Into The Night or Methods of Finding New Local Music

    So you want to head out into the night in search of new music?  Maybe you go out upon the recommendation of friends or upon hearing something new online; if that’s so then this won’t be for you.  This if for someone who wants to find new music, but doesn’t quite know what to go about it.  I think this method works for all types of music not just the ones I enjoy, but I’ll cede the possibility that it won’t work for all you diehard fans of polka or bluegrass fusion.
    The first thing you do is pick a night.  We live in Los Angeles and you better believe there’s live music out there--live music you’ll want to pay money to hear--playing every night of the week.  I pick Wednesday and we’re off to the races.  After a few years of experience doing this I know my best bet is The Fold.  They’re promoters that do shows across the city most nights of the week and most of the time I’ve found I liked the music they find and promote.  Good old Fold, I can always trust them to put up good shows and bands.
    This is my first hit:

Bowery Beasts
Zig Zags, Planets Around The Sun (Portland, Maine), Woolen Kits
Wed, January 25, 2012
Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:00 pm
Bootleg Bar
$5

I’ve got a bill and a date, so then I check out each act.  Sometimes there are directly links to the bands website usually on MySpace or Facebook, but if not then a quick google search can reveal the band’s page wherever it is.  The Bowery Beasts sound kind of grindy and Joy Divisionish, in fact most of these acts sound alike.  But it’s only 5 bucks and I haven’t been to the venue before.  The fact that it's at a venue I've never been too is appealing.  I would likely check it out despite it being a bit too far into the city than I would normally like.

The Fold gives us another gig for Wednesday:

Fawn Spots
Warm Weather, Holy Roller, Muzz
Wed, January 25, 2012
Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:00 pm
Silverlake Lounge
$8.00

    From song one Rhona, The Fawn Spots blow my mind!  They’ve got a real challenging sound that’s still sort of accessible to the average listener.  Warm Weather has a good sound too; it has shades of Brian Wilson pop harmonies.  I fail to find a page for Holy Roller.  The top link is to a Holy Rollers band out of the DC underground in the early nineties and the next link is to a Holy Rollers band out of New Zealand.  I hate it when bands don’t make it easy for me to find and listen to their music.  It’s bad enough that I have to visit Facebook and Myspace sometimes just to sample tracks, but for a band to not do a search of their own name and ensure that a possible listener can find their samples is just so unprofessional.  Well enough ranting about that, I just hope they’ll be the least bit listenable.  The muzz are garagey.  A fuzzy distorted sound that wouldn’t be surprising to hear out of the early seventies.  They’re not grindy like the Joy Division influenced bands I mentioned earlier.  It’s bluesy more than anything else.

The show is three bucks more than the show at the Bootleg Bar and I’ve been to the Silverlake Lounge many times, but this bill should be good enough.  You can’t really hope to find a perfect bill where all the acts are ones you’re down for.  It’s happened a couple of times to me, and those have been good nights indeed, but you can’t have real high expectations otherwise you’ll always be disappointed.

             If you think this is method too time consuming, consider the fact that I’m listening to these tracks as I’m doing other things.  I’m reading the seventy two page Mega Conspiracy indictment.  It’s just about a streaming video tube site; there’s nothing about the Illuminati in it.  I’m working on this week’s Code Academy lesson.  I’m reading comics and some research documents I’ve been reviewing.  Any time you’re just messing around online you can be listening to new music hoping to find something interesting enough to get you out of the house.

So that’s what The Fold has for Wednesday; time to look at other venues.  Mr. T’s Bowl used to have live music every night.  Apparently these days it only has it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  It takes me a couple of tries to find Spaceland’s new name.  It’s Satellite.  I check on Wednesday and load up the music again.  

Gothic Tropic
Younglight (Feat. Michael Feerick of Amusement Parks on Fire and Micah Calabrese of Giant Drag)
$5
Wed 1/25

Now I’m a little torn.  Gothic Tropic is kind of synthy electroish, but it’s still pop music and completely accessible.  However the lead singers distorted voice might wear thin over the course of a set.  Still that’s not what gets me excited.  It the second name on the bill, Younglight.  It namechecks Micah Calabrese of Giant Drag.  I’ve been a fan of them since I caught them at a random house party off Verdugo near Eagle Rock.  I heard them next at Spaceland and thought they were awesome.  I didn’t know they were the same band until I checked my journals and the names matched.  So Micah Calabrese is very tempting.  If I can time it right I can check out both shows.  I leave the Silverlake Lounge after The Fawn Spots and Warm Weather then jet to Satellite.  It’s possible, but I’ll see what happens then.  At this point I’m not sure if I’m heading out there alone or not.

I know it might seem strange that I’ve found music I want to listen so easily and all, but believe me this took some time and effort.  You might think I’m just easy to please, but believe me there have been nights where I’ve wanted to pull my hair out because that one band I couldn’t sample has to play its set before the band I came to see takes the stage.  Plus this isn’t the first time I’ve done it and I know myself and the venues of the area well enough to guess where the bands I might like to see will perform.  You don’t get the see all the work and experience I’ve put into this, but that doesn’t mean it’s hard or anything.  Regardless this bill at The Satellite(formerly Spaceland) sounds good.

I’ve got three options I’m happy with.  I don’t need to dig any deeper.  I don’t have to check out the Troubadour, the Roxy, The House of Blues, or any other venues.  Maybe you should, but I’m happy enough to have my options.  In the next part I’ll review the shows themselves.