3 am

Current tune:

I leave for Los Angeles in just a few hours, and I couldn't be happier to get away from the downpour going on outside right now. It literally sounds like buckets of water are being thrown onto my widows. I'm dreaming of a dry, valley landscape. The feeling just before you start sweating. Having to squint while wearing sunglasses. UV rays and some vitamin D!!! But mostly my sisters and my pup Charlee. L8R SF. See you before the new year.

Wednesday musings

When your world is in a state of flux and nothing can stop the subtle and not so subtle changes in life from coloring your reality violent shades of red, there are things that remain safe and untainted. Family and friends--the kind of love that only evolves--are necessary for these times. When I can't have those selected people around when I need them most, I'm so grateful I have music to keep my mind, ears and heart busy.

You can memorize every lyric, riff and flourish of a song, yet it always has the potential to take on new meaning with each listen. It could be the song you traveled Europe to, the song you fell in love to, the song you met your best friend to, the song you danced that sexy dance to, that reliable song you listen to while walking to work everyday. It can be all those things, and then one listen later it can be something completely different.

Music is incredibly reliable, especially for its dynamic nature, its ability to morph into what you need it to be and what you want it to be.

That is the greatest thing about music and why I enjoy writing about it. It is concrete, something an artist carefully crafted to convey whatever emotion or narrative he/she wanted to put into the world. But in a way it is also completely subjective. The listener can turn it into whatever they need at the time, they can make it suit their surroundings and circumstances, the weather, their relationships and any triumph to trial they are experiencing at the time.

"Love is a Laserquest" by Arctic Monkeys hits right at home these days for several reasons. The cold weather and slight holiday blues are just a couple. Whether those reasons are literal or metaphorical interpretations of the lyrics or just something I've invented in my mind, this tune served as the perfect soundtrack for my meditative adventures around the city today, just as it has served me on several quiet nights at home. My favorite version is an acoustic one Alex Turner performed live on KEXP.

For me writing about music is flirting with both sides of it: the concrete and subjective. I enjoy picking apart lyrics just as much as I like to let the music speak for itself. I like to provide my own interpretation of it but leave much of it to the artist. This is exactly why any type of music writing works. Yes, there is the good and the bad (obviously), but there are so many ways one can attack music journalism. A writer could describe the notes in technical terms, if they are well versed in music theory, or they can turn what they absorb from music into a kind of poetry, an art form in itself. Some may laugh at the idea and insist "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," but criticism in any field is essentially one person's understanding of an outside entity, something some other artist created--like the art it focuses on, criticism isn't necessary but people are driven to create it and others are tempted to take it in, which is why literature, film, art and yes music has always had critics, whether those critics have audiences of thousands of readers or, like this blog, just a few.

The Spyrals on fire

The Spyrals playing an acoustic version of "Lonely Eyes" at a bon fire in Los Angeles. Shot by Joo Joo Ashworth, who coincidentally snapped some photos of Down and Outlaws for me back in November! Enjoy the double acoustic madness.

The Spyrals - Lonely Eyes from Joo-Joo Ashworth on Vimeo.

Moon Duo returns home

flyer by Celeste Byers

The San Francisco locals of Moon Duo are returning home to the city tomorrow night! Along with keyboardist Sanae Yamada, Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson weaves other-worldly space rock through familiar lo-fi fuzZz to create a neo-psychedelic sound that's both sinister and charming at the same time. So head over to Bottom of the Hill tomorrow night and be ready to have your senses stimulated. In the meantime, check out Moon Duo's music video for "Sleepwalker." Its definitely worth sharing again.

Florence Welch + The Rolling Stones

[EDIT]: Not HD but close up and still so sexy.

WOW. Trying to find an HD version right now...

Makeout with The Spyrals TONIGHT !

San Francisco's own neo-psychedelic outfit The Spyrals is playing a show at The Make-Out Room tonight! I first saw the three-man band play with my San Diego buddies of Wild Wild Wets earlier this year, and I've been letting its dizzying guitar rock cloud my judgement ever since. If you've got a free hour and $6 to spare, meet me at the Make-Out Room for happy hour before The Spyrals' 8.30 set. According to the band's facebook page, it will be sharing some new tunes tonight.

Check out the band's music video for "Trying to Please," the third track off of its 2012 self-titled album.

Mondays aren't so bad

Well this monday isn't! Thanks to the heartless, savage white men who stumbled into the western world, everyone punching the clock in the United States has a shortened work week. So really today is Thursday and tomorrow is Friday! That means Los Angeles in 2 days and exactly one week from now, I will be having one of the most exciting conversations of my life. STOKED. AMPED. PSYCHED. Speaking of being psyched...

Austin Psych Fest announced its lineup last week and holy rock and roll hell its a good one. A reallllll good one. The festival is still half a year away, but its never too late to start saving up for these kinds of weekends. Travel fare, lodgings, food, alcohol, extra curricular activities, etc. can really add up. So I'm going to have to pass on Coachella, SXSW and Sasquatch this year in favor of The Black Angel's own party. See you there!

FIDLAR at/versus The Fillmore: Why was no one stoked?

Lead vocalist/guitarist Zac Carper crowd surfing. Notice: stoked people on the right, not stoked people on the left. Photos by Bryan Banducci.

Last week I saw FIDLAR for the fourth time this year, and the band's show at the Fillmore was by far the most tame affair yet. Why? I blame The Fillmore, Delta Spirit and Delta Spirit's shitty fans. Just kidding. Kind of.

Click HERE to read my breakdown of the show over at the eventseekr blog!

Emily and Me after the 30 minutes set. So Stoked.

Down and Outlaws -- Uncut

Down and Outlaws, view from the back patio at El Rio. All photos by Joo-Joo Ashworth.

"Last Sunday, El Rio hosted a night of good old fashioned rock and roll. I’m talking about loud, guitar-driven, blues-inspired tunes that ring more sinister than indie rock and more pensive than punk. Surrounded by friends and friendly Sunday night bar goers, the San Francisco-based outfit Down and Outlaws roamed the venue, waiting for its headlining set of the night. With time to kill, and the opening acts Foli and Cab 20 sound checking their instruments, I sat down with the four guys of Down and Outlaws—vocalist and guitarist Peter Danzig, bassist Chris Danzig, drummer Jason Jones and lead guitarist Kyle Luck—to talk about their sound, influences, future plans and David Bowie." To read the whole article, head over to the eventseekr blog! Or just CLICK HERE.

My first version of the article was just over 3500 words, mostly due to the fact that my conversation with Peter, Chris, Jason and Kyle was filled with a lot of nonsense--endearing nonsense, the kind that tells me these guys would be easy to hang out with, but nonsense none the less. If I had my way, I wouldn't have cut a single word of the interview. (This is why we have editors: no one would have taken the time to read such a long article!) That being said, most of what I had to cut was solid gold, including this little excerpt about the man, the myth, the legend, David Bowie:

Jason: He transforms into an eagle and flies away.

Kyle: He comes back once every full moon--

Chris: --and delivers you a hit song.

Peter: He lives on the moon.

Kyle: That’s his house, right?

Peter: He actually writes inside the moon

Kyle: He wrote the moon! Sorry we’re getting off topic.

Peter: He wrote, what’s the fucking book?

Chris: Goodnight Moon!

Peter: He wrote goodnight moon.

Down and Outlaws has begun to lay down tracks for its debut EP, which will hopefully be out by the end of the year. Keep an eye on the band's facebook page for updates on the record and upcoming show dates.

Read the rest of the interview after the jump!

nu record: Give it to Me by Brother Pacific

So I spent the last week and a half listening to Brother Pacific's new EP, Give it to Me, on repeat and I wrote a review for the record over at the eventseekr blog. The San Francisco-based band created something seriously worth sharing, so make your way over to Brother Pacific's bandcamp page, have a listen for yourself and then check out my review HERE to see if our brains work in similar ways.

In other news:

Down and Outlaws is playing a show TONIGHT at El Rio! It'll be the band's last show for a while since the guys are recording their first EP this month.

Also FIDLAR is playing at the Fillmore this Friday. Come play!