening - Look Around
The Beach Boys - Help Me Rhonda
Biff Bang Pow - There Must be a Better Life
The La's - There She Goes
Big Star - September Gurls

B-Rok:
The Jellybeans - You Don't Mean Me No Good
The Vontastics - Never Let Our Love Grow Cold
Orange Juice - Rip It Up
Jean Battle - I've Got to Come In
Saint Etienne - Your in a Bad Way
Darell Banks - Our Love is in the Pocket
The Uptights - Shy Guy
The Isley Brothers - Why When Love is Gone
Jay & the Techniques - Strawberry Shortcake
Brigitte Bardot - Ca Pourrait Changer
The Go Betweens - Spring Rain
The Falcons - (I'm a Fool) I Must Love You

You can view more pictures from the night, here. We'll see you on the 25th!

Hungry Beat!

2008-09-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

I have to make this probably the quickest post as i am due to leave for work in exactly eight minutes! Think I can make it?

I'd love to re-iterate how excited we are, how much we want to see your beautiful faces, and how we want even more to see you killer dance moves! I'm down to two minutes though.

I chat a little bit about the club night here. The more specific details on the night are listed in that very generous blog post from our friends at Classical Geek Theater as well!

If you would like an audio preview, you can find that here.

O.k. well, I am officially running late, but it will be worth every second if you stop by to dance with us tomorrow night!

~sqg marion

shoot the whole day down

2008-09-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

I don't really like Mondays all that much. Particularly when I’ve just been off of work for a week. And even more particularly when I’ve spent that week up in the Pacific Northwest. I miss Seattle already.

The only thing saving my Monday (and that will make me brave the LA smog - cough cough) is a good show. And such is one tonight at the Echo. It's the second to the last of Death to Anders' Monday night residencies. It's an all-acoustic show with One Trick Pony, the Happy Hollows and Mad Gregs. Oh acoustic...a little calmer, a little more mellow and unplugged - kinda like Seattle.

Come join us tonight!

~sqg kristen

Vote With Your Heart (and Your Heart Should be Saying Monolators)

2008-09-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

I've made no secret of the fact that the the Monolators are one of my favorite bands. So I regret that I've not yet jumped on the bandwagon with all of the other concerned citizens who are urging you to vote for them to play the Detour festival. Today is the last day to vote so PLEASE DO SO NOW:

vote here!

In other news, I'm DJ-ing this weekend!!! It promises to be quite a party with several DJs who are far more talented than I am, bands, and this very neat flier.

Stop by and dance with us on Saturday night!

~sqg Marion

Someday (I Think) I'll be Dignified and Old

2008-09-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to Forever Breathes the Lonely Word a lot within the past few days. I still haven't the faintest idea how to become intelligent enough to write about Felt...

...

I think it might have been too long since I've written things here. I'm just beginning to really take notice of the fact that a considerable part of my daily routine is missing - and I miss it! Trouble is, I haven't had too much time to muse obsessively about any single pop song, or find new bands, or well anything that might keep a music blog interesting and/or current.

Today, as I am finally getting back into the routine of reading other people's blogs, I read this. I very rarely burst out in a loud fit of laughter while reading something, but this breif post made me do just that. I'm a big advocate of the fact that the set up, and wording of a piece of writing can make it's humor far more effective than it's actual content. I am fairly confident that even if I had no idea what sha - la - la was, who Matt Haynes was, or even what a flexi disc was, that post still would have made me laugh out loud. I hope it has a similar effect on any of you who might be reading this.

Heaven is Above Your Head is a blog that for all intents and purposes I should have starting reading ages ago. I've known of it's existence for all of this year, and that it was one of the best indiepop blogs out there. Despite my lack of an office job to keep me in front of a computer all day, I don't know why it has taken me this long to add it to my mental list of things to read regularly, I guess these things just happen sometimes? I also guess that it is best to not search for an explanation, but to just be happy that you have finally found whatever it is that it took you so long to find.

Ahem, part of the reason that I haven't had much time to write here, or catch up with the newest posts from other blogs is that I've been researching, and writing my most recent column for Web in Front. You can read it here if you are so inclined. It has a lot to do with the role that identity (gender identity in particular) has played in the world of pop music, primarilly within the context of indiepop. It's a subject that I would eventually like to explore much further (hopefully) on an academic level, but I think this is a decent first effort. Anyway, I just though that it might be worth sharing with you here...

Lot's of DJ gigs coming up this month (including the first night of Hungry Beat! Sept 27 at Pehrspace!!!) so expect plenty of posts of the shameless self promotion variety. Maybe even a few of the "I'm in love with a new band or song variety..."

Oh goodness I hope so...

~sqg Marion

Now They've Launched Another Sattelite... Tell Me, What Does This One Do?

2008-08-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have a few new listening routines these days. My computer routine involves being glued to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Myspace page, my pre-bedtime routine is to listen to the Razorcuts album Storyteller LP (usually side one several times on repeat,) and my walking routine involves repeatedly listening to the recently released Phil Wilson Ep Industrial Strength.

Since I have just written about the excellent new Pains of Being Pure at Heart songs (see the previous post,) and since I cannot yet foresee myself writing anything about Razorcuts without venturing into uncomfortably geeky, fan-girl territory (even more so than usual) this leaves the terribly impressive new Phil Wilson Ep. It's four songs distributed amongst a double 7". They are all covers. The artists covered are Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle, S/T, and Faust. The songs that are covered are all re-imagined as pop songs. I find it difficult to stop listening to them. Phil Wilson really does have one of the most engaging singing voices that I have encountered so far in my musical journey. I always thought that this could be mostly attributed to just how well written his own lyrics are. Though with his recent cover of "Lee Remick" in mind, and now this collection of covers that are considerably further removed from songs that one might expect Phil Wilson to cover proves him to be one of those rare artists that can easily make any song his own. Honestly, his compelling voice, and excellent job of uncovering a hidden pop song have convinced me that I have surely not listened to Throbbing Gristle attentively enough in the past.

You can order this new Ep here. Notice also, the fantastic artwork contributed by Alistair Fitchett. If you are not familiar with Alistair Fitchett's art, writing, and/or record label you can catch up on it all over here.

~sqg marion

Sounds Like a Mountain Range in Love...

2008-08-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hey! Have you visited the Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Myspace page lately? If not, please leave this page right now, go over there and listen to all of the fantastic new songs they have added, then come back here and leave comments so that we can discuss exactly how fantastic those songs are. "Young Adult Friction" is now in solidly in the running with the Lodger track "The Good Old Days," and the Bridal Shop's "Violation" single to become my favorite song of 2008. I can't find any evidence to prove this, but I desperately want to believe that "Young Adult Friction" will be the B-side to the "Everything With You" 7" that Slumberland Records is planning to release in October. I am just desperate to have this song on vinyl so that I can play it loudly with every intention of making everyone who happens to be in the room that I am playing it in dance as though they might never have the chance to dance again!

~sqg marion

Staying Up, Eating Candy Floss

2008-08-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

My life as a record collector never fails to provide me with surprises. I find myself paying much more than I would even consider paying for something in a store just because I am caught up in the moment of an Ebay bidding war. Of course I also have lists of 7"s that I would love to own, but that I also assume I will never see in real life. Courtney Love is a perfect example of this. Courtney Love released only three 7" EPs in the late 80s, and contributed a few songs to various comps for various labels. After a few years, the project disolved. Naturally having only read about this project on the internet I assumed that these songs would be impossible to track down. So far I have found two out of the three singles while casually browsing at record stores. I have still so far spent less than ten dollars total on Courtney Love singles.

I guess this would be a good time to mention that the Courtney Love that I am referring to is a band that was comprised of Lois Maffeo (more often known simply as Lois) and Pat Maley who went on to run the Yo-Yo studio, and label in Olympia. There is no definitive story as to how Lois Maffeo, and Courtney Michelle Harrison both came to use the name Courtney Love. I suppose the most popular one is that they decided as roommates in Olympia that Courtney Love would be a perfect rock and roll name. The songs that the band Courtney Love recorded sound pretty much nothing like the songs that the person Courtney Love recorded. They actually sound quite a bit like Lois' solo material which is mostly comprised of slightly off-kilter acoustic guitar, strummed in sweet, simple, dance-able rhythms. There are plenty of lyrics about crushes (or lack there of) handled in a smart, honest way. Some of my favorite things to hear in pop songs.

I can promise that you will hear at least one Courtney Love (band) song if you come to this thing tonight:

this wednesday!

Girlie action is defined by sexy, sophisticated, lovely ladies mixing the latest and greatest- we're celebrating new faces square girls, and la sandy on the decks while missing our own, dj mexi-kim, who’s record digging (vacationing) abroad- la sandy lays down thick disco funk and hip hop tracks while the dynamic duo square girls play an eclectic assortment dance floor fillers, and indie obscurities- be there

the Broadway Bar
830 S Broadway Blvd
Downtown LA @ 8th St

repost!
please

I will be DJ-ing, and since it's an all girl night I'm going to do my best to keep it to at least 80 percent female artists (I'm totally counting male/female duets) and songs that have the word girl in them.

We really hope to see you tonight!

~sqg Marion

That's J- Double O - S -E

2008-08-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to San Francisco one of my friends discovered/became mildly obsessed with a malt liquor energy drink called Joose. It's like Sparks, but has a higher alcohol content and is flavored to taste kind of like, well, juice. When we returned we were directed by another friend to the Joose Website, and the wide variety of amazing theme songs that they have created. Naturally someone has turned all of those theme songs into a montage on YouTube:

The brilliant part is how they manage to work the alcohol content into the songs.

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I just haven't had much time to rummage through the internets for interesting new bands, or spend any significant length of time processing my feelings for old pop songs. Though I do have a new article posted on Web in Front. You can read it for yourself here, if you feel so inclined... It's actually more about the way people develop their relationships with pop songs. More musings about specific songs and bands will be forthcoming.

Oh, but Tullycraft did finally add their cover of "On Tape" to their Myspace page. Check it out here. Now if they would only plan a West Coast tour...

Both Tartans singles are officially for sale. Both are worth picking up due to the outstanding artwork, and the sound quality that can only be found when you listen to a song on vinyl. Order them here, and here please.

I should add, in the interest of full disclosure, that that is the last mention of how fantastic the Tartans are as a band around these parts. Through the course of booking so many shows for them (you know, cause they are so fantastic as a band) I've actually gotten to be pretty good friends with all of them. Therefore it seems kind of strange to go on about this amazing band that I'm hanging out with a lot. I think I was beginning to sound redundant at this point anyway. You can still count on me for updates though. Really, them and the entire YAY! roster are about 75 percent of what keeps me paying attention to new music, and somewhat relevant.

Though while I am on the subject of new music, I should note that you can STILL pick up a copy of the "Wild Eyes" 7" from Vivian Girls on Plays With Dolls Records. The easiest way to do so is via their Myspace page. The vinyl pressing of their debut full length were sold out before they even finished the tour that they were on at the time. It will be reissued by In the Red Records this fall. Have I mentioned how excited I get when it seems like a large percentage of the population is getting excited about a band that is so directly influenced by Black Tambourine?!? Well, I do.

AND last but not least, the reason for the majority of my lack of attention to blogging lately: We are finally starting a regular dance night!!!

Our very own indiepop and norther soul dance night called Hungry Beat! to be more specific. It will take place on the last Saturday of every month at Pehrspace starting on September 27. The good people of Club Substance are involved. All of them have pretty much the best record collections I've seen in real life. And Yvonne Sone (yes she of Tartans fame) did a fabulous job of making our page look pretty so please go there right now and make us your new friends! We're just slightly giddy about this...

Alright, that's all I have. Bye for now!

I Want to See Movies of My Dreams

2008-07-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

None of us should have an excuse good enough to be anywhere other than the Silent Movie Theater on Tuesday night.

Of course, if you are say working, in the hospital, not currently residing in Los Angeles, or have any other valid excuse for not being able to attend the live premiere of Dublab's new project VisionVersion PLEASE be sure to check it out here!

The first three artists featured on the site will be Ariel Pink, WHY?, and Tom Brosseau. Stay tuned for updates on the next round of artists.

I know everyone involved with Team Dublab has been working non-stop to make sure that this project comes together smashingly, and all of the artists and filmmakers have really outdone themselves. Please do give it a look either virtually or in person.

For those who do want to see it in person, all of the details are listed below:

TUESDAY, August 5th

dublab presents the premiere of....VisionVersion

VisionVersion is a new film project from the far-out minds at dublab.com. We're focused on sharing elevated music moments through motion picture magic. Our collective of wide-eyed directors are filming amazing artists performing live in exciting locations around Los Angeles.

ARTISTS FEATURED:

BABY DEE (Drag City)
DAEDELUS(Ninja Tune)
EXCEPTER (Paw-Tracks)
ARIEL PINK (Paw Tracks)
DON CAVALLI (Everloving)
HEALTH (Lovepump United)
PETER WALKER (raga guitar legend)
ALESSI
LANGHORNE SLIM (Kemado Records)
LUCKY DRAGONS (Marriage Records)
OVER THE ATLANTIC (Carpark Records)
CLUSTER (German space rock legends)
RAIN MACHINE AKA KYP MALONE (TV on the Radio)
STEVIE JACKSON (Belle & Sebastian)
TOM BROSSEAU (Fat Cat Records)
WHY? (Anticon)

FILMS BY:

MATT AMATO
SAUL LEVITZ
PETER SHANEL
JULIA CROON
FERNANDO CARDENAS
THRILLHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
ROB SCHROEDER
TREVIN MATCEK
DAVE SHAFEI
BEN BARNES
JOSH FORBES
CLAY LIPSKY

We're excited to unveil these creative efforts for the first time at Cinefamily. To make this special screening even more memorable we'll be filming a live VisionVersion episode with the always amazing HECUBA immediately following the films. They will be accompanied by far-out film projections from Chandler McWilliams. This will be an incredible VisionVersion within a VisionVersion!

doors & cocktails: 8pm
vision version films: 8:30pm
free cocktail intermission courtesy of Bacardi & IZZE: 9:30pm
HECUBA live performance: 10pm
dublab djs: 10:30-Midnight

$13 general or $9 members / ALL AGES

Cinefamily
at the Silent Movie Theatre
611 N Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, 90036
323.655.2510

silentmovietheatre.com
dublab.com/visionversion
hecubahecuba.com

Sha-La-La-La... Yeah

2008-07-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Last night was FUN. This morning at Dublab was FUN. It's probably due to this extraordinarily high level of fun that I am just getting around to writing a re-cap post at 10pm tonight. Every band played to the height of their ability. Well, I'm guessing, it was my first time seeing three out of the four bands that played last night. Still, everyone sounded pretty great.

It was certainly one of those nights where I stood and watched the performances taking place, and thought something along the lines of, "I can't believe I get to be a part of something this exciting." AND Squaregirl Kristen deserves so much credit, I don't even know where to begin. She rallied with turntables and her mixer at around 8:15 last night. It should be noted that doors for this particular show were at eight. Therefore, we had an insanely fun dance party that was ONLY possible because of her.

Then BOAT did a session for Dublab this morning. Since I kind of helped to set it up, I went over to the station to watch and was drafted into backing vocals, tambourine handclaps, and SLEIGH BELLS. I've always adored sleigh bells, and have secretly dreamed of playing along with someone's band so... maybe the highlight of my year so far?

We'll see how the rest of it unfolds.

I will link to that session here as soon as it appears in the Dubstream.

Brian and Yvonne of Tartans fame have a set in there right now though so you should go listen to it. Because it's great.

Speaking of the Tartans, and things that I have promised to post here once I saw that they were online, here they are performing "Lee Remick" with Phil Wilson at the Summershine Popfest a couple of weekends ago.

AND

Phil Wilson, and Frank Sweeny performing "Every Conversation" because it is simply one of the most wonderful pop songs that I know.

Enjoy!

I'll leave you with this thought. Probably on my mind because it pertains to my next column for Web In Front. I was listening to the Orchids while on a walk this past weekend. I was listening more intently than usual to the song "Apologies." It's my favorite Orchids song, and I know the lyrics pretty well so I don't tend to pay all that much attention to them anymore. However, the line that has always been my favorite in that song for some reason struck me with a new sense of freshness on this most recent listen.

"You're just a lover, a timetable friend."

Wow. I've never been in love, but I've seen many a friendship slowly dissolve due to the involvement of romantic feelings. Clever Scots...

This Song is Pure Popcorn!

2008-07-16T04:07:00.000-07:00

Hey! Us Squaregirls are presenting a show tonight, and we would really love to see all of you there.

BOAT are in town all the way from Seattle, and I hear that they are ready to rock. I've also heard from a very reliable source that they always deliver on this promise. Speaking of good reports from reliable sources, I can't imagine that so many smart local bloggers could be wrong about how good the live show of Pizza! is. The Tartans are also playing this one. I think that I am out of descriptive words for how much I adore the Tartans, and you're probably all sick of hearing me go on about them anyway so please just come out tonight and watch the show!

There will of course be a dance party involved, before, after, and in between sets from each band. Not just us, but from a few of the fine folks from Club Substance will be spinning as well. These guys are some of the best DJs that I know, and if you visit their Myspace page you get the added bonus of hearing the undeniably fabulous Bodines song "Therese."

We'll see you a bit later...

~sqg marion

I've Got That... On Tape!

2008-07-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

The latest installment of the Happy Happy Birthday singles club appeared in my mailbox last week. It's funny how sometimes something will arrive, and you will manage to wait to listen to it until the exact moment that you need to hear it. I listened to Tullycraft's rendition of "On Tape" just before I left the West side about four hours later than I was planning to, and just after I had learned that poor Kristen was stuck at work and would not be able to help me DJ My Little Underground. Incidentally this was also the exact moment that I had given up on trying to complete a fanzine article in a way that made any kind of sense. As you might imagine I was a bit stressed at that point. From the second that I heard the snappily drummed intro, and the words "I've got Long Vermont Roads (Long Vermont Roads, Long Vermont Roads) the original Harriett version..." filled the room that I was in I was too busy grinning from ear to ear to be worried about that night's show. I've always thought of Tullycraft and the Pooh Sticks as bands that are similar in their ability to make ultra-obscure references sound charming and relate-able as opposed to pretentious. Check out the original "On Tape," and Tullycraft's "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid Too Know About" for the ultimate examples of this. Though the original version of "On Tape" might be poking good natured fun at record geeks like... um me, it doesn't matter. In fact that is a huge part of what makes it so great. After all, it's having an actual appreciation of the thing that you are kind of skewering that tends to yield the most humorous results. And at any rate, both versions of the song are pop heaven. Tullycraft's cover may not quite compare to the original. In all fairness though, it would be nearly impossible to top those anxious, jangling guitars leading into "I've got Falling and Laughing (Falling and Laughing, Falling and Laughing) the original Postcard version..." Their update on both lyrics and arrangement was a very clever route to take. Of course the best part may very well be the googling that I was led into by Tullycraft's version. Googling obscure references in Tullycraft songs is somewhere on my top ten list of favorite pass-times, and this one provided a good twenty minutes or so of that.

I'm fairly certain that the only way to own this song is to have pre-ordered the Happy Happy Birthday to Me singles club last year. Maybe just maybe it will find it's way onto Tullycraft's myspace page in the future. With any luck at all a picture of the fantastic cover art will show up there as well. If I notice that either of these things have happened, believe me, you'll be among the first to know.

~sqg marion

And You Know Why

2008-07-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I hope that everyone's 4th of July Weekend was as great as mine was and that you are all still just as exhausted as I am by 11 AM on Tuesday. I still can't get past the fact that I spent both weekend nights watching Phil Wilson perform "Sunday to Saturday," "Every Conversation," "This Town," "In the Rain..."

Everything really. The sound was incredible, and the level of enthusiasm from both Phil, and violinist Frank Sweeney was thoroughly endearing. The pre-recorded backing tracks that were used for most of the songs were quite impressive. Though the addition of full band support from the Tartans on Saturday, and the Tyde on Sunday for the last two songs of each night did provide a nice touch. Both bands helped out with "Lee Remick" and "In the Rain" in case you were wondering.

It should also be noted that Phil Wilson is maybe one of the nicest people that I've ever met. He insisted upon hugs from all the attending members of the Tartans and Summershine fest organizer/YAY! label founder Eric Bello as we all left the Echo on Sunday night. I'm fairly certain that he couldn't quite figure out exactly what my relationship was to that group, or what my role was in the proceedings of the previous day's show. He gave me a hug goodbye anyway.

His lovely wife was taking video the entire time so as soon as those videos make their way onto YouTube, I will most certainly post a few here.

Alright, time to leave the fantastic ultra-indiepop saturated weekend in the past and move onto the next event.

Both Squaregirls are DJ-ing this thing tonight:

I know that both Web in Front, and Classical Geek Theater have worked really hard to make sure that you will see a great show tonight. We're happy to be along for the ride, and since it's called "My Little Underground" it's pretty safe to say that one of us will have to play that song at some point tonight...

See you there!

Things Seem to Work This Way, Sunday to Saturday

2008-07-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

I REALLY should have been running a countdown to this weekend, a real one that is, published here...

Of course, the countdown in my mind has been going on for longer than I can remember.

How the two have not yet been able to coincide is completely beyond me.

Here it is now though. If you have been wondering just exactly you will recover from all of your various 4th of July festivities then you really need to look no furtherthan the flier above for Ventura County's Summershine Pop Fest. Replace that ringing in your ears left by the pretty fire works with the far prettier ringing that can only be brought about by exuberant sounding popmusic.

First, foremost, and the thing that should provide all of the incentive that you need to make a drive of any lenghth: PHIL WILSON is playing this show along with two other original members of the June Brides. Violinist Frank Sweeny, and trumpet player Jon Hunter in case you were wondering. Yes, that's right, Phil Wilson with the original voilinist, and original trumpet player of the June Brides! I could go on and on about the importance of the June Brides in the history of jangle pop, and how key they were in establishing the sound that would come to be known as "C-86," but videos explain this concept far more clearly. Please pay close attention to exactly how good the trumpet work is on this song!

Of course there are many more bands as well as several DJs involved with this lovely event, and the YAY! label (which had a MAJOR part in putting this whole thing together) has listed and explained each band in a far more concise manner than I ever could:

"MARIA:
YAY! Records flagship band. The group is currently working on material for a debut full-length album.

APPLE ORCHARD:
Originally from the Philippines the groups has released tracks on comilations as well as eps on Humblebee Recordings and Cloudberry Records. A full-length album was released 2008 on Haymarket Recordings.

TALL TALES:
Fronted by Franklin For Short bassist Trevor Beld, they have an album on Beehouse Records as well as a new ep, The Earthling.

THE TARTANS:
This bicycle loving quartet from LA has a couple upcoming singles, one on YAY! Records and the other on Cloudberry Records.

SWAY: Ventura's My Bloody Valentine, Sway has been shoegaze fixture for years. The first single was out in 2001, followed by their fabulous ep, The Milla Pink and Green in 2003 and their most recent released- the Winter Heart ep (2005).

SILVERSCREEN:
Airy pop fronted by Chris Miller, an debut album came out in 2005 on Claire Records as well as a great ep Cloudberry Records (2007). They will be playing their first show ever at Summershine.

PAM & TERI:
Fillmore lovable sibling duo, they have a single out on YAY! Records and continue to charm listeners with increasing live appearances.

WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS:
YAY! Records newest sibling duo, the group has released cassette tapes on Pop Monster Records and Lost Sound Tapes. Future releases on YAY! Records are coming soon.

BANK HOLIDAY:
Another LA group, they have an album on Best Kept Secret Records as well as an upcoming album on Black Hand Records.

DEW WATS RT: A graduate of Brooks Institute in photography; originally from Michigan.

In addtition to BBQ and beverages there will be some fantastic DJs spinning for your pleasure:

JEFF GRIMES: Local music laurete, Grimes also fronts two bands: The Broken Strings and The Bad Trips.

MARION HODGES: Writer for blogsite/promotion group Squaregirls

GRADY RUNYAN: Owner of Ventura record store Grady's Record Refuge, also plays with Jeff Grime in The Bad Trips and The Broken Strings.

BRIAN CUNNINGHAM: Member of YAY! group, The Tartans, Cunningham is veteran of LA clubs and DJ team Substance.

JOSH REDMAN: KCSB general manager and host of radio show 5...4...3...2...Fun!, also plays in Watercolor Paintings

ERIC KAYSER: Owner of Ventura record shop, Buffalo Records; previously ran record label.

RICH YVARRA: First put together the Summer Pop Festival last year, also in the mix this year."

Oh yeah, if you happened to notice my name in the list of DJs, yes that is a real thing that is really happening. I'm kind of in shock over the fact that I'm included in such awesome company. Seriously, wow. I've been thinking it over all week and trying to pull out my very best indiepop/indiepop related records for the event. Hopefully I'll see some of you there! Please say hi if you make it!

Of course that's just Saturday. For those of you that simply can't make the drive, but will be in the L.A. area on Sunday you do have a second chance to catch Phil Wilson and company. He'll be playing the Echo on Sunday night for Part Time Punks along with the Tyde. Mike Shulman, founder of Slumberland Records (and member of one of my all time favorite bands Black Tambourine!!!) will be the special guest DJ! Can you imagine how good his record collection must be? I'm already preparing to spend most of the night marveling over how severe my lack of indiepop knowledge actually is. Yep, that's right, I'll be at both shows. I know I'm not the only one either. Please join us in the highly worthwhile exhaustion that will likely ensue!

By the way, I can't say for certain that Phil Wilson will perform the following cover song at both shows, but wouldn't it be amazing if he did?

Only one way to find out...

Just Wishing and Hoping And...

2008-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

So here I sit having just read a new email update from Geographic Music, and as is ALWAYS the case after reading these updates I'm left feeling very sad over the fact that I do not currently live in Glasgow. I'll let the email explain this feeling for me:

"The Pastels are very pleased to announce that we are opening for My Bloody Valentine this Wednesday 2nd July at the Barrowland Ballroom. The last time we played with My Bloody Valentine was sometime in 1988 at Fulham Greyhound and they were completely amazing then. We're all fans of their music and we've stayed in touch with Kevin through the years - in fact he played with us on our last John
Peel session and did a couple of mixes for us which we loved. We were rehearsing today, taking bets on number of pedals which will be on display and just looking forward. It's the Barrowland so we'll be playing early, maybe around 7.30 pm or so."

I suppose that all I can do now is hope that this particular show will go so well that My Bloody Valentine will just have to bring the Pastels with them when they tour later this year...

Seriously, sometime soon surely one of these bands that everybody else loves and can fill big arenas who've been working with/ been friends with the Pastels for years will insist upon bringing them along for a tour. Right? Right? Please...

~sqg marion

Quik Update

2008-07-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Even if the thoughtful, whisper-y, folk music thing is not for you (it's not for me,) this story is insane. Help this guy get his benefit show!

You can check out all of the details here.

On a lighter note both Squaregirls contributor Eliza and I have our picks for some of the best releases of 2008 so far listed along with picks from other local artists and bloggers. You can read all about it right here. With my picks they are streaming The Bridal Shop song "Violation." Please go listen to it, as I really do think that it will turn out to be my favorite song of the year.

~sqg marion

Or Was it Just a Dream...

2008-06-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm sitting here listening away, trying to think of things to write for a "Best of 2008 so far..." that my dear friends over at Web In Front are putting together. It's not the easiest task for me as I prefer to spend the majority of my time obsessing over old pop songs. I feel drastically behind in the amount of new records that I've heard this year. however, I'd like to find intelligent things to say about the few that I have heard/liked.

So before I get completely caught up in that, I want to make sure that you all know about the show that we are presenting tomorrow:

We really think/hope that the four bands playing represent a nice, eclectic view of some of our favorite things going on in local music these days. Listen for yourself right here:

The Health Club

WEAVE!

Hearts of Palm UK

Fol Chen

PLUS they all happen to put on fantastic live shows...

We'll also be ransacking our record collections to find the perfect songs to play for you before, in between, and after sets from the bands...

And, last but not least we're kind of giddy over the fact that we are presenting our first show at Pehrspace. Pehrspace is basically our favorite venue these days. Though you should be aware that it's BYOB so plan accordingly...

We'll see you tomorrow!

Shingdig Number One: Pascal Troemel and Birdie Hilltop

2008-06-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

I was at a film festival for work this past weekend, and got to catch a screening of one of the best films I have seen all year, the documentary More Shoes. (Not gonna lie, you guys, I cried. More than once.) As a budding music supervisor, what really struck me was the soundtrack. I recognized that many of the songs were by the same person and were the perfect compliment to the story of a young man making a journey across Europe on foot. Hollow and fuzzy, they were lo-fi perfected, reminiscent of Steven Look and his projects Moon Fire Funerals or I Know My Name is Steven, or perhaps Daniel Johnston. In an instant I was in love. The film is a stand alone great film, but I feel was truly served by the softly comforting songs, obviously recorded in one take, as evidenced by false starts, nervous laughter, and the clearing of throats in the middle of a song.

Naturally, I sat through the credits and saw nearly the entire soundtrack was compromised of songs written by Pascal Troemel and performed by Birdie Hilltop. The second I got out of the screening, I started texting friends to see if they had heard either of those names before. No one had.

Later that day, I managed to corner the filmmaker, Lee Kazimir, and interrogate him about the soundtrack. He explained that he had discovered Pascal/Birdie (actually the same person) by happenstance and contacted him personally. He said he had recorded a couple records in Brooklyn several years ago, when he was in his early 20s. If I remember correctly (sobriety isn't encouraged at the film festival) Lee also mentioned that he wasn't really making music anymore and that he had declined to have his records sold at the screenings or on the film's website. Upon hearing this, I got that panicky sensation in my chest, the kind that attacks when you realize you have just discovered something truly special and may never hear it again in your life ever. This lasted until I visited his website and realized his entire catalogue is available to download for free! What a wonderful world we live in. If I may, I suggest you start with my current favorite, "eating aeroplanes".

~sqg eliza

Untitled

2008-06-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

I guess we are all supposed to know that if you have to be in Santa Monica (or anyplace that requires an hour drive) by 8 am the next day then it's probably not the best idea to stand around in front of the Echo plotting various jangle pop/metal side projects. Oops.

So for most of yesterday I was completely useless to write anything. No matter, Sunday night at the Echo was one of the best shows that I have been to so far this year. Maybe even the best. My favorite L.A. band The Tartans had the majority of the crowd dancing for the majority of their set. Kind of a small miracle when you think about typical Los Angeles rock show crowds. Their new songs kind of demand it though. They will also have two 7" singles available very soon so head over here right now, and on July 15 make your way here. OR you could just wait and pick up BOTH singles after the Tartans wow you with their jangly/soulful tunes on July 16 at their (ahem) Squaregirls presented show at Mr. T's Bowl...

Catwalk started things off on Sunday. Not only has their live performance become increasingly more impressive since I saw them for the first in November of last year, but they've been playing a new song called "Mia" recently that is such catchy guitar pop perfection it makes me wish that I could afford to start a label just so that there could be a recording of it in the world. Sigh. I suppose I will just have to desperately hope that it will be a part of their next single for the YAY! label. Until then, I will be gently lifting the needle on my turntable to play every song from their current YAY! single "Past Afar" over and over again. It's lovely, and you should strongly consider ordering it here, right now!

Um, this is probably also a good time to bring up the fact that I've recently written an article about the YAY! label for my new monthly column on Web In Front, Not Quite Punk. You can read that article right here, if you are so inclined...

And if you are looking for something fun to do tonight, might I please suggest this:

The Monolators are playing! Early! If it's been awhile since you've seen the Monolators (like it has for me,) or if you've somehow not yet seen the Monolators you should definitely be at Spaceland tonight by 9 PM!

They are opening for this London based band called Sunny Day Sets Fire. They put out an EP last year called Brainless that was a nice blend of lo-fi indie rock sounds, and lo-fi dance pop. The production on their new stuff sounds way glossier, but I bet they are still fun as hell to watch live.
Check this out for proof!

~sqg marion

Giveaway: Where the Action Was Bus Tour with Ruthann Friedman

2008-06-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here's something that seems intriguing. Gene Sculatti author of Catalog of Cool, and Kim Cooper who wrote the 33 1/2 book on Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea have started a somewhat obscure tour of Los Angeles music landmarks. The idea behind the tour being to bring along special guests and impart unique knowledge about places that you likely pass by everyday.

On Saturday, June 28 the guest will be Ruthann Friedman. She will likely be best remembered for writing the Association's 1967 hit single "Windy," but my interest in hearing her speak would lie mostly in the fact that she's said to have stories about the Byrds!

The tour departs at 11:30AM from Amoeba Music in Hollywood. It's three hours long, and includes snacks and a gift bag filled with treats from Amoeba. The trip will culminate in a live performance from Friedman upon it's return to the record store. More information about the tour can be found here. More information about how to order tickets can be found here. Apparently if you use the super secret words "Amoeba sent me," you will recieve a fifteen percent discount...

Or you could send an email to squaregirls@gmail.com with the words "bus tour" in the subject line to win a single admission. The first person to email, will recieve the spot. Best of luck!

I Don't Care, I Care, I Really Don't Care

2008-06-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. After a decent portion of my past week has been spent listening to a decent amount of Pavement, and obsessing over the hopefully arriving soon Re-issue/Expanded edition of Brighten the Corners just imagine how giddy I was to wake up this morning, and find that Web In Front's weekly podcast was this.

I never got to see Pavement live, and listening to this makes me all the more aware that I missed out on something pretty great. Awesomely deadpan, half-spoken delivery of the chorus of "Freebird" leading into "Unfair..." Wow. Of course, it's not *really* my fault that I missed out. The closest that I might have gotten to Pavement in 1994 (when the concert in question takes place) while growing up in an ultra-conservative suburb of Atlanta, Georgia would have been accidentally seeing the video for "Cut Your Hair," on MTV. You know, when I was absolutely forbidden to watch MTV.

Regardless of personal experience involving seeing, or missing a live Pavement show, this podcast should serve to bring up fond memories or bitter feelings of regret. Really though, it's just plain fun to listen to, and it's highly recommended that you visit the link posted above to download the concert. Now.

Oh, and just for fun:

Does anyone know if Malkmus is really alternating between sining "career," and "Korea," at the end of this song? And if the word "Korea," is actually in place, why?

Oh that Pavement humor...

~sqg marion

Thought Things Sounded Better Slow

2008-06-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I listened to Brighten the Corners, as I often tend to do. I began to wonder when the re-issue for this album would happen. We know that Pavement have gone down the line and re-issued their albums one by one with some AMAZING bonus tracks (adding the Watery Domestic EP to the bonus material of Slanted and Enchanted was just one in a long series of genius/hugely appreciated moves,) and since the Wowee Zowee re-issue happened near the end of 2006, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain happened near the end of 2004 etc. deductive reasoning should lead us to believe that the Brighten the Corners reissue will happen towards the end of this year, 2008. Oh, and that it will be awesome.

However, there is no significant news about this particular re-issue. Other than the fact that there will you know, be one. Sigh.

Of course, there are important bands in the story of indie rock aside from Pavement. Some of them are just as re-issue happy, and doing just as good of a job of putting together highly worth reinvesting in, or investing in for the first time sets. Some of them have (ahem) reunited in their classic line-up forms and are touring! Some of them are even working their way through classic albums for All Tomorrows Parties... Yep, I'm referring to Sebadoh now.

Sebadoh will re-issue Bubble and Scrape with an additional disc of bonus tracks on July 8 via Domino Records. They will perform the record in it's entirety for the Pitchfork/All Tomorrow's Parties presented Don't Look Back Series on Friday July 18 as part of the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival. It's fairly safe to assume that it will be varying degrees of awesome.

I saw Sebadoh as part of their classic line-up (Barlow, Gaffney, Lowenstein) reunion tour last year, and it was a good show. Although I hate to admit it, as much I like think of myself as a Sebadoh fan (I listened to an mp3 that I stumbled across of "Gimme Indie Rock" more times than I could ever count, "Brand New Love" still makes me cringe with it's alarmingly accurate description of what it's like to meet someone new who is even potentially exciting/terrifying, Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock is just a flat out great album title, Harmacy lived in my car stereo for months when I was 21 and had just found it on sale..., etc.) I don't spend all that much time listening to Sebadoh. I wasn't overly familiar with either III, or the Freed Man until those reissues happened within the past few years, and having them in my possession now, I don't listen to them all that much. Sebadoh, to me represents a very specifically male; funny/silly/sarcastic/angry/edgy/ultra observant/ultra revealing so perfectly male music that I'm quite simply not in the mood for all of the time. When I am in that particular mood though, nothing else will do. While watching Sebadoh last March at Spaceland I discovered that (though I recognized none of them) Gaffney's songs were most appealing to me in the live setting cause the abrasiveness was just so immediately satisfying. Recorded, I tend to like Lou's songs best because they tend to be so spot on lyrically, an he has such a good way of creating appealing pop melodies that retain a sense of weirdness. Then again, some of my favorite songs on Bakesale belong to Lowenstein, unassuming, and great. I should also take this moment to point out that I have never once had the occasion to listen to Bubble and Scrape. Needless to say I'm very excited to discover this album through the re-issue that is now less than a month away! This was the album where classic line-up Sebadoh were falling apart as a collective, and apparently Gaffney's songs on this record are his most angry and defiant. I only wish I was making the trip to Chicago in July to see how this newly reunited team translates this apparent transition album into a live show.

Trackilist for Bubble and Scrape Deluxe Edition:

1. Soul and Fire
2. Two Years, Two Days
3. Telecosmic Alchemy
4. Fantastic Disaster
5. Happily Divided
6. Sister
7. Cliche
8. Sacred Attention
9. Elixir is Zog
10. Emme Get Wild
11. Sixteen
12. Homemade
13. Forced Love
14. No Way Out
15. Bouquet For a Siren
16. Think (Let Tomorrow Be)
17. Flood

Bonus Tracks:

18. Reject
19. Sister
20. Bouquet For a Siren
21. Emma Get Wild
22. Flood / Ken
23. Messin' Around
24. Visibly Wasted II
25. You Are Going Down
26. Old Daze
27. Part 1 - Lou
28. Part 2 - Eric
29. Part 3 - Eric
30. Part 4 - Jason
31. Happily Divided
32. Soul and Fire (Acoustic Demo)

Now, seriously, about that Brighten the Corners re-issue...

~sqg marion

I Just Want to be a Peacock, but I Don't Think that it's Allowed

2008-06-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last week I had another another one of those exceedingly pleasant, but all too few and far between experiences. A band that I've never heard of found us on Myspace, and they aren't terrible! Cool!

What is even more cool is that the band in question Swimteam is local, and far from not terrible. They are actually quite good. Swimteam appears to be primarily the project Brian Young. The songs of Swimteam don't tend to stray too far from the elegant, lo-fi jangle pop of his solo recordings. The songs on the Myspace page are upbeat yet moderately paced, allowing enough time for the stories to unfold exactly as they should. A song that contains the details of the unrivaled excitement of a first kiss, and a song that contains slightly fewer details of a relationship that seems on the verge of failure are told with the same degree of wit. Especially worth noting is his observation about how the way one might hear a certain pop song will likely change given the context within which one hears that song. It's a theme that shows up more than once in these songs, and he makes an excellent point. An annoying song by an annoying band that one might have heard a group of annoying people singing at a bar on the day when a perfect first kiss occurs will now conjure up a fond memory, and one will have almost no choice other than to kind of like that song. Whereas a different song that one has loved forever will inevitably take on new meaning when one is forced to apply that song to new situations. Young's charming baritone suits these types of musings perfectly.

I can only hope that since Swimteam finds Young joined by an appropriately full band of Chris Chez on drums, and Bill Miller on the bass guitar more live shows will occur in a not too distant future. I actually have to hope for a lot more live shows since the jaw dropping-ly awesome line-up of Swimteam, The Tartans, and Magic Bullets at the Knitting Factory happens to fall on the same night as our next Squaregirls Presented show at Pehrspace on June 27! Of course the drive to the San Diego's Beauty Bar on June 29 for the Swimteam/ Magic Bullets portion of that line up does seem more than worthwhile...

Anyone feel like a road trip?

~squaregirl marion

The Flowers Are in the Sky for You

2008-06-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

I'm about a month behind in alerting you to the fact that the new Languis album Fractured is available for you to purchase now from Plug Research, you can do that here.

It's one of the more compelling albums that I've listened to from start to finish this year. On Fractured the fluidity with which the band combines the primary influences of psych and dance pop becomes a bit more clear, and a bit more remarkable with each listen. I believe it mostly lies in the attention to detail. Having built a solid base around these particular sounds allows other sounds to infiltrate the songs. From the gentle Calypso of "What Do I Do," to a short sweet instrumental entitled "Para Marta," that places a finger-picked acoustic guitar front and center, to songs like "Resurrection Road," and "Low Standard," that take on an almost conventional (for an album as far from conventional as this one) rock structure. In fact you can actually kind of hear a rhythmic similarity to the 12 bar blues guitar pattern on the latter two songs, at least that is, something akin to a Jesus & Mary Chain type interpretation of the pattern. All cleverly disguised under some serious studio effects of course. Also on the album are enough slow build ups to satisfying pay offs, enough captivating extended refrains, and enough tambourines and woodwind instruments to keep you replaying the album for weeks and weeks, if not months and months, or perhaps even years and years...

It's also very much to Languis' credit that they are not a band who keep making the same album over and over again, yet each of their releases are consistently good and interesting. Fractured is (to completely understate the situation) certainly no exception to this quite remarkable rule.

~squaregirl marion

If I Didn't Know This, I'd Lose It

2008-06-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is just plain astonishing how much time it might take something (and by what avenue) to find it's way onto your radar.

On Monday morning I walked into the KCRW music library as I do every Monday morning to distribute their copy of the playlist from that day's Morning Becomes Eclectic. I was greeted with a gently dance-able sound of synthesizers, drum machines, and softly distant vocals. "What are we listening to?" was the immediate question I posed to my friend/library employee Nassir well before taking the time to say hi.

"The Radio Dept. Do you know about them?"

"No," I replied and was so shocked that there was something this good and this rooted in everything that I like about music that I struggled with my words, "It sounds like... It sounds like..."

"Yeah," he said "I've been trying to figure out who they remind me of too."

I pointed out that whether or not they sounded like anyone in particular their sound was dance music that was rooted in an indiepop tradition which is sound that I am in no way indifferent to. Fortunately there was an extra copy of the record that I promised to provide a loving home for. The album in question is called Pet Grief it was released by Labrador Records in 2006! This is around the same time that I discovered Suburban Kids With Biblical Names having just had their originally released by Labrador record #3 released by Minty Fresh here in the States. I've visited the Labrador site several times since then for information on that band, and I'm sure something about the Radio Dept. must have entered my subconscious somewhere. I simply cannot figure out why it has taken me so long to actually hear this band! Of course when you discover something is never the important part, the important part is that you discover it at all. I have the Radio Dept. now; we all have the opportunity to listen to their new single, "Freddie and the Trojan Horse" on their Myspace page (while you're there you *really* should listen to "Worst Taste in Music" from Pet Grief it's sad/clever pop perfection,) and by September (or thereabouts) we'll all be able to order copies of their brand new record right here. Should be pretty great, something to look forward too...

~squaregirl marion

Baby, I Don't Care

2008-06-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

More shameless promotion, yes. However, this time it is not for me personally, so somehow I get to feel more o.k. about it? Actually, I don't really care. Kristen did such a fantastic job with her Web In Front Podcast that I have to do everything in my power to make sure that all of you are aware of this fact. She made very smart song choices from each of the bands that have played one of our showcases in the past, and even smarter choices about the way she arranged the songs on her comp. She also included songs from all of the bands that are playing a couple of future showcases that we have in the works, and the write up that she did about what it's like to go to any given local show these days sums up that experience kind of perfectly. Kindly make your way over here and check it out for yourself.

Not much else has had a chance to make it's way to my eardrums between that podcast, and the brilliant new Summer Cats single "Lonely Planet" which may very well be the feel good hit of the, um, summer. That is if we lived in a society that championed sweet indiepop singles with the kind of seemingly effortless guitars that's a little bit straight out of the 60's mod/a little bit Go Betweens-eque, and hand claps that take the song to the maximum level of enjoyment, as handclaps almost always tend to do. And the lyrics do a nice job to offer a hint of love lorn frustration before settling into an "Eh, fuck it all," sensibility which (incidentally) might just be the way all indiepop lyrics would be if we were in that perfect world. Oh, and did I mention the boy/girl vocal trade off? And the handclaps?!? Sigh, sigh, sigh. You can (and should,) however make it your personal feel good hit of the summer by going here and ordering your very own copy of the "Lonely Planet" 7". I really can't forsee either of these things giving up their respective holds on my listening space anytime soon. These are good problems though, and I don't tend to question these situations when they occur. I just smile and enjoy the fact that there really is so much good new music to take in.

~squaregirl marion

(Almost) Totally Shameless Self Promotion

2008-05-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

That is to say, it would be way more shameless if the event in question weren't for a good cause:

Yep, all five of those dollars that you spend to get into the Scene tonight will not only contribute to your personal enjoyment of some quite fun bands, it will also contribute to making sure kids get to go to college. A pretty amazing cause if you ask me, as all of the most recent reports I've seen on rising college tuition prices (even for non-private universities) are astounding!

And, as you might have guessed, the shameless self promotion part involves me hanging out at the venue and playing some records before, between, and after sets from all the bands. No squaregirl kristen for this show, I'm sad to say. I will do my best in spite of the sadness that comes with the lack of her awesome record collection, and even more awesome presence to make my contribution to the evening as enjoyable as possible. I've had a terribly fun morning sorting through records, and trying to figure out the best possible combinations of songs to play tonight. It seems very likely that it will involve Orange Juice, the Fire Engines, and probably more than a few Slumberland releases since those are the songs that are involving so much of my mental energy these days.

I really hope to see all of you tonight!

~sqg marion

And Every Conversation's STILL the Same...

2008-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's almost as if I haven't stopped writing since this time yesterday, well, a brief interlude was taken to spend eight hours bringing people plates of food/making coffee beverages, but surely you know what I mean?

To pick up where I left off, there is exciting news on the Phil Wilson solo show front. For those of us that live in Southern California (or those of you that feel like taking a summer road trip) there is not only his appearance at the Echo on July 6 along with The Tyde, but there is also an appearance the day before at the Summershine Festival in Ventura. For this one he will be enlisting L.A. pop superheroes The Tartans to be his backing band for TWO songs.

And speaking of the Tartans, they are playing more shows in succession than they ever have before, and they have singles slated for release on two of the best indiepop labels in the country right now. YAY!, and Cloudberry for those of you keeping track at home.

However, as is often the case, the band in question explains the state of things far better than I ever could. This is from the Tartans' Myspace page:

"Hey friends,

We're finally gonna have some proper releases really soon. I know I mentioned a couple months back that we've got a single coming out on the esteemed Oxnard imprint, YAY!, which is available for pre-order through their website (yaylabel. com/shop) and will be on your turntables by early summer.

Not only that, there'll be another 7" out this summer on the great and prolific Florida label, Cloudberry. It'll feature "My Baby Doesn't Care For You" and "What About You". I believe it's off to the pressing plant this coming Tuesday.

In other news, check out our shows page, but unless you live in the greater LA area or Ventura County, you probably won't be catching us *too* soon. However, we could be tempted to push our way up the coast this summer, schedules and finances permitting.

There's gonna be an exciting festival in Ventura in early July called Summershine, where we'll have the pleasure and privilege of backing up Phil Wilson of the June Brides. He'll be coming to the states for some dates, and we're quite excited.

In other musical news that doesn't reek of self-promotion, there's been a lot of great new singles in the world, like Twig (on Cloudberry), the Vivian Girls and a new Cause Co-Motion single. Those are just a few of the things that have tickled my fancy lately, though as usual I've been tracking down old soul 45s (my favorite recent acquisition is Linda Griner's "Good-by Cruel Love", which is one of Motown's finest non-hits) and singing along to Felt. Also, most of the Tartans caught local heartthrob Jeremy Jay play a spectacular set a couple weeks back. He has a new LP out on K, which I've not yet heard but hope to acquire really soon.

Hopefully we'll see some of you this summer. And we'll come bearing badges with brand new designs!

xo,
Brian"

This coupled with all of the Slumberland news that I posted yesterday promises that 2008 will be a very exciting year in our square little world.

Oh, and we're working on a few shows and projects that should hopefully have us back where we belong (or at least where we feel most comfortable,) spinning records once a month at a club near you! But more on that once it all comes together officially...

~squaregirl marion

And Every Conversation's the Same

2008-05-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

In desperate attempt to prove that this blog is more than just obsessing about old pop songs, how about some news about upcoming releases? And, well, one brief notation that deals with an old pop song.

I caught the Mezzanine Owls last night at Spaceland as their residency came to a close. They covered a Silver Jews song, "Trains Across the Sea" to be specific. Their amazing girl drummer Pauline Mu sang the song while drumming. It was awesome.

Then I've spent the majority of my morning watching/listening to this:

Knowing that an entire album full of songs like this is traveling towards me as I type this is almost too exciting to stand. Fortunately, I'm a tough girl because the new Lodger album Life is Sweet on which "The Good Old Days" appears is just the tip of the exciting Slumberland Records news iceberg.

The next installment of the Searching For the Now Series is heading our way on June 17. One side of one 7" will contain a song from Australian darlings Summer Cats. One of their band members is credited with sweet, sweet cowbell. How do you avoid absolutely adoring that credit?

The other 7" will contain a song from The Sunny Street. I'd not previously heard of them, but I think their about me on their Myspace page sums it up nicely:

"The Sunny Street is a Londonbased french popduo founded on a boring day by Delphine and Rémi. The songs are mostly about love."

Oh dear, I think I just might have a new crush...

Of course, if you've read this blog before you won't be surprised to learn that my heart nearly stopped when I discovered what the other side of the Sunny Street 7" would be. A Sunny Day in Glasgow covering the Pastels. They are offering their very specific take on "Sometimes I Think About You," I'm fortunate enough to have heard the song and I can say with certainty that it's dreamy. The vocals are lovely, and haunting, and the song will fill corners of your mind that you weren't aware existed.

The other side of the Summer Cats 7" will be provided by the ultra fantastic Pains of Being Pure at Heart. If you visit this page here, then click on the song entitled "Come Saturday" you can hear it for yourself! I strongly recommend that you do so too. The pace is frantic, the guitars are effected to be appropriately fuzzy and distorted, and it will get your day started right, or back on track, or whatever! Slumberland also revealed that they will be releasing a full length from the POBPAH closer to the end of the year. Swoon. They will also be releasing a full length from another Brooklyn band called Crystal Stilts who I've heard described (by the lead singer of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, actually, via Three Imaginary Girls) as what Joy Division might have sounded like if they were an indiepop band. I think it's quite acurate.

Slumberland will also release the debut 7" from Sexy Kids which is basically the follow up band to one of my favorite musical discoveries of last year (discovered after they were already no more) The Royal We. From the little that I've heard from Sexy Kids so far, it seems that they will fill the Royal We shaped hole in my heart nicely.

Then last but not least, the label is releasing a double 7" from Phil Wilson! If you're not familiar with Phil Wilson or The June Brides head over here immediately. I'll have much more exciting news for you West Coasters on the Phil Wilson front coming very soon. In the meantime, this is well worth watching:

~squaregirl marion

Web In Front Podcast

2008-05-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

So um, we got asked by the incredibly awesome new music news site, Web In Front to put together a couple of mixes for them to feature as Podcasts. I opted to create a mix of the types of songs/bands that I tend to play when we are out spinning at a rock show, squaregirl kristen has opted to put together a list of bands that played our showcases at the Scene Bar/bands that are playing for us in the future. From what I've heard of hers so far, it's going to be excellent. I can't wait for Friday to be here so that I can download it.

I also kind of wanted to do a brief explanation of each song that I picked for my podcast mix, and knowing that would be way too much to send over to the Web in Front page, I've decided to do it here. Because I can.

This is a wildly self indulgent move on my part, so if you just want to download some fun pop songs, and not deal with the back story, please head directly over here and disregard what is written on the rest of this post.

If you're like me however, and you love to get caught up in the minutiae of why other people love what exactly it is that they love, well, read on!

By the way, it should be noted that we are beyond flattered by the nice things that Web in Front said about us. We adore them and everything that they are doing so the fact that they regard us at all (let alone so apparently highly) is kind of amazing.

Here goes:

The Troggs - "With a Girl Like You"

Kristen has an amazing selection of garage and soul. Often when we're DJ - ing together it's slightly challenging for me to get from that into my girl group, and indiepop stuff. Needless to say I play this song a lot. It's an excellent garage track, but it also has enough classic pop elements to transition really nicely into a variety of other types of songs. I also love it when a writer can create a complete story, and have it take place within a single moment. This song does that. There is all of this incredibly involved obsessing, and by the end of the song you realize that everything the narrator has been singing about has just taken place withing (gasp) the span of a single dance, one pop song. Genius.

The Chiffons - "He's So Fine"

I'm a silly girl, and cited this as the Crystals on the tracklist for Web in Front, I was actually going back and forth between this track and The Crystals Da Doo Ron Ron, and the Ronettes "Be My Baby" all of which are on the Quadrophenia soundtrack, all of which are fabulous girl group songs. I think I really had the Crystals on the brain at the time of typing up the list. I guess "He's So Fine" won out at the last minute because it seemed to follow "With a Girl Like You," slightly better, pacing wise. Though most girl groups tended to be the product of the minds of male producers, and the lyrics often hardly represented a female empowerment theme. Incidentally one of the most disturbing examples actually came from the Crystals with the (ahem) Phil Spector penned "He Hit Me and it Felt Like a Kiss." Regardless this still ushered in an era where girls were beginning to headline shows, and sometimes play their own instruments, and deliver songs with such an excellent level of sassiness to heighten the pure pop enjoyment that was definitely a step in the right direction. In fact the hugely under appreciated Veleveletts actually did help to get the female empowerment lyric ball rolling with songs like "Needle in a Haystack," example lyric "Get yourself on the right track cause finding a good man, girls, is like finding a needle in a haystack." Even better was "I'm the exception to the Rule," with lines like "So it's useless for you to try and change me, rearrange me, baby because I won't give in." Even on a song like, "He Was Really Saying Something," our narrator becomes impressed with the boy that is trying to woo her not simply due to the way he looks, but because of the things he says to her though she maintains her cool unaffected exterior the entire time. Gosh, it's really starting to sound like I should have put the Velvelettes on this mix, and I probably should have. I'll forever stand by the giddiness inducing pop perfection of the Chiffons though.

Heavenly - "Our Love is Heavenly"

Post girl groups, post feminist movement, post punk, post etc. there was Heavenly. They certainly weren't the first band to apply the particular pop sensibility of the girl group sound to songs that were more punk rock in spirit and fuck around with gender roles. Most of Heavenly had previously comprised Talulah Gosh after all, but even before that the Smiths, Orange Juice, and the Pastels (amongst others) were all there combing these (and various other elements) to a somewhat similar effect. Heavenly just happened to come along and do it (arguably) better than almost anyone else, with an exceedingly clever girl front and center the entire time. Very few people can pull off a nonchalant kiss-off song quite like Amelia Fletcher, and this one might just be the ultimate example. Listen to how she coyly grins her way through lines like "Yes it's true, got a new boy who loves me, I love him too, and our love is heavenly," and "So don't cry honey you'll get over this (though it will take at least a day) after a time you will be feeling fine, and you'll be glad I walked away." Coupled with the breezy, bouncy pop melody that backs it, I think that it's nearly impossible to hear this song and not wish to be just like her.

Orange Juice - "Rip It Up"

I seem to be on a mission to see exactly how many times it will take for me to play this song at a club, or put it on a mix, or a playlist, or whatever before I get sick of it. The answer seems to be that I will never get sick of this song, ever. There's the bouncy slightly reggae influenced, definitely funky melody that provides the background to Edwyn Collins' wry lyrics, and wry-er vocal delivery. The long sax solo in the middle is downright polarizing (I happen to love it,) and this song also happens to contain one of my favorite musical traditions of pop songs referencing other pop songs. The chorus of the Buzzcocks' "Boredom is included as part of the bridge to this song, but instead of following the line "You know the scene is very humdrum with the original's rallying cry of "Boooredom, Boooreduuum, Boredom!" Collins slyly follows it up with, "And my favorite song's entitled Boredom." This will never ever fail to bring a giant grin to my face. I suppose ultimately it is impossible to become sick of "Rip it Up," because "Rip it Up" is perfect. How do you become tired of something that you can find no fault with?

The Spinners - "Rubberband Man"

I love the Spinners, such an enjoyable combination of the best pop elements with honest to goodness soul. All of their hits were hits for good reason you know? Though, when one thinks of the Spinners, even within the context of the hits, one's mind will probably go to a ballad like "I'll be Around." "Rubberband Man" is just pure, funky pop goodness though, and the vocal improvs near the end provide some of the most unintentionally hilarious (in the best possible way) one liners that you are likely to hear anywhere.

The Emotions - "Best of My Love"

Try to listen to this song without a giant smile on your face, just try.

The KLF - "Kylie Said to Jason"

Fascinating band, the KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front) they wrote a manual that served as a guide to creating number one singles, closed out an unexpectedly jarring award show performance by shooting at the crowd with blanks, then vowed to retire from the music industry until there was world peace, then they deleted their entire back catalouge to prove that this wasn't a stunt to sell more records, then they returned to the music industry under a different names first to release a single in Israel only to honor the treaty between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, a single for charity, and later a single on Mute Records called "***K the Millenium" credited to the artist 2K. Oh and they allegedly nailed one million pounds to a board and burned it to make an artistic statement. Apparently the single that made my playlist, "Kylie Said to Jason" was a bit of a flop so they directed their attention at that time to ambient music. But "Kylie Said to Jason" is campy, highly addictive, disco fun. I love it. It should also be noted that squareboy Chris has read the manual, and I am desparately trying to get him to write something about it for this site. Anyone that wants to join me in this petition, please leave your request in the coments section below!

Altered Images - "Bring Me Closer"

Yep, this is the full on disco segment of the program. Altered Images started as a much darker band (they had a single called "Dead Pop Stars") they passed through a phase of notable length that was definitely influential to the indiepop world, and then somehow ended up here. Highly sophisticated disco/dance pop. Not nearly as giddy and charming as say "I Could Be Happy," but I still adore this song and I cannot listen to it without wanting to dance whether it's appropriate to the situation that I'm in at the moment or not.

Saint Etienne - "Hug My Soul"

Music nerds pretty much always make fantastic records and/or singles. Often times, however, because the artists in question tend to know so much about the history of various aspects of the history of pop music (especially the obscure ones) the records that they make tend to be varying degrees of challenging. The former rock journalists that comprised Saint Etienne instead chose to focus all of this knowledge into a new blend of music that's every bit as enjoyable as the 60s pop, disco, and club music that inspired it. This song showed up on their last full length album Tiger Bay. I can't believe that this song is not a giant hit, or at the very least, I can't believe that it's not a song that one doesn't hear every single time one goes to an pop song based dance night.

The Bridal Shop - "Violation"

This song deserves to be played at more dance nights too, but it's perhaps still a bit new. I can only hope that more people will catch on to this eventually. I still maintain everything that I wrote about it a few weeks ago, except somehow in that time I've become more addicted to this small Swedish dance/indiepop masterpiece. How did they manage to record a song that is this good? How?

Felt - "Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow"

This song is really just too smart, AND too catchy for words. Not the most obvious combination for a pop song, but when it happens it's simply amazing. I still don't know how to write about, and disect Felt properly so I'll not try. Just listen to this one, it speaks (sings?) for itself.

Black Tambourine - "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge"

Almost the complete opposite to my feelings for Felt, I could probably say WAY too much about Black Tambourine, as all ten of their Complete Recordings are amongst my favorite songs of all time. From the jittery swagger of "For Ex-Lovers Only" (good enough to inspire a band to name themselves after it,) to the achingly slow (almost) build on the heartbreaker "Black Car," to my personal favorite the heavily doo-wop inspired "Drown" all of these songs are fuzzy pop perfection. "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge" is probably their most recognizable track, and the one that has the most suitable rhythm for dancing. "We Can't be Friends" fits the dancing criteria as well, but it's so short so one would have to be really on top of things to play it at a club night. Plus, "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge" has that device that we all hold so near and dear (don't we?) of pop songs that reference other pop songs or bands. Even if it is wishing a tragic fate to an artist so near and dear to so many. The fact that the girl who sang this song falls into that particular category (this interview that she did with BOTH Stephen and Aggi is a terribly fun read) somehow manages to turn it into a harmless inside joke. One that has a great beat, that you can dance to.

My Bloody Valentine - "Paint A Rainbow"

Gosh, where do I even begin with with this one? Until a week ago when I found a copy of the "Sunny Sundae Smile" 7" (of which this is the B-side) tale of My Bloody Valentine's excellent fuzzy jangle pop past sounded like something of a myth to me. All it takes is one listen of this, however, to make one a downright believer in such a thing, and to leave one completely awestruck I might add. Both sides of the single in question are probably the most exciting things going on in my musical world these days.

The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart - "The Orchard of My Eye"

O.k. so it wasn't much of a stretch of the imagination to follow "Paint a Rainbow" with anything from the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. The band in fact cites that song specifically as an influence. When a contemporary band is doing something that sounds SO good, and SO exciting though does it really matter if it falls into the category of a clever update on something that was recorded 20 years ago that not nearly enough people paid attention to the first time around? I maintain that there are far less exciting things that are being updated far less cleverly than this so I will happily accept anything that the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are willing to offer. Speaking of which, I have news on that front that should find its way to these parts very soon.

The Pastels - "Automatically Yours"

Probably my favorite song, from probably my favorite album from one of my favorite bands. So what can I say about it that will do it justice? There is often so much simple offhanded brilliance in Stephen McRobbie's lyrics. Lines like, "I can't describe this feeling, the camera is my brain/I can't deny this feeling, it drives me insane" from the song that made this list are baffling to me. Very few things impress me more than writers who can take little things that might cross one's mind on any given day, and work them effectively into songs where they heighten them without overstating them. Perhaps it's because this is something that very few song writers are able to pull off. And this is just one of the myriad of things that sets the Pastels so far ahead of other bands that thought they could achieve the same effect simply by playing sloppily, and singing off key. The Pastels also had so many seemingly rich musical references to draw from, and their limitations (at the time) as actual musicians (like most of the bands that DID manage pull off this sound) were probably able to help them achieve the particular sound that they were able to achieve. Plus just listen to the bells during the chorus of this song, and see if you are able to avoid falling head over heels in love.

Nancy Sinatra - "So Long Babe"

Lee Hazelwood's ultra sharp storytelling ability plus Nancy Sinatra's ultra refined sass. There just aren't many songwriter/singer combos in pop music history better than this one.

Buddy Holly - "You're So Square (Baby, I Don't Care)

Perhaps when we have a proper dance night I'll finally be able to turn this into an an honest to goodness, night closing, signature song. Until then, well, it's just really, really fun to listen to. Is it not?

~squaregirl marion

Classic Art Has Had It's Day

2008-05-21T00:38:00.000-07:00

There are few things more frustrating than actually having tons of stuff to potentially write about, the desire to write about them but absolutely none of the mental energy required to actually write anything worth reading.

For now, I will pose a question that has surely been posed many, many times. How were The Action not a more well known band? Not that I'm really the best person to pose this question as I've only heard this band for the first time today thanks to a very fortunate gamble during a recent record store trip. Though it is the kind of music that likely inspires the immediate thought, "This is something that didn't quite catch on?" I had the same reaction the first time that I heard The Creation. I'm actually still surprised that more people never really got into the Creation, but this is a tangent that I don't have time for tonight.

Here is the Action song that I'm currently marveling over. If they managed to somehow escape your radar until now, I think it's well worth checking out. If they've been on your radar for awhile, well it's still worth a listen don't you think?

~squaregirl marion

I Said Hey Kids (Hey Kids!) Tuesday 5/20

2008-05-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

So I am working on a podcast for the super fantastic music news site Web In Front. Certainly this is an awesome project, and I am having an excellent time working on it. Unfortunately, this does involve me having to spend my entire day sitting on the floor converting vinyl to mp3 and cursing myself for not doing this to most of these records months ago. Of course the spending all day listening to records part isn't what makes my current situation unfortunate. The thing that makes my curent situation unfortunate is that I will still be hunched over my computer trying many different combinations within an hour of pop songs, until the perfect combination is achieved, while this is going on:

It's a bit difficult to read, but that is a flier for the latest installment of the always fab Radio Free Silver Lake presented Let's Independent night. You can actually read the details here. I've not heard any of the bands so I would have no idea what to expect from this sound wise. However I do know that Joe consistently puts on fantastic shows so whatever the sounds are, they are bound to be pleasing to your ears. Please go, and report back as to how it was if you are able!

~squaregirl marion

Such a Marvelous Time

2008-05-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does having a good band/artist that matches your personal tastes send you a friend request on Myspace feel a little bit like receiving a thoughtful Christmas present in the middle of September from someone you don't know very well? It makes me personally very excited about the prospect of a more considerate humanity, but slightly worried about the inevitable upset to the balance of the Universe that this might cause. Not to say that all bands that seek you out on Myspace are bad, they just generally never take the time to consider the fact that their music will probably not appeal to everyone. The non-considerate folks are almost always the ones that you receive the random friend requests from. Therefore, generally when you see those emails alerting you to the fact that someone whose name is clearly that of a band your likely natural reaction should be to cringe.

On Sunday I noticed an email from Myspace alerting me to the fact that Strawberry Fair wanted to be my friend. I didn't cringe, I instead decided to remain optimistic as I traveled the short internet journey from Hotmail to Myspace. It has been my experience that most bands with the word strawberry in their name tend to be quite good and tend to produce some variation or other of the dreamy pop song. When I arrived at the Myspace page in question to find a picture of an adorable Swedish girl in pigtails staring at me, and the classic Phil Spector-esque sounds that accompanied it, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It didn't take long for the initial feeling of relief to transition into giddiness over the fact that I had a brand new pop group to fall in love with.

Strawberry Fair is the recording project of Jenny Franzen though the live show consists of a kind of supergroup of Swedish indiepop including one member of A Smile and a Ribbon making a contribution amongst others. Apparently she has two previous CDr singles to her name, but February of this year saw the release of her first EP entitled I Can't Do Anything. Imagine the sweet sounds of 60s girl groups walking down the street, brushing shoulders with 1980s indiepop, and creating an ever so slight (yet more than slightly exciting) electrical shock. You can pick up your very own copy of the EP right here.

~squaregirl marion

Here is a video of the full band in action at the Rip it Up Festival in 2006. It's almost impossible to not smile over a band that can make people dance outside, in broad daylight, in the midst of only maybe fifty other people who are not dancing!

About Your World, Your Summer World...

2008-05-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

So here you are, going through the year thinking that you have all of your most anticipated releases completely mapped out, when a brief bout of Myspace searching informs you that you had no idea what you were most looking forward to at all. Cineplexx is primarily the project of Argentina raised/New York survivor/current Barcelona resident Sebastian Litmanovich. He has some help from family and friends of course (all the best ones do) though not all of the best ones are able to count such pop royalty as Duglas Stewart (BMX Bandits,) Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub,) and Jad Fair (Half Japanese,) amongst those helpful friends. All of these folks were contributors to the brand new Cineplex album Picnic, to say that it sounds as though it would make for lovely picnic music would be far to easy...

I will say that it's June 24 release date on Portia Records is fitting, as the record will likely inhabit your stereo for the entirety of the summer. In fact, this record will probably find it's way back to your radar summer after summer after summer for the purposes of mix CD creating, if nothing else. Based off of the songs that appear on the Myspace page, I am so far most enamored with the title track, a dreamy, yet slightly off kilter song whose vocals kind of make it sound as if it were recorded on an island inhabited by friendly ghosts. The carefree employment of xylophone helps this effect nicely. Also helping the beautiful oddness of this track is the presence of Jad Fair. All of the tracks make smart use of electronic elements as well as human elements (i.e. you can dance to most of them!) All maintain a sweet breezy pace. Most of the songs are sung in Spanish, the notable exception on the Myspace page being "Tiger Trap" (oh so deliciously twee in both the story detailed in the song, AND the likely reference to the band of the same name, um, and the fact that Duglas Stewart is singing it.) I simply can't wait until I am able to hear the entire thing. Until then, I will most likely be finding my way here, a lot.

When You Help Others, You Can't Help Helping Yourself...

2008-05-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

I walked into the Dublab studio yesterday and was greeted with the sight of DJ Expo performing all manner of incredibly impressive DJ manouvers in a set of amazing sounding soul and funk tracks, as he faded out a 15 minute Isaac Hayes track in a way that I will never be able to properly describe (it involved using some sort of DJ program to loop the song on the spot, and in effect create a new ending to it,) then my friend Ale, and I took the mic to introduce the show we were about to begin. We then spent the next hour and a half playing nothing but Jesus & Mary Chain songs, including Ale performing a live cover of "You Trip Me Up" right in the middle of our set. Right now I'm listening to a set that began with a song from lesser known late 70s 4AD band Psychotik Tanks, and has unfolded into songs that are bit more in the shoegaze and/or space rock family. What I'm listening to now, I would not be surprised to find on a Che Records compilation. Naturally this set is provided by resident post punk expert Michael Stock.

If you've been listening to Dublab.com lately you may have noticed that there is a Proton Drive going on at the moment. If you haven't been listening, but what I described above sounds like just the kind of diverse, music geek fueled radio station you would like to keep alive please head over here, and donate any amount you might be able to donate. A little over $4,000 so far has been raised so far with the goal being to reach $20,000 by next Wednesday May 21st. This can absolutely happen, but only with your help! All the incentives to donate are listed here. Keep the uniquely wonderful entity that is Dublab.com alive!

~squaregirl marion

The Past is a Disater, and the Future's Coming Faster...

2008-05-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

So, in the rare spaces these days when my ears aren't glued to Annie's DJ Kicks comp, I've been reaffirming my love for, um... Love Is All. In fact, as I was driving to work on Sunday morning (a whole day before I saw the article about the new Annie album) I began to wonder when exactly we might be treated to a new Love Is All album. If you never heard Love Is All, a few helpful things to know about them are the ones that follow. They are amazing. The lyrics are clever and self depricating at times/brilliantly self assured at others, the music is most often manic avd giddyness enducing with prominent use of the trumpet, and they once covered a Pastels song. Actually, they covered this Pastels song to be exact. In short, I adore this band.

Well, before I freaked out and posted a frantic, "When will Love is All release a new album?!?!" post; I decided to do a quick Google search on the subject. Turns out that Pitchfork posted this news in February, mere days before my birthday no less! Sigh, I already knew that I should be more actively involved in keeping up with the music news, but this discovery hit that particular nail over the head. Anyway, if you need me, I'll be off somewhere counting down the days to the currently non-existent release date for A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night...

~squaregirl marion

There Was a Time Everybody Was Around, and I Was Dancing With You...

2008-05-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

So I heard from Three Imaginary Girls, who heard from Popjustice, who heard from, oh who knows where these super in the know people get their news... it's beside the point, with the point being that Popjustice reported news that Annie will be releasing a new album this year entitled Don't Stop. Also according to Popjustice, the album is amazing. You can read Three Imaginary Girls contributor Chris B's take on the whole thing right here.

This is of particular interest to me right now, as an exorbitant amount of my time this week and last week has been spent listening to Annie's installment of !k7's DJ Kicks Series. In the interest of full disclosure this particular installment is one of only three that I have from the entire series, all of which I have received through my volunteering at KCRW. That is to say, this is not a series that I have been an avid collector of. Still, I like the idea of it so very much; get a DJ and/or musician(s) to put together a well thought out, mixed compilation CD that will give you the feeling of listening to a club type DJ set at home. I like Annie's set a lot because I get the sense that she DJs the way I like to hear people DJ, there is a nice ratio of pop songs (Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" makes an appearance,) to much more obscure dance specific tracks like Zongamin's excellent instrumental "Bongo Song,"which she segues very nicely into JD Twitch's Optimo edit of the Liquid Liquid track "Flextone." I haven't heard the original version of "Flextone," but I can certainly hear elements of the original version of "Optimo." That is another thing that makes this mix so strong, all of the remixes included are smart remixes, and feel like they have a purpose. The fact that she plays every song almost to it's entirety is yet another reason that I like her comp so much. As I said before, that is the way that I like to hear people DJ. She does manage to beat match everything pretty well, but that happens after you've been able to enjoy almost a whole song. Sure they aren't all perfect, but in a way that makes it almost better. I can listen to a mix like this one and think that with a bit more practice one of these days I will be able to do that!

The only thing that is sad about my current obsession with Annie's DJ Kick's is that the album has existed since 2005, and has been in my Ipod since December of last year. Oh well, it's found it's way to my ears now which is all that really matters. Now I am beyond excited to hear Don't Stop. If this mix, and of course her outstanding 2004 record Anniemal are any indication it will be one of the best records of 2008!

~squaregirl marion

AND, just in case you forgot exactly how good this stuff is...

She Says It's Going to Rain, She Says She's Only Playing...

2008-05-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, I hope that everyone had a fantasic weekend, and saw fantastic shows, and /or got plenty of rest. I came to the conclusion yesterday that it is very difficult to keep up a blog whose primary purpose it is to write things about rock shows attended when the writer of said blog attends so few rock shows. Oh well, shameless self-promotion it is then. It's actually more promotion for Mezanine Owls so I feel completely o.k. about it. In case you've not yet heard them, Mezzanine Owls are kind of stunningly beautiful and you should see them live on every occasion that you have to do so. The fact that they have a residency at Spaceland starting tonight makes all of us very lucky. We're actually double blessed (sorry, please remember that on the rare occasions when I do write the writing will tend to include Pastels' quotes) with long time Squaregirls' super crush Le Switch having their residency going on at the Echo this month as well. The line-ups for every night of each bands'respective shows appear to be pretty incredible (check the links to the Myspace pages for each band for all of the details.) So, um, here is where the shameless part comes in, we are DJ- ing for Mezzanine Owls at Spaceland TONIGHT, and for Le Switch next Monday which is May 12th. Natuarally we'd love to see you at both shows. It's also worth noting that Mezzanine Owls will be celebrating Cinco De Mayo with two dollar Tecate all night! If Mezzanine Owls dreamy, distorted, and epic in all the right ways pop songs aren't incentive enough for you to come out tonight surely the extraordinarilly well priced booze will provide that last little push that you need...

AND I did manage to attend a rock show at the Echo last night. Blood On The Wall were exactly what I hoped they would be. The pull out pretty much every great trick in the indie rock handbook (most readily apparent are the ones they learned from the Pixies) then they execute them with absolute fucking perfection. Seeing them live is highly recommended, as is their 2005 album Awesomer.

AND AND AND most importantly, Dublab kicked off a Proton Drive just this morning so please head over to the site, add Dublab's stream to your Itunes if you haven't already done so, listen to the fantastic DJ's, and donate from your heart so that they can keep all of that fantasticness (actual word?) going!

We hope to see you tonight, and please feel free to tell us about all of the awesome shows that you saw over the weekend or last week in the comments!

Where Did Your Long Hair Go?

2008-04-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

I spend an exorbitant (borderline unhealthy) amount of time at home on the internet reading about bands and labels. Most of these bands and labels fall into the category of bands and labels that inspire one to care deeply about them, if one inclined to care about them at all. These bands and labels are highly saturated with releases that inspire people to spend considerable amounts of time actively seeking them out. If one of these people is not actively seeking out a particular release from a particular band, it is still pretty likely that those bands, and those labels are on some sort of list (mental or physical) that is always with these people.

I also spend an exorbitant (borderline unhealthy) amount of time at record stores. I sort through seemingly endless boxes of 7 inches. Every so often a situation like the on that follows (and when it does it's fucking awesome) will occur. I think to myself, "Hey cool, there is a band called The Caroline Know." I turn the album over and notice that the 7" in question was released by The Bus Stop Label. I then think to myself, "Oh, I've actually been looking for this record." I'd read about the Caroline Know in the past, but they were filed away in a dark corner of my mind with other bands that I'd read about once and assumed that I'd never owned recorded music from.

There are two very important facets of this story. The Bus Stop Label is an "Iowa City bred, Milwaukee based," indiepop label that is often referred to as the "American Sarah." And "Caroline No," is my favorite Beach Boys song.

As it turns out, The Caroline Know are perhaps a bit of an American Orange Juice, if you're thinking about Orange Juice songs like "(To Put It In a) Nutshell," and "Consolation Prize." There is also, not surprisingly, a similarity to Sebadoh as Jason Lowenstein was a regular contributor, and Eric Gaffney was an occasional contributor. References to other bands aside though, The Caroline Know's "Nail," is the sort of 7 inch that can occupy one's record player for extraordinary lenghts of time despite the many other records resting along side, waiting for their turn. One will probably lift the needle ever so gently, again and again certain that after this one last listen, one will move on to the next record. Though once one has listened to the 7 inch an appropriate number of times, there will probably be a few days of listening to Pet Sounds involved...

Also while I'm kind of on the subject, can we put a mandatory hold on recording artists covering "God Only Knows?" This could comfortably last anywhere from 20 years to forever. There are plenty of other great Beach Boys songs that can be covered ("Caroline No" actually being one of them,) it's just that "God Only Knows," is actually a perfect pop song. Am I completely out of line to suggest that it could be left alone for awhile?

Listening Too Long To One Song: The Bridal Shop "Violation"

2008-04-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

So my pal** Matthew over at Skatterbrain recently posted about the fact that he was busy, tired, didn't have much time to write, and/or feel much like writing even when there was time. Which is exactly what's been going on with me lately, and for the handful of you who like to check these musings on a regular basis I do apologize. I'll get back to posting soon, I promise.

One thing that did manage to find it's way onto Skatterbrain recently was an announcement of the arrival of a new 7" from Swedish indiepop band The Bridal Shop, and the additional information that the A-side of that single "Violation" was streaming on their Myspace page, and that it was maybe the best thing this band had ever recorded. It took at the most 45 seconds of listening to the song to have me pulling up the Cloudberry Records page for more information. I don't believe that the track had even finished once through as I received a confirmation email from Paypal alerting me to the fact that my payment was initiated. The song is that good. It really is everything that a good indiepop dance track should be from the echo-y, atmospheric sound that kicks into a blast of drum machine and synths at the beginning, to the distant Morrisey-esque vocals, to the dramatic center where everything becomes almost still, to the part where it all kicks back in at full blast to level off neatly albeit abruptly at the end. Kind of like the soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist about dance clubs that don't exist where you perpetually expect to see someone grab their secret crush and kiss them in a highly dramatic fashion as a vivid technicolor light show explodes behind them. Yes, the track is that good. If you click here, the song should be the first thing that you hear. I highly recommend picking up the 7" from the afore mentioned Cloudberry page as well though. The B-side "Coming Real" is also exquisite.

~squaregirl marion

** I use the term pal despite the fact that this is not only someone who I've never met, and for whatever reason have never even posted a comment on his blog. I also use the term pal because he appears to like all of the same things that I do in terms of music, he's just WAY better about finding it than I am.

This is Just a Modern Rock Post...

2008-04-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

So, by the time that you are all reading this at your office desks on Wednesday morning the whole "What did everyone do this weekend?" question might seem beside the point. However, I don't care! I would still like to know.

I was personally quite impressed with the set that A Sunny Day in Glasgow put on at Pehrspace on Saturday night. It was completely different from the last time I saw them live, and even more completely different from their recorded sound. It was loud, it was kind of raw, and it was more than kind of great. We had a more than kind of great dance party afterwards as well. It was actually one of the most fun Saturday nights that I have experienced in a long while despite the fact that it made work the next day ever so slightly painful. No matter, it's something that I would repeat every weekend if given the chance. Which I *ahem* luckily enough do have the chance to do next weekend. We'll be spinning records at Pehrspace again, this time in between sets from Mad Gregs, One Trick Pony, and The Slow Demise. Naturally we would love to see you there...

I took a spontaneous trip to San Luis Obispo this week so I imagine that most of my days for the rest of the week will be spent walking around, and spending an unhealthy amount of time in record stores, and an unhealthy (but necessary) amount of time in a car. I would like to spend my extra days off writing though, so hopefully there will be some of that as well...

~sqg marion

Watching the Tide Roll Away

2008-04-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Every time I find myself at a really great show where there are about seven people in attendance, and most of them work with the venue, or were in other bands playing that night; I get a little sad. Why aren't more people getting to see this, I wonder, why, why!?!

If you missed Over the Atlantic at Pehrspace on Tuesday night, and it was a bit of a last minute announcement, you do have one more chance to catch them this week on Friday night at Echo Curio. The sound that I heard from them was a bit more outwardly rocking than I was expecting which I have to say was quite enjoyable. They employed the loud shimmering guitar sound that I love more than most any other guitar sound, the vocals were low and slightly distorted, and the drums were tight. It all added up to something extraordinarily effective that found me involuntarily trying to keep the rhythm with my foot, and this was achieved with them having just arrived from New Zealand earlier that day, and having just purchased and/or borrowed every instrument that they were using. It was also, I believe, the bass player's first official show with the band. Therefore, Friday's show promises to be even better than that one. Here are a few more details:

"Over the Atlantic (Carpark Records) are playing a one-off show in LA this coming weekend. From New Zealand, this is Over the Atlantic's second trip to LA, and the first trip to feature a full live band. Their last visit was with Beach House to support the release of their debut album "Junica". On this tour they are releasing a special tour only EP featuring 5 songs never before released in the US including 2 tracks from their forthcoming second album.

They are playing at Echo Curio on Friday with the wonderful Don Cavalli (Everloving Records - France) and locals Deepakalypse and Team Scrub."

They've also been kind enough to send me an MP3 from their forthcoming full length Dimensions which is available for you to download here.

It's also worth noting that Don Cavalli really is wonderful, and I'm sure well worth making a point to see live. His new record Cryland has been in my car's CD player since Monday afternoon, and it's an unnervingly perfect blend of blues, zydeco, a little soul, and even a slight hint of reggae that. If it wasn't executed SO lovingly, and SO well it might even make you a bit uncomfortable to know that the songs were the creation of a white French man. The songs are executed that well though, and the result is honestly nothing short of amazing.

She'll Let Them Know When it's Punk Enough...

2008-04-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

With the Scene booking less shows these days we've decided that it will be nice time for us to take a little break from doing the regular club night thing. We had an AMAZING run during the time that we were there, and there are not enough ways in the world to say THANK YOU to everyone who played, and/or attended one of our shows there. We adore all of you tremendously.

But that doesn't mean we are packing up our turntables, and riding of into the proverbial (or literal) sunset. In addition to maintaining this thing here that you are currently reading; we will still be booking and presenting the odd show here or there (or Pehrspace,) and we will be DJ-ing for other peoples shows with what looks to be ever increasing frequency. That starts this Saturday when we DJ, um, Pehrspace for State Bird, No Little Kindness, and A Sunny Day in Glasgow. We've got the first night of the Mezzanine Owls Spaceland residency on May 5th, and a Classical Geek Theater presented show at The Scene on May 9th. We're kind of addicted to the whole playing records and watching people dance thing so if you need someone to DJ a show that you've got coming up, chances are we're just the girls you've been looking for. Visit us here if you would like to contact us!

Also, I believe that I've made reference once or twice in the past to the fact that I've been putting together some sets for the Dubstream. I am still a bit humbled by the fact that I get to be a part of something as exciting as Dublab so I still find it a bit hard to believe that I have an official show there. However, I have an official show there. You can now look forward to many more bouts of shameless self promotion when there is a new installment of "Not Quite Punk," in the Dubstream. As you've probably come to expect from me by now, "Not Quite Punk" will tend to translate into "mostly twee." Naturually indiepop makes up the bulk of what I tend to play, but there is simply too much good music out there to limit ones self to one genre, therefore "Not Quite Punk" will also tend to translate into "not quite anything." Oh, and it's a line from a Tullycraft song because there are so few things that I enjoy more in life than finding fun new ways to reference Tullycraft. Squaregirl Kristen has something in the works over there as well so we will DEFINITELY keep you posted as that comes together.

I think that covers just about everything for the time being. Of course if there are any new developments, you will be the first to know. We'll see you around town!

~sqg marion

Rock and Roll has Lost it's Teeth

2008-04-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

The Teeth are still a bit of a mystery to me. I still don't know much about them. I only discovered them about a year ago via Dr. Dog and their Park the Van label. I caught the video for "So Long", and I thought it was perfect. I also watched the "Yellow" video, and i couldn't get how something so simple could be so good. And I really only delved into their material three months ago, at the behest of my boyfriend. After merely sampling their latest release, last year's "You're My Lover Now" online, I was prompted to immediately purchase it. Yes, I said PURCHASE it. I bought the MP3 version and loaded it onto a disk, along with the session they recorded at the Daytrotter studio, and that became my new soundtrack. Anyone who got into my car heard some Teeth. If I talked about music, I talked about the Teeth. And thusly, I fell in love with my new favorite band.

So, what I know of this band is information that I've gathered from many different sources and pieced together into a hazy picture. That picture became crystal clear when I finally witnessed their live performance at this year's SXSW. And so soon after, it was abruptly cracked by a rumor of a breakup, and now, with the confirmation of that rumor, shattered.

I consider myself so lucky to have watched them live, even if only once. On the Thursday of this past South By Southwest, I was able to catch a backyard show featuring the Teeth, Sunset, and The Physics of Meaning at Big Orange Transducers, the temporary Daytrotter studio in Austin. What a show! The Teeth's live act was everything I hoped it would be. Those boys threw their entire being into that performance. It was all movement and sweat and energy. I felt like everything else had stopped. It was just me and the music. Magical. I thought about that line from The Henry Clay People's "Rock and Roll Has Lost Its Teeth", and I thought, "Thank all that is holy for this band. This is punk rock. This is Rock and Roll," I thought. "This is it."

They were punk rock.

On Thursday, April 3rd, Peter MoDavis of The Teeth wrote a letter to us all regarding the demise of the band, a letter that I read with some difficulty. Like many others, I too had heard the rumors of a break up right after I got back from Austin, but I couldn't believe it. So, I waited. And now, it is the end.

I decided to tell the Teeth how I really felt, with a MySpace comment on their page:

I don't think I've ever cried over a band before, but today, realizing how much you've meant to me, I cried. I heard a rumor 2 weeks ago, but I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe that something this beautiful could no longer be experienced.

The show that you played with [The Physics of Meaning and Sunset] at Big Orange in Austin was the highlight of my time in Texas, and The Christmas City EP has been in my CD player incessantly since I received it as a Valentine's Day gift. And I never tire of watching the "So Long" video. It's amazing. And so are the Daytrotter Sessions.

I have told so many people about The Teeth. This music is exciting, and it makes me happy to be alive. And I wanted to share that with everyone.

Thank you all, I will miss you, we will miss you.

~sqg rachel

Bite into these:

My favorite Teeth video for "So Long":

You can also listen to the Teeth's Daytrotter session here.

I Said Hey Kids (Hey Kids!) - A Couple of Tuesday Night Options

2008-04-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Of course Radio Free Silver Lake's Let's Independent should always be your default on the third Tuesday of the month. Tonight, of course, looks to be no exception to the "Joe Fielder always puts together fantastic line-ups worth driving to Hollywood for," rule. I've heard nothing but really nice things about The Minor Cannon, and have been trying to catch a show from them for a while. I've heard absolutely nothing about Luke Top, or (((eagle winged palace))). Joe's seal of approval surely makes them worth a listen though.

I'm personally a bit torn now. As much as I would like to honor my monthly appointment at Boardner's, the line- up at Pehrspace does look mighty intriguing. Every unabashedly hyper power pop track that I heard from Georgie James has made their full length Places from last year the album that I most regret having missed in it's entirety. Perhaps if you missed it too, we can all play catch up by picking up a copy tonight. The night has also gotten even more intriguing due to the last minute addition of New Zealand based Over the Atlantic. They released a lovely album in 2006 called Junica that not nearly enough people heard. Squaregirl Kristen saw them open for Beach House that same year with the boy that introduced us. That boy maintains that Over the Atlantic are even better live than on the record.

Um, two shows in one night anyone?

~sqg marion

Sleeps on Water, Walks on Ice

2008-04-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Good morning. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Most of mine was spent working, and trying to catch up with a few records that I hadn't yet been able to spend enough time with. I was able to make it out to Part Time Punks for the first time in several month last night; therefore rendering me exhausted enough to almost mispell the word Spoon on Morning Becomes Eclectic's playlist... in two different ways! A little exhaustion is completely worth having a new local band to adore. WEAVE! fell onto my radar on Saturday night when I saw a Part Time Punks bulliten that described them in this way, "Female group chants backed by minimal tribal post-punk thump. Brings to mind Y Pants & The Raincoats . . . which is very, very good." Yes, it is very very good, and very, very accurate. Another friend brought up the fact that they reminded him of early B-52s which didn't come across to me last night, but kind of makes sense now that I think about it. They are also a bit similar in nature to my South by Southwest 2008 highlight Finally Punk except from what I saw none of the vocalists in WEAVE! played an insrument, and no one in the band played a saxophone.

You could see them this Saturday at the Tiny Creatures Gallery, and if it were any other day I would whole heartedly advocate that you do just that. HOWEVER, A Sunny Day in Glasgow are playing at Pehrspace this Saturday, and I have to advocate much more strongly that you go to this show. If for nothing else than the fact that you have another chance to see WEAVE! a few weeks later (on May 13 to be specific) at the Smell. We have no idea when A Sunny Day in Glasgow will be able to grace us with their presecnce again, but it will likely not be anytime to soon. You might also remember that A Sunny Day in Glasgow's first full length Scribble Mural Comic Journal was my favorite record of 2007. This will be my second time seeing their live show, and based on what I saw from them last time, the sound translates beautifully from record to stage, every intricate layer and distorted effect that interweave to fill every square inch of the songs that they inhabit sounds just as impressive in a live context. In fact, live, the intricacies are able to spill out and fill every square inch of the ROOM that they inhabit. Oh, and we will be spining some records in between sets from the bands who also include State Bird, and No Little Kindness who both promise to be fantasic. We'll also be joined by the staggeringly great DJ Ale (Dublab, Languis.) His sets will likely be good enough to make us question our life choices. So come out and play with us; dance, drink (if you forget to bring your beverage of choice we might even be persuaded to give you a free beer while supplies last,) and well, be merry. We'll see you on Saturday!

~sqg marion

Wednesday Night: Squaregirls Divide And Conquer!

2008-04-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true. This Wednesday April 9th Squaregirl Awesome (Kristen) will hold down the fort for our last official night at the Scene Bar in Glendale. She is taking requests for her DJ set, and when she is not behind the DJ booth making you smile or shattering your dreams she'll be out in the crowd watching the bands that we have lined up. It promises to be an outstanding night of music from local rock bands:

The Scene has been great to us, and we're sad to not have a regular home there anymore. However, both venue and Squaregirls are moving in different directions. Please stop by, and help celebrate close our night in style. You can email us at squaregirls@gmail.com to RSVP for the $3 discount list.

Meanwhile, I will be taking on DJ duties at the Echo alongside the incomparable Kevin Bronson. The night will feature music from these fantastic local bands:

As much as it pains me to miss the majority of our night at the Scene, this show just sounded too great to pass up. Such is the nature of the truly great L.A. music scene. For you, we advocate stopping by both shows, and sleeping when you're dead.

We'll see you tomorrow night!

~sqg marion

Simple Things Never Keep

2008-04-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have those afternoons/ evenings where every attempt that you make to finally get some rest is destroyed by various neighbors taste in music ranging from questionable (a radio station programed to think that it is o.k. to follow the Gin Blossoms with the Rolling Stones) to just flat out mean (a mix c.d. whose listener found necessary to play skipping back and forth between a Korn song, an Offspring song, and some other terrible single from a band that has hopefully faded far into obscurity.) Once it seemed that the worst was over, and I should maybe take advantage of the moment by falling asleep, the Mariachi pop hits began to mix with whatever new post trance dance music the hipsters are listening to these days to form probably the most awkward unintentional mash-up ever. Then you say to yourself, "Fuck it, I guess I'm going to Pehrspace after all."

I arrived at the venue still tired, and in a terrible mood to find Languis in full ambient, experimental mode. Turns out that after all of the assaults my ears had endured throughout the afternoon, this was EXACTLY what I needed to clear my mind. Alejandro Cohen was on stage alone alternating between manipulating the keyboards (when I walked in he was applying masking tape to certain keys to make prolonged notes,) and likely improvised freakouts on the drum pads that were set up the stage. They expanded to a two piece to take on the Jesus & Mary Chain's "You Trip Me Up." To my mind Cohen sounded a bit more like Stephen Pastel than either of the Brothers Reid which if you've looked at this site even once or twice in the past you can probably guess I had no objection to. New songs were played, and styles were changed, and technical difficulties were had. That is of no matter though, Languis are one of few bands that can make technical difficulties work, if not even seem intentional. Full drums were added about half way through their cover of the Field Mice's "Sensitive." Kind of strange to hear drums added to a Field Mice song, but goddamn they sounded great.

Tuscon's Mad River Glenn were up next. If was smart, ultra high energy, pop flavored indie rock played by a bunch of guys who are all really good at their instruments. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Spider Problem were up next. I was terribly excited about this fact as I've been trying to catch them for a while, and wasn't even aware that they were playing that night. If it hasn't previously been a goal of yours to see this band, make it so immediately. Lead singer Shayne Eastin is one of the more dynamic performers I've seen in a while. She struts around the stage in torn fishnets, often falls to the ground writhing, and more often makes her way into the crowd to grab most of the men in attendence and make them (if they're being honest with themselves) slightly uncomfortable in the cool way. It's a type of performance that I secretly (well not so secretly anymore) wish that I could pull off, but never will. That being said, I'm content to watch others pull it off, and quietly write about it later. The music was all high energy rock; well executed, and constantly moving in interesting directions. It's also worth noting that they closed the show with a Prodigy cover (don't ask me which song) it took me about a minute and a half to realize that it was a Prodigy cover, and I probably wouldn't have realized it all had it not been announced as a cover.

Speaking of high energy rock; well executed, and always moving in interesting directions. Actually Mr. Free & the Satellite Freakout take their music far past the most interesting directions you would automatically imagine. Turns out they were most certainly my mystery band from Mess With Texas during South by Southwest (I had already mostly put that together,) and it turns out that Pehrspace is a MUCH better environment to see them in. They are all exceptional musicians, and do a very high energy psychedelic/metal/even somewhat soul tinged experimental rock show. Where before I thought it was veering in the direction of performance art (Mr. Free wears face paint, and never wastes much time stripping down to a g string,) but the musicianship is just way to tight for it to be anything other than flat out good rock & roll.

After Pehrspace most of us in the crowd made our way to Mr. Free's converted into a make shift travel venue school bus to watch the majority of the line up do it all over again. Other that the part where a wasted idiot came stumbling off of the bus, and decided to make his play for the "Worst Human Being Ever" title by punching a GIRL the show was just as great on the bus, and I was pretty impressed with the sound. Sadly the drunk loser in question made his escape into the near by park, and was not dealt with properly. I guess we all have to hope for some serious Karmic retribution in this case. Jax has some killer photos of Spider Problem's show on the bus, and more choice words about dudes who think that it's o.k. to hit girls. Check it out here.

~sqg//marion

So what did everyone else get up to this weekend?

I Said Hey Kids (Hey Kids!) - 4/4 - 4/6

2008-04-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for something to do this weekend that involves standing around and listening to music, might I make a few suggestions?

Squaregirls' long time loves Princeton open for The Ruby Suns, and Le Loup. I've not listened too much to either headlining band, but I've read good accounts of their tour so far. The Ruby Suns seem particularly intriguing as they seem to be influenced in almost equal measures by African music, and the Beach Boys. This show is taking place at the Echo on Saturday April 5th.

Then on Sunday April 6th, this is happening:

Much mention has been made here about how much we adore Le Switch so I won't go on about it any more. I will say that they are a band that you should see live as often as you can. We also happen to be DJ- ing this event, so please drop by and say hello.

Oh, and Languis are at Pehrspace on Friday April 4th. Another band that you should see live as often as you can, only Languis provides you with slightly fewer opportunities.

South By Southwest Re- cap (Squaregirl Marion's Version) Part Two

2008-04-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

When last I spoke of South By Southwest I was voicing my sort of frustration with Mancurian band The Answering Machine. I'm still trying to sort out exactly how I felt about them, but over all it was... sigh.

Friday started a bit late for me. Once I finally made it in to town I set about trying to figure out how to make my way to the Happy Happy Birthday to Me day party taking place in some remote location that seemed not terribly accessible to someone who didn't the bus system in Austin, at all. I resolved myself to spending the majority of the morning at CVS, and trying to sort out plans with a local friend for later that afternoon. I then resolved myself to checking out Frightened Rabbit for the second time during my trip, and drinking the ever popular $2 Dewars and Ginger much earlier in the day than anyone should probably be drinking Dewars and anything. Such is the spirit of South by Southwest though. And I should never use the phrase "resolve myself" to describe seeing Frightened Rabbit.

Frightened Rabbit are a band that I'd wanted to see since I read the way that my friend, and most trusted musical advisor, Eric J. Lawrence described them in his SXSW write up for KCRW last year. Fittingly they were the first band that I saw when I arrived in Austin, but I only caught the last three songs. On Friday I was in place for a full set. They were probably the best rock band that I saw during my trip. All of their songs have an unmatchable live energy. In fact there were a few songs, "Be Less Rude" is a perfect example, that I almost didn't recognize in the live setting as they were louder, more confident, and rocked much harder than they did on Frightened Rabbit's debut album The Greys. A few songs seemed to suggest that they are heading in a more epic direction, like friends and label mates The Twilight Sad. Both bands have enough other interesting elements, and well written lyrics to pull off that level of epicness so it was actually sort of pleasant to see them try those things. One of the songs may have even been a Twilight Sad cover, or perhaps an allusion. If my memory serves me correctly though, The Twilight Sad's drummer doesn't have any songs where he plays harmonica, and drums AT THE SAME TIME. Frightened Rabbit's drummer does that, and it may be on of the most impressive things that I have ever seen.

After Frightened Rabbit I decided to go in search of food, instead I found myself walking past Club Deville, and noticing that there was clearly something soulful going on inside. I also noticed that they had free beer, so I decided that food could wait for the moment. I walked in, and was able to catch almost all of Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears it was classic sounding blues/ soul with a six piece backing band, and a lead singer who was a natural entertainer. He covered Wilson Pickett's "Toe Hold," and ended his final song with a James Brown- esque "Please, please, please..." break down. Elsewhere his song lyrics reflected modern versions of the classic "I wronged my woman, and ended up locked out with all of my stuff on the lawn type stories." I can't think of many better ways to enjoy a warm afternoon outside in Austin, Texas.

Once the set was finished my need for food took over, and I decided to make my way over to where I was meeting up with my friend, and grab a slice of pizza on en route.

We headed way off the beaten path in attempt to check out a band called Toddle who were described to me as a sort of Japanese version of Superchunk with a female lead singer, perhaps one of the most promising descriptions of a band that I heard during my entire trip. However, by the time we made it to the venue where they were supposed to play it had been put on hold due to the fact that there was no set occupancy. This meant that even though there were only twenty or so people there, it could be seen as a fire hazard. Once we had the story, we decided to see what was going on over at the Happy Happy Birthday to Me party. Oh the sheer joy of finally having a car.

The Besties were on when we walked in. More free beer was consumed, and we were both seriously into the Besties high energy, double keyboard/guitar/drums/harmonies. The next performance of the afternoon came from multi- instrumentalist Karl Blau is always charming. While nothing can really top the first time you see his one man show that involves a number of different mics each set to give his voice several unique effects, and switching from various guitars (bass and otherwise;) seeing him playing in a garage added a certain new level of charm to the equation.

After that it was off to the Merge Records showcase. The night started with Portastatic which consisted solely of Mac and an acoustic guitar. I heard a few grumblings about this in the crowd, but for me Mac McCaughan is one of very few people that are compelling to listen to and/or watch with an acoustic guitar. His voice still sounds top notch, and his songs are all well written, and well, since I never got to see Superchunk I will take any performance from Mac that I can get. Plus hearing "I Wanna Know Girls" was a highlight of the evening. Wye Oak were next, and I wish that I had more to say about their perfectly pleasant countrydelic tinged, harmony heavy rock other than it was perfectly pleasant. Unfortunately, I don't find it too easy to get into the intricacies of that particular style. The Radar Brothers are a local band that I desperately need to spend more time with, absorbing the lyrical and musical intricacies that I know exist in their songs. So until that happens, once again I'm afraid I'm left with not much to offer on the performance. However, it was very nice to see Aaron Kyle from Le Switch as the new addition to the band. The Shout Out Louds were next and changed the mood in the room with their loud, upbeat, Swedish pop. "Tonight I Have to Leave It" is one of those perfect, radio friendly pop singles that I know I shouldn't fall for, but that I can never resist no matter how many times I hear it. Hearing it in the live setting was nice. They ended their set by covering Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now," somehow that seemed about right for them. She & Him followed. These were among the first shows from the M. Ward/ Zooey Deschanel Project so eveeryone in attendance seemed very eager to watch how it played out. It was quite good actually. It was a highly stylized performance that involved Deschanel taking center stage, and singing lead on all of the songs (she did write the majority of them) M. Ward sat off to the side making beautiful noises on his guitar and providing the occasional backing vocal. The show was set up as a sort of review like something you might have seen on the Grand Ole Opry many years ago. Another friend of mine pointed out that Deschanel's stage presence could stand to improve a bit, but I imagine it will. I've not yet heard the album, but I liked all of the songs that I heard so I'm certainly planning to spend more time with it very soon. We tried to last through Destroyer, but we lost all of our steam a little over half way through. Destroyer's albums are exquisite, but the live shows always seem to fall just short of that. Though I did get to hear one of my favorite tracks from This Night "Hey Snow White" which was pretty neat. We walked out back to the (lovely) car in a daze, and attempted to prepare for the next days festivities.

Listening Too Long To One Song: Another Sunny Day "Anorak City"

2008-04-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

So I've been DJ-ing on what is becoming an increasingly regular basis for the online station Dublab. It's a station that you should become immediately familiar with if you are not already, and I feel unbelievably honored to be a part of it in any capacity.

My most recent show for the station was a "Sarah Records Tribute Show" with my pal John Girgus formerly of the band Aberdeen who you may recall were one of the few American bands to ever record for the label. He had actually done one of these a few months back, and asked me if I'd be able to help the next time he did one. I assume that this is due to the fact that most of the DJ-ing I do anywhere turns into a Sarah Records Tribute of sorts.

This has led me to spend a great deal of time in the past week going through my records, and itunes library trying to figure out the best combination of pop songs that were either released by, influenced by, or influenced my favorite label. During this process, I've probably listened to "Anorak City" somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty times. It's not a song that improves drastically with every listen, nor does it become any more meaningful, it's just plain and simply a blast to hear and nod your head along to. Written in response to some people (mostly music critics) using the derogatory term "anorak pop" to describe indiepop based on the fact that, well, a lot of the folks that made and listened to jangly pop songs wore anoraks (parkas) on a highly regular basis; this song was kind of a perfect searing mock 50s dance craze hit to poke (sort of) gentle fun at the types who tend to put somewhat ridiculous labels on things. The fanzine that accompanies the single puts it this way, "It's called "Anorak City" because some people are incredibly stupid." This single also does an excellent job to prove the case that Sarah Records was not all sad boys with guitars and drum machines singing sad songs about some girl that would never love them. However, it should be noted that Another Sunny Day DID also record a song called "I'm in Love With a Girl Who Doesn't Know I Exist." And "Anorak City" makes prominent use of a drum machine. The guitars are nice and fuzzy, and the vocals are only about half as loud as the guitars so they are constantly buried beneath them. In a way, it makes it better though as the picking out the lyrics becomes something of an adventure, and most of the discernable ones are pretty great. "Will you be my anorak baby, no no honey please don't say maybe. Say that you'll forever be mine, and stay til the end of time in Anorak City..." In the fanzine this phrase is isolated like so: "Will you be my anorak, baby?" I would never have thought that something as simple as punctuation could make me smile all week, but here we are. And it still makes me smile.

You can find "Anorak City," on my favorite compilation in recent memory (shockingly) titled CD86. It was released in as a tribute to the 20 year anniversary of NME's (in) famous C86 cassette tape. Instead of focusing solely on bands that made an appearance on the tape, they've wisely included other bands that were associated with the genre like Sarah bands Another Sunny Day, the Sea Urchins, and 14 Iced Bears. It should be easy to track down in any record store, or here. You can also find the track on itunes.

You can simply listen to the song here.

~sqg//marion

Not Running Around Nearly Enough These Days...

2008-03-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

I thought things would be slightly closer to normal by now, but as it turns out, they're not even close. Until conditions improve, I'm afraid that I lack the perspective to pipe in as a "girl about town." Really though, this guy, and this guy amongst so many others have plenty more valuable things than me to say about where you should spend your money. You're not really missing out on, well, anything by not having me pipe in on every show that I can find on any given week. I will continue to point out any shows that appear as though they'll be particularly fantastic. I will also continue to beat you over the head (in a nice way) about the fact that you really should spend more time listening to The Tartans. Even when they play a show through technical dificulties at 12:30 on a Sunday night/ Monday morning their songs leave you with a giant grin on your face, and contemplating the idea of dancing when you'd genuinely felt like collapsing only moments before. Did anyone else see any shows this weekend. Good, mediocre, or cringe inducing? Please tell us about them!

I've Got No Excuse I've Been Here Since My Youth, but What About You?

2008-03-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Surely there hasn't been too much going on for me to take the two or so minutes that it would require to listen to a newly posted song from my favorite local band? Surely I wouldn't let several days go by before a Myspace bulliten found me at just the right place and time to actually listen to said song? Um, er...

No bother though. I've heard the latest offering from The Tartans entitled "Your Favorite Song" enough times today to make up for the several previous days that I missed it. The intro is soulful in true indiepop soul fashion, it will certainly sit easily next to those Postcard era Orange Juice singles that might reside in your collection. If such things do reside in your collection then, wow you are incredibly lucky. You can (and should) listen to "Your Favorite Song" here.

The song will show up on a 7" to be released very soon by the YAY! label. You can (and should) pre-order your copy here. The A side of the single will be "Cats of Camerford" with some snazzy new trumpet work. The B side will be "1939" b/w "Your Favorite Song" which I believe up until now you could only hear if you made it out to a show.

Speaking of which, the Tartans will be playing Mr. T's Bowl on Sunday. Be sure to make it out for that one, an prepare to be simultaneously charmed and wowed beyond anything that you could imagine could possibly exist here in Los Angeles.

~sqg marion

I'm in love! What's that song? I'm in love with that song.

2008-03-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Squaregirl Marion’s post concerning Strut Records and its impact on her musical education got me thinking that perhaps there were some people out there who maybe hadn’t heard of Pandora Radio, which has been a remarkably reliable resource for me and my never-ending search for my (and your!) new favorite song. Spawned from The Music Genome Project, which was created by musicians and tech-savvy music lovers, it’s an online radio station of sorts that you are able to tailor to your specific music tastes. It’s like sitting in a room with a music savant. You start by telling Pandora a band you like, which will prompt suggestions of a slew of other artists with similar qualities. Genres and labels aren’t a consideration here, each song has been evaluated by arrangement, melody, lyrics, harmonies, rhythm. Tell Pandora what you liked, what you didn’t, how much more you want to hear certain things, or if you don’t want to hear a certain song again for, say a month. Like Netflix, the more you rate and how you rate dictates what songs are presented to you. It’s incredibly thorough and I have been introduced to some really tremendous songs that I don’t think I would have in my life otherwise.

Once you’ve discovered a bunch of new and awesome bands, make me a Muxtape!

~Sqg Eliza

You Just Strolled in for an Hour and Took the Place Apart

2008-03-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

We need to extend a giant thank you to everyone who made it out to the Scene last night, and helped make our first ever releasing of recorded music extravaganza show (or something to that effect) such a rousing success. All of the bands who played brought the rock to new heights though The Henry Clay People once again brought the rock to a new stratosphere. I really don't know how it's possible for them to become as drastically better as they do every time they play, especially when you thought that surely they could never top the last time you saw them play. They led the crowd in several "rock jumps," they covered Neil Young, AND they thankfully brought Eli Monolator on stage to recreate the famed cover of "Psycho Killer" that they debuted during their Echo residency in February. I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record at this point, but if you haven't seen the Henry Clay People play a live show please do your best to correct that immediately!

Also Squaregirl Kristen did a fabulous job on the tacos. I'm seriously in awe.

Alright, off now make a few mix tapes that I promised various people ages ago...

On a semi- related note, Strut Records, and their extraordinarily well thought out comps may be the best thing to ever happen to me in terms of musical education. I've had a good deal of trouble in the past trying to figure out where to start to learn how to appreciate reggae, especially that point where (post) punk, reggae, funk, soul, disco and even pop collide to create something interesting. Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986 it turns out is exactly where to start. Compass Point was started by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, and the Compass Point All- Stars house band included Sly & Robbie which helped give the recordings made in that period such a special sound. Strut's most recent Disco Not Disco comp has had the same effect in helping me to appreciate all of those weird disco and (along with Souljazz's New York Noise comps) no wave tracks that I was convinced I would never be hip enough to have any appreciation for. I'm still not hip enough, but it turns out that I finally get it anyway. Go figure. I believe there are still a few volumes of New York Noise that are pretty easy to find. Both Strut comps are available now. It should also be noted that Strut Records was recently resurrected by !k7, the label responsible for those frequently pretty great DJ- Kicks compilations. I think that's exciting. Actually, I think it's very exciting.

~Sqg Marion

Baby, take off your beret (Everyone's a Critic, and Most People Are DJs) Squaregirls Next Show w/ Rock Music and Tacos Tonight at the Scene!

2008-03-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello I feel like things are very slowly returning to normal post SXSW in the square part of my world. Due to a busier than normal work schedule, and the fact that our next official Squaregirls show is tonight, (!) I've decided to forgo the concert calendar this week. Instead I'd like to focus all of my energy on telling you exactly how amazing, and fun our show tonight is going to be!

Actually, I can't tell you exactly how fun the show is going to be because with the bands we have lined up anything can happen, and the fun has the potential to reach into uncharted territories. Speaking of uncharted territories, there may also be a post Easter surprise awaiting you at the Scene so bring your sense of adventure...

The show it's self is the biggest CD/EP/7' release show that we've ever thrown. O.K. so it's actually the first release show that we've ever thrown, but the fact that we have three different bands each releasing one of those things I think makes it a pretty big deal. Only one band on the bill tonight is not celebrating the release of any sort of recorded music. Below you will find a bit of information of all of the bands, and their individual releases, and/or ability to rock:

The Henry Clay People will be releasing their new 7inch – Working Part Time, being put out on JAXart, which contains two rocking songs, ‘Working Part Time' and 'Echolocation’ and features artwork by the all around awesome artist (and super rad flyer designer) Michael C. Hsiung. And when you purchase the 7’, you will get a download card to get the 2 songs online, PLUS HCP’s 5 song 'Working Part Time' EP for FREE. We can’t think of a better deal!

The Natural Disasters are releasing a full length CD, 21 songs long called Last Night in LA featuring original artwork by dE Gibson, “who, if you don't know, is, like, a super-famous artist” - that was a direct quote. As is this in reaction to the new ND masterpiece "Hey-- ever heard of the Beatles? Yeah, me neither. After I heard the new Natural Disasters record, I just sort of forgot about everything else. Or, rather, it's not that I forgot -- which would imply, like, you know, a LOSS -- I just... I don't know, are there other rock'n'roll records out there?" So yeah...it’s going to be good. Dig it!

Downtown/Union will be releasing their debut EP "Six Song Super Set" a collection of 6 songs (duh!) chosen from various recordings over the last year. D/U chose 6 songs that would flow together to tell a story and help capture the essence of their sound. Which rocks.

Aushua although not technically releasing an EP/LP or CD at this show, will be releasing their rockness all over the Scene and well, all over you!

I've mentioned here once or twice that the Henry Clay People are becoming one of my favorite bands to see live, over and over again. I can't wait to see what all of the other bands bring to the table as well.

Not only will Squaregirl Kristen and I be spinning some of our favorite ROCK super hits, we'll be joined by supercool guest DJ Jax of Rock Insider, and JAXART Records herself.

Oh, and did I mention there will be tacos?

Surely this is an evening not to be missed! We'll see you in a few hours...

~Sqg Marion

South By Southwest Re- cap (Squaregirl Marion's Version) Part One

2008-03-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Nearly everyone who attends South By Southwest these days has a story to write about it, and a forum with which to publish it. Since nobody writes them they used to, it might as well be all of us!

We knew our weekend was officially over as we waited for our friends by their car so that we could flee the street party that the police had arrived at moments prior. Our friends, as it turns out, were preoccupied with watching the hardcore types whose party (we assume) it was clean various paper debris, and jousting aftermath from the street. We in fact arrived at said party based on a text that someone in our group received alerting her to the fact that there was a party going on, and people were jousting. Squaregirl Kristen already had the address from a myopenbar.com alert.

This was Sunday night. Truth be told we could have left Austin several hours earlier than we actually did, and been completely fine. However, I saw one of best shows of my entire trip on Sunday so I guess things worked out for the best.

Austin's Finally Punk were a pleasant almost total surprise. I'll admit that I was intrigued by them while glancing over the line-up they played as part of the day before because of the band name. I got to the venue (Beerland) a bit later than I was hoping to. I fell completely in love with whatever band I was watching when I arrived. About three songs in I found out they were Finally Punk. I guess after three days of seeing mostly straightforward indie rock bands with varying degrees of mostly (and mostly totally enjoyable) professionalism I was still kind of hoping for something a bit more unexpected. What I walked into on Sunday afternoon was girls jumping around, trading instruments/lead vocal duties, and clearly having a tremendous amount of fun. A good number of the songs collapsed into one of my favorite post punk traditions of bursts of saxophone over noisy racket made by guitar, bass, and drums. Most of the songs clocked in at around one minute. The vocals were half sung/half spoken slyly, or simply shouted. They covered Nirvana's "Negative Creep," (the first cover that I heard from Bleach in less than a week for those keeping score) also adding a little bit of "Enter Sandman" to the beginning. It's worth noting that there is apparently a Finally Punk/Mika Miko side project called Teenage Moms based here in Los Angeles. It's also worth noting that I sadly still haven't seen Mika Miko (at least not to my direct knowledge.)

Speaking of bands that play at the Smell a lot though. The Mae Shi played immediately after Finally Punk at Beerland on Sunday. Their theatrical, thrashsy punk antics in their anthems are always welcome with me.

The band that followed the Mae Shi, Montreal's CPC Gangbangs are probably a band that I should give another chance to when I am less exhausted. From what I saw last week though, they just weren't all that memorable. I do remember that they were loud, and they definitely played songs that you could pull off some serious head banging to.

Synth punk/dance duo Best Fwends closed the evening on an almost performance art type note. The two boys shouted mostly indecipherable lyrics over programmed beats and guitar noise, they crashed into the audience at random intervals leaving me currently in possession of my most punk rock bruise (and possibly scar!) to date. I'm still not entirely sure what exactly transpired during their twenty minute set. I am sure that it was amazing. One Best Fwend has a side project called Total Abuse who are playing L.A. in July at (you guessed it) the Smell. I'll keep you posted with more info on that show when I have it. I generally tend to shy away from (avoid) hardcore, but this one seems worth checking out...

Oh yeah, and this sign was in the girl's bathroom at Beerland:

(credit to Squaregirl Kristen for taking the picture, and for noticing the sign in the first place!)

My Saturday was much more low key. I spent most of the day in one place, Waterloo Park for the small scale (and free) festival show Mess With Texas 2. I spent most of my time there sitting on the ground and listening to comedians. As it turns out, I still have a bit of my schoolgirl crush on former Singled Out host Chris Hardwick who is now part of the comedy duo Hard N Phirm. Go figure.

Kimya Dawson performed as a sort of interlude to the comedy. This makes perfect sense as most of her stream of consciousness stories in song form are often as hilarious as anything a comedian can come up with, AND she can usually pull of heartbreaking within the same song. She debuted a few songs from an upcoming children's album that she will be releasing through K Records in the fall.

My first full band set of the day came from Atlas Sound which is essentially the solo side project from Deerhunter's Bradford Cox. Though he did have a full band on stage with him for this particular performance. I was completely taken with the hypnotic melodies achieved by layered guitars, and what appeared to be quite a few distortion pedals. This show was also one in a series of week moments that made me consider shirking all of my responsibilities for awhile, relearn how to play the guitar, and learn for the first time how to effectively fuck around with distortion pedals. Sigh, if only...

While we waited for Black Mountain to take the stage, we were treated to a little bit from a band whose identity was undetermined. The crowd around us that seemed to be waiting for Black Mountain thought it was terrible. I thought it was kind of interesting. Arty noise with mostly shouted lyrics that the lead singer (in drag and almost clown like costume make-up) moved through with break neck speed except when there was a need for a dramatic pause or an elongating of a phrase for effect. I'd love to hear the story of why their set was shut down after only about two songs. Was it Neon Neon running way behind schedule? It didn't sound the way I would imagine Neon Neon to sound, but maybe that was part of the fun?

Once Black Mountain did take the stage, I made it through about one song then deciced to journey over to a different stage to see what No Age were up to. Black Mountain are clearly a technically proficient, very good band, but I can only take that 70s hard rock throwback vibe when I'm in just the right mood. Even then it's generally best for me in small doses.

Besides, my lack of seeing No Age was starting to get just downright sad. I know that a lot has been said about No Age's minimalist approach to their songs, and much has been made about the fact that they are a duo. I have to say that the sound they produced (though still quite minimalist) was bigger than I was expecting drums, and guitars (and yes quite a few pedals) to be able to produce. That responsibilty shirking thing just sounds more and more appealing with every word that I type...

What was also impressive about No Age was how humble they came across. I guess I kind of imagined that since they have a lot of the hipper than you could ever hope to be kids declaring them the greatest thing since sliced bread that they might assume that attitude themselves, blasting through song after song with maybe one tossed aside, "Uh we're No Age..." Instead they gushed about various artists they were sharing the stage with. Then they declared that the current show was the best of their South By Southwest so far. Then they decided that the previous night's show on a bridge had been better, but that this one was still really good. It was made very clear how cool they thought it was that they were at South By Southwest at all. Thoroughly endearing.

Not quite as endearing as Matt and Kim. In all fairness though, I don't think that a kitten insisting on giving you money for no apparent reason while telling you how awesome you look could come across as endearingly as Matt and Kim. They play their simple, noisy, synth pop party anthems with so much pure, genuine excitement that it's impossible not to get caught up in it, and go right along with them. I would actually be concerned for my overall health if I left one of their shows feeling anything short of giddy. Matt also provided some of the most "re-affirm your faith in/ affection for mankind" type stage banter I've ever heard. NOFX were playing another stage just after them, and Matt invited us all to go watch NOFX and pretend to be 16 again. Watching Matt & Kim feels way better than pretending to be 16, and way way way better than actually being 16.

Here is a video from the very show that I am writing about that will hopefully give you a hint of how charming they are:

After what felt like me actually floating away from the Matt and Kim set, it was time for The Breeders. You know, I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I never got quite as into the Breeders during my misspent youth as I really should have. Therefore I'm not sure that I'm the best person to objectively review their show. It sounded to me like they were in top form so I would file the reunion under success. I did go through a brief phase of putting "Cannonball" on every mix cd that I made sometime in early 2005 so hearing that one in a live setting was pretty cool.

After dinner which provided the much needed use of a chair for about an hour (much more necessary than the food itself at that point) it was time to wander of to find the next activity. After trying (and failing) my luck at a few venues that were already filled to capacity, I decided to take a risk and check out a band that a friend recommended called The Answering Machine. All of their songs were catchy, tight, and quite enjoyable. If not, perhaps, a bit too well studied. They happen to fall into a very familiar category of bands that make angular pop songs similar to Bloc Party with less aggression, and also maybe a bit of the Strokes in their more poppy moments. None of this is bad per se. As I mentioned, the songs were quite enjoyable, and they were clearly having fun with them. This is obviously the kind of music the Answering Machine likes, so it seems natural that it's the kind of music they would make. I suppose I was just hoping for something a bit less to be expected to make me forget the veering on painful level of exhaustion that was settling into my body at that point.

To be continued...

I've Got a Bit of a Thing About the Besties

2008-03-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have two extremely last minute updates to my concert calendar for this week that I'm extremely embarrassed to admit that I overlooked while compiling the thing on Monday.

One of my highlights of South by Southwest were the dual girl vocal, dual girl keyboard, and boy lead guitar hero antics of Brooklyn band The Besties. Their songs reside in some great company of North American (you know, cause Cub were Canadian) indiepop that are all pure fun, and will likely have you dancing and smiling even if you don't dance or smile. I guess you could call them cuddlecore, or crush-pop if you like your subgenres to have subgenres. You can definitely call them awesome no matter what.

Here are the details on their shows in L.A. this week!

THURSDAY 3/20:

At the Derby.

Open bar from 8-9, but you have to mention it at the door all speakeasy style and they will give you free drink tix! We go on at 11. Door is $12, but only $8 if you have the flyer. If you'd like us to email you they flyer, shoot a request to awesome@thebesties.com.

8:45PM First Amendment

9:30PM Chicago Farmer

10:15PM Andy Lange

11:00PM The Besties!

also

SATURDAY 3/22:

At The Steve Allen Theater.

The Tomorrow Show @ The Steve Allen Theater. For more info go here This starts at midnight. So I guess Technically it is the 23rd. 4772 Hollywood Blvd. @ Berendo 2 blocks west of Vermont.

I hope to see you at one of these shows. I'm personally planning on the one tomorrow night, and I am very excited to pick up that 7' that I was too nervous to include in my SXSW luggage!

~sqg marion

No Recess!

2008-03-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

There was something in the air last night if you happened to be at Boardner's for the latest installment of the Radio Free Silver Lake presented Let's Independent. Did you feel it? Some time before Fol Chen completed the first song of their set you could definitely sense that the majority of the people in the room had just realized they were watching their new favorite local band for the first time. I can't personally go so far as to declare them as such. My indiepop heart will still always default to the simpler pleasures of The Tartans, Princeton, or in an almost entirely unrelated way the all out bombast of Le Switch. That being said I admired the hell out of Fol Chen's ambitious equal parts weird/accessible ultra full sounding pop songs, and the outright commitment of everyone in the band to what they were doing. A trumpet created sounds I didn't realize a trumpet was capable of making due to the fact that it was played upside down, gloriously jangly noise was acheived by two of my favorite instruments being clapped together (sleigh bells in one hand, tambourine in the other,) and later those same sleigh bells were used as part of a drum pattern! Wow. They did a pretty fascinating cover/reinterpretation of the Nirvana song "School," as well. Oddly enough this was the second cover song off of Bleach that I've heard in less than a week. Again, there must be something in the air.

I would suggest that you prepare yourself for hearing a lot more about Fol Chen now because it's sure to be inevitable. You might want to make it a point to see their live show too because it's kind of amazing.

~sqg marion

Here's video proof! Notice the trumpet technique that I was referring to earlier...

Huge thanks to Mouse for posting this video by the way!

See Her Running Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 3/17 - 3/23

2008-03-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, the crippling (brain and body) exhaustion that comes with seeing 40+ bands within the span of 5 days. I'm working on a South By Southwest re-cap article that I hope to post the first installment of tomorrow. Until then, here are a few things that are happening in our fair city this week.

~sqg marion

p.s. If you're at a show this week and see a girl staring blankly at the stage while holding a notebook for no apparent reason, it's probably me. South by Southwest habits die hard...

Come on over and say, "Hi!"

MONDAY 3/17:

Neon Neon at Amoeba Music

Voxhaul Broadcast, The Pigeon Detectives, Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, and My Pet Saddle at Spaceland

The Chapin Sisters, Summer Darling, Billinairs, and Love Grenades at The Echo

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip at The Roxy

Explosions in the Sky at The Wiltern

Jason Collett at The Troubadour

Downtown/Union, Shammer’d, Codpiece, and Tommy Peacock and the Gas at The Scene

Beatnik Jr at Crash Mansion

Sean Carnage Presents: The Amazements, Caruso Caruso, Walk, Widow Babies, and Skyline Electric at Pehrspace

Leslie & The Badgers at The Hotel Cafe

Banna Beag Mail, The Homebillies, and more at Mr T's Bowl

Oh dear, way to many good options tonight. My eyes keep fluttering open then shut so even the thought of going out tonight makes me shiver. I do know that I have heard good things from and/or about at least one of the bands playing from the first seven listings.

TUESDAY 3/18:

The Klaus Nomettes, Peculiar Pretzelmen, The Lisps at Bordello

Black Moth Super Rainbow, and Locks at The Knitting Factory (Main Stage)

The Velvet Teen, and Aloha at The Knitting Factory (Front Stage)

Kinky at The Mayan Theater

Wyld Stallyons, Wild Sweet Orange, and The Dead Trees at Spaceland

The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, and McCarthy Trenching at The Echo

The Switches at The Roxy

New Bloods, Magic Johnson, and Ima Gymnist at The Smell

Radio Free Silver Lake Presents: Let's Independent w/ Amnion, Fol Chen, and Princeton at Boardner's

You can probably guess where we Squaregirls will be on this night. Just as a reminder though, we'll be here:

We hope to see you there! Oh, and be ready to fall head over heels in love with Princeton, in case you haven't already.

WEDNESDAY 3/19:

Carl Stone at Amoeba Music

Carbon/Silicon, and Matt Pond PA at El Rey Theatre

Nada Surf, and Sea Wolf at The Henry Fonda Theater

Presidents of the United States of America House Of Blues/Anaheim

Headlights, Evangelicals, and Actress at The Silverlake Lounge

Club NME w/ The Answer, DJ Dia at Spaceland

Born Ruffians, Rumspringa, and Cadence Weapon at The Echo

Famous Amos (ex-Tralala), and The Muggabears at The Smell

The Vines at The Troubadour

The Karabal Nightlife, Trainwreck Riders (SF), The Beeters, and Songs for Moms at Mr. T's Bowl

Gah, post South By Southwest week and it's excessive choices! I would say go see Cadence Weapon. Remember, I know so very little about hip hop. However, I do know that Cadence Weapon is brilliant. I keep hearing that I need to check out Rumspringa too. Hmmm... I was planning to stay in most of this week, but hmmm...

THURSDAY 3/20:

Vampire Weekend, and Yacht at El Rey Theatre

Carla Bozulich at Safari Sam's

Film School, and Ariel at Spaceland

Bon Iver, Phosphorescent, and Winter Hinterland at The Echo

The Deadly Syndrome, and Dusty Rhodes & The River Band at The Glass House

Low vs. Diamond, and Eskimo Hunter at The Troubadour

Gosh, I don't know about this one. Vampire Weekend and Yacht sold out (naturally) so I would imagine this night comes down to whether you like sort of dark folk music (Bon Iver,) or definitely dark shoegaze (Film School.)

FRIDAY 3/21:

Birdmonster, Little Teeth, and Afternoons at Bordello

Gary Louris (of the Jayhawks), and Vetiver at El Rey Theatre

Jens Lekman, and The Honeydrips at The Henry Fonda Theater

Bad Religion at The House Of Blues/ Anaheim

The Mae Shi, RTX, Bad Dudes, and Foot Village at The Knitting Factory (Main Stage)

Travis Morrison Hellfighters, Say Hi (aka Say Hi To Your Mom), and Kevin Devine at Spaceland

The Parson Red Heads, and The Devil Makes 3 at The Echoplex

Nada Surf, and Sea Wolf at The Glass House (Pomona)

Presidents of the United States of America at The Roxy

Religious Knives, Little Claw, and BARR at The Smell

Portugal the Man, Foxy Shazam, and Wild Orchid Children at The Troubadour

Yikes. I'm quite behind with my show knowledge these days. I just discovered yesterday that this Jens Lekman show was even happening. The fact that The Honeydrips are opening just led me to purchase a ticket.

SATURDAY 3/22:

School of Language at Spaceland

Built To Spill, Meat Puppets, and Helvetia at The Glass House (Pomona)

The Mooney Suzuki at The Roxy

Gravy Train!!!!, Harlots, and Ritchie White Orchestra at The Troubadour

I've been in a bit of a phase with Built To Spill lately. Worth driving to Pomona for? Maybe...

SUNDAY 3/23:

Part Time Punks w/ The Prids at The Echo

The Deadly Syndrome at The Roxy

"Rock n’ Roll Prom" w/ The Electric Shadows, The Apache, and The Weight at Spaceland

I'm listening to Portland band The Prids for the first time now. So far I am quite enjoying their combination of indiepop themes, and more straightforward post punk bass and drums. Also, the fact that they are playing Part Time Punks leads me to believe (hope) that a good portion of the records spun will contain the words Factory, Creation, Sarah, Subway, 4AD, 53rd & 3rd, etc. somewhere on their sleeves...

I Said Hey Kids (Hey Kids!)

2008-03-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

If you had any other plans in place for Tuesday March 18, it would be in your best interest to cancel them. Clearly this is the only game in town:

Princeton are pretty much our collective biggest local band crush. We keep hearing the nicest things about Amnion, and are thrilled to finally be checking out the live show. We'd heard nothing about Fol Chen until last week. Apparently they formed from the remains of a quite popular L.A. band, but refuse to say which one. Ooh, lovely mystery!

Please venture over here to download tracks from all of the bands.

We'll see you all on Tuesday!

Listening Too Long To One Song: Bearsuit "More Soul Than Wigan Casino"

2008-03-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

While sorting through my top priority showcases to attend during South by Southwest I noticed that Bearsuit are playing the Happy Happy Birthday to Me day party on Thursday. My first thought was, "Bearsuit?!? Gosh I haven't thought about them in ages." Which was immediately followed by my second thought, "Fucking awesome!"

It must have been fate (or whatever) because sure enough the brand new record from Bearsuit Oh:Io showed up in the mail on the very same day. And sure enough, it's practically the only thing I want to listen to right now. Most particularly track two "More Soul Than Wigan Casino." It certainly falls on the more catchy and accessible end of Bearsuit's often antagonizing, and brilliant avant-twee pop. All of the elements for a perfect pop song are there. A quick build up to a dizzying pace complete with trumpets? Check! Giddy shouting, "Soul!" ? Check! Traces of Amelia Fletcher in girl singer Lisa Horton's vocals? Check! (!!) Droll boy singer counter part in Iain Ross, "I've got no So-oh-oh-oul..." ? Check! All of this leading up to the most satisfying line as a chorus that I've heard so far this year, "You put the others in the shade."

The album is out in the States on March 25, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. What Bearsuit manage to pull off with their sound overall is completely different from anything else going on these days, regardless of how many, "It's sort of like X meets X on X..." comparisons that you come up with. And you will come up with quite a few of those. You can pre- order the album here.

You can also watch the equally awesome video for "More Soul Than Wigan Casino" here:

How soon is Thursday? ...

~sqg//marion

See Her Running Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 3/10 - 3/16

2008-03-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

Abstract thoughts, and incomplete sentances seem to be the only things drifting through my mind these days as I try desperately to catch up on my SXSW preparations. I'm afraid that leaves me as not much good for any sort of a proper introduction, and if you've read this before you know that I stretch the limits of "proper" introductions anyway. The past week has been floods of email, slowdive, several threats of an ear infection, bringing people food, pouring through boxes of 45s...

Actually that's not really so different from any other week.

Did everyone else have a good week? See any particularly great shows? We'd love to hear about it!

Here are a few of the things going on this week:

MONDAY 3/10:

Frankie Chan, and Har Mar Superstar at Beauty Bar

Le Switch at Safari Sam's

Calls After Midnight, Warpaint, The Black Swans, and Maryandi at Bordello

Dandi Wind, and Pop Noir at the Knitting Factory (Main Stage)

Slim Cessna's Auto Club, 5 O'Clock Somewhere, and Trainwreck Riders at Safari Sam's

Twilight Sleep, Static of the Gods, and Black Skies For Black Hearts at The Silverlake Lounge

Voxhaul Broadcast, Ausha, Yves Klein Blue, Whitley, Old Man River, Ash Grunwald, and Dan Kelly at Spaceland

Ed Harcourt, The Chapin Sisters, and Everest at The Echoplex

Cut Copy, Walter Meego, and DJ Paul V at The Echo

Ooh! Le Switch have a show! I can't make this one because I'm at somewhere around two on my list of ten million things to do before I leave for Austin on Wednesday. You, however, should drop everything and go see Le Switch at Safari Sam's.

TUESDAY 3/11:

Bad Religion at The House of Blues/Sunset Strip

Ting Tings at Jensen RecCenter Studio

Jill Sobule, and Tom Brosseau at Largo

The Active Set, Old Man River, and The High Wires at the Silverlake Lounge

The Wombats, and AAnchors AAweigh at Spaceland

Atlas Sound, Valet, and White Rainbow at The Echo

Give Up and/or a Sad, Slow Dance Party at La Cita

You know, I haven't really spent much time with Deerhunter yet, much less Atlas Sound. From all accounts of both projects I'm clearly missing out. The Ting Tings, and The Wombats will probably be putting on some seriously fun dance party type shows at Jensen Rec Center Studios, and Spaceland, respectively. Then again, you can never go wrong with this:

WEDNESDAY 3/12:

Angels and Airwaves at The House Of Blues/Anaheim

Bad Religion at The House of Blues/Sunset Strip

Earth Crisis, Terror, Sworn Enemy, Shai Hulud, Down to Nothing, and Recon at The Knitting Factory

1971, and The French Semester at The Silverlake Lounge

CLub NME w/ The Mint Chicks at Spaceland

Death to Anders, Karabal Nightlife, Thailand, and Michael Compton at The Echo

Squaregirls' faves Death to Anders, and Thailand seems like kind of an unbeatable combination.

THURSDAY 3/13:

Clutch, Murder By Death, and Maylene & Sons of Disaster at the Henry Fonda Theater
Beach House, and Papercuts at The Echo (early show)

Acid Mothers Temple, and Danava at The Echo (late show)

I'm slightly broken hearted that I have to miss this Beach House show at the Echo. I guess I'll have to console myself with the fact that while that's going on here, if all goes according to plan, I'll be in Austin moments away from a performance from Secret Shine.

FRIDAY 3/14:

Angels and Airwaves at The House Of Blues/Anaheim

You Me and Iowa, Pacific Ocean Fire, The Drowning Men, and Antiques at Spaceland

Ariel Pink, Clang Quartet, BoyZone, Bobb Bruno, Jeremy Drake, and David Rothbaum at The Smell

West Without A Word w/ Signal Hill, The Drift, El Ten Eleven, and The Littlest Viking at Pehrspace

Signal Hill are impressive.

SATURDAY 3/15:

Firebug (record release party,) and Sierra Swan at Spaceland

Angels and Airwaves at The Wiltern

West Without A Word w/ Beware Of Safety, North, Form and Fate, Hellas Mounds/Empire, and Arc of The Aurora at The Cocaine at Live Jazz

I am completly useless for a recommendation on Saturday. Anyone have any ideas?

SUNDAY 3/16:

Boredoms at The Henry Fonda Theater

Foot Foot, Pwrffl Power, Capillary Action, Planets, and Totally Serious at Pehrspace

Part Time Punks w/ Din Glorious at The Echo

Boredoms made a lot of best conert of the year lists in 2007 for their large scale drum circle with 77 drummers on 07/07/07
at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Something tells me that what they do in the comparitively more low key setting of the Fonda will be just as compelling.

I Hope We Both Die: Dueling Reviews

2008-03-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

Squaregirl Rachel and I went on a Squaregirl date to the first of two consecutive Mountain Goats show at the Troubadour on Tuesday. This was a very exciting day for me, as I had yet to see them live. I know a few people who raved about their shows and another two plebeians that I’m not talking to anymore tell me that they weren’t good live, so I was pretty curious to see if they could compare to my imagination. We showed up a song or two into the opener Jeff Smith’s (?) Jones(?)** act. Though sort of schtick-y, he was pretty amusing, singing stream of consciousness yarns in front of projections of drawings he had done himself. I’d see him again.

Next, The Mountains Goats. In high school we called my younger brother The Minstrel. Our house carried sound really well, and you’d hear the first few strums wafting down the hall, like a harbinger. A few seconds later, he’d wander while playing his guitar and pretend to be really surprised. “Oh! I didn’t realize anyone was in here!” he’d exclaim, and then continue to play his guitar like no one was there, shuffling around the living room. He’d do these little jigs and mosey around and sing with a really animated face. Watching John Darnielle is sort of like that. “Oh! An audience. Well, I have my guitar, so… Ok. Doo doo doo. I’ll play whatever you want! Except No Children, even though that’s the only thing you guys are yelling out for. Come back tomorrow. Doo. Doo. Have you ever noticed how much I sound like Mitch Hedburg? Well, I do!”

My one complaint about the show was the abuse of encores. I don’t like encores, and two is excessive. It’s like the people who dress in head to toe green on St. Patrick’s Day. Just put on your green shirt and be done with it. That said, I truly enjoyed the show. I really respect that Darnielle appears unafraid of the unflattering poses and awkward faces musicians tend to make when losing themselves in a song. It’s that sort of worrying that will get in the way of the stage presence of otherwise talented bands. So he embraces that crazy look in his eyes, because he knows we don’t care what he looks like, we’re all in love with him anyway, all of us knowing secretly that we are the person who gets this song he’s singing more than anyone else in this room.

~sqg eliza

** Ed. Note: It was Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters. I really wanted to catch them at the Wednesday night show, but missed it. Damn flu! They had set off my twee-dar earlier in the week when I noticed they were appearing on a radio show that I know and love called 5...4...3...2...Fun!!!. I bought one of their cds out of a healthy mix of curiosity and guilt. Not twee so much, but lovable just the same. Sqg Eliza was totally right about the stream of consciousness yarns, I'm truly bummed that I missed hearing them with projections behind them. Still, lo-fi stream of consciousness guitar pop that sounds like it would be right at home in the K Records catalogue (though the Jeffrey Lewis cd I picked up actually resides in the Rough Trade shop) is one of my biggest weaknesses so I'm glad I at least got a cd. Expect to hear way more about him the next time he's in town! **

I Could Almost Hear the Rhythm Section Kick In as the Sun Began to Blaze

2008-03-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

I'm generally not a fan of going out when I have the flu. Oh but the Mountain Goats, the Mountain Goats are a band that defy all things general. Since my first Mountain Goats show in 2005 I've made it to at least one of any given series of shows that they performed in whatever town I am in. Not attending at least one of the two sold out shows they played at the Troubadour would have felt unnatural and wrong. I'm tremendously glad that I defied my body's urge for me to collapse into bed for twelve more hours of sleep, and instead threw a thick scarf around my neck and went to this show. That being said, it wasn't the best Mountain Goats show I've ever seen. In all fairness though, that honor belongs to last year's show at the El Rey where we heard "See America Right," "Going to Georgia" (!) and was my first introduction to the new touring Mountain Goats line-up that saw the addition of John Wurster on drums to the already solid line-up of Peter Hughes on bass, and the man who writes those bafflingly brilliant lyrics John Darnielle. If all of those years of air drumming to "Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything?" (from Superchunk's classic album Foolish) hadn't quite cemented John Wurster as my favorite modern rock drummer, that show certainly did. Oddly enough this was mostly due to his treatment of my favorite song from 2005's The Sunset Tree "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?" The song is slow, heartbreaking, and perfectly effective with just a guitar. With drums it achieved something else entirely. I'm not sure what, but it left an impression, and I hope to hear it again someday.

Back to Wednesday night's show at the Troubadour. They played a good number of songs from the new album Heretic Pride which I still haven't absorbed. "So Desperate" appears to be a new fan favorite. The story of a couple in a car, their only neutral meeting place, a fair amount of self hatred between the two of them, not wanting to let go of each other. In other words, the kind of story that Darnielle writes best. The band were clearly enjoying themselves throughout the evening, and the crowd was certainly feeding off of it, and getting really into it (dancing, fist pumping etc.) I found this happen to me a few times, and it's hard to not go with the energy of the crowd and the band on stage fully rocking out. Though when you pause to remember that these songs are mostly about abuse, and addiction (and other such fun dance party themes) it kind of makes your own enthusiasm seem strange and your smile quickly turn to one of discomfort. However, in an odd way this level of immersing yourself in the song seems to be an almost perfectly natural reaction. Is it strange to find yourself in a group sing along of the rousing chorus to "No Children," "And I hope you die! I hope we both die!"? Sure, but also cathartic and it gives you an alarming sense of community.

These are songs that demand some sort of visceral reaction. If nothing else, clearly these demands were met.

You can purchase Heretic Pride here.

~sqg marion

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for sqg eliza's review of Tuesday night's show as well!

Sweetness, Sweetness I Was Only Joking...

2008-03-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have a confession. The times I will admit I am wrong about something occur probably as often as someone names Judith Light as their number one celebrity crush*. But I have to say, everyone was right and I have been claiming ambivalence toward a band that I shouldn't have. Sunday I went to Spaceland for their 13th Anniversary extravaganza and was watching the "special guests" with my friend when the following conversation occurred:

"Who is this?"

"The Little Ones."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No, I've seen The Little Ones and they're not very good."

Well, as it turns out, I had not seen The Little Ones before. I recall the very first show I went to at Spaceland after moving to Los Angeles was a show with The Little Ones and some other bands whose names escape me. Somehow I ended up confusing The Little Ones with another band from that night that didn't really impress me and when people would ask me what I thought of TLO, I'd just shrug my shoulders and pull a face. Upon accepting that my gross misunderstanding has cost me more opportunities to see them live than I'd like to admit, I should have descended into a shame spiral.

But I didn't, you guys! I didn't because they were charming enough to render me incapable of being in a bad mood. These guys know how to write tight, super catchy songs, switch instruments during the set and are obviously having a fantastic time. What else can you ask for from a live show? You want the big huge guy that claims to hate everything (but goes to every show anyway) to dance? You got it. He's dancing and it's adorable. Just go see them. They are truly that entertaining. I have to get their record so I can spend every sunny day from here on out listening to it.

I bet they have the best slumber parties. They seem like the kind of guys who can have a slumber party and not get all defensive because that's not a very (traditionally) masculine thing to do. But whatever, that doesn't bother them because they're always in a good mood and always having fun.

I really, really want to go to one of these slumber parties.

*Besides you, Dad.

~sqg eliza

See Her Runing Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 3/4 - 3/9

2008-03-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

The flu virus has been known to kill many a good intention, including (but most certainly not limited to) bloggers publishing concert options for the week when they are actually relevant.

Here are my picks now, for what they are worth. I'm keeping my intro short so that I can get this posted before the Theraflu that I just drank kicks in.

~sqg marion

Here's what the week looks like:

TUESDAY 3/4:

The Raveonettes, and Be Your Own PET at El Rey Theatre

Bad Religion at The House of Blues/Sunset Strip

Thee L.A. Gentlemen Callers, Thee Emergency, The Vacation, and Blackbird & the Feather'd People at The Silverlake Lounge

Amnion, Luke Top, and Layer at Spaceland

These Are Powers at The Echo

The Mountain Goats, and Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters at The Troubadour

Looks like the Mountain Goats show tonight is sold out. I think that the Raveonettes sold out their show too. So um, I've been hearing really good things about Amnion who are at Spaceland.

WEDNESDAY 3/5:

Sugar & Gold, Bachelorette, and Patria Jacobs at Bordello

Bad Religion at The House of Blues/Sunset Strip

The Autumns, The Photo Atlas, and The Secret 6 at The Knitting Factory (Front Stage)

Shiloe, The Hard To Get, Hello Dragon, and Black Kites at The Silverlake Lounge

Club NME w/ Howlin' Rain at Spaceland

The Hackensaw Boys, Restaurant, and Michael Mazochi at Tangier

The Duke Spirit, and Afternoons at The Echo

Foo Fighters, Serj Tankian, and Against Me! at The Forum

Inazuma, The Blessings, Thee Emergency, and The Echos at The Scene

These Are Powers, Teenage Moms, BiPolar Bear, and Ima Gymnist at The Smell

Jeremy Jay at Three Of Clubs

The Mountain Goats, and Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters at The Troubadour

Wow, quite a few options for you tonight. Surely though, if you've seen The Mountain Goats live before then you are already planning to go the Troubadour. If you haven't seen the Mountain Goats live before, then you really should be planning to go to the Troubadour.

THURSDAY 3/6:

Howlin' Rain at Amoeba Music

United By Sound, The Good Listeners, The Golden Ratio, and Bachelorette at The Silverlake Lounge

Junior Boys (DJ set) at Spaceland

Twilight Sleep, Restaurant, and Karin Tatoyan at The Echo

Foo Fighters, Serj Tankian, and Against Me! at The Forum

Leslie & the Lys, Devon Williams, and Closed Heart Surgery at The Glass House (Pomona)

Rooney, Brett Dennen, and Lisa Donnelly at The Roxy

Monotonix, Anavan, and Bad Dudes at The Smell

Nicole Atkins, Let's Go Sailing, and The Parlour Mob at The Troubadour

Joe says that Twilight Sleep are really impressive. I *think* that I remember reading glowing things about Nicole Atkins on Three Imaginary Girls. Although a DJ set from Junior Boys at Spaceland does sound like a super fun dance party.

FRIDAY 3/7:

Balkan Beat Box, and DJ Joro Boro at El Rey Theatre

New York Dolls, and We Are The Fury at The Henry Fonda Theater

World/Inferno Friendship Society, Intro5pect, and Max & The Marginalized at The Knitting Factory

The Monolators, Radars to the Sky, The Flying Tourbillon, The Amateurs, and The Terrapin at Mr. T's Bowl

Why?, and Yacht at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (First Fridays)

Tigers Can Bite You, Birdmonster, The Hectors, and Rademacher at Pehrspace

Division Day, The A-Sides, and The Coral Sea at Spaceland

Delta Spirit, and Port O'Brien at The Echo

Leslie & the Lys, Devon Williams, and Lance Rock (Yo Gabba Gabba) at The Echplex

Club Underground w/ Die! Die! Die!, My Best Fiend, and Rainbow Arabia at The Echo

Mt. Eerie, and Weyou at The Smell

Delta Spirit, The Virgins, and Port O'Brien at The Troubadour

There are just way too many good options on this night to get into it all. The fact that both Mt. Eerie, and New York Dolls are both playing on different sides of the same city is proof enough. Rademacher and friends are sure to put on a fantastic show at one of our favorite venues Pehrspace. And if you head over there you'll be treated to some stand out song selections from DJ Fielder. I think I will have to be at the Natural History Museum for First Fridays though for Why? and Yacht. Why? put on one of the most impressive shows I've ever seen a couple of years ago, and each time that I saw Yacht last year was more fun than the last. You can also look forward to great DJ sets from a few Dublab representatives if you make it to this one.

SATURDAY 3/8:

Actress, LoveLikeFire, Light FM, Redcar, and Nevenka at Bordello

Whispertown 2000, The XYZ Affair, Bachelorette, and Murder On The Moon at El Cid

Pela, The Heavenly States, Liam Finn, and The Features at Spaceland

The New Check Yo' Ponytail w/ Gil Mantera's Party Dream, Mahjongg, Lucy and the Popsonics, Frankie Chan, and Paparazzi at The Echo

The Mae Shi, Old Time Relijun, Clipd Beaks, and Thee Ohsees at The Smell

Performer Magazine Presents: The Transmissions, Spirit Vine, The Health Club, and Vaudeville at The Scene

The Virgins, Eye Alaska, Gilmore, and Building Rome in a Day at The Glass House (Pomona)

We're DJ- ing the Scene for our pals The Transmissions, and The Health Club. Stop by and say hi!

SUNDAY 3/9:

New York Dolls at The House Of Blues/ Anaheim

Big Business, Red Fang, and The Cops at Spaceland

Alex and Sam, and Liz Pappademas at Tangier

Part Time Punks w/ New Bloods, Softboiled Eggies, and Magic Johnson at The Echo

Crystal Castles, and Health at The Roxy

Gang Wizard, xNoBBQx, Wildlife, Goliath Bird Eater at The Smell

Crystal Castles had to postpone their show at the Roxy due to Alice Glass being in a car accident it looks as though Health will make sure that the show goes on. Thanks to Pitchfork for the news. Oh, and two perfectly minimalist post punk bands The New Bloods, and Magic Johnson both from Portland are invading the Echo as well. I'd never heard either before today, but what I'm listening to right now sounds pretty great. I've seen Softboiled Eggies before, doing Smiths covers. I'll be really interested to hear what their own songs sound like live.

I’m Never Gonna Know You Now, But I'm Gonna Love You Anyhow

2008-02-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Where were you when you found out Elliott Smith was dead? This seems to be a question nearly all my friends can answer without hesitation, like where they were during the chase of the white Bronco through Los Angeles or on 11 September. (I was in class during my first year of art school, when all of a sudden everyone started receiving texts from friends alerting us to his death.) I bring this up today because I have found out that plans to clean up the iconic wall Smith stood before for the cover of his album “Figure 8” have finally been implemented. For readers of LAist, you may remember this post from nearly six months ago, wondering why, of all the walls in Los Angeles, this one had to be the target of some particularly unappealing tagging. It’s disheartening to see the wall wiped clean of all the layers of earnest messages from fans, but unfortunately necessary. Hopefully this will last a little longer.

~sqg eliza

As It Was:

As It Is Now:

Here Comes The Sound, Turning Everything Around

2008-02-29T01:14:00.000-08:00

This is becoming an all too familiar situation. Returning home from the Echo from a perfectly wonderful rock show, and attempting to write things about it in my half energized half asleep state all the while knowing that I have to wake up for work in three hours.

Mezzanine Owls did an excellent job (as always) of proving my theory that if you are going to write and perform anthemic songs, it is best to wrap them in a wall of distortion. It just makes the whole thing so much more compelling, and more than one of their songs left me wishing that I could figure out some way in which to actually live in them.

The Mae Shi's closing set ensured that most in attendance would leave the show with some residual energy. They do a smart, spazzy sort of hardcore cleverly updated to include electronic elements. I am in no position to write about this sort of thing in depth because it's not a genre that I am all too familiar with. I can say that the way they do it is highly effective. They spent a decent amount of time in the audience, and the kids up front were really into it. I get the sense that every time they play a show the kids up front are really into it. I always forget how much I enjoy seeing those kids at shows since I see them so rarely these days. There was a costume change involved for the band about half way through the set. I'm sad to say that in my sort of sick, and very tired state I completely didn't see this happen. I just looked up at one point, and all of a sudden every one of them was wearing a shirt that said "I'm glad you're alive." Indeed the whole set had a celebratory feel to it. Most particularly on this song:

Of course given all of my residual energy from the show, and my severe need of a nap so that I can properly open a restaurant in a few hours. I needed to find something to watch/ listen to that could help me wind down a bit. I opted for this:

Admit it, you've got a giant grin on your face now, don't you?

Have a lovely weekend!

~sqg marion

I Don’t Want to Be in Your Family Tree

2008-02-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

You know the part in the Veruca Salt song “Disconnected”, when Louise Post is singing about how her lover (allegedly Dave Grohl!) has left her for another – a movie star! (I bet Winona Ryder is a good guess) and how she is super bitter and The Cult’s “Electric” is her “favorite record of the week because (she’s) not feeling sweet”? And you’re like, “Lou, you make being bitter and on Zoloft sound so appealing! If only I liked The Cult. What am I supposed to listen to during my nightly wallow? I know – "No One’s Little Girl" by The Raincoats!

Total disclosure: I haven’t liked The Raincoats for as long as I should have. I first read about them a handful of years ago in a magazine interview with singer Ana de Silva. I thought, “Oh, cool. A post-punk all girl band from England? I’ll have to tell myself to check them out and then promptly forget to do so for another year or two until I am looking at the Myspace page of my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend who will have a song of theirs playing and then I will like her a little bit, even though I’m not supposed to.” That day was over two years ago, and I’ve been a faithful fan ever since.

Moving (Rough Trade, 1984) is my favorite record of theirs, and my favorite song, “No One’s Little Girl”, is track one, side one of that very album. The lyrics are exactly the kind that build a solid break up anthem, the kind that marries a defiant “You can’t fire me, I quit!” sentiment with a Notorious B.I.G. “I don’t chase ‘em, I replace ‘em” type nonchalance. Ana’s vocals are really soft and half spoken, all her threats and asides sung under her breath. What really arrests me, though, is the violin. Melodically shrill, the simple tune repeated throughout will not leave your head for days, or maybe ever.

In the summer of 1993, Kurt Cobain wrote some very nice words about the band, something that I feel describes the feeling gained from their catalogue pretty accurately:

“When I listen to The Raincoats I feel as if I'm a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them I feel like I'm listening in on them. We're together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught - everything will be ruined because it's their thing. They're playing their music for themselves. It's not as sacred as wire-tapping a Buddhist monk's telephone or something because if The Raincoats did catch me, they would probably just ask me if I wanted some tea. I would comply, then they would finish playing their songs and I would say thank you very much for making me feel good."

If you find yourself sans attic or opportunity to actually spy on the girls (who are still a band, by the way,) 3 am on a Sunday morning, winding down after a wine hazy night of listening to records and making prank phone calls with your best friends is a pretty ideal time to absorb their music.

~sqg eliza

The Top of Our Charts...

2008-02-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

If you've heard or felt the faint echoes of rejoicing in the air as you wandered Echo Park today it's likely because the self titled digital EP from your favorite local band's favorite local band Mezanine Owls is officially out there bounding through the internets, and awaiting your purchase so that it can come crashing down around your ears. This is just one of quite a few places where you can do exactly that. You can find your full list of retail options here.

For those of you that prefer tangible releases to accompany your mp3s, the label behind this blessed event JAXART is selling a limited edition 7' of the song "Snowglobe" b/w "Temporary Health." There are only 500 of these in existence, each one is hand numbered, and each one comes with a card that allows you to download the EP in it's entirety for free! You can order one through the JAXART website, but I maintain that the best way to purchase one is by showing up to the release party on Thursday night at the Echo, letting yourself be wowed by the individual sounds of each act on the bill, then picking up a copy as you head home with your head spinning from an almost too impressive night of local music.

MP3 Mezzanine Owls "Snowglobe"

~sqg marion

I Guess I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night...

2008-02-26T01:28:00.000-08:00

So funny, those shows that you have an immediate reaction to, that you just have to run straight home and write about even though you have to be at work in a few hours, and you don't have anything all that incisive to say.

For someone who doesn't count straightforward ROCK bands as her standard go to, I saw some good straightforward ROCK bands tonight at the Echo. I can't stress enough the fact that you really should see The Henry Clay People play a live show some point in your life. There isn't much else I can say describe this band, they just have something that will hopefully make you understand what me (and pretty much every other local blogger) are talking about when you do finally see them. Rademacher brought their standard issue high level of rockingness (real word?) And What Made Milwaukee Famous have gotten considerably tighter as a band since I saw them last two years ago. They've come very close to perfecting a very specific brand of American ROCK/ Power Pop that is not all that easy to pull off. Those of you in the "I want a song that I can smile along with and move to, but need something bigger than a simple pop song played on a cheap fuzzy guitar" camp will probably find a lot to love with this band. I certainly fall in to the "simple fuzzy pop songs first and foremost" category. But they had me smiling (and moving.) You've got just two more chances to see them during their L.A. residency tour. Thursday at the Silver Lake Lounge, and Friday at El Cid. They're selling copies of their new cd What Doesn't Kill Us as well which you would otherwise have to wait until a week from tomor-, today, rather to pick up. You can find more information about the record here. Incidentally that same website also serves as an excellent place for you to order the new Nada Surf record Lucky, if you haven't already done so...

Off for my nap now, sigh...

~squaregirl marion

See Her Runing Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 2/25-3/2

2008-02-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Alright, finally got myself together enough to publish this show rundown on Monday. Now maybe next week I'll be organized/ambitious enough to put this thing together, and publish it on Monday morning, maybe even before 9 AM! I'll try not to get ahead of myself though. Looking at all of the show options this week it seems entirely possible that I will be at one every night. So the chances that I will be able to think by next Monday let alone type could be a bit iffy. Thankfully, aside from a small family gathering last night, my weekend was relatively quiet. Therefore I am slightly more well-rested than usual. Maybe my chances aren't so iffy after all...

Did everyone else have a good weekend? Restful, action packed, or anything else in between? Let us know...

~sqg marion

Here's what is coming up this week:

MONDAY 2/25:

Dorian Wood, Killsonic, Liz Pappademas, Chris TT, Frank Turner at Bordello

Maryandi, The Shys, Big Bang, February Fifths, and Nicholas Alexander & The Matadors
at The Silverlake Lounge

Bust Magazine presents: The Pity Party, Meho Plaza, and The Rolling Blackouts at Spaceland

Rickie Lee Jones at The Echoplex

The Henry Clay People, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Rademacher, and Army Navy at The Echo

I really cannot stress enough the fact that you should see The Henry Clay People live every chance that you get. They've assembled a pretty solid line up of rock bands to join them for the last night of their residency at the Echo too.

TUESDAY 2/26:

Branden Mayer and The Hidden Powers, Heartstrings Symphony, Denver Smith, and The Meemies at The Silverlake Lounge

The Helio Sequence, and The Builders & the Butchers at Spaceland

I See Hawks in LA, Mike Stinson, and Psychedelic Cowboys at The Echo

Blow Up Blow, The Pity Party, and The Softlightes at The Prospector (Long Beach)

Jay Farrar (Son Volt), and Anders Parker at The Troubadour

Hmmm, I'm not sure what show I would go to if I were going to a show on this night, though I definitely see some intriguing options. I just don't know enough about any of the bands playing to offer recommendations or even educated guesses. Can anyone offer any advice on this one? Also, just for the record, I'll have a quick DJ set at Lost Souls Cafe alongside (hopefully) Squaregirl Kristen, DJ Duane, and the SUPREMELY talented DJ couple Mel and Jano who were nice enough to invite us to be a part of the evening.

WEDNESDAY 2/27:

Flashing Red Lights, Francisco The Man, The Weather Underground, and Ladies and Gents at Silverlake Lounge

Club NME w/ Bedtime for Toys, and IO Echo at Spaceland

British Sea Power, Colour Music, and Castledoor at The Echo

Stellastarr*, and The Oohlas at The Troubadour

I've heard good things about The Weather Underground from a couple of reliable sources. It might be worth your time to go check them out before they hit the road for Noisepop, and South by Southwest.

THURSDAY 2/28:

Tulsa, What Made Milwaukee Famous, This Will Destroy You, and Signal Hill at The Silverlake Lounge

British Sea Power, Colour Music, and White Denim at Spaceland

Hell Ya! w/ Mezzanine Owls, The Mae Shi, Frankel, and Eagle & Talon at The Echo

Tilly & The Wall, Capgun Coup, and Buddy at The Glass House

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, The French Semester, and Marvelous Toy at The Prospector (Long Beach)

Taken By Trees at The Roxy

I've been meaning to see Mezzanine Owls again since they impressed me so much when I saw them open for The Lilys at Spaceland back in December, I've been meaning to see The Mae Shi again sice they impressed me so much when I saw them open for the The Mountain Goats in New York in 2005. The release party for the former's new 7' on JAX Art Records seems like a perfect opportunity to do both.

FRIDAY 2/29:

What Made Milwaukee Famous at El Cid

MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip, LA Riots, and DJ Diabetic at The Henry Fonda Theater

Bad Religion at The House Of Blues/Anaheim

Spindrift, Spirit Army, Moonrats, and Restaurant at Spaceland

Tilly & The Wall, Capgun Coup, and Buddy at The Echo

Cat Power at The Wiltern

Blitzen Trapper, Grand Archives, and Fleet Foxes at The Troubadour

The show at the Troubadour might come across as a kind of recent Sup Pop signing showcase, or a promising Northwest bands showcase. Either way I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. I haven't yet heard the full length from Grand Archives, but I love the songs that I was able to hear from their EP last year. Also the fact that it is the project of Matt Brooke formerly of one of my favorite (and all too often overlooked) bands Carissa's Wierd, and the slightly more well received (and also pretty great) Band of Horses makes me very excited by the prospect of how it will all translate live. I've seen Blitzen Trapper live, and I can say that they are quite good. I don't know a whole like about Fleet Foxes, but a good number of Seattle music fans seem to love them. Seattle music fans are generally a very trustworthy bunch.

SATURDAY 3/01:

Love Grenades, Von Iva, and The Library at El Cid

Bad Religion at The House Of Blues/Anaheim

I Make This Sound, Bedroom Walls, and Seasons at Mr. T's Bowl

Imaad Wasif, Grimble Grumble, and Timonium at Pehrspace

Holy Fuck, A Place to Bury Strangers, and In Waves at Spaceland

The Raveonettes, and Be Your Own PET at The Glass House (Pomona)

I've tried to see A Place to Bury Strangers recently, and failed. Same thing with Holy Fuck. Needless to say I am very very excited about this show. I don't know anything about In Waves, but I really like what I've heard on their Myspace page. I think I'll be at Spaceland early on Friday. Who's coming with me?

SUNDAY 3/02:

MSTRKRFT, Z-Trip at El Rey Theatre

The Magnetic Fields, and The Interstellar Radio Company at The Henry Fonda Theater

Bad Religion at The House Of Blues/Anaheim

400 Blows, The Blood Arm, Run Run Run, Oliver Future, and The Vacation at Spaceland (13 Year Anniversary)

Part Time Punks w/ Spectrum, Midnight Movies, and Grimble Grumble at The Echo

If I am still able to stand and walk on Sunday I will most certainly be walking over to the Echo. I still haven't gotten as involved with the music of Spacemen 3 and everything that followed as I should (and plan to,) Spectrum probably being the one that I've spent the least amount of time with. However I have seen the live show, and it's drifty (real word?) and interesting, and I want to experience it again now that my musical tastes have started to expand in that direction a little bit more. I'd say it's worth experiencing regardless of how your tastes skew. The fact that they are joined by Midnight Movies who I haven't seen a full set from since their line up change, but still adore to no end offers even more incentive. With even more incentive offered by opener Grimble Grumble who are reportedly a bit on the awe inspring side as well. Just try to forget about that whole needing a certain amount of sleep thing, and you'll be fine...

Who Invented the Typical Girl?

2008-02-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

What an unbelievably exciting day (even though it began WAY too early for me.) First, I return home to find not one, but two nifty blog posts from Squaregirl Awesome (damn, I keep mixing up her name) Squaregirl Kristen, rather. Then I find that I have two more fantastic posts that are just a copy, paste, and click of the publish button away from our email account to your eyes. The first will be a review of last Friday's stellar St. Vincent show at the Echoplex cleverly compared and contrasted to her show in Santa Barbara the following day, submitted graciously by our new contributor Squaregirl Rachel. The second will come from equally as new, equally as gracious Squaregirl Eliza picking up my slack on the "Listening too Long to One Song" segment this week with a short, sweet, and often fucking hilarious explanation of why she can't stop listening to Swedish band Those Dancing Days. Oh, and from now on we'll be signing our names to confuse you less, and make ourselves feel more professional.

Hey, look at that, the future of Squaregirls is here today!

Actually, come to think of it, is that even physically possible?...

I really need to sleep...

Hooray for new writers!

~Squaregirl Marion

Ashes in Downtown

2008-02-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Ever since I missed the opportunity to see Annie Clark (St. Vincent) with her full band at Sasquatch last year, I've been kicking myself. When I caught St. Vincent at the Echo in August, Annie's sweet sweet voice cast a spell on me. So, I wasn't going to miss another chance to see them, which came on Friday, February 15th at the Echoplex. This time around, though, I had the luxury of also being able to hit the Santa Barbara show on Saturday night.

Friday's show was at the newly-remodeled Echoplex. (The show was originally scheduled for the Echo, but later moved downstairs to the roomier Echoplex.) I had been to the Echoplex for a Dub Club last June, but I haven't made it back since. Therefore, I did not realize that the entrance is not on Sunset Boulevard, as it had been in the past. It was on Glendale Boulevard. I parked in the lot behind the Echo and practically ran to the door, where I was told I was in the wrong place. After a lengthy 7-minute walk (I'm from Los Angeles; we don't walk, and we especially don't walk in Echo Park down underpasses at 11p.m.), I finally made it to the spot. I was already late, and this made me later. I arrived just as the first song "Now Now" was in progress.

The place was not completely packed, but it was full, making it almost impossible for someone of my short stature to see the stage, which was decorated with these colorful wooden structures. Annie's face was projected on a screen behind the stage. It was a lovely set up. Annie wore this bejeweled black dress, and the fellas wore slacks and suspenders. Squaregirl Marion and I initially tried to push through the crowd to the front, but we eventually settled for a bench that we could stand on, where we were able to watch the rest of the show. Though this was the first show of the tour, it felt like the band had been playing these songs for years. Such intricate, complicated songs were executed flawlessly. I was impressed, and the crowd was thrilled with the show.

The Santa Barbara show was at Velvet Jones. This was my first and last trip there. The venue was cozy and intimate, and I could actually see the stage. Unfortunately, it was also overrun with local drunks who were only there to get wasted, talk loudly, and make out with each other. In spite of these circumstances, the band was once again flawless. I watched the show from upstairs, where I had full view of the stage. the band is so cohesive, and they appear to have been playing together forever.

Most of the songs played were from last year's "Marry Me", but several of the songs were reworked with beautiful results. Also, there were a two new songs added to the set. The highlights: "Marry Me", which began with each member of the band ringing these little colored bells, and my favorite "Your Lips Are Red", which I think had a new violin part during the break towards the end of the song. Also, an oboe has been added, which makes "Jesus Saves, I Spend" so much fuller.

St. Vincent is now on tour with Foreign Born through March 1st. Next stops are the PLUG Awards, and then Coachella. St. Vincent plays Saturday, April 26th, along with M.I.A., Death Cab, Man Man, Cold War Kids, MGMT, Animal Collective, Kate Nash, and headliners Portishead. And back again this year: the ever popular $8 Heinekens!

~Squaregirl Rachel

Listening Too Long To One Song: Those Dancing Days "Those Dancing Days"

2008-02-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

I like my dance pop to come from people who look like they laugh a lot. And it’s obvious that this band does, all full of sunshine and bunny kisses and probably half a can of Bärnsten they stole from their parents. Upon hearing the song for the first time, I commented to a friend that it ignited an urge to go out dancing, drink too much and negotiate my standards. Does that sound like fun to you? Well it is! And so is this eponymous single by a quartet of Swedish schoolgirls on Wichita Recordings’ roster. By now, I sort of anticipate the chorus of rolling eyes when a new Scandinavian dance-pop group is introduced. I admit, once a herd of similarly labeled bands comes stampeding out of the same city, it can appear as annoyingly calculated as putting a picture of Arthur Schnitzler up on one’s Myspace page under “Heroes”.* But Those Dancing Days are different, I swear! They have such a youthful and sincere vibe and the ability to write catchy melodies. Singer Linnea’s vocals are probably best described as toeing the line of soulful, and I can’t wait to hear what she does with her talent as she matures. Luckily, TDD has the talent and charm to stick around long enough for us to see.

* No one really likes Arthur Schnitzler.

~Squaregirl Eliza

prince of love?

2008-02-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Watching Prince's video below got me thinking...
I'm currently hooked on Rock of Love 2. And by hooked I mean disgustingly addicted. I cannot express how intriguing it is to watch both over the hill metal wenches and not-even-born-yet-when-he-was-"famous" rock whores throwing themselves at a very aged and plastic looking Bret Michaels. In a word, awesome! I've yet to tackle VH1's other train wreck Flavor of Love starring PE's Flavor Flav which looks equally amazing and is already in its third season!

So I'm thinking now, what could be better than Prince's own reality show in search of his own Princess? I'm not even sure if he's married or not, but you have to admit, it would be a royally amazing adventure. Or how about King of Love, with our very own King of Pop, Michael Jackson? You know it'd be nothin', but a good time.

p.s. this is sqg k by the way, so please don't penalize sqg m with my poor taste!

you lost your voice singing along to raspberry beret

2008-02-22T12:13:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard the Fruit Bats “Earthquake of 73’” was live in May of 2006 at a venue in Chicago. I can’t quite remember the name of the venue, but it was actually an old movie theater. It was enormous but the crowd wasn’t. This setting made for one of the most comfortable and intimate shows I’ve ever attended. The small crowd sat at the front of the theater, there was no stage and most of the time, Eric Johnson sat amongst the audience, facing and singing straight to us.

That’s about all it took to make “Earthquake of 73” one of my favorite love songs of all time, a love song that doesn’t beat you over the head with being a love song. Its beautiful, simple lyrics speak of an ageless love that starts young, and takes caution to stay pure and true as the years go by. It’s all anyone in love, or anyone who wants to be in love could ever wish for.

I discovered the Fruit Bats far too late, as now EJ has joined the Shins. But I guess it wasn’t really too late after all. I’m still thankful that on one spring Chicago evening, I heard the song that made me wait till’ I found it.

The Fruit Bats - Earthquake of '73

and cause you know you love it...

See Her Runing Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 2/19-2/24

2008-02-19T10:08:00.001-08:00

Here's a helpful tip to any and all who might be reading this now. If you are ever sitting at home debating about whether you should venture outside and see Henry Clay People for the second or third time within three months, or whether you should stay right where you are it's always the right decision to err on the side of seeing the Henry Clay People again, always. They will not deliver the same show that you saw from them last time, and the next time that you see them it will completely different still. Because the are a ROCK band. A purely straightforward, drunken, injuring themselves on stage then playing through the set barely fazed, shout along inspiring ROCK band. See them live as often as you can.

Oh, and you might want to make it a point to see Kissing Tigers as soon as you are able. They were not at all what I was expecting, but kind of amazing nonetheless.

Here's what we've got for the rest of the week:

TUESDAY 2/19:

Keren Ann, Dean & Britta, and Sara Lov at El Rey Theatre

Siouxsie Sioux at the House Of Blues Anaheim

The Kris Special, and The Harpeth Trace at The Echo

Evil Maria, Spidey, The High Wires, and Keith Waggoner (of The Amateurs) at The Scene

The Hives, and The Donnas at The Wiltern

Surely you were already planning to go to this and I'm just offering you a friendly reminder, right...

WEDNESDAY 2/20:

Liam Finn at Amoeba Music

The Weather Underground, Calamity Magnet, Antiques, and Safety Glass at The Silverlake Lounge

Indie 103.1 presents Club NME w/ The Snow, and The Minor Canon at Spaceland

The Album Leaf, Kill Me Tomorrow, and What Laura Says Thinks & Feels at The Echo

Pinback at The Majestic Ventura Theater

I've heard only the nicest things about the live show of The Minor Canon so I figure it's time to finally check them out for myself. Anyone care to join me?

THURSDAY 2/21:

Pinback, MC Chris at The Avalon

Manhattan Murder Mystery, Health Club, Codpiece, and The French Semester at Mr. T's Bowl

The Entrance Band, Crystal Antlers, Lord Jeff, and What Made Milwaukee Famous at The Silverlake Lounge

Eject, Radars to the Sky, The Hectors, and Cosio at Spaceland

Helmet, Burning Brides, Darker My Love, Icarus Line, and Crystal Antlers at The Echo (Benefit for Manny Neito/Matt Crunk)

The Lovemakers, Phoenix & The Turtle, Astra Heights, and Stacy Clark at The Glass House (Pomona)

Classical Geek Theater and L.A. Underground Presents: The Monolators, Wait Think Fast, Summer Darling, and Friends of Dennis Wilson at The Scene

Captain Ahab, Naomi Elizabeth, Xrin Arms, Tik//TIk, and Pukers at The Smell

West Indian Girl, dios (malos), Woven, and Drugstore Cartel at The Troubadour

Surely you were already planning to go to this and I'm just offering you a friendly reminder, right...

The line-up is slightly different from that on the flier with the awesomely named Friends of Dennis Wilson replacing Shirley Rolls. Oh, and it's always worth mentioning that The Monolators are one of the best things to happen to local music in a while. And they have pretzels.

FRIDAY 2/22:

Kimya Dawson at Amoeba Music- Hollywood

Golden Animals, Hazelden, Rykarda Parasol, and What Made Milwaukee Famous at Bordello

Liars, No Age at El Rey Theatre

Divisadero, Foot Foot, Red Pony Clock, The Finches at Pehrspace

The Gray Kid at Spaceland

Built To Spill, and Meat Puppets at The Echoplex

Club Underground w/ Her Grace the Duchess, and Rocket at The Echo

Seasons, Co-op, and Ghost Machinist at The Scene

Anavan, Pharmacy, Lipstick Terror, and Bad Dudes at The Smell

The Lovemakers, Astra Heights, and Something for Rockets at Troubadour

It would be such a nice way to spend a Friday evening. Start early with Kimya Dawson at Amoeba then finish out the night with Red Pony Clock at Pehrspace. Funny, if I had simply read something about the number of people that are in Red Pony Clock, and the instruments that they play before actually hearing their recordings it would have sent up so many red flags for me. However, I first heard them on Happy Happy Birthday to Me comp, and was seriously impressed with their carefree, Beach Boys influenced, mariachi tinged indiepop. I'm very intrigued to see how this translates live.

If only I can figure out how to replace my blood with coffee or something like that before then...

SATURDAY 2/23:

Buddy, James Combs, and Willie Wisely at El Cid

Dirty Sweet, and Lions at Spaceland

Built To Spill, Meat Puppets at The Echoplex

Check Yo' Ponytail w/ Blaqstarr, Dave Nada, and Blue Jemz at The Echo

The Redwalls, Catfish Haven, Sabrosa Purr, and My Pet Saddle at The Knitting Factory (Front Stage)

The Henry Clay People, and Forcefield On at The Prospector (Long Beach)

Built to Spill were one of my biggest highlights at Austin City Limits in 2005. I'd go so far as to say you should probably try to see them at least once before you die, or something.

SUNDAY 2/24:

Robert Francis, The Shys, Juliette Commagere, and Nicholas Alexander & The Matadors at The Silverlake Lounge

Alex and Sam, Haim, and Dustin Boyer at Tangier
10:00 PM

Part Time Punks w/ Holy Shit at The Echo

Holy Shit! ... That promises to be a good show.

Yep, I went in that direction with my comment. I apologize, but it simply could not be avoided...

So those are my ideas for this week. Anybody have anything to add, or anything that you feel should be recommended?

The Minutes That Escaped Me, the Guilty Minutes Hate Me...

2008-02-18T18:39:00.002-08:00

Remember last week, when I had seen the error of my lazy ways and was all set to change them? Well, um about that...

I got home last night with the best intentions, stay in, write concert calendar, go to sleep by one A.M. at the very latest. However sometimes your best intentions fail you, and a 9 P.M. viewing of Sixteen Candles demands your full undivided attention, and then you wake up sometime around two A.M. wondering, "Where did it all go wrong?"

So in order to compromise, here are your options for tonight with the promise of a full run down of the rest of the weeks shows tomorrow so you at least have the option to plan ahead. For those of you that are into that sort of thing.

By the way, did anyone make it to any good shows over the weekend? I hate to say it, but my weekend was delightfully low key aside from St. Vincent at the Echoplex which was amazing. Did I miss anything that I will be kicking myself over when I read about them in your comments? Please share...

Here are your options for tonight MONDAY 2/18:

Dave Newton Showcase w/ The Henry Clay People, The Happy Hollows, Death To Anders, and Kissing Tigers at The Echo

Robert Francis at The Silver Lake Lounge

KCRW presents: Rickie Lee Jones at The Echoplex

Casket Salesmen, Auditory Aphasia, Mongoloid, Mythmaker, and The Feelings Mutual at The Troubadour

Indie 103.1 Presents Check One... Two... The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra, Dengue Fever, and Colorforms at The Viper Room

Bust Magazine Presents: The Pity Party, Film School, Ladies & Gents, and What Made Milwaukee Famous at Spaceland

Ah the age old battle over how to split your time between the Echo and Spaceland for the free Monday night residencies, and the increasingly great line-ups that come with each. I think I'll wander over to the Echo tonight myself. You've got the Henry Clay People who are on the third night of their residency at this point, and whose show last week was apparently so good I rightfully shouldn't be able to show my face at this one because I missed it without much of a valid excuse. You've also got Death to Anders who rock about as much live as their new album Fictitious Business rocks your ipod, that is to say A LOT. Kissing Tigers who I've not yet seen, but adore their recordings to pieces, and The Happy Hollows who I liked a lot when I saw them two years ago.

The night is also being referred to as the Dave Newton showcase as he produced records for all of the bands in question. So in honor of that, posted below is a video of Dave Newton covering his former band The Mighty Lemon Drops with his all too short lived band The C86 All Stars at Spaceland in 2006. You really should have known that I would never pass up a perfect opportunity to reference anything having to do with the history of indiepop...

THE C86 ALL STARS Happy Head - Mighty Lemon Drops

2008-02-18T18:39:00.001-08:00

Sigh, Sigh, Sigh...

2008-02-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

So... another Valentine's Day is coming to a close, and once again I find myself in love with a new pop song. This is not an unusual state for me to find myself in. In fact, I've recently come to the conclusion that when I look back on my life I will find that most of my significant relationships will have been with pop songs. But it's always nice to find a brand new love on Valentine's Day isn't it?

I've only listened to the mp3 of Strawberry Whiplash's "Who's in Your Dreams?" a few times so I have nothing too intelligent to offer about it. But as we all know intelligence and love so rarely go hand in hand. I only know that it's a perfect fuzzy pop song, with lot's of tambourine, and more ba da bas per capita than most perfect fuzzy pop songs that I've heard in recent memory. And I want to shirk all of my responsibilities and spend all of my spare time with it. Please download this song here, now.

Though I should warn you that downloading the song is only going to make you want more. Fortunately Strawberry Whiplash have a brand new EP that is available through the ever lovely Matinee Recordings! You can find it along with more information about the band here. Get ready to shirk all of your responsibilities too.

By the way, it should be noted here that when I paid a visit to Strawberry Whiplash's myspace page, I noticed that one of their top friends was a band by the name of Tesco Chainstore Mascara. Um, might that be the best band name ever? From what I've heard so far, they make nice music too. Expect a full post about them soon...

Pep Up the Formula Tonight, You're Not Obliged to Do Us Favors, Disenchanted Hearts Unite...

2008-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

You know those days when you wake up with that sinking realization that you are falling very behind on several projects, at least one of them has a deadline, and you have absolutely no idea how to tackle it? Yeah, well, welcome to my morning.

I've also been reminded a few times that today is apparently a "holiday" where people celebrate "being in love," or whatever. I just wanted to post a quick reminder for those of you not in love, or those of you who are but feel a bit non- traditional you might want to head over to the Cha Cha Lounge tonight for this thing:

I'd like to make it out myself, but I will likely still be staring blankly at my computer waiting for the magical correct combination of words to appear on the screen sometime before tomorrow morning. Yep, nerdiest Valentine's Day plans ever!

Listening Too Long To One Song: Cardinal, well, everything really

2008-02-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

Very, very few things surprise me anymore. The fact that every band that you know and like, that shouldn't necessarily exist within the world of Myspace will likely have a Myspace profile either run by the band themselves or, more often than not, run by a fan. For example. So I don't know why it surprised me just a little when I stumbled across the Myspace page for the band Cardinal.

It's not as if it's any more unusual for Cardinal to have a Myspace page dedicated to them than say Bubblegum Splash. However, I've never owned any recordings from Bubblegum Splash, and I learned of their existence through the internet. So Myspace has really been my only outlet for discovering that particular band's music. Cardinal on the other hand were recommended to me by a real live person who is much more knowledgeable than I am, and whose taste in music I regard more highly than well, anybody really. Thanks to the most convenient location of this conversation (the KCRW music library) we were able to listen to the record right then and there. I was struck then by how specifically place and time it felt. Though it was released in 1994, it didn't feel like a record that was released in 1994, and the clever 60s pop style that it encompasses is probably one of the last things that would spring to your mind when you think of music and 1994. However, I feel that if I had been in college that year, and had discovered that record I probably would have listened to it, and nothing else until I wore out at least two copies (more likely three) blasting it day in and day out on my walkman. In fact when I listen to it now on my ipod, I still feel as though those sounds are emerging from a portable cassette player, and not a computer.

But we live in a time now when everything is on a computer. As much as I was struck by the sheer beauty and complexity of the record, (those harmonies, those lyrics, those guitars, those trumpets, those... harmonies...) at the exact same time I had frighteningly easy access to at least 12 new (to me) records that I was falling in love with almost as much as that one. Even as I knew that had I discovered Cardinal in another time period I would have listened to that record and nothing else, I also knew that because of the time that I did discover it in the phase of listening to that record day in and day out wouldn't last nearly as long as it should have.

There is also the fact that I have not yet found the time to really get into any projects (Richard Davies, and Eric Matthew's solo work most glaringly) that preceded or followed Cardinal that allows that band to be even more specific to me. One band who made one perfect record, who basically only existed within the span of one year. Therefore though their Myspace page doesn't really surprise me in the long run, for that first moment it did. Even though somewhat ironically, it was the discovery of that Myspace page that led to the record accompanying every walk that I took during that week. Like it was 1994, and it was the only record I cared to know about, and it would never leave my walkman, ever.

See Her Runing Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 2/12- 2/17

2008-02-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

I realize that noon on a Tuesday is a bit illogical of a time to be posting a concert calendar that for all intents and purposes SHOULD be ready to go first thing Monday morning. This is what happens when one gets distracted by lovely Sunday afternoon things, and distracted by the promise of being wowed by Kid Congo at The Echo on Sunday night, and that same person has to make it to Santa Monica from Echo Park by nine the next morning. People like that seem to forget how very little brain function these things leave them with on Mondays. Next week will be better, I promise. I trust that you still defer to him, him, him, this guy, these fine folks... right?

TUESDAY 2/12:

Versa Vice, She's Your Sister, Sumo, and The Black Tales at The Silverlake Lounge

Talkdemonic, and Guam at Spaceland

The Bombs, We Are Good Friends, El Paso Hot Button, and Gravity Propulsion System at The Scene

Rufus Wainwright at The Wiltern

Dublab and Part Time Punks Present "Give Up," and/or a Sad, Slow Dance party at La Cita.

I simply cannot get past my excitement over the fact that for once this "Give Up" night is NOT opposite Radio Free Silver Lake's Let's Independent.

Prepare yourself for Valentine's Day in the proper style by dancing and crying (also, I'm imagining, falling and laughing...) here:

WEDNESDAY 2/13:

The Weather Underground, and Free Moral Agents at The Silverlake Lounge

Andre Williams, and The Flash Express at Spaceland

I Make This Sound, The Breakups, The Amateurs, and Le Switch at The Echo

Wonderground, Brian Wright, Ferraby Lionheart, Cory Branan, and Hayes Carll at The Hotel Cafe

Darkest Hour at The Roxy

It's been a while since I've made it to a Le Switch show, and I feel like I might start going through withdrawl soon. I've heard very nice things about the rest of the bands that are joining them at the Echo as well. The show is I Make This Sound's EP release party. The fact that they're in such good company speaks well for them. I hope I'll be able to make it to this one.

THURSDAY 2/14:

The Black Lips, Pierced Arrows, and Terrible Twos at El Rey Theatre

Was Not Was, Brian Wilson, and Kris Kristofferson at The Orpheum Theatre

Matt Hopper, The Old Believers, and The Meemies at Pehrspace

The Entrance Band, Warpaint, Golden Animals, Ben Goodman & Alina Hardin, and Dionysus at The Silverlake Lounge

Mellowdrone at Spaceland

Echo Park Records presents: Very Be Careful, Paul Devro, Dam Funk, and Grupo Fantasma at The Echoplex

Darkest Hour, Cephalic Carnage, Emmure, Enter Shikari, White Chapel at The Glass House (Pomona)

Blood Red Orchestra, The Front, The Monolators, and Joshua Lanes at The Prospector (Long Beach)

LOT's to do tonight if you're single or not the "nice, quiet, romantic dinner with my sweetheart type of couple." As cool as that Was Not Was thing with Brian Wilson and Kris Kristofferson at the Orpheum sounds, it also sounds exspensive. This thing that the L.A. Record is presenting at the Cha Cha Lounge sounds awesome though. Always nice to see Jax on the ones and twos as well:

FRIDAY 2/15:

Siouxsie Sioux, and Rasputina at The Henry Fonda Theater

Nikki Corvette, The Dazes, Wild Weekend, Thee Cormans, and Jail Weddings at Mr. T's Bowl

Stepsonday, Good on Paper, and The Health Club at Pehrspace

St. Vincent, and Foreign Born at The Echoplex

Grand Ole Party, and Love Grenades at The Echo

Cobra Starship, Metro Station, We the Kings, and The Cab at The Glass House (Pomona)

GoGo Simba, OVO, Dim Rocket Delta, and Hundreds & Thousands at The Smell

DJ Shadow, and Cut Chemist at The Wiltern

We squaregirls do love the Health Club, and we love Pehrspace just as much so I can tell you that this would for sure be an excellent way to spend your Friday night. However, with St. Vincent at the Echoplex I have to give a slight advantage to the touring band. Her live show is quite amazing.

SATURDAY 2/16:

Siouxsie Sioux, and Rasputina at The Henry Fonda Theater

Deke Dickerson's All Star Frat Band, Th' Losin' Streaks, The Okmoniks, The Jinxes, The Lateenos Special Ed, and The Del Lames at Mr. T's Bowl

Liam Finn, Rocco Deluca, and Nico Stai at Spaceland

Echo Park Records presents: Arabian Prince, Glass Candy, Guns and Bombs, Los Super Elegantes, DJ avi$, and DJ Appaloosa at The Echoplex

Hang the DJs w/ The War Tapes, and Spider Problem at the Echo

Le Face, Vomit Bomb, Bad Parents, and Pukers at The Smell

Cobra Starship, Metro Station, We the Kings, and The Cab at The Troubadour (SOLD OUT)

I just realized that I've only ever heard good things about Hang the DJs, but have never been to one of their nights, and I very much want to check out Spider Problem cause what I've heard online sounds cool, and the Echo is always great so...

SUNDAY 2/17:

The A-Bones, Rock N Roll Adventure Kids, Haunted George, The Guilty Hearts, Les Hormones, and Wounded Lion at Mr. T's Bowl

Electrocute, and Har Mar Superstar at Spaceland

Alex and Sam, Rachel Cantu, Dustin Boyer at Tangier

Baby D, and BARR at The Echo

I.E., Flaspar, Teppop, Fortress of Amplitude, and Human Hands at The Smell

Part Time Punks: Smiths Nite at The Echo

Squaregirl Kristen said that she really liked Alex & Sam when she saw them a few months ago. Funny too, that Part Time Punks latest Smiths night happens to fall on Valentine's Day week. I've always maintained that there should be a counter holiday to Valentine's Day, and that the only logical name for this holiday would be St. Morrisey's Day...

It Was the Record That You Needed to Complete your Pop Collection...

2008-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

Slumberland Records has announced the first two singles that will be released as part of it's Searching For the Now series! You might remember that I've been looking forward to the start of this series for quite some time now. So finding that email waiting for me the other day was too exciting for words. I should have written something about it sooner, but things have gotten slightly busy lining up future squaregirls nights, plus that whole real job thing...

With that said, I'll keep this post brief. Here is an excerpt from the email I received from Slumberland:

"Folks-
The first two singles in our Searching For The Now series are finally almost here.

Volume One has songs from The Company (featuring Roy Moller and Stevie Jackson) and The Hermit Crabs.
Volume Two features Bye! (Archie from Velocity Girl and friends) and The Happy Couple.

Both singles are on color vinyl and come in full color jackets. They're out February 18th, but you can pre-order until then and get the pair for $7.00, postage-paid in the US."

Seems like an unbelievable deal to me. And I have to say, I'm freaking out just a little over the idea of finally having a tangible recorded object from Bye!. I've been wearing those myspace tracks out for the past 4 or 5 months since the endlessly cool, and always in the know Imaginary Liz alerted me to the existence of the project.

Information about ordering the singles can be found here.

Just Look at the Size of You...

2008-02-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

I spend, oh probably more time than I should volunteering for things. These things are mostly (read: pretty much all) music related. The one particular head scratcher for people is my time spent on the Barsuk Street Team. One of my long time favorite (active) labels, Barsuk has been something that I've contributed to for about a year and a half now. In fact I probably owe most of my being able to shake off the social anxiety, stand alone at shows in this slightly intimidating neighborhood, and actually talk to people who are much cooler than me to my status with the Barsuk Street Team and the late (sniff) Sea Level Records. However, that is another story.

Generally though, what I hear when I tell people that I volunteer my time to hang posters for a record label is this, "They don't even give you gas money?" To which I say, "No I get free cds and access to guest list privileges for any of their band's shows." They then look at me like I am insane. Truth be told I sometimes feel insane for devoting so much time to a non-paid service myself. Especially since I set my own work hours, tend to be very lazy, and often do street team stuff when I should be working on projects that I am getting paid for.

Then I find myself in a situation like the one that I found myself in on Monday night, and I realize that it is all so very worth it. So very, very worth it. I was asked to help work the door at an extraordinarily intimate acoustic Nada Surf show. It was mostly for music supervisors so my job was essentially to drive Nada Surf's bass player Daniel back to their hotel so that he could pick up his laptop, check in the 30 or so people that were on the guest list, then watch what is certainly the best show that I've seen so far this year. Of course, that's an easy call since we are only a month into 2008. However, I think this one will stay pretty high up there as the year carries on.

Let's start with the sound in this room. It's a tiny space tucked away in Beverly Hills that serves as a show room for Gibson guitars so automatically you know that this is a place is designed to make music sound good. The equipment must have been top of the line because everything sounded so pure, and all of the levels were perfect. Of course it always helps if the band in possession of all these advantages is already a top notch band. Nada Surf are plenty more than just a top notch band. I've long been in awe of how they pull off their perfectly constructed, filled to capacity, but never over the top pop songs. How well written these songs are both lyrically, and musically. The fact that they feel immediately familiar, but never predictable. And those harmonies, oh wow those harmonies. If Nada Surf were one of those bands that only worked in a studio setting one would likely be able to forgive them. I'm not a musician, but I can imagine that it's virtually impossible to pull off that kind of pop song as impeccably in a live setting. Nada Surf do. Of course nothing sounded just like it does on record, this being a relatively stripped down set and all. Somehow that made it even more impressive. They had a cellist join them who played the most interesting looking cello that I've ever seen. It was made almost entirely out of metal, and had essentially no body, just a long neck, and a stand. I would say it was the coolest instrument of the night. However drummer Ira Elliott was sitting on, and playing a very nifty Afro-Peruvian instrument called a cajon which is essentially a box that you can play like a drum! Imagine someone playing the bongos, if that person were actually sitting on the bongos, and if the bongos sounded more like a snare drum. He also made a makeshift kick drum by wearing a tambourine around his foot. I would say that's seriously fucking innovative, but I get a sneaking suspicion that this is a secret that a lot of drummers are in on. Me? I'm not a drummer so I thought it was cool (and seriously fucking innovative.) Daniel Lorca, and Matthew Caws stuck to standard bass and guitar respectively. Everything sounded great. They mostly played songs from the new album (which is still my favorite of 2008 so far by the way) as the crowd was mostly made up of music supervisors, and the point of the evening was mostly have the new songs heard by the people who will put the songs in the commercials. And the songs should be in the commercials. One of three non new album songs was actually their relatively big 90s single "Popular," which was introduced as "So this evening is 98% fun, 2% something else cause we got a call from our manager the other day saying um, at that show in L.A. could you guys play Popular, and remind them that it's never been licensed..." So they were incredible sports and launched into the distorted guitars, wry spoken word lyrics, and just overall NINETIESNESS of it all. And they did commit, I will give them that... And the thirteen year old girl part of me was kind of into it, you shouldn't give me that...

They closed the night on the more serious note of new album opener, "See These Bones." Shockingly enough where I would have expected an entire roomful of jaded, arm- folded, hip people clapping politely after this, I instead heard cheers, and saw that most everyone was smiling. If that doesn't offer you enough proof of their overwhelming goodness, I don't know what possibly could.

See Her Runing Around She's The Girl About Town That You (Probably Haven't) Heard Of 2/5- 2/10

2008-02-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hello, I hope you are all easing back into the working week as well as can be expected. I'm off to work myself in a matter of moments. Before I leave though, here is what I was able to find in terms of rock shows happening this week. Once again, please take what I say with a grain of salt. And always refer to this guy.

TUESDAY 2/05:

Dead Meadow, Midnight Movies, and The Great Northwest at The Echoplex

Blue Cheer, and Sea of Air at The Knitting Factory

Black Mountain, and Howlin' Rain at The Troubadour

There sure do seem to be a lot of people out there who love Black Mountain. I know Midnight Movies have undergone some line up changes since the last time I saw them. However, I'm going to venture a guess that they are still compelling as fuck, and they are playing with Dead Meadow about whom I've heard very good things.

WEDNESDAY 2/06:

Gran Ronde, Bloodcat Love, War Tapes, and Big Bang at Bordello

An Aquarium Drunkard Presents The World Record, The Weather Underground, Le Switch, Frankel, Blair at The Silverlake Lounge

Club NME at Spaceland with Ungdomskulen, and Minipop

Bedouin Soundclash, Westbound Train, and Beat Union at The Knitting Factory

Have I ever mentioned here that I adore Le Switch? Because for some reason, I'm just not sure if I've mentioned it enough...

THURSDAY 2/07:

The Entrance Band, Tweak Bird, and Mountain Party at the Silverlake Lounge

Blood on the Wall, and Afternoons at Spaceland

The Lilys, and Ladies & Gents at The Echo

Pinback, and MC Chris at The Glass House (Pomona)

People Noise (ex-VHS or Beta), Azure Down, and Crystal Antlers at The Prospector (Long Beach)

The Kooks at the Troubadour- SOLD OUT

The Lilys were too good for words when I saw them at Spaceland back in December. Do try to see them if you can.

FRIDAY 2/08:

Huntsville, Majestys, Sundowner, Chelsea Trash, and Musec at Mr. T's Bowl

Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck at The Echoplex

The Kooks, Morning Benders at The Echo

Rumspringa, Halloween Swim Team, Bad Dudes, and Pocket Rockets at The Smell

Rhett Miller, and Jennifer O'Connor at The Troubadour

I still haven't seen Rumspringa much to the chagrin of several friends of mine, and if Halloween Swim Team are the band that I am thinking of I heard a song of theirs on KXLU several years ago and loved it. Listening now on myspace right now, I think it was. Friday night at the Smell anyone?

SATURDAY 2/09:

Check Yo' Ponytail with Mixhell, Data, My!Gay!Husband!, Frankie Chan, and Paparazzi at The Echo

El Tambor at The Echoplex

The Black Lips, Pierced Arrows, Japanese Motors at The Glass House (Pomona)

Crystal Antlers, Candy Apple, The Balloon at The Scene

We Be The Echo, Totally Serious, BiPolar Bear, Tremellow at The Smell

Editors at The Wiltern

Robyn at The Troubadour- SOLD OUT

Um... It seems like I've heard good things about Crystal Antlers, and the squaregirls do love, love, love The Scene.

SUNDAY 2/10:

Editors at The House Of Blues Anaheim

Electrocute, The Lady Tigra, B.R.A.M., and ARP at Spaceland

People Noise (ex-VHS or Beta), Casket Salesmen, The Prisoner Dilemma, Jupiter at The Glass House (Pomona)

Part Time Punks with Kid Congo Powers at the Echo

If Part Time Punks isn't already your default Sunday night plan, you should make it so...