The OC Music Awards takes place today at OC Tavern in San Clemente. Local artists Skee, Carly Layne, Parker Macy Blues, Christina Dietz and Allensworth will be competing in the Best Live Acoustic category.
The first performance is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. (so far, pretty much every week they've started exactly on time) and the event ends at midnight. This showcase is free--like all the rest--but only open to fans 21 years of age and older. It's the second to last live showcase of the 2010 series. Check out this clip of Huntington Beach-based sunshine soul band Allensworth performing "Back in a Second."
The Awards countdown continues with weekly showcases culminating at the Best Live Acoustic Finals Feb. 26 at Yost Theater in Santa Ana and the Best Live Band Finals at Samueli Theater/Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa Feb. 27, where the finalists from both categories perform and the winners are announced on stage at the end of each night. The OC Music Awards take place March 6 at the Grove of Anaheim.
After the jump: 2010 OC Music Awards Nominees; showcase schedule.
"The Flaming Lips playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Weezer, Phoenix, Baroness, John Fogerty, the Black Keys, Wale, and Neon Indian," among artists confirmed for Bonnaroo, reports Pitchfork. Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival takes place June 10-13 in Manchester, Tenn. At the Bonnaroo website and MySpace they're announcing the lineup from noon to 9 p.m. Eastern time today. Good luck logging on! We had no success this morning.
"Joe Jackson: Dr. Murray 'a fall guy' in Michael's death," reports CNN. Let the conspiracy theories begin! Seriously, has an iconic pop star ever died without creating conspiracy theories? How long before: "Michael Jackson spotted in line at Disneyland"?
"White Stripes threaten 'strong action' over Air Force's 'Fell in Love With a Girl' Super Bowl ad, reports Rolling Stone. Jack White vs. Air Force. Go White!
Editor's note: Matt Buga is a Music Director at KUCI.
KUCI is the last bastion against sound-alike radio in Orange County and the voice of freedom for all the independent music that gets snubbed by the major labels. From the edge of University of California Irvine, KUCI brings you the latest in all forms of independent and underground music.
1. Beach House, Teen Dream (Sub Pop).
2. Crown City Rockers, the Day After Forever (Gold Dust).
3. Surfer Blood, Astro Coast (Kanine)
4. Cold Cave, Love Comes Close (Matador)
5. Tan Dollar, Your Body As A Temple (Life's Blood)
What's better than an all girl band? A HOT all girl band! For the past four years Irvine-based Apocalipstick has been rocking shows all over California with their power pop/punk songs and motto of "stealing hearts and breaking them along the way."
Apocalipstick makes their mark with wonderfully snarky lyrics, sugary hooks and amazing stage presence. Looking at singer Abby Lipstick, drummer Jeannette Gloss, and bassist Wendy Shadow, it's easy to see why guys want them--and girls want to be like them.
But they're much more than just pretty faces! Click here to listen. And see for yourself why Apocalipstick are on their way to the top when they a play a free show Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton.
OC Weekly (Ali Lerman):We love the band name, how did you come up with it?
Abby Lipstick: Before we even started the band my best friend and I were at the bookstore around Valentine's Day. Where all of the "chick lit" was displayed we saw a book called "Apocalipstick" and thought it would be a perfect name for a girl band!
Michael Jackson's Doctor Death has finally been charged.
"The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office on Monday morning filed its long-awaited case against Conrad Murray, the Houston physician who was with Michael Jackson during the pop star's last hours in June," reports Dennis Romero of our sister paper LA Weekly.
Romero notes, "Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter and was expected to appear Monday afternoon for arraignment at the LAX courthouse."
The Hype: Thanks to a recent string of successful Orange County/Long Beach shows, local audiences are becoming more acquainted with drum/guitar duo the Littlest Viking (of Whittier/San Pedro) and their frazzled blend of post-hardcore, math rock bad assery. People are also snatching up copies of the band's pretty much sold out 2009 release Labor & Lust. The Littlest Viking's Saturday show at the Tropics Lounge was the first in a weekend of back-to-back dates in Fullerton that concluded with a Sunday performance at the Continental Room.
Apologies for the shitty cellphone pic of the Littlest Viking
The Show: With just enough light dripping from the dusty lamp above an old pool table, the sparse audience at the Tropics Lounge in Fullerton watched as instrumental duo the Littlest Viking dialed their playing all the way to warp speed. It only took one or two songs of aggressive rock riffage to snag the crowd's attention. Although with fewer than 20 people sitting around guzzling beer, the Littlest Viking performed with maximum verve. Guitarist Ruben Cortez and drummer Christopher Gregory delivered a melodic, scrappy instrumentals marked by tricky time signatures and raw power.
Today we're checking out another multitalented Etsy crafter--Brie of BKD Signature crochets, makes glass pendants, and still finds time for school and giving back to the community!
Love in Bloom pendant by Brie of BKD Signature
After the jump, learn more about how BKD Signature got started and where it's going. Oh yeah, and enter this week's Gettin' Made giveaway!
The Beatles wrote that little ditty about LSD called "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and then blamed it on a painting by John Lennon's son. The Rolling Stones were less coy with such titles as "Mother's Little Helper" and "Sister Morphine." Dylan proclaimed "everybody must get stoned." Clapton (by way of J.J. Cale) celebrated cocaine. Neil Young warned of the needle and the damage done. Lou Reed, as leader of the Velvet Underground and then as a solo act, became King of the Drug Odes thanks to such classics as "Heroin," "Waiting for the Man," "Street Hassle" and "Perfect Day," just to name a few. But all of those were recorded in the 1960s and 70s. Here's a look at great songs from the 2000s inspired by assorted pills, powders and syrup.
1. "Cocaine and Ashes," Son Volt
The title comes from the quote Keith Richards reportedly made about cutting a line of his father's ashes with some coke and snorting it. Rather than play it for laughs (something Son Volt's Jay Farrar is probably incapable of), the alt-country hero offers a stirring meditation on what life might be like as an aging, drug-addled rock star who deals with the loss of his father the only way he knows how: by getting high. "Just tears and blow on my mind," Farrar sings. The song is from Son Volt's outstanding 2009 album American Central Dust.
2. "Ask Her For Adderall," the Hold Steady
The greatest indie rock & roll band in the world writes a song about that girl everybody knows: the one with the Adderrall stash. These speed pills--obtainable with prescription for ADHD, which we hear is pretty easy to get--pack a euphoric side effect, suppress your appetite and allow you to study (and/or drink your ass off) all night long while inhaling at least a carton of cigarettes, each one tasting like cotton candy. Who could ask for anything more? Well, than more Adderall an hour or so later. The song is included on the Hold Steady's latest album, the concert disc A Positive Rage.
3. "Purple Pills," D12 featuring Eminem
People had been rolling since the 1970s but Ecstasy didn't receive a proper, mainstream homage until 2001 when Eminem and his Detroit crew dropped "Purple Pills" (renamed "Purple Hills" for radio/MTV). "I take a couple uppers, I down a couple downers, but nothing compares to these blue and yellow purple pills," Eminem raps on the highly more entertaining uncensored version of the hit single. It should be noted, though, that the all-time greatest Ecstasy anthem--especially among old-school ravers--is the Prodigy's "Out of Space," from their 1992 debut album Experience. "I'll take your brain to another dimension!" If you partied in the '90s, you have sung along to that line.
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The Hype: After bypassing Orange County the last time they toured through Southern California, New York noise pop sensation Vivian Girls came to UC Irvine to play an all-ages acoustic gig Friday afternoon before their show at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa later in the evening. Having enjoyed considerable attention from critics since their self-titled 2008 debut album--and playing Coachella last year--Vivian Girls were one of the bigger acts to perform at the campus of late.
Gray Beltran
Cassie Ramone Kicking Ass at UCI
The Show: A few minutes before 4 p.m., the all-female trio of Vivian Girls sat down for an intimate show inside the UC Irvine Cross Cultural Center. Guitarist and lead singer Cassie Ramone had turned down the volume on her Danelectro, opting for a cleaner, softer sound than what usually drenches the band's albums. Drummer Ali Koehler's kit had been reduced to a floor tom, snare and tambourine. Bassist Kickball Katy seemed to make the smallest adjustment for the acoustic show, keeping her Paul McCartney-esque Hofner violin bass near its usual level.
