LANDy 10/04/08 - 10th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival - The Ship Stage (American Tire Depot), Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo by launderground)

From the archives.

I originally decided to pull this show out of storage for a couple of reasons - one, LANDy has been seemingly receiving much attention as of late, and two, the band The Black Pine is associated with them (of whom I've been a fan of). LANDy is the musical project of Adam Goldberg, and features collaborations of such L.A.-based musicians like the aforementioned The Black Pine and Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart (the latter of whom played at the same festival last year)

When I saw "Landy with The Black Pine" (think that was what they were first called) listed on the very-stellar line-up of the 2008 Eagle Rock Music Festival, my curiosity was peaked because I had seen The Black Pine before and enjoyed their performances. They hadn't been doing many live shows lately (and as of now, it's not certain whether they are still together or not, they haven't played under the moniker since October 2008) and it seemed like a good opportunity to see them.

That night, when I saw them, was the final performance I took in from the festival that evening, so I was looking forward to winding down. When I first saw the listing, I assumed that some of The Black Pine's original material was going to be featured, but that wasn't the case - it was all LANDy songs. It was interesting to say the least, but to this day I can't really form a definite opinion on this set of music. Odd, but that's how it is. For what it's worth, I suppose it was a pretty good introduction to the listener passing by.

1.) Cry Me A River MP3
2.) Your Words Not Mine MP3
3.) To No One In Particular MP3
4.) Home MP3
5.) BFF MP3
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FLAC (loseless) files available upon request (by e-mail)

Agent Ribbons 6/15/09 - Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA.

Last Monday, Agent Ribbons opened for Castledoor on the third night of their the latter's June residency. Fresh off a national tour opening for Camera Obscura, they were a last-minute addition to that night's line-up, and played a great, if short set. Having waited a long time to actually see one of their performances, it was worth it.

I first heard of Agent Ribbons awhile ago, while stumbling upon a listing for them someplace. Thinking that the name sounded interesting (honestly, this is how I have started listening to many a band), I looked them up. After became especially curious after reading that one of their influences was The Ditty Bops (of whom I've seen and recorded the most), I knew should check out their music. I picked up their debut album On Time Travel and Romance, and the gorgeous 7-inch pressing The Star Crossed Doppelganger, I was curious to see a live show.

However, this proved to be a bit problematic. Agent Ribbons hail from Sacramento, and didn't seem to do shows in Los Angeles that often (though, this appears to have changed a bit as of late) I tried to see them sometime early last year when they announced they were doing a last-minute show near the downtown area - and when I got down there, I couldn't find the location. Later that year, I tried to attend a show again at the Hyperion Tavern in Silverlake - and they ended up going on late, and I had to leave early. Finally, this Spaceland show came up, and being at a very convenient time, I went. (Originally, I was going to go to the Camera Obscura show they opened for at The Fonda, but ended up not being too crazy about C.O.'s latest release)

As stated previously, this was a short set but a good one. The duo pretty much evenly between material from their first album and newer songs. Speaking of, it was mentioned that had added a violinist to their group recently, but she was not playing with them that night - so, in effect the audience was treated to a "classic" sort of Agent Ribbons show. All in all, the performance reminded me a lot of a cross between the aforementioned The Ditty Bops, and The White Stripes.

This recording came out extraordinary good, so it is highly recommended and well worth the download.

1.) The World Is A Cigarette FLAC MP3
2.) Birds and Bees FLAC MP3
3.) Grey Gardens FLAC MP3
4.) Boy with the Wooden Lips FLAC MP3
5.) Your Hands My Hands FLAC MP3
6.) Obituary FLAC MP3
7.) Wallpaper of Skin FLAC MP3
8.) Chelsea, Let's Go Join The Circus FLAC MP3
9.) Wood Lead Rubber FLAC MP3
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Bat For Lashes 6/14/09 - Lucky Brand Neighborhood Social (Lucky Brand 3rd Street Promendade), Santa Monica, CA.

(Photo by Bryan Sheffield)

Last Sunday, Bat For Lashes (a.k.a. Natasha Kahn) played an intimate concert for a group of around 100 lucky people who had RVSP'ed (and happened to get a wristband the day of the show) beforehand. For those of us who missed out on getting tickets to her sold-out performance at the El Rey Theatre two nights later, it was the perfect substitute for the larger show. This concert was also the inaugural one for the "Lucky Brand Neighborhood Social" - which appears to be a new roving series of live music/art/interactive events presented by Lucky Brand and Filter Magazine.

Bat For Lashes first came to my attention sometime in 2007, when I first heard of them somewhere online. It probably seemed odd to check out the band on the interesting-sounding name alone, but that's what I did. After downloading her debut release Fur and Gold, I was instantly hooked.

Her first show was at Spaceland sometime later that year - I had won tickets to it, but when I got to the venue I was told that my name wasn't on the list. It didn't look like I was getting in, so I gave up and left. A few months later, she did another show at The Troubadour, but it sold out ahead of time, and I didn't feel like trying to see if anything would be available at the door (and I'm not terribly fond of The Troubadour anyway) I had meant to purchase a ticket for the El Rey show; however, like the previous L.A. outing, it sold out ahead of time. Not all hope was lost though - upon getting the e-mail about this show at Lucky Brand and leaving nothing to chance, I jumped on the opportunity and sent in my RSVP right away.

This late afternoon performance ended up being a very unique one; the half-hour concert consisted of Natasha and one of her band members playing as a acoustic duo. Material from Fur and Gold and her recent release Two Suns was almost equally represented. The show was also special in a way because it reminded me a lot of a typical Hotel Cafe-type gig, had she ever played there.

I have to mention a couple of things about the recording itself, it didn't exactly come out perfect, much to my chagrin. Apparently, I may have had a loose connection somewhere (it's not the recording device I know for sure - used it the next night without any problems) and it caused a few dropouts in the right channel. I tried to repair them as best as I could, hopefully they aren't too noticeable. There is a 14 second dropout in the middle of "Prescilla" which I could unfortunately not fix, sorry about that.

1.) Horse & I FLAC MP3
2.) Travelling Woman FLAC MP3
3.) Glass FLAC MP3
4.) Tahiti FLAC MP3
5.) Moon & Moon FLAC MP3
6.) Prescilla FLAC MP3
7.) Daniel (Lo-Fi Version) FLAC MP3
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Liam Carey and Laura Weinbach 6/30/07 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

From the archives.

It's weird - apparently, I recorded this show a couple of years and had known that Liam Carey was an Live Music Archive-approved artist, but it wasn't until recently that I got around to uploading it.

I first heard of Laura Weinbach in January 2007 when she "opened" for Jesca Hoop at The Hotel Cafe. I thought she was quite good and reminded me a lot of Regina Spektor, and purchased her CD afterwards. I saw her again that March in the same venue, in a evening's strong line-up which included Kate Earl, Carina Round, and The Oohlas (acoustic).

So, when I saw this show pop up on The Hotel Cafe's calender, I decided to go. My curious was definitely peaked because the listing stated that she was playing with another person named Liam Carey (I had not heard of him prior to the show), so I assumed she was being accompanied by someone else, and wondered what that sounded like. However, this didn't exactly come to happen - while Laura sang on a couple of Liam's songs, they basically split their time slot, playing separate sets. It was still a good show though.

Taking place at 7 PM on a Saturday, this performance ended up being a fairly quiet and low-key beginning to the evenings entertainment (or so I assume, I left after they finished) While I wasn't familiar with Liam Carey, he was definitely pleasant to listen to, with him and Laura's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" a highlight of the set. Laura Weinbach delivered a good performance as well, focusing on material from her E.P. Entrance, ending with the two standards "La Vie En Rose" and "Sous le Ciel de Paris"

To download, right-click and save as.

1.) Habits (Liam only) FLAC MP3
2.) Mary Go Round (Liam and Laura) FLAC MP3
3.) "unknown" (Liam only) FLAC MP3
4.) Icarus (Liam only) FLAC MP3
5.) St. John (Liam only) FLAC MP3
6.) Burned On The Lips (Liam only) FLAC MP3
7.) Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Liam and Laura, traditional) FLAC MP3
8.) "unknown" (Laura only) FLAC MP3
9.) The Ghost (Laura only) FLAC MP3
10.) Foxtail's Brigade (Laura only) FLAC MP3
11.) Since The Day He Left Me (Laura only) FLAC MP3
12.) "unknown" (Laura only) FLAC MP3
13.) La Vie En Rose (Laura only, traditional) FLAC MP3
14.) Sous le Ciel de Paris (Laura only) FLAC MP3
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Stream the whole show here.

Sara Lov 3/26/07 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

From the archives.

I first heard of Sara Lov as one-half of the duo Devics, who's music I discovered sometime in the Spring 2006, when their last studio album Push The Heart was released. I was supposed to see them on my birthday that year with the guy I was seeing at the time (he was a fan of them too) Unfortunately, he decided to break up with me ON my actual birthday, so I ended up not attending the show. (ain't love grand?)

Moving on, I did end up seeing them at the Knitting Factory a couple months later; however, I ended up having more battery trouble (yet again) and didn't get a good recording. Shortly afterward, Devics announced they were going on "indefinite hiatus" and I wasn't too thrilled with not having another opportunity to see them again any time soon. However, Sara Lov started her solo career the next year, and since her music is pretty similar to the Devics sound, it's a wonderful substitute.

This show was one of her first solo performances in LA (or maybe the first, I'm not sure) She was opening for her Devics partner Dustin O'Halloran (who performed his "Piano Solos" work that evening), so in a way it was kind of like a Devics show. Ms. Lov performed a short acoustic set that showcased some of the material that ended up on the recently-released full-length Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming, along with an haunting a cappella version of the Billie Holiday cover "Good Morning Heartache" Collaborator Zach Rae joined her onstage for a couple of songs, and Mr. O'Halloran sat in on one as well.

This one came out really well, so it's a highly recommended download.

1.) Good Morning Heartache (Billie Holiday) FLAC MP3
2.) Tell Me How FLAC MP3
3.) Why Can't I Be FLAC MP3
4.) Touched FLAC MP3
5.) Frankie FLAC MP3
6.) New York FLAC MP3
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