Mack Winston and the Reflections

Hey, I saw Mack Winston and the Reflections Wednesday at Three of Clubs and they were bad ass. My homey does sound there and he said, upon arrival, "This is my favorite band in LA." Obviously, this type of comment always draws skepticism from my music snob side and I drank $4 PBRs patiently awaiting this best band hoopla.
Sooner, rather than later, they came on and ripped it real hard. I can't really compare them to anyone except like the Strokes, or something of that ilk...wait, new the Rambo is on in the background and Sly totally just said "Live for nothing... or die for something" and that is about the most awesome thing he ever said on-screen in a non South-Philly accent. Goddamn. Anyway, he's busting Burmese motherfuckers in the head with a bow and arrow and I'm sitting here shotgunning beers and writing about this band that forgot to send me their tracks. And, btw, is playing at friggin LeDoux next week! How hilarious is that?
Anyway, they were raw. And peep the myspace in the meantime until I throw up tracks bc I swear it will happen sooner rather than later. And if anyone cares to expedite this process, email the mf-ers at mackwinston@gmail.com or drop intense myspace comments begging for free tracks. Holla!
Ok, the track is called "Dark, Dark Night" and I really hope that the (5-9) that showed up with it is supposed to be there because it is infinitely more badass that way.
Mack Winston and the Reflections- "Dark, Dark Night (5-9)" MP3 zshare

When I get married, I totally want Twin Crystals to play

You know, I really should have done this a long freaking time ago because I love these dudes so much. Twin Crystals are so intense that I told them they reminded me of Rage Against the Machine after their set at the SLU SXSW showcase. Although they just kind of looked at me funny as I was way too messed up to articulate what I meant by such a bold statement, Rage comparisons are truly the cat's pajamas in my book. At least in terms of a live show. I mean, if I were to hear your cd and say that, than maybe you shouldn't be too psyched. But when I see a live show, I basically want a Rage like intensity at all times. I guess that means I may have some meathead in my blood somewhere up the family tree root plant. Who knew?
And, the fact that they can draw a Rage comparison with synths and not 5 string distorted basses speaks volumes. Obviously, they have more of a post Suicide No Wave sound on the record and that's great too. But I totally felt like I was hearing "Freedom" for the first time again at Beauty Bar that night. And as far as dudes go, they are certainly dudes among dudes. Shit, they fucking slept outside all week for no apparent reason other than their sheer hardcoreness. Than, they left Austin and went straight to Juarez for a show! That alone deserves more props than I am capable of bestowing. Shit, I've even been trying to convince my girl that we need them to play at our wedding and her opposition is making me seriously rethink the date we set three years in advance. So bottom line: sorry I didn't do this earlier and enjoy the Twin Crystals tracks I have on my computer now. And get hungry for more because Mr. Doug Kompany himself promises to finally show up in LA next week with a grip of SLU vinyl and wild boars armed with AIDS syringes couldn't keep me from blessing the entire internet community with more Crystalline goodness.

Twin Crystals "Trinity" mp3 zshare

Twin Crystals "With or Without You" MP3 zshare

Ravens and Chimes and Meho Plaza...Music

Wow, Paul from Better Looking Records is a real nice dude. And damn, there are a shit ton of great bands on that label. I friggin knew that name sounded familiar all along and now I know why: it's like contemplative indie rock central. Chances are, you've heard the music while making out or crying or playing pin ball in a bar with a good juke box. On the real, it is going to take a minute to sort through everything they got and pick out the gems. So for now, here are Ravens and Chimes mp3s (damn, it looks weird every time I type it) and some Meho Plaza tracks as well since I already know they rock and so do you.

Ravens and Chimes: "January" mp3 zshare

Ravens and Chimes "General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "I Sold My Organs" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "The Beach" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "106 Beats That" (Wire Cover) mp3 zshare

your highness electric

Hey, I just got home and Spaghetti pissed all over the floor and I'm out of it so this post will be brief: I saw Your Highness Electric tonight at Silverlake Lounge and they were pretty friggin tight. I'm totally not into doing a long and intricate post right now, but needless to say, I dug the set from these guys with a stranglehold passion. As if my love for Flight 19 and Christensen in high school wasn't enough, these dudes are on a whole new level these days...well, sort of. It's hardcore but not poppy or annoying or slick or any other slashie category that tends to bring down decent hardcore bands. They just rip it and sound like sabbath mixed with black flag mixed with the minutemen fans that grew up touring with Boy Sets Fire.
However, since LA is such a fucked up and bogus town, two shitty bands played after them, for some ridiculous reason, and I missed the first two songs. Jesus, just because homeboys were from Louisville (home to one of America's top 7 music scenes hands down), they had to play before a bunch of chicks ripping off blonde redhead and two dorks emulating dj shadow. I'm really sorry to those bands, but they were so shitty I didn't even bother figuring out their names. But sadly, they blow chunks. Sorry again, but I fancy myself a learned music connoisseur and sincerely think you need a few more months of practice before playing live again. Be patient!
This city is just frustrating me to no end: bookings here are all about who you know/suck-off and have nothing to do with talent or actual ability and that is so fucking sad. I'm not even going to tackle the whole DJ breakdown (or what some no talent wanna-be male-model at chacha said about "The Pigeon Killer" even though he never even heard a single second of the tape), but it is the same for bands: Silverlake lounge would rather book two shit ass bands (that shouldn't even be allowed to play live) as headliners over a pretty friggin awesome band, just because the awesome band happens to be from the midwest. Fucking dumbshit promoters following these bogus LA seniority rules. AHHH, it is so frustrating. I'm really having a hard time taking this city seriously these days.
While Your Highness Electric played a killer set and had a bunch of super tight tracks, here is the one song I got on cd for now. Admittedly and as usual, it is certainly not their best. However, they have a full length on Longhair Illuminati Records (home to Ride the Boogie, Casket Salesman [super dope]. Mongoloid, Mythmaker, and Auditory Aphasia among others) and are going to be playing Warped Tour for a while this summer. Peep them if you get a chance and I'll post photos and auxiliary commentary tomorrow when I'm not so bitter. Holla!
Plus I know I had something else to say but I totally lost my train of thought.

Your Highness Electric: "Handing Out Hairlips" MP3 zshare

afternoons with ravens & chimes@ spaceland, 6/16/08 (afternoons MP3s!)

OK, I know I promised more Afternoons tracks by last week but I was out of it and couldn't get to Spaceland. However, that ended up being a good thing because I also got to see the awesome Ravens and Chimes from NY. After the predictably sick set from Afternoons, I was set to bounce and go pig out at Burger King before they closed. But, like any good music fan, I figured I'd stick around for the first couple songs from the next band. Usually, the last band on Mondays at Spaceland tends to be slightly more avant garde and slightly more ass. But Ravens and Chimes were fuckin sick. I kept staring at them trying to remember where I knew them from until the singer said "hey, we're Ravens and Chimes from New York." At this point, I stopped trying to place them and contentedly decided that I must have caught them in BK at some point during my extended tenure in the city. I can't really think of a good way to describe them so you'd probably be better off checking out their label, Better Looking Records, for some PR type descriptors. Here is a video of them rocking out too.

I talked to Paul from the label and he is so into hooking pillstohear up with some tracks so I'll get on that and share them with the quickness. In the meantime, here are two Afternoons tracks that are fucking sweet. Surprisingly, I really don't think any other blogger d-bags went out of their way to buy the friggin three dollar ep and share the goodness. Ridiculous: people just won't spend a goddamn cent on music these days. BUY MUSIC! BUY MUSIC FROM THESE BANDS ASAP.
In case you aren't convinced of the awesomeness, dig the tracks:

Afternoons: "Grafitti Artist" MP3 zshare

Afternoons: "Line 'Em Up" MP3 zshare

Oh, and I have some crappy quality cell phone video of afternoons playing too. Check it

Is it way too ridiculous to use some sort of bad pun in my post about Prowler's new album? Cause I totally have a shitload I could use

I feel like I start way too many posts with "wow" and instead of looking back for evidence, I'll just take the easy way out and start this one with the self-referential sentence that is about to end. My homey Tyler from Prowler just sent me a few tracks from their soon-to-drop album and I'm certainly impressed. First of all, I'm glad Philly's scene is so intense these days. I mean, we all know they've had an intense scene for a few years now, (timeout: my neighbor is such a freak during Laker games and his yells are so timely and textbook that i swear to shit he's just yelping to let the whole complex know he is, in fact, watching "the game") but I kinda feel like the bands out of the Delaware Valley that get press are all on this weirdo vaudeville tip. We could holla about it if ya'll want, (three pointer: two loud claps followed by a louder third clap) but I'd say Man Man, Dr. Dog and The Teeth are probably the first three Philly bands I think of in terms of hype from my hometown. And while each band has at least some very good music and their own intricacies, they definitely share that pared down acoustic rockabilly/gypsy punk/T-Bone Burnett sort of vibe. To me, Dr. Dog sounds more pure pop-oriented and Brian Wilson-ey, Man Man takes home the weirdo prize, and The Teeth hit somewhere in the middle. Although I may over-analyze Pennsylvania's contributions to the arts, I can't help but think that discerning music fans everywhere assume there is a lingering Quaker influence or some shit that makes all the Phila bands sound old-timey. Of course War on Drugs and Hail Social are repping Philly-town hard right this minute and earning their respect in a decidedly non old-timey way, you guys know what I mean, right?
Thankfully, we also got the motherfucking Prowler coming to bat (34-12 Lakers, respectable claps) for the 'iladelph and they're hard as nails. Actually, I need to clarify: they're not rioutous metal, nu-rave or meandering psych-rock. And they've been keeping it real for a few years now. But I guess I'd take their word for it and say they are influenced by electro, pop and funk. I'm not an expert and have never seen them live, but to the put in in layman's terms (i.e. easy to understand comparisons to popular/influential musicians of the past), the few tracks I've heard sound like a drugged out supergroup with Isaac Brock singing, John Frusciante playing guit, Martin Rev and PiL dropping synths and beats, and maybe the Talking Heads or Soul Coughing bringing up the rhythm section (there's seven dudes in the band so this dream team lineup is actually feasible). And trust me, I mean this in the best way possible. These dudes are friggin raw and I'd love to see them in Philly this weekend cause I guaran-damn-tee you they are ultra tight live. Stoppey-startey beats, shouting, low-end thumps and catchy choruses usually seem to impress me live.

Meanwhile on the west coast, I'm gonna join my neighbor and actually pay attention to the game/stop trying to sound informed or smart and just let anybody willing to rip into these two Prowler tracks go at it.
Oh, and shout out to Elbows for adding me and Discobelle for finally posting my mix, even if they did also add my incredibly damning and hilarious five minute plus blackout drunk voicemail rant against LA. Give it a listen, err, I mean, don't...or listen to the mix and not the voicemail. Holla!
Prowler: "Ahead of the Pack" MP3 zshare
Prowler: "Beware Deleware" MP3 zshare

Caps and Jones Three Year Anniversary

Yeah, Savalas is flying Brian back to rock out for the three year anniversary of their residency at this excellent Brooklyn bar. They are Savalas and vice versa. The owners worship the boys and their sound is inseparable from the bar. Seriously.
The flyer is genius and is even more genius if you know that the two boobed Phoebe Cates was the original cover of Moving in Stereo. If you don't have it, BUY IT NOW. Essential.
I would love to go but doubt I can so east coasters, vicariously attend and tell em Tom Hanks sent you. Or large marge.
Holla!

hey, i found this old demo from the band i was in when i first got to LA last year

So before law school, I played in a kick ass band with Dave and Adrian and a random cast of other heads. We were solid all last summer and played like at least four days a week. Its kinda hard to describe our sound cause me and Dave liked a bunch of the same stuff but also liked a lot of different stuff. For instance, he grew up in San Diego and likes those sort of softcore-hardcore/screamo/ wtf? bands that kids who grow up out here like. Its hard to explain, but if you're from the east coast and moved out here, you know what I mean. Basically, really bad pop-punk bands. Like who the hell in the east coast would ever listen to Alien Ant Farm or System of a Down in high school? Jocks liked hippie shit and/or hip-hop and the other kids like me liked punk or indie or art rock. The final blow, for me, was when Dave said he had never heard The Refused. Nowadays, it seems like regular kids like indie rock a bunch and I guess you can blame that on emo but that's besides the point.
Anyway, Dave didn't even write songs like that: he wrote songs that sounded like Pixies or Beatles songs (even though he claimed to hate them) and they were ALL in b minor. Basically, he didn't want to rock as hard as I did and didn't want to experiment beyond basic pop song structure. It was like waaayyy too art rock to even try and use the mini korg. I love the guy but honestly, he'd do better as a solo acoustic performer and doesn't need a band to shine. And now that he is engaged to a lovely lady, music is no longer a priority.
I, on the other hand, have way too grandiose ideas to execute without other dudes playing instruments. As a result, our songs from that band mhoney (the m is silent...or not) have such inner tension and you can totally hear it. Nowadays, I'm about to start a band with Caspar Adams and am ultra pumped: I used to go see his bands in high school and they always blew me away. Now, 8 years later, we're finally gonna play together! He spent time in Say Anything and The National Acrobat out here, but I remember him best from The Moths and Fuck the Android from my brief tenure in Lousiville, KY.

Dig these mhoney tracks: its two songs recorded together with no pause from a room mic so its bad quality but good melodies deep down. I wrote them both but Dave sings lead on the first track while the second one is only me singing the whole time.
Oh, and when I find some Moths or Fuck the Android tracks, they'll get tossed up ASAP cause they are absolutely amazing.
mhoney- "Affordable Health Care/Those Cliffs and Beaches" zshare

Music for Today: Hail Social and Lil Weezy

As far as music goes, I'm totally into all the new weezy tracks that are leaking this week and even though I already have at least half the album, I wanna go stand in line at midnight on Monday for that official CARTER III jump-off. I haven't sorted through it enough yet so I'll just hit you with the obvious choices: the track with Jigga and the track with Kanyeezy
Lil Wayne ft. Jay-Z (produced by Just Blaze) : "Mr Carter" MP3
Lil Wayne (produced by Kanye West) : "Let That Beat Build" MP3

And file under the holy shit, I'm psyched and ready for it category: Philly boys and "Pigeon Killer" alumni Hail Social dropped a remix album this week and of course, its dope. I'm not quite sure what my favorites are yet because I haven't driven around bumping the album yet, but I think the Designer Drugs remix of "Heaven" is super tight. I mean, I'm so into Hail Social right now that I dig all the remixes. Buy the album from Turntable Lab and quit stealing music.
Hail Social- "Heaven" (Designer Drugs remix) MP3

I don't know how much you guys read, but I've been hitting the books hard since law school got out

With forty hour work weeks and at least forty hours of school work a week finally abated for the time being, I justifiably have time to delve into some highly anticipated and much appreciated leisure reading. Since May 13th, I've gotten through about four books and bought a few more for the on deck circle: Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map, Cormac McCarthy's The Road, John Brandon's Arkansas, and the og version of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Additionally, I've finally gotten a chance to read the copies of "Believer" magazine that I kept buying and putting aside cause I knew damn well I couldn't read them in the thick of finals. I'm about twenty pages away from finishing Arkansas and its friggin amazing. I really like this guy's style and I feel like we see the world through very similar lenses. The book is about two low level Arkansas mules in a huge drug organization that runs shit in the southeast. I'm not done yet, but I anticipate finishing it tonight and can't wait to see how all the angles tie up and into each other. Barring an unforeseen shitty ending, I highly suggest it for anyone who likes drug books or at least cynical protagonists who think they're better than everyone else.
And of course, believe the hype: McCarthy is the word incarnate and The Road is a must read for discerning and terrified readers that care about Americana's place...post-apocalypse. Damn, after I finished it, I almost got like that same feeling I got when I saw "There Will Be Blood." You know, that "holy shit, that was incredible and scary in a super intelligent and super intense way that I can't quite verbalize but am terrified by what I know it means and more terrified by what I don't know it means." Ya dig?

Johnson's book was interesting...but certainly not quite the engrossing page turner I expected. Historical fiction set against the last pre-germ theory cholera outbreak in the western world, it was intelligent and reminiscent of the classic Devil in the White City that intertwined tales of Chicago's preparation for the turn of the century world's fair and the deranged, narcissistic serial killer with bullshit motives that was torturing the would-be fair goers the whole time in a very "Pulp Fiction" type style. However, Johnson's book is nowhere near as engrossing and the characters are far from developed and therefore, further from interesting. Nevertheless, it was pretty decent and I'd say get it from the library and save the 13 bucks. But of course, read "Devil in the White City" first.
And Matheson's oft-adapted tale of man v. science-vampires was a good story with intelligent (and ahead of its time) theories about mankind's death wish that was markedly different from Will Smith's ego-driven film version. However, the writing style was sloppy and inconsistent to a point that I had to struggle through whole chapters. Science fiction writers just don't have the chops to keep me interested after I spent four years studying English masterpieces at Fordham. Don't wanna sound cocky or anything, but I was spoiled on early modernist literature when geniuses like Joyce, Lawrence, Yeats and T.S. Eliot were dropping classics with ease. And I certainly don't know what the hell was going on with those 200 pages of seemingly random short stories that followed the main "last man on earth story line." Honestly, I only got through the first couple.
I also started Survivor by that Chuck Palanhiuk (i think thats the spelling) guy and the quarter I've read so far is engrossing and posing questions I really wanna see answered. My bro likes him a lot and apparently so do a lot of other people. So we'll see.
Also on deck are McCarthy's Blood Meridian, a collection of short stories by various modern authors called The Worst Years of Your Life, that Dave Eggers book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and a seemingly simpleton book about cigs called The Joys of Smoking by James Fitzgerald. Aside from the righteous description of McCarthy's final installment of the "Border Trilogy" that I read in a big story about him, I know very little about the on-deck books and am going on some severe leaps of faith and sadly, cover judgments. So we'll see if my ass gets bitten more than it already has been recently.
I've been buying a plethora of books lately cause I realized that my new job at Urban Outfitters hooks up that massive discount and there are actually books there that are worth reading. I was doing markdowns the other day and I realized that Jonathan Lethem's debut novel Motherless Brooklyn is only $1.90 and have since told every co-worker who will listen that they should cop that shit ASAP cause it is certainly worth more than that paltry amount. While not quite as good as his masterpiece Fortress of Solitude, it is a damn fine book with an intricate and often...I guess the most apt word would be mesmerizing...style all his own. But like I said, I'm not so sure about the Eggers or the Mark Jude Poirier edited collection of shorties and only got them cause of the discount and speculation. Basically, Eggers eventually became recommended after my initial speculation and the Porier collection just seems to scream at me whenever I walk by it. But at this pace, I'll blow through them by next week.
So stay tuned for the final reviews and buy Lethem and Brandon's books NOW!

blaqstarr gives you confidence

i cut all the hair off my face and head the other day cause i had some law school related interviews and i had to rock out to blaqstarr's "the king of roq" mixtape to get through it. i don;t really remember how i got the mixtape, but i know it happened during the hollertronix reunion show in la last year and there are 31 tracks of goodness on it. i showed up super early (the advertised door time) and walked into the echoplex and grabbed a couch. several head nods and twenty minutes later, i tried to order a beer and they told me i was way too early and had to leave. i politely explained that i had had a long day and NEEDED a beer. luckily, the bartender told me to go to the gold room down the street and i conceded warily. i took a seat at the bar and found out that it was $2.50 for a shot of tequila and a beer. "great," i said. "here's 20 bucks cause i'm gettin loaded."
i was barely conscious 8 beers and 8 shots later but i came to long enough back at the club to convince blaqstarr to give me his mixtape, wile out to the hollertronix set, order 6 sparks from the bar, and get on the mic for a lengthy shit talk on the mets. after that, my next memory is waking up in my car with soaking wet jeans and a half drank sparks. due to my ignorant sense of smell, we'll never know if i was soaked in sparks or piss. dig the first real track on blaq starr's "the king of roq" mixtape.
blaq starr- "hey i" MP3 zshare

afternoons @ spaceland, 6/2/08

LA's afternoons (not to be confused with the much crappier welsh band THE afternoons) are the new monday night residents at Spaceland and they certainly started the month off with a statement: These dudes mean business.
First of all, there are 8 people in the band and they keep trading off so that some songs have as many as four drummers or two bassists. There's trumpet songs and slick guitar lick tracks and droney organ tracks and theres this goth chick with a beautiful voice who trades off lead vocal with the two guitar playing frontmen types gettin' passionate up front. They all appear to be incredibly talented musicians and the songs got melody like whoa. The extra thick sound of the dual drummers (it looked like there were at least two drummers per song) hits real hard live and makes the melodies kinda like...you know, soar. I know that sounds cheesy but its really true: I shit you not.
Although I would assume that most semi-educated music fans would immediately notice the arcade fire similarities in style and appearance, these dudes aren't rip-offs in the least. Yeah, everyone digs arcade fire. Its plain ignorance to not admit the influence they have on every musician these days. Come on, Funeral was the bomb and we all relished our early listens. But....I don't know about you guys, but I thought Neon Bible kinda sucked. If afternoons recorded their set last night, it would certainly rank higher than that sophmore slump of an album. Their songs share similar qualities with arcade fire but are original and dissimilar enough to ever accuse them of plagiarism. Nuff said.
I'm kicking myself for not buying their 3 dollar ep last night. I just thought I'd be able to gank some tracks off elbows or something. So all I got for now is the song "Say Yes" that Shepard Fairey designed a poster or album cover or something for and it was actually one of my least favorites last night. But I'll throw it up here for now and when I cop that ep next week, I'll hit ya'll with some more realness. Warpaint also played and they were pretty tight too. Three super cute chicks playing guitars and keys with a dude drummer. Not as exciting or inspiring, but certainly above average for spaceland: i.e. they don't sound like crappy interpol b sides.

afternoons- "say yes" MP3 zshare

screen savers just make all your ass pictures look stunning someetimes

this picture from last spring popped up on the screen saver the other night and there's gotta be something beautiful in a very 1996 sort of way about the duct tape. its like...alright, there is this dude in my neighborhood that i seen walking around more than once with red converse, green jean shorts that fray down just below the knee, a red and yellow striped shirt, and a head full of aged and perfectly kept white boy dreads and he probably would've loved to have had this picture on his album that undoubtedly came out that year.
damn, in retrospect it would be great if i could follow him around and take his picture so you know what i'm talking about cause you'd totally be like "oh snap, i totally know what you mean, that dude is so into duct tape."

whats up the emusic rollover minutes?

lately i've been staving off this habit of hearing something tight from a long ass playlist of recent downloads that i've finally gotten around to hearing and deciding that i needed to throw it up right away. while i really should hear something more than once and preferably at least once during the daylight hours, this black kids remix is going up. i'm not even looking around or anything to verify that fifty other dudes heard the song (maybe once, maybe once at night, or maybe the key day/night combo listen) and threw it up somewhere else.
plus i'm friggin bored and i am stalled on using up my emusic downloads that don't rollover tomorrow. but if it doesn't get done now, i know ill forget again and be salty for a day and about losing those 16 tunes. its such a tease when you click on that buy from emusic link and get dissed when they dont have the new albums.
dig this...wait, there's really no good way of abbreviating that obnoxiously verbose alt-rock song title but that be the link to super dancey version of said song that keeps it from getting stale a little while longer
Black Kids (twelves remix) MP3 share
and i guess i may ass well throw this other one up too cause i heard it too just in the knick of time. same deal as the boyfriend dancing remix: keeping a recognizable song interesting for a few more listens. i don't know anything about these remixes or the dudes cause that would entail retracing my steps to where i found it and its not important, you know?
new young pony club vocals always sound so great in contrast on remixes. i mean, i guess on the album too. i dig the jazzier but still hard synths the beat is simple but nice as hell. puts the mstrkrft attempt to shame
nypc- get lucky (twelves remix) MP3