The Look Back

First off, my thoughts go out to the family of former M.I.A. punk founder Mike Conley. He was found dead early last Thursday morning in Chicago. He was the owner of my favorite bar in OC, Avalon. He was one of the driving forces behind the rebirth of West side Costa Mesa and will be missed. Memorial is set for Sunday at Detroit Bar.

On a happier note, congrats to David for winning the signed Johnathan Rice vinyl and tshirt. Check your inbox for more details. The week flew by and I never did get a chance to post last weeks mix. Thus I’ve rolled it over to this week. I got out to two shows in the last week. Grizzly Bear with the LA Phil Harmonic at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday night and then last night I got out to see Division Day at Detroit bar again. (Note to Detroit bar, PLEASE allow the headlining band to go on before 11:30pm on week nights. There are some of us who enjoy good music and still have to work normal 8-5(7) jobs.) Grizzly Bear was outstanding, with the exception of the two odor filled teenagers sitting in front of us who were drinking a 40 of King Cobra and trying to record the entire set with their camera phones. If you haven’t made it out to see any performances at the WD Concert Hall you really need to get on top of that.

Crystal Castles – Alice Practice

I was thrilled to hear they will be gracing Westside Costa Mesa on Aril 11^th at Detroit Bar. Sadly, HEALTH won’t be playing but it is sure to be a good show none the less. 8-bit sounds layered under frantic vocals and somehow syncing the two perfectly. This is my favorite track off the “whatever the hell it will be called here” CD due out sometime this year.

Kate Nash – Foundations

If iTunes was working on my laptop at work you would have seen that this was my number one most played song for the last week. Addictive and playing on the “super happy upbeat music associated with heartbreaking lyrics” card. When I first heard it I thought it was a Lily Allen rip off but then I thought better of that and realized Lily Allen doesn’t have the patent on “English girl sing/say songs”. This would be my pick of the month for addictive songs.

A Place to Bury Strangers – Don’t Think Lover

I kept seeing these guys pop up on my recommendation charts and blogs late last year. I naively passed them off as being another screamo outfit due to their name. WRONG! (well, mostly) They are definitely dark but the frantic guitar work and pedal shifts make for something unique.

Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant

This had to have been recorded in a church in the Appalachian Mountains. Beautiful and yet the simplest lyrical progression on the entire list. Subtle string work near the end are the only instrumentation in the entire song and it would have probably taken you 2-3 listens to even pick up on that unless I said it here. You get so sucked into the sound and effects you forget the rest of the pieces that are “missing”. I don’t know that I’ve ever found an EP to be better than the LP but in this case I am saying just that. Both are very nice and are sure to be on a LOT of bloggers Top XX of 2008 come November.

Josh Rouse – My Love Has Gone

I put Media Monkey on random and got this song once this week. I forget how great Josh Rouse’s Nashville album is until I run across one of his songs such as this. Steel guitar is in full effect and you get a very nice contemporary alt-country song out of it. Worth the download for all you anti-country music people out there.