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Wanda On Top is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

The the last two evenings brought me to another killer Tamaryn set; some not-so-secret unmarked doors, behind which beers in cans and pretty post-teens danced and mingled smoked indoors (errrg); and a shared cab ride with a broadway starlet. Until I get a chance to fully lay down my musical high-nites, meet X-Ray Eyeballs, a lo-fi garage-punk band from Brooklyn. Their set at Shea Stadium (not for baseballs, silly, it’s a converted warehouse loft) was the birthday party you’ve always wanted: sexy drummer, unbearably loud guitar, and shameless songs about drugs and sex.

Egyptian Magician (Let’s All Get High) by Xray Eyeballs.

O.J. from X-Ray Eyeballs (photo from whatsacomputer.tumblr.com)

Heartbreak hill and the final approach is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Men

Tuesday night’s showstealers were Men, a high energy, high concept performance art collective from Brooklyn. The personnel features two former members of Le Tigre, JD Samson and Johanna Fateman, and others from JD’s side project, Hirsute. Clad in hand-painted white jumpsuits, Men challenged the crowd at the IAMSOUND records showcase to stop checking their smartphones and move their asses to their thrashing, guitar-driven danceparty. I accepted! And did you know that I love sets and props?! Men performed in front of giant painted canvases, and for part of the set JD wore a handmade cardboard animal mask that looked like a giraffebunny.

Wednesday afternoon I got out of the house early for a day party hosted by Terrorbird Media at the Cake Shop. There I saw a set by Kyle Andrews, a psych-country band from Tennessee, and one of KZSC’s favorites: Baths! A few hundred people crammed into the Cake Shop basement to see Will Wiesenfeld of Baths button-mash and dial-spin his rich, sample-generated electro gloom. The second half of the set featured a dark and menacing composition that made me feel sad and punished–beat down by a relentless bass sample and noisey static pulses. Ohhhh I love it when that happens!

Marnie Stern at Cake Shop, NYC

The Cake Shop remained at capacity for Marnie Stern’s set. Her pre-show and between-set banter consisted primarily of ‘ween’ and ‘vageen’ jokes, supposedly a product of her long-standing sexual frustration. Perhaps its this frustration that empowers Marnie’s fretboard-shredding guitar-work and the barreling-down-a-hillside pace of her music. Before her final, frenetic song she shrilled, “I don’t understand water. I just don’t get it. It has no taste…it has no flavor…SOOODAAA!”

Wednesday evening I headed to Santos Party House for a huge party featuring a slew of bands on two stages. Downstairs, my highlight was dancing along to the one man show from Ontario, Diamond Rings. Surrounded by a midi drum pad, a keyboard and his laptop, Diamond Rings produces gorgeously crafted danceable pop songs that remind me of  Magnetic Fields. Check out this video for “Wait & See” and see for yourself!

Upstairs at Santos, Tamaryn made my night. Thank you, Sonja, for compelling me to see them! Propelled by Jonah Buffa’s bass and Matthew Bajda kick drum, their sound is heavy and thick. Amid the depths of a pitch black groove, Tamaryn’s low voice whirls icy currents of chanting melancholia around the controlled, screaming riffs of Rex’s guitar. The band played in near complete darkness, save for the dim light of under-saturated watery projections. If you’re into the live sets of Beach House and Dinosaur Jr., you’re sure to love Tamaryn. And there’s good news on that front: Tamaryn will play Slim’s in San Francisco on Nov. 19!

Tamaryn at Santos Party House, NYC

In the wee hours of Thursday morning I refueled with whiskey and pizza before catching the end of the Lefse Records/I Guess I’m Floating party in the basement of a burlesque club. Before heading in, I shared my whiskey with a fellow Massachusetts native and the members of Young Prisms, a Bay Area band who were fresh off celebrating Juan Uribe’s walk-off sac-fly at a bar nearby. Once downstairs, the crazed and hypnotic Young Prisms set preceded the fantastical and psychedelic soundscapes of Candy Claws. Playing along to a tape recording that fed into headphones worn by the drummer, bassist, and guitarist, Candy Claws performed without stopping at a fluid pace that embraced my weary body and dispelled my fatigue.

Candy Claws at Delancey, NYC

The final set in that basement began at 3:40am. The shell of myself that was still present managed to crack a smile and occasionally nod as Tom of How to Dress Well cooed and oooed for the remaining twenty-or-so people in the audience. Tom’s performance and vocal style is eerily reminiscent of the King of Pop–so much so that I tried imagining what MJ would have looked with a pubescent mustache and plastic-framed spectacles. Having spent the half hour set wrapping and unwrapping his body with the microphone cord, How to Dress Well’s last song ended abruptly with Tom cursing the by-then-faulty cable-to-mic connection.

How To Dress Well at The Delancey, NYC

OK! Sorry for this epic post. I’m off to college day and the CMJ awards. I’ll let you know tomorrow (or Sat) who brings home the bacon.

I won’t stop til I get enough (of CMJ) is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

After visiting my ma and pa in Boston last weekend, I bussed down to NYC. The foliage in southern Massachusetts is peaking right now, so the banks of the Mass Pike were ablaze in orange rouge and gold. I didn't takes this picture, but I wish I did! double rainbow!

Last night I celebrated CMJ eve–the marathon officially kicks off today–at an AOL office, where, to my delight, the caterers were serving complimentary basil hard lemonade and 4 oz. pours of whiskey. The libations quickly put me at ease, and after locating the bathroom and emergency exits, I began introducing myself to anyone that didn’t look like a banker. Hoping to meet some radio dj’s, I targeted the scruffiest of the bunch. Unable to locate any other dj’s or music directors, I made sure that any promoter with an intriguing lineup got one of my Kate Bush business cards.

Halfway through my second cocktail, I was corralled into a television studio for a set by Gold Panda. He performed three tracks off his new Ghostly International release, Lucky Shiner, named after his grandma. Gold Panda’s sample-heavy electro dance pop has the potential to get people moving, but I and others spent the set distracted by painfully bright studio lights and a jib camera that, without warning, would swing out and grace the one or two hairs standing akimbo from the rest of these beautiful coiffures!

Ghostly International owner, Sam Valenti IV, was in attendance at the AOL party and looking dapper, kinda like this.

Opting to preserve my eyes and my scalp, I watched the Jamie Lidell set that followed on the half dozen LCD screens outside the studio. Lidell’s experimental soul pop felt like a revival gathering in a submarine, echoing with distorted vocal samples and junky percussion. And, of course, the camera shots were slick.

Hopping a turnstile with two armloads of luggage, I subwayed to Rebel for a promotion company showcase. The stand-out performance came from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. The duo’s cascading harmonies and crisp samples contrast adorably with their embroidered NASCAR jackets and Old Glory set pieces. Their fuzzed-up version of “Nothing But Our Love” from the Horsepower EP concluded with them singing “We get more than we deserve. Maybe everyone has some worth”–a fitting commencement for a week when over 1300 bands are hoping this year’s CMJ deems them worthy.

Oh, the set pieces! Check out them "JR JR" light boxes! - Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr at Rebel, NYC

KZSC in NYC? yes! It’s CMJ2010 is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

KZSC’s mail owl dropped a parcel from Marc Maynon, of Maynon (L.A.), at the doorstep to the little log cabin today. Enclosed was Maynon’s 4 track demo “Grand Horror Spectacle Songs” and a handwritten note, and the illustrated-by-hand single frame comic you see above. For your efforts Marc, I applaud you! I’m jealous of the King of the Dead’s psychedelic torquise+violet onesie. The real treat in this parcel, though: the music. Maynon are a perfect segue as we transition from summer into the labor and study of fall: waxy rhythms melt under a gloom of twilight synths and macabre beats. Marc’s vocals are bare and believably despairing. The third track, “I am a Vampire,” begins with a zombie-punk guitar riff that, once overwhelmed by a deluge of danceable bass and snare, gets torn to pieces by Marc as he channels one snide, heartsick vampire:  And if you thought that you forgot my face / did you forget that I would bite?

King of The Dead surfaces in KZSC mailbin is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Jaill <3 aquatic creatures

The rumors are true! Jaill are in town to play the Catalyst tonight with the Hold Steady, but first they stopped by our little log cabin for a live, in-studio performance. We hope to hear more tracks from their second full-length, That’s How We Burn (Sub Pop). My faves are “On the Beat” and “Snake Shakes,” two groovy cuts that top my list of essential summer jams. Below you’ll find a video for the first track on That’s How, “The Stroller.” It’s goofy, creepy and adorable. The homemade costumes and michel gondry-esque set pieces remind me of lazy summers from my childhood–building forts, playing pirates, and eating grilled cheeses. We hope you heard them on KZSC. See them play live tonight and wear your best pirate outfit!

Jaill played on KZSC today! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Having produced several local festivals over the year, and bookings shows running the gamut from Abe Vigoda to Judgment Day to Deer Tick to Wavves, Keith will be our first guest this upcoming Friday night, where he’ll sit down in our little treehouse in the mountains to discuss several upcoming CYH shows, talk about his history in the Santa Cruz local music scene, and just generally chill out.

After that, we’ll be featuring an interview with LA’s own HoneyHoney.

Honey Honey sweet as sugar!

This folk-rock duo is getting set to tackle The Catalyst on Monday, August 16th, as they open for Xavier Rudd. As a hard-working touring band, be sure to tune in and listen to hear what this So. Cal. act has to say about Santa Cruz, their experiences on the road, and what challenges await them.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!

For it’s my pleasure to inform you all that Oakland’s own Mouse Heaven will be our musical guests of the evening.

my kitty digs Mouse Heaven!

This bay area quartet’s take on folk music is at times haunting, but always engaging. They aren’t afraid to openly shift styles, going from slow-paced ballads to driving lo-fi fuzz rock in a matter of 2 to 3 songs. Also, Mouse Heaven were voted in to play at the Free For All festival in Los Angeles (on August 15th) where they’ll be playing alongside such talent as Akron/Family, Active Child and Langhorn Slim.

Tune in this Friday night for this AND MORE on The Rising Tide! Also, make sure to pick up this week’s edition of The Good Times to read their feature on this radio show, as seen here!

This Friday night on the Rising Tide! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

These bee Pure Ecstasy!

Pure Ecstasy‘s take on psychedelic lo-fi music is mesmerizing, while fellow Austinites Sleep Over will draw from their atmospheric sound collages in what’s sure to be an amazing show! Rounding out the bill are the bay area’s own Young Prisms, a group who are gunning to break out of the region with their stunning live show. This event is FREE, All Ages, and will begin at 7pm sharp!

Surf City Billiards can be found at 931 Pacific Avenue.

Tonight at Surf City Billiards: KZSC Welcomes Pure Ecstasy, Sleep Over and Young Prisms! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

When was the last time you saw a band you weren’t familiar with, and left with your mouth hanging open? Spirits of the Red City are an 8-piece acoustic folk band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that includes two sets of siblings, the sounds of a cello, mandolin, viola, drums, guitar, accordion, trumpet, banjo, upright bass, and well-crafted harmonies.  The band recently stopped by Santa Cruz on their west coast summer tour, and played a few shows, which were jaw-droppingly good. Their songs seem to create space, and evoke natural imagery frequently. If you like absolutely beautiful folk, this band is for you.

Tune in to the Rising Tide, Friday night from 8:30 to 10:30 to catch an interview with the band. Also, check them out at http://www.spiritsoftheredcity.com/

Spirits of the Red City interview tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

When this does happen, Paul A. Rosales–performing under his own name or as Wonder Wheel–will be crafting a sonic wicker lounger upon which you will be tempted to dance and, eventually, melt.  Rosales’ sound is an excavated pop, stripped of it’s syrup and shine, leaving behind a lustre of echoing vocals that spiral around the fuzzy color wheel of lo-fi synths and beats that Rosales manipulates with the terrifying dexterity of an artist whose bodily extremities can materialize the nightmares and sex fantasies that lurk deep within in his–and our own–sub-conscious. Honing his chops through collaborations with R. Stevie Moore, Rosales cuts some bomber tracks.

See for yourself in this video for “Crimes”

“Crimes” is currently available as a 7inch single on Care in the Community Recordings. It’s also the first track on his debut full-length, Wonder Wheel I –a welcome addition to our summer indie rotation.

Furniture-weaving/tape-recording his way to a club near you is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz