Indie Mix 13

"Cliff House." Awesome art by Andrew Bannecker.  Check out more of his work at his site, located here.

*Clears cobwebs and stumbles into the room*  Uhhh.....hello.  So, I was just listening to Tres Ouias' more mellow mix the other day and thinking this guy has good taste and that I haven't listened to a ton of new music lately.  I wonder if Tres Ouias has any that he would like to share with me.  I sent out a carrier pigeon to touch base with him and he told me he just made a mix for baby Tres Ouias and that he would post it in a bit.  Post it I thought?  Why post...ohhh that's right, we used to run a music blog.  I told him that I had just finished a couple of mixes and that I had just planned on emailing him but if he is going to post his newest mix, I guess i could dust off the old blogging gloves as well.

This is another under the influence headphone kind of mix.  I was listening in the car while sober and it was not quite the same as having this stuff pumped directly into your ear hole.  Especially with the early part of the mix.  Kind of slow pretty, richly textured stuff.  Let me just say that this mix does not bump, it caresses.

There are lot of familiar names on this mix, a couple tracks from Blind Pilot's newest album, Port O'brien, The Morning Benders, We Are Trees, even Big Phony and Damien Jurado who may have first appeared 12 Indie Mixes ago.

Samples, download link, and tracklist behind the jump or just grab the mix here.

Upcoming Shows

May

I have loved the Roots since I was a wee lad in high school.  They always have a great live show with more than competent musicianship and delivery.  If you have never seen them live then you need to correct that situation.  The Roots have a show at the Regency Ballroom on Monday, May 28th.  Tickets range from $63-91 including service charges.  Grab them here


June

Have you guys heard of Mayer Hawthorne?  Mayer has a headlining show at the Fillmore on, Saturday, June 16th.  Tickets will be $35 after service charges and will be available to purchase right here. (That show is now sold out)  He will also have a show with Foster The People as the headliners on Friday, June 29th at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Tickets for that will be $37.50 and they are available here.

Action Bronson, who is all over my hip hop mixes and sounds like a long lost member of Wu-Tang is coming to the Bay for a show at the Independent on Wednesday, June 13th.  Tickets are at college level prices, clocking in at $15.  It should be a good show...too bad it's on a Wednesday, and I am old.  Seriously worth checking out though if you aren't lame. Get tickets here.

Lyrics Born and the whole Quannum crew got a lot of playing time in our college rotation.  Though I think he could use some major label influence to rein in his weirdness I am not mad at him for doing his thing.  One time I went to a Lyrics Born concert by myself when I was in Tahoe with my family and randomly saw his name on the marquee.  I was also there at one of his first solo concerts where he was out of breath, kept stalling and after the encore said, "That's it" and quickly left the stage.  So we have history and I will always root for him to succeed.  It's nice to see a local, still on his grind and doing what he loves to do.  The show is at the Independent on Saturday, June 16th and you can get tickets for $25 here.


July

Blind Pilot is back if you missed them the last time they were in town...like me.  I totally didn't go to that last  show...I even had tickets that I didn't end up using because it was raining, the show was in the city and there was a UFC fight available with the click of a button in the comfort of my living room.  The show is on Friday, July 6th.  So, maybe I'll make it to this one, no promises though.  Tickets are $32.50 including service charges and you can get them here.


Al Green will be performing at the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on Saturday, July 14th.  Tickets range from $58-$117, that's including the service charges though.  I feel like if you haven't seen Al you should probably get on that.  Admittedly the last time I saw him, it was not good.  The crowd got a bit rowdy, yelling at him, some people even walked out.  It was his last tour stop though so he could have been just coasting through his final show after a long stretch of time on the road.  He barely sang, allowing his back up singers and the crowd to do the heavy lifting, eliciting comments from peeved audience members like, "We paid to hear you sing!!!"  Despite all this...it's Al Green!!! He is so smiley and his stage banter is terrific.  Go see him, he is old, don't live with the regret of not seeing him.  I am still mad I didn't make the drive to Reno to see James Brown in person.  Grab tickets here.

The day after Al Green's show, that would be Sunday July 15th, Aesop Rock will be playing at the Fillmore.  Tickets are $32.50 including service charges.  Aesop is weird.  I have no idea what he raps about, he is the prototypical backpack rapper.  Lofty lyrics that could be genius or complete bullshit.  His studio production lacks structure, try and head nod and your neck will stutter and you may pull a muscle.  With that being said, he puts on a nice live show, the beats are sped up, the rhythm comes through and surprisingly you don't just stand there leafing through your thesaurus trying to figure out what the fuck he is saying.  Support the real!!  Brap Brap!!  Get tickets here.

Waters is the former front man of Oakland band, Port O'brien.  I love me some Port O'brien, I was sad to hear that they had broken up, but they gave us at least two solid albums that I still listen to today.  Now Waters is on his own and will be playing the Brick and Mortar in San Francisco.  The show is on Wednesday, July 18th and the tickets range from $10-12.  I haven't heard a ton from this new project but I am a staunch supporter of his previous endeavors.  Also with tickets priced like that it is probably worth checking out.  Grab tickets here.

Album Review: Blind Pilot

I have had the new Blind Pilot album for a little over a month now.  When I first heard it I can't say I immediately loved it.  Actually let me show you what I wrote in an email to Tres Ouais.

"It's only ten tracks and 38 minutes so I was able to give it a listen last night.  It's not as good as the last album.  It seems like they are happier, which is good for them, but I liked the sad yearning melancholy songs off the last album.  

The instrumentals lean more towards country and they don't seem as nuanced or intimate to me.  I thought the last album had a great stripped down, slow build tempo.  This seems more jangly and seems like it comes from all angles, several layers that blend with each other and sort of get in the way.  I'll have to give it another listen, it's better than a lot of what's going on but it's not the greatest thing ever."


Yeah...don't email me about a new album unless you want a pompous dissection of said album.  *Adjusts ascot*  I haven't dedicated a huge amount of more time listening to it, but from what I have heard I don't really know what I was talking about the first time.  My new review is that  it sounds like a pretty solid album.  I was totally head over heels in love with their last album so I may have approached the first listen expecting to be let down.  I stand by the not as good as the last album statement, but there are some really good songs on the new one.  I think from now on I will just recommend albums and not review them. You can grab the new album from their site here.  Don't forget that they are playing the Great American Music Hall on Saturday, November 19th. You can grab tickets for $18 here.

Live video of one of my favorites off of the new album, "White Apple."


One of the happier ones and the title track, "We Are The Tide."


Bonus: "Ovideo" off of their last album, "3 Rounds and A Sound." Uhhh, that album was so good.

Upcoming Shows

September
Fleet Foxes are playing the Greek theater in Berkeley on Saturday September 10th. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges and can be found here.

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.

Zion-I, who are always playing around here.  They live in Oakland after all, will be playing the Fillmore on Friday, September 16th.  The show is always worth going to, tickets are $35 including service charges and are available here.




Bon Iver will be at the Greek as well on Thursday, September 22nd. Tickets are $39.50 plus service charges, grab them here.

TV On The Radio will be at the Fox theater in Oakland. I like the Fox a lot more than the Greek. Much more intimate, the Greek is awesome, it's just so big. Anyway, they will be here on Tuesday, September 27th. $35 plus charges. Get yo tickets here.

Braids who I am a big fan of will be at The Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco. Their show is on Tuesday, September 27th, the same night as the TV On The Radio show. Tickets are $10 and you can get them here.

Braids - Plath Heart from blair neal on Vimeo.

October

Toro Y Moi has a two show stint at the Great American Music Hall.  Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd.  $21 tickets are available here

On October 8th and 9th, Girls and Sonny and the Sunsets will be at the Great American Music Hall.  This should be an excellent show. Tickets are $20 and are available here

The Drums are playing the Independent on Friday October 14th.  Tickets are $15 and are available here. The Drums have previously been featured on a couple of Indie mixes, specifically Indie Mix 5.

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, whom I still carry a very bright torch for will be at the Independent on, Sunday October 16th.  I think I can safely put this in the will definitely attend category.  Also in addition to them being awesome, the tickets are only $16.  Grab them here.

November

Lykke Li will be at the Fox Theater on Wednesday, November 9th.  Tickets are $35.  Grab them here.  I like to change the lyrics of her song, "I'm your prostitute," into a kid friendly song called, "I'm your bandicoot." I may attend just to pitch her the idea and show her my costume.

I am a big fan of Blind Pilot. I will be going to this one for sure.  They are playing the Great American Music Hall on Saturday, November 19th. Grab tickets for $18 here.

Duuuuude *bong rip*

Whoa this is awesome. When I was in college we used to try and find some sort of synchronicity like this.  We had old Disney VHS tapes and hip hop mixes.  We were searching for that, Wizard Of Oz/The Wall, moment.  I think the closest we got was, "Hee hee, Balloo is dancing to Blackalicious."  This guy does it much better.  Levek aka David Levesque, is a musician, artist and videographer from Orlando.

Nice write up on Levek, two tracks to download and a video for one of his originals, here at iguessimfloating.blogspot.com.

Here is where I happened to stumble upon the video.  Matt Carr's  http://www.everybodytaste.com/.  You guys should definitely check it out, it's an actual music blog.  Unlike some people...he is knowledgeable, he doesn't just steal other people's music, and he has good taste and write ups.  I think the blog is based out of Portland too, which is a place I romanticize. After all I am just a small town girl, living in a lonely world.