Orange County Music Blog

​​​We're not used to hearing a whole lot out of the mouth of multi-instrumentalist/composer Omar Rodriguez Lopez (guitarist for The Mars Volta and El Groupo Nuevo). His guitar does most of the talking. With twelve studio albums worth of Latin-drenched prog jams swirling in the creative space beneath his afro, this revered guitar legend has the whole "prolific musician" thing down pat. Still, for those who seem to follow his every recorded scrap of his career, one question still remains: Can he sing?

Amanda Milius

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Remember the Willows? They're back! In Pog form!

Well, that's just not true (unfortunate, yes). But they are back with a new album, Everyone, scheduled for release on November 17. It's their second album on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak label, following 2007's Chautauqua.

​Nick Jr.'s Yo Gabba Gabba! isn't a typical kiddie fare and anyone that's into music should know that by now, and it's not just those oddly appealing monsters and robots like the Gary Baseman-esque Muno. The show--co-created by Huntington Beach resident/Aquabats lead singer Christian Jacobs, by the way--has featured surprisingly hip bands so many times that it's really not surprising any more. Among the names: the Roots, Of Montreal, Mates of States, the Shins, Hot Hot Heat, Chromeo and Mark Mothersbaugh; all performing absolutely kid-friendly yet not strictly "kiddie" tunes.

Several of those acts are on the upcoming Music Is Awesome! a compilation, a soundtrack featuring some Gabba's best performances due out on October 20. Track listing, courtesy Pitchfork, after the jump.

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There's always room for a surging ball of sultry, 60s-inspired Britpop. And by most accounts (this account specifically), UK power trio the Noisettes have a sound that amounts to that and much more. Though their album, the dynamic full length Wild Young Hearts, has already gotten its time to shine across the pond--it was released back in April over there--it's out stateside today. Spearheaded by the jazzy vocals and megawatt presence of vocalist/bassist Shingai Shoniwa, the band rolls through 10 tracks mixing retro-pop and blues energies while delivering a dose of modern urgency.

James Carney

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We may be a day or so behind on this one, but in a quest to find some ever-elusive liner note credits for Black Key's Thickfreakness album, we stumbled onto something a hundred times better. Up until now, things were staying pretty quiet on the whole "rap-rock" front, at least for the summer. Turns out BlakRoc, a musical collaboration between the Keys and some of hip hop's living legends has been brewing since June. The record comes out Nov. 27. Needless to say, we dropped the liner note search to look into this...and was not disappointed whatsoever.

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For the average mortal musician, the idea of playing drums for eclectic funk megastars The Red Hot Chili Peppers would be more than sufficient. In fact who could imagine wanting to do anything else with your time? The answer: the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, that's who. Though Chad Smith, 47, has spent two decades weaving his legend as the hard hitting man on the toms behind Anthony Kiedis, he (along with his axe-wielding compadres in RHCP) has found other musical outlets to entertain himself and their fans. Smith, who has already been a member of rock-n-roll super group Chickenfoot, recently (yesterday) released an album of his latest endeavor:Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats  (currently on Warrior Records). Obviously this guy knows a great band name when he hears one.

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Beggars, the sixth studio album from Irvine's Thrice is out in stores today. Well, "real" stores. Like, ones with doors that you can walk into. ("Physical retailers," "brick and mortar," whatever you want to call them.)

​Noted gender-bending Internet celebrity (and, oddly enough, Orange County native) Jeffree Star has more than a million MySpace friends and nearly 80,000 Twitter followers. And, not surprisingly, an album coming out, scheduled for September 22, called Beauty Killer.

Before that happens, though (well, the day before), Star will be celebrating the release of said album at storied all-ages venue Chain Reaction in Anaheim. Should be interesting, no? It's $15 at the door, but free entry with the purchase of the record at the box office, so...yeah.

Being one of those archetypal "famous for being famous" types, the obvious question would be, "is this music actually any good?" Given the more than 8 million plays lead single "Prisoner" has on MySpace, it probably doesn't much matter, but it's pretty standard stuff, not unlikely a lot of the industrial-ish bands that got big in the mid-'90s (Stabbing Westward, Orgy, etc.). Possibly not as hilariously bad as you might hope for. Check if out after the jump.

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In most cases, waiting 14 years to release a sequel to a legendary album would be considered waiting, uh, too long. But in the case of Raekwon the Chef  (of the Wu-Tang Clan), the choice to wait almost decade and a half to serve us a follow up to his landmark album Only Built for Cuban Linx wasn't a sign of laziness. Far from it. It just means he was being picky about using right ingredients to produce a bomb hip hop dish. Finally, Only Built for Cuban Linx Pt.II hits stores today, Sep. 8.

 When it first hit the streets back in 1995, OBCL was not only Chef's first album, it also broke new ground for the 90s cavalcade of hip hop albums stitched together like dark, gangster novellas instead of a collection of singles. Remember those days, when mainstream hip hop used to release solid ALBUMS that were meant to be listened to from back to front?

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Wow. Congregation of the Damned. That's the kind of album title that makes album titles album titles, y'know?

That's the name of the fifth studio full-length from Orange County metalcore band Atreyu, scheduled for release on October 27. The band also released the full track listing today.

Sasha Eisenman

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For those who've become accustomed to the crowded, sweaty underbelly of OC/LA's hipster rock scene, chances are you've probably encountered The Entrance Band before. You're no stranger to their psychedelic savagery, heavy-handed rhythms and wailing blues. But if you haven't heard of them, now is the perfect time to get acquainted. Their roster includes Guy Blakeslee on guitar and vocals, Paz Lenchantin (formerly of A Perfect Circle) on bass and Derek James on drums. Yesterday, TEB released a self-titled album, the band's latest recorded effort since the 2006 LP Prayer of Death, back when the band was more or less considered Blakeslee's solo project.

Some notable releases for July 21, 2009:

In yet another move for Brand New followers to keep up with, the band has changed the title of their upcoming album to Daisy, rather than, And One Head Can Never Die, only two days after reporting the latter as the title. The release date for the band's fourth full length is the same, Sept. 22, 2009. 

I honestly didn't know that Reel Big Fish was still together until I moved here last year. That's not a slam against them; Turn The Radio Off was one of my favorite albums as a young lad (seriously, how great is "Beer"? Both the song and the beverage). I just hadn't really heard much (OK, anything) about them since that record's disappointing follow-up, Why Do They Rock So Hard?.

Happily, the Huntington Beach ska band is still making music, and are in fact are set to release a new live DVD on July 21, titled Live! In Concert! (not the most original of names, but good use of exclamation points). The DVD was filmed this past January at the Grove of Anaheim, where they'll be playing on August 2.

Let's try (try!) and return to a sense of normality after the nutty events of the day: this week in the Weekly, there's a review of God Help the Girl (out now), the "soundtrack" to an as-yet unfilmed movie written by Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. There's two reimagined Belle & Sebastian songs on the record ("Funny Little Frog" and "Act of the Apostle," both from 2006's The Life Pursuit), and Murdoch only pops up on lead vocals for a couple tracks; the rest is from a host of female vocalists, mainly the (heretofore) relatively unknown Catherine Ireton, but guest spots from folks like Asya, of Seattle's teenage sister trio Smoosh.

Being an unabashed B&S fanboy, I've been listening to it the last couple of days and have found it pretty neat, though I haven't really thoroughly examined it yet (also listening to the new Regina Spektor, y'know). Tami Fertig, who reviewed it for us in print, was a little less charmed (and she's a big B&S/Scottish pop fan!). Over at our sister paper in Phoenix, Thomas Bond was rather impressed, saying, "Overall, God Help The Girl sounds pretty much like a Belle and Sebastian album would, had departed B&S singer Isobel Campbell taken most of the lead vocals and left a few to Murdoch, instead of the other way round." High praise!

Heard it? Weigh in on the comments!

The late Chris Gaffney created beautiful music, though he'd rather have been watching "Sportscenter."

It was a misty day in December when I ducked into the Swallow's Inn in San Juan Capistrano to talk with general manager Cheryl Krupp about one of the entertainers she frequently booked there, the late Chris Gaffney.

"I knew him very well," Krupp said while glancing in the direction of the empty stage that had been regularly darkened by the country/folk/R&B/soul/rock singer-songwriter-guitarist-accordion player and his various bands. "He had his own type of music, he had a great following, and he had great fans. He was laid back, easygoing. It was a shame when he got sick."

Gaffney, a military brat who bounced around Europe before eventually landing in Tuscon, Arizona, southeast Los Angeles County and Orange County, succumbed to liver cancer at 57 in April 2008. His pal Dave Alvin has put together a Gaffney tribute album that the Blasters co-founder and Grammy winner promotes down the street from Swallow's at the Coach House Saturday night.

Asked if she could recall any Gaffney antics during her 17 years at Swallow's, Krupp got a twinkle in her eye. "You never knew what he was going to do," she said. "He was one of the bands you always had to remind had a show to do. You had to go find him during breaks to tell him he's still got to keep playing."

She never quite knew what he would end up playing either. She recalled booking Gaffney to play country music one Saturday night. "He was on a break and he said, 'Oh, I don't know what I'm going to play. I'll do something different. I'll just play country.' That was what he was supposed to play!"

It was worth the trouble, according to Krupp: "He would bring in a crowd that was unbelievable."

Dustin Rabin

Thrice prepare for the summer's Warped Tour (poorly).

Irvine's favorite sons (other than Will Ferrell, maybe, but post-Land of the Lost that's questionable at best) Thrice have announced that their sixth album, the follow-up to 2007 (and 2008's!) four-disc, dual release The Alchemy Index will be out in October of this year, and it's called Beggars. Why is it called that, you ask? Let's see what Dustin Kensrue has to say via press release!