Coachella and my constant denial of hipsterdom. Real talk.

Coachella, Southern California's most crowded desert music festival, has just announced their 2011 line-up.  My reaction- I know where I will not be in April.

I love music. I listen to everything. I play instruments and have friends that play instruments. But why not Coachella? I appreciate that Coachella shares the work of hard working musicians to people who haven't heard their music. I appreciate this inspired outfits on the sexy music lovers. I applaud the kids who camp out or have all night parties at fabulous desert vacation homes. But I just don't feel comfortable there anymore. 

Beyond the fact that I can probably only recognize a handful of bands and this reminds me how out of touch I am with new music and thus igniting flashbacks of high school ignorance of then cool bands. A feeling I hope no one else feels. In addition to the 100 degree heat,  100 yard long portopotty lines in that heat, $5 waters, crowds and  I dread the fact that going to Coachella may just stir up my inner-ugly-superficial-LA-wannabe-model that wants to blend in with the other desert minxes who had just ransacked Urban Outfitters and Opening Ceremony. I just can't bear the shame, but that's not it.

I think I've  lost that romance for the music festival. That feeling of inadvertent coolness that comes when you see a band that you have respect for, that thought "o man I look like hot shit in these jeans/sunglasses right now", having respect for people who also like the band you have respect for, the whole excitement of how your pictures will look on Facebook when you get home, or hell the idea that you could be there and someone else couldn't (despite the thousands of people that can go). I lost it. Or maybe I just realized it's bullshit.

I'm older, an asshole and my sense of adventure is not picture worthy enough for a hipster.

But these are my well wishes: that people go to Coachella for the love of music and befriend people on a less superficial level. That those music geeks who are truly passionate about music become king and that they get to make out with models, or at least, wannabe models.

Clearly, I have plenty to learn about ... life

My Favorite Michael Jackson Album

sending my prayers

Gael Garcia Bernal - Quiero Que Me Quieras

From Rudo y Cursi

Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players - Eggs

I love this band! They're a family that rummages through garage sales for old photos then writes songs about them.

Music Recommendations from My Friends

Recently I lost an Ipod and my music collection has gone stale. Apparently that Hall & Oates does get boring after a while.

One of the joys of loving music is talking about music. There's so much pleasure in sharing as there is in learning about new songs and albums.

Here are some of what my friends, and therefore I, have been listening to:

Tracy Shao (music video producer)
Gomez - A New Tide
Matt and Kim - Grand
Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
Various Artists - War Child Compilation

Gavin Castleton (musician)
St Vincent - Marry Me
Maps and Aliases - You and Me and the Mountain
Lex Land - Orange Days on Lemon St.
Broadcast 2000 - Building Blocks

Chris Fudurich (music producer)
"new music sucks ... well except for the new Ghostland Observatory"

Other Friday the 13th News: Gavin Castleton's HOME

That's right ladies and gents. Gavin Castleton's long awaited HOME is now available on Itunes. Enjoy the zombie love!

For more info: Gavin Castleton Home Page

"Nothing Compares 2 U" Cover

By Gavin Castleton

This Is Where We Live - 4th Estate

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

Record Player

Thanks to Lorenzo's resurging love for analog, he bought a record player. His purchase inspired me to bring out my record player which hasn't been touched for a year. And I can't see how I lived without it. The turntable is older than me and was given to me along with its fellow components by my father. Altogether, the system was loved by my father during his college years until today here in my living room.

There's a certain listening pleasure that comes from listening to old records. Not only do I embrace the imperfections in the sound, but I love the human interaction of having to flip the records and anticipating its conclusion. The neverending music on an Ipod just doesn't seem huggable.

Currently rotating: Stevie Wonder's Innervisions and The Velvet Underground

Beck, Spoon and MGMT @ Hollywood Bowl

I'm fully aware how redundant my posts about the Hollywood Bowl are becoming, but this will conclude the 2008 Bowl season. At least it was a fantastic way to end the summer.

We all gathered at Mike's house. Smells of beer, caramelized onions, and carne asada were drifting around as maybe 30 people mingled with excitement for the show later.

When crowds of v-necks, skinny pants, and Toms shoes began to crawl up Highland, we gathered our things (mostly sweaters and beer) and began our trek. Eva, Tim, Mike and I sat in seats that seemed normal until we realized we had a perfect view of the Hollywood sign right above the stage. We got there and enjoyed MGMT first. We couldn't resist their dance songs. I was slightly more enthusiastic about their music than they were. It might've been the Tecate, but they weren't really in the best time slot. And too bad they didn't look like the tribes people in their videos.

The sun finally went down, and Spoon came on stage. They played the songs just as we liked and remembered them. Their horn section was particularly enjoyable. This was the time to break open our snacks and remind eachother how much we loved each song. Sappy a little. Wine helped. By this time we've noticed that Bute hasn't sat down yet and remains punching the air with both fists in the middle of the aisle, disobeying the fire code entirely.

After a brief intermission, Beck opened...with LOSER. The audience was in disbelief and it was a perfectly cool beginning for him as he played song after enjoyable song. I have to confess that I am not the biggest Beck fan, but his set was really enjoyable. His decade of his catchy hit songs kept us dancing all the way through. A pleasant surprise was the accompaniment of the LA Philharmonic string section conducted by none other than his father, David Campbell. As the encore began, Bute finally sat down with us complaining that the security wasn't letting him dance. At the conclusion of the show, most people funnel out like cattle: slow and brainless. Thanks to their quick wit, Eva and Bute expedited our departure by screaming they had diarrhea. The crowds parted willingly.

We all walked back happily. Since we'd missed the Al Green show that went on at the same time, Eva and I danced to his album in the living room.

The Fratellis with Airborne Toxic Event

Mike once again scored a deal on tickets. So we hopped on the Metro to the Wiltern to see some familiar faces. It was fun! Good show! High five, fellas!

Far Out: Brian Wilson @ the Hollywood Bowl

Upon our return to MIke's house, we were greeted by his smiley neighbor and fellow cyclist, Ian, who lives rent-free as the caretaker of Frank Lloyd Wright's Freeman House. He had a spare ticket to the Brian Wilson show later that evening. We were in!

Along with Ian and friends, Mike packed a bottle of wine and sandwiches and off to the Bowl, once again. We had amazingly great views from a central and high point in the amphitheater. The night began with the LA Philharmonic playing Gershwin, Brian Wilson's favorite American composer according to the conductor. But shortly after, Brian Wilson and his band begin playing Beach Boy with the LA Phil including "God Only Knows" dedicated to the those whose lives were lost in the recent Chatsworth Train Crash. He was entirely lovable and entertaining shouting out "Rock and Roll!" to even "Brian Wilson!" after a song. Three songs in, however, we were given an intermission. Mysterious.

When he returned for good, he played plenty of psychedelic arrangements of classic Beach Boys, a couple Chuck Berry covers (incl. Johnny B Goode) along with newer work from his solo albums. I sat dancing in my seat until I just couldn't hold it back anymore. (Especially when he played Do You Wanna Dance?) His band was huge but each member was consistently beyond enthusiastic for each and every song. One of the drummers eventually became shirtless hitting symbols with two tambourines. The fireworks finale was quite exciting with the band playing Surfin USA to accompany. They had a pyro- tiny surfwagon with a surfboard on top to go with the beachy theme. This concert was the perfect way to celebrate the end of summer, even if it never ends in Southern California.

This is weird: Jada Pinkett's Smith's nu-metal band, Wicked Wisdom

Another side of Jada Pinkett Smith that I never knew. Good for her. She's so tough!

Jonesy's Jukebox

Most Angelenos are fortunate enough to have The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones grace the airwaves every weekday at 12 bells. (In Jonesy speak, that means noon). Indie 103 broadcasts his radio show, Jonesy's Jukebox, and pretty much gives him free reign on what he says and what music to play. His monotone British accent could probably lull someone to sleep, but he says such funny things! During his 2 hour time slot, he plays tunes, interviews the who's who of Hollywood, and even has moments to sing and play the guitar. (You'd be impressed at how many songs he can play)

Something that is very refreshing from the typical Indie 103 (still a clear channel station) indie rock lineup, is that Jonesy plays a huge range of great music from Nina Simone to John Legend to Teenage Fanclub. He's got the taste that your favorite person should have. On Fridays, he hosts Jonesy's Jukebox jury where he and a group of guests listen to new music that's coming out and rate them as "mustard" (good) or pants "bad".

Enjoy Jonesy. You can find his PodCast or hear him every weekday at noon on Indie 103.1.

John Williams and a Celebration of Hollywood

What better way to show my parents Hollywood than an enchanting evening at the Hollywood Bowl with John Williams? Close to none. My parents, Jason and I once again trekked to the Bowl for a night of classical movie themes. And as every year prior, it was still very exciting. Like the years before, devoted Star Wars fans proudly lit their lightsabers as the Star Wars theme was played by the LA Philharmonic. Jason's eyes grew with fulfillment as he very loudly requested the "Imperial March" and was granted his wish. I hurriedly grabbed my Reeces Pieces as the ET theme played. My mother, the most outgoing of us, yelled "SUPERMAN!" at the top of her lungs as that theme began.

Williams had a special guest, Stanley Donan, who had directed musicals (i.e Singing in the Rain) and worked with Williams well before he had begun his career with the Spielberg/Lucas vehicle. His stories were so amazing and were so romantic. It was amazing to see what old Hollywood had accomplished before computers and before big budget politics. We watched Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire perform in such magical performances that really made me fall in love with moviemaking all over again. It's easy to forget that there is a unique beauty beneath much of the commercial filth that storms out of Hollywood these days.

A video of persistence

After arguing it was time to sleep, I found this video in the morning. There really is no sleep for the strong.




FromThe Great Consolidation
Hear more of Gavin Castleton's music here: Gavin's music

So how was Radiohead?

 During my normal unemployed routine, I was making little boxes (to check off when the task was done) next to my list of things to do for the day. To my surprise, Mike had called to let me know that he had an extra ticket to go see Radiohead @ the Hollywood Bowl. Box: prepare picnic for RADIOHEAD SHOW! I was so excited!

 The Hollywood Bowl is my favorite thing about Hollywood. It's such a great place to see music and bring your favorite bottle of wine. So I packed the sandwiches and trekked on up. Walking there was shoulder to shoulder, in my case, shoulder to waist. It was a sold out show. The Bowl has a max capacity of 17,376.  

 Radiohead played an amazing 2 hour set with most of my favorites and some familiar good feeling covers. The lighting was more than amazing and complimentary. Fans listened attentively and Thom Yorke's wild sincere rock out moves made me smile. Quite probably the best show I've seen in a long time. (Cornelius @ Bimbo's SF still being the best) 

One truth I'd realized is that only Radiohead can turn the most flamboyant feminine gay man into a raving meat head. Sky punches! Fuck yeahs! Rhythmic claps! Who knew?

On da road w/ Wallpaper

A long time friend for good reasons.

The Airborne Toxic Event and Cirque Berserk

After celebrating Grace's latest promotion and discussing our Vampire saga (Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga) over curry, I drove to Silverlake to spend time with my 2nd favorite married couple (after my parents), Chris and Heather.

Tonight we anxiously awaited to watch a friend, Noah, and his band, The Airborne Toxic Event play for the first time on Late Night with Conan OBrien. We had wine and cheese over the latest in current events (LA Tom's shoe drops, obscene events on the Metro) latest reads, and old horror stories from junior high. Honestly, I had no clue that Noah was even in that band until last night. I suppose it shows how aware I am of these types of things.

On Saturday, after listening to my current album rotation (Al Green, Rolling Stones, Magnet) near half a dozen times, I decided to go outside. A nice day. I accompanied Lorenzo to the button store. While you're probably asking if I've considered ending my life, it really was a little fun for such a small errand. 

I then packed up my bicycle and headed to downtown to meet Eva, her boyfriend Tim, and Joe. We took our bikes to Cirque Berserk. It was a sexy gothic circus put on by locals. It was right by the train tracks in a small field outside of Chinatown. Eva had a few friends in the performance and it was pretty exciting. The circus was somewhat intimate, we enjoyed ourselves among the sexy "freaks" as they contorted and flew in such graceful movements. This was a special circus. A married couple organized the entire event. They were deciding between purchasing a home and creating the circus of their dreams. This was it; their labor of love. Intimacy was key. Feathers, top hats and lace seemed all the more tempting.

With still time to go, we pedaled around downtown and stopped at a local bar to meet with Lorenzo, Nathan, and Charles. Not nearly dressed up enough we managed to get in dressed in our dirty clothes (dusty from the circus and sweaty from the ride) with windblown hair and be mistaken for a lesbian couple.