The Great Northwest!

Well here are a few pictures from past events... I know I haven't kept this blog going too strong but I'm hoping I will remedy that soon enough. In the meantime, this past year I've reflected much and I feel that this might actually be my last year in Los Angeles. One can only hope! That and I will applying to graduate schools soon as well, which might make me move somewhere new. I really would like to move out and go somewhere very different. I am really thinking about moving to the Northwest, and since I've named this blog "The Sun Is In The North" I think it would be a perfect move! :)

Downtown LA

My Birthday Cupcakes

500 Days of Summer

Bradbury Builing

Thrice Concert

Rose 

Until next time... 

-Isaac 

Current Playlist:

The Beatles (all albums on shuffle)

Brand New - Deja Entendu (album)

Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More (album) 

Greetings from Indio, CA!

Sorry for being MIA for the last few weeks! I've been working lots... we all need to pay bills. Any-who, I've had some awesome adventures these last few weeks so I'll be sure to include some pictures onto this thing for everyone to gaze and see. I've had the chance to see some good shows as well from the likes of Manchester Orchestra and The Temper Trap. Great bands and seeing them live was awesome! I even got a chance to attend a taping to Jimmy Kimmel Live this last week which was pretty fun.

New restaurants! I went last month to the Father's Office in Santa Monica, CA. which is like a gastropub with lots of alcohol to choose from. Being a non-alcoholic drinker myself I pretty much went there to get the low down on the burger there. Rumor has it, they have one of the best burgers in Los Angeles, so ideally it would be a great place to visit and see what the fuss is all about.

The Father's Office burger! Viola! Well it was a very good burger, seemed a bit small when I first got it but it is definitely very filling. The burger is made fresh to order and I had mine cooked well done as I always like it (I am not trying to get any salmonella). Very greasy which obviously after being at a bar until like 2am it will taste amazing. Being in there sober and just enjoying the atmosphere I quickly got full and left with the notion that the burger was good, but definitely not great. It's a great place to drink, bad part is that it is very difficult to find a seat in this small lounge (one small room) area. Parking is also difficult as one must look through the streets to find a place. It definitely wasn't a cheap burger by any means either. Overall I give Father's Office a rating of: B-

Well as promised, here are some pictures of some of my other adventures from the past month or so.... Enjoy!

-IM

Playlist: 


Rest by The Temper Trap

Many of Horror by Biffy Clyro

In My Teeth by Manchester Orchestra

Guest Blog: Best Albums of 2009!

So since I wanted to have a bigger and broader scope of music that compiled some of the best albums of the year, I had my good friend Sanjeev Chahal make a list for me of some of the best stuff. He was kind enough to take time out from his busy schedule and make a pretty awesome list! So check it out, here are some of the best albums of 2009:

1. Lady Gaga-Fame Monster
2. Chris Brown-Graffiti
3. Pet Shop Boys-Yes
4. Cursive-Mama, I'm Swollen
5. MSTRKRFT-Fist of God
6. Owl City-Ocean Eyes
7. Muse-The Resistance
8. Cobra Starship-Hot Mess
9. The XX-XX
10. Michael Buble-Crazy Love


Awesome stuff! If you haven't checked them out do yourself a favor and look into them for sure. And a huge thanks goes out to Sanjeev for helping out with the compilation! Woo =) 


Be Well...


-Isaac 

Top Albums of 2009!

Since I recently have been reading several articles that compile the year's best music, I decided that I would take a crack at some of my favorite albums for this past year. Looking back on my playlist and the songs that I have compiled onto my itunes, I can see that it was a good year with good music. Some of my favorite bands also released new albums this year, which have definitely made my top list, while others came really out of nowhere to claim their place. I must warn everyone, however, that this is really my own list and in no way is supposed to compile an actual list of the best. Because, let's be honest... I really do not have the time or money to go through every single album that was made this past year! I am also keeping this to one genre as well, which will evidently be alternative/rock since that is what I usually listen to. With that being said; it was a very difficult task to look up my favorite/best albums for the year. Doing some research I actually found out that some awesome albums that would have definitely been on the list were not released this year but in fact last year or even later! So I tried my best to look for albums from this year only. I've included one EP on the list as well, simply because... well, it's good.

And now to not stall any further, here are my top albums for 2009:

(In no particular order)

Brand New - Daisy

Death Cab for Cutie - The Open Door EP

Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing

The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death

Thrice - Beggars

Russian Circles - Geneva 

Silversun Pickups - Swoon




There you have them! Some honorable mentions that should also be looked into though are as follows:

Mutemath - Armistice

Kevin Devine - Brother's Blood

As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You


Mat Kearney - City of Black & White 

Those are definitely some bands to know for next year as well, so keep them on your radar because they are good up and coming artists. Hope everyone enjoys my top albums, I'm sure I left plenty out there for debate but as I stated earlier, I don't have time to listen to everything!

 Signed Beggars vinyl by Thrice

THRICE!

This past week I had the opportunity to attend two Thrice concerts here in southern California, one at the Avalon in Hollywood, CA. and the next night at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Both shows were sold out, and I would not expect anything less from a band that hails from Orange County.

The Avalon show in Hollywood was particularly special as we witnessed the return of Teppei, after he had to leave the tour early for a bit to deal with some family matters. The return made the set list a bit longer as in some of the previous shows it had to be slightly shortened due to Teppei's absence. Thrice started the show with the amazing song "Of Dust and Nations" that quickly had the crowd going wild from the beginning. The concert featured many of their new songs from the band's sixth studio album "Beggars". Rarely played songs such as "Like Moths to Flame" and "The Arsonist" were also on the set list which helped satisfy the sold out audience in Hollywood.

Here are a few pictures from the Hollywood show at the Avalon:

The House of Blues in Anaheim show was a homecoming show for Thrice as the Orange County band lived up to their name as they played in front of many family and friends. The set list featured a couple of new songs that had never been performed live previously from their new album. "Talking Through Glass" and "Circles" were played for the first time ever in the Anaheim show which got the crowd to go home happy, but not before lead singer Dustin Kensure came back on stage for an encore which featured fan favorite, "Stare at the Sun" acoustic. After which they finished the night with the title track to their album, "Beggars".

Here are a few pictures from the House of Blues Anaheim concert:

Awesome show and awesome bands make for an awesome night! The bands the Polar Bear Club and The Dear Hunter were also on the bill for the tour and I have to say people need to go check them out because they were amazing, particularly The Dear Hunter!

Playlist:

CONQUEST!

CONQUEST! The Ultimate Trojan Experience... The 6th Annual bonfire/rally at USC took place this weekend which is a prelude to the crosstown rivalry game between the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins football teams. This year's installment takes place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum home to the USC Trojans. Both teams will battle for the Victory Bell and bragging rights in the city of Los Angeles November 28th 2009 at 7pm.

The bonfire/rally featured several dance performances from the USC Trojan Dance Force and the  USC Song Girls as well as introductions to several of the seniors on the various athletic teams on campus this year. The event was hosted this year by Jamie Kennedy, who I believe really hurt the event. How bad of an MC are you when you are yelling into the microphone while the Greatest Marching Band in the Universe plays the fight song? Apparently he does, and his comedic relief was nothing short of failure.

Other than that, the event really went off well with the USC Trojan Marching Band performing as Joe Bruin burned in the distance, which was followed by a nice fireworks show. Once the band left, the finale was a concert from the band Ok Go. It was a nice event overall with a carnival type of atmosphere with music, food, and a huge ferris wheel. It was a good time... now let's go beat ucla!

Here are some photos from the event...

Beat the Bruins!

Playlist:

The Takers by Barcelona

Where Have You Been? by Manchester Orchestra

Lump Sum by Bon Iver

Staples Center

The Staples Center is a sports-arena that holds many different events every year including basketball, ice hockey, arena football, and many other events. The Staples Center has been regarded by many as one of the premier venues across the country for any indoor event, and has been named New Major Concert Venue (2000) and Arena of the Year (2000 and 2001) by Pollstar Magazine.

Some of the arena's history include hosting the NBA Finals, NHL All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, WNBA Finals, PAC-10 Basketball Finals, The Democratic National Convention in 2000 and recently hosting Michael Jackson's public funeral service to name a few.

The Staples Center has a capacity of 18,118 for ice hockey, 18,997 for basketball, and up 20,000 for concert and boxing events. Located in the heart of Los Angles it is a hard place to miss when driving down the I-10 or I-110 freeways.

The Staples Center is a magnificent arena that I have had the pleasure of going to for many years now and it still continues to be a venue that I love going to. On top of housing some of my favorite professional teams, the concerts that take place inside are also a site to see. The venue has a very good setting for music/audio and this is a big reason why the Grammy Awards have taken place at Staples Center since 2000.

Newly added to the Staples Center is a plaza located directly across the street called L.A. Live which holds a plethora of restaurants, a movie theatre, and even a smaller venue for music/concerts called Nokia Theatre. With these additions the Staples Center location has become a very hip and fun place to be during any event.

If going to the Staples Center I would suggest to get there early, as traffic in Los Angeles is always a sure bet, and to enjoy the atmosphere at LA Live before the event at Staples Center. Afterward, one can enjoy a very tasty ice cream from New Zealand Natural before or after the game at LA Live. If you cannot seem to find a ticket, the great thing about this place is that there are so many restaurants and places for you to be right in the thick of things and enjoy a great meal at the same time with other fans.

The Staples Center in Los Angles,CA. a definite place to visit if you are in LA!

Playlist:

Crown by Mason Jennings

We Used to Vacation by Cold War Kids

If Not For My Glasses by Dear and the Headlights