LA's Spring Show a Blast!

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Thank You LA!

Our 5th Annual Spring Show was another great success, thanks to the amazing and talented vendors and to the 14,000+ shoppers that came to buy local and enjoy community! Spending Mother's Day weekend with such a great group of people never gets old, and we all feel blessed to be part of such a positive and energetic community. We'd love to hear from y'all - make a comment below and tell us what you're favorite finds were or which vendors you are now obsessed with! :) Did you get snapped? We've posted our pictures of the weekend on our Flickr page for you to enjoy, including many of the fabulous Richard Simmons who came to buy local! If you posed for a wacky picture with Oh Snap Studios, you'll find your unique photos on their website here. If you want to find a vendor that you loved, you can browse our online listing of Participants by category - shop from them online and continue to buy local. :)

Because of your support we were able to donate $3000 to our great non-profit partner the Downtown Women's Center who have been a vital part of the community for over 35 years. In 2011 they opened MADE by DWC, an amazing cafe and boutique in downtown LA that sells products created locally by homeless and low-income women at the Downtown Women’s Center, and they just opened a new re-sale store nearby! I hope you'll visit their website to learn more about the organization and how you can get involved and help.

UNIQUE LA shows could not be possible without the great support, enthusiasm and energy from our Sponsors! Like us, they believe in community and 'quality over quantity'. If you enjoyed a free drink or discovered a tasty new treat, please show them love by visiting their websites. You'll find them all here. :)

Thank you again for an amazing show, we hope to see you at our Summer Show held in Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar on July 13 & 14!

Corkbar: Drink More Wine

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Red or White?…is what the waitress would ask me after I decided that instead of my regular cocktail, I would step up my sophistication level and drink some wine.

MJ and I recently became fans of wine but like most people that drink wine for the first time, we had no clue how to order it.  When the waitress would ask what kind of wine we wanted, we would say, “red”, then she would read out these complicated names, in which I would turn to her and nod at the “House Cabernet” selection because not only was the price affordable, but it was an actual name that i recognized.  With time I learned a few other trusty wines that friends would recommend and I got a little better at ordering it. The problem I found was that because wine was linked to some sort of sophistication level, it was a bit intimidating to even try it when you didn’t know what to try.

It wasn’t until recently that I learned a lot more about it.  Everyone kept mentioning the name “Corkbar” to me.  Most of my good friends that have been lofting in downtown religiously stay up to date with the new downtown restaurants, which LA desperately needs more of, and told me I had to check out this new spot.  “It’s super chill”, “It reminds me of the spots they have in Santa Barbara”, “You have to try their appetizers and wine, it is sooo good!”, they would say.

So we did, and in true “downtown” flair we trained it once again.  Hoped on the Los Angeles Subway, Blue Line towards the Staples Center (PICO stop), a few blocks from Corkbar.

“We created Corkbar with a simple mission in mind: re-create the California wine tasting experience.”-www.corkbar.com

We loved it! A nice size establishment bright and warm at the same time. Cool wood deco and wine modern shelving, “Wine Country meets chic”, says Caleb co-owner of Corkbar,  as he describes the decor.  The best part about it is you get the California wine experience for a GREAT price.  Their wine selection is categorized in their drink menu making it easy to maneuver through.  I personally called it the “bible of California wines”, I was almost tempted to take one with me!  ”What I specifically liked was that it was not intimidating at all and anything goes sneakers and jeans, perfect for the train ride back, or the suit and the loose tie, perfect for the after work happy hour.”-Ella 

I had the opportunity to sit and chat with one of Corkbar’s owners Caleb Wines (appropriate last name right?).  He shared the inspiration behind Corkbar, schooled me on the chemistry behind good wine, and he encouraged me not to shy away from the wine experience.  Caleb shared his thoughts on the foodie culture and his thoughts on eating socially….

What word would you use to describe the Corkbar menu? 

“Eclectic”, he said.  You won’t find a complicated new gastronomic menu here he added, in other words u wont have to squint at your food and guess what it is? I asked, and as we both laughed about it he assured me i wouldn’t need to do that.

“We are dedicated to bring our love for wine to Southern California….70 wines by glass and dozens more by the bottle…a dozen artisanal beers and farmer’s market fresh food menu.” -Corkbar.com

This is when I knew that the owners behind Corkbar truly understood their consumers.  The “inspiration behind Corkbar”, Caleb added, “was to bring what we experienced on our vacations while wine tasting here to Los Angeles.   All the owners are from Los Angeles and if you are from L.A., you know there is nothing like Corkbar around.  Unlike other downtown chic bars where, “you can barely read the menu because of the lighting in there”, Caleb jokes, Corkbar serves the same quality food and drinks in a more RELAXED atmosphere.

Its nice to see downtown expand and when I asked Caleb how he felt about the foodie craze… 

…he said, he loved it.  The best part of L.A. food is you can eat great tasting food straight out of a “paper bag” or “ some fine china”. Whether it’s an expensive French cuisine where they serve art on a plate, that he also personally enjoys, or the classic the Tommy Burgers, people are enjoying the food experience and talking about it because “Good is Good” he added.

We ended with his thoughts of StomachLife’s take on enjoying food socially and how important that was to him.  

He said “Corkbar is all about enjoying food socially.”  You never really see someone enjoying a whole bottle of wine if its not with friends.”  Wine is meant to be enjoyed with friends and family and that was the point of creating a place like Corkbar.  Their appetizers and entrées are big enough to share along with their wine.  The music is even hand picked by the owners, music they have enjoyed together and music that helps add to the atmosphere.  Selections of rock, jazz and latin play in the background as you enjoy the Corkbar social experience. ..and that is exactly what we did truly enjoyed the experience.

As we ended our interview Caleb ended with some wise words we can all use after a long day…

“When in Doubt drink more wine”- Caleb …..

Dig In:

Banhmi Sliders; Ground pork, ginger, cilantro, garlic, carrot, daikon 

on mini challah bun, served with side of sriracha. $15 

w/Wine: Riesling, Sparkling, Albariño, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon

Seared Salmon; 

With green lentils, grain mustard and herbed butter. $17 -Ella

w/Wine: Marsanne, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc 

Click for Corkbar Menu

Happy Hour

Monday thru Friday, from  3pm-7pm. 

Draft beer discounts, half-off appetizers, wine specials, and more!

Corkbar

Yelp Says: 4/5* , $$

403 W 12th St Los Angeles, CA 90015 Neighborhood: Downtown
(213) 746-0050

What Lies Beneath

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As I walked the first few hours of Stair Trek last weekend (the “Toughest Urban Walk on Any Planet”) I realized while talking to some of my fellow walkers that stairwalkers fall into one of two camps: Those who look up, and those who look down. The people who look up get to see trees and architecture. The people who look down are rewarded with views of trash and infrastructure (and sometimes they’re literally rewarded… they find money!). Both methods are interesting, and there’s no right way, so I challenged myself as an “up-looker” to shift my eyes down for a few miles. And when I looked down I saw these…

I can’t believe in all my years of walking that I never noticed how beautiful LA’s manhole covers are! Such beautiful type, patterned according to what’s below, inevitably straddling a massive crack in the concrete. I may never look up again.

More photos from Stair Trek. And if you’d like to join a future Big Parade stairwalk, go here.

Alissa Walker is a writer, a gelato-eater, and a walker in LA. Follow her at @gelatobaby and read more at gelatobaby.com

The 10 best bars in Silver Lake

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A caveat: As a writer, I understand how these things go. Lists are the ultimate traffic bait. No one agrees with them, so everyone post comments on the story with their approval/disapproval of the contents therein. The story gets passed around and the debate widens, with Facebook pages and Twitter feeds exploding with intelligent commentary like “OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME THAT IS NOT THE BEST!” “OMG ARE YOU ON CRACK THAT IS THE WORST!” The disgruntled end up campaigning for their favorite forgotten places, and the debate, in essence, helps write a longer and more inclusive list. It’s a win-win for everyone.

So that’s why when Paul Bradley wrote a story entitled “The Best 10 Bars in Silver Lake” for the LA Weekly, as a full-time resident and part-time drinker in the neighborhood, I felt I had to respond with my own picks.

First, some criteria: Bradley’s piece appeared in the Weekly’s music column, so it’s naturally skewed towards clubs. And some of them are fun, but not really what I think of when I hear the word “bar.” Bars are places you can go at 7:00 p.m. or 1:00 a.m. or sometimes 9:00 a.m. and order an alcoholic drink. They have physical bars where transactions and conversations occur with an actual bartender. They might be places that serve food, but you would not feel weird if you were only there for drinking. They are not places where you need tickets to enter. Ever.

Then there’s the other issue: Where, exactly, is Silver Lake? I think the Mapping L.A. project at the Los Angeles Times has decided on some pretty accurate boundaries for my neighborhood. We’ll go with those.

Also? I don’t like the 10-to-1 countdown to THE BEST bar. Bars cannot be judged against other bars as they have different things to offer. These are 10 of my favorite neighborhood bars, in no particular order.

Hyperion Tavern: If the barber pole is spinning outside, then this bar—easily one of the best in the city—is open for business. Glittering chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with law encyclopedias and the scariest bathrooms this side of Tijuana. The nights start quiet but inevitably a band or a DJ or a comedy show or an experimental filmmaker will take the stage and you’ll find yourself captivated by the fabulous brand of weirdness that only LA can provide. This is the only bar I’ve ever been to in my running attire (long story) and I didn’t look a bit out of place. Oh yeah, they only serve beer. But when it comes to 40s of Carta Blanca, you only need one.

Malo: Let me tell you about my fantasy bar. It’s walking distance from my house. It has flocked wallpaper. It serves cocktails that mix mezcal and bourbon TOGETHER. It is a bar where you can order tacos filled with beef, pickles and cheddar cheese, three flavors so perfectly suited for each other you’d swear they were cribbed from the menu of the McDonald’s next door. For all these reasons and more, Malo’s bar is one of the best places in Silver Lake to drink. Here’s another one: It’s open all day.

Black Cat: The Black Cat Tavern is where many say the gay rights movement began in 1966—two full years before Stonewall—after a raid and subsequent protests which helped to launch The Advocate. It was named a historic-cultural monument in 2008 and soon after was bought by the Village Idiot folks (who are also delivering a version of their Melrose pub next door). Today, the space pays homage to the Black Cat’s history through framed photos and the original sign outside, but the new place is swanky. Get dressed up and go, so you can meet the bartenders. They’re witty, knowledgable and ready to collaborate. I had a twist on a Manhattan called the Red Hook that makes it very difficult for me to drink a traditional one.

4100 Bar: I can’t recall many specifics about this place. Details come to me in flashes: tapestries covering the wall like I used to have in my dorm room, a sassy female bartender who gave us free shots on Halloween, downing a dozen vodka sodas, eating some kind of grilled meat outside. But the one thing I do remember: It’s dark. Not just romantic dark. So dark you may end up making out with the wrong person dark. Whatever your itinerary was for the evening when you arrived, you will end up with a very different plan when you depart. Another reason to drink here now: Due to a proposal for condos to be built on this very spot, it may not be around for much longer.

Edendale: I have experienced some of the best nights of my Silver Lake life in this former firehouse on Rowena, and I’m sure plenty of my neighbors feel the same way. For our group of friends, this is “our place” and that’s because Edendale lends itself perfectly to so many drinking situations. You can have a beer at the bar by yourself during happy hour. You can have a boozy three-hour brunch in the sun. You can order mac & cheese at 1:00 a.m. after accidentally drinking your way through dinner. The space is huge with multiple rooms and two patios (remember: firehouse) so the sheer numbers alone mandate that you’ll run into someone else you know, end up merging tables and drinking Dark & Stormys well into the night.

Thirsty Crow: It’s not that I’m sentimental for Stinkers, the truck stop themed-establishment that used to occupy this space, with its Burt Reynolds poster and vintage beer can collection and vapor-misting skunk. It’s just that I’m so over the “Prohibition Era” decor which has devoured LA’s bars like a flesh-eating, tweed vest-wearing virus. But then I have a mint julep, served in that cute little silver cup with one of the roughly one billion bourbons they’ve managed to cram behind a quite gorgeous marble-topped bar. By the time I’ve moved on to an Old Fashioned, the pressed-tin ceiling has begun to blur pleasantly and I realize that I do like this bar, very much.

Cha Cha Lounge: It’s like a market research firm crunched the data: What do people want at their drinking establishment? Tiki decor, check. Photobooth, check. Foosball, check. A taco truck outside, check. But somehow it doesn’t feel contrived at all. Some come for the margaritas but my favorite drink here is a Bloody Mary (or Bloody Maria) made with house-pickled green beans. On weekends, the line gets long, the space grows crowded, and the clientele both inside and outside the bar becomes a little rowdy. So be it. Come early (5:00 p.m.) so you can get the best seat at the palapa-topped bar.

Cafe Stella: No, not the walled garden of Bar Stella (although if you go there, be assured that your eyes will be protected from the garish reality of the street not only by said nine-foot wall, but also by a black curtain hung strategically over the sidewalk). Inside the actual restaurant part of Cafe Stella is a golden-lit sliver of a bar populated by eccentric regulars. It’s the only place in the neighborhood that actually succeeds in feeling like you’ve traveled somewhere very far away in both time and place. It’s also the only place where you can order a secret, off-the-menu burger, which is very good.

Akbar: A gay bar, a dive bar, a neighborhood bar, a dance-so-hard-you’ll-want-to-change-your-clothes bar, and one of Silver Lake’s most fun bars, period. They have epic DJ nights but it’s also a very chill place to drink very cheap, very strong drinks on a Sunday night. One year during Sunset Junction—when there still was such a thing—I danced to hip hop here for five hours and by the time I went home I had made about 35 new best friends. The best part: When I came back a few weeks later, a few of them were there again, too.

L&E Oyster Bar: Even if you’re not feeling like oysters, even if you don’t really want the smoked mussels with chorizo toast, even if you are seriously not going to partake in the ridiculously good clam chowder, this is still one of the best places in the city to order a glass of truly excellent rosé on a warm summer evening (and if you ask nicely, they’ll slide a packet of oyster crackers over the bar). Now there’s an expanded space on the second floor with a separate bar menu and more room to drink. Also, like their sister bar, Bar Covell: Easily the nicest and most attentive bartenders in town.

Now, since my rules for determining this list are very rigid, as a bonus, here are a few more recommendations…

Four more bars I really love which are so Silver Lake-adjacent you may indeed consider them to be Silver Lake: Smog Cutter, Tiki-Ti, El Chavito, The Virgil.

A non-bar which manages to be one of the best places in Silver Lake for drinking:Silverlake Wine’s in-store tasting events.

And one place in Silver Lake that’s thisclose to becoming a great bar, and I think it will happen this year: Cliff’s Edge. For a glimpse of what that will look like, come here on Wednesday nights, when Matt Biancaniello does guest appearances behind the bar.

Wow, this is beginning to sound like the world’s best walking tour…

Fake Prom, a Real Blast!

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This past weekend we held Fake Prom, a fundraiser for Inner-City Arts, an arts education non-profit in Los Angeles. WOW, it was The Jam! 600 guests filled the Inner-City Arts campus in their prom-inspired outfits to dance the night away, and we raised just over $20,000 for the great organization! Everyone looked fabulous (and in some cases fabulously tacky), it was really amazing to see such spirit for the nostalgic event...

I'm not sure if guests looked better on Saturday, versus their real Prom, as gold lame, pink taffeta and blue tuxedos still dominated. I myself wore a polka dot dress, which one party-goer told me was in fact the exact dress she wore at her 1993 prom! What are the odds of that?! To capture the night guests showed-off their best "awkward prom poses" with Oh Snap Studios.

Like, OMG totally radical, that's Marguerite Moreau from Wet Hot American Summer dancing with Michael Philips of Handsome Coffee and the fabulous Kabira Stokes of Isidore Recycling! A HUGE thank you to our sponsors OPI, Kind Snacks, Tender Greens, JOIA, Monkey Shoulder, Reyka Vodka and Frey Wines who helped to make Fake Prom so fabulous. Our dance contest winners got down to DJ Bryan Davidson's tunes and were treated to prizes from Undefeated and BC Footwear!

We are extremley proud that our "unique" community came out to support such an important cause, and had a blast doing it. On the surface arts education is fun and colorful, but it's much deeper then that - being creative and having the chance to learn in a creative environment has proven to help kids develop lifelong skills such as being able to think creatively and to problem-solve, it instills self-esteem, and it engages students and keeps them interested in learning. To find out more about Inner-City Arts, visit their website. Thank you to all who came to Fake Prom... Next year's will be even bigger and better!

For more photos, go to our Flickr Page!

A Place for Locals

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At a recent media dinner we got to Superba Snack on an adventurous menu.  This menu is broken into sections and we got to taste a little of everything like their “Salumi & Charcuterie”section, “From our Backyards” showcasing dishes such as Eclectic Acres Greens with Superba Ricotta, and Jalapeno Dressing!  We tried their section “From our Hands to Yours” which quickly became Ella’s favorite, the Pork Belly Cubano with Smoked Ham, Mustard and Mayo on Ciabatta and the amazing BEER SANGRIA that we could not get enough of….

Eaters like MJ who may not be as adventurous with their food choices and are more traditional eaters will not be disappointed.  General Manager Alexander, originally from Chicago, shared with us his communal approach on food, made us feel at home and assured us that Superba Snack bar had something for all eaters.  He made sure we were satisfied with the menu choice and adjusted the menu for MJ’s particular palette.  To us a true communal approach on food means you learn to satisfy different palettes and we look forward to the full experience when Superba Snack Bar opens.

Chef Neroni has  plans to take a whimsical approach to pasta by smoking, spiking, infusing, and twisting a variety of different shapes, and will encourage guests to pair their pasta selections with snacks for a complete dining experience.  “Superba Snack Bar puts all of my passions under one roof: pasta, pig, and plenty of farmers’ market produce. I’m honored to be part of this project and am excited to debut our vision this summer.” - Neroni says.

 

Superba Snack Bar
533 Rose Ave. inVenice, CA, between Lincoln and Pacific avenues
Will open in July 2012.
www.superbasnackbar.com or visit the restaurant on Facebook orTwitter.

The Original LA Street View

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Before Google’s camera-cars crawled our streets like a fleet of curious robots, photographers used their two feet to capture what our cities looked like. And today I discovered a new one, William Reagh, in a story by the always-excellent KCET Artbound. I was totally captivated by Reagh, who would visit the same neighborhoods over and over to document the story of a quickly changing LA. As his son tells the author, Lynell George: “He loved Cartier-Bresson and the concept of photographer as stroller. But, I think he thought of himself as a preservationist; someone who just needed to be doing this. He seemed to feel somebody had to.”

It made me think about the photos I take while I’m walking around LA today. Like Reagh, I hope to bear witness to a transforming city. When I lived in Hollywood the urban landscape was changing so quickly that it was one of the reasons I started my own blog. But in 50 years will anyone care? Will anyone even want to go through—the over 14,000 (and counting!)—images I’ve shot of LA? And what will set mine apart from the millions of other Angelenos who are doing the same thing? What can make our photos of LA mean something a half century from now?

Something to think about as you post your Instagrams this week.

Holiday Show Recap

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Thank you LA! Last weekend our 5th Annual Holiday Show brought record numbers - over 22,000 people shopped local, made-in-America designs and enjoyed the show. Your positive feedback and fun energy was so great all weekend long - and many of our vendors had record-breaking sales, so thank you! For a full photo recap check out our Flickr Page.

Foodprint Walking Tour

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I’ve been spending lots of time in the Arts District lately, and I’ve been spending lots of time eating my whole life, so I’m happy to announce the perfect combination of my two erstwhile pursuits: I’ll be co-hosting a food-focused walking tour of the area on Saturday, December 8 with the Foodprint Project.

The Foodprint Project is an ongoing exploration of food and urbanism founded by my good friends Sarah Rich and Nicola Twilley. As part of the weekend’s festivities they’re hosting a conference at LACMA on December 9 (which is free and open to the public) that will examine topics like culinary cartography and edible archaeology. And on Saturday, December 8, our walking tour will bring those themes to life as we examine the “foodscape” of one of the most food-centric areas of Los Angeles. The Arts District itself is home to a thriving creative community launching plenty of edible startups, but it also borders both the Warehouse District, where food products are still produced using traditional manufacturing methods, and the Produce District, a massive international trade center that distributes most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the city.

Along the way we’ll visit the coffee-roasting infrastructure of LA’s celebrated Handsome Coffee, check out an artisanal distillery, explore the inside of West Central Produce’s state-of-the-art banana ripening facilities, preview a new local food market, and peek inside the exciting farm-to-table program of the restaurant Bestia. We’ll also be joined by several developers and city leaders, and, of course, there will be a few surprises along the way. And the tour will end with a punch-bowl-punctuated happy hour at Villains Tavern, one of my favorite bars in the city.

The tour is Saturday, December 8 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the happy hour kicking off at 5:00. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased right here. And be sure to head to LACMA the next day for more helpings of food, cities and technology. Hope to see you there!

Top image: Exterior view of the loading dock at West Coast Fruit Distributors, part of the Produce Market, 1900; USC Digital Libraries 

Holiday Show Map

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We know that our Holiday Show can be a little overwhelming sometimes: 350+ designers and artists, open bar, snack station, free drinks, photobooth, and a DIY den is a lot to process once you get to the show. So we're making things easy on you by releasing our map + list of vendors early. Plan your visit in advance and WIN this Holiday Season! Click images for full resolution.

What the Pho?

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We’d been wanting to check out some good Vietnamese food and Blossom has been on our hit list for a while. Glad we finally got to check it out because they have plentiful portions and a good variety of fresh & healthy Vietnamese dishes. While boasting a clean-minimal design and good music, Blossom provides a communal vibe.

We could definitely eat at Blossom weekly… starting with their rice & noodle dishes, then making our way through the Pho options, sampling the imported beer selection and lastly, enjoying coffee & tea while “people watching”, downtown dwellers.

See ya soon Blossom we have some unfinished business…We’ll “rollover” for some fresh Spring Rolls soon.

Beating the Heat

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A little over two years ago, I wrote a post about a downtown fountain on a 96-degree day:

In two years, this fountain will sit like a crown on a ribbon of green that reaches from here to City Hall, the white building you can see in the distance. There will be a real public park for downtown LA. And a new museum with great architecture sure to make it a worthy foil to Disney Hall. Which means—and we hope—thousands of people will be crawling these blocks at all hours of the day and night.

That means you’ve got two years to enjoy the silent canyons of Grand Avenue. Two years to experience the vacant plazas, the empty benches, the quiet sidewalks. Especially on this scorcher of an afternoon, I highly recommend paying a visit to these lonely urban geysers for one of their last private performances.

Last week, that park finally opened. As my review in the LA Weekly notes, it’s well-designed, but it will need one crucial element—those people—to make it a truly transcendent public space. Luckily, one part of it has already become one of the most dynamic new places in downtown. And yes, it’s a fountain:

The plaza below a restored 46-year-old Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain, once obscured by the ramps of a parking garage, has been transformed into a vast “membrane pool.” An inch of water creates a rippling canvas for a field of choreographed geysers where kids, dozens of kids, in swimsuits and Crocs and sunblock, squeal as they weave between the columns of water. Nearby, fluorescent pink chairs are occupied by smiling, towel-holding parents and buttoned-up city employees, more than a few of whom kick off their shoes and wade into the pool themselves. The whole scene looks even prettier at night.

The fountain plaza — which I’ve dubbed Toddler Beach — is the very best part of Grand Park (formerly Civic Park), a new 12-acre strip of public space that cascades down Bunker Hill from the Music Center to the steps of City Hall. Although sections have been functional since July, the fully-operational park officially opens this Saturday, creating a nice outdoor area in the center of the city and bringing some much-needed amenities like a dog run to the neighborhood. It’s definitely not “our Central Park,” as some have hyped (maybe Bryant Park?), but Grand Park accomplishes a lot, and with very little to work with in this small, park-starved sliver of downtown.

Oddly enough, I wrote about this fountain on a 96-degree day as well. (EXCEPT IT WAS IN OCTOBER.) And wouldn’t you just know it, it’s breaking 90 again today. Most public pools are closed in the fall and the beach is often out of reach, but two of the city’s most incredible, wade-able water features are now spraying within a block of each other in downtown.

I think you know what I’m trying to say here. It’s hot. These fountains are cool.

I did not take the photo of Grand Park, Jim Simmons did, because on the day I went to photograph it, there were dancers rehearsing in the fountain. Which was still cool to see.

Warm Welcome

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For a band that you can like after just one listen, Hospitality made a relatively small splash in their initial debut. The band will spend most of 2012 touring small venues like the Doug Fir in Portland and the Echo in LA. So did the invite get lost in the mail? This is the kind of indie album that would fit in on any playlist. The music has real chemistry; sounds melt together, lyrics seem to come easy and thanks to producers Karl Blau and Shane Stoneback the band’s natural charm remains intact. Even-keeled, the lyrics are playful and cynical; "I'd rather be home, my presidents there," is wonderfully reminiscent of the age old, "I can't come to the party tonight, I have to wash my hair," line.  In a refreshingly honest moment, lead singer, Amber Papini told Interview Magazine, the band found their namesake by constantly spitting out different ideas until one stuck, spending a whole week with the name "Shoulder" and "Trumpet" before deciding on Hospitality. The self-titled LP traverses a plane of everyday normalcy, remaining upbeat and yet still profound.  The trio formed in Brooklyn, NY circa 2007 with Papini on vocals, Brian Betancourt on Bass, and Nathan Michel handling percussion. The album's track list has all the necessary components, the story song: "Betty Wang," the break-up-make-up song: "Friends of Friends," and the ever-reflective: "Liberal Arts." Recently signed by Merge Records, Hospitality deserves a warm welcome.

Check Out: All Day Today, Eighth Avenue, Friends of Friends.

Sounds Like: Tennis, Sea Lions, Regina Spektor.

 

Friends of Friends:

Betty Wang:

Eighth Avenue:

All Day Today:

Contest: The Ivorys Tees

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Stay inspired with these dope tees from Los Angeles based brand The Ivorys. 4 winners will receive one of each t-shirts in selected size.

Details & Rules: Contest ends October 24th, 2012; one entry per email address; by submitting your entry we’ll add you to our weekly newsletter (if not already subscribed) filled with exclusive deals, design interviews, studio tours, special discounts and more.

Contest Closed