Walking Sleep 10/02/10 - 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Walking Sleep website)

Part 5 of a series.

Last month, Walking Sleep played at this year's 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (along with previously-posted Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Radars To The Sky, and The Submarines)We have had the pleasure of seeing Walking Sleep perform before under their old moniker The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra - however, these were all-cover sets (at last year's Undercovered extravaganza, and performing as "Fleetwood Mac" last Halloween at The Echo) This time, though, we got a short but sweet look at them playing their own original material. (their song "Don't Be Fooled" was recently featured on Grey's Anatomy as well)

As noted, Walking Sleep was originally known as The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, and they are described as "combined male and female vocal harmonies, classic rhythms, and curiously dark lyrics...drawing influence across genres and decades, their songs include echoes of the melancholy psychedelic pop of The Zombies, the uptempo stomp of classic Motown, and the moody melodicism of Fleetwood Mac, but placed in a modern context, akin to bands like Belle & Sebastian and The Shins." This set of songs lived up to that, which was mainly culled from their recent debut LP release Measures, along with a newer one. A fun little show worth downloading.

1.) Don't Be Fooled MP3
2.) When The Breathing Stops MP3
3.) In a Dream MP3
4.) What We Forgot MP3
5.) Final Chapter MP3
Text File MP3

FLAC (lossless) files available upon requests.

The Submarines 10/02/10 - 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (Kingsize Stage), Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Orrin Anderson via The Submarines Myspace)

Part 4 in a series.

Resuming our series on this year's Eagle Rock Music Festival, earlier this month The Submarines played at said event (along with the previously-posted Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Radars to the Sky) I've been listening to The Submarines for awhile, since they released their first album, and we saw them at last year's Sunset Junction - but this is the first time we've been able to get a listenable live recording of them. Their brand of bouncy, indie pop rock has gained quite a following - songs of theirs have been featured on the television shows Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl; in commercials for the Apple iPhone; and in the film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Their set at this festival was a mini-compilation showcasing the highlights from their two full-length albums Declare A New State! and Honeysuckle Weeks, along with an untitled new song. The Submarines seemed to be one of the biggest draws of the night at The Kingsize/Ship stages, judging from the extremely-enthusiastic crowd. I would like to note though, that the sound quality of this recording is a bit on the average side - due to proximity, crowd, muddiness, and low vocals at times. However, since live recordings of The Submarines seem pretty rare, it's worth a download anyway.

1.) Swimming Pool MP3
2.) Peace and Hate MP3
3.) The Thorny Thicket MP3
4.) "New Song" MP3
5.) You, Me and the Bourgeoisie MP3
6.) Xavia MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available upon request.

Radars to the Sky 10/02/10 - 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (The Ship Stage), Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Callie Giovanna via Radars to the Sky myspace)

Part 3 in a series.

Last Saturday, Radars to the Sky (along with previously-posted Seasons and Manhattan Murder Mystery) played as part of the line-up for this year's 12th annual Eagle Rock Music Festival. We are familiar with the band, having posted their set from last year's "Undercovered" show (and catching a couple of their performances around town in the past) - this is the first time we gotten a set with them playing their own material. Radars to the Sky are a band that "play a gritty brand of power-pop as fuzzy as it is catchy...balancing out lead singer Andrew Spitser's impassioned efforts is the sweeter sound of his wife Kate, whose cooing vocals give a much-needed cool-down to the band's heated sound."

This short set featured songs from their recently-released (and first) full length album Supra/Infra, along with a couple from their two older E.P.'s Big Bang and Debut. An excellent little set that left us wanting more. On that note however, Radars to the Sky do have the Monday night residency at Spaceland this month (as of this writing, remaining dates are the 11th, 18th, and 25th) - so, if you reside in the Los Angeles or surrounding area, I highly recommend checking them out.

1.) Long Walk Home MP3
2.) Mirror MP3
3.) Prufrock MP3
4.) As The Nurses Scurry MP3
5.) You Take It To Heart MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

Manhattan Murder Mystery 10/02/10 - 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (The Ship Stage), Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Manhattan Murder Mystery myspace)

Part 2 in a series.

Last Saturday (along with the previously-posted Seasons), Manhattan Murder Mystery played as part of this year's line-up at the 12th annual Eagle Rock Music Festival. We aren't exactly strangers to the music of Manhattan Murder Mystery (having heard a couple of their songs covered at previous "Undercovered" shows) or their front-man Matthew Teardrop (who was part of the band collaboration "When Captain Geech Met Teardrop" at last year's incarnation of this festival) - however, this is the first time we gotten a recording of one of their performances. Manhattan Murder Mystery has been a fixture on the Silverlake/Echo Park/Highland Park music scene for quite some time, with other writers saying that "every Manhattan Murder Mystery show is like a battle royal...A wonderful, scummy battle royal" (Radio Free Silverlake), "This band can really rock the hell out of a venue, but the songwriting is strong and creative and never takes second place." (Feed Your Head), and "[they] rile up crowds with an intense combination of fast, tinny drums, banjos, bongos and power-chord pop anthems that respectfully regurgitate the Pixies and the Cult [and]craft an onstage intensity through the course of their live show that’s undeniably solid, not to mention totally infectious, rowdy and engaging." (LA Weekly)

The set for this performance was a compilation of some of their more well-known songs such as "Parking Lot" (which included Mr. Teardrop's trademark stage diving and "running off" just before the song ended) Also featured was the song "Owen Hart," which was presented as "a hyper-angular guitar jangle and lyrics from the perspective of deceased wrestler Owen Hart." A fun show and great introduction to those who may be unfamiliar with their music.

1.) Smoky Mountain MP3
2.) Ambulance MP3
3.) Your Mother's Neck MP3
4.) Owen Hart MP3
5.) Parking Lot MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

Seasons 10/02/10 - 12th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (Kingsize Stage), Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Seasons myspace)

Part 1 in a series.

This past Saturday afternoon, Seasons kicked off the musical festivities on the Kingsize stage at the 12th annual Eagle Rock Music Festival. Awhile back, we posted a cover set of theirs from this year's "Undercovered" show - this time, we have them performing their own material. The festival itself this year featured many great performances from a wonderfully curated list of mostly-local talent, and festival attendance peaked at approximately 70,000+ during the late afternoon/evening. This short but sweet set mostly featured material from their latest E.P. Winter, and was a great way to start off this year's festival.

1.) Always MP3
2.) Of Our Discontent MP3
3.) Real Dreams MP3
4.) Light, Lost MP3
5.) "Untitled" MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

The French Semester 1/25/10 - The Echo, Los Angeles, CA.

( Photo: The French Semester's Myspace )

Last January, The French Semester played the final show of a month-long residency that they held at the The Echo. The French Semester are a band that creates and performs mainly in the shoegaze vein, a genre we are quite fond of. We were also fortunate to catch them a few times in the past - at last year's Eagle Rock Music Festival, and the first couple of Echo residency shows.

Setlist was a mixture of material from their last full-length album Good Friends Only I Could See and recently-released E.P. Forces Afield - with some newer songs such as "Test Pilot" and "Can A Hole Be" (tentative title) played.

Note: The title for the "new song" was taken off a picture of the setlist for the show - it sounds like it is most likely a temporary title.

Recorded by "markp."

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) Deep Tissue MP3
3.) Backwards Rolling MP3
4.) The East Man MP3
5.) Test Pilot MP3
6.) What's In The Bag MP3
7.) Fourteen MP3
8.) Can A Hole Be/"new song" MP3
9.) Remembering Right Now MP3
10.) The Greater Good MP3
11.) The Large Bouquet MP3
MP3

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

The Pity Party 10/03/09 - 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival - Pep Boys - The Ship Stage, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo by "happyjed1")

In our third, and possibly final installment on our look at the 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival this month, we feature the Los Angeles-based duo The Pity Party. Some may recall that half of the The Pity Party had already been mentioned here, when drummer Heinsenflei played with The Raveonettes on their mini-tour back in January. Here, though, we look at a proper show of theirs.

Ironically enough, I first heard of The Pity Party (not unlike Leslie and the Badgers) at the 2007 version of the Eagle Rock Music Festival, when they played on the Emerging Stage. Admittedly, I didn't give them much of a chance(I only listened to them perform one song before wandering off) at the time; so, when I saw that they were on the line-up again this year, I was determined to give them another chance. And I'm glad I did, for this set was a marked improvement over the previous one. Web-In-Front gave a good description of them, saying "great rhythmic noise-pop with fractured guitar lines, darkly seductive lyrics and Hesenflei’s howled vocals and tribal drums."

A couple of notes - this performance took place near the tail end of the festival, so there is a bit of crowd chatter. Also, there was some buzzing/feedback on a couple of songs.

1.) Introduction FLAC MP3
2.) Dronebots FLAC MP3
3.) MAS FLAC MP3
4.) ??? FLAC MP3
5.) Wanting Want FLAC MP3
6.) Love Lies FLAC MP3
7.) Yours, That Works FLAC MP3
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MD5
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When Captain Geech Met Teardrop (feat. members of the Monolators, etc) 10/03/09 - 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival-Swork Coffee, Los Angeles, CA

(Note: this show was billed simply as "Pehriscope Collaboration #3" in the Eagle Rock Music Festival program. When The Monolators first spoke about this performance, they said it may be known as "the Los Angeles Disco-Skiffle Ensemble." It was announced at the actual show however, that they were to be officially known as "When Captain Geech Met Teardrop," and that is what they will be called here.)

In our second installment of our coverage of the 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival, we take a look at the performance of "When Captain Geech Met Teardrop" at Swork Coffee. There, the popular music/gallery space Pehrspace had curated "a showcase of DJ's and artists who have been involved with the non-profit, all-ages Echo Park venue since its founding in 2005. They have been selected to work together to demonstrate how cooperation - rather than competition - nurtures creative energy. Features audience collaboration, projections, and live soundtracking incorporating on-the-spot video mixing and broken-prism imagery." (per Eagle Rock Festival program)

When Captain Geech Met Teardrop features members of L.A.-based bands such as The Monolators, Seasons, Divisadero, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Don of Don's Music. The idea of the band was based on the combined "concept" of "disco skiffle" - disco of course being a genre of dance music with funk and soul elements, and skiffle "a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments." Two of the songs from the setlist "Jack Of Diamonds" and "Cumberland Gap" by "main skiffle hero" Lonnie Donegan paid tribute to the skiffle side of the band, while "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" by Baccara took care of the disco side.

More on this show from The Monolators here and here.

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) Jack Of Diamonds (Lonnie Donegan cover) MP3
3.) The Duchess MP3
4.) Cumberland Gap (Lonnie Donegan cover) MP3
5.) "Melody" MP3
6.) Yes Sir, I Can Boogie (Baccara cover) MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available upon request (by e-mail)

Leslie and the Badgers 10/03/09 - 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival - Emerging Stage, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo by Eric Meacham)

Last Saturday, Leslie and the Badgers performed at the 11th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival. Held the first Saturday of every October along a stretch of Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, I consider it to be one of L.A.'s finest (and free no less!) annual music festivals. Or as the blog Web In Front put it "it was impossible not to compare the Eagle Rock Music Festival to something like the Sunset Junction Street Fair, and equally impossible not to note how much more relaxed, orderly, organized and entirely enjoyable the ERMF was by comparison. It was a music festival that was free to the public, featured a kaleidoscopic array of local bands on 15 stages (with sets that began on-time [imagine that]), wasn’t swelteringly hot, and played host to a bevy of local merchants and food vendors (as well as the beloved Oinkster)–the ERMF epitomized the eclectic neighborhood vibe of its surroundings with class and style." (and yes, I went to the 1st day of Sunset Junction this year - it was not a positive experience by any means)

Ironically enough, I first heard of Leslie and the Badgers at the 9th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival in 2007, when they were on the line-up that was booked into the Women's 20th Century Club. (and even more ironically, this is the venue Jesca Hoop played at during the 2006 festival, which was the first one I attended) I didn't see them play that year, but since then have seen the band's name pop up in a variety of places, from numerous blogs to numerous concert listings. When I first noticed that Leslie and the Badgers were going to be playing at the festival again this year, amidst friend's recommendations, I made it a point to go see them play.

Their 35-minute set was a good one, culling from material on their newly-released Roomful Of Smoke. Definite highlight would be "My Tears Are Wasted On You" Also, for all those Jesca Hoop fans out there (who I mentioned previously) her back-up singer Nicole Eva Emery also does backing vocals for Leslie and the Badgers (and it was announced at the show that she appears on Bob Dylan's soon-to-be-released Christmas album)

1.) Introduction FLAC MP3
2.) My Tears Are Wasted On You FLAC MP3
3.) Winter Fugue FLAC MP3
4.) The Torture FLAC MP3
5.) Americans In Rome FLAC MP3
6.) It's Okay To Trip FLAC MP3
7.) Salvation FLAC MP3
8.) Don Juan FLAC MP3
9.) Roomful Of Smoke FLAC MP3
10.) That'd Be Fine FLAC MP3
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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
Text File

FLAC (loseless) files available upon request (by e-mail)

Earlimart 10/04/08 - 10th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival - Emerging Stage, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photos by Deedee DeGelia)

Earlimart is a long-established band in Los Angeles, and when I heard they were part of the already-stellar line-up of the 10th Annual Eagle Rock Music Festival (an amazing free music and community festival held every year during the beginning of October on Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock neighborhood), I was definitely intrigued. I didn't really know much about them, but having heard many good things, I was curious to see them perform, and certainly a free show seemed like the best time to do so.

Their set was short, but a good, culling songs mostly from their latest 2008 release Hymm and Her. It was raining a little bit that night and while they were playing, plus they were cut for time due to the stage schedule running over and equipment. Overall, it was a nice little show, and a good introduction to the band for those unfamiliar with them.

Interestingly enough, when I first torrented this show, a commenter remarked wondering why after being "on the scene" for ten years, why were they playing on the "Emerging Stage." Well, good question - I don't know either. Any theories? Odd placement perhaps?

Earlimart was recently approved for uploads on the Live Music Archive, and (at this time) a couple more live recordings of them can be found here.

(to download, right click and save)

1.) Intro FLAC MP3
2.) God Loves You The Best FLAC MP3
3.) Song For FLAC MP3
4.) Face Down In The Right Town FLAC MP3
5.) The Hidden Track FLAC MP3
6.) For The Birds FLAC MP3
7.) Cigarettes and Kerosene FLAC MP3
8.) Outro FLAC MP3