UCLA REGGAEFEST: WORST FESTIVAL EVER!

I attended possibly the worst organized music festival I’ve ever been to this past Memorial Day Weekend. I’m talking about the UCLA Jazz Reggaefest. First of all the “festival”, which is actually more like a carnival on UCLA’s practice football field, was only held from 12-7PM. Second, and most important, they never listed their set times. There were no set times on their website and when I got to the festival absolutely no one there knew when any of the artists were going on. What the Fuck?!

Why no set times you ask? It’s because of the misleading flyer. I attended on Jam Day to see my favorite new band of the past 5 years or so, Little Dragon. And the rest of the bill looked pretty decent, with sets from Pharoahe Monch, Talib Kweli, Quadron, and what looks like the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble featuring one of my favorite soul singers, Bilal. But I was wrong. If  you study the flyer closely you will see that the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble features not only Bilal but Talib, Pharoahe Monch, Quadron, and the rest. It was one super group. Not different performances. And I promise you if they would have released that information before the festival through the courtesy of set times it would not have lead to the subsequent sell out. Any festival that tries to trick their audience into thinking there is more talent on the bill is deceitful and evil.

The biggest deal would be that Little Dragon, who appeared to be second billed, went on around 2:30PM?! I can only guess that’s when they went on because I got there at 3:30 and they were already finished. A fact I didn’t realize until I saw the sub-par headliner Lupe Fiasco take the stage at 5:50. You would think 3:30 would be early enough to see the second billed band at a festival that ends at 7. And to add insult to injury there was no fucking alcohol at the festival. It was literally the worst festival experience of my long festival attending life. Fuck you UCLA Reggaefest! Never again!

As for a festival that knows what their doing (maybe), Coachella just announced that they will be expanding their festival to two weekends. The idea is that there will be 2 identical festivals on consecutive weekends. Sounds crazy, but after the overwhelming demand from last year’s festival they want to make it easier for more fans to be able to attend. A good idea I guess. Just seems impossible to pull off. But we’ll see.

MUSIC VIDEO MONDAY – TYLER THE CREATOR

I’ve mentioned Tyler the Creator and the Odd Future crew a couple of times on GB but I have yet to post any of their work. So for this MVM I’ll be featuring “Yonkers”, Tyler the Creator’s first video off his sophomore album Goblin. I’m still on the fence about how good these Odd Future guys are, but one thing I can’t deny is how good this video is. There is some crafty camera work that takes this low budget, one-take video up a notch. Hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do.

CALVIN HARRIS @ THE MUSIC BOX

Calvin Harris filled up the Music Box last Thursday with heavy house music and wild shuffling party-goers. We’ve been fans of Calvin Harris at GB since he Created Disco a few years ago. He’s had the internet buzzing for the past few months with the release of “Awooga”, his first track off his yet to be named forthcoming album. And the video for the second single “Bounce” with Kelis was released last month. Calvin has significantly changed up his sound and approach since his debut. His sophomore album was more Electro than disco and he toured to support the album as a DJ instead of performing it live, like he used to. Now it seems Mr. Harris has completely abandoned his pop star origin and gone full blown DJ. There is no trace of his vocals on the new tracks from his 3rd album, and he hasn’t performed live in years. But dude still knows how to get the party started. He is emerging as one of the best Dance producer/DJs in the game with a sound resembling big timers Swedish House Mafia.

You can see Calvin Harris back in SoCal at the Pacific Festival:OC on August 13th.

CLICK HERE FOR PARTY PICS!!!

Calvin Harris ft Kelis – Bounce

Calvin Harris – Awooga

Calvin Harris – Stars Come Out

Calvin Harris – Flashback

MUSIC VIDEO MONDAY – THE JAPANESE POPSTARS

Back in the day Music Video Monday was a very big part of this blog. Every Monday I’d post a handful of music videos with a common theme, like all Hype Williams videos or Animated videos. Music Video Monday (or MVM) was pretty popular but it was a very daunting task. But today marks the return of MVM! This time around I’ll only be posting one featured video a week. Gotta keep my sanity.

Every week MTV2 airs their music video show Subterranean (formerly 120 Minutes) and Logo airs the very similar NewNowNext. We all know music videos are not what they used to be, but thanks to these 2 shows music video fans can still discover some really great stuff. Above is a video I caught on NewNowNext this past week. Come back next Monday for another impressive music video.

R.I.P. M-BONE OF CALI SWAG DISTRICT

It’s been a big week for LA Hip-Hop. Last Tuesday Odd Future’s Tyler the Creator released his much hyped new album Goblin. Honestly Odd Future and Tyler the Creator is what everyone is talking about right now. Not to be left out in the dark, I took my ass down to the record store and picked it up today. But that wasn’t the only LA Hip-Hop release this month. I also copped the new album Too Cool to Care, the sophomore release from the New Boyz. This release definitely flew a little more under the radar than Goblin, but I have faith in the group who made jerkin a new craze.

But a real tragedy happened a couple of days ago when M-Bone of LA’s Cali Swag District was gunned down and killed. Supposedly the beef was over a girl. I don’t know the details so I won’t speculate, but the word right now is that he was shot by some angry ex-boyfriend. Cali Swag seemed to have a bright future after teaching the world how to Dougie. I was lucky enough to DJ a house party of theirs earlier this year, so I really hope the group can rebound from this and come back even harder.

Cali Swag District – Teach Me How to Dougie

Cali Swag District – Kick Back

Cali Swag District – Where You Are

LVCA TAKES ON CHRIS BROWN

These days most of America probably knows Chris Brown more for his outlandish actions than his music. Of course there was that fight between him and his then girlfriend Rihanna a couple of years ago, and his crybaby tantrum on the Today Show in March when asked about it. But with all that aside CB has released one of the hottest tracks of the year in “Look At Me Now” which also features big time rappers Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. For you club DJs out there, you know some clubs don’t allow Hip-Hop, awful I know. But Italian producer LVCA made a sweet ass dance remix for just those kind of nights. No profanity, no rapping, but still hot as hell. Enjoy.

Chris Brown – Look At Me Now (LVCA Remix)

YOUR WEEKLY CONCERT BIBLE

PICK OF THE WEEK

OF MONTREAL @ AVALON (SATURDAY MAY 14TH)

Surprisingly not from Montreal, this Georgian band provides one of the most interesting stage shows I’ve ever seen. There are about 20 members on stage, with many dressed up in some crazy costumes. This band is off the wall, but most importantly they make good music. Sure they lent their single to the Outback Steakhouse, but they are real musicians, who very often invite Janelle Monae on stage with them. To say they are unconventional is an understatement.

TONIGHT

Tyler the Creator @ Troubadour:

LA rapper and Odd Future member will be lending his unique talents to the Troubadour stage tonight. Odd Future is one of the most hyped new indie groups of the year and Tyler is their frontman. His newest release Goblin was also released today.

WEDNESDAY

TV on the Radio @ The Music Box:

New York experimental rock band TV on the Radio just lost a band member due to cancer. This must be one of their first shows since the lost of bassist Gerard Smith. A very interesting band to see live, this will be an emotional show.

THURSDAY

Femi Kuti & Positive Force@ El Rey

Femi, son of legendary African musician Fela Kuti, will be lighting up the El Rey with his Afro-beatness. I’ve never caught Femi live but his tracks are dope as hell and no one else makes music that sounds like this.

FRIDAY

Claude Von Stroke @ Avalon:

San Francisco based Claude VonStroke brings Dirty Bird to Avalon this Friday where he wants to know “Who’s Afraid of Detroit?” Let’s show him we’re not scared LA, and make this party as legendary as his scenic Golden Gate Park raves.

SATURDAY

Rusko @ The Wiltern:

Dubstep superstar Rusko will be gyrating his head off this Saturday night at the very spacious Wiltern Theater. If you’ve never seen Rusko on stage, this dude gets into it maybe more than any DJ I’ve ever seen. Legend has it that his patented head-nodding dance moves lead to a slipped disc. I have seen Rusko with my own eyes rock so hard that he knocked his turntables right (CDJ’s) off the platform.

WARNING: Only attend if you are ready to get down and dirty and boogie to some hard ass dubstep.

SUNDAY

Mia Doi Todd @ McCabe’s Guitar Shop:

Los Angeles native and singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd will be strumming away at her guitar this Sunday. This would be a nice mellow wrap-up to the weekend if you decide to go to to those crazy dance shows listed above.