Jesca Hoop 3/23/13 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Last weekend, Jesca Hoop was back in town and graced us with her presence at her old stomping grounds of the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. As Jesca has been a resident of Manchester for awhile now, a sighting of her in the states has become a rarer one - on this outing, she was here for SXSW besides this Los Angeles stop. And what a show it was - along with a selection of songs that spanning her catalog (including the newbie "Songs of Old"), if you've been dying to hear Jesca utter "fuck da police," your wish has been granted. Guests that joined Jesca onstage were longtime collaborator Nicole Eva Emery on backing vocals, and Blake Mills on guitar for "The House That Jack Built." Full setlist below:



Murder of Birds                      
"Cop Story"                          
Whispering Light                      
"Northern California Story"          
Born To                              
Hospital (Win Your Love)              
The House That Jack Built            
Seed of Wonder                        
Four Dreams                          
Songs of Old
Hunting My Dress

Full show can be downloaded or streamed here.

Little Red Lung 3/14/13 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Photo: Little Red Lung Facebook page

This past Thursday night, Little Red Lung appeared at the The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood playing a set that saw the debut of several new songs that will be part of their upcoming, first full-length album. It's been awhile since we've seen Little Red Lung, having been big fans and covering them on here before, and tonight's show did not disappoint. The Hotel Cafe's surrounding atmosphere and backdrop was the perfect setting to see Little Red Lung play in, and ff these new songs are any indication, the album will be a must-listen. Setlist below:

50 Fingers
Deadweight
Civilian Tiger
Badblood
Fangs
Little Drop of Poison (Tom Waits cover)
Wheremines
Rarebird

Download the full show here (mp3) FLAC files available by request.

Jesca Hoop 1/12/11 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood CA.

(Photo: Jeff Koga)

Last week, Jesca Hoop made a now-rare appearance at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Before moving to Manchester (U.K.), it used to be possible to see her on a fairly regular basis at places such as the Hotel Cafe - now, while they are less frequent, that only serves to make them more special. Granted, it's been awhile since we have posted about Ms. Hoop on here (we covered her entire "farewell" April 2009 residency at the same venue), so it was a bit of a momentous occasion.

Backed by a full band, the setlist leaned heavily towards her second LP Hunting My Dress (released last year in the U.S.), with a couple of songs from the first one Kismet. The audience was also treated to a preview of some new material - two songs ("The House That Jack Built" and "Born To") were performed for the first time ever; although, it's not clear whether the latter song is meant to be a homage (or have a connection to) the similarly-named Mother Goose rhyme "This Is the House Jack Built." Additionally, we also heard a newer song "Food At Your House," with Ms. Hoop's long-time friends and collaborators The Ditty Bops.

For all Jesca Hoop fans, this show is a must-have.

To download, right click and save as.

1.) Murder Of Birds FLAC MP3
2.) Whispering Light FLAC MP3
3.) Four Dreams FLAC MP3
4.) Feast of the Heart FLAC MP3
5.) Seed Of Wonder FLAC MP3
6.) The House That Jack Built FLAC MP3
7.) Born To FLAC MP3
8.) Food At Your House FLAC MP3
9.) Money FLAC MP3
10.) Angel Mom FLAC MP3
11.) Hunting My Dress FLAC MP3
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Stream the whole show here.

One Trick Pony 1/30/10 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Last Saturday, One Trick Pony played a show at The Hotel Cafe. (well, technically since it was after midnight it was on Sunday, but since they were on Saturday's bill, we'll just leave it at that) The first time I had heard of One Trick Pony was when one of their songs "Loose Talk" was covered by Death To Anders at Radio Free Silverlake's "Undercovered" show last year. The next month I only caught some of their set at the first of (with The Monolators) the Where Gallery "Exposure" shows, but was intrigued enough to want to catch them again, and the opportunity finally presented itself this past weekend.

However, I do have a bit to say on the venue that is The Hotel Cafe. I still like this place, I truly do, despite the way it's changed over the years. While it has still retained a few of it's laid-back qualities that defined it as more of a "coffeehouse"-type place in it's infancy, since becoming a more popular "scene" type of place, a lot has not changed for the better. (this was subtlety referenced by lead singer Randolph Pennyworth when he mentioned between songs "weathering that whole wave of douche outside") I suppose it can't helped, things change, especially when they become more popular. It still stings a little though.

Nevertheless,it was a fun show - lots new/newer songs (including some from the recently released album Full Of Life. Some crowd chatter present through to varying degrees (see text file for more info)

1.) Loose Talk MP3
2.) Phonebook MP3
3.) Masonry MP3
4.) Andrew Jackson MP3
5.) Get Over Yourself MP3
6.) Crepehangers MP3
7.) Children Pt. II MP3
8.) Diagonal Waves MP3
Text File

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

Sara Lov 12/08/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photo by Jeff Koga)

Apologies for the lack of posting recently - this has been a busy time of the year for us, and thus little free time = lack of going to shows and entries about them. However, a couple of weeks ago we were able to sneak out and see Sara Lov's last show of the year at The Hotel Cafe. We have posted about Sara Lov before, which was a short acoustic set from awhile back earlier this year.

This particular show was a full band one - and as noted by Ms. Lov during the show, with live musicians versus the phonograph with a recorded backing band on vinyl she used while on tour with Sea Wolf recently. Setlist consisted mostly of material from her solo debut full-length Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming, along with a cover of Air Supply's "All Out Of Love" (which she promised the audience would be a "dairy-free version")that was first posted on her myspace page. All in all, a nice little performance from Sara Lov.

1.) Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming FLAC MP3
2.) Just Beneath The Chords FLAC MP3
3.) Tell Me How FLAC MP3
4.) A Thousand Bees FLAC MP3
5.) All Out Of Love (Air Supply cover) FLAC MP3
6.) Frankie FLAC MP3
7.) Touched FLAC MP3
8.) New York FLAC MP3
9.) Fountain FLAC MP3
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Imogen Heap 10/26/05 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

From the archives.

I first heard of Imogen Heap earlier in 2005 when she was rumored to be an opener on Tori Amo's tour that summer. Unfortunately, that ended up falling though due to monetary issues, but I still went and picked up her latest release anyway (Speak For Yourself) She ended up being added to The Hotel Cafe's first national touring show, but the Los Angeles date at the El Rey sold out before I decided whether I wanted to go or not. However, another opportunity to see her was added, as sort of an industry showcase/way to appease the fans who didn't get to attend the El Rey gig.

The story behind this show is one in of itself. The afternoon of I didn't really know what to expect or the extent of Imogen's popularity at the time, so deciding when to arrive posed a bit of a challenge. If I remember correctly, I got there around 6 or so, about an hour before doors opened, and was probably one of maybe ten people already in line. (including a couple of people who had driven down from the Bay area just for this show) Waiting in line seemed to be a pretty calm and orderly affair - until the last 20-25 minutes before the venue was supposed to start letting people in.

In that time, the line had grown exponentially since then, wrapping around the building, spilling onto the sidewalk and down the block. (I remember afterwards hearing from an acquaintance that he drove by the venue in anticipation of attending the show, and upon seeing the line gave up and kept driving) To make matters worse, before opening doors, the doorman came out and announced that only the first 10-15 people in line not on a guest list (there where two - an "industry" one and another that you had to sign up for on Imogen's website) would be getting in. Naturally, this caused some annoyance among people - although, I heard later that a little before/after she started playing, they let some more people in that stood in the back (and others simply pressed their ears up against the wall and listened to show outside)

When I got inside, it already seemed like it was going to be extremely packed quarters - most of the tables and chairs were taken away. Luckily, the people whom I stood in line with kindly let me sit at their table with them (if any of them happen to stumble onto this blog, thank you still, almost four years later ha ha) As predicted, by the time Imogen started the show, the room was overflowing, some of which can be heard on the recording.

After (sorry) a ridiculously bad opening act, Imogen hit the stage and delivered a fantastic performance. Setlist was very heavy on Speak For Yourself material, but that was to be expected, considering the album had been recently released stateside. In homage to her previous side project Frou Frou, she performed their two biggest hits "Let Go" and "Breathe In." Her first album I Megaphone was not forgotten though - the two songs "Come Here Boy" and "Sleep" represented it. Plus, we were treated to a rare performance of the B-side "Blanket." All in a all, a wonderful show.

1.) "Intro" FLAC MP3
2.) Just For Now FLAC MP3
3.) Headlock FLAC MP3
4.) Let Go FLAC MP3
5.) Clear The Area FLAC MP3
6.) The Walk FLAC MP3
7.) Blanket FLAC MP3
8.) Hide and Seek FLAC MP3
9.) Come Here Boy FLAC MP3
10.) Loose Ends FLAC MP3
11.) Goodnight & Go FLAC MP3
12.) Sleep FLAC MP3
13.) E: Breathe In FLAC MP3
14.) E: The Moment I Said It FLAC MP3
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Tristan Prettyman 4/01/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photo by Jeff Koga)

Last April, Tristan Prettyman played a month-long residency at The Hotel Cafe. On the first night of the month, she happened to share the evening with another person with an April residency, Jesca Hoop. I had known about Tristan Prettyman for some time, and not having seen a show of her's in a few years, I found this be a convenient line-up.

I first heard of Tristan Prettyman sometime back in 2003 through Jason Mraz, who I followed extensively at the time. It wasn't until early 2004 that I got a chance to see her live, as an opener at the Sunset Strip House of Blues. I also saw her again later that year in San Diego at the second (now-shuttered) incarnation of Java's Joe's Pub. In 2005, I caught a couple more performances of hers. One was in January, opening for Jason Mraz at the Ventura Theatre (which would be the last time I ever saw one of his shows) The next one was at The Hotel Cafe, which served as a L.A.-area release party for her full-length debut t w e n t y t h r e e. So, yes, obviously a long time has passed since that last show and this one from earlier this year.

The setlist was short, but good. Tristan had recently released her second full-length Hello...x and mostly performed songs from that - which I didn't really recognize because I've only heard one song off the new album. The only one I did recognize was "Love, Love, Love," but of course that's because it's an older tune, and from the first album.

To download, right-click and save as.

1.)Echo FLAC MP3
2.)Hello FLAC MP3
3.)Just In Case FLAC MP3
4.)Hummingbirds FLAC MP3
5.)In Bloom FLAC MP3
6.)Blindfold FLAC MP3
7.)Love, Love, Love FLAC MP3
8.)War Out Of Peace FLAC MP3

Stream the whole show here.

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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Jesca Hoop 4/29/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photo by Jeff Koga)

Tonight's show marked Jesca Hoop's final night of her April residency, and the final show in L.A. before she moves to Manchester, U.K. It was quite the extravaganza, featuring several people Jesca has performed with in town over the years, and a longer-than-usual set.

A good mix of older material from Kismet and newer songs from the next album were showcased. It was definitely interesting hearing "Hunting My Dress" and "Tulip" with a full band in contrast to the more stripped-down versions played at previous shows. She closed with an seemingly haunting version of "Love and Love Again" (well, given the theme of the show at hand), and with the audience not giving up and wanting more, for an encore did the solo a cappella "Storm."

As an ode to Jesca's friendship and history of performing with The Ditty Bops, Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald joined her on stage for two songs, "Baby Boy" and a Boswell Sisters cover "Crazy People." The former was a staple that Jesca and The Ditty Bops performed a cappella at each others shows in the past. Both were good, but it would have been also nice to hear the other standards they did "Big Fish" and/or "Fix-It Man," but I'm not complaining.

However, Jesca may not be gone for long. Live Nation and Last.fm show that she will be back in town on July 22nd to open for Elbow at The Wiltern.

To download, right click and save as:

1.) KCRW Intro FLAC MP3
2.) Summertime FLAC MP3
3.) My Boo FLAC MP3
4.) Intelligentactile 101 FLAC MP3
5.) Seed Of Wonder FLAC MP3
6.) Baby Boy FLAC MP3
7.) Whispering Light FLAC MP3
8.) Hunting My Dress FLAC MP3
9.) 4 Dreams FLAC MP3
10.) Money FLAC MP3
11.) Crazy People FLAC MP3
12.) Enemy FLAC MP3
13.) Tulip FLAC MP3
14.) The Kingdom FLAC MP3
15.) Angel Mom FLAC MP3
16.) Love and Love Again FLAC MP3
17.) E: Storm FLAC MP3
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Jesca Hoop 4/16/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

The third in series of four "farewell" April residency shows at The Hotel Cafe. Line-up was the same as the one on April 1st, except for the addition of Joe Karnes on bass, which added an extra layer to the proceedings. Setlist wasn't much different than from the previous shows, with the exception of one new song that I didn't recognize that Ms. Hoop played solo. Plus, we did find out the title of one of the newer songs, "Four Dreams."

As of this writing, the final show is this Wednesday, and promises to be quite a big one. It has been promised that there will be a stage full of accompanying players (including Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald of The Ditty Bops)and a longer set time of 90 minutes (her shows usually don't run as long) Should be a good one.

As always, you can find more Jesca Hoop shows here.

To download, right-click and save-as:

1.)Whispering Light FLAC MP3
2.)My Boo FLAC MP3
3.)Intelligentactile 101 FLAC MP3
4.)Four Dreams FLAC MP3
5.)Money FLAC MP3
6.)Seed Of Wonder FLAC MP3
7.)Murder Of Birds FLAC MP3
8.)New Song FLAC MP3
9.)New Song FLAC MP3
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Jesca Hoop 4/09/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photos by Eric Meacham)

The second of four "farewell" April residency shows at The Hotel Cafe. As previously noted, Jesca Hoop is performing these shows as sort of a "goodbye" to Los Angeles before she moves to Manchester, England; and as a retrospective of her career of sorts.

The latter was well in evidence this night; as well as having Blake Mills accompany on guitar, Sasha Smith played piano on a couple of songs as well. I remember him playing shows with her a lot back in 2006/2007 (and part of 2005 as well), so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane so to speak.

The setlist was a bit of a varied one - some old, some new, and some newer. The aforementioned songs with Sasha Smith ("City Bird" and "Song For Ember") were a couple of never-released older tunes; the latter giving a nod to Jesca's ties to the city of Los Angeles. "Whispering Light" and "Murder Of Birds" are of a newer era, and according to Jesca may be on a future album. Oddly enough, only one song from Kismet was played ("Love and Love Again").

However, it's the more recent material that I found somewhat surprising. These songs (currently not sure of titles) almost suggest that Ms. Hoop may be heading for an "alternative rock" sort of sound - especially with "For/Four Dreams" (need to confirm title), which starts with "Come and bring your stereo". While these songs were played acoustically, you could definitely hear the rock edge peaking out.

As of press time, there is only one show left before she leaves the U.S., so if you're reading this - go.

As always, more Jesca Hoop shows can be found here.

To download, right click and save as.

1.)Whispering Light FLAC MP3
2.)My Boo FLAC MP3
3.)Murder Of Birds FLAC MP3
4.)Four Dreams FLAC MP3
5.)Song For Ember FLAC MP3
6.)City Bird FLAC MP3
7.)"New Song" FLAC MP3
8.)"New Song" FLAC MP3
9.)Love and Love Again FLAC MP3
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MD5
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Jesca Hoop 4/01/09 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

(Photo by Jeff Koga)

I was first introduced to (and basically first heard of) Jesca Hoop in early 2005, when The Ditty Bops opened for her at the now-shuttered Tangier's Restaurant. (which can be found here) I found it to be a good show, but I will admit it took me awhile to really "warm up" to her music (even though I continued to attend some of her shows)

I had not seen/recorded Jesca since July 2007 (when she opened for The Ditty Bops at The Fonda) Well, that's not technically true - I tried to see and record her at the Earth Day Festival in Topanga Canyon last year, but experienced battery failure. Anyway, when I heard Jesca was moving to Manchester, and that her four April residency shows at The Hotel Cafe may be her last in the U.S. for awhile, I knew I had to go.

For this show, Jesca was accompanied by Blake Mills on guitar (I know he's been performing with her for awhile, but this my first time seeing him with her) and Nicole Eva Emery on back-up vocals (also has been performing with her for some time, but again, I hadn't seen her with Jesca) I've seen Ms. Hoop in a variety of incarnations, from solo to full band to with just Sasha Smith on piano to with just The Ditty Bops on back-up vocals, and I've never been able to pick a favorite - they're all good in their own way.

This nights set focused a lot of Jesca's 2007 full-length debut album Kismet, with a couple of a newer songs "Murder Of Birds" and "My Boo," along with older, yet-unreleased "Whispering Light" For this entire residency, Ms. Hoop has promised to try to showcase "five years worth of material/performing in Los Angeles," so it will be interesting to see (as of press time) what the remaining shows bring.

For more Jesca Hoop live recordings, go here

To download, right-click and save-as.

1.)Murder Of Birds FLAC MP3
2.)My Boo FLAC MP3
3.)Intelligentactile 101 FLAC MP3
4.)Dreams In The Hollow FLAC MP3
5.)Summertime FLAC MP3
6.)Money FLAC MP3
7.)Enemy FLAC MP3
8.)Whispering Light FLAC MP3
9.)Seed Of Wonder FLAC MP3
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Sara Bareilles 5/19/06 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Another one from the archives.

I first heard of Sara Bareilles sometime in 2005, probably in association with the Hotel Cafe circuit. I didn't really know much about her at first - just that she was pretty popular within Los Angeles and especially with the UCLA crowd, and was about to/or in the midst of recording her first major label album. I didn't get to officially see her live until December 2005, during a very brief set at one of the Hotel Cafe's annual Christmas shows for charity. Saw her a few more times in 2006 and picked up her independently-released Careful Confessions. I did pick up the major-label release Little Voice in 2007, and have been sort of following her career, but haven't seen her live since '06.

The reason I'm posting this show (the three others were torrented awhile ago, maybe I'll put them up here eventually) is because of the track "Can't Change My Heart." At the time the show was recorded, I couldn't figure out what the song was called, and after I started releasing these shows, I pulled it out again to see if more information about it was released. After posting it on the Sara Bareilles message board, and after no else recognizing it, it was given the title "Can't Change My Heart" (don't know at the present time if it will turn up on a future album or elsewhere in some form)

Other notables include solo versions of "Undertow," "Love Song" and "Gravity," - plus Sara and Javier Dunn-only cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case Of You."

Anyway, this recording came out okay - crowd was very chatty and boisterous (this was the begginning of what is mostly now the norm at the Hotel Cafe), and despite "running openly" this could have come out better. Still listenable though and a worthwhile download though.

1.) "Intro" FLAC MP3
2.) Undertow FLAC MP3
3.) Love Song FLAC MP3
4.) Love On The Rocks FLAC MP3
5.) Fairytale FLAC MP3
6.) Can't Change My Heart (tentative title) FLAC MP3
7.) Little Voice FLAC MP3
8.) A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell cover) FLAC MP3
9.) Many The Miles FLAC MP3
10.) Gravity FLAC MP3
11.) Vegas FLAC MP3
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Artichoke Heart Souffle 3/07/09 - Synchronicity, Los Angeles, CA.

Artichoke Heart Souffle is another one of those bands I heard about in a roundabout way. Back in 2006, they were playing on a bill with Jesca Hoop at The Hotel Cafe (more about her in the future), and I thought that was an interesting name for a band. Unfortunately, I didn't make the show, but the name stuck and I made a mental note to check out their music later.

However, that ended up being quite awhile later - about 2 years later to be exact. Part of the reason it took so for me to see them was because they are (or were, not sure about this) based in Orange Country, and mostly played in that area. In the past, I've driven the long distances for concerts, but these days I've been finding it difficult to do so (fluctuating gas prices have also had an effect on this)

Anyway, I did finally see Artichoke Heart Souffle live last November at the New Image Art Gallery out here. Twas a good show, but due to the semantics of the venue I choose not to record that night. I did pick up their two releases (their self-titled debut and the more-recently released "Who You Know") and have been listening ever since.

Now we come to this recent show, which turned out to be someone's birthday party. Artichoke Heart Souffle were part of the line-up that included LA-based The Chapin Sisters . They played a good set of older and newer material, with covers of the Spice Girl's "Wannabe" (also on the debut album) and Whitney Houston's "So Emotional." Indie-folk-rock covers of pop songs almost always equal the awesomeness.

This one turned out pretty well I think, levels may somewhat extreme. (when I do post-mastering, I prefer not to try to "normalize" the music to a uniform level because it's distracts too much from how the show sounded in the first place) The last song of the night was performed unplugged, so it will sound quieter than the others.

1.) Fell In Love At The P.O. MP3
2.) Wannabe (Spice Girls cover) MP3
3.) Doctor MP3
4.) Who You Know MP3
5.) So Emotional (Whitney Houston cover) MP3
6.) The Coast MP3
7.) Icing On The Cake MP3
8.) Tarantula Hawk Wasp MP3
9.) Whatever It Takes (false start) MP3
10.) Whatever It Takes MP3
11.) Don't Confuse This MP3
12.) Sunup to Sundown MP3
13.) Love Makes You Soft MP3
Text File

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

The Oohlas 3/30/07 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

I don't really remember where I first heard of The Oohlas - it was probably online somewhere. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if I listened to any of their music before this show. Regardless, I liked the name of the band (yeah, not being very eloquate here) and they were part of a strong line-up at The Hotel Cafe that night (Carina Round, Kate Earl, and Laura Weinbach also played there that night) so off I went.

On this particular night, The Oohlas played acoustically. While I do love and listen to quite a bit of rock, I do love my acoustic music, and especially adore it when bands that are usually plugged in play in such a fashion because then I can have my cake and eat it too. I fully agree with the often-said opinion that acoustic music is usually the best way to hear music because to hear a song stripped down is to hear it in it's purest form.

Anyway, The Oohlas played a great acoustic set this night, and I immediately started liking their music. I later tracked down their very-good debut LP "Best Stop Pop," and saw them play a regular "plugged-in" show; however, I think they shine best in the live acoustic setting. Wish they would play that way more often.

1.) Tripped MP3
2.) Small Parts MP3
3.) TV Dinner MP3
4.) Gone MP3
5.) Octopus MP3
6.) Cahuenga Shuffle MP3
7.) Pollination MP3
8.) Across The Stars In Blue MP3
Text

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

Let's Go Sailing 3/02/08 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Let's Go Sailing is the indie-pop brainchild of Shana Levy, with an assorted cast of rotating band members (well, as far as I know) I first heard of them in conjunction with Bedroom Walls (now Fol Chen) a few years ago. I picked up the "Icicles" EP (which contain 3 demos that also ended up on their full-length "The Chaos Of Order," which was released in 2006 ) I eventually first saw them at a couple of their Spaceland residency (and LP release) shows in November 2006, and a few times thereafter.

This particular show was acoustic, and part of a line-up for "Rock and Run for Charity - A Benefit for People Assisting The Homeless." I have a few other Let's Go Sailing recordings, but this is definitely the one that sounds the best. Though, if their is a demand, I suppose I may put them up, we'll see.

1.) This Rope Is Long MP3
2.) Devil With The Devil MP3
3.) Icicles MP3
4.) It's As Clear MP3
5.) Better Off MP3
6.) Easy For You MP3
7.) Sideways MP3
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FLAC files available upon request (by e-mail)