AM MUSIC BLOG FALL/WINTER MIXTAPE: Fall's Hope

I know this is a bit later than usual, but Southern California doesn't really experience fall until around November. In any case, better late than never I suppose.


Fall's Hope is a mix of heartbreaking songs that I think capture the season rather beautifully. There are some new artists on here, along with some blog favorites, and I hope you enjoy the hell out of every last song. If you do, please consider supporting the artist by buying their album or at least the song!

01. Travis Oberg - Bloodlines
02. Greg Laswell - This Woman's Work
03. Imogen Heap - Half Life
04. The Veils - It Hits Deep
05. The Swell Season - I Have Loved You Wrong
06. Snow Patrol - The Planets Bend Between Us
07. Jack's Mannequin - Lullaby
08. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Someday
09. The Temper Trap - Soldier On
10. Jon Foreman - Somebody's Baby
11. Robert Francis - Do What I Can
12. Eef Barzelay - True Freedom
13. Dear Reader - Great White Bear
14. Piano Magic - A Fond Farewell
15. Mew - Start

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Mute Math & As Tall As Lions / Club Nokia / 10.10.09

Last weekend, I saw a couple of the best musical acts around share the stage over at Club Nokia in L.A. I'd seen both bands previously, but this happened to both bands' best show to date... at least in my opinion.


As Tall As Lions took the stage first. If you've never heard these guys before, let me tell you that they are the kings of discordancy (I'm quite possibly making up that word). The ability these guys have to stitch together melodies with discordant harmonies isn't simply incredible, but inspiring to anyone that's musically inclined. Even though I was there to see Mute Math, the 45 minute set played by these guys was the perfect precursor in talent as well as energy. They have a new album out, and if you're interested in checking it out, there's a link below.


Mute Math took the stage next, and though there were people in there that had seen them before, I don't think most of the crowd knew what to expect. Starting off with 'The Nerve' and 'Backfire', it seemed as though they were going to run through Armistice in its entirety, but they quickly threw a wrench in that idea by jumping over to 'Chaos' from their self-titled debut. The set was a replica of the album cover, which made for the perfect electric drum-kit for 'No Response'. I have to say that of the 4 Mute Math shows I've seen to date, this one had the best lighting by far!


Following that, the guys jumped into 'Plan B' all the way from the Reset EP, and this is when the fun started. Jumping off and over the keyboard, rocking the keytar, and Paul's dancing that I would love to learn someday, dispersed throughout the rest of the set. 'Stare At The Sun' was greeted by cheer at the familiar bass line, and featured an extended instrumentation with Roy, Paul and Darren doing some crazy stuff with the percussion.


'Electrify' and 'Armistice made for some energy-filled songs, and 'Burden' was where the guys made their pre-encore stand. With Greg rocking an amazing solo and then getting on the xylophone, and Paul's haunting yet playful yelps filling the vocal emptiness, there wasn't a better way for them to exit the stage... just to make it back a few minutes later. A couple more songs later, Mute Math decided to end the night with 'Break the Same', one of my favorite songs of theirs, and one where they went all out. Paul was somersaulting back and forth over the keys and while the other guys were holding down the rhythm, Darren grabs the bass drum into the audience, gets on top of it, and jumps backwards into the crowd to surf. By far one of the most memorable moments in my Mute Math live experience.


As I was exiting the venue, I lost track of the number of people I heard talking about how they were entirely blown away. So if you haven't seen them yet, and they're coming out to a venue near you, grab some tickets and some friends, and go check them out. You won't regret it.

Setlist:
The Nerve
Backfire
Chaos
Clipping
No Response
Plan B
Stare At The Sun
Electrify
Armistice
You Are Mine
Odds
Notice
Typical
Burden

Encore:
Pins And Needles
Spotlight
Reset
Break The Same




Mute Math - Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band

As Tall As Lions Website | MySpace Page | Buy You Can't Take It With You on iTunes

Mute Math Website | MySpace Page | Buy Armistice on iTunes

Mute Math Armistice Lithos Contest

Well, Mute Math are on their headlining tour, on the way to L.A., and in celebration of the tour and the new album, the folks over at Warner Music Group sent over a handful of Armistice lithos to pass out to the readers here at AM Music Blog.


So to get your hands on one of these, send an e-mail over with the title of your favorite track on Armistice as well as the address to mail it out to. In the meanwhile, enjoy this version of Armistice... I've been diggin' it.

Mute Math - Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band

Official Site | MySpace Page | Buy Armistice

Warped Tour 2009 / Pomona Fairplex / 06.26.09

Another year, another Warped Tour. But unlike the past couple years, instead of just giving you a visual overview, I wanted to get you guys a first hand account of the show, so I got my good friend, Dan (over at mynameisfoxtrot), to come along and put words to the combination of crazy and awesome that is the Warped Tour:

It hasn't hit noon yet and the unforgiving sun is scorching the Pomona Fairplex. This is my first time at Warped tour, and I am amazed by the atmosphere. My fellow concert goers are covered in tattoos, sport punk rock hair, and wear a concoction of skinny jeans or shorts and no shirt or a bikini top. The Punk rebellion is in full force and I’m about to enter the gates.

I sit behind the steel fencing waiting for Underoath to come on stage. Lining the “moat” between the stage and fence was thick line of security. The head honcho, a Pacific Islander whose forearms were the size of large fire extinguishers, has no neck and is covered in tribal tattoos. I look out across the sea of people and see scores of rebellious high school kids. Thick clouds of THC rise above the crowd and the pungent smell of marijuana hangs in the air. Underoath isn’t up for another five minutes and the crowd is starting to get restless. A few fans offer up chants of “UNDER OATH, UNDER OATH” which quickly fades away.


Objects are now hurtling through the air aimed for the stage. Half empty water bottles spew what I hope is water across the crowd. An empty wallet, then a shoe, and a hat all land about a foot from me. Out of the corner of my eye I see a water bottle cutting through the air. It pelts a young man in the shoulder who is standing about three feet away. The bottle falls over the fence and hits the ground with a thud. The bottle is frozen solid and I’m starting to question my own safety.




Underoath erupts on stage and I watch the steel fence behind me slide forward a few inches as the audience surges. Crowd surfers are popping up along the tops of the crowd which is now a borderline angry mob. Security takes point and catches the teenagers as they topple over the rail head first. I'm amazed that most of this behavior is fun and remarkably no one walks away hurt. Underoath put on a great show, and now I’m looking forward to check out what the rest of the Warped tour has to offer.


Next, we meet the guys from White Tie Affair who are all donning ear to ear grins. They all look very excited to be at the Warped Tour as this is one of their first big West Coast shows. I asked them about what we can expect from them in the near future. “We just shot a new video for a song called ‘Take It Home’ and we’re actually finishing it at the Ventura date [of the Warped Tour] so some of the fans can get in on that.” They are also working on a future album now, but there is no official date as to when we can expect to see that.




After catching a couple other bands' sets, like A Skylit Drive and The Ataris, we made our way up to the main stage to see Thrice. Dustin was walking around the back of the stage handing his roadie a full set of guitar pedals. As soon he was visible to the audience the crowd let loose with cheers and shouts of “Dustin, we love you!” Dustin flashed a big smile to the crowd. The full band took the stage a few minutes later and the crowd damn near exploded. Despite a small technical hiccup (Dustin had a bad cable), the set went off without a hitch. Their set included a good collection of songs off of some of their older albums as well as a sample from one of their new tracks off the much anticipated “Beggars” album.






After the set we had the privilege of speaking with Dustin and Teppei. I asked Teppei about the new album: “We just finished tracking it not long ago, and it is just being mixed right now. Hopefully it will be out in the fall.” I proceed to ask Dustin how he felt Beggars compared Thrice’s previous works: “I feel like the Alchemy Index is this sideways movement to something else and this [Beggars] is coming back to what maybe Vheissu would be without that [Alchemy]. But, I don’t think we get to that point without having taken this detour in a sense.” They both commented on how the new album is very driven and “raw” and there is no doubt in my mind this will be the answer to the awesomeness that was Vheissu.




All in all Warped Tour really was a lot of fun, and despite the rebellious atmosphere the fans had a blast and didn’t cause too much trouble. It has been awhile since I ventured into the Punk scene and it was really encouraging to see lots of fans and music that had all sprouted organically without any help from the “top 40 hits” radio stations. If the Warped tour is going to be in your area, be sure to pick up a ticket and hit the pit.

Thrice - Digital Sea
The White Tie Affair - Candle (Sick And Tired)


Official Site | More photos on Flickr

NIN/JA Tour / Verizon Wireless Amphitheater / 05.20.09

Two words: fucking brilliant.

My only quip with Nine Inch Nails was that they didn't play 'Hurt' which is one of my favorite songs. But other than that, seeing two legendary acts in one night couldn't be described any other way. Check out some of the shots from the show below:

Nine Inch Nails (Tribute) - Hurt (Piano)

Official Site