Blogger and part-time Indie 103 DJ Kevin Bronson recently compiled his 103* favorite tracks of 2009 from LA bands and broadcasted them over the course of three shows, the final top 40 were just revealed yesterday.  We're totally shocked, humbled and honored to find "Boxer's Arm" #1 on the countdown.  Some of our favorite artists, regardless of which city they come from, are on the list.  Just a few of our personal favorites:

Just a neighborly heads up that our tune Last Resort is in the CW show Gossip Girl this Monday, September 28th.  Good times.

Some last minute news... you east-coasters may have already missed it... Lose The Swagger appears in the new USA show "Royal Pains" tonight at 10pm.   Also for those of you at the show on Monday, yes that was Jonathan Bates from Mellowdrone playing the tambourine, and yes he is a sexy beast.  On Monday we'll be in the studio tracking one of the new songs we played at the Echoplex, a tune called "Terror of the Countryside."  More news soon...

Couple bits of blog-worthy news so I thought I'd fire up the computer and hack away...

If you've been to any of the last few shows you can probably tell we're pretty excited about playing the new songs, a track called Boxer's Arm especially. About a month ago we went into the studio and recorded the track, along with another one called Last Resort, and we're proud to say that they'll be arriving here on Myspace (along with Facebook and Last.fm) this Tuesday February 3rd. Hard to believe but it's been two whole years since we've released any new material... but at least it not because there isn't any... we just have trouble getting our collective shit together long enough to record it. Oh well, here's to things changing, and many new tracks to come soon. It's the age of Obama, and we're happy to shoulder some of the responsibility that he keeps talking about. It's hard to believe that a single little indie rock band took down the whole economy, I suppose we can chalk it up to the butterfly effect, right?

Lots of other stuff going on, where to begin... Amy is recording with the Dollyrots right now-- they actually DO have their shit together and manage to crank out entire albums faster than Clint Eastwood can shoot an Oscar-winning film. She's also going on tour next month with Reubens Accomplice who are supporting Jimmy Eat World. What can I say? The girl is IN DEMAND. Meanwhile, I shot a video with my friend Barry Davis (Something For Rockets) for a song called "Letters" which he's released through his new project, Kashmere.

Oh, almost forgot the best anecdote of 2008-- the week before we recorded Boxer's arm in December I broke my right hand while tossing a football with some friends at the Rose Bowl-- apparently I have the bones of a 90 year-old woman who stopped drinking milk back in the 1940's. Anyway, the beauty of this particular fracture is its name: A Boxer's Fracture. So when I walked into Ronan's studio the very next week to record a song called Boxer's Arm with a splint on my hand, pictures were bound to be taken.

So we're playing a show tomorrow night at Boardners. So what. So what? Well it happens to be the final Let's Independent show put on by Radio Free Silverlake. The night has been a hollywood institution for the last two years, curated by local music maven Joe Fielder. This is the second "final show of an era" we've played this year, after playing the Squaregirls swan song at the Scene a while back. Maybe we should change our name to "Ko-Ko and the Lord High Executioners." Second thought, maybe not.

I could rant about how great all of the Let's Independent shows have been, the importance of the night to independent artists in LA, and what it means for the curtain to fall... but Classical Geek Theatre has already done it better. Here we go, one blog quoting another:

"Joe Fielder's legendary local band showcase closes its curtain tomorrow night, and that marks the end of an era. Radio Free Silverlake doesn't quite have the influence it once had and Let's Independent! isn't quite as electrifying as it once was, but Fielder has been instrumental in helping bring meritous Los Angeles-based bands to the forefront.

Fol Chen debuted at a Let's Independent! showcase. Ironically, Wait. Think. Fast. and Everest, headliners at the Echo and Echoplex on Tuesday, have played the showcase as well. RFS inspired me to start Classical Geek Theatre and the Let's Independent! showcases introduced me to The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, Amnion, Death to Anders, The Savages, and The Soft Hands; all bands that I greatly admire.

An assortment of things have put Let's Independent! to rest. It used to be free until Fielder was forced to charge a cover charge to pay the bands and that put a seriously dent in attendance. The longtime soundman at Boardner's was let go, removing one aspect of familiarity. I think the appearance Check One Twosday, which is free and on the east side, would have been the nail in the coffin.

I've had some great memories at Let's Independent! shows. It was at some of these shows where I met Joe Fielder, JAX, Squaregirl Marion Hodges, Feed Your Head Brad, and my roommate all for the first time. Gone with Let's Independent! is one of the last reasons to go see music in Hollywood.

I intend to send Let's Independent! off in style."

http://classicalgeektheatre.blogspot.com/

I blew it, I really did. I meant to post this link a month and a half ago and I just completely spaced it. Well, old news is still news if you haven't heard it yet, right? Here's a link to an interview I did with Joe Fielder of Radio Free Silver Lake.

http://radiofreesilverlake.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-broken-remotes.html

It's a rambling, sloppy AIM conversation that manages to barely touch on music at all, and that just might be a good thing.

Getting back to the business of playing music for people-- we have a show coming up on October 6th with three cracker-jack bands: Rademacher, Light FM and Radars to the Sky. I would still go to this show even if they threw us off the bill...

Got a little piece of good news as we gear up for our show at the Echo next week-- an ABC Family show called "The Secret Life of American Teenagers" will be using two Broken Remotes songs ("Let's Make This Worth The Regret" and "Where The Curb Is Painted Red") in the episode which airs Tuesday July 8th at 8pm. Looks like a teen pregnancy drama in the vein of Juno... we'll have to wait and see.

Got an advance copy of the new Dr. Dog. It's pretty killer.

Yeah, there goes our last shred of indie cred. Pretty cool that they went for the slow 6/8 jam, though. We weren't even sure this song belonged on the album, and here it is paying the rent. Go figure.

Episode airs tomorrow, Monday April 28 at 9pm on the CW. Here's their link:

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/one-tree-hill

Woke up early the other day to appear on Jon Hershfield’s KillRadio show, "...Is Good". I guess with a name like that you’re happy just to be invited, right? It’s better than appearing on "...Is Mediocre", that’s for sure. Jon’s a cool guy, a great DJ and show promoter. It was worth stopping by just to talk about music for an hour with someone who cares.

Despite doing my best to not make a jackass out of myself, I managed to talk about the two most embarrassing skeletons in my closet-- I played in marching band in high school and I watched an entire season of Project Runway. Oh well, these things happen.

I also played a few solo acoustic tunes-- Pages of the Weekly, Last Resort, and Shut Off The Machines. Jon spun a few tracks off the LP’s, too. Overall it was a good morning, and despite my ramblings I feel like I walked out of the studio with my dignity intact. Also managed to work in a plug for next wednesday’s Squaregirl show. Does that make my cup of coffee a tax write-off?

Here’s a link to the interview (62 minutes!) for the brave souls who need something to listen to while they do their laundry.

http://www.killradio.org/proginfo.php?id=1063