Bonobo/Tokimonsta on Black Friday

On Friday night big names were glowing on the marquees of Los Angeles. Dawes was back in town at the El Rey. Pretty Lights was rolling hard at the Wiltern, and Bonobo assembled an orchestra for his show at the Music Box. You can only imagine the struggle I went through to decide which one of these events to attend. Thanks to SUPERGOODMUSIC, no blood was lost during my internal battle.

Friday, 9:15 PM rolls around. I arrive at the Music Box and the line has reached around the building. The "think before you print" mantra saves the earth but wastes my time. Not having a hard copy of my ticket set me back 40 minutes due to will call moving slower than my lazy brother. (love you!) I shouldn't even be complaining - I was on guest list. Ha!

Once inside I was greeted with straight up noise. Tokimonsta was rocking her groove and, despite technical difficulties, she kept the crowd warm. Her transitions kept you on your toes; some of her mashups came from left field – but the shakers loved it. Its nice to see a girl DJ every once in a while. Represent.

However, every damn person in that theatre was there to see one man and one man only, Simon Green. You know him better as Bonobo. Correction - you had Bonobo (a full band + then some). A keyboardist/synthesist, drummer, vocalist, harpist, saxophonist and other wind instruments I won't even attempt to name, all enveloped the stage and made sweet music like it was nobody's business. This guy has been jamming for a decade; you can hear his soul hasn't aged a beat.

His sound is fresh and clean. SO fresh and so clean. Bonobo manipulated live instruments while people would walk on & off stage depending on whether or not a song required their talent. Every so often he came out and played his acoustic & the crowd would go nuts. The man conducted hue musicians & your emotions to give you a beautiful - never to be forgotten - Bonobo experience.

- post submitted by Sheida Mohammed (@ohsheida); THANKS SHEIDA

The BV Ramble is TONIGHT!

It is technically "holiday season" and Los Angeles is already getting its fair share of presents in the form of music. Sure, Roger Waters is performing tonight - but if you aren't already committed to that - look no further than the Bag of Vagabonds Ramble going down in Santa Monica.

Local favorites of mine Risers are hitting The Basement at 2640 Main Street (also known as The Victorian) and are joined by Gamble House, Hi Ho Silver Oh, The Drakes, LA Font, Fatty Dearest and Gentle Hands. Oh yeah, and Voxhaul Broadcast was just added!

Its rare that such a smoking line-up of rising indie graces a westside stage, but maybe this Midnight Ramble spells a changing of the times....or maybe it is just a special present for the westside. Who knows?

What I do know is that you shouldn't miss The BV Ramble. Its free with RSVP (hit up sirfrancisdrake@bagavagabonds.com), drinks will be cheap and the festivities run from 7 pm - 1 am. There will be food trucks and live art, screen printing and even an area to donate clothing and shoes to benefit the Tashirat Orphanage.

You can found out even more about the event here - http://www.bagavagabonds.com/art-explosions/

AND, just for the sake of being a historian, The BV Ramble derives its name from Levon Helm's famed series of "Midnight Ramble" sit ins where the famous member of The Band would invite musicians old and new to to sit in and get dirty with music, jokes and dancing. The sessions would turn out cool takes on standards as well as originals from the participating musicians. In tune with the tradition of the rock legends midnight parties, Bag of Vagabonds has adopted the format for their very own party - The BV Ramble.

'Tis The Season...

We hope you all had fantastic Thanksgiving weekends. Since its not yet Hannukah or Christmas, you may not have gotten the gifts you were hoping for yet.....and we're here to help with the gift of music. FREE MUSIC.

FREE MUSIC can come in the form of concert tickets or free downloads or just a free CD or a free flashdrive with music loaded on it. There are definitely more than a handful of other ways to get FREE MUSIC that I haven't even mentioned. Mention another way you can get FREE MUSIC in the comments section, or on our facebook page or mention us in a tweet on twitter (@supergoodmusic) and you could get some FREE MUSIC just for being part of the SUPERGOODMUSIC family.

We've got tickets for:

Taylor Locke & The Roughs at The Mint on Tuesday November 30th - Adam Bones, The Trews and The Wellingtons support.

John Butler Trio at The Wiltern on December 2nd.

Charlie Hunter Trio at The Mint on December 3rd and 4th.

Marco Benevento at The Mint on December 5th with support from Kashmere and Rami Dearist.

We've also got giveaways coming up for Reckless Kelly, The Bad Plus, Iration, Tomorrow's Bad Seeds and more - so check back soon!

Electro Jump Off Tonight in LA

There are some wild, wild, wild electronic/dance themed music events going on tonight in Los Angeles - but two that are in contention for hottest ticket of the night (IMO).

I'm talking about the return of Check Yo Ponytail at Echoplex and The Steves Birthday at Dim Mak Tuesdays at Cinespace.

Check Yo Ponytail 2 comes to Echoplex with Midnight Juggernauts, The Naked & Famous, Doorly and Diamond Rings for its very first installment. The event, being hosted by Franki Chan's IHEARTCOMIX and Danny United's Media Contender, is already slated to go down every other Tuesday - with some equally heavy line-ups to follow in the coming weeks.

That said - it is probably a safe bet that these two fun powerhouses won't disappoint their first night crowd. They likely have brought in some unspecified guest or guests for an appearance, not to mention their own banging crews.

Just a little bit West, you might expect Dim Mak to host just an ordinary DMT at Cinespace during the week that many L.A. transplants return home, BUT they are doing anything but - bringing in heavy hitter Etienne De Crecy at 11 pm to ignite Steve Aoki's birthday party. With a publicized statement from Dim Mak stating "you will probably never see these guests together in one night, so close" - it is kind of tough to not be curious who these special acts might be.

If curiosity is killing you, I highly recommend you rush to Cinespace and do whatever is necessary to get into the sold out event - if you are an LCD Soundsystem and/or James Murphy fan, you may just be happy you did it because there is a rumor circulating that James Murphy might actually be in the house at one of these events!

Not only are these two bad ass line-ups and some guaranteed parties, but if either includes an impromptu performance from Mr. Murphy somewhere tonight, I would literally steal your Thanksgiving dinner to be there....

East Coast Rappers Sell Out West Coast's The Roxy

On Friday November 12th, 2010, hip-hop veteran Ghostface Killah, hip-hop journeyman Sheek Louch and the up and coming Hebrew hip-hop hipster Kosha Dillz sold out The Roxy for a quintessential rap show.

With the crowd steadily lining up on Sunset Blvd. long before doors, and Kosha Dillz razzing people while they waited with incarceration stories and tales of how he became an NBA 2K11 character - you could anticipate something exciting to come.

Kosha, who'd been hopped up in a studio in Echo Park working on his second full length album, brought the excitement with the live debut of some new tracks and a handful of his freestyle antics. In addition to the performance premier of "Sweatpants Song" and a wicked out your pockets freestyle (video below) featuring shout outs to The Roxy, The Viper Room, Guru and even an L.A. Dodgers' Daryl Strawberry, Kosha Dillz dropped his first album hits "Doo Doo" and "L.A. Ish" for the growing crowd of Los Angelenos.

He closed it out with a brief sample of his recent song with RZA and Kool G Rap - and then joined a growing crew on stage for some of Frank Dukes beats. Chopping it up backstage and in VIP were a handful of Wu family - including Ol Dirty Bastard's cousin and Cappadonna, Sheek Louch's crew, young photographer/cinematographer Ron Polk and even Married With Children's David Faustino.

The crowd was certainly at capacity for Sheek Louch - who played new music, as well as old, like The Lox banger "Money, Power, Respect." A heavy hype-man, who very well could have been an accomplished MC whose name I don't know, also held things down. Sheek and his team had the crowd marinating on hard original hip-hop for over forty minutes, possibly to keep the crowd from losing interest during the delay that followed before Ghostface Killah took the stage.

In classic Wu Tang Clan and affiliates fashion, Mr. Ghostface took stage at 1:25 a.m. for a show whose doors technically close at 2. The crowd's impatience quickly turned to enthusiasm once Ghostface took the mic. Rocking the crowd, he shed his classic looking down jacket and proceeded to rip through classics (I wish I could remember which ones...).

The entourage was thick, and grew consistently throughout the set; women and Wu crew were paraded on stage with relative ease. At one point, Cappadonna joined him, dropping some devestating "Hot 97 Mentality," before the set wrapped up about thirty minutes after it began.

As the packed house spilled out of the venue, you could hear the rumblings of fans wishing they'd had just a bit more time with Tony Starks, but nonetheless happy they witnessed his magic.

When the fans want to see you do more cuts....you know you did a good job. Thanks to The Roxy, Ghostface Killah, Sheek and Kosha for a SUPERGOOD night.

Fallon Covers "Whip My Hair" w/ Bruce Springsteen

Sorry I missed this one live, but glad it buzzed enough in the blogosphere to reach my e-mailbox.

As always, Jimmy Fallon delivers an impressive impersonation of Neil Young, but the inclusion of The Boss really makes this cover a must see...

Coachella Rumors????

I really hope that someone from within Goldenvoice made this video, because that would be hilarious. I love it - viral video rumors about Daft Punk performing...

Fitz & The Tantrums are COMING!!!!

Oh yes, WEDNESDAY night is almost here....which means it is less than 48 hours until Fitz & The Tantrums blow at least a few hundred peoples minds at El Rey Theatre.

You're hearing their music everywhere now, as a recommendation on a Sprint commercial (I think that is the commercial "Winds of Change" was in), to your homie's girlfriends I-Pod, to KROQ, to in your head when you are dreaming. Why? Cause their music is damn infectious.

Get sick to this....

"Me and My Shadow" - Jeff Goldbloom & James King

Totally miscellaneous post. I just saw this video on youtube and found it enjoyable.

VENICE BEACH - FUTURECOP!

Peter Carrol and Manzur Iqbal, better known to most as FutureCop!, just leaked some of their latest music to the blog community - including the track "Venice Beach" which I was happy to premier to the world in The Concert Blast that went out earlier today.

Anyhow, the track is catchy, fun, danceable and has a quintessential L.A. essence too it. I only hope they come back to the states, and more importantly, California, to rock this single live for us because I loved seeing these guys perform and get the electro-pop party jumping when they were here with Keith Masters in April.

Download the song here - http://www.mediafire.com/?obnynaees4s6iq2

Check out the 80s esque video too:

Young The Giant Record Release Show

Young The Giant, a rapidly rising band hailing from Los Angeles, stopped into The Roxy this past weekend on their tour to dose the crowd with their infectious indie rock and offer their debut record for sale before its official release. I indulged in both :D

Having never seen this outfit since they changed their name to Young The Giant (the band was formerly The Jakes until late 2009), I was excited given everything I'd heard in passing and from their tunes I'd caught online and on the radio. "My Body" clearly comes to mind - and they gave an epic raucous animated performance of that song to close out their show. KROQ listeners in their 20s were screaming the lyrics, throwing their fists in the air and having the closest thing to an indie-rock mosh pit possible ... basically a mild lack of body control - mostly due to drunken excitement.

Sameer Gadhia - Young The Giant

BUT, the rest of their material was worthy of any indie-rockers playlist and, quite frankly, in a live setting, just as good as their single. Simply put, Sameer Gadhia and his clan rocked the shit out of The Roxy. Enough to convince me to buy their debut LP (even though I imagine they would have given it to me for free had they known that I would write them this stellar review).

The album fucking rocks.

"My Body," their lead single, with its bass heavy beginning, is the second track. It is preceded by "Apartment" - which is not what led me to my above statement, but is pleasant nonetheless.

The sexy and catchy single is followed by "I Got" - which is led by a sweet and easy guitar chord progression and beautiful vocals from Sameer. The song is not aggressive, but unlike too much indie rock these days, it is not so soft that you can't dance or sway to it. It has enough to keep you interested, and as a whole, is actually a beautiful song. They also nailed it in concert.

"Cough Syrup" is track four. This ballad is driven by drums that compliment the play between the band's two non-bass guitarists. It is followed by "God Made Man" - highlighted by a slow build up in the beginning that breaks out into an emotional and inspiring chorus.

"12 Fingers" is next and then "Strings" - which showcases the group sharing vocal duties. The recorded version of the track has a slightly dreamy, ocean breeze feel to it - something I did not feel/hear at the show. "Your Side" continues the dreamy like melodic themes of 12 Fingers. Also very enjoyable. "Galands" follows and has a lot of emotion and energy - as well guitar and vocal play that might excite jamband fans.

The next cut, "St. Walker," is a departure from the mood of their previous songs. The song feels like it has more angst and tension. The rhythm is faster and the singing has more overall range. Whereas the majority of their pieces are soft to their ears, the syncopation of "St. Walker" creates a markedly different effect on me as a listener. That changed experience quickly returns to mellow mood indie rock with the slow developing "Islands," the albums second to last track.

"Islands" is probably the one track that doesn't resonate with me. It doesn't really get moving until over halfway through the song when the drums come in. And, although it build beautifully from there on, my ears are too impatient to wait two minutes for the song to get there.

The album closes with "Guns Out" - a well composed ending track that highlights all the bands great characteristics - the chemistry of the guitar players, Sameer's beautiful voice and the drummers perfectly timed switches from symbol bashing to snare clapping.

All in all - the album is a great and pleasant listen. Its not fast indie rock and it is not slow indie rock - it is not drowned in sadness indie rock and it is not happy two-steppers indie rock either. It is a nice mixture and blend of a variety of musical influences that results in a collective masterpiece despite.

While I do think the album is great - none of the recordings, with the exception of "My Body" unleash the rawness that this band possesses live. Quite honestly, these guys really need to be seen to understand their recent rise to success and why they may just be one of the most talked about bands of 2011.

All pictures on gratis license courtesy of Brandon Dorsky. Please provide attribution to Brandon Dorsky and www.supergoodmusic.com should you use the photos.

Moustache Mondays at La Cita

Diplo is going to be in the house for Sam Sparro's B-Day party at La Cita tonight! This is going to be a wicked jam. I wish I didn't have so many obligations because I would go earlier to make it for free time (before 10) - but this party will rage until closing. Don't miss Diplo who just dropped a wicked mixtape that featured LA's own 12th Planet and whose remix of I Feel It All by Feist has been making my ears wet all day.

Dr. Dog

This post comes courtesy of one of the more avid music fans I know in L.A., Lauren Lomma. She's usually on the cutting edge of most things indie-rock and grade A hipster, and that was even before she worked at Filter.

So - Lomma, like many other followers, retweeted some @supergoodmusic tweet and won free tickets to the Dr. Dog show. She just happened to go out of her way to e-mail some thoughts:

When I first heard about Dr. Dog I thought, “oh this must be some super sweet hip-hop dude” - namely because I assumed “Dr. Dog” was some mash-up of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. I was clearly mistaken. If you enter their name into Pandora Radio you’ll be greeted with a plethora of delectable rock n’ roll tunes, including that of The Beatles. The Beatles - who are, let’s face it, rock n’ roll legends. So that fact alone should lead you to believe that if they’re in that good of company then they've got to be some pretty cool dudes.

Anyway, I went to Dr. Dog Friday night at The Wiltern and had the fortune of standing behind the most wannabe hipsters in the world. They actually (and I saw this) pretended (yes, pretended) to shoot up heroin mid-dance. Naturally, I asked if they’d let me take a picture of their totally awesome dance moves (I’m rolling my eyes here), but they gawked at me, scowled and declined. Who is she? they said. Ugh, well hipster tool-ettes, I’m the chick who wants to plaster your photo all over the internet, so I can properly out you for being so lame.

But back to the music... Dr. Dog was rad - definitely a great band to see live. They had fantastic energy and a good set list to go along with it. They played a delicious sampling of newer and older tunes that had me bouncing on my feet all night long. In my opinion, it’s always a success when you leave a show feeling more energized than when you had arrived.

In any case, I definitely recommend giving Dr. Dog a listen - on the off-chance that you have yet to be turned on to this psychedelic rock group from Philadelphia. I do not recommend however, thinking that you are “too cool for school” and making pseudo shooting-up gestures in attempt to appear “bad ass." I assure you that you are not bad ass, but that you are, in fact, just an idiot.

LA Talent Gets You Through Hump Day - VCC Debut & Far East Movement on the Strip

Tonight there are a handful of things to do in L.A., with lots of local buzzworthy talent hitting stages. Chart topping Far East Movement is performing on The Tonight Show and also on The Sunset Strip - but both of those are probably tough to get into at this point in the game. Another show featuring L.A. residents and artists, Voxhaul Broadcast and Eastern Conference Champions, still has tickets available. That show is at Spaceland.

You may remember ECC from their recent residency at Spaceland and you may be familiar with the name Voxhaul Broadcast because they have basically been playing everywhere in L.A. recently - and have another well publicized gig coming up at LA Weekly's show at Gibson Amphitheatre on Sunday. BUT, rather than see them at the Gibson, I'd advise going the intimate route and catching them inside tonight. The show will certainly be more intimate and definitely cheaper.

Not only are Voxhaul Broadcast and Eastern Conference Champions teaming up to deliver a presumably riveting indie rock performance for the eastside, they've also put out a cover of The Violent Femmes "Add It Up" which you can download here. Maybe if you're lucky they will play it tonight and if you're luckier - you'll have gotten to see them play it for FREE.

Enter our ticket giveaway contest by commenting here or mentioning the show and @supergoodmusic on twitter. Winner will be selected before 6 pm.

A Fan's Friday - @OhSheida 's Halloween Weekend

SUPERGOODMUSIC had the privilege of giving away a handful of tickets to some Halloween themed music events around town this weekend (thank you Live Nation, Mike Tunney, Vanguard, Key Club). We gave one special follower, @OhSheida, a full slate of treats in the form of tickets to Miike Snow at Vanguard on Friday and Janelle Monae & Of Montreal at Hollywood Palladium on Saturday night.

Sheida took it the extra mile, stopped at The Roxy for Witch Hunt before Miike Snow and then sent us this bad-ass thank you. Rock on @OhSheida. You are, undoubtedly, a fan of supergoodmusic.

MY SUPERGOODMUSIC NIGHT: October 29, 2010

After working a nine hour shift Friday, I didn’t think I’d be able to make it out. I sucked it up and gathered the last bits of energy I had and headed to The Roxy. While standing in line I saw Napolean Dynamite, a few zombies and a couple of penguins waiting to get into The Roxy’s Witch Hunt.

Playing inside was Las Vegas’ rock band, Imagine Dragons. It was their final song and Dragons frontman did not hold anything back. He jumped towards the cymbals and started slapping them. Every time he slapped it, I was getting a burst of energy. Each slap equaled a shot straight to the head. The band made me feel like a snake; their guitarist my personally charmer. After that one song I was ready to let loose.

Up next was Saint Motel. In hindsight, the only thing I wish I did for this show was to learn their lyrics so I could have sang along with the rest of the room. Saint Motel not only kept my ears happy but had some visual eye candy too. They put a spell on me with clips from Hocus Pocus and live shots of them on stage. ‘To My Enemies’ and ‘Dear Dictator‘ were my favorite songs from that night. Look, if there is one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s to support and listen to this LA native band. After their riveting performance, I could’ve been all set for the night but oh no no! It was just getting started…..

Fast forward and I’m now sitting in bumper to bumper traffic driving down hollywood trying to make it to the Vanguard. You’re probably wondering who still plays at Vanguard? Well wonder no more! The boys of Miike Snow had a 90 minute dj set that could’ve lasted twice as long and I still would’ve itched for more. Miike Snow dropped and remixed their very own Black and Blue, Animal and Silvia. As a band, these Swedes are hella talented, and as a DJ group they don’t disappoint either. They know exactly what it takes to have a good time. They took it back to the homeland playing a little Swedish House Mafia and ending the night with Rusko.

It was definitely in my Top 10 Craziest Dance Parties. The crowd at Vanguard isn’t necessarily anything I ever want to be apart of, but that infectious energy that can only be supplied by epic music experiences is. Although I probably won’t head back to the Vanguard again unless I’m accompanied by Miike Snow, all in all, I had an amazing night and I have to shout out and thank Brandon “Supergoodmusic” Dorksy for that.

WITCH HUNTED

The SUPERGOODMUSIC Halloween weekend started with our favorite frequently costumed indie-rock band, Saint Motel at one of our favorite venues, The Roxy.

Before I'd even crossed Sunset to enter the doors - someone was hooting "Rolling on the River" to my girl @stephiebri in her amazing Tina Turner outfit. What followed from the bands was worthy of just as much hooting a hollering...

Performing as part of a stellar line-up that included Nico Vega and Imagine Dragons, Saint Motel held down the middle slot with old material, new material and lots of holiday energy (I came after Imagine Dragons had finished). Their new material sounds better with each performance and possesses the fun vocals, dance-worthy rhythm and indie melodies that should propel this band to be on the tip of music enthusiast's tongues in places far from Los Angeles. I can only hypothesize how tight their show will be come the end of their November tour with the above-mentioned artists.

Highlights of Saint Motel's set included a riveting "Dear Dictator," a ninja bassist later revealed to be normal bassist Dak (pictured below) and an intimate (and cute) stage theatrics between guitarists A/J and Sharp and the industry heavy audience, which included a handful of the cities indie rock radio personalities.

A long hiatus ensued before Nico Vega - in no short part because Saint Motel is such a hard act to follow. But Nico Vega appropriately brought the terror to the stage. Their set began with a bright-eyed Aja Volkman summoning the crowd with a pseudo-vocal chant (she was singing).

Marching around in her white dress (which was later ripped as part of a theatrical mock execution ceremony), Aja shared her organic and raw vocals as Rich and Dan backed her energy. The crowd, slightly thinner than during Saint Motel's set, fervently thrust their fists into the air and those who knew sang along for almost the entire forty-five minute to hour long set.

Much of Vega's music was unfamiliar to me, although I did pick out a few recognizable songs and knew the raucous encore Beast. The night ended with a good post-show gathering of fans outside, including some fun photo play with Dak from Saint Motel and Tina Turner....who wouldn't stop talking. LOL

If Witch Hunt is a sampling of what these two bands are offering on their west coast tour, than I'm even more sad that I'm not accompanying them for the whole damn thing....