I suppose it’s my own naivete and my own fault, but I’ve never really seen any pictures of the band Clinic, so I had no idea what to expect visually. I can tell you that what I imagined (tall skinny lads in skinnier jeans and messy hair) is not at all what came walking out on stage last night. What came out on stage was, in fact, Tommy Bahama and the Sunshine Gang, as all four band members ambled out in fully patterned Hawaiian shirts, crew cuts, and…whaaa? Medical masks. Ok. I guess it’s part of their schtick, but seriously…Hawaiian shirts?
But unlike my experience at the Tommy Bahama restaurant, I wasn’t judging Clinic based on appearances alone, because I am familiar with their music and fully expected them to deliver. And they did. But I never fully got over the visual incongruence.
You know, every time I think I have this concert thing down to a finely tuned art, something or someone goes and throws a wrench in my perfectly laid plans. Sometimes it’s the venue; other times it’s the parking, or accidentally getting tossed (as James brilliantly pointed out yesterday), or, I guess, actually getting tossed out of the show (which has never happened to me, but heck, I can imagine. Sucks to be THAT guy).
Last night, Jess and I roused ourselves from our 8 p.m. naps and declared that we are STILL. YOUNG. DAGNABBIT. And headed to the Troubadour to check out Destroyer (Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers’ side project). Bejar’s elliptical yelps and swooning guitar drive his latest album, Trouble in Dreams, and it was precisely the hope of some comparatively driving live performance that caused us to plunk down our pennies as well as our first born to Ticketmaster and drive all the way out to the Westside (more or less) at 10 p.m. on a Monday night. A snagged spot on Robertson and a whiskey sour later, we wedged ourselves in the back, near the bar (a mistake I vow not to make again, if only for the annoyance of having to shuffle to the side every time a sweaty hipster nursing a hef needs to use the loo). While pushing through the crowds, I was halted by a traffic jam (and since no one really makes eye contact at these gigs, you sort of just wait until someone shoves through and proceed on your merry way). Caught between a post and a paunch, the owner of said 45-year-old gut grinned and slurred, “You can schtand neshxt to me all you want.”
On our list of top 10 artist to watch, Santogold is headed toward the top with a bullet. Philadelphia born producer turned songwriter, Santi White, delivers a mix of M.I.A. and Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), vocals swirling around in solid gold beats. The former Stiffed front woman is currently breaking ground with her songs creeping into your consciousness through everything from beer commercials to video games.
After paying the bills writing pop hits for Ashlee Simpson and Lily Allen, Santogold took a chance and broke out on her own getting to picked up to tour with Bjork. When asked about her influences, Santogold says she is inspired by 1980s pop music especially, “I felt that a lot of pop music from the ’80s had a depth to it, and I hope to bring back some more good pop songs.”
The ever diverse Tim Fight has released his fifth full length album, his second under his current contract with Anti Records. On February 20th, 2007 Fite released his album Over the Counter Culture for free. The album contained a wealth of samples from other artists and voiced Fite’s contempt for the status quo. While he may not have been able to release the album for profit, Fite was the first among many artists to promote his work with a free internet only release. With his latest release, Fite is still damning the man to some extent. This album is more eclectic and seems to draw inspiration from hip pop, folk, americana, and indie rock all at the same time… if that is even possible.
Tim Fite will be taking on Los Angeles on May 21st at the Troubadoure with headliner Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches. We’ll definitely be there.
Where were you on Monday, May 5th at 12:00 A.M.? Hopefully (just like me) losing sleep and downloading the absolutely free NIN album, the slip, at nin.com. Marketing and musical genius Trent Reznor has done it again, but this time he’s giving back to all us loyal fans by ’slipping’ the album for no cash exchange whatsoever. The final digital product comes complete with album art and lyrics. Each song has its very own simple logo that conveniently displays itself on your iPod screen during the song. Can’t do without your physical copy in this budding digital music age? Vinyl and CD formats will be available for purchase in July.
As you probably already know, the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is this weekend. This has become the defacto west coast jam over the last few years, and this year the purple one himself, Prince will be reigning down on saturday night.
In all honestly though, we kinda liked it better when it was just one day of cream of the crop talent, because-
A. It’s in the middle of the frickin desert.
and
B. Where as it used to be all the indie A listers for any given year, there are so many slots to fill over 3 days you get into a lot of B and C list territory (Dwight Yoakam??? Where are the Arcade Fire and LCD Sound System?).
Never the less, there are no doubt quite a few great acts to catch, with of course the inevitable over laps (who’s the jack ass that put JUSTICE and Chromeo in the same time slot?). But we’ll be sure and post our pix next week in case you can’t make it. For those of you who can and get some good photos, be sure and send your best shots to submissions@neublack.com and tell everyone else “Doooooode, (your favorite band) was sick, you shoulda been there.”
While everyone wants to be a rock star, very few can pull off leather pants, or the “Steven Tyler Look” (an assortment of interlocking scarves). For a classier breed of rocker-wear, try Sorum Noce.
Housed in a chandeliered gents’ boudoir, SN comes from the seemingly random pairing of fashionisto Max Noce (Valentino, D&G) and Zildjianisto Matt Sorum (G N’ R, The Cult, and the recently Weiland-bereft Velvet Revolver). The gear’s all custom-fitted, and rests on Noce’s timeless inspiration — “elegant, English tailored, black, and small” — but draws rock from the likes of Thin-White-Duke-era Bowie and Depeche Mode, who wore black, and were small. Pieces range from silk-lined vests and suit jackets with working-button sleeves, to polka-dotted button ups, to leather jackets conforming to a Slash-requested design: Italian zippers on the sides, and an extra-wide pocket for his lighter and Gitanes.
On April 22, SN’s hosting a Brent Bolthouse-organized opening party, and through the summer will be projecting flicks on the wall of a small adjacent courtyard — so if you’re caught wearing scarves, you can just say you’re emulating Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Considering their reputation with publicity and interviews, I wonder how many Pitchfork executives it took to convince Radiohead to do an exclusive performance for the newly launched station. Needless to say I was pleased to see the video up. Radiohead is as sharp as ever and look to be happily promoting their new album. Click here to view the full video on Pitchfork.tv Read the rest of this entry »
We know our relationship has grown a lot lately, and the more time we spend together the more we want to get to know you. So please tell us a little bit about yourself through extremely brief our readership survey. Let us know what you like about us and you can win a laser engraved Moleskin notebook by Engrave.com
Isaiah Saxon and Sean Hellfritsch of San Francisco based Encyclopedia Pictura took it upon themselves to create a 3D Stereoscopic Music Video for Bjork’s new song, Wanderlust. The Wanderlust single, due out April 14 from One Little Indian, will include a DVD of the piece and 3D glasses. You can read more about the technical process here. Read the rest of this entry »
The ever diverse 
As you probably already know, the 
LATEST POSTS