New Trailers: Spread, 500 Days of Summer, The Stepfather

So basically, here are some new trailers. Spread seems to be another love story about a guy who sleeps his way through life (Ashton Kutcher), and then he meets the one girl who changes him, but she's not that into him. 500 Days of Summer is another love story, but this one seems to be more genuine; Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a lonely guy who falls in love with Summer (Zooey Dechanel), but she doesn't believe in love. And The Stepfather is a thriller starring Penn Badgley from Gossip Girl, who suspects his father is a murderer after he overhears an old lady neighbor tell his mother that she saw a picture of a man who looked like her new husband on America's Most Wanted. The film really reminds me of Disturbia, except I doubt Badgley will do a better job of being the ordinary bad kid turned neighborhood hero, but who knows.

Check them out.

Shutter Island Trailer

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Martin Scorsese's upcoming thriller Shutter Island. Based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel, Shutter Island, the film will revolve around DiCaprio's character as a U.S. marshall who sets out to investigate the disappearance of a patient at a criminally insane hospital on an island in Massachusetts. The film will hit theaters the weekend of October 9th, and let me just tell you, I can't wait. The trailer is intense and, for me, any story focusing on the insane members of the world creeps me out, but it also intrigues me. This film stars DiCaprio and he always seems to go after something worth watching so take a look at the trailer below and see for yourself.

Robotanists at the Echo Curio

The Echo Curio may be the smallest venue to host a show in Los Angeles, but even so, the Robotanists were able to rock the house Wednesday night. As soon as the band started playing people started to dance, and you could feel the musical fusion being created. The stage was surrounded by mock-like christmas lights and colorful lanterns, all of which went off and on to the beat of the music.

Perhaps it was the tiny size that the Echo Curio is that made the guitar, drums, bass, and electronic sounds overpower Sarah Ellquist's hypnotizing vocals because it was hard to listen to the song's words; though, if you're a huge fan, then you probably already know the lyrics and would have been okay, but to the rest of us, it would have been a nice gesture to turn up the mic in order to listen to Ellquist's great vocals. Other than that, the show was golden.

Lead guitarists Daniel de Blanke was quite a surprise. He managed to light up the stage with a few guitar solos that added a sexy feel to the Robotanists performance, not to mention that Ellquist's good looks and sensual dance moves add that much more to the show. The Robotanists were also very friendly; at some point a guy from the audience yelled, "You're awesome!" right when the band was finishing up a song, Ellquist took a sip from her clear bottle and replied, "You're awesome," and went on to what became the shortest conversation, but nonetheless a conversation between the band and audience.

Shortly after the band finished their last song, a bunch of scruffy looking guys (most holding paper bags to cover up their beers and vodka) surrounded Robotanists' band members; I suppose that's the good thing about small venues, you get to do that. The Robotanists were love at first sight; right when the first note was played I knew I would go home and download their CD, I even took home a pink pin with the band's name on it. It will be nice to see the Robotanists play in bigger venues so that more people can appreciate the band.

Published by beatcrave.com on 6/19/09

Minor typos have been corrected on here.

Visit the website for gallery photos.

Never Shout Never: Summer Ep Review

The imagination behind Never Shout Never belongs 18-year-old Christofer Drew from Joplin, Missouri. His upcoming EP The Summer is due to come out on June 23rd. I have to hand it to the youngster, he is a great singer with great lyrics, and even though The Summer may be a bit too alternative/pop for me, it reminded me of my years in High School.

Drew titled his album The Summer for one reason—summer love. Most of his songs are about love. His song Losing It talks about losing the love of his life at the age of sixteen and he asks, “How could she do this to me?” But he’s no heartbreak kid; Drew sings about happiness as well. His song Happy let’s us know that someone makes him “so happy.”

Take a look at Happy live below…

Never Shout Never sounds like Hellogoodbye and Jason Mraz. It has an Island feel to it, with a down-to-earth acoustic guitar to back him up. The songs are heartwarming and story-like, but they are incredible catchy and will make you smile without a doubt.

I remember listening to Metro Station’s song Kelsey a lot during my senior year in High School and feeling so protected and comfortable by it; Drew’s song Hummingbird feels just like that and even though the lyrics are very sad, they are also very hopeful, “you see this world has lots to offer,” and “I’m sure we will go far.”

Click the link below to listen to Hummingbird.

Hummingbird by Never Shout Never

Forrest Kline of Hellogoodbye recorded The Summer EP in January 2009, which might explain the resemblance, but all of the songs are written by brainchild Christopher Drew. Drew started touring in mid-May and is coming to L.A.’s Knitting Factory in June.

published on beatcrave.com
story by Laura (me)

Summer Festival: Glastonbury

If you're anything like me, then one of the reasons you love the summer time is because music festivals overpower the season. Music festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury make this hot-icky weather worth it. So what's next on our social calendar? Glastonbury.

Being the world's largest music festival, Glastonbury will proudly feature some memorable performers starting next Friday, June 26th, in the open farmland space in South West England. This year will bring renown musicians like Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and the return of Blur, to the famous Pyramid stage. Other groundbreaking performers at this year's Glastonbury include Bloc Party, The Prodigy, Franz Ferdinand, Brand New, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (they're everywhere).

But Glastonbury isn't only known for their big headlining artists (past headliners range from the 70s-glamour rock star David Bowie to Radiohead), but also many indie bands from everywhere. This year brings bands like Cold War Kids, Metric, Bat for Lashes, The Virgins, Ladyhawke, Alberta Cross, The View, and The Broken Band Family. Excited yet? We are.

Will 2009 be another re-defining Glastonbury year like 1997 when Radiohead played at the Pyramid Stage Sathurday night after a Friday night of rain and mud? I hope so! But regardless if you are going or not (not everyone can afford a ticket to England and a Glastonbury ticket) you can visit the Glastonbury website for updates and more information.

Lady Gaga on the Rise

Lately I've become overly obsessed with Lady Gaga. I don't know if it's her extremely high self-esteem or that she seems like a walking work of art, but she's good and it doesn't matter what anyone says, whether you enjoy pop or not, I feel, she has the potential to redefine pop music.

Yes, she has crazy style; walking around with pucker black lips and a hair bow the size of an actual human hand, but like one radio host mentioned 'She had pipes!' I listened to an acoustic version of her hit single Pokerface, and I was blown away by the musical ability this 23-year-old New York pop star holds. She knows how to play the piano, sing and she walks around tall because she knows she's good.

Whether you like it or not, Gaga is here for the long run, and this fall she will be touring alongside another great pop artist/rapper Kanye West. Perhaps both hit it off because they openly recognize that their hard work is great work. 

Take a look at some music videos, video interviews and photos of Lady Gaga that I found online below.

Videos

Interview with Today

Radio Station Interview

Interview with Paul O'Grady

music videos

"Paparazzi" 

"Poker Face" Acoustic

Photos

Excuses

I have an internship with YouCrave.com, and I apologize for not writing as often as I used to. Read my stuff here and here.

Metric at the Wiltern

Emily Haines, how could I even begin to explain Ms. Haines? She is vivid, colorful and a flamboyant performer willing to give you as much or even more than you, as an audience, are willing to give her. 

Metric gave an amazing performance Monday night at the Wiltern in Hollywood. They started off with off the night with songs off of their new record Fantasies, but they also favored their beloved fans with songs like Dead Disco, Monster Hospital and Live It Out. 

Haines lead her audience in harmonic choruses as she paraded around the stage in a shiny short dress. She went from left to right, always keeping an equal balance between both sides, and even putting her arm out into the crowd. 

The crowd was no less excited; they jumped up and down and sang along to Metric's old hits as well as their new catchy tunes. 

Haines pulled out her tambourine many times throughout the show, adding a special sound to the Metric's softer songs. But when it was time to dance, Haines and her boys danced and jumped. It is as if Metric fed off of their audiences' excited spirit. 

Overall, Metric rocked the Wiltern and ended with a soft bang; an acoustic version of Live It Out.