If you’re in the Los Angeles area this Memorial Weekend and need something to do, check out UCLA’s 26th annual two-day Jazz Reggae Festival, being held on its campus in Westwood on the Intramural Field!
Day One:
Sunday, May 27th will feature Late Night with Jimmy Fallon house band and underground hip-hop legends, The Roots. Along with Suicidal Tendencies bassist and electro-jazz artist, Thundercat, blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr., newcomer India Carney, Belgian soul and reggae singer Selah Sue, Booker T. Jones, the famous frontman for Booker T and the McG’s and jazz fusion duo, Sonnymoon.
Day Two:
Monday, May 28th will feature “Mr. Lover Lover” Shaggy, R&B singer Tarrus Riley, reggae artists Don Carlos and Collie Buddz, soca artists Alison Hinds and Kes the Band and pop up and coming artist, Cris Cab. The festival will begin at 11 a.m. and run until around 7 p.m. each day. Each day’s lineup looks action-packed and should be dope!
Anywhere began as a LA/SF collaborative project started by musicians Christian Eric Beaulieu and Cedric Bixler Zavala. Fresh off years of writing and touring as co-founder of Bay Area acid punk extremists Triclops!, Christian decided to immerse himself in the resonant universe of acoustic guitar and began performing solo under the moniker Liquid Indian. In early 2010 while in Los Angeles to perform at an art opening of mutual friend artist Sonny Kay, he befriended Cedric (singer of The Mars Volta) who was a DJ for the event. The two exchanged numbers and planned to record something acoustic rooted in the open tuning, eastern raga style Christian was delving into. Months later the pair met in Los Angeles, enlisted the mobile engineering talent of Toshi Kasai (Big Business) and tracked the new material in 2 days at The Melvins practice space in downtown Los Angeles. During that same visit Christian played live on “The Watt from Pedro Show” as the musical guest of Mike Watt (of The Stooges, fIREHOSE, Minutemen).
After the show before leaving San Pedro, Christian realized Read more…
A veteran of New York’s anti-folk scene, songwriter Regina Spektor makes quirky, highly eclectic, but always personal music. Born and raised in Moscow until age nine, Spektor listened to her father’s bootleg tapes of Western pop and rock as a young child and also learned to play piano. She and her family moved from Russia to the Bronx, where she was immersed in American culture (at the time, hers was the first Russian family in the borough in 20 years). Eventually, Spektor and her family became part of a community that balanced her Russian Jewish roots with her new home’s culture. Meanwhile, she continued to practice piano anywhere she could, including at her synagogue, until her family got a piano of its own.
Tours with the Strokes, Kings of Leon, Mates of State, and the Moldy Peaches’ Kimya Dawson further raised Spektor’s profile. She also toured the U.K., where the success of “Us” as a European single led to the release of the CD/DVD retrospective Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories early in 2006. That summer, Begin to Hope, her first album of original material for Sire, arrived. Begin to Hope enjoyed popularity on both sides of the Atlantic and went gold in America, where it also cracked the Top 20. Spektor’s first-ever live release, Live in London, was recorded and filmed at London’s legendary Hammersmith Apollo, and released in 2010. In summer 2011, Spektor reunited with Elizondo in Los Angeles to begin recording her next album, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. The dark, driving single “All the Rowboats” arrived in February, and the new album itself will be released next week.
But thanks to NPR, you don’t have to wait that long to listen to it. Bit torrents in general have been struggling recently, so you can listen to the entire record now before it’s released for free by streaming it here.
This time last year, Austin City Limits released their lineup for the 2011 festival. And even though it hasn’t been officially announced yet, a few leaks are starting to emerge. Tickets go on sale this week, so we are expecting the official lineup to be released tonight or tomorrow (Tuesday the 22nd). The fest had a promotion going this weekend, and like last year anyone in Austin could buy ACL lottery tickets, and scratch them off to reveal some of the artists who will be appearing. Since this has been going on over the weekend, you can bet that some of that information is already making its way online.
My first personal prediction is M83. They are scheduled to be in Dallas Thursday October 11th, and ACL kicks off on October 12th this year. Now about those artists revealed by the scratch off tickets: Delta Spirit, Childish Gambino, Quiet Company, Steve Earle, Punch Brothers, LP, and…The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Most of these can be confirmed by other websites, while the Childish Gambino and Red Hot Chili Peppers is being reported by the great Brooklyn Vegan, where this pic is from. Hopefully more details to come soon this week.
Photo Credit: Brooklyn Vegan
Update: Consequence of Sound is now reporting that the Chilli Peppers rumor was fake. They have also added the following artists to the expected lineup: (Photo Credit Below: Consequence Of Sound)
Bon Iver
Alabama Shakes
Kimbra
Black Lips
Jack White
Black Keys
Andrew Bird
A-Trak
Bombay Bicycle Club
Zola Jesus
Gary Cark Jr.
Two Door Cinema Club
COS is also claiming the following artists may appear:
Back in the day, when this place was crawling with forums and chats about random acts of music, we used to poll ourselves to see which release by an artist not only set them atop of the industry but stapled them in as musical gods.
My evening started right after I left my day job. A quick motorcycle ride to downtown Dallas, to meet up with Kill Devil Hill during the venue’s sound check for an in-person interview. Being my first interview, I was a little nervous but mostly excited; I felt it went pretty well. If you haven’t already done so, check it out by visiting the link at the end of this review; the audio file is at the bottom of the interview page. After interviewing Vinnie, Rex, Mark, & Dewey on the tour bus, I made my way outside to find a line of quite a few fans already waiting to get into the club or grab a few autographs from the bands; it was hard to tell since the venue still had 1 hour to go before opening the doors. Let me also go on record and say that this was only one of two times I had ever been on a tour bus full of musicians (this one actually with them present); it was kind of surreal at first, but I was able to keep my professional composure.
It’s already been nearly a year since the young white female emcee Kreayshawn busted onto the indie music scene. The Northern California rapper seemed to explode onto the interwebz overnight, with her viral music video “Gucci Gucci”. It’s been awhile since she has been in the news, word is she has been hard at work behind the scenes on getting her new album ready. Somethin’ Bout Kreay, via Columbia Records, is due out August 14th. The first single ”Breakfast (Syrup),” featuring 2 Chainz, leaked online, and the music video, directed by Baby Krea herself, is due out tomorrow, according to hip-hop site Rap-Up. It will be available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon on Tuesday, you can download the mp3 for free now below. They are also claiming the new upcoming album will feature guest spots from Kid Cudi, V-Nasty, and Diplo among others. You can also watch an exclusive live video of her performing it for the first time at Club Rome in Fresno on Mardi Gras.
Fuse caught up with her at Bamboozle fest this weekend for a quick chat. She told them about bum-rushing Skrillex’s set, drinking milk at the club, and the new music video for her collabo with 2 Chainz, which she directed. ”The song’s about drugs and money,” she says. “But the video is all about breakfast.” Watch the video and get the whole story.
Update: As promised yesterday, here is the brand new music video just released today!
Last summer, we had the privilege of attending the inaugural Gorilla Vs. Bear Festival in Dallas. The highly influential indie music blog has quickly become a favorite among both fans and critics alike. They have a proven track record of being ahead of the curve when it comes to predicting up and coming indie bands, sometimes even before they are on the radars of Spin and Pitchfork. Last year’s one day mini fest included White Denim, Preteen Zenith, Shabazz Palaces, Grimes, and others. This year’s upcoming (and now annual) event takes place again at Dallas’ Granada Theater, the area’s best live venue, on July 28. The first acts to be announced so far for the 2nd Annual 2012 Gorilla Vs. Bear Festival are Glass Candy, Chromatics, Twin Sister, Taken By Trees, Laurel Halo, A.Dd+, and DJ Sober. More details to come soon.
0
