The First Annual High Bias Awards: 20 Of Our Favorite Things In 2013.

Hello friends. 2013 was a pretty awesome year filled with some real solid goodness. The crew over here at High Bias have decided to give some praise to the stuff that stood out as as the most solid goodness of all the year's solid goodness. So here in no particular order are the awards for our twenty favorite things of 2013...

The "This Night Has Changed My Life Award" goes to:
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS LIVE AT THE FONDA THEATRE 2/21/13


DANNY SAYS: "An incredible night of music from all eras of Nick Cave. Even included a children's choir!"

The "Best Soundtrack for Finding Your Spirit Animal Award" goes to:
JIM JAMES - REGIONS OF LIGHT AND SOUND OF GOD

DAVID SAYS: "I felt like I was at home with this record, and just wanted to get back to it… it's a pretty rare sensation these days."
Buy it here.

The "I Think They Serve Spirit Animal Here Award" goes to:
ANIMAL, LA

Photo by Cathy Danh

DAVID SAYS: "Still the best, most original dishes and combinations of flavors I’ve tasted in a long time."

The "Print Ain't Dead Yet Award" goes to:
JIMMY MCDONOUGH - SHAKEY: NEIL YOUNG'S BIOGRAPHY

MARISSA SAYS: "It's never a bad thing when you get to learn a few new things you didn't already know about a subject you're interested in. Since old Shakey's been a sort of daydream kindred spirit of mine since I was a youngster, and since I'd been wanting to read this book for a while now, I decided to take the plunge… the book's just shy of 800 pages. I loved it."
Buy it here.

The "I'm Crying. I'm Crying. Award" goes to:
BAD LIP READING - MEDIEVAL LAND FUN-TIME WORLD EXTENDED TRAILER



TODDRICK SAYS: "I don't think I've laughed harder this year. I was literally crying in my office while watching this from laughing so hard. Completely brilliant and spot on. Medieval Land Fun-Time World even nudged "Everything Louis CK Ever" out of the top spot as my favorite comedy thing of the year. Face lick."

The "Kevin Hart Award" goes to:
THE REAL HUSBANDS OF HOLLYWOOD

DANNY SAYS: "For real, watch this show. Kevin Hart is a genius."

The "Did He Just Kill That Dog In The First Five Minutes? Award" goes to:
HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON ONE

DAVID SAYS: "Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright reinvent the idea of manipulation and you never get tired of their calculated chemistry."

The "Over and Over and Over Award" goes to:
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS - JUBILEE STREET



TODDRICK SAYS: "In a year absolutely chock full of great music (for proof check out tunes from Marissa Anderson, Son Lux, Big Data, Raw Geronimo, Palma Violets, Jonathan Wilson etc etc etc) - the song I just could not stop listening to (and often on several repeats) is this amazingly rich and rewarding track from the latest Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album "Push The Sky Away" - which also happens to be my favorite album of the year. Too good."
Buy it here.

The "Best Album to Listen To Whilst Reading the Latest MOJO and Drinking Tea" award goes to:
LAURA MARLING - ONCE I WAS AN EAGLE

MARISSA SAYS: "Nostalgic, stark, honest, cinematic, and ethereal. With so much noise in the universe, it's nice to hear a fully realized album that can cut through all the clutter with a whisper instead of a sledgehammer. For such a young soul, she's a helluva storyteller, and an incredibly gifted songwriter."
Buy it here.

The "This Meal Has Warmed My Soul Award" goes to:
THE BLUE RIBBON, NYC

(Photo by Steve Hill, Mens Journal)

MARISSA SAYS: "Dark was the night, cold was the ground on this stormy winter's eve in NYC. I tucked into a warm and cozy bistro, where the good folks inside kindly served me up some of their finest fried chicken. It saved me."

The "Depressing Power of Cinema Award" goes to:
ASGHAR FARHADI - THE PAST

DAVID SAYS: "Possibly the saddest, darkest movie I’ve seen this year because there’s something so ordinary and true and moving - beautifully played by a great cast."

The "What Sophomore Slump? Award" goes to:
PORTUGAL. THE MAN - EVIL FRIENDS

DANNY SAYS: "It's perfect. A beautiful album full of emotional moments and amazing production."
Buy it here.

The "Imma Let You Finish But This Was The Most Exciting Hip Hop Project Toddrick Heard At SXSW Award" goes to:
YOUNG FATHERS LIVE AT THE ANTICON SXSW SHOWCASE - THE MOHAWK 3/13/13

(Photo by Joshua Brasted, Anticon)

TODDRICK SAYS: "I left Young Fathers SXSW showcase electrified and convinced I'd just seen a glimpse of the new wave. It was the defining show of the festival for me and a definite 'I was there' moment. No between song banter - I don't think they acknowledged the audience once. No smiles. They came to cut throats and they destroyed, dropped the mics, and walked off stage."

The "This Dish Just Blew My Mind Award" goes to:
SON OF A GUN, LA

(Photo via lagroveliving.com)

DANNY SAYS: "Two words: Shrimp. Toast."

The "See? How Hard Was That, JJ Abrams & Damon Lindelhoff?? Award" goes to:
THE FINALE OF BREAKING BAD

MARISSA SAYS: "What can I say? The culmination of five years of television magic, and some of the best characters and acting I've ever seen, and I've watched a lot of television. Plus, Badfinger's "Baby Blue" is one of my all time favorite songs."

The "Internet Is An Awesome Place Award" goes to:
BRYAN RAY TURCOTTE & BO BUSHNELL - THE ART OF PUNK SERIES




TODDRICK SAYS: "As a massive fan of punk and graphic design, I found Bryan Ray Turcotte and Bo Bushnell's series of documentary shorts on MOCAtv exhilarating. Informative and entertaining, stylish and a blast to watch. I'm hoping for more to come in 2014."

The "I Didn't Have Anything Better To Do That Night But Now I'm Obsessed Award" goes to:
LAURA MVULU LIVE AT THE WILTERN 9/17/13

DAVID SAYS: "I didn’t listen much to the album and went to the show without special expectations but was completely mesmerized by her stage personae and the world she brings onstage - enchanting and emotional without ever being cheesy."

The "Forgot I Was At An Industry Showcase Transcendence Award" goes to:
ANNA CALVI LIVE AT THE HOTEL CAFE 11/14/13

MARISSA SAYS: "Wow. What an intimate, glorious, powerful, transcendent, and passionate performance. For such a teeny showcase, she really poured her everything into it. Getting to see her live was a revelation, and I left feeling transformed. She's also one of the greatest guitar players, dead or alive, I've ever seen."

The "Toddrick Discovers What May Be His Favorite Album of All Time" award goes to:
NINA SIMONE - JAZZ AS PLAYED IN AN EXCLUSIVE SIDE STREET CLUB aka LITTLE GIRL BLUE

TODDRICK SAYS: "The best album I heard in 2013 was released in 1958. While visiting my grandmother in Highland Park, IL over the Thanksgiving holiday I was flipping through her records and found this gem. I had never listened to this record before and was completely moved by how beautiful and simple it is. Perfection. I immediately ordered a copy and it lives on my turntable permanently now (my apologies to all other records ever.) The perfect soundtrack to the season and to every morning for the rest of my life."

...and finally The "Greatest Thing That Happened Ever in 2013 and Will Go Down As One Of The Greatest Moments Of All Time Award" goes to (drumroll please):
A NEW EXUM

DANNY SAYS: "Hands down, the best moment of 2013 was finding out we are having a little girl!"


Well that wraps up this year's awards. From all of us at High Bias - here's wishing you a killer 2014!

See you in the next world, Yusef Lateef.

Festive Times call for Festive Tunes!

Here at High Bias we're all about the little things in life. A strong cup of joe, a tasty sandwich, nice conversations, a pretty view, a frothy beverage, and sweet sweet music. So, before you settle in for that long winter's nap, we'd like to kickstart the fog of holiday magic with this spirited mix. It's a musical duel, if you will; a His vs Hers collection of 15 songs. Who wins? We all do. How deliriously delightful!

Who Spiked The Punch?

A His 'n' Hers Holiday Mix

(brought to you by DJ Saul BASS aka Toddrick & DJ Cheeseburger aka Marissa)

Download. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!

Tracklist:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas by R2-D2 and C-3PO

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Peggy Lee

Be-Bop Santa Claus by Babs Gonzales

I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You by Margo Guryan

Christmas Card From Hooker In Minneapolis by Tom Waits

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee

Back Door Santa by Clarence Carter

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Ella Fitzgerald

Christmastime In The Mountains by Palace Songs

Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas? by The Staple Singers

Christmas at the Zoo by The Flaming Lips

Frosty The Snowman by The Ronettes

New Year's Eve by Tom Waits

River by Joni Mitchell

A Christmas Duel by The Hives & Cyndi Lauper

My favorite Christmas song...

Like my friend Marissa said - tis' the season. So... here's my favorite holiday song ever by the ever wonderful Clarence Carter.



And while we're on the topic of the holidays, here's a fun mix of holiday cheer I stumbled on from way back in 2011.

'Tis the Season.

How about the Beastie Boys covering Minor Threat?

Woah. Dead Kennedys in studio...

Thank the lord for Dangerous Minds. Today they posted this amazing nugget of my youth. I was obsessed with this band in junior high and high school - to see them laying In God We Trust Inc. to tape is unbelievable! I had to share...

White Light White Heat!

Man oh man. I can't wait for this box set. Universal is releasing a mega deluxe White Light/White Heat. Check out all the fixins at my favorite website Dangerous Minds. Loaded with unreleased recordings, book, mono and stereo version. I'm drooooooooling...

Spaced Out Saturday...

...come with us now on a journey through time and space...

What's the time? I feel old. License to Ill is 27 today.

"Around the time he was producing License to Ill, Rick Rubin was reading the Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, in which touring decadence aboard Zep's private jet features prominently. License to Ill art director Stephen Byram remembers hashing out a design idea with Rubin during a Los Angeles to New York flight. 'I wanted to embrace and somehow distinguish in a sarcastic way, the larger than life rock n' roll lifestyle', Byram said in Richard Evans' book The Artist of the Album Cover. Byram reached out to illustrator David Gambale, aka World B. Omes, who rendered an image of a Boeing 727. On the front of the Beasties' 1986 debut, the plane's tail displays a Harley Davidson influenced band logo and reverse code for a certain lewd suggestion. The fact the rap trio's plane has crashed is only visible on the back."
Original article here: BEASTIES

It's Ben Ellis' Birthday!

Happy Birthday Ben Ellis. This song is awesome.

Happy Birthday Neil!

Happy Birthday Neil Young! I remember hearing After The Gold Rush for the first time and being so floored... Songs so good can be both inspiring and defeating! I hope you are enjoying a slice of cake today, Neil Young.

Check out this killer live set at the BBC from '71:

Tis' The Season!

What better way to ring in the holiday season than with some nog, time with friends and fam - and this amazing Motörhead sweater??

Happy National Gram Parsons Day!

To celebrate the birth of late roots rock icon - without whom "Alt Country" and a big chunk of my record collection wouldn't exist - Gram Parsons, I wanted to share this rad audio of Gram's first performance with The Byrds... if only there was film to go along with it!! Happy National Gram Parsons Day! May this kick off a day of killer americana on your ipods!

Happy Glenn Danzig's Book Collection Day.

Halloween is - after Thanksgiving and Yom Kippur - my favorite holiday and the best part of this yearly day of ghouls is dusting off my all time favorite youtube clip - otherwise known as the legendary "Glenn Danzig's Book Collection."



To help ring in the holiday I've made you all a lil' spooky mixtape of some of my fave halloween jams:

DOWNLOAD.
Tracklist:
Vincent Price - Hand of Glory
The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf
Gene Vincent - Race With The Devil
Crystal Stilts - Graveyard Orbit
Holly Golightly - Devil Do
Howlin' Wolf - Evil
Goblin - Witch
The Fall - Frightened
The Misfits - Astro Zombies
Mika Miko - Zombies Take One
The Flesh Eaters - Digging My Grave
The Murder City Devils - Demon Brother
Melvins - Blood Witch
Moontrekkers - Night of the Vampire
Jackie Morningstar - Rockin' In The Graveyard
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck
Vincent Price - Protection Against The Hand of Glory

...and here's a link to last year's All Hallow's Eve opus of Glenn Danzig gems: DOWNLOAD.

Morning Star.

Still lovin' on this Cass McCombs vid, which just oozes nostalgia. Put together by Patrick O'Dell.

http://www.epiclylaterd.com

Dear Lou Reed.

Goodbye Lou. It was an honor to work with your catalog for the two years I was at Spirit Music Group. Thank you for all you gave the world. Without you and the Velvets there'd be no punk and in turn a completely different me. So I owe you a lot. Thank you for Sunday Morning. Thank you for Berlin. Thank you for Street Hassle. Thank you for allowing me to begin to see the light. Thank you for making the dark side pop.

White light white heat forever. Rest in peace, man.

It's Wednesday.

I mean, 37 seconds in. Wowza.

And, the Queen.

Happy Birthday Lux Interior!

We miss you down here.

Listen to Either/Or today. Hug a friend.

Kick Out The Jams Sunday!

Oh Shit.

Just in time for Halloween. I'm getting majorly creeped out by the latest video from ERAS:

Farfisa Friday.

Tara King th.

I love Spencer Moody.

I loved Murder City Devils and I still rank Dead Low Tide as one the best live bands I ever saw (the Ill Eagle released 7" is unstoppable! Lazer Lazer Lazer Love!) So I was beyond geeked out to stumble on Spencer Moody's rad bandcamp page - which features not only killer new songs but also his crazy rad one off tees and bags!!! I heard Spencer moved to LA. Welcome, sir. Welcome.

(Photo by Alison Narro / from the Murder City Devils site!)

Also it should be noted that Murder City Devils are back and playing shows again!!!! Goddamn! What an age to be alive!

Time-warp Thursday!

So, I think this photo explains everything. Everything.

Little me with a brewski at the beach. With my parents © 1979.

Margo Guryan...

Loving these fan-made music videos for "Take A Picture" + "Someone I Know" - check em' out!

I'm in tears.

Ian Rubbish v. The Clash

Dear Fred Armisen - Ian Rubbish is genius.

File Under: Rad.

Artists tackle imperial stormtrooper helmets. And I get giddy.

Raw Geronimo Live at Midnight tonight!

Be sure to check out Raw Geronimo tonight FOR FREE at the Satellite! They play at midnight. Don't sleep on em! One of the best live shows Los Angeleeez has to offer!

Here's the deets: MON OCT 14 FREE! Origami Vinyl, LA RECORD, Manimal Vinyl, Buddyhead and Dirty Laundry TV present 12 - Raw Geronimo 11 - Spirit Vine 10 - The Reflections 9 - The Preatures DJs Karrie K (Dirty Laundry TV ) and Chris Ziegler (LA Record) $2 Well Drinks/Tap Beers + $5 specialty cocktails 6-9pm

Neat Neat Neat.

Have a great weekend!

Nathaniel ERAS!

...listen to his amazing music, which was recently featured in this behind the scenes film of the making
of Beyond: Two Souls for Playstation 3. Director David Cage talks about how he made this game, which stars Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe. Check it out!

ERAS here: http://nathanieleras.com

Beyond: Two Souls Creator David Cage on Making the Game Like a Film from Tribeca on Vimeo.

J Fernandez at CMJ!

Hyperion Music Services enigmatic artist J Fernandez (Morning Ritual) will be playing a handful of dates for the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC! Be there or be square.

10/15 @ Glasslands - Popgun opening party - 9pm
10/17 @Cake Shop - NYC Taper Showcase - 1:30pm
10/17 @ Piano's - I Guess I'm Floating Day Party - 3:30pm
10/17 @ The Silent Barn - 9pm
10/18 @ Piano's - Deli Mag showcase - 7pm

Yeah! We love the internets! Kingdom of Noise!

What a magical world we live in when stuff like this exists! Check out KINGDOM OF NOISE - a rad document of the 90's Japanese noise scene featured on Network Awesome!!!

The Icarus Line Destroy the West Coast...

Hyperion Music Services artists and all around bad asses THE ICARUS LINE will be spending the month of October melting faces across the West Coast! We're stoked! Dates below...

10/13 los angeles @ the fonda
10/17 las vegas @ triple's
10/18 san diego @ void
10/21 seattle @ el corazon
10/22 portland @ hawthorne theatre
10/23 eugene @ wow hall
10/24 reno @ the alley
10/25 san francisco @ cafe du nord
10/27 pomona @ glasshouse


Gonna be rad! You better FNB there!

It should be a national holiday.

Celebrating the birth of one of America's greatest composers. Happy Birthday John Coltrane!

Rad Dutch TV LA Punk Doc!

My favorite website, Dangerous Minds, recently featured this totally amazing Dutch documentary on LA Punk - which as you may know is like my all time favorite subject, so I have to share it. Enjoy!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Mo's Outer Limits Mix 

Okay, like a lot of you (most of you) I watched a ton of horror movies growing up and since Halloween is fast approaching, let's just say I got stuck in a spooky mindset.

Picture a twisted sonic love story.

A happy song can take on new meaning when paired with a scare the living daylights out of you scene. This was the catalyst behind the mix; a tribute to all those late nights spent sitting in the dark with nothing but the glow of terror to guide me, its beacon-like flicker radiating outward from my parents wood-paneled-swivel-based-monster-of-a-television, and into my brain.

Some of the songs were taken from records. Remember those? You'll hear imperfections: the snaps, the crackles, and the pops. I think that's kind of cool though, considering this is supposed to be a 'spooky' mix. 13 tracks. Special for you.

Enjoy, or else...

Tracklisting:

The Outer Limits Intro

Watermelon Man by The Gun Club

I Will Walk You Home by The Adverts

A Forest by The Cure

In the Pines by Lead Belly

She's My Girl by The Turtles

Personal Monster by The Legendary Pink Dots 

Hang On to a Dream by Gandalf

There Will Never Be Another You by Chris Montez 

No One Can Hear You Cry by Susan Christie 

Merlin's Daughter by Witchcraft

The Laugh aka They're All Gonna Laugh at You by Vincent Price

The Cat in the Window (The Bird In The Sky) by Petula Clark

You Better FNB There...

We're throwing a pair of shows this week in Los Angeles that we feel everyone should be at. (Dear all other things happening over the next two days: we're sorry.) Tomorrow night - Thursday 8/29, down the lovely steps of Silverlake's El Cid, join the High Bias crew as we rock the f out at our 2nd semi regular rock night "Destroy All Thursdays" with Chicago slayers MEAT WAVE plus LA's own BOYS SCHOOL and DIRTY DISHES annnnnnnnd very special guest disc jockey Mr. Nate Nelson of Innovative Leisure fame... but that's not all - cuz the very next eve - Friday 8/30 - MEAT WAVE will join LA critical darlings RAW GERONIMO and SUN DUEL at The Smell for a special all ages performance. Don't sleep on this shit. Guaranteed "I was there" status to be had!

If it ain't Stiff...

Woah! Check out this radical BBC doc on Stiff Records!!! (Thanks for the tip, Joe Berman!)

The Art of Punk

My friend Brian created this amazing series of mini-docs about THE ART OF PUNK for LA's Museum of Contemporary Art. So good.

Elliott Smith's Birthday is today.

Everyone on Earth should listen to Either/Or today in honor of one of America's greatest songwriters.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Warhol.

Happy Birthday Andy Warhol. To celebrate here are three awesome Screen Tests...

METZ covering The Damned!

One of my favorite bands right now covering Neat Neat Neat! Doesn't get any cooler. Read all about it here.

Happy Birthday Satchmo!

Here we come Texas.

It's that time again! Time for the High Bias crew to hit Austin and destroy mad breakfast tacos and bbq. This year half our crew will be attending SXSW and tweeting their adventures live throughout the fest. Follow Dr. Danny Exum: @dannyancient and Capt. Toddrick Spalding: @totalrecordnerd for play by play of all that happens in the land of Lone Stars and bicycle taxis.

Here we come Texas.

It's My Life !

Check out the very cool It's My Life Episode 1, a mini-documentary of people sharing their life in different cities around the world. This one features our friend French-Vietnamese Chef An Nguyen in NYC and is directed by Arnaud "Nan" Dufour:



IT S MY LIFE EPISODE 1 from An Nguyen Xuan on Vimeo.

Decorated Youth interview...

Our own Toddrick Spalding recently sat down for an interview with Decorated Youth to give his take on this whole music supervision thing... read it here.

Happy Birthday Ziggy Stardust.

Happy Birthday David Bowie! Check out the Thin White Duke's latest video - a preview of his upcoming 30th album (out in March!) - his first in a decade! We're insanely massive fans. So to say our interest is piqued would be an understatement...

2013 Mix !

Happy 2013 Everyone!

It seems that we've survived another Apocalypse (about the 400th), and we thought we'd put together a little mix to celebrate that and the exciting new year ahead. Enjoy, it's here.

Intro: John Barry vs Rushmore OST

Heaven's Door - Poor Moon

Brother - Meat Wave

Some Time Alone, Alone - Melody's Echo Chamber

Elephant - Tame Impala

Hail Bop - Django Django

Generations - Chrome Canyon

Putty Boy Strut - Flying Lotus

Night Light - Jessie Ware

Cherry (Main Fix) - Chromatics

Lo Che Non Vivo (Senza Te) - Pino Donaggio e Jody Miller

Raven's Song - Aaron Embry

Freedom - Charles Mingus

Yo No Se (feat. Mitch Manker) - Will Ferrell, Efren Ramirez & Adrian Martinez

About That Life feat. Jahan Lennon - Diplo

You Make Me Feel - Ray Stinnett

Freaking Out The Neighborhood - Mac Demarco

Find Me The Pulse of the Universe - Laetitia Sadier

One Of These Days - Matthew E. White