Hip Hop Dopeness At Echoplex (Tomorrow) and On Conan (Tonight)

As part of his promotional tour for the hugely acclaimed self produced "Cancer 4 Cure" album - El-P is making a stop at Echoplex on Thursday night for a special Check Yo Ponytail 2 performance that also includes MC's Killer Mike, Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire and Despot.

El-P - the MC, producer, co-owner of Def Jux, entrepreneur extraordinaire with plenty of skin in the game - really brought it with his latest release, which includes hard cuts like "The Full Retard" (see below).   You can sample the potential of his live show by tuning into Conan O'Brien tonight on TBS at 11 PM to see him perform "Works Every Time" with guest vocals from Zola Jesus.

SUPERGOOD strongly endorses just picking up tickets to the event because the line-up is pretty f'ing hot with Killer Mike, Exquire and Despot all hitting the stage as well.  Killer Mike's new record R.A.P. (also produced by El-P) features punishing, aggressive flows that are a departure from candy top 40 rap, Exquire was probably the second most buzzed about hip-hop artist at SXSW 2012 and Despot's show is nothing to shy away from either.  Get your tickets for the Echoplex show here - must be 18 or older.

Infantree - Free at Pershing Square Tonight

Infantree are a friendly, enjoyable indie Americana folk band hailing from Los Angeles. They've made a bit of moves on the festival circuit this summer, including a performance at Bonnaroo in June. They bring their flavor to the Pershing Square tonight as part of the FREE Downtown Stage Summer Concert Series.

Check out their videos for 'Oil Can' and 'Mourning Glory.'

Army Navy Stomps Familiar Grounds

Last week I managed to haul my exhausted body from Venice and all the way to Silverlake just to see Army Navy play the incredibly small hipster joint, The Silverlake Lounge. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

We rolled up at a quarter to 11pm, just in time to grab a drink at the cash only bar and say hello to a few familiar faces around the dimly lit room. Army Navy took the stage, setting up their own equipment, and seeming entirely pleased to play such cramped quarters. This band has played

Conan O’Brien, contributed two tracks to the movie Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and opened for acts like The Dodos, yet these four LA-based guys seemed completely psyched to be playing their own familiar stomping grounds. (If this were Twitter, I believe a “#humblebrag”

would have gone right there.) They were out tonight to be with people who truly appreciate good music, and to promote their new and highly-anticipated album out July 12th.

If you haven’t heard of Army Navy, I need you to stop, take a minute, and give a listen; you will fall in love. Frontman Justin Kennedy’s whiney vocals make you wish he would croon in your ear all day. It’s a good kind of whiney, a uniqueness rarely executed well, except for maybe by the likes of Conor Oberst. If the vocals don’t get you, then guitarist Louie Schultz’s incredible talent and sheepish grin will. The boy can rock a guitar, a keyboard, and backing vocals in one song with an impeccable smoothness that can’t be faked. Drums your thing? By the end of their forty-five minute time slot, drummer Douglas Randall was completely drenched in sweat, and smiling from ear to ear. Their new bassist was really talented as well, though his skills were slightly overshadowed by my companion going on about how cute he was in my ear. Looks? Talent? Check, and check.

They’re a band that has fun with their music, and fun with each other, and this transfers over to the audience. Last week I brought four people who had never even heard of the band before, and by the end of the evening they had all been converted into fans. Army Navy played a perfectly varied mix of new stuff, as well as old stuff. My personal favorite? Their smooth transition from “Snakes of Hawaii” into a cover of “Get Right Back (Where We Started From)”, and then into the hit “My Thin Sides”.

Afterward we went across the street to The Thirsty Crow and sat around with a couple of whiskeys basking in the afterglow of what can best be referred to as Hipster Pop. Their new album is out July 12th and I strongly suggest you check it out. In fact, I suggest you check iTunes and see if you can pre-order it, I know they’re good for it.

Review written by Lauren Lomma @lomfry3

Bonnaroo Preview - The Headliners

So, we just got approved for a press pass and are scrambling to figure out exactly how we are going to get to Bonnaroo because we just cannot miss it. We had our doubts about getting the press pass love and had basically resigned ourselves to missing it because it is such a trek from LA, but we've got renewed enthusiasm with our free admission and, having just reviewed the line-up, we'd be absolutely foolish not to take advantage of it.

The headliners alone are worth the cross country trip - from Kings of Leon to Jay-Z to Dave Matthews Band to Conan O'Brien to even Thursday nighttime tent performers (kind of hard to determine which tent or what time is the headliner that night, if there is one?).

Friday might be the creme de creme headliner with Kings of Leon prepping for a 2 hour set. Not necessarily the creme de creme headliner because of their talent or experience (they go up against Jay-Z and Dave Matthews Band - whom both have many more years of performances under their belt), but because the prospect of new material from a chart topping band that is essentially playing in their backyard is the perfect storm of factors to make for an epic performance. I don't think I'm going out on a limb by guaranteeing magic on Friday night from these Tennessee brothers.

Word on the street is that they will be debuting new material from their forthcoming album and you might expect a guest appearance or two? I mean, it is Bonnaroo.

Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z are the headliners Saturday. What do you think the possibility of the blind legend singing with the self proclaimed king of hip-hop is? I'd put it at more than 50%. The hour long break from Wonder to Jay-Z just seems like a vacuum to large to not be filled with some sort of collaboration at the end of Wonder's set. Or maybe not? Every break between bands on the main stage at Bonnaroo is one hour. Are we more likely to get another "surprise" Beyonce appearance like she did at Coachella ? Who knows? No matter what, you kind of have to expect big things from the HOVA having just seen his Saturday Night Live performance (that medley was the longest SNL musical performance I've ever seen AND it was dope).

Jay-Z will hopefully have a backing band (please be the Dap-Kings or The Roots) and you can expect his new material, classic material and hopefully, for my sake, a handful of gems from Reasonable Doubt. He has two hours to fill and he filled his space quite well at Coachella so I basically expect a repeat, if not superior performance. He has some new and recently hot material coming off The Blueprint 3, a plethora of songs for which the crowd will know at least the hook; he could basically play anything and it is not going to be a poor set. Drawing from his illustrious 10 albums - you can only pray that he plays your favorite song.

Having never seen Stevie Wonder, I'm excited. A huge fan of Musiquarium for years - who doesn't love the classic material? Festivalgoers, jambanders and funk fans will certainly be urging for a rendition of "Boogie On Reggae Woman", which, if my memory serves me correctly, was performed by Phish last year at the 'Roo. "Superstitious" will be another crowd rouser. I'm definitely curious to see what talent joins Wonder on stage and if the energy from the elder performer is maintained or falls below expectations like Bruce's performance last year. While I love the selection of older artists with classic material everyone leaves, festivals, especially ones with shows that go late into the night like the 'Roo, need a certain energy to be maintained....especially when the sun is coming down. I've got the confidence that Wonder will deliver something spectacular.

Dave Matthews Band is the final night headliner. The closer. Fitting for a band that has been touring for 20 years and just announced that they will be taking 2011 off. Haven't seen them in years, but DMB always delivers. Even with the passing of their saxophonist a few years back, the addition of Jeff Coffin (Bela Fleck & The Flecktones) as the new sax player brought some renewed fervor and I've heard the live show is incredible (check @supergoodrca's review of their performance from 2009 in LA).

As usual Bonnaroo delivered on the headliners - we'll bring you more in depth information on some of the supporting acts in the days leading up to the festival. Stay tuned to www.supergoodmusic.com for updates....

We Miss Conan Already :(

We miss Conan already. Thankfully, him and Will Ferrell treated us to this All-Star filled (Ben Harper, Beck) rendition of Freebird on the final night of The Tonight Show.