Festival

Festival Couch Surfing - Reading & Leeds This Weekend

Arctic Monkeys

arctic monkeys upsized

There's a fine festival taking place in L.A. this very weekend, FYF Fest with Phoenix, Interpol, The Strokes, Slowdive (what?), Slint (whaaaat?) . But on the chance that you just had surgery and are laid up in bed, out of funds, hate crowds or can't find a babysitter for the tots, here's a great alternative: watch the British classic Reading & Leeds festival from home this weekend. Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg and QOTSA? I'm in. No plane ticket or tent required. Here's a handy guide from NME as to set times. Reading & Leeds Festival 2014 - NME's Guide To What To Watch From Home

"Sold-out Burger a-Go-Go Fest celebrates girl punk in Santa Ana," I love it!

burger fest

from the LA Times/Randall Roberts:

"It takes only a couple of dedicated people to build a music scene. If what they do is righteous and resonates, listeners searching for community will gather. If, like Burger Records, what they envision becomes reality, fans will pack clubs to pogo, slam, stage-dive and sing along.

As proved by the scrums of believers dancing at Saturday's sold-out Burger a-Go-Go, a wild, celebratory, festival of girl punk centered on Fullerton's electrifying Burger label and record store, they'll share, support and spread the word. They'll even help revive a dying recording format, the cassette, by buying tapes at five bucks a pop to play in the TEAC deck that Dad never threw away.

Starring a team of underground bands bent on injecting fresh fuel into catchy three- and four-chord power jams, Burger's fest offered a deft, joyous, seamlessly delivered lineup of acts including Shannon and the Clams, the Coathangers, La Sera, the Muffs, Bleached, Dum Dum Girls and Best Coast. Each ripped through quick songs within quick sets on three different stages at the Observatory in Santa Ana and set the dance floors aloft.

That every band on the roster was fronted by a woman seemed both beside the point and exactly the point. Most rock festivals, after all, are default guy-rock gatherings, because fellas with guitars have run the scene, the biz and the studios. So a focus on the female perspective stands to reason."

Read the rest of the article here.

I love love love what Burger Records is doing out of Fullerton - my birthplace by the way! It is easy to find examples of music getting more and more mainstream and commercialized, labels and record stores going under. But this proves that there will ALWAYS be a place for independent thinking that will appeal to music fans. It makes me happy.

Matador Me

superchunk matador 21

I am in recovery from a three day orgy of indie rock aka The Lost Weekend, aka Matador at 21. Highlights: Yo La Tengo, Superchunk (featured at the left), Sonic Youth, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided By Voices, Cat Power, but it was all soooo divine! Then there was also lounging by the pool with all the Beggars/Matador folks, eating at yummy celebrity chef restaurants, and, well, not so very much sleeping. So I'm in extended nap mode today shh! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Matador Records: Website :: Wikipedia