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Plants and Animals “The End Of That”

  • 05/16/12
  • Steve Rippin
  • · Album Reviews · Beat-Play, LLC · concert · Events · Independent Film · Independent Labels · Independent Music · Los Angeles · Music · Music Help · music industry · Music News · New Music · News · Uncategorized · Video

Writing for this music blog is a blessing.  Often people send me links and press releases for new bands and new music in hopes of some good ole fashion publicity.  I welcome it.  I’m pretty intrigued by bands creative processes and I rarely write a negative review simply because the music I like and listen to has been slaved over by the artists that have created it.  This brings me to this weeks blog.  While sifting through the ever growing list of submissions on top of bands I like on my own I stumbled upon a band called Plants and Animals and in hopes of not being corny, that was the end of that.

02 The End of That


Ok I’ll get this out of the way.  The similarities are undeniable.  Tom Petty.  I hear a little bit of Tom Petty when I listen to these tunes.  I absolutely hate making comparisons like that, but in this instance a. there’s no denying it (i ran it by a bunch of my friends) and b. if I were going to be compared to any one I would want it to be Tom Petty too.  O.k. now that’s over.

07 HC

First impressions and vocals aside what caught my ear in the first place was the guitars on this record.  The grit/ dirty ‘southern’ drawl on songs like “Runaways” and “Why and Why” which has since become my favorite tune on this record provides a cool vibe. A Canadian rock outfit from Montreal Plants and Animals is a three piece band.  Singers Warren Spicer, Nic Basque, and Matthew Woody are a musical threat each playing guitar, bass and keys, and drums respectively.  Having released their initial EP in 2004 the band is road weary and and with Juno award nominations under their belt they are not shy of accolades.  With their most recent release “The End Of That” on shelves now they are touring the US with their self proclaimed “indie- post classic rock”.  That 1960′s-70′s Laurel Canyon folk rock and roll vibe blends well with the modern indie rock sounds on songs like “LIghtshow”.

04 Lightshow


I’m on my third listen all the way through and I’m pretty much loving this.  Every song seems to bleed well into the next.  It’s a very coherent record.  When I get to the end of the record I hit a tune called “No Way”.  Every song up to that point featured the guitar work which, as i said, stood out to me in the first place.  Then all of a sudden ten songs deep I hear this tune kick off with clean, bold, full grand piano.  What?  Needless to say I was surprised.  It’s a cool song and a good way to end the record.

10 No Idea

11 Runaways

Plants and Animals is making its way to LA this weekend!!!  (Imaging the bells and sirens of a great opportunity going off in your head).  Tickets are a steal at 12 bucks.  It’s going to sell out at the door so make sure you buy your tickets now and get there early, we’ll make room.  They have kindly invited me to join them so I will hopefully be there to review the live show and here these awesome new songs live and in person.  Saturday night they take over the Satellite in Silver Lake and I’m expecting everyone who reads this blog to come out and support.  HERE is the link to the venue website and HERE is the link to Plants and Animals upcoming tour dates.  There are a bunch of really cool bands supporting this weekend and the show goes really late so make a night of it, bring a DD and lets get elegantly wasted together. See you there!!

By: Steve Rippin | Beat-Play Ambassador Los Angeles | @stevewithMWL|Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC

Portugal. The Man Live at The Fox Theater in Pomona, CA [PHOTOS]

  • 05/14/12
  • Shane Suski
  • · Art · Beat-Play, LLC · concert · Events · Independent Music · Los Angeles · Music · MWL LIVE Tour · New Music · Photography

Portugal. The Man Live at The Fox Theater in Pomona, CA

Portugal. The Man - All Your Light (Times Like These)

Click the pic for more PORTUGAL. THE MAN concert shots!

Be sure to check out Portugal. The Man!

 Photography By: Shane Suski |Ambassador of Photography | San Diego, CA| @shanewithmwl | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC

The Laundry Shop Live at The Viper Room in Hollywood, CA [PHOTOS]

  • 05/12/12
  • Shane Suski
  • · Art · Beat-Play, LLC · concert · Events · Independent Labels · Independent Music · Ireland · Los Angeles · music industry · MWL LIVE Tour · New Music · Photography

The Laundry Shop Live at The Viper Room in Hollywood, CA

The Laundry Shop-"Overhead"

Click the pic for more THE LAUNDRY SHOP concert shots!

Be sure to check out THE LAUNDRY SHOP and their upcoming album “Exit at Salvation”

Photography By: Shane Suski |Ambassador of Photography | San Diego, CA| @shanewithmwl | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC

Hanni El Khatib “Will the Guns Come Out” [NEW MUSIC]

  • 05/11/12
  • Jordan Prather
  • · Album Reviews · Beat-Play, LLC · Independent Music · Los Angeles · Music · music industry · Music News · New Music · Photography · Video

If you haven’t heard Hanni El Khatib’s debut album, “Will the Guns Come Out,” do yourself a huge favor and buy this album. El Khatib grew up in San Francisco, where he was an accomplished skate boarder and director of  the skateboard fashion label HUF. He’s now based in L.A. where he’s turning out some of the most badass new blues rock music I’ve heard since The White Stripes. Others have taken notice, as Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) is set to produce Khatib’s upcoming second album.


“Come Alive” is the kind of amazing that causes your body to make awkward jerky movements whether you want it to or not. The lyrics, guitar, and drums, all work together to create a fantastic driving beat throughout. While El Khatib’s subject matter isn’t ground breaking, it’s his descriptions and word choice that set the songs apart. The lyrical structure is more akin to Hip Hop than rock.


“You Rascal You” is a straightforward song about how happy Hanni is going to be when the guy that’s been sneaking around with his wife is dead. “I’ll be standing on the corner full of gin, when they bring your dead body in. I’ll be glad when you’re dead you rascal you.” You can’t argue with logic like this.

“I Got A Thing” is a punk-ish, fuzzed out cover of the Funkadelic classic. It’s a far cry from the happy-go-lucky hand-holding original. You may remember this song from a Nike commercial that aired during last year’s NBA finals.

Written By: Jordan Prather | Ambassador of Tucson | Jordan Prather | Beat-Play & Music Without Labels, LLC

The Lonely Forest Live at the Fox Theater in Pomona, CA [PHOTOS]

  • 05/10/12
  • Shane Suski
  • · Art · Beat-Play, LLC · concert · Events · Independent Labels · Independent Music · Los Angeles · Music · MWL LIVE Tour · New Music · Photography · San Diego · Video

The Lonely Forest Live at The Fox Theater in Pomona, CA

Click the pic for more THE LONELY FOREST concert shots!

Be sure to check out the exclusive MWL LIVE interview with THE LONELY FOREST

Photography By: Shane Suski |Ambassador of Photography | San Diego, CA| @shanewithmwl | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC

Jack White “Blunderbuss” [NEW MUSIC]

  • 05/09/12
  • Steve Rippin
  • · Album Reviews · Art · Beat-Play, LLC · concert · Denver · Events · Independent Labels · Independent Music · London · Los Angeles · Music Help · music industry · Music News · Nashville · New Music · New York · Uncategorized · Video

 

The Dead Weather, Rome, The Raconteurs, The White Stripes.  As music fans I’m not going to tell you what music to like or dislike, but if you have never heard of any of the bands/ projects I just noted you need to check yourself.  Jack White has been making music as a member of these entities for at least a decade.  Most recently he has formed a new band, well actually two and put out his first solo offering called ‘Blunderbuss’.  I’m sure most of you have this record already, but for those who do not it’s time to go to music church with one of the best artists making music today.

01 Missing Pieces

This record makes a lot of sense.  I guess that’s a weird thing to say about Jack White and his music, but it does.  He has explored the realm of rock duo shredding on drums and guitar with the White Stripes.  He has formed a great blues/ rock and roll band in the Raconteurs and tried his hand at drums in The Dead Weather.  He even created a film score to a film that doesn’t exist with Danger Mouse.  With this new solo record a lot of it sounds like how Jack himself has wanted to sound for a while.  A record all his own that sounds like it was one part written in his studio while experimenting with awesome sounds and one part written on his porch in Nashville, TN.

05 Blunderbuss

Jack is currently on tour with two bands.  What?  At his recent Webster Hall show which was streamed live on youtube (say thank you, because I worked my ass off on it) he played his first set with an all female band called The Peacocks and then closed out the show with an all male band called Los Buzzardos.  I don’t think anyone has ever done that before and I’m sure there will be some skeptics, but having watched the show I think it worked perfectly.  He weaved in and out of covers from his past bands and crushed the new material like he’d been playing it for years.  My favorite song on the new record is called ‘Sixteen Saltines’ it is by far the most rocking compared to a tune like ‘Blunderbuss’.


02 Sixteen Saltines

He opened the show with my favorite White Stripes song called ‘Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground’.


In my opinion it was the best way to open when was about to be a two hour marathon of hits.  His catalog is so complex and has so much depth with any different styles of music playing a piano tune and then rocking out to say ‘Seven Nation Army’ to close the show made total sense.  The songs work and as a whole the album “Blunderbuss” makes so much musical sense to me.  One track that stands out for me that I can’t get out of my head is called ‘Love Interruption’.  On first listen I thought it was a simple, bubbly love song while instead it actually an incredibly dark and deep love song.  It’s a stand out for me because melodically I think the song is genius and lyrically is on the level with some of Jack’s best material.

04 Love Interruption

As I said before Jack closed the show with the punch of The Raconteurs ‘Carolina Drama’, ‘Seven Nation Army’, and a Leadbelly cover called ‘Goodnight Irene’.  It was awesome to see that he still acknowledges the music that has got him to this point in his amazing career.  Jack is currently touring with both The Peacocks and Los Buzzardos although each band is not playing every night of the tour.  He is going to be at the Wiltern for two nights in LA at the end of this month.  I’m pretty sure it sold out faster than it took me to write this sentence, but if you’re lucky enough to have tickets (I do, tee hee hee) then I’ll see you there.  Tour dates are here if you want to have a look at where else you might be able to catch a glimpse of one of the truest troubadours of the 21st century.  The set list below is what Jack has been playing most nights of the tour or at least an abbreviation of that.  This set is from the Webster Hall show.  He doesn’t play with a set list so its hard to tell what you are going to get.  He hasn’t played many dates yet but this set list should give you an idea of why you should pay big money to see this live.

Set 1: The Peacocks

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground

(The White Stripes song)

Missing Pieces
Freedom At 21
Love Interruption
Hotel Yorba
(The White Stripes song)
Two Against One
(Rome cover)
Top Yourself
(The Raconteurs song)
I’m Slowly Turning Into You
(The White Stripes song)
Blue Blood Blues
(The Dead Weather song) (With “Screwdriver” Riff Intro)

10. Take Me With You When You Go

Set 2: Los Buzzardos

Sixteen Saltines
I Cut Like A Buffalo
(The Dead Weather song)
Weep Themselves to Sleep
Trash Tongue Talker
You Know That I Know
(Hank Williams cover)
We’re Going to Be Friends
(The White Stripes song)
Hypocritical Kiss
Hello Operator
(The White Stripes song)
Carolina Drama
(The Raconteurs song)
Seven Nation Army
(The White Stripes song) (With Catch Hell Blues Intro)
Goodnight Irene
(Leadbelly cover)


As always here is the last track from Jack Whites most recent solo release.  It’s incredible.

13 Take Me with You When You Go

For more on all things music check me out on twitter @stevewithmwl.  I’ll be heading to more music festivals and events this summer and I want to meet some of the music without labels readers so hit me up!

By: Steve Rippin | Beat-Play Ambassador Los Angeles | @stevewithMWL|Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC

 

 

Portugal. The Man / MWL Live Tour [video][interview][info]

  • 05/08/12
  • Katie Holliday McVeay
  • · Beat-Play, LLC · Events · Independent Film · Independent Labels · Independent Music · Los Angeles · Music News · MWL LIVE Tour · Uncategorized · Video


Last Friday was an amazing night in Pomona! We were officially out of San Diego, and for me, it felt like the “real” beginning of the tour. We met up with Portugal. The Man, The Lonely Forest, ate free tacos and well.. I had lots of free drinks compliments of Jager VIP. As promised here is our video with Zach Carothers from Portugal. The Man!

By: Katie McVeay| Spokesperson |Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC | crookedsunshine

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