Courtesy of our Music Director, Maura.

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This is called “Family of Others” off the band’s latest, Offend Maggie.

First and foremost, for all you Seinfeld,and Curb Your Enthusiasm fans, or for all of you fans of funny, please take some time out of your day for Larry David. Yes, he may be an ignorant SOB sometimes but it makes for the most uncomfortably wonderful kind of comedy around. Critics will deem people like LD as the dark side of humanity, providing nothing more than negative commentary. I must (un)kindly disagree. David will say everything that people only think, when others are too scared to talk. And it is fucking hilarious. While he may not be for everyone, it’s worth a shot to convert as many people as possible. His comedy may have been around for years (Seinfeld–which I think pales in comparison to Curb Your Enthusiasm) but I think everyone should check it out. I mean, who doesn’t like watching people feel uncomfortable? Hilarious.  Here’s a link to an article he recently wrote about the upcoming election. Check it.

Secondly, new music. I am proudly using my first post to provide a shameless plug for my friend’s band. Formerly known as Panda, Dizzy Balloon (huh?) has been around since middle school. Over time, their sound has grown and matured into something new. This past year, they recorded a full length album. Check out the myspace. If this music doesn’t get your toe a-tappin’, I don’t know what will.

See, I took care of your afternoon entertainment. Enjoy.

So Halloween is this Friday. Still don’t have plans? Like electronic music? We can help. 

The good thing is that this Halloween there are plenty of choices of events to go to. You have an opportunity to go to not one, not two, but three places in the same night. 

First off, the most recently announced event is an Ed Banger Halloween Party. 

Sponsored by Nike, the french Ed Bangers DJs will be hosting a Halloween Kick-Off party at the Montalban Theater in Hollywood. This is the same theater that Soulwax will be screening their Part of the Weekend Never Dies on the 28th. The new Busy P AirForces will be unveiled at the event, and you will have an opportunity to meet the members of the Ed Rec Crue, while still outfitted in your Daft Punk knock-off Halloween costume. There’s no RSVP, so just show up. The event starts at 5PM at the Montalban.

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What to do next? Well, of course there’s Hard Haunted Mansion, but if you don’t have tickets to it, or if you intend on showing up late, you could always check out an event sponsored by LA Metromix.

The people who brought you the weekly DanceRight event at La Cita bring you Drop-Dead Gorgeous Halloween at the Natural History Museum directly South of USC. Here you can catch DJ Sets from Treasure Fingers, Classixx, and my pick Holy Ghost. The best part of this event is that it is absolutely free for admission. Don’t want to fork out $60 for a Hard Ticket? This is your best bet. There is a catch, though, to admission: you simply need to RSVP. Easy, right? Open up your favorite email program or webmail site and send your confirmation over to metromix@danceright.com.

If you’re going to this event and staying there, enjoy yourself. But if not, you always have the option of walking over to Hard Fest going on within walking distance. A safe bet would be to pay couple bucks and parking over at the University of Southern California Parking Structure X on Figueroa. This parking structure is located right in between, and is walking distance, both the Metromix and Hard events. That being said, you can head north on Figueroa and find yourself at one of the most epic electronic events that Los Angeles has ever hosted.

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Meet Hard Haunted Mansion. 

With a line-up featuring the biggest names in electronic music, I have no doubt that this event will be the highlight of the night. You will have an opportunity to catch the likes of Justice, Soulwax, SMD, Boys Noize, Crystal Castles, Crookers, and a few others…… all in the same night! If you haven’t bought your tickets for this yet, you should because they may sell out and/or reach capacity early. So get your costume, get your ass to the Shrine on Halloween night, and prepare for one of the biggest nights of electronic music ever to take place in the western hemisphere. 

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But wait…. there’s more. Still not satisfied? Halloween is not just a night… it’s the whole weekend.

By the time you wake up the following morning hungover from Hard Fest, you have just enough time to get yourself and a few close companions in a car, and head east to the northbound Interstate 15. Follow the road for a couple hundred miles, and you will end up in Las Vegas where the party never ends.

The Fabulous Festival is the biggest electronic show in Las Vegas history, where you can catch sets from  MSTRKRFT, Crystal Castles (again), DEADMAU5, HeartsRevolution, and [once again] the Ed Banger Crew featuring Busy P, DJ Mehdi, SebastiAn, SoMe and Mr Flash. Since Las Vegas is lenient with ordinances, curfews and whatnot, expect this event to go on until the wee hours.

And if these don’t satisfy you… I don’t know what else to say.

(Pictured: Singing DJ Jens Lekman at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. For more better photos, check out Brooklyn Vegan’s post)

The last two days of CMJ were jam packed with temptatious showcases, mixers, and panels. Thursday, I went down to the South Side Seaport, and after getting terribly lost, I was only able to catch Bearsuit. The band was a fat waste of time musically. However, the band did tell a zinger related to technical difficulties:

“We’re having problems with American Power.”
“A lot of people are.”

As cute as they were, I wished I had caught the last moments of Brooklyn’s Loose Limbs, who sound a bit like Thee Oh Sees. In the evening, the folks at Matador threw a little party at Stanton Public, with DJ sets by Times New Viking and The Teenagers. Admittedly, it was after some failed attempts to go to other shows. (Piano’s was sold out very early, so we didn’t catch the Dutchess and the Duke and the line for the Vivian Girls was long and static.)

Saturday, AAM threw their showcase which had a great line-up: Crystal Antlers, Ruby Suns, Monotonix, Annuals, and A Place to Bury Strangers. I caught up with Crystal Antlers here, and they gave me a little interview about their tour, CMJ, and some future plans (transcript posted soon). I have their EP, but hadn’t yet seen them live and let me tell you, recordings sell them short. Ruby Suns played percussion heavy, island music with light electronics and I was in disbelief that two young New Zealanders were making all that music.

Man, I thought Crystal Antlers had great energy, but Monotonix was the most shocking, exciting, and unpredictable show I saw at CMJ. The lead singer kicked over trashcans like they were soccer balls, threw water unto the crowd in a manner similar to a mass baptism (he does sort of look like Jesus), and hung off the balcony until security gently pulled him off. He moved like a whack-a-mole machine, frantically disappearing and reappearing in different parts of the venue. The other members had wild antics as well, and I was shocked how perfectly the tunes and vocals were, despite being upside down or having your drumset held up steadily by members of the crowd.

Why haven’t we heard or talked about this song in so long? Thanks 1998.

I wonder how much of that lady camaraderie is real. Also, 3:18.

Let me preface everything I am about write by briefly defending myself and my character:

1. I am, by no means, an impulsive person. I fervently calculate, analyze, examine, and quantify every aspect of my life before making a decision. Shit, it just takes me thirty minutes of my lunch break to decide if I want a salad or a sandwich from Trader Joe’s.

2. I love music, but I am not a fangirl. (And that year-and-a-half period when I was in middle school and loved N’Sync should not count against me.) I do not have pictures of Ralf and Florian from Kraftwerk plastered on my wall, nor do I have printouts of a late-1970s Elvis Costello surrounded by hearts hanging above my bed. (I do have a Joy Division poster, but it is rather hard to fall in love with all that dark, English brooding.)

Taking all that into consideration, it seems highly out-of-line for yours truly to do what she’s about to do this upcoming Tuesday.

But first, a history lesson.

Notably weird and ingenious experimental indie group Animal Collective has, through a series of cryptic videos and website updates, recently revealed the status of their upcoming ninth (NINTH??) studio album. Titled Merriweather Post Pavilion, the album—rumored to be their most ambitious and epic album yet—is set to be released on January 20th. Most Animal Collective fans find themselves forced to sit on their haunches with a heavily-revised tracklisting and a triptastic album cover until the albums drops (or leaks.)

But not me. (No, seriously.)

Enter another cryptic blogosphere-type message from the boys of AC—an album listening party on October 28th in Harlem.

Upon hearing this, my mind turned into a jumble of the following: “WHAT? MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION BEFORE ANYONE ELSE HEARS IT?” “ZOMG NO WAI!” “AHHHHH!” (Repeat ad nauseum.)

After consulting a Los Angeles friend currently visiting family on the Eastern seaboard, my bank account, and my week’s schedule, I decided such an opportunity would be too hard to pass up.

So, I purchased a deliciously cheap ticket to New York City, made plans to stay with an old high school friend, and nabbed a press spot for the evening. (Yes, I really am this crazy.)

Now, I wait. (And sometimes, question my sanity. Why on earth am I flying several thousand miles to hear an ALBUM? It’s not a live show, the band probably will not show up…So why?)

And now, is where I get cheesy.

The amazing thing about music—and especially the music of Animal Collective—is that it possesses such a haunting resonance, such an affective nature, that it forcibly permeates your skin, pushes through your muscles and tendons to slink into your bones for the rest of your mortal existence. It clings to you desperately, opening your eyes wider, letting down your self-made barriers, reminding you of the wonderful, the beautiful, and the altogether magical things residing within the universe. Some people cling to other vices to experience such revelations, but to me, my gateway into this quasi-nirvanic state is music—pure, simple, inspired.

Maybe I am a little crazy—or maybe you are just a little bit jealous—but a little spontaneity never hurt anyone, did it?

Full review, report, and other related tidbits when I return the following evening.

The best CMJ shows are the unofficial ones in the daytime at tiny venues. It’s actually fun finding the bathroom in the basement, the stage on the second floor, and with the ground and mezzanine it makes a total of four floors begging to be explored. The bands usually float around too for a short, friendly chat. Case in point, Brooklyn Vegan threw another show at Piano’s (old legitimate Piano sign still decorates facade) and the line-up was difficult to pass up: The Muslims, Japanese Motors, Pretty and Nice, Friendly Fires, Crystal Antlers, etc.

I was able to squeeze in an interview with The Muslims, recent L.A. transplants from San Diego, who I had seen at the Echo unexpectedly in the summer. Their sound is garage rock-ish, reminiscent of several key rock acts of past decades, but refreshing and new. We tried hard to make my tiny travel recorder work among weekday street noise, and hopefully the quality is good enough for me to post when I return. The band has been super busy at CMJ, but the too-short interview is hopefully the precursor to a real, grueling, hot-seat style interview in the studio.

For playing so early in the day, Boston boy band Pretty and Nice really got me in the dancey mood. They have extraordinary energy, joking about their malfunctioning equipment, soliciting a snare drum from the crowd, and playing really edgy punky pop (not pop punk). They toed the line between rebellious and out of tune, but luckily stayed on the first side.

I had no interest in Eagle Seagull at all. Don’t get me wrong, the keyboards were great and so were the violin solos, but I really saw nothing special with their music or performance. Six musicians produced a really full sound with great coordination, but somehow the creativity was lost. The band utilized repetitive hooks and relied on the talent of the vocalist, who could not produce enough variety to perpetuate interest.

In the evening, I went to Webster Hall to finally catch one of Fujiya and Miyagi’s performances at CMJ. I didn’t know until I saw the massive line of teenz that Crystal Castles was actually the headliner. The earlier comment about enjoying small venues is directly related to the fact that this place was pretty darn big and packed (with annoying, illicitly drunk teens).

Lymbyc System opened the night, and man, I have been so lucky catching worthwhile openers. I doubt this is P.C., but the band is two unassuming-looking guys with Jew-fros playing shoegazey, experimental electronic. They reminded me a whole lot of Tortoise, only less Jazzy. While at times they sounded like a tiny music box lullaby, L.S. definitely brought the volume and the beat in, and the show peaked in several climaxes. The scrawnier guy played keyboards, and was obviously trained on piano, while the slightly less scrawny fella played both drums and bells. They’re on tour with Crystal Castles.

Whomadewho was hilarious, wacky, and totally lovable. I will scan my drawings of them later, but for now, just look at their myspace. The dude played guitar with a Heineken bottle. Need I say more?

Now, I have never seen a live video of Fujiya and Miyagi or, well, even a photo. I had no clue what to expect. The best part of the show was seeing how the sounds were made and who was making them. Surprises:

1) The guitarist is the main vocalist, but the keyboardist and bass player contribute as well. It’s pretty subtle on the album, and I couldn’t tell if the singer just layered his own vocals.
2) The guitarist is amazing. It’s subtle on the album, but F&M really let those solos shine.
3) The album sounds so cohesive that you could believe one person was recording everything, but really it’s just almost-perfect coordination.

Every day has been discovery, disappointment, and pure satisfaction. My ears are aching, even after wearing earplugs, and probably from the HUGE speakers at Webster. I left before Crystal Castles not just because I’ve seen them before, but because I was going to strangle the kids in the crowd. Whatever I.D. check lady gave these young babies liquor should get the boot. They yelled “Crystal Castles!!!” during Fujiya and Miyagi’s set and kept talking about how much they sucked. FAIL.

(Pictures and stuff soon. Sorry I write so much. Sorry this is unedited. More tomorrow!)