Summer is OVER. FFA is just getting started…

“Tell all the kids summer is over. Tell them it’s time to come inside. Tell them it’s time to run and hide”

Fight From Above is playing the Viper Room on October 10th.  Make sure you don’t miss this…

And check out the recent article about them in Filter Magazine (here).

Saint Motel – Mondays at Spaceland

- Posted by Jneels -

Every Monday in September there is a special thing happening: Saint Motel is playing Spaceland.

There will be great tunes in addition to the right amount of craziness to make each night exciting for you, the non-paying listener.  Yes, it’s free.   Each week has a different film theme, and they have invented a ‘video piano’ to manipulate projections.

This Monday is the release of their EP For Play, which includes 6 songs and music videos produced by the band.  More good news?  They are playing with Fight From Above and The Jakes.  For further convincing head to Saint Motel’s myspace and listen to the song below…

Saint Motel – “Butch”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Saint Motel – “Dear Dictator” (Download)

st motel residency

Favorites from 2009 (so far)

It took me a while but I finally got around to posting them all.  In no particular order, here are my favorites from 2009, so far…

Phoenix
MP3: “1901
MP3: “Lisztomania

Dan Auerbach
MP3: “When The Night Comes

Grizzly Bear
MP3: “Two Weeks

Wilco
MP3: “Solitaire
MP3: “One Wing
MP3: “I’ll Fight

Quantic and His Combo Barbaro
Amazon: “The Dreaming Mind

Andrew Bird
MP3: “Oh No

Franz Ferdinand
MP3: “No You Girls

Doves
MP3: “Jetstream
MP3: “Kingdom of Rust

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
MP3: “Hysteric

Black Crowes
MP3: “I Ain’t Hiding

White Rabbits
MP3: “Percussion Gun

K’naan
MP3: “Take A Minute

Manchester Orchestra
MP3: “I’ve Got Friends

Mocky
MP3: “Birds Of A Feather

Kutiman
http://thru-you.com/

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise
MP3: “Twin Of Myself
MP3: “Fields Are Breathing

Animal Collective
MP3: “My Girls

Matt and Kim
MP3: “Daylight

Silversun Pickups
MP3: “Panic Switch

Curumin
MP3: “Compacto
MP3: “Salto No Vacuo Con Joelhada

Emiliani Torrini
MP3: “Me and Armini

Zion I
MP3: “Coastin

Junior Boys
MP3: “Parallel Lines

General Elektriks

MP3: “You Don’t Listen

St Vincent
MP3: “Strangers

Coconut Records
MP3: “Any Fun

Matisyahu
“One Day”

Method Man and Redman
MP3: “A Yo

Tosca
MP3 Link: “Joe Si Ha
MP3: “Fondue

The BPA
MP3: “Toe Jam
MP3: “He’s Frank

Bishop Allen
MP3: “The Ancient Commonsense of Things

—-

Newer acts:

Band of Skulls
MP3 Link: “Death By Diamonds and Pearls
MP3: “I Know What I Am

Empire of the Sun
MP3: “Walking On A Dream

One eskimO
Link to listen: “Given Up
MP3: “Givin Up (Don Diablo remix)

Nickel Eye
MP3: “Brandy of the Damned featuring Wale (Mark Ronson remix)
MySpace link to listen: “Bonnie and Clyde

Mayer Hawthorne
MP3: “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

Zee Avi
MP3: “Bitter Heart
MP3: “The Story

Passion Pit
MP3: “Moth’s Wings
MP3 link: “The Reeling
MP3: “Little Secrets

Fight From Above
MP3: “Between The Curves

Vosotros Presents: The Years
MP3 link: “Lose My Number
MP3 link: “Heartbreaker

Daniel Merriweather
MP3: “Change” featuring Wale

The Big Pink
MP3: “Velvet

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition

Thenewno2
MP3 link: “Yomp
MP3 link: “Give You Love
MP3: “Crazy Tuesday

Asa
MP3: “Jailer
MP3: “Subway

The Very Best
MP3: “Warm Heart of Africa

St Motel
MP3: “Dear Dictator

Danny Chaimson
MySpace link to listen: “This Is Life

Hey Champ
MP3: “Cold Dust Girl

Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Productions
MP3: “Wrong Prayer

Asher Roth feat. Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom
MP3: “Lion’s Roar” produced by Oren Yoel

—-

Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRonKetchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”

Music Video – “Between The Curves”

Fight From Above released the music video for their single, “Between The Curves” at their show at the Viper Room on Friday night.  For fans of indie rock and fans of Incubus/O.A.R-type pop I highly recommend Fight From Above’s debut full length, LA Kids.  It’s a great listen all the way through.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find it here and here.

In a recent interview with DigLounge.com, guitarist and back up vocalist Zack Jerome had this to say:
“…[The album] is about transition and being young and stupid and holding on and letting go. It’s about wasted youth. I have always interpreted that [Between The Curves] meant we were between curves in life. We aren’t on the upswing trajectory like we were as students, thinking everything was ahead of us, but we definitely aren’t our parents yet. We’re between the curves I guess.”

More

Weekend Warrior

May 14
Thenewno2 played at The Regent downtown around Main and 5th.  You walk through a short hallway with different pieces of art hanging on the walls before entering the small theater which has a very intimate feel to it and surprisingly great acoustics. Thenewno2 played the best show I’ve seen from them yet. The fantastic set of psychedelic rock blended perfectly with the feeling and mood of the venue. It made for an incredibly enjoyable show. Lead singer Dhani Harrison took out a megaphone for “Give You Love” and the place started going wild.  Then I realized how quickly the room filled up for Thenewno2’s set. The fans came for a show and it was a great one. Another awesome moment came when keyboardist/guitarist/backup vocalist Jon Sadoff and Dhani both started shredding a heavy rock riff on their guitars right next to each other on the small stage with everyone in the audience jumping around, getting crazy, having a great time.

img_0710

Thenewno2

MP3: Thenewno2 – Crazy Tuesday
MP3 link: Thenewno2 – Give You Love

After Thenewno2’s show downtown at the Regent, Danny Chaimson started his set at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Chaimson is a talented singer/songwriter with a bluesy, funky jam band kind of sound. He put on a fun and impressive, feel good performance with a great crowd of his fans and friends. Although the artist only looks to be in his twenties, his music was that of a an old and refined blues soul. I was really impressed with the show and had yet another excellent music experience- two great shows in one night- now on to Vegas…

img_0721

Danny Chaimson

Danny Chaimson – Raise Em Up

May 15-16
Vegas…

XS

XS

May 17
Fight From Above played at Molly Malones in Hollywood and it was another awesome set. Lead singer Justin Miner was recovering from pneumonia and his voice still sounded incredible.  Their live shows have a much more aggressive, edgy sound than L.A. Kids, their debut full length album.  L.A. Kids is perfect the way it is, but you have to love it when a band turns it up a notch for the live performances.  The energy virtually explodes out of Dave on drums and Zack and Krook blast the crowd with guitar, bass, and backup vocals.  It was an energetic and enjoyably visceral live music experience and a perfect way to end the weekend….

 

Fight From Above

Fight From Above

MP3: Fight From Above – Between The Curves

Fight From Above – Raindrops

L.A. Kids

Fight From Above is playing the KROQ locals only show at the Roxy tomorrow night along with Glacier Hiking.  FFA has always been popular with their friends, but now they’re starting to get a lot of attention from a much bigger crowd.  ”Between The Curves” is the single off of the band’s full length debut, L.A. Kids and it’s been getting some serious airplay on KROQ.

Miner, Zack, Krook, and Dave were close friends before they became Fight From Above and you can hear it when they perform live.  Their friendship translates into great musical chemistry, not something a lot of friends-first bands pull off.   L.A. Kids captures both the chemistry and energy; there’s a lot to enjoy.  But they’re unfazed, it’s all very natural for them.  These guys think of themselves as normal and that’s part of the theme of L.A. Kids– they rep the LA you might not know about, the LA without all the glitz and glam.  They’re a bunch of down-to-earth, normal guys like everyone else.  They play great music, they don’t take themselves too seriously, and they’ve got a great sense of humor.  I couldn’t stop laughing when I stumbled upon Dave’s urban dictionary post from a while back.  Zack’s blog Lost Angeles is one of those unique blogs that doesn’t just make you laugh but it’s also well written and has something to say.  And that is what’s great about these guys and the music they make.  It’s fun, playful, and meaningful.

l_be15c522b2b94bdeaa2a1d1885c38417

Their music writing process, as they described it to me, is “organic” and there could not be a better word to describe it.  They get together for jam sessions and record everything.  Then, when they find a groove, they just go with it and build on that.  They go back and rework it and then Miner “disappears” for a while until he reemerges with lyrics for the songs.  Because Miner’s band mates are also his close friends, he’s able to weave meaningful lyrics into the songs that speak for all of the band.  The songs are catchy and you can tell just from listening that these are the kind of guys you want to kick back and have drinks with at the bar.

L.A. Kids was produced by the very talented singer/songwriter Jeremy Silver who was also a friend of the guys in FFA before they formed the band.  The songwriting, production, mixing, basically every aspect of the execution is top notch for a full length debut and incredibly impressive.  It’s one of those albums you can listen to from start to finish.  The album opens with “Wake Up” a beautiful intro to the album that seamlessly transitions into the second song “Green” and you can immediately tell you’re in for a treat.  In the band’s own words, L.A. Kids “is an homage to the unmarked, questionable joints with which [Fight From Above has] fallen in love over the years. In a city known for passing trends, Fight From Above is avoiding the self-absorbed promotional machine in favor of planting roots that will last in the shadows of the downtown skyline.”

They always put on a great show so for those of you in LA, I hope you can make it to the Roxy on Thursday night.  It’s going to be a lot of fun and the music’s going to be great.  For those of you who can’t make it, you can count on Fight From Above playing again soon, they’ve played and will continue to play all over LA.  For those of you outside of Los Angeles, they’re planning shows up and down the West Coast.  For everyone else, buy the album!
MP3: Fight From Above – Between The Curves

l_b4fd7594754b4269b9e4628180441c13

Audio Absinthe

Menu