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Posts Tagged ‘Las Vegas’

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Back from Las Vegas….I checked my email…there were too many. I swear I get more emails from bands wanting to be featured on this music blog than I do hits of people checking out the tunes. One email did catch my eye this morning. New music from The Head and the Heart.

Let’s be Still is one of my favourites. So many wonderful memories listening to this album on road trips with my Coral and Madelyn and even Jack when he was just a little baby.

New album is called Signs of Light and is out on September 9th. The first feature is called “All We Ever Knew.” If you’re a fan of the band, you’ll easily be able to tuck into this familiar sounding THATH cut.

The band is playing a bunch of folk tests this summer…but sadly not the Vancouver one.

August 7th they’ll be in Edmonton? Damn, just before my summer holidays. Might have almost been worth a trip to visit my wife’s family.

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Buckets. 🌴🏊🏻🍺 #PeachesGotRobbed #DayBeats

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Coral and I are back in Vancouver after a fun and action filled 4-ish plus days in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Flamingo which we love (most the time). This time we made the mistake of letting the front desk guy “upgrade” us to a deluxe “Go Room” for ONLY $20 a night. And that room put us above Drai’s outdoor pool night club thing. So that didn’t really feel like an upgrade when it was bed time. Other than that little hiccup Vegas was it’s Vegassy self.

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Drinking "Coral Crush" outside @beerparklv. 🌴

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Lots of expensive slushy booze cocktails, pool action ($240 US tabs in beers and cocktails…oh boy), beers (beer lists are starting to improve), cocktails, and some mighty fine dinners.

They loved smashing their top 40 EDM in Las Vegas. We wake up to Day Beats in the Go Pool, and went to bed with them smashing at 3AM from Drai’s. I enjoyed hearing other people DJ for a change and heard a few nice remixes I’ll want to add to the set at the casino I DJ at in New West.

We didn’t go to any nightclubs ourselves…we kinda stuck to diners, wanderings and cocktail bars. Loved hitting downtown Vegas to get away from those Lucas Graham edm remixes.

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What is going on here?

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Cocktails on the patio at Park on Fremont.

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The patio at Park on Fremont was everything those listicles on Thrillist said it would be. Funky, good tunes, good cocktails/price, and excellent mac & cheese balls. The jalapeño fried up in there was nice.

Park played music like this.

Commonwealth was cool too…but I preferred the cocktails in Park or The Griffin.

They apparently have a beauty rooftop patio but it was not open when Coral and I stumbled by…I guess we’ll have to go back.

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Lunch. @beerparklv

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On the Strip we went to Beer Park at Paris. They played a modern rock playlist that sounded like something I’d jam on CFOX. Alright, Budweiser inspired “craft” beer list…if that makes sense? Food was delicious, patio was ace and hey…right on the Strip.

We were crushed when on the last night we wanted to eat at Dos Caminos in Palazzo and discovered it was closed. That was the restaurant where we had our wedding reception. But they’ve changed up their offerings. We were gunna settle for a skirt steak at Border Grill in Caesars…and I don’t care what people tell you…things DO close in Las Vegas. Huh. Ended up at Carmines for a GIANT plate of spaghetti. Like GIANT.

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We rode a rollercoaster!

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And we totally rode a roller coaster!

Coral spent a lot of time on this trip dreaming up the next one! Maybe I need to track down a DJ gig in Vegas. They sure have a lot of them playing music all over the place. Make it a work/fact finding mission.

Go with yourself.

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money

Off to Las Vegas in a couple days (one more radio show, one more DJ gig in Victoria). I have already posted up a little itinerary of things I wanna get up to with Coral. It’s hard not to over plan…really I want the trip to be about hanging out, resting, drinking, and finding adventure. But having an idea of what to do will be clutch when our adventure needs a little help being found.

My boss Ronnie recently got back from Vegas and sent me his faves!

Fogo De Chao (off strip – Brazilian steakhouse – my fave)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEUOkThmoP9/?taken-at=212985887

Carmines in the Forum Shops (New York style Italian – shared meals – life changing – order the country style pasta)

Red 8 – expensive Chinese at the Wynn – very good

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Making good decisions

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Best breakfast – Hash House A Go Go in The Linq

Best buffet – Wynn by a mile

WHAT?!?

Jeezus….so many places to eat at. Coral will love the Italian place and probably the Buffet at the Wynn. There’s no way we can do them all….but I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t find myself in something on this list.

And a song? Working on some playlists to soundtrack out party week in Vegas. Disclosure should make the cut.

Go with yourself.

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Madelyn

Today is my daughter’s last day of grade 1! Wow. There she is with Coral… I dunno… not even one year old yet (summer 2008). Grade 1 is an interesting time. Your kid goes from being curious little child to a curious little person. And she can read!

I’m sad I don’t get to be in Victoria today. But I am excited for a summer of adventure and grade 2 for Madelyn!

We have a little adventure to Kelowna coming up and I am excited for that!

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This is a band from Philadelphia (and and I’ll have another Philly band for you next) that I read about in Rolling Stone. They said Hop Along sound like 80s alternative and are signed to Saddle Creek. Those two things are enough for me to hit play.

This first song is older.

Rolling Stone highlighted this cut saying, “The album’s emotional centerpiece, “Powerful Man,” recounts an experience in which the singer witnessed a man beating his child in public and felt powerless to stop it. “It’s not a hero’s story,” she says. “I wanted it to be about how horrible that was, and how I was a part of it by not doing something.””

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The Las Vegas alt-rock radio station X 107 was featuring the Philly band Cheerleader the other night. They do one of those “vote for your favourite song” at night things and Cheerleader went on a nice little run. So I guess desert dwelling rockers enjoy these guys. A fun pop-rock band for sure.

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New one for us here at CFOX. British anthemic Queen-esque band called The Struts. A ton of adds on US alternative radio…has a big sing-a-along moment.

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and finally…last day of school. I gotta.

Go with yourself.

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poolside
I am still basking in the afterglow of a fine Vegas adventure.  Like Natalie at Eat-Drink-Fly, I like to have a little plan to my Vegas trip before I go.  This year I had a shorter “To-Do” list then previous years and that worked out.  Less stress.  More chance for random experiences.  More pool time.

I did miss hitting a true EDM club, but like I said yesterday… I did not fully appreciate how being a 33-year-old male DJ from Canada would not qualify me to go to a nightclub.  So I did… Koi?  That place was terrible.  But then… they let 33-year-old DJs in their club, so maybe those door guys at EDM clubs are on to something? (to be fair, the dude at Chateau was very nice.  After he stopped laughing when I asked if I could in his club, we shared a moment…).

The most fun… hitting the pool.  They even have a DJ.  Mostly fun classics and top 40 with some classic hip-hop tossed in.  So many bikinis, beers come in buckets of ice.  the temp floats around the high 30s, low 40s.

Here is a few electronic/chillwavey songs I want to post… stuff that has gathered a bit of my attention. (and I want to remember to download for my next set at Veneto)

We’ll start with the new Poolside single because…. summer time POOL PARTY!

Jon Hopkins is red hot right now….

And you can’t go far without hearing about the UK’s Disclosure.

That’s all I got… I won’t have a chance to drop them into a set till Friday, June 21st.  This weekend DJ Primitive locks it down at Veneto.

Where am I going to be at this weekend?  PORT ANGELES! Right, summer raging plans… Las Vegas > Port Angeles > Los Angeles.  Neat.

Go with yourself.

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Vegas
I have returned from Atomic City, USA to the radio factory.  Lots of emails, radio theory, and music to catch up on.

Vegas is a fun town, but not a music town.  I have heard these tales of Vegas being the EDM capital of THE WORLD!  And it might be, but I’d never know because I just can’t pay $50 cover charge and $20 (or more) for booze listening to house music.

The rest of the time, Vegas is just never ending loop tape of classic hits and basic top 40 club-DJery.  I heard Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” a lot.

There are always wonderful exceptions.  I was wandering the Flamingo and some classic punk was blaring.  I was drinking at The Griffin and they had Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” jamming.

I packed some music with me… I meant to dive into Majical Cloudz, but his sad piano & vocal music was more suited to the rain days of Vancouver Island.

But plucking around my iPhone I saw that at some point I had dropped Braid‘s 1998 record Frame and Canvas on there.

One of the first bands I ever interviewed (Headstones were first) for the radio.  I went to see them during their 1999 West Coast Tour when they played for 20-or-30-some-odd folks at The Starfish Room.  I might have been the only “media” there, so the boys were exceptionally kind to 19-year-old snot-nosed me.

During some down time, in my room on the 16th Floor overlooking Caesar’s Palace on The Strip I buried my head and hit play.

A weirdly fitting tune for Vegas… Nathan Detroit was a character from Guys & Dolls that ran an illegal gambling operation.  Neat.

Go with yourself.

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Coral is back from Sasquatch and she has a whole list of new favourite bands.

Main stage, Day 1, first act…. Allen Stone.  Allen is a soul/R&R singer originally from a small town in Washinton State and now based out of Seattle.  I tracked down a song called “Unaware” that features maximum flute.  I really like this loungy style for both my set at Veneto and as the internal soundtrack raging though my head when I am strutting the strip in Vegas.

Allen Stone – “Unaware” (Live at KEXP)

Download MP3 >> Allen Stone – Unaware

When Coral first played him for me last night… I didn’t really get it… but I put him on while working today and got into the groove.

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I am already for Vegas… got my suit together.  I bought a bow-tie (bow-tie’s are so hawt right now), white shoes, travel medical insurance (I was gunna skip this but Coral has stories and I plan on hiking / walking through the desert so you know… keeps you guys from having to rally at future fundraiser to pay the medical bills when I am forced to chop my own arm off after I fall into a canyon and am trapped for 127 hours.).

Rented a Kia Rio!  SWA?  baller.

My Mom gave me $100 and Coral did manage to come home with a fistful of singles… so that will be tips for strippers or gambling money.  Gambling money will probably be a better ROI considering I’m a married 32-year-old father with grey hair that DJs weddings.  If I can get lucky like Natalie, I’ll turn that $100 into $700 playing penny slots.  then me and Jevon are going to eat a tower of Seafood! mmmm desert seafood. Oh and Coral wants a purse!  Maybe I’ll have to take that $700 I win on penny slots and put it on Red to make it $1400?  no wait!  black!

Couple more days of work.  A Friday at Veneto, Saturday DJing at the 24 Hour Relay for Kids then I am heading to the desert where the weather has been consistently in the 30s for the past while and heading into next week, with a few 40s sprinkled in for good measure.

Go with yourself.

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Cleveland, Ohio’s Cloud Nothings are a band gaining increasing hype.

My first encounter with the band is when I tracked down the Toro y Moi split 7-inch.  Their album Attack on Memory is number 1 on Stereogum’s Best New Music (so far) list and  Best New Music’d by Pitchfork.  From there I downloaded a couple singles and I have a stellar one for you today.

Cloud Nothings does a very raw, DIY style of punky, grungy, emo.  Steve Albini is a legend and he lent his production skills to this record.

I talk sometimes of bands that I would sound like if I had the skill to actually make proper music and not clumsy noise in the production studio or on my uke… this is a band I’d use as a touch point or inspiration for sure.  The song “Stay Useless” is so good.

Cloud Nothings – “Stay Useless”

Download MP3 >> _Cloud_Nothings_-_Stay_Useless

Happy Wednesday my friends… I am off to Las Vegas on Sunday and have been LOVING Natalie’s blog on the subject.

I by no means have an infinite budget, but I did rally enough to rent a car so I am excited to try a couple desert hikes.

People have said Red Rocks, Valley of Fire and Zion are all awesome.  Zion is 2 hours from Vegas, though I could swear it was further?  I’ll have to look into that.  Zion is rad if I remember from a family holiday we took there in the 90s.

I hope I don’t die, but if shit hits the fan, I eat Jevon first.

Go with yourself.

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One of my favourite, favourite bands, The Dudes, stopped by my radio show to talk and play a few songs.  They jammed out a hockey song called “Saturday Night” then laid down an unrecorded song called “Red River Rebel” that has a maximum Victoria reference.

Listen to THIS!  The Dudes –  “Saturday Night” & “Red River Rebel” (stream or download)

I feel like an idiot for missing the show on Thursday…but I was down to my last few $20 spots and I was of the mindset that if I could not rage to at least a minor Nova, let alone super…I’d just stay home and hoard my meagre treasure.  Lame.  BUT, the news is they are returning to Victoria for Rifflandia and if the kind and good rock & roll Jesus smiles kind waves of rainbow sunshine on me, they will play on a day in-and-around the weddings and MC gigs that I have booked.

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Talking of hoarding  my treasure…. I need to try to rally enough cash to make sure I can rent a car in Las Vegas in June.  The more I think about it, the more a desert trek sounds like it needs to happen.

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This is silly.

NERDS!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Go with yourself.

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Its a bit of a retro hazy throwback style, but I dig Portland’s Blitzen Trapper.

I think it was either Cait Fraser or her old boyfriend that got me into the song “Furr.”  Such a groovy song.  I downloaded a couple other songs from the band.  The other day SubPop sent their album to the Zone and it caught my eye so I punched it up.

Its a cool, cool record.  If you enjoy the folky 70s summer-esque psychedelic rock & roll, you might like this record.

I have a few favourites and I’ll share a couple with you here.

Blitzen Trapper – “Girl in a Coat”

Download MP3 >> 06 Girl in a Coat 1

This song has all sorts of imagery going on.  I like to believe its a romantic ode to a “girl in a coat.”  Singing about seasons and adventuring… its a pretty song indeed.

The other song I like talks about space!  Maybe a great theme song for DW’s SpaceBook.

Blitzen Trapper – “Astronaut”

Download MP3 >> 08 Astronaut 1

OK… so its not really about space… its about a girl, of course, like ALL songs.  But like… I hope her brother’s don’t come after him!  Nice.  Spacesuits, grand “illusions,” then some good all southern style groove.

Righteous.  I was third and inches from buying the vinyl on the weekend… found an ounce of discipline and kept from spending my meager pay-cheque on music for a change.

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It was my last wedding of the season yesterday under the tent at Sea Cider.  I’ll have a handful of events till the end of the year, but most the hustle and bustle is winding down.

It was a very nice, contemporary wedding in a light rain.  I think I like October weddings.  Wait… I got married in October! (so did my folks).  No wonder.  Neat.

I had posted the other day about Wedding First Dance Songs.  Coral and I got married in Vegas and had our reception at Dos Caminos… mighty TIME!  But no dancing, no first dance… there were kinda some drunken speeches yelled over the din of the restaurant, but definitely not a traditional wedding style.

BUT what would Coral and I have chosen as a wedding song?  Back when we planned such things, Coral saw on Ellen that she used this Joshua Radin song, “Today.” I imagine that in 2008/09 that was a very popular song to use for a first dance.

I would choose Grand Archives, “Swan Matches” or even The National’s “Slow Show.” I dunno if its like “romantic” in the traditional sense, but an important song to me personally.

Corjamorj texted me while I was at the wedding last night.  I guess she read this blog or thought about it or whatever… but she would pick Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter.”

Then talking with Sea Cider’s Alix… I went, “wait a minute, I have emails from all the brides and grooms and all the songs they chose as first dances… maybe I should make a playlist with the songs.”

Last night, after the wedding… I changed into my pajama pants and bro-shirt, got comfy on the couch and sifted through old emails to find all the first dance requests.  Then made:

Mixcloud: Mixtape >> First Dance Songs Part 2

Have a listen.

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I had a great weekend with Mads.  Saturday we all mostly did chores and cleaned our apartment.  Then I took Maddy swimming which she loves.  The public pool is just $6, which I think is good value for the amount of time it keeps us entertained and active.  A movie date would cost many times that, be a strong pull towards junk food, be sedentary and keep her occupied for less time.

So I’m bullish on investing in public pools!

Sunday I woke up oddly early.  I watched a movie then thought, I better use my day before I lounge it away… as I got ready to skip outta the house, Mads woke up too and asked if we could go downtown.  Sure, so I got her ready (well Corj did her hair like always) and we went record shopping (where I did NOT buy Blitzen Trapper) then to Shine for breakfast.  It was lined up down the block with a whose-who of hipsters, UVic kids and people-about-town.  But I was on Island time so Mads and I used the 30-40 minutes to explore the city (she really like going “downtown”) and playing train.

Then crushed back the most mighty of omelets, toast, fruit and bacon!  Being only 3-and-a-half.. Madelyn is a pretty cheap date as we share just one breakfast.

That’s all I got… I kinda want to go back to Las Vegas now after recalling our reception!

Go with yourself.

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Here is a post for Vancityrockgirl… the new Brandon Flowers’ solo record Flamingo is out today.

First listen and I must say, I do enjoy it.

The man is having a pretty good couple days.  His record has already gone #1 in the UK and it was also announced that he is expecting another young’n to his family brood.

I have always loved the Killers and so far so good, the solo stuff is as good… or maybe better than some of the Killers songs.

If you’re a Killers fan, you’ll easily get into the solo stuff.  Flowers has stated that many of the songs were destined to be Killers tracks but when the band went on hiatus, the Dad had to stay working, so solo it is.

The Zone is jamming out the lead single right now, “Crossfire” (number 1 on NME).

Picking a favourite album cut is a challenge right now during this first listen as I have enjoyed all the songs.  The opener is pretty cool… I could see it being a travel theme song for my favourite Rock Travel Agent, “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas.”

“Hard Enough” is sexual as its a duet with Jenny Lewis and she’s hipster cuteness.

“Playing with Fire” isn’t doing it for me.  Maybe he’s singing about being a Mormon or something? I don’t get it.

Skip.

Skip again.

“Magdalena” might be another religious song. maybe he is singing about a Spanish sweetheart?  Lots of different southern Mexican sounds mixed into the epicnessisms of Brandon Flowers.  Songs builds into an expansive Western Film sounding song.  go Mexico!  I think A Perfect Circle rocked this subject matter harder.

Near the end of the record we get to the hit, “Crossfire.”

You already know this cut and have an opinion on it.

The record ends with “On The Floor” and “Swallow It.”

“On the Floor” calms it right down after the more energetic radio single.  trying to like it but sadly… skip.

And now the closer, “Swallow It.”

Brandon are you singing about a young lovely swallowing your knob?  Maybe its a metaphor for life, but it seriously sounds like forcing your wang down someone’s throat who might be performing oral for the first time.

Well there is no “Parental Advisory” on the cover, and he is a married family man… so I guess its a metaphor for life.  Sorry to take this to the gutter, but come on… listen to the song.

OK lets add it up.

10 songs.

3 skips.

I’ll give the record 7/10.

Brandon, you won’t be getting into UVic with that grade… but a couple years at Camosun, keep your nose to it, you might make something of yourself.

The record is overall enjoyable and if you’re already a Killers fan, I’ll put a recommend on this record.

Hey remember that time I interviewed Brandon Flowers?
Brandon Flowers Website

Go with yourself.

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