Live Music Picks 11/28-12/1

There's a lot of style over substance, some aging rockers and something for everybody on Thursday. That's Languis pictured at the left.

Monday
The Subways / Group Sounds / Living Things / Circus Minor @ Spaceland [FREE] - For the early adopting trend watchers. This is the place to be seen tonight. The Subways are another hyped British band. Group Sounds are from NYC, don't take themselves too seriously a and are on the dance rock side of things. Living Things are local major label dudes who seem like they take themselves pretty seriously. This is the last night of Circus Minor's residency. What have you got to lose?
Download Group Sounds' "Things Fall Apart"
Download Group Sounds' "Goodbye"

Tuesday
Paul McCartney @ Staples [SOLD OUT] - For the rich folks. I've never seen him and I would love to see him but it's just too much money for a show in a basketball arena.

Donovan @ Wilshire Ebell Theatre [$38-43] - For the aging hippie with disposable income who can't get into Paul McCartney. I love Donovan but I don't know if he's still good? Has anybody seen him recently? He's celebrating 40 years as an artist with a new book, a box set and a tour. "Jennifer Juniper" and "Catch the Wind" are just two of his great songs.

Super Furry Animals / Caribou @ The Avalon [$20] - For the psychedelic pop fan. I'm surprised this isn't sold out yet. They've got a rabid fanbase and put on a good live show. Caribou (f/k/a Manitoba) are a pretty good indie electronic band. Should be a fun show and the artists aren't completely over the hill (although SFA probably peaked five years ago).

The Subways @ Cine-Space [$5] - For the trend chasers. If you miss them at Spaceland and can deal with the nightmare of going out in the Cahuenga corridor, then here's the show for you. It's also DJ Steve Aoki's birthday. Have you ever noticed that a lot of really rich people have creepy relationships with their siblings? I even saw it on Six Feet Under.

Wednesday
The Cribs @ Spaceland [$12] - For the trend followers. Pitchfork absolutely hated their album, but I think they're probably being too harsh (even though I haven't heard it). They play a lot of big shows in their native England with Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park and Franz Ferdinand.
Download The Cribs' "Baby Don't Sweat"
Download The Cribs' "Another Number"

Paul McCartney @ Staples [SOLD OUT] - See above

Thursday
No-Neck Blues Band @ Spaceland [$8] - For fans of weird psych, avant-garde music. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth said they're "the best band ever in the universe."
Download NNCK's "The Doon"

Tristeza / Languis @ Knitting Factory [$10] - For the post rock fan. Languis is a popular local band and part of the Plug Research scene. Their recent live performances have impressed me (their CD is decent but I'm really looking forward to their new stuff). Tristeza is a like minded instrumental San Diego band.

gogogo airheart/ The Joggers @ the Echo [$8] - For the indie dance crowd. Gogogo Airheart are a San Diego band with a post punk sound (probably influenced by Gang of 4 way before most of these bands were influenced by Gang of 4). The Joggers are similar.

The Mae Shi / Japanther @ The Smell [$5] - For the punk rock crowd. The Mae-Shi are a local band I've written about before. Don't know anything about Japanther.

Music Picks for the Rest of the Week

Wednesday
Kingsbury Manx / The Standard / The Heavenly States @ Spaceland [$8] - Here's a show for the indie rock fans. Kingsbury Manx is a mellow indie band from North Carolina that's been around for about six years. The Standard is a much more dramatic, less guitar pop inspired band from Portland. The Heavenly States are poppy band from Oakland with a serious Beatles homage on the first song from their new album.
Download the Kingsbury Manx's "Pelz Komet"
Download the Kingsbury Manx's "Over the Waves"
Download the Standard's "A Year of Seconds"
Download the Standard's "Metropolitan"

Deerhoof / Paul Williams @ the Echo [EARLY SHOW @ 6:00PM] [$12] - Here's a show for fans of more challenging, experimental indie music. Deerhoof tends to give me a bad headache.

Tom Vek @ Troubadour [$12] - Here's a show for people who are bored with watching guys stand and play guitars without much stage presence. He plays some dancey music informed by rock.
Download Tom Vek's "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes"


Thursday
Eat some turkey and then go to see WALK THE LINE or HARRY POTTER. WALK THE LINE is pretty good, but not great. Joaquin Phoenix does a good job and Reese Witherspoon does a great job. I think it either needed to be 20 minutes shorter or 40 mintues longer - some of the stuff just didn't work. I haven't seen Harry Potter yet.


Friday
I don't see anything worth seeing. Go buy some records at Aron's Records. They're going out of business and everything's on sale (at least 20% off).

Saturday
Jason Falkner @ Troubadour [$12] - For serious pop music fans. Pedigreed songwriter who was a member of the Paisley Underground band The Three O'Clock, Jellyfish, The Grays (with Jon Brion) in addition to putting out his own stuff. He's also worked with Eric Matthews, Brendan Benson, Beck and probably a bunch of other people.

Castanets / Phosphorescent @ Hotel Cafe [?] - For the indie folk fans. I haven't been to the Hotel Cafe in ages but this is one to get excited about. A couple of bands with good songwriters, folk mentality and a subtle twang. Download some tracks and see for yourself.
Download Castanets' "All That I Know"
Download Castanets' "Three Days Four Nights"
Download Phosphorescent's "Joe Tex, These Taming Blues"
Download Phosphorescent's "I Am a Full Grown Man (I Will Lay in the Grass All Day Long)"

The Muffs @ Spaceland [$10] - For the pop-punk fan. The Muffs have been making catchy music on the L.A. scene for over a decade.
Download the Muffs' "Wish That I Could Be You"
Download the Muffs' "Prettier Than Me"


Sunday
Milemarker / Kodiak @ the Echo [$10] For the emo kids. Milemarker sounds like they own a Fugazi record or two (just listen to "The Banner to the Sick") . They probably own some Promise Ring too. Kodiak sounds a little too Jimmy Eat World for my tastes.
Download the Milemarker's "The Banner to the Sick"
Download the Milemarker's "Cryogenic Sleep"

Tonight's Music Picks (sorry so late)

For a holiday week there's a decent amount of stuff to do tonight (this is way too late, so I'm rushing through it)....

Neko Case @ Barnsdall Gallery Theatre - I prefer her work with the New Pornographers, but her country stuff is nice too.

Depeche Mode @ Staples Center - I saw them front row center stage about 10 years ago. I think this would be anti-climactic.

Broadcast @ the Troubadour - I've got the new album but haven't listened yet.

Mike Stinson @ the Echo [FREE] - Gram Parsons spirit lives on.

Live Review: Arctic Monkeys

I couldn't resist the hype and went to the Arctic Monkeys show on Friday at Spaceland. There was definitely electricity in the air. Lots of kids lined up in front of the club trying to get in and every music industry weasel in L.A. (and some from NYC) inside. Army Navy opened the show. Their music wasn't bad at all but they didn't have much stage presence. Pretty much straight forward rock that seemed to be influenced by mid-80s college rock. The venue was only about half full during their set. It started to get a little more crowded for the Tyde. Several of the members of the Tyde have been in bands for over 20 years and countered the fact that most of the crowd probably didn't want to see them by playing a mostly upbeat set. They sprinkled in a few songs from their upcoming album with old songs about surfing, smoking pot and being in bands. The crowd was mostly respectful but not overly excited.

Excitement grew and the crowd jockeyed for position after the Tyde finished. The sold out crowd was finally evident and attention turned to the stage. I knew very little about the Arctic Monkeys and was immediately shocked by how young they looked. My first impression was: this looks like the captain of my high school soccer team grabbed three guys from the team, bought some Libertines' records (they didn't exist at the time) and started a band. I couldn't hate them and it made their inane lyrics passable. Of course they sing about stupid stuff because they're just kids. But then I remembered Jackson Browne was the same age, 19, when he wrote "These Days" and "Somewhere There's a Feather." Well, Jackson Browne they're not, but they're definitely better than the Vines. It was very appropriate that they made their L.A. debut the same day that Harry Potter opened because the lead singer bears a resemblance. They actually have some potential but the British press is mental. Advice to major labels: if there's a bidding war sit this one out. Advice to band: enjoy the hype and take as much money as you can off the labels. Maybe one day you'll be doing blow with Kate Moss.

Weekend Live Music Picks

Loads of stuff going on this weekend.....

FRIDAY
Arctic Monkeys / The Tyde @ Spaceland [SOLD OUT] - For the A&R executives. Arctic Monkeys are probably the most hyped band on the planet right now. They're blowing up in the UK and on the cover of NME. Tickets were going for $60-$100 a pop on Ebay. Their performance on KCRW should be archived soon. Will they live up to the hype? Probably not....

Art Brut @ The Echo [$12] - For the early adopters. They played a sold out show at Spaceland last night, but last I checked (noon today) there are still tickets for the Echo. Another band with huge hype that doesn't even have an album out domestically.

The Old 97's @ The El Rey [$22.50] - For Texans. They played last night too. Can they fill the El Rey for two nights at these ticket prices with this competition?

Dandy Warhols @ Avalon [SOLD OUT] - For poseurs (just kidding). I actually liked a few of the Dandys' songs before I saw DIG! But now I never wanna hear them again.

Subtle @ Knitting Factory [$15] - For the Anticon/backpack rap/intelligent stoner crowd. The Knitting Factory seems to have a lock on this sorta entertainment.

Shout Out Louds / The Sun / The Rosebuds @ Troubadour [SOLD OUT] - For the regular folks. I've seen the Shout Out Louds a few times already. Pretty good stuff. The Rosebuds are on Merge Records. The Sun did some gimmicky thing and released their album on DVD only? What if you don't have a DVD rom on your computer? Does it work? I guess they must want you to go on P2P networks and get the audio files for free?
Download the Rosebuds' "Boxcar"
Download the Rosebuds' "Blue Bird"

SATURDAY
dios (malos) @ the El Rey [$13.50] - For the indie rockers with an affinity for rock history. As I've said before, I really like these local guys. They know how to write a good song.
Download "Feels Good Being Somebody"
Download their Beck cover "Asshole"

The New Amsterdams @ Spaceland [$10] - For the melodic emo fan. The Get Up Kids are probably better known, but this is the same dude. From my college town. Go Jayhawks.

SUNDAY
Space Mtn @ Sea Level Records @ 4:00 PM [FREE] - For local music supporters. Very connected local band with pretty female vocals. What little I've heard sounds like it's right in the middle of Juliana Hatfield and Cat Power. While you're there pick up a vinyl copy of the Sufjan Stevens (it's finally out).

Black Heart Procession / Marjorie Fair @ Spaceland [$15] - BHP make lush and moody music for the David Lynch fan (I'm just ripping off their old press releases for that).

Hella / Dillinger Escape Plan @ the El Rey [$18.50] - For fans of experimental noise rock that you don't have to be ashamed of liking. Total in your face NOISE.
Download Hella's "We Was Just Boys, Living in a Dead Ass German Shepard"
Downlaod Hella's "Madonna Approaches R&B Blonde Wreckages"