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!

Hellaween and the local scene

I realize we're still a few days out, but since Halloween is on a Wednesday this year and this last weekend was the unofficial but publicly understood time to dress up and get weird, I figured I'd wish everyone on the interwebs a happy and safe All Hallow's Eve. This year I dressed up as pop art by Roy Lichtenstein--a risky choice considering the make up-heavy look could have gotten extremely messy/scary throughout the night.

Anyways, I've recently (finally) confronted the conclusion that I need to immerse myself into the local music scene for so many reasons, not least of which is the fact that this is my city and music is one of my favorite things to write about. After talking to my friend Peter of Down and Outlaws, a raw, blues-tinged rock and roll band that gorgeously and appropriately employs a harmonica, he kindly offered to keep me in the loop about the better local shows going on in the city. He also told me that at any given show I'd meet a bunch of people who either play in other bands or know of another band I should be familiar with. That claim proved entirely true after I caught a Down and Outlaws set at 50 Mason last Tuesday. The night just happened to be a weekly event called Scared to Dance, which features three or four rock bands hand-picked by Nic, 50 Mason's bartender and vocalist/guitarist of Zodiac Death Valley. Nic was nice enough to tell me a little about the bands he chooses for Scared to Dance, and from what I've gathered, he's very proud of bringing real rock bands together for a FREE night of music. I'll definitely be making it out to another Tuesday night at 50 Mason, and if you're looking to catch some live music in an laid back bar setting you should too! Did I mention it was free?

In the next few weeks, expect a lot of local band coverage because a lot of rad stuff is going on.

Last thursday, I caught the EP release party for an americana indie rock band named Brother Pacific and currently reviewing its Give it to Me EP for the eventseekr blog. Check in sometime later this week for the link!

Also, Down and Outlaws are playing a show at El Rio on November 4. The band makes some seriously raw, loud tunes and the venue has the best back patio ever, so come out! In the meantime, here's a video of the band playing "Back into Your Arms."

Mac Demarco VS Mac Demarco

Former member of the garage outfit Makeout Videotape, Mac Demarco creates a blend of lo-fi and experimental music inspired by post punk of the 1980s. He's known for his youthful energy, and for taking on two different personas: Demarco the dreamy baritone crooner and Demarco the droning goofball/unabashed creeper. Here are two tracks that fit each archetype. Decide for yourself which one is which...

Moon Duo: Wooden Shjips' guitarist Ripley Johnson's side project!

Moon Duo is a San Francisco-based project featuring Ripley Johnson of the Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada. Armed only with a guitar and keyboard, the band creates krautrock-inspired psychedelic garage stuff that's dreamy and creepy at the same time. I like it, and if you like the fuzZz of the Wooden Shjips and a lo-fi aesthetic, I think you'll like it too.

Although the band created a light, expansive sound on its 2011 debut album Mazes, Moon duo offers much darker tones on its 2012 effort, Circles. Weighed down by a fair amount of reverb and processed guitar, the record is a product of the winter Moon Duo spent isolated in the Rocky Mountains. The band hasn't completely lost its buoyant energy though, as there is as much ridiculous charm packed into the album as there are sinister vibes. "Sleepwalker," the lead single and first track off of Circles, sets the tone for the entire album. The video is an absolute masterpiece. It makes me grin and grimace at the same time.

Kurt

I was a three years old when Kurt Cobain died on April 4, 1994. I don't remember when the news broke, or the hysteria that ensued afterwards, but I do remember the first time i heard Nirvana's Unplugged album. His version of "The Man Who Sold the World," is my favorite take on the song (yeah, it IS better than Bowie's) and I know that if I was born a decade earlier, I would have been among the millions of fans mourning and celebrating the life of one of the greatest artists to ever live. Even though he wilted under the mainstream spotlight, he ultimately paved the way for the various incarnations of alternative rock that exists in the music scene today. And he was a total babe.

Meanwhile, in Russia... a street performer by the name of Nikolay Petrovsky is the focus of a video that's been circling the interwebs over the last month. The Siberian musician's voice sounds eerily close to the beautifully strained vocals of the pioneer of grunge and the last great rock star, Kurt Cobain. Here he is singing "Pennyroyal Tea." Click play and have a listen!

And just for good measure...