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Cat Hair Ensemble



Last Updated: 7/7/2009

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Status: Single
City: LOS ANGELES
State: CALIFORNIA
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/15/2004

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Tuesday, July 07, 2009 
Friends,

We have a ridiculously fun show coming up.  Angel at Hyperion Tavern invited us back for one of her awesome all-acoustic Thursday night shows, and she stuck us on an amazing bill.  Check it out:

Thursday, July 9
9:00 PM
at
Hyperion Tavern
1941 Hyperion Ave.
LA, CA 90027

Our friend Fred gets his jazz on with his band CONFIRMED BACHELOR.  Think sultry and swinging, like Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat "King" Cole.

Some folks d.b.a. DICK AND JANE do it without amps.  I don't know them, but if Angel likes 'em, they're bound to be good.

I do, however, know the gentlemen of the PETROJVIC BROTHERS BLASTING COMPANY.  Hot damn, they're good.  Traditional Balkan tunes, original jazz numbers, odd covers, and more musical talent than you can shake a stick at, so leave your shaking stick at home.

CAT HAIR ENSEMBLE finishes out the night.  Trombonist Mooey Moobau is out of town, but we'll have Listing Ship's Julie Carpenter picking up his slack on the violin.  Leah M. Harmon of Killsonic and Brite Spot fame will also be on hand to mete out accordion justice.  It's gonna be a fun set.

21 and over, please.  Admission for this show is set at the recession-busting price of FREE.

See you there!
9:40 PM 
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Friday, May 22, 2009 
Andrew and I used to play in a super spastastic art rock band called The Wedding's Off. We broke up when our guitarist, Mike Rings, moved to Indiana to study philosophy. Well, he's back for the weekend, right as we're finishing the multi-year-long project of finishing the album we recorded before he left, so we're going to do a reunion/CD release show at our friend Tommy's loft on Sunday night. Original percussionist Rich Yusim will be joining us, and Ego Plum will be contributing to the drumminess of the evening. Won't you join us? Sunday, May 24 at 2023 Gallery 2023 S. Santa Fe Ave. Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90021 (Head S. on Santa Fe and bear right before the bridge at 15th St.) 9:00 PM $5 donation requested THE WEDDING'S OFF resurrects their percussive, herky-jerky take on pop, noise, and folk music in celebration of the release of their second and final album, The Happiest Ending. http://www.myspace.com/theweddingsoff MOOEY MOOBAU rules, plain and simple. His songs are catchy and weird, and the bands he assembles to play them are always awesome. http://www.myspace.com/mooeymoobau This'll be a fun one. See you there.
5:53 PM 
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Friday, May 08, 2009 

Friends,


Cat Hair Ensemble would like to invite you to an early evening early summer show on Sunday.  We're playing at our friend Tommy's loft in Downtown LA.  He'll be BBQing on the roof while the bands play.  Here's the low-down:


Sun May 10th, 6pm

2023 Gallery
2023 S Santa Fe Ave Los Angeles CA 90021
(between 15th st and Washington Blvd on west side of overpass, if headed south on santa fe do ont get on overpass, stay to the right)
(619) 342-6365

Yogoman Burning Band:
www.myspace.com/yogomanburningband 

The Petrojvic Blasting Company:
www.myspace.com/theblastingcompany

Cat Hair Ensemble:
www.myspace.com/cathairensemble

Tommy's asking for a $10 donation at the door to help with the BBQ costs, but no one will be turned away.  He'll have a full cash bar on hand for those in the drinking mood.

"And what," you may ask, "is 'Malabomba'?"

Well, my good people, Malabomba is an international gypsy dance party my friends and I are hosting at Bordello on Wednesday, May 13.  We're playing the best music you've never heard: Balkan beats, Persian mambo, Sinti swing, Turkish garage, Peruvian surf cumbia, gypsy punk, indie klezmer, and more.  Plus, we'll have a live brass band playing two sets of Serbian and Bulgarian music.

Wednesday, May 13
MALABOMBA!
http://www.myspace.com/clubmalabomba
at
Bordello
901 E. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
8:00 PM to 2:00 AM
$5 cover

I have the first DJ set from 8:00 to 9:30; I hope you all can make it down early.  In addition to the usual French punk, Finnish tango, and Romanian brass stuff I've played at previous DJ gigs, I'll have some newly-discovered music from Iran, Poland, and Russia.

DJs Jason Savvy and Erika Duchinsky will also be playing tunes from their extensive collections, and the Welcome Band (members of Petrojvic Blasting Company and Killsonic) will provide the live brass stylings.

This will be awesome.  Do no miss it.

Hope to see you at both of these events!

Love,

Cat Hair Ensemble

10:42 PM 
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Monday, April 13, 2009 
Here's another version of "From the Odessa Jail":


1:13 AM 
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Thursday, March 26, 2009 

Current mood:  contemplative
I'm almost finished with the 1909 novel, Jakob von Gunten. It has been very interesting, if a little frustrating. Here are a few of my favorite lines:

"Curious, the pleasure it give me to annoy the practitioners of force."

"Above all: never think of yourself as an outcast. There are no outcasts, brother, for perhaps there's nothing in this world that's worth aspiring to. And yet you must aspire, even passionately so. But so as not to become too full of longings: realize that there is nothing, nothing worth aspiring to. Everything is rotten."

"Does everything I love and prefer have to lead to nothing?"

Robert Walser FTW.
Currently listening:
Institute Benjamenta
By Lech Jankowski
12:53 AM 
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009 
Friends,

We've been invited back for another of Hyperion Tavern's all-acoustic Thursday nights. That's right - no amps, no microphones. Hot diggity! We've done it before, and it's a ton of fun. Please come on down and sing along with us.

Here's the scoop:

Thursday, Feb. 5
9:00 PM
at
Hyperion Tavern
1941 Hyperion Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

with

Confirmed Bachelor
Wilson Heights Gang
Bunnies and Kitties
and
Cat Hair Ensemble

This show is free free FREE, motherscratcher! 21 and over, please.

See you all there.

Love,

Cat Hair Ensemble
http://www.myspace.com/cathairensemble
9:15 AM 
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Monday, January 26, 2009 
Goodness gracious. I spend an inordinate amount of time in the Pasadena vicinity, yet I've only played music up there once or twice. Well, come Monday evening, I'll be able to add another notch to my accordion! The kind folks of Non Credo have invited us to play with them at South Pasadena Music. Dig it:

Monda​y,​ Jan 26, 2009

The openi​ng conce​rt of the New Music​ Monda​y concert series
at
South​ Pasad​ena Music​ Cente​r and Conse​rvato​ry
1509 Missi​on St. (​just west of Fair Oaks)​
South​ Pasad​ena,​ CA 91030​
Phone​:​ 626-​403-​2300
plent​y of free parki​ng in the lot behin​d

http:​/​/​www.​south​pasad​enamu​sic.​com

8pm
$5 cover​
All ages welco​me.​

Guita​rist Walte​r Zooi will open the eveni​ng.​

Piani​st Motok​o Honda​ follo​ws with her uniqu​e sound​ based​ in class​ical techn​ique,​ jazz improv,​ and Indon​esian​ folk.​

Non Credo​,​ this eveni​ng’s curat​ors,​ creat​e a far-​reach​ing music​al lands​cape,​ from gothi​c thril​ler to film noir haze to distu​rbed fairy​ tale,​ with many detou​rs and dark alley​s along​ the way.

Cat Hair Ensem​ble close​s out the night​ with a set of spazz​y tango​,​ weird​ count​ry,​ and dark oompa​h.​ If you haven​’t seen us latel​y,​ you might​ notic​e a coupl​e of new songs​ in our reper​toire​.​ Our pedal​ steel​ playe​r,​ Grant​ Lovel​ace,​ will be takin​g over bass dutie​s for this show.​ And Clint​ will be showi​ng off his new guita​r.​ It’s fancy​.​ And orang​e.​

See you there​!​
Currently listening:
Retail Detail
By Untied States
Release date: 2006-04-25
6:42 AM 
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Thursday, January 08, 2009 
Whenever a new acquaintance finds out that I'm in a band, I'm always asked, "What do you sound like?" And I always feel like a douchebag because I never know what to say. I mean, we haven't invented some new genre or some new way of putting notes together, yet I'm always at kind of a loss when trying to describe us.

My boss recently said we sounded like "Cake meets Squirrel Nut Zippers."

After we played at Tribal Cafe, a woman described us as "bitter klezmer Three Penny Opera gypsy." (I was very proud that "bitter" topped that list.)

My friend Kenneth Pattengale says we play "pirate music."

Any of you want to take a stab at it?
9:10 PM 
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008 

Current mood:  sleepy
Um...Bad Brains!



And...Subhumans!



And...uh...Hüsker Dü! Yeah!



(Are you still reading? Okay, here's the deal: the above are three of my favorite loud, fast bands. I posted them to prove that I'm tough and I smell like a man. I also don't want you to think I'm a wuss for posting this ex-Specials singer Terry Hall and Sinead O'Connor covering a Eurovision song winner from 1970.



Fuck, I love this song. Lyrically, it's completely stupid, but there's some kind of sincerity there that adds a little bit of real sugar to the saccharine. Musically, it just kills me. I love that kind of easygoing lullabye melody, and I love the fact that there are one or two somewhat unexpected chord changes in there. And this arrangement is nice; reminds me a bit of that first 6ths album.

Okay, I'm going to finish this up and go listen to "All Kinds of Everything" again.)
6:56 AM 
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Sunday, December 07, 2008 
I just found some great videos on YouTube of my favorite French singers. As a bonus, these videos have English subtitles.

Check out Georges Brassens' funny and horrifying tale of a gorilla losing his virginity:



Here he is again, getting at a sort of contrarian attitude that pre-dates punk:



One more Brassens song - this one has more poetry and less humor, but is still really affecting. And I love the melody.



Jacques Brel's songs are full of that contrarian spirit. He loved to deflate anything that people revered. Here's a song about a military monument:



Here's one (of many) he wrote about a man's betrayal by a woman:



Dig his performance of this searing song about religious faith:



One more Brel video - "Funeral Tango". I love Scott Walker's version, but you gotta see the original:



Here's a translation of Boris Vian's famous anti-war song, "Le Deserteur". If you're wondering, yes, I shamelessly ripped this off for the Cat Hair song "Absent".



Finally, some Serge Gainsbourg. I've never been a big fan of his; Brel and Brassens always seemed cooler, and Gainsbourg's later stuff attracts a breed of douchebag that turns me off. But I like this song, especially now that I've seen a good translation of the lyrics.

2:33 AM 
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