Rave's Raves Blog

RAVE’S FAVES (on the air since early May)

Elbow, The Fratellis, Cut Copy, Scars on Broadway, Katy Perry, Black Kids, Pigeon Detectives, Young Knives.

Elbow‘s last album “Leaders Of the Free World” got the strongest reaction during my two-plus years of Go Deep broadcasts. This effort is just about as good. See the live review below. The Fratellis sophomore disc is also highly worthy. It is a bit less fun and spontaneous, but shows musical growth and contains several strong songs. Cut Copy still haven’t captured their live energy in the studio, but there are a number of stellar tracks. Scars on Broadway have an appealing, harder mainstream alternative/active rock song, while Black Kids, Pigeon Detectives, and Young Knives are energetic U.K. bands gaining some stateside exposure.

LIVE

What new can be said about Iron Maiden? They continue to do everything with consistency, quality and integrity. The current tour’s set is mostly from their 1985 show. In L.A. alone, three concerts this year have drawn 42,000 including two sold-out shows at the Verizon Amphitheater. Several of their European gigs have drawn that many in one night. Their DVD’s are high quality, and their merch lines continue to be longer than the beer lines. Elbow sold out the Avalon and delivered another winner. Singer Guy Garvey will never be confused with Bono, but he’s fully in control up there. The sound of this show was as clean as I’ve heard in a long time. Ladytron played a solid show at the Henry Fonda but Datarock‘s set didn’t work as well as it did at Coachella. Datarock effectively move between genres on their album but the songs tend to have the same approach live. Rock Steady Freddy‘s vocals were too loud, which didn’t help as it seemed he couldn’t hear his monitors. Beirut brought an 8-piece mini-orchestra to the enthusiastic Wiltern crowd. Leader Zach Condon is a real talent and this was a fine show, although a little lower-key than I would have liked. The Brunettes from New Zealand also played. They’re fun but can use some seasoning. The Sweet have been put back together by bass player Steve Priest. Their third show was at the Canyon Club, and indications are that their summer shows will go quite well. The set is loaded with their iconic tunes, and games like Guitar Hero support the timing of their return.

…and…

As Chrysler announces that 2009 cars will feature an onboard broadband option, the long-term prospects for internet radio look better and better. I don’t know many radio people who are extolling the virtues of HD, even though they’ll be better off if it takes hold. The advice I’m hearing is that people shouldn’t be paying hundreds of dollars for HD in the new cars… I’ll be back to you in late August. Please check out Go Deep playlists and the shows themselves. Let me hear from you in the meantime. I answer all e-mails so please make sure you put “raves” in the subject line. Have a good couple of months, and always remember to…

RAVE ON!!!