Category

Social Calendar

• 09.04.08
  Why? MEGATOUR (LA’s ECHOPLEX TONIGHT & RAFTER MP3s!)   Singles, Social Calendar (0)

  

  Why? stands as the most blogged about band here on Taking Tiger Mountain in its short little life, but I do unabashedly love them. Yoni is one of few people I’ve had the pleasure of doing an in-person interview with back in ‘06; I talked with him at Chicago’s Double Door before their opening slot for The Silver Jews. I’ve seen them quite a bit in my free time and also reviewed their shows on more than one occasion (The Double Door show and later opening for Yo La Tengo at Chicago’s Vic Theater). They’re starting a long few months of touring, hitting Los Angeles’s Echoplex tomorrow.

  

  That show will include DJ’s from Dublab and Asmatic Kitty’s Rafter as openers.

  After tonight’s LA date, Why? heads out for a long jaunt that stretches into a European tour. Dates below:

  09-04 - Los Angeles, CA Echoplex
  09-05 - Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
  09-06 - Tucson, AZ Solar Culture
  09-08 - Austin, TX Mohawk*
  09-09 - Dallas, TX Granada Theater*
  09-11 - Pensacola, FL Sluggo’s*
  09-12 - Gainseville, FL Common Grounds*
  09-13 - Miami, FL White Room*
  09-14 - Orlando, FL The Social*
  09-16 - Asheville, NC Grey Eagle*
  09-17 - Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church*
  09-18 - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom*
  09-19 - Boston, MA Museum of Fine Arts
  09-20 - Portland, ME Space Gallery
  09-21 - Providence, RI Club Hell
  09-22 - Montreal, QC La Sala Rossa
  09-25 - Cincinnati, OH Midpoint Music Festival
  09-26 - Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge#
  09-27 - Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock#
  09-29 - Denver, CO Hi- Dive
  09-30 - Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
  10-02 - Vancouver, BC Richard’s On Richard
  10-03 - Seattle, WA Vera Project
  10-04 - Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
  10-22 - Confort Moderne - Poitiers
  10-23 - Le Fil - Saint Etienne
  10-24 - La Vapeur - Dijon
  10-25 - BB Mix Festival - Paris
  10-27 - Pirates Cabaret - Amiens
  10-28 - Electrique - La Havre
  10-29 - L’Antipode - Rennes
  10-30 - Festival Yamoy - Nantes
  10-31 - Rockomotives - Vendôme
  11-01 - Andrew Lane Theatre - Dublin
  11-03 - TBA - London
  11-06 - Centre Culturel - Massy
  11-07 - Musique Volante - Metz
  11-08 - Super Sound Festival - Colmar
  11-11 - Maria Am Ufer - Berlin
  11-12 - Ut Connewitz - Leipzig

  % = w/ Tussle
  * = w/ Mount Eerie
  # = w/ Tobacco

  I’ll be at the Echoplex tonight, jealous of all the folks who get to see the shows with Mount Eerie. That’ll be something special.

  In honor of the Rafter’s new EP which drops September 9th, here’s a few insane tracks that Asthmatic Kitty has released:

  ‘Salt’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
  Download

  ‘Juicy’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
  Download

  ‘Sweat’ from 2008’s Sweaty Magic
  Download

  BUY IT

  

• 08.20.08
  New Genre Awesomeness “Recap Rock” - Previously On Lost (Exclusive Download!)   Exclusive!, Social Calendar (374)

  

  The birth of a genre is a rare thing. In this day and age, most new concepts are simply a bridge of two pre-existing ideas with a teeny little hyphen. With Brooklyn’s Previously On Lost, an epic and original genre is born: Recap Rock.

  And Taking Tiger Mountain has an exclusive download courtesy of the band.

  Previously On Lost spent the 4th season of Lost writing tunes inspired by each episode after they aired. Now that the show is done for the season, they’ve taken the full set of songs, which veer wildly all over the musical map, on tour. The music itself is a weird concoction: spastic indie rock with a definite Frank Zappa haze of weird. The vocals are an odd layered falsetto and have a kitchen sink approach to the instrumentation. There’s a definite feeling that reminds me of the beautiful chaos of The Unicorns, except, you know, all the lyrics are about Lost.

  Which makes it ten times more awesome.

  Songs like “Be My Constant”, “We’re Goin’ Home” and “The Island Won’t Let You Die” might give a clue to the episodes they correlate to. The lyrics are funny and sometimes just beautifully tic through the events of an episode in an almost linear manner with cheeky commentary. This, as a massive fan of the show, often just puts a big old smile on my face. You can’t beat the cop-show opening bongos and sappy keyboard on “The Ballad of Sayid Jarrah” tied with the lyrics:

  “There he is on the back nine / with a 7 iron in his fist / money in the bank and a smile on his face, just hope that you’re not on his list / he’s armed to the teeth and a gun and effective hair spray / you may have picked the right club / but you’ve stumbled into murder on the fairway”

  And that’s right before the sax comes in. If you’ve seen the episode in question (S04, E03 - The Economist, air date 02.14.08), it’s a pretty concise encapsulation of the show in question. Except when they get to the breakdancing bit at the end of the song. Trust me, just give a listen.

  For those in the Los Angeles area, they’re in the midst of their mini-California tour with a show tonight at Spaceland, taking the stage at 8:30pm. Thursday 8/21 is the night I’d suggest you catch, as they’re playing the entirety of their Season 4 show at the Knitting Factory.

  If you can’t make the shows, please take a listen to the exclusive download that the guys in Previously On Lost were kind enough to give me:

  
  

  Previously On Lost - Gotta Take Your Meds

  
  
  This song was written for episode 10 of season 4: “Something Nice Back Home” and features some amazing campy synth action and cowbell.

  What more could you ask for?

  If you do love it, you can buy their album The Tale of Season 4 and the Oceanic 6 from iTunes:
  

  SHOWS

  08/20 - Spaceland - 2906 Sunset Blvd at the intersection of Sunset and Parkman Ave.
  Cover - $8
  Set time - 8:30, opening for The Atma 9:30pm, Venus Illuminato 10:30p, Olin and the Moon 11:30p

  08/21 - The Knitting Factory - 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
  Cover $10
  Show starts at 7:30

  HIT THE JUMP FOR 2 LIVE PREVIOUSLY ON LOST VIDEOS

• 08.13.08
  This Thursday, I Am 8-Bit Returns   Social Calendar (0)

  

  This Thursday, August 14th the 4th annual I Am 8-Bit show returns to Los Angeles. Y’all know my unbridled love for all that is 8-bit, and this collective is a fine showcase of art inspired by the vintage aesthetic. Last year’s show was an event I planned to hit up, but only saw it in photos afterward. It looked like an event worth attending.

  This year, it’ll be hosted at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, which is at 6500 Sunset Blvd (map here). The fantastic Computer Jay and the previously-unknown-to-me DJ R Rated will be performing and booze will be provided. Opening night festivities will run from 8 pm to midnight, Thursday August 14th. Should you miss the event, the show will run through September 8th.

  For the show, they commissioned a fantastic set of 4 spot gloss flyers by one of my all-time favorite artists Scott C. Should you feel, you can cut them up and make your own vintage cardboard arcade. Wonderful.

  Click each for a full view of the fliers:

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• 08.06.08
  88 Drummers Wearing Nike Shoes! - 88Boadrum This Friday   Social Calendar (1)

  

  Following up on last year’s 77Boadrum, the even has expanded and gone bi-costal. This year, you’ll get live drumming in both NYC and Los Angeles. The LA venue will be at the La Brea Tar Pits, nestled in the heart of the city. For NYC, the everyone will be gathering at the Williamsburg Waterfront. The west coast event will be conducted by Soft Circle contributor and 88BoaDrum artistic director Hisham Bharoocha; east coast duties will be handled by local act Gang Gang Dance. Both cities will be performing an 88 minute piece that will begin this Friday 8/8/08 at, yep, you guessed it…8:08pm. Personally, LA wins for the simple fact that they have Hella’s Zach Hill. I doubt they’ll let him solo, but one can dream.

  I had the chance to catch The Boredoms a few years ago at 2006’s Intonation festival, where Eye conducted a mini version of the past two years events. Leading a circle of 6 drummers on the outdoor Chicago stage, the whole event was surreal and hypnotic. Amongst an lineup that smashed stoned hip-hop up against Robert Pollard’s tequila fueled antics, The Boredoms brief but electric set was the peak of an otherwise wonky festival.

  Available at the show will be first-come, first-served hand screened “Nike Sportswear 88BoaDrum NSW Tee.” Woo Nike sponsorship! Each of the event shits will be hand screened on site, featuring designs by Boredom’s lead noisician Eye. Supposedly, the performers may be getting some custom kicks too.

  While the event is free, it looks like most all the tickets from the website have been distributed. There may still be tickets at the physical distribution centers for each event:

  LA:

  Amoeba Music
  6400 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Ca 90028
  323.245.6400

  LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
  5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
  (323) 857-6000

  NYC:

  Sound Fix Records-Brooklyn
  110 Bedford Ave @ N.11th St. , Brooklyn NY 11211
  (718) 388-8090

  Other Music-Manhattan
  15 East 4th Street, NY NY 10003
  (212) 477-8150

  Volunteering is also an option; one I may be engaging in just to make sure I can participate in what will be an undoubtedly amazing event. Drop a line to volunteers88BoaDrum@gmail.com to see if there’s still slots open.

  If all else fails, there’s always the Craigslist vultures of NY and LA.

  HIT THE JUMP FOR THE FULL ROSTER OF DRUMMERS (THAT I STOLE FROM PITCHFORK) AND A VIDEO FROM LAST YEAR’S 77BOARDRUM