All posts by scarlett aguilar

reviews, san diego

Live Review: Childish Gambino at House of Blues, July 22, 2011

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Photo credit: Natalie Kardos

Thanks to the annual pop culture invasion known as Comic-Con, San Diego was once again transformed into a star-studded, Storm Trooper-packed red carpet last week. (On what other weekend could you observe a steampunk couple enjoying a romantic sushi date and discussing how little they use technology?)

Amidst all the glittery parties, free swag, Indigo Ballroom panels, and streets crowded with Batmans, Jokers, and a couple of Deadmau5’ses (How on earth do you properly punctuate that?), Donald Glover‘s musical “side chick” Childish Gambino took to the stage at House of Blues to prove he’s more than “pretty good for a rapper who’s on a TV show.” Continue reading…

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UCSD Soaks Up the Sun God

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Photo credit: Erik Jepsen

It’s safe to say that the summer festival has gone mainstream. With the Coachellas, Bonnaroos, and Sasquatches of the world selling out in record time, tickets to these highly anticipated festivals are becoming increasingly hard to come by. (Whether scalping has something to do with it is another subject entirely.)

And that’s why UCSD’s Sun God festival — taking place this Friday on the university’s campus — is such a welcome alternative: the day of music and festivities is only open to students and their invited friends. That means no scalping, boho-clad celebrities, or lingering $300 charges that take months to pay off. Continue reading…

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The Lonely Forest Plan Death Cab Ride, Headline Show at UCSD’s Loft

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MP3: The Lonely Forest – “Coyote”

Things are about to get busy for The Lonely Forest. Not only did they just release their third LP, Arrows, on March 22, but they’re also planning two tours within the next four months — including a special headlining show at UCSD’s Loft on April 17 and a stint with indie-rock giants Death Cab for Cutie (more on them below).

The Lonely Forest’s Loft show will be their only headlining date with The Joy Formidable. After their tour with the Joy Formidable ends, they’ll join Death Cab for Cutie’s “Underplay” tour. Not coincidentally, The Lonely Forest’s Arrows was produced by Death Cab’s Chris Walla.

Death Cab, for their part, will release their seventh album, Codes And Keys, on May 31. To promote the new album, they’ll be streaming “the first live, scripted, one-take music video ever” on the Internets today at 4pm PST (UPDATE: You can see the completed video here). Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard also just recorded a track for Russell Brand’s upcoming film Arthur, which you can stream here. Lonely Forest/Death Cab tour information is below…

listen, music news, san diego, video

The Dodos Go Monochrome

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MP3: The Dodos – “Don’t Stop”

San Francisco indie darlings The Dodos just released their fourth album, No Color, and they’ll make their way southward to the Casbah on April 9.

The San Diego stop is part of a whirlwind tour that will send them throughout the United States and Europe. Philadelphia’s Reading Rainbow will support the band’s appearance on the Casbah stage.

With the release of No Color, The Dodos seem to have hit their musical stride. The band’s return to their classic duo formula has produced their most melodic, cohesive effort yet, with a dreamy blend of noisy and energetic tracks. The Dodos are also hoping to hook up some lucky fans with a pair of free tickets by running ticket giveaways in each city via Facebook. All fans need to do is comment on the date of the show they would like to attend (excluding festival dates), and a winner will be selected at random — an easy way to win some tickets, especially for Facebook commenters of the world.

The band also released a new video for their No Colors song “Black Night.” Check it out above. Full list of Dodos tour dates is below.