It gives me great pleasure to present to you my very first mixtape and interview from a music supervisor – one that I not only admire professionally, but who also happens to be a really funny, opinionated, and all around awesome person.  She’s most known for her work on (500) Days of Summer and Dollhouse, but Andrea von Foerster has music supervised films and TV shows all over the map, and contributed to tent pole series like Grey’s Anatomy, The OC, and Supernatural. A self-proclaimed “music nerd” von Foerster knows how to use music to tell a story on film – Broken Social Scene did the score for her most recent film, It’s Kind of A Funny Story, which also features music by White Hinterland and The Middle East – and in mixtape form.

Get to the good stuff after the jump »

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!

Get to the good stuff after the jump »

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…

Get to the good stuff after the jump »

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…

Get to the good stuff after the jump »

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…

Get to the good stuff after the jump »