Hello Friends,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for reading, commenting, and supporting The Audio Taco. I always relish the opportunity to share new artists and write about my concert experiences and i find the feedback you give invaluable to this project. I also wanted to thank the friends on my blog roll for fighting the good fight by providing an outlet to share music that otherwise wouldn’t be talked about anywhere else. So, please take the time to check out the other music blogs out there. A special thank you goes out to my programmer Amit, Angela at Filter, and the friends that i have dragged along to go to shows with me.

Stay tuned for my last roster of gigs and my favorite shows and records of the year.

Winter Song

There is a great interview with Amanda Palmer here.

Hey Everyone,

Im backlogged on entries. ive had a crazy week but look forward to reviews and/or photos from:

Kidneythieves w/ 8mm @ The Roxy
Goldfrapp @ The Orpheum
Delerium @ Anaheim House of Blues
The Submarines/ Brazilian Girls @ San Diego House of Blues

If im lucky, they will be done by the weekend. Kidneythieves photos are already up on my flickr page.

These are almost all the shows i’ve attended this year. 45 Total

rilo kiley 10/12 @ soma
carina round 2/3 HC, january HC, 3/9 HC, 3/23 HC, 3/30 HC, 6/19 roxy, 6/31 key club, 8/16 HC,
8mm 2/3 @the scene, 2/7 Molly Malones, Safari sams, 2/28 MM, 11/10 @ Roxy
stars @ hob sd
swell season 11/11 @ 4th&B
missy higginss 10/17 @ Hotel cafe, 10/19 @ borders
lennon 6/11 Knitting Factory, 6/15 HOB Anaheim
Terra Naomi 1/30 @ HC, HC 9/30, 10/4 buffalo club
metric 10/4 @ center staging, 10/5 @ Henry Fonda,
emily haines
martha wainwright 9/24,
first fridays 2/2 Tussle, 3/2 ghostland observatory w/ matmos, autolux/ deerhoof, plaid, imarobot, The submarines
damien rice @ Greek 9/20
bat for lashes 10/8 @ HOB SD, 10/9 @ Troubadour
tegan and sara 10/30 @ spreckles
IAMX 3/29 @ Safari Sams, 3/30 @ Safari Sams, 11/3 @ el rey,
stars 11/9 @ HOB SD
KT Tunstall 11/13
Tori Amos @ Copley Symphony Hall
Shiny Toy Guns @ HOB SD
The Submarines @ Viper Room

My Favorite shows of the year:

1) Swell Season @ 4th&B
2) Bat For Lashes @ the Delta Room, House of Blues
3) Metric @ Henry Fonda
4) Emily Haines @ The El Rey
5) IAMX @ Safari Sam’s (first night)
6)Missy Higgins @ Hotel Cafe
7) Tegan & Sara @ Spreckels
Terra Naomi @ Hotel Cafe 1/30
9) 1/30 Rilo Kiley @ Soma
10) Carina Round @ Hotel Cafe 2/7 (the first time i saw her)

I read a really interesting article in Techcrunch today. I’m one of those people that believe that music should be using the subscription model (dl as many songs as you want and pay a mandatory $_ / month). Then, you can save your money and go out to support live music and buy merch. Hopefully, the industry will get a bit smarter and stop throwing all this money on useless production/ promotion on artists that have no talent.

- AT

This is where the music industry needs to change its broken system and accept what is happening right now. I’m really hoping that these tracks will be high quality MP3 files. I’m assuming that most music buyers listen to a record and if they like it, buy it. I downloaded the Stars record when it leaked so that i would have a week for it to sink in before i talked or wrote about it. However, i also pre-ordered the disc.

I’ve never been a huge Radiohead fan but i WILL be supporting this release. Even if you dislike their music, dl it anyways. The number of downloads will speak for itself. Though, this may be some marketing ploy to get listeners to buy the box set (its $82) which features “both CD and vinyl versions of the album, plus an additional CD/vinyl of more new songs, with the CD also including digital pictures and other such goodies. It also comes with a big photo/art book” and comes out on 10/3/07. If the record is really good i plan on getting the box set too.

These days, artists are doing it for themselves and gaining support (albeit slowly) without a label. In this case though, Radiohead already has legions of fans and had no record company to take their profits. In conclusion, dl the Radiohead album off their website and pay for it if you want. Its about time someone this big acknowledged that this is a new era for music.

Pitchfork Gives Music 6.8

I find great pleasure when i discover newly pressed copies of The Onion in random places in LA. It means that said store has credibility. Moving on… The above article was featured on the front page. Needless to say i found it mordantly funny- the whole process of telling people what to listen to why certain records suck and giving records a rating (eg. 7.4 vs 9.1). What makes a band go from a 7.4 to a 7.5? too many predictable notes? trite uses of the word the? I’ve read pitchfork on a few occasions and found it far too serious and the writers to have their heads up their own asses. I also realize that this is ironic considering that Audio Taco is a music blog. Who am i to talk right? Well the difference is that i love music. You won’t see record ratings and i won’t write up a “review” for a record that i don’t like (i will only write recommendations). This blog exists to shed light on artists that i think should be heard. Its pretty sad these days that a horrible review is better publicity than a glowing one. Okay im gonna get off my high horse now and listen to the new KT Tunstall record.