Jul 17

Jul 17 AURALWEST: THE EAGLE ROCK GOSPEL SINGERS

Last night I got back to my house at 3AM. The party was fun, but was really just a pregame to watch the end of my TiVo’d copy of Ray, the 2004 film starring Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. One of the best things about Ray is the catchy Jamie Foxx covers of Ray Charles songs. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, Ray Charles is portrayed as combining gospel melodies with blues lyrics and aesthetics. So I’m on a little bit of a gospel kick hence this week’s show is LA’s premier hip gospel group, The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers.

Jul 9

Jul 9 AURALWEST: SURFER BLOOD

Nick Selden

Column

As you all know I like concerts. But I love concerts in untraditional venues. This is of course assuming the sound is adequate. What’s better than a Deerhoof show? A Deerhoof show in the natural history museum (true story). I cannot stress how much a venue can make a difference. Kendrick Lamar is apparently great live at music festivals… I wouldn’t know, I saw him in a hockey rink. Venues matter.

Jun 24

Jun 24 AURALWEST: A BAND CALLED DEATH

Nick Selden

Column

Have you ever heard of Death?

Well if you haven't you're a little late. Only by about 40 years though. You can cut yourself some slack because you're not alone. Death was a band composed of three black brothers in early 70s Detroit. They formed after seeing an Alice Cooper show and were way ahead of their time. They refused to play the motown that was expected of them and rather opted for a style that 10 years later would become known as punk.

Jun 16

Jun 16 AURALWEST: CAMERA OBSCURA

Nick Selden

Column

Remember when I said that great music will not be brought to you for free this summer... Well I was wrong.Famous Scottish indie pop band will be playing at the Wiltern this Tuesday for approximately 20$, this is not the show of the week, they will also be playing tomorrow (monday) at Amoeba for free. Camera Obscura is a Scottish indie-pop band from Glasgow. They are close friends of Belle and Sebastian and basically the San Antonio Spurs of indie-pop. They are consistant, tight fundamentally, and doing quite well for themselves right now. They play dreamy highly structured songs about love with the beautiful, yet commanding, voice of Tracyanne Campbell leading them.

Jun 10

Jun 10 AURALWEST: KATIE AND THE LICHEN

Nick Selden

weekendpreview, What's On Campus

Hey guys its Sick Nelden again with you LA Wes Kidz concert of the week. If you like girls and music, this week is a great one for you. More after the jump! Katie and the Lichen will be playing at the Smell this Wednesday. The Smell is an all ages venue that is almost completely run by volunteers. Shows are 5 dollars and there's a serious punk DIY feel to the place. Katie and the Lichen are a five piece power-pop outfit from Vancouver. Their music is catchy, sweet, and edgy. They're all about that ukelele and melodica. I'd highly recommend downloading their free EP kiss and run and listening to the song "Misbehaving". Link's below. Anyways! Check them out at the Smell this Wednesday. They haven't said what time they're going on, but I'd arrive around 9.

Jun 3

Jun 3 AURALWEST: CEREMONY

Nick Selden

Column

n case you've never heard of Matador Records they are probably the coolest label ever. The original label of Sonic Youth and Pavement has been producing some of the world's best indie rock since. Any band signed to Matador is worth checking out and you guessed it this week is a Matador band. Ceremony is a post-punk outfit from norcal that are hella tight. Blistering guitars, a driving rhythm section, and the bleak whiny yet hypnotic voice of frontman Ross Farrar made their Matador debut "Zoo" one of my favorite records of 2012.

Jun 1

Jun 1 AURALWEST SHOW OF THE WEEK

Nick Selden

Column

What’s the best thing about Wesleyan? Is it the food at Summerfields? The polite and helpful individuals at Reslife? What about our vast resources and easy to access popular majors? I’m probably in a minority, but I wouldn’t cite any of the above. But, the thing Wesleyan has on all of my friends’ schools is that we have awesome fucking concerts. This year you may have seen iceage, Joey Bada$$, DIIV, or Mac Demarco. I saw all of them. Not because I was a huge fan of any of them, but because I could. That’s the main thing I’ve taken from my freshman year. Concerts are fucking awesomesauce. And even if it’s a post-punk-all-chill-no-wave-eco-jazz-pop-power-slap-fusion quartet its worth checking out because, “hey why not?”