Ida Maria closed down 2011 with a special KCRW showcase at The Roxy Theatre. The Songstress also pause for a moment to answer 5 burning questions.
The pop punk princess has already conquered much of Europe with her delightfully catchy and remarkably well crafted ear candy and is now catching some well deserved buzz here in the U.S. Get to know the spunky songstress that’s the talk of the tastemakers after the jump.
If your car is in the front yard, and you’re sleeping with your clothes on, then you know what I’m talking about when I say its time to get LIT.
Although they may be known for being their own worst enemies, the guys from Lit have teamed up with the notorious Producer/Singer/Songwriter Butch Walker to complete their latest opus, as yet untitled. I dropped in on the boys at Walker’s studio in Santa Monica to have a listen and catch up.
If you love Rock n Roll and you somehow find yourself in Fullerton California, you simply can’t miss swinging by The Slidebar. This rock venue has all the charm and integrity of the greats… CBGB’s in NYC (only without the vomit smell), The Marquee Club in London (only without the accent), or the Electric Banana in Pittsburgh (only without the crazy owner wielding a shotgun).
Butch Walker was supposed to be one of the headlining artists at this year’s Sunset Junction Music Fest but due to some pesky street fines and fine print on contracts, the festival was cancelled. That didn’t stop Butch and his army of Black Widows from performing, however. “We were all dressed up and nowhere to go when they canned it,” joked Butch. The guys made the best of it, with plan B being a 30-minute set in the courtyard of their new label, Dangerbird Records. The show consisted of the band performing the entire track list off of the latest and greatest Butch Walker and the Black Widows release, The Spade. A giant crowd packed into the outdoor courtyard and even Justin Kirk (Andy Botwin on Weeds) came out for the soiree.
Prior to the performance, Butch sat down with ChinaShop to discuss the new album, embarrassing tattoos, and his distaste for synthesizer music.
2010 was a great year! A plethora of music, festivals, exotic art, discovering new bands, overcoming hatred of public transit, behind-the-scenes tours of freak shows and hanging out with 3-legged creatures, and meeting lots of great folks along the way. Check out the year’s highlights as seen by ChinaShop contributor Nicole Pajer after the jump.
You can’t go wrong with Butch Walker, you really can’t. I don’t think I’ve had as much fun at a concert as I did last night when Butch brought his band of Black Widows out for a night of wreaking his usual havoc on Los Angeles. We’re talking Butch climbing to the edge of the stage and threatening to dish out his adrenaline on a guy that happened to deliver a not so nice F bomb during a heartfelt verse, Pink dazzling as an accomplice to Here Comes The Heartache, a stage full of fun mini lights, a drummer in a police hat, the bass player laying it down while simultaneously playing a tambourine attached to his foot…it was like a trip to Vegas, minus the next day hangover.
Alkaline Trio – The Addiction: One of the original emo acts, Alkaline Trio has always sort of fallen along the wayside by acts like Fall Out Boy, and the epitome of emo rock, Dashboard Confessional. To start things off, “This Addiction” benefits from some pretty old school punk parts, and serves well as the intro to a record that, if nothing else, is well-produced.