Saturday, October 25, 2014

Tesoro, Duran Duran at The Loft and U2's Latest

Hi kids!

Just a general re-cap this time of various musical goings-on the last few months.

I caught Tesoro (finally!) in September at Crossroads Park. For those of you not familiar, Tesoro is a local band that describe themselves as Latin Gypsy pop. (Think Gipsy Kings). They did a 90 minute set for about 200 of us that fortunately didn't get rained out. Great music, talented guys, and a great look too. (And I'll just add that I've harbored a crush on the bass player for some time.)



I also caught Duran Duran at the Loft in September as well. Not in person, mind you, but a concert film directed by the one and only David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, etc.) Hmmm, not exactly impressed. I think part of the issue is that this was filmed in 2011 and at least for me, already seems dated. Some other people in the audience apparently thought so as well because I heard someone say, "How old is this?" Much of the film consisted of material from an album they released in 2011, All You Need Is Now, and I think most of the audience were not familiar with the songs. Of course, the film also had some of their hits, such as "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Girls On Film", "Ordinary World" "Rio", and a nice re-imagining of "A View To A Kill", probably the best part of the set. The film was entirely in black and white, and much of the time the band members were obscured with various images that Lynch superimposed on the film. Terribly distracting at first but I guess I got used to it as the film went on. They also had several guest stars sing with them, including Kelis and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, which again, gave the film a dated feel. To be blunt, not worth my time. Duran Duran are WAY better in person.


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Reid Park ZHU

Let's talk about two very important topics: the new baby elephant at Reid Park Zoo, Nandi, and LA electronic producer ZHU (marvel at the shaky "zoo" connection I'm forcing into this post). First things first: how cute is that baby elephant? Take a look at her picture and feel your worries slip away: "Baby Elephant Cuteness Overload." The rest of the world also loves this little rascal; a video of little Nandi blowing bubbles made it to the top spot on mega-website Reddit a few weeks back!

But since this is a music blog, let's discuss ZHU. The secretive artist came into the electronic scene this year like a cloud of smoke, doing the remarkable feat of staying (halfway) anonymous in the internet age. ZHU wants his music, not personal life, to define his image, and has given fans a stunning first EP to back up this vision.