via Violette Glass

One great thing about being a music snob is being that “early adopter” when it comes to musicians. I’m a luddite and illiterate, so I’m never the first to know about or embrace anything else. Trust me, I’m aware that everyone hates a know it all music snob* but I feel like, maybe, that pain is lessened by having been the first on my block to get all weird in my room to the world’s sexiest elf, Joanna Newsom. And now I have that super obnoxious pleasure of talking about how it’s so, you know, inspiring to see someone with such an original sound to mature so much, &c. But it’s true! This song is seven minute of a vaguely twangy, impressive vision streaming for free in anticipation of her next album, Have One on Me, due out 23 February, 2010.

ANYWAY, it’s called “Good Intentions Paving Company”, and you can check it out via the Drag City website. This song makes me want to go invite the desert skyline of my childhood over to my super fey castle/ranch.

*Until they need a Cyrano de Mixtape!

Thank Bob and One eskimO.

I know not all of you live in Los Angeles, but our city could really, really use every voice we can get right now. It has come out very recently at at the city council meeting THIS WEDNESDAY, 3 February, there will be an immediate elimination of arts grants – the only grants that directly contribute to the arts of Los Angeles.

Listen, I know our state has gone from bad to basically ungovernable and massive budget cuts are being made all willy nilly, and we drive over the most ridiculous pot holes this side of the effing moon, and all our schools are outdated and cramped but removing the possibility of music festivals bringing communities together (like the awesome Eagle Rock Festival) isn’t going to benefit anyone.

In all the sincerity I can possibly type, please, you guys, take a moment to email your city council member so arts funding in Los Angeles isn’t eliminated. You can do that very thing by following THIS LINK, and earn yourself a whole day of self congratulations!

Last Friday, I saw the California Guitar Trio at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, and it was a great show.

I first became aware of this group when I was working at The McDonald Theatre in Eugene. CGT, Neko Case, Public Enemy, and The Decemberists are the acts that won me over with their live shows while I was alternating between box office and artists hospitality duties. I didn’t have any direct interaction with the guys in the Trio, but I loved watching them play. When I noticed last fall that they were slated to play The Coach House in January, I decided to try to be there.

I’d never been to The Coach House before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I knew they served dinner there, and the last dinner/show I went to was at a pretty swanky place in San Diego. With that in mind, I decided to dress up a little and bust out a little black dress that got far too little wear in recent months. I thought there was a chance I’d feel over-dressed, but I was surprised that I also felt like I’d left the state when I entered the venue.

I should say now that I was really charmed by The Coach House, and that I will definitely try to make it back there. My shiny little dress was a bit much for their honky tonk atmosphere and long, community dining tables, though. Between the people in the crowd and the band on the stage, I felt like I’d teleported back to Eugene… or Missouri. It was strange, but good.

There were two opening acts, which I hadn’t expected. Both were talented, but their music was almost too soothing. I felt like I was in a cozy trance by the time CGT took the stage. Fortunately, though, their hour+ of guitar harmony was fascinating and rousing enough to wake us up and carry us through their set.

I really love to watch talented people play the guitar, and this group gives you three times the bang for your buck on that front. They talked about their personal and professional origins (none of them are from CA, and they formed the group in the UK), and they showed off a lot of their technical prowess, passing notes to each other in a semi-circular fashion and using effects to create an aural space-scape. Really fantastic stuff.

Since I wanted to attend this show as a fan, I didn’t tape anything, but I did find a great video of them playing a Bach piece that’s one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it, and I’d strongly encourage you to check them out if they come to a venue near you.

I have finally shaken off the last of the weather from the inclement mess* of the Sundance Film Festival where, in addition to a week and half’s worth of film programming, I was able to get around enough to catch some live music as well: Read more »

In his final contribution as our artist in residence for the month of January, Ehren Ebbage performs his song “Rail for Safety.”

If you liked this video and want to spread it around, click HERE.

Since I couldn’t afford a $475 ticket to see Radiohead on Sunday at the Music Box, I did the next best thing and reassembled their setlist in scrubby mobile phone videos on YouTube. I’ve embedded it below as a playlist, so just sit tight and you can watch the whole show. In case you don’t make it to the end (before Paranoid Android), Thom announces they raised about $570,000 for Haiti. Click through if you want to see the full setlist, which is after the jump — the clips are sorta ghetto, but most have good sound, and it’s actually kind of fun to see the show from so many vantage points. My favorites are the ones where you can see all the mobile phones shooting videos, like digital candles flickering in the room:

Read more »

Here’s one of my favorite Radiohead songs, as played near the equator in the Caribbean. Or rather, in New York City by the Easy Star All-Stars. This recording is so dope, it makes me wonder if Radiohead was covering the Easy Star All-Stars:

“A brief word about so-called modern music: no further research or scientific discoveries are required to know with full, objective certainty that it is not music. The proof lies in the fact that music is the product of periodic vibrations—and, therefore, the introduction of nonperiodic vibrations (such as the sounds of street traffic or of machine gears or of coughs and sneezes), i.e., of noise, into an allegedly musical composition eliminates it automatically from the realm of art and of consideration.”

—Ayn Rand, The Romantic Manifesto