Tribute to The Movies (Various Artists) 6/25/11 - The Satellite, Los Angeles, CA.

(Flyer from KogaFoto)

A few weeks ago (yes, I know, it's been awhile since the last post here - blame it on a combination of being sick/procrastination) "Tribute to The Movies" took place at The Satellite in Los Angeles. Several bands and artists came together to pay tribute to the now-defunct Los Angeles-based band The Movies. While our experiences with The Movies have been limited (we saw frontman Timothy James do a solo set over two years ago) they have been described as "legendary in Los Angeles" and "entirely idealized—purported to be larger than life." Regardless, it was a very emotional evening.

Due to the, er, boisterous nature of this event, this was a challenging show to record. Each band/artist was recorded and mastered separately (with fade ins and outs applied between each "set") - thus, sound levels will vary. The beginning of "Truth Knocking" was cut due to one of the night's performers who shall remain nameless whispering in my left ear. Approximately 14 seconds of "Get Your Macho Out" was cut due an audience member telling me, and I quote "The majority of those musicians on stage are completely unprofessional - why aren't you up there with them?" (yes, this really happened)

Photo gallery from the show
"Remembering The Movies Part I" (reflections on The Movies from tribute show performers)
"Remembering The Movies Part II"

Full show download here.

Death To Anders
1.) Rock in the Slingshot MP3

Scott Watson (Hall Of Fame)
2.) Midnight Bloody Murder MP3

3.) Secretariat MP3

Seasons
4.) Intro to... MP3
5.) Tired Of Being Superstitious MP3
6.) When I Was In Nam MP3

Light FM
7.) Missed Oportunities MP3

Brian Thornell (Wrong Way Driver)
8.) A Better Life MP3

Cardoza (feat. members of One Trick Pony and George Glass)
9.) Timothy James MP3
10.) Ed (I Can't Find Those Lyrics) MP3
11.) Autograph MP3

Manhattan Murder Mystery
12.) The Right Equipment MP3
13.) American Oil MP3
14.) The Kid Who Liked Christmas MP3

Sarah Negadari & Charlie Mahoney (The Happy Hollows)
15.) Limousine MP3

Brian Canning & Claire McKeown (Shadow Shadow Shade)
16.) Truth Knocking MP3
17.) Pass The Music MP3
18.) Monumental Life MP3

Amusement Parks On Fire
19.) Scary Footsteps MP3
20.) Creation Lake MP3

Wet and Reckless
21.) Intro to... MP3
22.) Don't Steal My Licks MP3
23.) If I Had the Cash MP3

"Encore Jam" (w/various performers of the night, plus guest vocalist Seamus Simpson of Smokers In Love)
24.) Get Your Macho Out MP3
25.) Scary Footsteps MP3

Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

Seasons 5/30/10 - Undercovered II, All-Star Lanes, Los Angeles, CA.

( Photo: Eliot Glass via Season's Myspace )

(First and foremost, I want to apologize for my longer-than I thought hiatus/lack of posting on the blog. "Real life" got kind of busy for awhile, and show-going/posting fell by the wayside. I hope to get back on track and try to remedy that for the time being.)

Last month, Seasons were part of the line-up for Undercovered II (where Los Angeles-area bands cover other Los Angeles-area bands)at All-Star Lanes, which included Rademacher (Malcolm Sosa solo), George Glass, The Hectors, and One Trick Pony. As the reader might recall, we fully covered this event in it's inaugural outing last year, and were looking forward to this year's presentation. In addition to an expanded number of bands playing, this event also served as an benefit for Huntington's disease research.

First up to play this evening was Seasons. Much has been written about the Highland Park band, ranging from being "one of the more ubiquitous bands in the L.A. scene. Their sound is a pure product of their influences, a fusion of indie rock, 80's synth, folk rock, and garage blues -- so if you're thinking Beck, you're in the right neighborhood" to "[they are a glorious mess.The seven- or (sometimes) eight-piece makes lovingly off-kilter neo-psychedelia full of palpable energy and exposed nerves, startlingly pretty one moment and earplug-worthy cacophonous the next. When these guys nail it they are calamitously good." Their set covered a range of beloved L.A.-area bands, including previously-posted The Movies, Castledoor, and The Monolators.

For an more in-depth report, check out Lord Growing's post about the night at The 704.

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) Energy Trade ( The Health Club ) MP3
3.) Get Your Macho Out ( The Movies ) MP3
4.) Remember When ( Castledoor ) MP3
5.) Ambulance ( Manhattan Murder Mystery ) MP3
6.) Eagle Fighting Zebra ( The Monolators ) MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available upon request.

The Movies 3/20/09 - Where Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo by Classical Geek Theatre)

It's weird, while I've been at shows where The Movies were on the bill, I never got to see them until now. I was familiar with the name, but never really got the opportunity to see them play live or listen to their music. However, with last Friday's performance at the final night of "Exposure", this has happily been remedied.

Keeping with the acoustic theme of these past four Friday nights at Where Gallery, The Movies frontman Tim James played half of the set solo, and the second half with bandmate Marcos Lopez on guitar. It was a short set, due to the fact that Mr. James had to be at work soon after he was done playing (he can be heard at various intervals counting down "I have to be at work in 20 minutes" "I have to be at work in 12 minutes" "I have to be at work in 5 minutes" - you get the idea) Regardless of the compacted set length, it was a good one showcasing some The Movies work.

This one came out pretty well, better than the recently posted Monolators recording, partially due to figuring out where the "sweet spot" was (the point in a room to best record and get the sound from), and should reflect how it sounded in the gallery that night.

1.) "Intro" MP3
2.) Pass The Music MP3
3.) ??? MP3
4.) "Improv" song MP3
5.) When I Was In Nam MP3
6.) Missed Opportunities MP3
Text File

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