Reports from the scene

Locals Only

Coming off three Grammy nominations (but no wins), Jason Mraz will receive the 2009 Hal David Starlight Award, which will be presented to him at the June 18 Songwriters Hall of Fame 40th Anniversary dinner in New York. Created in 2004, the award is given to young songwriters who, according to the people behind the thing, are at “an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs.” Past winners include Alicia Keys, John Mayer and John Legend.

Rapper Young Mass is compiling a CD called Young Mass Presents… The Best of Daygo City, a showcase of local hip-hop talent, and is calling on artists to submit tracks. The deadline is May 15, with an album release scheduled for July 7. www.myspace.com/mass2020.

Justin Pearson (The Locust, All Leather) and Nathan Joyner (All Leather, Some Girls) have launched a radio show on Vestal watches website called Leg Lifters. The show, which features Pearson and Joyner playing and talking about some of their favorite new music, is available via stream or MP3 podcast on www.vestalwatch.com.

M-Theory Music received an “Honorable Mention” in Spin magazine’s list of America’s 15 Best Indie Record Stores, calling the store “one of Southern California’s best, with an incredible history of in-stores.”

DIY rockers Wavves will join The Flaming Lips, The National and Built to Spill at the Pitchfork Music Festival, which will be held July 17 through 19 at Chicago’s Union Park.

Chula Vista hardcore legends Amenity reunited last year after an 18-year hiatus and wasted no time recording a new single, “Shine,” which will appear on an EP that’s set for a spring release. Meantime, the band will debut the video for “Shine” at a screening party at East Village Tavern & Bowl from 8 to 11 p.m. Sunday, April 26. www.myspace.com/amenitysd

Crocodiles will release their debut album, Summer of Hate, on Tuesday, April 27. The album was reviewed in the most recent issue of Rolling Stone and received a three-and-a-half-star rating.

Hip-hop group The West Indies will play an album-release show for their record Scratch the Surface at South Park Bar & Grill on Friday, April 24. Kastle Kreeps and DJs Collagey and Rudy Palos will also perform. www.myspace.com/westernindependent.

On Saturday, April 25, folk-rockers Silverleaf will celebrate the release of their debut, self-titled EP at Lestat’s. www.myspace.com/silverleafband.

The Enrique Experience

Every now and again, I’ll get introduced to something that immediately becomes a necessity and shakes up my world entirely (Snuggie™, the blanket with sleeves; toilet paper), but nothing could have prepared me for the carbonated magic that is Four Loko, an energy-infused malt beverage that makes Sparks seem like nana’s sleepy-time tea. Perhaps it’s the perfect mix of peach Schnapps, rum and Taurine that makes you behave like a tweaker. Maybe it’s the just-right blend of Yellow No. 6 and Red No. 40 coloring. Most likely, it’s because of the FDA-approved wormwood oil, an ingredient I discovered while doing research when I was experiencing withdrawals. Yes, wormwood, the same hallucinogen found in old-timey absinthe, the stuff that gave bohemians inspiration and Vincent Van Gogh an urge to chop off one of his ears.

Feeling a good impressionism buzz, I started Friday off at U-31’s Feel the Noise night, presented by newly appointed electro czars Saul Q and Gabe Vega, who spun an eclectic set that ended with a Britney Spears / Soulja Boi mega-mix. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I heard a rumor about a secret rave going down at an office building in the Mesas (sorry SDPD Vice, that’s about as specific as I’ll get). I found myself in a black, concrete box laden with DayGlo murals, thumpin’ techno, an array of club kids not seen since the Party Monster auditions and a laser show evocative of J-Lo’s “Waiting for Tonight” video. By the bar, a sign that read: “Just like your mom, I work for tips” welcomed partygoers as a furry-boot-wearing chick sold plastic syringe Jell-O shots. A glow-stick enthusiast offering opium hits for $10 was also in attendance, as well as another dude who was selling “the recession special”—two used-car-dealership-sized balloons filled with nitrous oxide for a mere $5.

In my haze, I started texting myself important details that later proved hard to decipher:

3:55 a.m. Fluorescent Teen Wolf meets Oogie Boogie
4:31 a.m. San Diego make some noise!
5:28 a.m. Gruesome chola, bobbing for compliments

Damn you, Four Loko, damn you to hell!

Sweet Beats

Our semi-regular look at the local DJ scene.

Artist: DJ Mario Orduno (wow, a DJ that uses his real name!)

Sound: Anything he wants. His name has become a fixture on the scene, not for playing the hot new club tracks or mashing up The Bee Gees with Flo Rida but, rather, for playing the ultra-obscure and vintage tracks from a boundless vinyl collection that has hipsters and music geeks alike asking, “Wow, who is this?”

“I’ll play Black Tambourine or The Raincoats, and that sound reminds people of The Vivian Girls or a band that people are listening to now,” says Orduno, who finds that the vintage post-punk and indiest of the indie bands he plays often end up on people’s radars months after they hear them at one of his shows.

Stats: “I just started bringing my records to parties and that evolved into this thing called Contort at Live Wire,” Orduno says. “That night ended, but it just took off from there.”

Now, he books shows and plays at places like Soda Bar and The Casbah, along with his regular Sunday night at Whistle Stop Bar called Too Many Creeps, which has been growing steadily since last year. He also owns Art Fag Recordings, which puts out national and international vinyl releases from bands like Dum Dum Girls, PENS and Graffiti Island. But don’t hold your breath for any posh, nightclub gigs anytime soon.

“I never really wanted to be part of a dance-club thing,” he says. “People can dance to my stuff, but my main thing is to give the night a flow, playing in between and after bands. I don’t like that whole DJ culture, like you have to have your face on the flyer and be this personality. I just want to be in control.”