Three Podcasts For Your Listening Pleasure: Airborne Toxic Event, Morning Benders, and Radars to the Sky

Sorry for the radio silence this week kids. I’ve been in the midst of editing a group of interviews that were supposed to go live this week until the subjects suddenly decided they wanted to be part of the editing process days in the 11th hour...grrr

So to make up for it, I’m sending you over to Web in Front for three really great show podcasts. They were each recorded 8-7-08 at the El Ray in Los Angeles.



I’ve only listened to The Airborne Toxic Event's set of the three thus far but you can totally hear what everyone who saw the show said about both Airborne's set and the entire night, this it was amped and incredible and something special. Those return readers of Between Love and Like know that we are big supporters of Airborne from way back, and have long raved about the power and intensity of their live show. This show at the El Ray is a prime example of what we've been yammering on about all this time. Plus, you get to hear the lovely addition of the Calder Quartet on the Airborne fan-favorites "Sometime Around Midnight" and "Innocence," the latter containing the only-played-at-LA-shows (it seems) intro piece called "Heaven."



The Morning Benders sound is an upbeat trio of Brit pop (tell me if lead singer Chris Chu doesn’t make you think of VGPS-era Ray Davies) and Beach Boys-California sunshine, with a dash of Elliot Smith. Their new record, Talking Through Tin Cans is great, as is their recent record of covers, The Bedroom Covers. (Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks at the Monolith Festival boys!)



Then there’s Radars to the Sky. Everyone reading should absolutely download their podcast twice and give a copy to a friend, then immediately go get their latest EP, "Big Bang," that’s how great they are. Out of the Silver Lake area of LA like Airborne, Radars to the Sky’s music has this lofty, lovely front paired with a great rock back, and I’m keeping fingers and toes crossed that Radars and baby Spitzer show up at SXSW 2009. If all is right in the world, these guys should be the next big thing out of Silver Lake.

What an incredible lineup right?? All three podcasts can be snagged here.

"My Little Underground" or "How Friggin' Incredible is the Silver Lake Music Scene?"

This past Tuesday, my pal and fellow music writer Travis Woods and another LA music writer Mouse hosted the first of many celebrations of the local-to-them Silver Lake music scene, a little shindig they called My Little Underground. With solo performances from the lead singers of local bands. The list of performers was a venerable whos-who of the scene, including Mikel Jollett of the Airborne Toxic Event, Andrew Spitser of Radars to the Sky, Timothy James of the Movies, Sarah Negahdari of the Happy Hollows, and Evan Way of the Parson Red Heads.

Travis writes:

It was an alternately eclectic, moving, hilarious, and triumphant night of local music, one in which we were all reminded why this matters so much to us—because it’s our little underground, and it’s one that is a privilege, a real privilege, to know and to hear.

Such an incredible idea, and from the sounds of things, an amazing evening for both performers and attendees (especially if you like the Everly Brothers heh). Each site provides both great photos of everyone as well as performance videos so go check them out: Travis' review and Mouse's review.

Great job boys, we're looking forward to the next one! Ideas and enthusiasm like this might just make the New York kids here at Between Love and Like rethink their mantra of "Hell no, I could never live on the west coast!"