Category Archives: video

Poetic Memory: Plateaus (List)

MP3: Plateaus – “Beach Coma”

This Saturday, August 20, San Diego punk band Plateaus will play the Soda Bar with fellow locals Heavy Hawaii, Beaters, and LA’s Bleached.

Plateaus, whose name comes from a “tongue-in-cheek statement about the SoCal music scene,” are comprised of Kevin Gist (lead guitar, vocals), Chris Rosi (rhythm guitar, vocals), Elliott Moeller (bass), and Jon Greene (drums). The band was founded by Greene (who has produced bands like Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, and The Soft Pack) and Gist with the intention of creating a form of “deranged but classic pop music.”

In an attempt to familiarize you with the band and their sound, we asked Plateaus for five songs that are important to them. You can read their Poetic Memory below. Continue reading…

Video: TV Girl – “Baby You Were There”

Anyone who lists The Magnetic Fields and Leonard Cohen as influences clearly knows their stuff. It’s no surprise, then, that TV Girl‘s music is so engaging. The droll humor and lyrical richness of those heavyweights permeate the San Diego band’s triumphant new EP, Benny and the Jets, available for free download on their Facebook page.

The local duo has just released a video for the EP track “Baby You Were There,” which you can watch above. In it, the magic of stop-motion allows formerly inanimate objects to flit about in various shapes and patterns, their manic energy serving as a stark contrast to the apathy of the couple on the couch. Plus, the video gives new meaning to the phrase “fully-clothed sex.” You can watch it above.

Video: Nas Talks “Illmatic”

Not much needs to be said about Nas’ 1994 debut, except that it’s one of the greatest hip hop records ever made. Illmatic is so good, in fact, that even the Queens wordsmith himself has struggled to replicate its sublimity.

That’s why it’s welcome news that Nas — along with AZ, Pete Rock, and Illmatic collaborator DJ Premier — will perform the album in its entirety at this weekend’s Rock the Bells Festival kickoff in Los Angeles. In the above video, Nasty Nas takes a moment to talk about the album and, in general, life in Queens.

In addition to Nas, The Rock The Bells Festival Series will feature up-and-coming hip hop artists as well as other seminal artists performing their classic albums, including Ms. Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Common. Dates are below…

Video Premiere: The Silent Comedy – “Purple Heart”

The Silent Comedy have just created a video for their rare song, “Purple Heart,” and they were kind enough to give us the first look. The live session was shot during the band’s recent Summer Sweat tour at the Penner-Ash Wine Cellars in Newberg, OR, and the winery’s expansive acoustics lend the perfect backdrop to the song’s quiet power. Continue reading…