For the next guest mixtape, get to know LA’s The World Record.  Local fans might recognize brain trust Andy Creighton and friends from The Parson Red Heads (when they were in LA, all members of The World Record were also in The Parson Red Heads, now the line-up has some new faces), but with a new line-up, The World Record deserves attention in their own right.  Hailed by Aquarium Drunkard as the “West Coast heir apparent to Big Star,” their last LP, Guitars Forever came out almost five years ago and received a plethora of favorable reviews.  Since then The World Record has continued to gig around LA, taped a neat session with Little Videos, and had a song on both Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother.  I myself used THREE of their tracks in a little film (shot in Silverlake, of course) that I music supervised in 2009, which is how I came to know Mr. Creighton.  Below Andy discusses with me his mixtape, My Favorite Canadians, the definition – and value – of “sheer rockingness,” and spills a bit about what’s next for the band…

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Photo credit: Future Sounds

Like certain music blogs or labels, we all have those friends that we can turn to for a good band recommendation.  More often than not, when those people tell you that a band is good – they are right.  That is precisely how I became acquainted with Bay Area indie rockers, Picture Atlantic.  Somewhere between winding down from a California tour this past August and pushing through the final stages of a brand new EP titled When Everything Is Numbers, band members Nik Bartunek and Ryan Blair were able to put together a gut squirming mixtape definitely evocative of their own raw, emotive sound.  In it they reflect on the tricky part of growing up that I like to call “freshman year of life.”  Rather than elaborate myself, I’ll let Nik and Ryan explain what they’ve called “22 Going On 40 – The Soundtrack For Growing Up.” And make sure to check out a couple of Picture Atlantic’s own tunes at the end of the article – a free download of “Muses” as well as a track off their new EP!

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After catching their killer show at Spaceland a few months ago with Solid Gold, I just had to learn more about East LA band, Marvelous Toy. One thing led to another and soon I was in touch with Jordan Hudock, the braintrust of the band. I caught up with him for a couple tasty beers at El Prado to chat about his mixtape “WAKE UP!” and got some local tips along the way…

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Santa Monica Beach

To close out road trip week here on Tadpole Audio, I’m psyched to present a guest mix coming to us from David Kitz, drummer in Los Angeles band Princeton.   Being based in Los Angeles, a city in a state you could drive through and see some of the most varying terrain in the country – I of course jumped at the opportunity to include a mix of specifically Cali style music.   In addition to giving us a stellar mix, David spilled a bit about their recent European tour and Princeton’s next album…

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If you’re an LA denizen and you haven’t heard of Mystery Claws, you will soon. Comprised of rockers Julia Bembenek and Matt Kivel (Princeton) and featuring drummer Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), the band’s first single, “Flashlights” premiered on Stereogum late April and now their debut album Hydaspia (on Easter Everywhere Records) is on the market.

In the spirit of the season, band member Julia Bembenek was kind enough to throw together a BBQ mixtape for Tadpole Audio. I grabbed a meal with her a few days before their kickin’ record release party this past weekend at Pehrspace to chat about it…

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