Edit: The tickets have been given away to Kate. I totally used a random number generator and everything!

The wonderful folks over at Filter Magazine have given us a pair of tickets to the Hollywood Bowl this Sunday!

Before I tell you any more I must say that I’ll be picking a random entrant tomorrow morning and you have to pick up the hard tickets around Santa Monica Blvd. and Gower here in Los Angeles either Thursday or Friday from the Filter offices.

To enter simply comment to this article and say that you want the tickets and are willing to pick them up.  Make sure you leave a valid email address because that is how I will be contacting you (your email doesn’t show on the site).

If you live in LA you are probably aware that the summer months are filled with wonderful and unique concert events, especially at the Hollywood Bowl.  This summer is no different and Big in Japan kicks things off with Yellow Magic Orchestra.  I’m not too familiar with the band but that is probably my own fault.  The press release of the event describes it as such:

The biggest names in Japanese pop music have come together for a once-in-a-lifetime concert spanning genres and generations. As part of KCRW’s World Festival, the Hollywood Bowl will set the stage for electro-pop pioneers, Yellow Magic Orchestra (with original members Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi). Their performance at the Hollywood Bowl on June 26th will be their first Los Angeles performance since 1979! Furthermore, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori reunite Cibo Matto for this special night, which will also feature rare U.S. appearances by Buffalo Daughter and DJ Towa Tei, plus traditional Kabuki-style dance, Taiko drumming and experimental contemporary visuals for an unforgettable evening celebrating Japan.

Basically if you want to see a crazy stage show accompanied by a ton of aging Japanese men who were the first people to incorporate 808s and synths into pop music you should check this out.

You can also buy tickets if you don’t win the giveaway.

Still not on-board?  Check out this video…

During Architecture in Helsinki’s performance at The Music Box, a remarkable thing occurred: the People of Los Angeles Danced. Yes, the very people we so often see scoffing and snickering, watching and whispering as Artists perform. We cerebral, entitled kids, gave ourselves up to a collective motion, eruptions of joy, and ebullient wonder. Several groups of young men, who appeared to be surfers or fraternity members, were dancing and screaming requests for old songs. The Soulbillies (new Beats) were dancing alongside the Bros. A woman with a broken leg carted herself on some strange, one-legged wheelchair to dance with them. The security guard was smiling. The prattle of intellectuals was silenced, the cameras were put away, and people danced. In Los Angeles, this is extraordinary. People do not give themselves over easily. When a band can bring the hip, self-amused assholes of this premeditated city to dance, they have done something special. The inhibitions, the work of suits who sell us squares, the capital life, the bombardment of senses by barbarous advertisements, in the very place where these inventions are wrought, the epicenter of disparity, the land of myth-making, right there on Hollywood and Vine, all of it was dispelled effortlessly by the magic of Architecture in Helsinki.

The grace and energy of this band was breathtaking. I do not care to search their names or reveal individual identities, for I am certain they are phantasms. Booming with percussive vocals, dancing and playing drums, synths, and synths. They were unassuming, explosive, and they played true. The woman vocalist/instrumentalist commanded the audience with beautiful motion and vocals dripping in ecstasy.

They teased us all in response to requests for “Heart it Races.” “It’s an old song,” they said. “We don’t play it anymore.” They played it later and the song was met with jumping, shouting, clapping, and unified choral wonders from the crowd.

“This one is for the grandmothers of the world,” said the lead singer, just before closing the three-song encore with “B4 3D,” which is a generational statement. We’d been hoping for this song all night. Betsy, my dear friend and Space Prom date, nearly melted. She literally fell into my arms. Had I not felt the necessity to catch her, I may have melted too. This song breaks my heart for how much it resonates with my strange modern heart. The world is crumbling, Rome is on fire, the system is failing, and people are still going through the motions, and guess what, it will be just fine. In fact, we will dance. That’s what this music is about. Dancing in the face of mortality or dreams of doom or any other silly thing; just to dance slowly during the frenetic frenzy of our times.

In a life of music, listening to my mother sing folk songs and my father play Rachmoninov on our old upright, sharing the age old tradition, singing a short bit of Stevie Wonder with Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt in the streets of San Francisco, playing our first show, seeing James Blake perform “Case of You,” with Joni Mitchell somewhere in the crowd, the moment when I said yes to music, the moment I fell in love with hip-hop, this concert stands out: brilliant artists saying something impossibly true, speaking to a generation, saying it, and with such grace, such power. Yes, at the Henry Ford Theater, Architecture in Helsinki gave us all a very large taste of the infinite. They invited us into the place where this music came from and it was warm there and the people of Los Angeles were dancing.

I have felt it in the basement at Townhouse in Venice, our generation grabbing the reigns: people dancing to the ever-inclusive, live DJing of Anthony Valdez and Mario Cotto; soul, electric, folk, surfy, everything. We want the world and we want it now. And on this splendid night, the notion that love, sincerity, dancing, reveling in life, and meaning are fine, even in the face of global catastrophe or apocalyptic premonitions, was presented with synthesizers. Ladies and Gentleman, if you want to watch the 2060′s reveal themselves before you, if you wish to know the aforementioned sensations, see Architecture in Helsinki in your city.

Architecture in Helsinki – Contact High

Architecture in Helsinki – B4 3D

If you happen to live in Los Angeles, Barbara is playing their first show in Santa Monica tonight.  They are playing at a little club called Central S.A.P.C (which used to be 14 Below).  They will be going on a little after midnight, but you should get there earlier than that as Chasing Kings will also be playing some awesome tunes.

The cover is $10 and they’d like it if you said you were there for Barbara.  I also heard that they will only be playing new songs from their upcoming album.  If you were one of the few who picked up their EP, prepare for the next level.  There is also an advisory to bring your “dancing shoes”.  See you there!

Unicornica (demo) by wearebarbara

Barbara – Pursuit of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover)

It seems like it has been so long since Delorean came on the scene amongst the experimental-pop wave of 2010.  Going back and listening to their album has been such a treat.  Let’s cross our fingers and hope we get to hear some new stuff.

Delorean – Real Love

Foster the People is a band that seems to be picking up a ton of speed in 2011.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the next band the hipsters abandon because they got too big.  But the bounciness and playful nature of their music guarantees a really fun show.

Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks

I love me some Phantogram.  And this being my first time seeing them live, I am looking forward to seeing how they make all that crazy music with just two people.  This is another band that has had plenty of time to work on new material, so hopefully we get a sneak peek of that as well.

Phantogram – When I’m Small

Strangely I only listen to Ellie Goulding when I am exercising, and rarely is the music an original song from her album.  I’m pretty sure Ellie is the most remixed person of the year.  And her voice ensures that even the most amateur remixer can make a jam.  I’m excited to see the real deal in the desert.

Ellie Goulding – Lights

I’ve never seen Ratatat live, but boy have I ever danced around my room to their music.  I can’t wait to see them create a vast and bumpin’ musical landscape with their guitars and keyboards.  I do wonder though, does the crowd go nuts and dance themselves clean at a Ratatat performance?

Ratatat - Mirando

See you tomorrow everybody and have a safe and crazy Coachella!

I have never seen Animal Collective, and although I sometimes have a hard time sitting through a whole album, I think their Coachella performance is going to be outstanding.  They have so many jams that I can just see the crowd bouncing around like fools to.  Not to mention Panda Bear’s new album just came out this week.  That’d be cool if they played Last Night at the Jetty.

Animal Collective – Brother Sport

Yelle is my hipster-cred pick for Saturday.  If you’re showing a new friend around the show grounds make sure you drag them to Yelle.  And if they don’t know who Yelle is, when the French language songs and dancey-pop beats start flowing, you’ll just have to nod like, “Yeah, I know.”

Yelle – Ce Jeu

First, yes, those guys dress like that while playing shows.  So this could be the most bizarre show of Coachella 2011.  And if you can pull yourself away from Animal Collective a bit early you might get a good place to stand.  Oh, and these guys make amazing songs.  Can’t wait to see Empire of the Sun.

Empire of the Sun - Standing On The Shore

The next two acts play earlier in the day, and on the same stage.  I think I might just get there around the same time as Sweden’s version of Bob Dylan aka The Tallest Man on Earth gets on stage around 4.  He’s got good tunes, and this is a nice mellow way to start the day.

The Tallest Man on Earth – King of Spain

The Radio Dept. comes on right after The Tallest Man on Earth and I’m really excited to get to the front of the stage for this one.  I have a feeling not everyone has caught on to these guys yet, and I’ll get to see a huge band before they blow up.  They also use a lot of weird sound clips in their songs so it will be interesting to see if they incorporate that into their live show.

The Radio Dept. - Heaven’s On Fire

Check in tomorrow for a preview of Sunday’s Coachella 2011 acts.

This year we’ll also be hitting up Red Bull’s Oasis somethingorother.  I guess that is where us cool bloggers will be rubbing shoulders and writing about the event.  But I’ll be honest, every year we go into this thing saying we are going to write a bunch, but what always ends up happening is this.

But anyways, I thought I would showcase some cool artists that I plan to see each day leading up to this weekend.  Let’s take a stab at Friday, shall we?

I’ve never seen the Cold War Kids, and I plan to change that this Coachella.  I’ve been a fan since their first album, but kinda took a step back on their sophomore effort.  Well, now that they are making good songs again, I think this will be one of the most rocking bands on Friday.

Cold War Kids – Audience of One

I can’t say I was ever a huge fan of Gnarls Barkley, or even Cee Lo’s Mob days.  And yeah, of course, Fuck You is a great track – but I never really paid too much attention when Cee Lo Green came through Los Angeles.  However, once I got my hands on his latest solo record my mind was immediately changed.  And from further seeing his performances on late night television, I think Cee Lo is going to put on quite a show.

Cee Lo Green - Old Fashioned

If you don’t see me in the crowd for Marina and the Diamonds, don’t call me out on it.  But I’m gonna try my best.  I like her songs a lot, and she is super weird.  Super weird works really well at Coachella.  I think Regina Spektor banging on a chair during a main stage daytime set is one of my fondest Coachella memories.

Marina and the Diamonds – Obsessions

I haven’t seen these crazy guys from Ohio either.  This will definitely be the highlight of my Friday.  I’m crossing my fingers they get the sunset set on the main stage.

The Black Keys – Everlasting Light

I love the Chemical Brothers.  They make dance music, but that rare kind of dance music that you can listen to on a leisurely drive and not feel like some club-obsessed weirdo.  I also like to get a good dance-your-face-off session per day.  But Chemical Brothers are a pretty big act, if they get put on an outdoor stage instead of the big dance tent, Boys Noize might feed the fix.

The Chemical Brothers – Another World

Check in tomorrow for a preview of Saturday’s Coachella 2011 acts.

Many moons ago, when we first started this blog, I stumbled upon and wrote about the lovely sounds of David Thomas Broughton. His 2005 release of The Complete Guide to Insufficiency was haunting and perfect for that time period.

I’ve not forgotten him, particularly his Ambiguity track – it still makes a regular appearance on mixes and playlists. So, imagine my inability to refuse the opportunity to see this live at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood.

There was some apprehension about sitting too near the stage from the folks I was with. I was warned of his improvisation leading to crowd involvement. It became apparent once the performance began just what that meant. David Thomas Broughton, with great theatrics performs more as a one man art show than your typical soloist performance. At some point I grabbed my cellphone and made a note about where many performances are an alluring centerfold or pinup….. DTB’s is Woman #4 by De Kooning.

There were repeated gestures that I’m still curious about. From him grabbing multiple times for items that were just out of reach, to the leaning over dramatically and hesitantly approaching the piano keys w/ exaggerated fingers, and even in his placement of noise makers throughout the room, well off-stage – everything felt intentional despite its improvisation.

I can’t think of any other circumstances under which I’d allow myself to sit so closely to noise making machine producing a steady stream of static. Yet, he walked out into the small crowd and placed it on the table next to mine and left it there for the remainder of the show – when he came back to get it, he bent over to create a beat using the cups and candles on the table and blasted another soulful melody right in the faces of the folks that sat to my left.

But look, the whole time – I was holding my breath awaiting what this zany man would come up with next, his voice is haunting to all hell. It’s this beauty that draws you in, kind of hard to believe it when any man of slight stature produces such baritone. His play on the loop pedals develops into a rich layered sound, but the voice is always clear and his own. Believe me, I have NO problem with vocal effects, your ambient circles around large cathedral hall with drone tone filter is welcome to my ears, but David Thomas Broughton’s clarity was a relief that I never expected I’d enjoy so much. For everything  that I love about James Blake lately, DTB is the same and still opposite.

It was beautiful and I can’t believe that the rest of LA was out and about doing their thing and totally slept on this incredible opportunity to witness such a genius at work in our very own Hotel Cafe. I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to see this man perform if you ever have the chance.

There were rumors that there may be some new material happening soon. I forgot to mention to you that the entire performance was one non-stop musical exploration…. Familiar songs weaved in and out, here and there and included a ton more effects ridden and accessorized sound. I love the influence of electronics. I’m curious to see what the next body of recorded work will look like from this man – as this performance (6 years after the album that I know) was quite the departure from the rigidity of songs that have the definition of end and begin.

Enjoy!!

David Thomas Broughton ‘Perfect Louse’ by Generator

***UPDATE
“a big thanks to my fav KCRW DJ jason kramer for letting me know he was in town and getting me on the list plus giving me the opportunity of meeting David himself” You should totally follow Jason on Twitter.

Follow me @BetsyKCRW on twitter for more music and musical meanderings!!

Namaste Muffins.

My friend and yours, Ace Reporter is back with another EP culled from the treasure chest of songs he amassed during his amazing threesixfive project. The first EP (Untouched and Arrived) found Ace get his rock on whereas electro energy infused the sounds of the Lean Honey Lean EP. This week Ace released the Sleepyhead EP, an introspective offering of stripped down acoustic songs and let me tell you, I’m picking up what he’s putting down. This type of music is just good for the soul and a good companion for cold winter nights – in fact I’m thinking that physical copies of this EP should come issued with a bottle of whiskey and/or wine and some firewood, I’ll have to get in touch with Ace’s peeps and see if I can make this happen.

Some of the songs are purely acoustic while others find Ace’s delicate guitar strums dancing with violins. Speaking of violins, I feel like air-violining is the most vastly underrated member of the air-instrument family. I air-violined like a bastard to Ace’s ‘Into Chicago’ yesterday and had myself a grand old time, give it a whirl and report back to me mis amigos. But I digress. In addition to being sonically pleasing I like the stories behind the stories on this EP too – ‘My Little Love’ was the first ever song of Ace’s threesixfive project, ‘No Planes’ was written when Ace was stranded in NYC during the crazy Christmas storms, and the hushed tones of ‘Sleepyhead’ were a result of Ace trying not to wake up his still-sleeping girlfriend.

Below are two songs from Sleepyhead as well as a link to a free download of the EP. Also a little something for my NYC Muffins – Ace Reporter will be playing his first ever NYC show at 9PM on Thursday, February 17th at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. I’ll be there will bells on (probably literally since it’s also my b-day that day, what what), so stop by for some jams and gin, songs and spirits, music and margs, bass and beers….okay I can’t think of anymore, wait, one more!…tunes and tequila. Okay I’m done for reals, I’ll just see you there.

Download the Sleepyhead EP HERE for free!

Ace Reporter – Sleepyhead

Ace Reporter – Into Chicago

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]]> http://audiomuffin.com/ace-reporter-sleepyhead-ep/feed/ 0 http://audiomuffin.com/get-yer-vaccines/ http://audiomuffin.com/get-yer-vaccines/#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:00:19 +0000 Train http://audiomuffin.com/?p=3085

Namaste Muffins.

The new year is barely three weeks old and there are already so many new bands vying for digital domicile on my iPod. In addition to getting my jam on to Mona, I’ve been listening to The Vaccines on the reg lately too. I heard about these guys a month or two back when I was scouring the list of upcoming bands at Mercury Lounge, and shortly after they were named to the BBC Sound of 2011 list, sparking a flurry of hype and frenzy among the blogorazzi. But who among us doesn’t enjoy that new band smell?

I can only say that I’ve only heard a handful of tracks from the London lads, but I’m picking up what they’re putting down so far. If I didn’t know they were from London I would have guessed that they honed their chops somewhere on Bowery in NYC – they definitely have that downtown, recorded-through-a-paper-bag grittiness to their songs that I dig. Speaking of NYC, The Vaccines will be hitting Gotham tomorrow night (January 20) at Bowery Ballroom (tix still available here) – the show was originally booked at the much smaller Mercury Lounge, but was immediately moved to Bowery due to overwhelming interest I would imagine. I’m looking forward to seeing these guys in action and hearing some new (to me) tracks live, should be the perfect infusion of energy for my Thursday night. As I always do at Bowery, I’ll be chilling at the downstairs bar before the show, NYC muffins stop by for a high five and highball if you’re so inclined.  Peep the demo and the slightly more polished and outrageously catchy ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ below….I’m off to get vaccinated (get it!!!). The Vaccines: Train Tested. Muffin Approved.

The Vaccines – If You Wanna (demo)

The Vaccines – Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)

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Be sure to follow your boy Train on Twitter to keep up with the freshest news coming out of the Muffin bakery!

NYC Muffins. Mount up.

Got a hankering for some Kate Nash? You’re in luck then as I’ve got one pair of tickets to give away for Ms. Nash’s show at Terminal 5 this Friday night, November 19th. All you need to do to catch to catch the songstress in action is drop a comment below – be sure to enter your email address too (it won’t be public and we won’t share it). Peep more info on the show here.

Speaking of the Nash-ster, her sophomore album My Best Friend is You is out now and she just dropped a video for ‘Later On’ from that disc. Check it out below (complete with choreographed Halloween party action) and also feast your ears on a track from Chiddy Bang’s Air Swell which features vocal stylings courtesy of our chanteuse from across the pond.

See you at Terminal 5!

Chiddy Bang – Breakfast ft. Kate Nash

My Best Friend is You is available now on Amazon!

Be sure to follow your boy Train on Twitter to keep up with the freshest news coming out of the Muffin bakery!