Endless Sound

A Constant Conversation About Sound.

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Happy birthday, Trish!

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THIS ISN'T YOU IT'S JUST WHAT YOU DO DON'T MISTAKE THE IRONY OF CALLING IT A "LIVING" IF YOU FEEL LIKE NO ONE IF YOU FEEL LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE ONLY BEEN TAKING WHAT THEY'RE GIVING

Dillinger Four, from "A Floater Left With Pleasure In The Executive Washroom"

[jonathanweiner]

Descendents, Hermosa Beach, 2016.

Tonight, Descendents played a secret show in a small bar for Fletcher’s 50th birthday. They were kind enough to ask me to come document.

#descendents #whenigetold #milogoestohermosa #wookieturns50 #canon #jonathanweiner

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Had the high honor of seeing the Descendents play their first home town show in Hermosa Beach in almost twenty years last night. You can see me on the far right near Stephen.

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Gig #60 of 2015: Failure

On Tuesday, October 27th I had the chance to catch FAILURE at the Regent Theater in downtown LA. I saw the band at their first reunion show at the El Rey last year but was very excited for this one due to the addition of one time member Troy Van Leeuwen, who is currently a member of Queens of the Stone Age. This would also mark my first time seeing them performing material from their excellent new album “The Heart Is A Monster”. The addition of Troy helped to have a fully lush sound that just made one swoon. The new material sounded just as powerful live as anything from their catalog. It was interesting hearing the band split the set by performing most of the newer songs during the first half of the set and their classic material for the first half. One of my personal favorite moments was right near the end of the set when they played “I Can See Houses” which is the closing song on THIAM. It is worth noting that when the band played “Another Space Song” the audience practically swooned in unison. Absolutely see Failure with Troy if you can.

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If you’re a fan of the late and great Jazz pianist Bill Evans this video will be a must watch for you. Even if you aren’t already among the converted it’s worth watching to hear him explain the creative process. 

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Gig #59 of 2015: Dungen

Dungen 10/25/15 at The Echo

Last night, Sunday, October 25th, I had a chance to see Swedish band Dungen for the first time. I had a few of their earlier recorders and enjoyed them but it was their latest record “Allas Sak” that fully won me over. The Echo was completely packed for this sold out show. It seems like they could have easily filled the much larger Echoplex downstairs. The band played a proper headlining set that bordered on close to two hours. They drew heavily from the new record and dug deep into their catalog for the performance. There were times through their set where you could hear the band stretching out and improvising and not get lost in any noodley wankery. I particularly loved their drummer and his jazz styled musical flair. One of the musical elements that they brought that really highlighted the writing and musicianship was the use of flute on certain tracks. It didn’t get lost in the mix and could actually be heard rising through the mix. In a better world Dungen would be topping the charts everywhere. They truly are a wonderfully creative and powerful band. 

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Gig #58 of 2015: AM & Shawn Lee

Thursday, October 22nd I caught the soul/pop/funk/groove duo of AM & Shawn Lee at Mrs. Fish in downtown LA. I hadn’t seen them live since they were touring for their debut album “ Celestial Electric”. This was their first LA in some time and it was in support of their new LP “Outlines”. One of the things you notice about them and their backing band is just how unbelievably groove heavy the music is. It is definitely meant to get people moving and dancing. Of course, the songs themselves are catchy as hell. This particular evening they split their show into two sets with a short break in between. Mrs. Fish was decently packed pretty much the entire night. I really loved getting to hear the material from “Celestial Electric” again since it had been so long, as well as hearing the music from their second album “La Musique Numerique”. Great set from them this evening. 

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Gig #57 of 2015: Entrance Band

Paz and Derek of Entrance Band 10/21/15

This past Wednesday, October 21st I caught the Entrance Band at the Satellite in Silverlake. It had been some time time since I had seen the band but I was excited to see their hypnotic blend of psych-rock. The band is the brain child of frontman/guitarist Guy Blakeslee, though, in performance, the band is truly a group of equals. Watching them I come away with a sense of a trio of musicians who know each other and the music so intimately as to be able to pull off some truly stunning feats of improvisation and performance. They function so well as a living breathing unit. They played songs from their first record to the present and showed no signs of treating the music with anything less than urgency. 

Guy Blakeslee of Entrance Band 10/21/15

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Gig #’s 50 -56 of 2015: Rob Zabrecky, Van Halen, Miss Jupiter, Omniflux, Honey Child, FFS

Since things have been pretty busy around these parts I decided to do one mass post on recent gigs I’ve been to instead of the usual individual ones. With that being said, here we go!

Gig #50 : Rob Zabrecky (Friday, September 18th)

I caught Rob Zabrecky at the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood on Friday, September 18th. This was a very interesting show because it showcased Rob doing his full magic set for the first half of the performance and then went into his music set. His music set consisted of songs from an upcoming EP that he’ll be releasing soon as well as songs his time in Possum Dixon. I was extremely impressed by his ability to meld these two parts of his creative life into one extraordinarily entertaining night. I absolutely want to see more of both

Gig #51 : Van Halen (Friday, October 2nd)

I received a last minute invitation to catch Van Halen at the Hollywood Bowl for the first of two nights they would be appearing. I went largely out of curiosity to see one of the biggest rock bands of all time. I was a fan of the singles I’d heard over the year but was especially wanting to hear “Panama” which they ended up playing at the end of the night. The playing was tight and Eddie can shred as one would expect. David Lee Roth was by far my favorite part of the show. He’s truly the consummate Rock & Roll frontman. His banter alone is worth the admission. So yeah, I had a good time. 

Gig #52: Miss Jupiter (Monday, October 5th)

Caught Miss Jupiter on Monday, October 5th at Harvard & Stone at the far eastern edge of Hollywood. They had a fairly packed room as they went onstage that night. Their brand of psychedelic influenced rock had the crowd getting into it. Front-woman Michelle is great at interacting with the crowd when she’s performing. 

Gig #53: Omniflux (Saturday, October 10th)

I was originally going to see BATTLES at the Regent Theater on this particular evening but decided to see Omniflux at the Handbag Factory in downtown LA. I had been meaning to see her live for some time but things always would come up that kept me from making her shows. Her one woman band is fantastic. The music is dark and dancey and makes you forget that it’s just one person. She closed with the song “Lawless Flawless” which is a favorite of mine. As soon as her set was over I got in my car and made it towards my second show of the evening...

Gig #54: Honey Child (Saturday, October 10th)

To describe this gig as I arrived there I’ll include an excerpt from a message I sent to Honey Child mastermind Claire McKeown: “ I parked along one of the narrow streets and began walking over. It was a stillness that was calming, and in the midst of that I heard something. It took me a quick moment to realize what it was. It was a choir of voices flowing through the night air. As I walked closer the sound only became clearer and more present. Finally, I see the assembled Honey Child choir beneathe the lit tree. That has to be one of my new favorite memories of seeing live music in LA.”

It was a truly beautiful sight to see Honey Child within the late night neighborhood confines of LA. The music was truly gorgeous as was the setting of the show, under a tree in someones backyard. This was absolutely unforgettable for me. 

Gig #55: FFS (Franz Ferdinand & Sparks - Tuesday, October 13th)

FFS post gig teardown of gear.

I was highly anticipating the FFS show at The Wiltern for some time. Their self-titled album is one of the best things that has come out this year. As brilliant as the record is the material is even better live. They opened up with my personal favorite “Johnny Delusional” and then proceeded to go through pretty much the entire record as well as several songs from both the Sparks and Franz Ferdinand catalog. The crowd was in great spirits and having a dancey fun time. They definitely are a contender for best album / best gig of the year from me.

Gig #56: Miss Jupiter (Monday, October 19th)

I decided to take a last minute jaunt to catch Miss Jupiter at Davey Waynes in Hollywood. Instead of getting there right in time to catch then it turns out the show was running late. No matter, when they went on they played to a good crowd and it may very well have been the tightest of the three shows of theirs I’ve seen. I’m not sure what the name of the last song in their set was on this night but it was probably my favorite and is pretty bass driven.

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So there you go! All caught up with recent gigs I’ve been to.

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IKEY OWENS FOREVER

I can’t believe it has been a year since the world lost the immense talent of Ikey Owens. I had a chance to go from knowing him as a musician I loved to someone in the same music scene as him, working with our respective bands. There are many small memories I have of him. Mentally, I still expect to run into him at shows around town or maybe see Free Moral Agents at a gig. The world truly lost one of the greats when it lost him. Ikey, you’ll always be missed. Not just for the music you created but for the example you set to those around you.

You’re now part of the endless well of creativity we all pull from.

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Gig #49 of 2015: El Vez

On Friday, September 11th I had a chance to catch a free show at the Levitt Pavilion in LA featuring EL VEZ. The preeminent latino Elvis impersonator really isn’t doing an impersonation as much as reinterpreting the persona. The music is fun, engaging, funny, tightly played, and takes on a humorous political dimension. This is the kind of act that is absolutely perfect for an LA crowd. I was honestly impressed with every facet of the performance and the amount of thought that had to go in it’s planning and execution. Absolutely go see El Vez if you have the chance to.

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Metric - The Shade

Absolutely digging the new record by Metric, “Pagans In Vegas”. “The Shade” is an undeniably hook laden song that just embeds into your mind. Love the fact that the video is shot here in LA and references a few places I know.  

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Happy Birthday, John Coltrane! "Om" was recorded towards the end of his life and was released posthumously on Impulse Records. It features an expanded version of his classic quartet and is half an hour of visceral and spiritually charged playing that seems to be pushing to pure ecstatic release. It can be a difficult listen but I believe it to be a rewarding one if given an open mind. May we all have the courage and strength to be as relentlessly searching in our lives as John Coltrane was.

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BATTLES - The Yabba

After a four year absence Battles just released their new record “LA DI DA DI” as well as a corresponding video for the lead off track “The Yabba”. The visual spectacle of the band is still very much in place with this highly stylized and mind bending video. It’s everything you would want and expect from the band with a little also tossed in.

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Eels - Theme For A Pretty Girl That Makes You Believe God Exists

A beautiful and brief instrumental interlude from the Eels record “Blinking Lights and Other Revelations”. The title really says it all.

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Gig #48 of 2015: Gabe Hart

This past Sunday, September 6th I managed to catch Gabe Hart of Jail Weddings do a brief acoustic performance at the Redwood Bar in downtown LA. I had never been there so early (it was 3pm) but spending that bit of daylight in the darkened room seemed to add to the ambience of the performance. Gabe’s performance had all the commanding strength of what he does when fronting Jail Weddings but with an added sense of vulnerability. I suppose I could sum up the set with one of the lines he sung that afternoon: “Well, excuse me if I break my own heart tonight...”

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FFS (Franz Ferdinand + Sparks) - Johnny Delusional

I can safely say that “Johnny Delusional” is one of the catchiest songs you’ll hear today, if not the catchiest one, if you just hit play. The entire collaborative record between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks bubbles over with witty lyrics and irresistible hooks over music with a supremely danceable air. HIGHLY recommended.