Music Monday vol. 7

About a year ago, I had to drive from California to Texas to get to my family for a few weeks while we dealt with some health issues. I loaded up my jeep full of suitcases, bags, hair styling products, and I even had room for Rudder and Raider! We set off on our journey pretty late in the evening to get through Pasadena and Riverside without the usual 3 hour traffic jam. I had my awesome 160g ipod that was over half way full of music amazeness. Not even one hour into the trip, I dropped my awesome ipod into a cup of water I had made for the dogs in case they were thirsty…. bye-bye 160g ipPd. That set the tone for a horrendous trip to the land of TX. However, I had my extra 80g iPod to keep me company, but, it wasn’t updated with all the latest tunes that made my soul happy. I tried frantically to nurse my ipod back to health but it was pronounced dead a few days later. And as luck would have it, it went out of warranty the EXACT day I submerged it in water, OH and yes, Apple Care doesn’t cover liquid damage!! I eventually drove back to Cali and had to fix my iTunes to where I could update my 80g with all my favorite music. This wasn’t the first nor the last time I have killed my apple products with liquid. If you remember in November, I spilt Coke Zero on my iPhone and destroyed that. I’ve left my iPod in my jackets and washed it in the washing machine. Basically iPods and iPhones don’t bode well with me and my liquid tendencies. My new iPhone is maxed out with music and so is my iPod, so I guess I’m going to have to invest in a bigger iPod, however, I know they don’t make 160g’s anymore and I’m pretty upset. But, let’s get back to music Monday and wrap why I’m talking about iPods. I had misplaced my iPod for a few months and come to find out it somehow ended up in my mom’s purse and so I finally have been reunited with my iPod. I went through looking at the music I have on here and with 80g’s of music, I have found some cool music to share with you guys that some have not heard of. So long and dumb story short, here are some music recommendations for this week from my trusty, out of date iPod!

* Explosions in the Sky-. To say they produce excellent music is a complete understatement. Their usual set up is 3 guitars and a drum kit but when you listen to them, you think it’s an orchestra of music, they aren’t the typical rock band in that they don’t have lyrics/vocals in their music. Their music is very chill and relaxing. You can hear some of their music on both the movie and tv show, Friday Night Lights… Yes, they are a local Austin band! They are recording new music and should have an album out soonish. Be sure to check out their music on iTunes!

* Nico Vega. Their music gives me chills. It’s rock, its sassy, it’s wholesome, its breathtaking, it’s soothing, it’s all around awesome! They have heavy riffs mixed with even heavier beats and the lyrics are equally commanding. Plus its fronted by a female! I love rock bands that are led by a female. You go, girl! They hail from Los Angeles and I just found out they will be in Austin Feb 20th… cha’ching! I will be at Emo’s rocking that for sure! Be sure to check them out and see if you dig their sound!

* Cold War Kids. If you have sirius/xm, then you’ve heard of these guys the past couple years or so. Altnation and Octane both play their records and its pretty awesome. I believe their most popular song is called “Something is not Right with Me”. It’s been featured on Entourage (a personal favorite show of mine) and has been featured in movies as well. These guys are from Long Beach and have the cool swagger of an alt rock band. These guys travel to a lot of festivals and have been featured at Bonaroo, ACL, Lola, and Coachella. Check these guys out!

These are my recommendations for this week’s installment of Music Monday. I might mix it up next week and instead of music give some comedic recommendations! I love love love comedy and comedians and living in the LA area I got to see tons of talent! Anyways, I hope you like the music I threw your way and because a post isn’t a post without a some photos, I am going to show you the last of the NYE concert! Yes! I finally finished all the photos and here are some photos from the Robert Earl Keen set!

Love it, live it, capture it!

~ Jalys.