Live Review: dios (malos) @ Amoeba

Last night was the dios (malos) in-store at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. I've gotten to the point where I don't really like seeing bands there. The sound is never that great and it gets insanely packed for bigger bands (the Flaming Lips in-store was unbearable). The crowd was smallish (maybe 75-100 people). There were lots of young kids in dark clothes who probably drove from far away.

The singer struggled with his voice during the first two songs. It was all over the place. During the third song he kind of stumbled around the stage - fumbling around with his 12-string acoustic guitar, then picking up an electric before sitting down at the piano. There were several moments where the drummer was the only one playing. After the song, the bass player introduced the touring keyboard player - joking that he's a man of non-color. And finally they got focused during the fourth song. The rest of the show was solid.

I really can't complain since it was free (plus I got a great deal on a couple of McCartney records while I was there). But I'm still curious to see if they can really bring these songs to life in a live setting.

Art Opening this Thursday: Travis Millard

I realize this is a music blog and not an art blog, but this event is worthy of your attention (and kind of music related). An old friend, Travis Millard, is having an art opening this Thursday from 7-10 PM at Jeff Electric Gallery. Jeff Electric is located at 3022 W. Sunset (1/2 block west of Silverlake blvd) in Silver Lake, CA 90026.

Travis used to have the back page in Spin Magazine and has done design work for a bunch of bands (lots of Kansas City bands and recently more local bands). He also did the mural work near the bathrooms at the Little Joy Luck Club. I bet those drawings have seen a lot of coke deals go down.

Album Review: Big Star IN SPACE

Alex Chilton, if you're reading this review please stop. Have you stopped reading yet? Ok good. I'm a huge fan of Big Star's three albums, they're all essential listening. I don't own any Alex Chilton solo records because I've always assumed that I'd be disappointed. I was very apprehensive about this record, but since he broke the Big Star name out of retirement I decided to have a listen. The fact that this not really Big Star becomes obvious very quickly.

Dony: not bad, but I could do without the horn solo
Lady Sweet: pretty Posies' song, but not a Big Star song (Chilton's not even singing)
Best Chance We've Ever Had: a pleasant Jody song that Chilton doesn't sing
Turn My Back on the Sun: Beach Boys' tribute that starts with a Wouldn't It Be Nice fakeout, another Posies' song
Love Revolution: I don't care if it does sound like Chilton's having fun, I'm going to pretend I never heard this
February's Quiet: another pleasant enough Jody song "she likes sugar in her tea"
Mine Exclusively: R&B cover tune that doesn't do much for me
A Whole New Thing: another R&B tune that doesn't do anything for me
Aria Largo: throwaway instrumental
Hung Up With Summer: kinda boring
Do You Wanna Make It: real simple early rock'n'roll with that horn again
Makeover: this song's a mess

Save your money and listen to the real Big Star albums.

BUY #1 RECORD/RADIO CITY
BUY THIRD/SISTER LOVERS

Album Review: dios (malos) - release date 10/11/05

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - It took some convincing from my girlfriend for me to give this record a chance but I'm glad I finally did. About the only thing I knew about these guys was that Ronnie James Dio had sent them a cease and desist letter forcing them to change their name (what a douche). They went from dios to dios (malos). According to their website, dios (malos) is from Hawthorne, CA (home of The Beach Boys, Emitt Rhodes and Black Flag). Those three acts are very different, but elements of all three are on the new dios (malos) record.

Some of the songs have sunny, pop arrangements [Beach Boys] while others are mellow and piano or acoustic based [Emitt Rhodes]. Many of the lyrics are very bratty [Black Flag] and at least four songs mention drugs (Feels Good Being Somebody, So Do I, No Dance Now, and My Broken Bones). I've listened to this album about 20 times and songs are lodged in my head. My favorite tracks are: Say Anything, GRRRL, and My Broken Bones. Another eight tracks are very solid and the only song I tend to skip over is the instrumental, Tokyo Sunrise.

Download "Feels Good Being Somebody" - [don't judge the album by this track, it's one of my least favorite]

Buy the album HERE

See them for free at Amoeba this Wednesday

See them live at the El Rey on 11/19/05

Advice to dios (malos): Get a real website. I get it - you're brats with a goofy sense of humor. Your site is so incredibly annoying to navigate that any jokes are lost. I'm a big fan of simple, organized band sites. Check out my friends The Foxymorons for a good example of this. They have a bunch of free downloads and it's not bogged down with Flash animation or automatically loading music. While you're fixing your site, please call Radiohead and tell them to fix their site as well. It's even worse. Thanks.

Weekend Live Music Picks

Friday:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Troubadour - I slept on this too long and it sold out. Good luck pushing your way to the bar through all the A&R types with their corporate AmEx cards. They've got a few really good songs.
Earlimart @ Spaceland - One of the better local bands.
Jon Brion @ Largo - Always a safe bet on Friday night.
Idlewild @ El Rey - Probably not worth the money.
Franz Ferdinand & TV On the Radio @ the Greek - Definitely not worth the money.


Saturday:
Kennedy and Friends @ Largo - Check out his amazing video.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ El Rey - Always a good live band and I like their new musical direction. I mean, how long can you rip off the Jesus and Mary Chain?
Franz Ferdinand & TV On the Radio - Still not worth the money. 2 nights seems excessive.

Sunday:
Ariel Pink @ the Echo - It's not really my thing, but at least it's free.