No Age, is an LA based band that I discovered through watching their video for this song Eraser. I loved the video and the song, so I downloaded the album. I think they are great. They are an indie rock band that classify themselves as punk, experimental. They remind me of a few difference bands but I can't quite put my finger on it. It consists of two guys a guitarist and drummer, the drummer is the vocalist. They are really in to performance art and they got got their start at an LA community center type place called The Smell which has a very artsy, trendy underground following. They also like to perform in obscure places like - the LA River, the LA library, an Ethiopian restaurant in Philadelphia... Here is a video for the song I dig. I love this video. It is so interesting and random. Definitely check out their songs on Myspace like Teen Creeps and Cappo.
I started this blog to talk about musicians for my friends who like to learn about music, whether they be new artists or artists from another time. Clearly I have not done that in quite some time. So today I am going to talk about the Breeders. I saw them play on Mondy at one of the most beautiful venues I have ever been in, The Wiltern. If you are in LA and into live music, go to a show there. It is really old (1931) and cool.
Pretty much everyone knows the most famous Breeders song, Cannonball. But their music is so much more original and eclectic sounding then that song portrays, I think. I first started to get in to the Breeders when XPN (it always goes back to XPN) woke me up like 4 random days, for 4 weeks in a row by playing Divine Hammer (the other Breeders song you know), about two years ago. Of course that didn't stop me from being late for work, but ever since then I have kind of been really into them.
The Breeders started out as a side project for Kim Deal, who was the bassist for The Pixies. The Pixies are a hugely influential band from the 80's who some critics credit for being a harbinger of alternative rock in the 90's. Kurt Cobain said multiple times, that Nirvana was just trying to rip off the Pixies when they wrote their songs. He also said the best song by the Pixies was Gigantic which Kim Deal wrote and sung. Kim Deal started writing songs with her sister in high school but nothing ever came of it. After getting married and moving to Boston, she joined the Pixies in 1986 by answering an ad in the newspaper looking for a bassist. She was the only person who responded, but she didn't know how to play the bass. They gave her $50 to fly from Boston to Ohio to get her sister's bass. After that, she learned how to play and the rest is history.
So Kim feeling creative stifled in the Pixies, and Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses, Belly) formed the Breeders. The Breeders is a they took from the band Kim and her sister, Kelley Deal, had together in their teens. The Breeders had success with their first album, Pod and later an EP and then Tanya left to form Belly. Later, Kelley Deal replaced Tanya and it has most consistently been the two of them since the then, with other players switching in and out through the years.
They had huge success after their album Last Splash came out. They opened for Nirvana and joined the Lollapalooza tour. After that they were pretty burnt out and Kelley was busted for drugs and then went in to rehab. Their break ended up lasting 7 years. During that time they had lots of smaller side projects, but the original group that created Last Splash never regrouped. Their next album, Title TK, didn't come out until 2002. And after another long recess their 4th album came out this year, Mountain Battles. It is great and will definitely be one of my top ten end of year albums.
Their music is alternative rock/pop. I pretty much love everything about them. I tried to see them at Coachella this year, but was a slacker and missed them. Their influence was evident though, because Glen Hansard, Mark Ronson, Rilo Kiley and My Morning Jacket had mentioned on stage how excited they were to meet, see, hear, watch Kim Deal and The Breeders.
The show the other night was great, though a little short. But still longer than my 5 song concert from the other night. I met some guy who was a crazy Breeders fan, you would have thought he was a little girl seeing the Jonas Brothers. But he was cool and I got his card and am going to go see his band play at some point. The two Deal sisters were really funny together - they fought on stage and pushed each other and laughed hysterically at each other. It was really cute. I also liked how they lined themselves up logistically. They were all in front, in a line. Even the drummer. I thought that was really cool and democratic.
Below is a video from the concert I was at. The song is Drivin on 9 from Last Splash. Kelley Deal who is on violin, actually doesn't know how to play the violin, she just learned for this song. Also, I put together a little Breeders/Pixies/Belly mix for you to indulge in. Cheers.
I went to see Uh Huh Her on Friday with Laura and unfortunately we only saw 5 songs (Laura was sick and I grossly over-estimated the time they would go on) But boy were those 5 songs good. The show was at the Avalon, which is a pretty big venue, the biggest I have seen them play at, and it was pretty full. I don't think it was sold out though. The Fashion played before them which sounds pretty electro punk rockish, and I am sorry we missed them because I like a few of their songs. But they brought in a pretty diverse crowd, which is good for Uh Huh Her. The crowd was really in to it, so there was an awesome vibe in the room. Below - a pic and someone's semi OK video of Not a Love Song (until the sound gets muffled half way through).
The fires here are devastating and I feel so bad for these people that are losing their houses. I couldn't imagine having to pack my stuff and leave everything I own with the chance of never seeing it again. I have seen smoke all day and in the afternoon you could start smelling the smoke really bad. Eventually I shut my windows, because it was getting so bad. Here are some pictures from my roof of the smoke blowing in to the valley. Hopefully they stop soon before more property is lost and people are killed. This fire has already destroyed more homes than any fire in the past ten years.
The hills are right across from my apartment so normally they are crystal clear.
This is the third time I have tried to go to Joshua Tree and didn't make it. Incident 1 was when me and Kim drove cross country and almost pulled off the road to go and at the last minute didn't. Incident 2 was when I went to Coachella and had time to go after, but ended up getting sucked in to being lazy at the pool. Incident 3 was Thursday.
Me and my friend Laura from Philly who is visiting took a day trip out to Joshua Tree. It was a beautiful day, about 85 degrees, perfect road trip weather. We are about 20 miles away from Joshua Tree and we stop for gas in a little town called Morongo Valley. We get gas and then notice that my car has steam coming out of it. This guy tells us to go down to Leo's Automotive which we do and we end up being at Leo's for the rest of the afternoon, never making it to Joshua Tree.
Leo's was like the Twilight Zone. The mechanic's daughter were sitting in waiting room watching Mickey Mouse cartoons that I haven't seen since I was 25, I mean 5. We met an 88 year old Cherokee Indian named mom. And then we perused the cactus shop next door which had three roosters.
Eventually we found out we wouldn't be able to drive my car anywhere and Leo couldn't get the parts for 4 days. So we had to call AAA who towed us 120 miles back to LA. Only after a brief 2 hour detour to Palm Springs to drop off another car. It was lunacy. But my car is fixed now and all is well.
Video of the red carpet event that I helped one of my bosses with a few weeks ago. It was a fashion show/birthday party for my boss, Face, at AREA nightclub. I was in charge of the VIP guest list on the red carpet. People will seriously do and say anything to get in to a club on a random Thursday night. I had a woman screaming at me - "Don't you know who I am, I am a recording artist." Oh really what song did you sing? "Oh well I worked with Beyonce once" It was hilarious. Or the publicist that was trying to get his client on the carpet by saying "She was on Days of Our Lives once." It was all very amusing. I talked to the bouncer for awhile and he told me all about his job and dealing with stars and getting them whatever they want. It was very interesting. Paris Hilton was supposed to show up for the fashion show, but of course she didn't. Oh well. Check out the video - my roommate did the makeup for the show.
