Do you want your music heard in front of over 80,000 people. Seriously…80,000. Well, I have a gig for you then.

5 of your very own UCLA students will be participating in Red Bull Flugtag this year down at Long Beach on August 21^st. For those of you who don’t know what flugtag is, it is an event where teams compete to build gigantic aircrafts and fly them off of a 30-ft tall pier into the water. Hoping it flies, or more realistically, just looks cool crashing. You’re judged on skit, flight and crowd participation. We’ll take care of the flight part, and most of the skit…but that’s where you come in.

We need a 30 sec- 1 min long clip of music that embodies UCLA. I’m not saying it needs to be a remix of the fight song by any means, but that could work. Maybe throw an 8 clap down. I don’t know. That’s why we need your help. Submit your ideas or piece to my email. If you’re picked we’ll hook you up with some type of reward…and you’ll get the chance to hear your piece in the crowd at Long Beach next month. Go now!

Song–Artist–Album

Drifter – Wild Nothing – Gemini

Evangeline – Handsome Furs – Face Control

The Ghost Inside – Broken Bells – Broken Bells

Whom/Who – Pomegranates – Everything is Alive

Cuddle Fuddle – Passion Pit – Chunk of Change

Shabop Shalom – Devendra Banhart – Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Collapsing at Your Doorstep – Air France – No Way Down

Bambi – Tokyo Police Club – Champ

Tristan – Patrick Wolf – Wind in the Wires  (REQUEST)

Chapters – Sonny & The Sunsets – Everything Is Alright

Haikuesque (When She Laughs) – Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

I heard that Lil Kim was coming to perform at the Key Club in Los Angeles and was really excited to attend her show. I loved her music since her first album Hardcore came out in 1996. Growing up, her music was bumped when I was just a little kid sitting in the backseat of my cousins’ car in Long Beach without any idea of what the lyrics really meant. Everyone ridiculed me for wanting to come see her, but other than Missy Elliot-Lil Kim was the only woman rapper that I grew up dancing to.

It was 10:30pm on Friday, when I finally walked into the Key Club on Sunset. The mood of the club was of course, stone-cold gangsta looks from thugs and hoochie mamas. I didn’t expect any less. The people and the atmosphere reminded me of my high school dances at Long Beach Poly, dark and urban. However, other than the urban folks, there was a large population of queers that reminded me of the ones I see on the second floor of Rage and a bunch of hipster-looking high school students throughout the club. There were a few middle-aged Caucasian men, which I didn’t think was typical but hey, lovers of hip hop were there in different shapes and sizes.

I came a little late because I thought that I would catch Lil Kim right before she started to perform. There was no one in line, only a crowd smoking cigarettes outside. When I entered, the places was not packed but there was some bumping to get through. From the door, I moved past a fully-stocked bar, a very crowded bottle service area with poles for a go-go dancer and moved down into the pit. I looked up and could see the VIP area that was on the second floor. This pale tattoo-ed guy who kept yelling “RIP” to “2pac”, “Biggie”, in a Royal Blunts jersey, I assume was the emcee because he just kept bumping his arm up to the music. I finally got myself situated in the crowd when another opening act came on. I forget his name but one of his songs that particularly caught my ear was about how “every man’s position should be from the backside”. Around 11:30pm, two women came onstage and one rapped by the name of ‘Big Girl’ impressed me. During their performance, they threw shirts labeled “I <3 me a BIG BITCH”. Lil Kim’s brother came on and announced that his sister was coming and the crowd grumbled in anticipation.

Finally at 12:15am, the Queen Bitch entered the venue and everyone started screaming. She was accompanied by two other ladies wearing veils. Lil Kim was under a white sheet and when the music started, she began to dance seductively underneath it and kept teasing the crowd until the dancing ladies finally showed her. There were lots of lights, but it was without a mistake, Lil Kim. She also had a pink veil and matching corset. The DJ set played all of her hits within the thirty minutes of her first set. Lil Kim and her back-up dancers finally ripped off their veils in unison but I was too short My friend who drove me that night and is an alien to the pop culture world asked, “Is she one of those Kardashian girls?” No, no but I knew what he meant from all the plastic surgery she had gotten. After the first set with her most popular hits: Magic Stick, the Jump Off, and How Many Licks, ended with an Indian-esque Bollywood song, I was too tired from standing in heels for almost three hours and had to leave. After she told us that she loved us, I decided to leave that night around 1am.

Lil Kim to me is a revolutionary for her rapping talents, radical song lyrics, and that once she was part of Biggie’s entourage. Yes, she went to jail for lying about her friend’s weapons charge, she’s had numerous plastic surgeries, and has probably the nastiest song lyrics, and is an official has-been because she was on Dancing with the Stars, but she’ll always have a special place in my heart. This is for you, Queen Bitch.

SEND NAMES TO THE GUEST LIST
$10 before 10PM and $15 before 11

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General Information:

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LOCATION: Avalon Hollywood

1735 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Date: July 31st 2010 (9:30 PM till 7:00 AM)

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llıllı MUSIC BY llıllı

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llıllı Luis Miolaro (MIB / LA Hidden)
http://www.myspace.com/miolaro

llıllı Tatiana Fontes (3 Plus / Bullitt Bookings)
http://www.djtatianafontes.com/

llıllı Felguk (Brazil)
http://www.myspace.com/felguk

llıllı Paula Pedroza (3 Plus / Brazil)
http://www.myspace.com/djpaulapedroza

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llıllı TIME SLOT llıllı

☊ LUIS MIOLARO…………………9:30 PM to12:00 AM
☊ TATIANA FONTES …………….12:00 AM to 2:00 AM
☊ FELGUK ………………………..2:00 AM to 4:00 AM
☊ PAULA PEDROZA ………………4:00 AM to 7:00 AM

If you closed your eyes, you would’ve sworn it was James Taylor. It was the soothing vocals, intricate yet simple guitar fingering and then a lyric “your boyfriend is cute”. Wait, what? When you open your eyes you’d realize its not the original JT after all, it’s his son, Benjamin.

Tuesday night at the Largo was one of the most purely entertaining and enjoyable acoustic performances I have seen. Wrapping up his brief west coast tour with Katie Herzig, Ben took the stage looking like a true hippie: pants way to big for his long legs, a beanie and tinted sunglasses and stole the audiences’ hearts just minutes into his set. He was folky; he was poetic. He was sexual and downright hilarious. And he would show all of these traits in two songs or less.

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After a long time of passing up going to New Pornographers shows, mostly because of high ticket prices but also a subconscious fear that their tendency to write the same song over and over (with a handful of notable exceptions) might just make the show one long power pop opus, I finally made the commitment.  July 19, 2010 at the Music Box at the Henry Fonda.  Night One of Two.

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You still may not have heard about Francis Farewell Starlite, frontman of the vintage synth-pop group Francis and the Lights but like I said last time, you can be damn sure that the rest of the music industry has.

UCLA students were introduced to the man in the Ray Bans and black trench back in May as the group opened for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros in Royce Hall. However, no, Edward Sharpe is not the only high profile group the guys have opened up for. Already in 2010, Francis has worked with hip-hop breakout artist of the year, Drake and this time Francis is coming through town in support of the indie experimental gods MGMT.

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July 1^st saw a host of new bands performing at The Echo on Sunset in LA. Openers Soft Healer, Dunes, and Crocodiles set the mood for headliners Dum Dum Girls.

Doors opened at 8:30, with first openers set to begin at 9:00, but before that many of the artists were hanging around the audience in the venue. Soft Healer started promptly on time, and played a short 20-minute set filled with psychedelic songs. Dunes were a bit mellower, with the lead singers mic turned down too low. Crocodiles were a variation from the thus far female-fronted theme of the night, the lead singer being the husband of Dee Dee, the lead singer, of the Dum Dum Girls. Crocodiles played about a 30-minute set, but it was filled with punk and rock influenced songs that got the crowd pumped up. Their stage presence encouraged the audience to dance and participate the whole time, and got everyone ready for the main act.

Headliners Dum Dum Girls took the stage at midnight, and after three openers the crowd was excited for their performance. They were very interactive with their audience, and were dancing around and making everyone else dance. They opened with a cover of the Rolling Stones and then proceeded to play songs off their recently released album “I Will Be,” which Pitchfork rated an 8.2. Highlights of the set included single “Jail-La-La” and equally popular “Everybody’s Out.” Their 60’s classic girl-group sound was eminent throughout the night and their punk-rock style guitar riffs and quick-paced bass lines incited exhilaration throughout the set. After their short but entertaining set, Dum Dum Girls returned for an encore before heading upstairs to the private section of the venue. For being so new, Dum Dum Girls knew how to take control of their audience and give them exactly what they wanted.

–DJ Aurora

Gogol Bordello has long been a favorite of mine, and ever since I first saw their show at Coachella in 2008 (on the main stage) I had wanted to see them again, preferably in a more intimate club setting. And their show did not disappoint my two and a half years of waiting. Even after the release of their 5 studio album, they were very aware and interactive with the crowd. Everything from crowd surfing (which should never get old for a performer) to relentlessly thanking the crowd for coming at the end of the show.
They were able to mix their new material (Trans-Continental Hustle, released April 27th) with almost all of their classics.
The show was extremely high energy for almost the entire set, especially for his first finale of Start Wearing Purple, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGY1BtNqCdM) watch this video to see what I’m talking about. Then the finale was a little more relaxed, but a perfect compliment for the super high energy show prior. The show ended with a great performance of Alcohol where EVERYONE was singing along at some point and contributed to the already great (albeit sweaty) crowd.
Overall the show was great, venue was a nice size for them, and the crowd consisted of a lot of loyal followers; all of which produced a fabulous night of music.
Set List:
Illumination
Ultimate
Wonderlust King
Companjera
Tribal Connection
Rebellious Love
Mishto
Coming Roungher
60 Revolutions
Break the Spell
Trans-Continental Hustle
Universe
Pala Tute
Start Wearing Purple
*Encore*
Punk Rock Parranda
Not a Crime
Sun is on my Side
Baro Foro
*slight break*
Alcohol

Rising from the New York underground/independent hip-hop scene and being very close friends with Shia LaBeouf, I think it’s fair to say that Chris “Cage” Palko is a one of a kind rapper.

Cage’s unique styling is progressive rap at its finest. His music is dark, tormented and at times dejected, while on stage he is known to be one of the most energetic and all-out performers in the business. Live, he’s been described as “possessed and jarring”, truly performing his music in every sense of the word. His music reminds me of a Atmosphere/Kid Cudi hybrid, taking the lyrical prowess of the former and combining it with the “solo dolo” loner vibes of Cudder. He’s developed a very strong following in the underground world of hip-hop, developing his own subgenre of “horror-core” while being a main stay on El-P’s independent Def Jux record label for the past 5 years.

A nomination for best rapper of 2009 by SPIN magazine, Cage has continued to make a splash this year in the industry as a collabo on Kid Cudi’s upcoming album Man On the Moon 2. This tour Cage continues to rep his most accomplished work, the 2009 release, Depart From Me, but after tracking in the studio with Cudi, who knows what type of new music he’s going to have in store.

Next Saturday, July 3^rd, Cage headlines the Roxy here in Los Angeles, his first gig in Los Angeles after opening for Less Than Jake at HOB back in early December. This time around he’s going to have his own full set, which means some old material, tracks off Depart From Me and maybe even some brand new stuff.  It’ll be a show you won’t want to miss.

Hate Your Guns opens. Tickets are only $13.50 and can be purchased at http://theroxyonsunset.com/