Hey scare dee cats, get out there this fine Hallowed month and see some cool music, will ya?
KCRW has some good music the next couple of days, you can revisit the 80s with Killing Joke,
catch the Hotel Cafe tour at the Hotel Cafe, see k.d. lang and her amazing voice. Or some up
and comers like Ryan Bingham or All Time Low, or way cool established acts like Neil Young
and Jenny Lewis. In any case, don't be frightened by the overwhelming choice of music this month

-David Sprague

Tue 10/7/08 11:15A The Broken West on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic 89.9
Thu 10/09/08 Killing Joke House Of Blues
Thu 10/09/08 11:15A kd lang on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic 89.9
Fri 10/10/08 "Hotel Cafe Tour" Hotel Cafe
Fri 10/10/08 Brooke Fraser Hotel Cafe
Fri 10/10/08 Erin McCarley Hotel Cafe
Fri 10/10/08 Holly Conlan Hotel Cafe
Fri 10/10/08 Meiko Hotel Cafe
Fri 10/10/08 Julieta Venegas Nokia Theatre L.A. Live
Fri 10/10/08 Duffy Orpheum Theatre
at 10/11/08 The Crystal Method Vanguard Theatre

Sat 10/11/08 "Divas: Simply Singing!" Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Alicia Meyers Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Angie Stone Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Coko Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Kenny Lattimore Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Leigh Jones Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Loretta Devine Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Miki Howard Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Patti Austin Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Patti LaBelle Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Raven-Symone Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Roslyn Kind Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Sarah Dash Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Sherri Lewis Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sat 10/11/08 Siedah Garrett Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills
Sun 10/12/08 k.d. lang Malibu Performing Arts Center
Tue 10/14/08 Tokyo Police Club, Weezer The Forum
Thu 10/16/08 Ghostland Observatory Mayan Theatre
Fri 10/ 17/08 Bob Schneider, Amie Miriello @ Safari Sam's
Thu 10/16-19/08 Tegan and Sara Music Box @ Fonda
Thu 10/16/08 South Austin Jug Band The Mint
Sat 10/18/08 Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys Bordello
Sat 10/18/08 Patti Smith Orpheum Theatre
Sun 10/19/08 12:00P BRUNCH AMERICANA-Amy Farris, Dead Rock West Safari Sams
Sun 10/19/08 Andrew Bird, Haley Bonar @ Largo at the Coronet
Thu 10/23/08 Stereolab Music Box @ Fonda
Ryan Bingham
Fri 10/24/08 Ryan Bingham, Welldiggers Banquet Topanga Roadhouse
Sat 10/25/08 Flogging Molly Hollywood Palladium
Sun 10/26/08 Stan Ridgway House Of Blues
Tue 10/28/08 Apocalyptica The Avalon
Tue 10/28/08 Ted Leo And The Pharmacists The Wiltern
Tue 10/28/08 Jack's Mannequin Troubadour
Thu 10/30/08 All Time Low Majestic Ventura Theatre
Thu 10/30/08 Every Avenue Majestic Ventura Theatre
Thu 10/30/08 Mayday Parade Majestic Ventura Theatre
Thu 10/30/08 Jenny Lewis Orpheum Theatre
Thu 10/30/08 Death Cab For Cutie The Forum
Thu 10/30/08 Everest The Forum
Thu 10/30/08 Neil Young The Forum
Fri 10/31/08 The Black Angels El Rey Theatre
Fri 10/31/08 Mickey Avalon The Avalon
Nov 6 2008 Old Crow Medicine Show Henry Fonda Theatre

Neko Case

The last day of ACL was a bit slow, but after all the fun of the previous two days, preshows and aftershows, I was ready for a little slow. Photo gallery day three.

Nicole Atkins is a rising star, providing what she calls "pop noir" and is a bit reminiscent of Roy Orbison. And then their is Gillian Welch, who had Allison Krauss joining her on stage for a bit of a O Brother reunion, performing Don't Leave Nobody but the Baby for an electric moment.

Stars played their melodic pop, closing with Your Ex-Lover is dead and turning in a workman like performance.

Neko Case was a highlight today, using her voice to totally take over on the large stage, leaving one wondering how much she would completely anihilate a smaller venue. The sound on her show was some of the best of the festival, with her voice rising and falling in her trademark style.

Austin's own Okkervil River is doing some new work from their just released latest album The Stand Ins. Their Unless It's Kick is still stellar and uplifting.

The Raconteurs, winning the prize for the loudest bass coming from their stage, to the point of painfulness even with earplugs, rocked through their set it more than adequate guitar work. Jack White seems to really relish this work.

Band of Horses, of Seattle, is one of Sub Pops records latest finds, is soaring and dark at the same time. The crowd loves them and so do I. Can't wait to see them next time around.

Kevin Fowler of Austin provided one last kick in the but country, and of course Foo Fighters headlined the last night. But I had had my fill, and not being a big Foo fan, headed for the exit.

Some favorite t-shirts from the weekend included:
My football team can beat up your football team
Keep Dallas Pretentious
I smell like strippers
and
Chick Kryptonite

Overall a very good year in Austin. A bit of dust, a bit of sound bleed, but the lineup, the people, the attitude, and of course Austin itself make this festival one of the best in the country. Til next year, enjoy!

Story and photos by David Sprague

Gillian Welch and Allison Krauss revisit O Brother

Allison Krauss and Robert Plant
Day two at ACL brought some chances to see some bands I've been waiting to see for quite a while, as well as some old friends. ACL Day Two photo gallery

Fleet Foxes are a band that is going places, and after they get from their UK and Australia tours we will get a chance to see them here in Southern Calfiornia. Their singer said "We just don't know how to communicate on this scale" when faced with one of their bigger audiences at the festival. After playing a couple of their longer rambling pieces someone in the crowd yells out "One more song!" which draws a laugh and the band says they think they have one or two left. Harmonizing on White Winter Hymnal is as good as anything from the sixties in my book and is just plain mesmerizing. It does seem a little early, just after noon, to be hearing this sort of thing. Around midnite would be better and I can't wait to catch them here in our city in some dark nightclub.
The Fratellis
The latest Brit band to take up the mantle of Franz Ferdinand are the Fratellis. Their videos are definitely something to check out as they are highly entertaining. Chelsea Dagger and Flathead certainly define their style.

Athens band Drive-By Truckers got a little bit of a slow start and didn't even seem like the same band I've seen in the past. Maybe it was a little too much sunshine or their darker country moments.
Dancing to MGMT
MGMT had the kids dancing with their one, two, three punch of their best songs, Electric Feel, Time to Pretend and Kids. Who couldn't dance to this stuff? Maybe we will see them in LA next year after their European/Japanese tour finishes.

Bright Eyes front man musical boy genius Conor Oberst is touring with the Mystic Valley band, and has some pretty good licks up his sleeve. He seems to be changing identities almost as much as Madonna. Conor Oberst






The highlight of the day, if not the whole festival came when Robert Plant and Allison Krauss did Blackdog, slow, nearly acapella, with a fiddle filling in for the guitar lead. The crowd was dead silent, listening to something they had never hear before, something very familiar but completely different at the same time. It was a work of genius, with even old hands at the music critic game exclaiming "That was cool!" as soon as it was over, complete with goosebumps.

Photos and story by David Sprague

Krauss solo

Vampire Weekend
The seventh version of the Austin City Limits Music Festival once again proved why this gathering of musical acts is so popular. The range of music, quality of acts and performances, sound, atmosphere, food and people are all great, with something for everyone and more than a little bit of "you had to be there."

Photo gallery Day One
Kicking off the fest on Friday was Vampire Weekend, the ultimate buzz band of the summer. Their quirky, poppy, crowd pleasing set set the tone for the weekend, with the crowd into the music from the first chord. And I know I'm getting older, but with them fresh out of college they looked like high schoolers to me.
Louis XIV
Louis XIV ramped up the rock in short order early in the day. I had heard they were great last year, but missed them, so made a point to catch them this time. Their "Finding out true love is blind" is great rock and sounds nearly like some of the recent Brit bands to invade. Lo and behold they hail from San Diego.

Patty Griffin, ever the fab, tries to come out for an encore to sing something solo acapella, but sound bleedover from another stage caused her to cut it short and call back the band. In years past the volume levels of the different stages seemed to be under control, with balance between quiet and loud bands, but this year returned a bit to the problematics of running eight stages in an outdoor venue.

Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello did their mixup of the Clash, the Pogues and the Gypsy Kings and the crowd went wild. They easily won the "most energy of any band at the festival" award. Formed in New York, the eastern European group of eight certainly provide fine theatre and musical jams. Frontman Eugene Hütz lists Hendrix and Parliament-Funkadelic as influential to their sound. It shows.

Gogol Bordello

Jenny Lewis

Native Angeleno Jenny Lewis took the stage in the Washington Mutual tent to a huge overflow crowd. She is jazzed about her new record Acid Tongue and for good reason. The title track gives her a chance to strut her stuff solo. At other times a little wurlitzer and vintage guitar sound really accentuates her voice and makes one continue to wonder if they like her better by herself or as part of Rilo Kiley. But thank goodness it doesn't have to be one or the other.

Ryan Bingham
Next up Ryan Bingham, the 26-year-old whose country songs are way, way wiser than his age, puts out a set that is part pure country, then pure country rock to the delight of the crowd. Anyone who is a fan of that genre should definitely check him out. His backstory of being a bullrider, drifter and oil hand is one that is too true to be believed, but it injects his songs with an authenticity that can't be faked. Anyone prone to the genre will instantly like his stuff.

Listening in on N.E.R.D. from a distance, one hears a cover of a White Stripes song that is pretty surprising. Others later tell me that they are different than expected and put on a great show.

The Swell Season creates an intimacy with their audience immediately at the beginning of their set with their honest openness. Still somewhat unknown despite the success of the film Once, people are getting to know and appreciate them. Falling Slowly is a truly touching song that affects all but the most cynical.

Manu Chao, aka José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao, finishes off the evening with his Spanish - French influence summed up in the song El Hoyo. Manu Chao

Photos and story by David Sprague

Hey gang, it is that time of the year again, when we head to Austin for the seventh edition of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

We'll be bringing you atmosphere, reviews, impressions and photo galleries. Check back in the next few days for the goods. Until then, check out the line up here and listen to some of the bands live here.

-David Sprague

Hey gang, it is that time of the year again, when we head to Austin for the seventh edition of the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

We'll be bringing you atmosphere, reviews, impressions and photo galleries. Check back in the next few days for the goods. Until then, check out the line up here and listen to some of the bands live here.

-David Sprague

Bob Dylan

Well I suppose if you had to see some music in LA this month, you could. Actually quite a bit of good stuff. I'm saving myself for the Austin City Limits Music Festival mostly, but you can't go wrong with any of the following shows. I mean Bob Dylan to the Blasters, Nada Surf to Kasey Chambers. Come on. Enjoy
-David Sprague

Mon 09/01/08 Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys Safari Sam's
Mon 09/01/08 The Blasters Safari Sam's
Tue 09/02/08 Sons And Daughters Troubadour
Wed 09/03/08 Bob Dylan Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Wed 09/03/08 The Mother Truckers The Roxy Theatre
Fri 09/05-6/08 Nada Surf Troubadour
Sat 09/6/08 RANCH PARTY w/David Serby, Merle Jagger EB's Wine Bar, Farmers Market
Mon 09/08/08 Jake La Botz Redwood Bar
Tue 09/09/08 Ratatat Music Box @ Fonda
Tue 09/09/08 Alejandro Escovedo Troubadour
Wed 09/10/08 Jon Brion Largo
Wed 09/10-11/08 buy tix Built To Spill Troubadour
Thu 09/11/08 Kasey Chambers And Shane Nicholson Hotel Cafe
Sep 12 2008 Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson McCabe's
Sat 09/13/08 Phantom Planet Music Box @ Fonda
Mon 09/15/08 The Fratellis House Of Blues
Tue 09/16/08 DeVotchKa El Rey Theatre
Wed 09/17/08 G. Love & Special Sauce,The Black Crowes, Tristan Prettyman Greek Theatre
Wed 09/17/08 Cat Power Hollywood Bowl
Wed 09/17/08 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Hollywood Bowl
Wed 09/17/08 Vampire Weekend The Wiltern
Fri 09/19/08 Los Straitjackets Safari Sam's
Fri 09/19/08 Fur Dixon & Steve Werner Getty Center's Harold M Williams Auditorium
Sat 09/20/08 Beck, MGMT, Spoon Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 My Morning Jacket Greek Theatre
Sun 09/21/08 "KCRW'S World Festival" Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 Lila Downs Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 Michael Franti & Spearhead Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 Nortec Collective Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 Ozomatli Hollywood Bowl
Sun 09/21/08 Goldfrapp Orpheum Theatre
Sun 09/21-22/08 Hot Chip The Wiltern

Fleet Foxes

Mon 09/22/08 Fleet Foxes El Rey Theatre
Mon 09/22/08 The Kills Greek Theatre
Mon 09/22-23/08 The Raconteurs Greek Theatre
Mon 09/22/08 Bill Frisell Largo
Mon 09/22/08 Does It Offend You, Yeah? Troubadour
Tue 09/23-24/08 Josh Rouse Largo
Tue 09/23/08 Okkervil River Music Box @ Fonda
Sat 09/27/08 Old Man Markley Knitting Factory Hollywood
Mon 09/29/08 Calexico Music Box @ Fonda

An august schedule awaits the local music fan in August, with some country, rockabilly, Irish, jazz and contemporary offerings. If you have never seen Ray Wylie Hubbard, hop to it. The Royal Crown Revue at Burbank's Starlight Bowl will be a fun family date, P.J. will bring her darkness to the Fonda, and Old Man Markley, the biggest little band I know, will dust it up at the Knitting Factory. El Vez is still at it after a couple of decades of doing the latin Elvis thing, Broken Social will be infectious outdoors at the Sunset Junction, and Radiohead will provide the icing at the end of the month. Listen to Bon Iver's Skinny Love and Sam Sparro's Black and Gold and decide if you want to check those guys out. Rock on my peeps.

-DAVID SPRAGUE

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Fri 08/01/08 Buddy Guy Greek Theatre
Fri 08/01/08 Ray Wylie Hubbard, I See Hawks in LA McCabes
Fri 08/01/08 Elvin Bishop, George Thorogood & The Destroyers Greek Theatre
Fri 08/01/08 The Subways Troubadour
Sun 08/03/08 Lyle Lovett Orpheum Theatre
Sun 08/03/08 Royal Crown Revue Starlight Bowl
Wed 08/06/08 The Ting Tings El Rey Theatre
Thu 08/07/08 Lisa Haley & the Zydecats- free Levitt Pavilion
Sat 08/09/08 Sam Sparro Troubadour
Wed 08/13/08 Paolo Nutini Hollywood Bowl
Wed 08/13/08 Solomon Burke Hollywood Bowl
Sat 08/16/08 Gipsy Kings Greek Theatre

Sat 08/16/08 P.J. Harvey Music Box Fonda
Sat 08/16/08 Queens Of The Stone Age Music Box @ Fonda
Sat 08/16/08 Reckless Kelly The Mint
Sun 08/17/08 Young Dubliners Greek Theatre
Sun 08/17/08 Boney James Hollywood Bowl
Sun 08/17/08 David Sanborn Hollywood Bowl
Sun 08/17/08 Eric Darius Hollywood Bowl
Sun 08/17/08 Big Sandy & His Fly Rite Boys The Derby
Mon 08/18/08 1st ever Ford Bluegrass Jam John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
Wed 08/20/08 Gin Blossoms Pershing Square
Thu 08/21/08 American Music Night w/John Doe - free Levitt Pavilion
Thu 08/21/08 Tickets available for free Fur Dixon and Steve show at The Getty
Fri 08/22/08 James Intveld Joe's Great American Bar & Grill
Old Man Markley photo
Fri 08/22/08 Old Bull, Old Man Markley Knitting Factory Hollywood
Sat 08/23/08 James Intveld, The Palominos Safari Sam's
Sat 08/23/08 El Vez, Lysa Flores Key Club
Sat 08/23/08 Broken Social Scene Sunset Junction Street Fair
Sat 08/23/08 Cold War Kids Sunset Junction Street Fair
Sat 08/23/08 Johnathan Rice Sunset Junction Street Fair
Radio head hphoto
Sun 08/24/08 Radiohead Hollywood Bowl
Mon 08/25/08 Radiohead Hollywood Bowl
Tue 08/26/08 Bon Iver, A.A. Bondy Troubadour
Thu 08/28/08 Marc Broussard the Roxy
Sun 08/31/08 Southern Culture On The Skids Echo
Sun 08/31/08 Jack Johnson UCLA
Sun 08/31/08 Grand Ole Echo w Southern Culture on the Skids 5pm The Echo
Sun 08/31/08 Rogue Wave UCLA

Tim Fite, a genially oddball genius who's kind of a cross between Randy Newman and Public Enemy - he does some songs in the drawl of Newman's crackers and others sounding quite persuasively like a black rapper - played the Echo in Echo Park last night. On top of his musical diversity, he sprinkles the wry presentation of a twisted children's show host (there's a multi-media element to his show, some of it featuring his own drawings, and part of it featured the story "JoJo and Bobby Stab a Motherf@%&er," about a duck and a cat sharing a sandwich (and only discussing the possibility of stabbing a motherf@%&er)).

Most of the show was given over to the catchiest songs from his albums "Gone Ain't Gone" and his most recent release, "Fair Ain't Fair" - wryly demented tunes like "No Good Here," "Big Mistake," and "It's All Right Here" (played over an eternal video loop from a shopping cart's perspective in a grocery store cereal aisle). (Most of the hip-hop he has done was on an album he gave away free online last year, "Over the Counter Culture." It's actually fairly critical of hip-hop culture; one song, "I've Been Shot," boasts the lyric, "I'd've never been sh!t if I'd've never been shot." Anyway, all this is kind of moot, since excepting "It's All Right Here," his set Tuesday was light on "Over the Counter Culture" material.)

(Here's Fite doing "Big Mistake," the most deceptively cheerful song off his new album "Fair Ain't Fair," from something just vaguely better than a camera phone that missed the beginning of the song but otherwise it's pretty much as he performed it Tuesday night; be aware that it contains one pretty naughty word.)

There was a little pizza-party reception beforehand and he had brought modeling clay for those attending to make monsters with. Here is his offering; it's hard to tell in the light, but it's holding a pepperoni pizza; his band mate, who goes by the moniker Dr. Leisure, contributed the stream of urine emanating from it. Clearly, he never considered whether or not anyone'd actually want a pizza from a urinating monster, but you know, these artists, they're temperamental.

Special, secret note: There's a hilarious and extraordinarily profane fact about this monster you can only find on the Mayor of Television blog, which is here.

Fite told me about this island owned off the coast of Connecticut by the guy who invented the Segway scooter thingy and had gotten rich off of creating a blood filtration system. He said the place was called Dumpling Island and the guy had declared himself separate from the U.S. and had signed a non-aggression treaty with the U.S. He said the guy was trying to further insinuate the Segway into American culture and noted that a number of cities offer visitor tours on Segways. He found it all amusingly sinister; I said it sounded James Bond-villain-y and he agreed, that's exactly what it was (a fan of his works for the guy is how he claims to have found all this out -- I almost don't want to know if any of it's true; it works both ways: genius if he made it all up and just as genius if it's the sort of things his fans would tell him about).

Obligatorily investigatory note: It's apparently fairly true. Dumpling Island exists, only it's called North Dumpling Island; the non-aggression pact was signed (apparently as a kind of a joke) with Bush 41, before Dean Kamen invented the Segway, though the U.S. has not officially recognized North Dumpling. But it's even weirder than Fite told it: North Dumpling has its own flag, constitution, national anthem and a replica of Stonehenge. And, yes, a number of big cities do offer Segway tours.

Photo taken by Simone Schramm Trimm

As the continuation of this post you are now able to watch Coldplay performing "In My Place" at the Forum on Tuesday, July 15. This was the second of two nights. It was a fun show as you can tell.

After trying just about everything to get this sucker on youtube, someone suggested that I try google video. It took awhile but I was finally able to upload this behemoth of a video file! Go me!!! For some reason I'm having problems embedding the video so you're just going to have to watch it here!