Friday, September 29, 2006
Lots going on this coming week beginning tonight with Lavender Diamond and Eleni Mandell at the Getty. Quincy celebrates the release of her new CD Come Closer at Amoeba. And The Muffs headline over at Safari Sam's for another edition of Kiss or Kill... Echo Park Music Festival should be fun over at the lake Saturday and Sunday. Future Pigeon, Listing Ship, and Very Be Careful are just a few of the bands you'll see at this free fest. Also, around 4pm on Saturday head on over to Sea Level for The Oohlas in-store (and while you're there pick up local releases by Bodies of Water, Great Northern, and Sea Wolf). Then stick around the neighborhood that night for Silversun Pickups who will rock out a sold out show at The Echo... Sunday, The Monolators are shooting their new video for "Strawberry Roan". Contact them for details. Later that evening shoot on over to Spaceland for Mezzanine Owls and Polus... On 10/2 Monsters Are Waiting and Lemon Sun are at Viper... Ozma headlines at the Troubadour with Satisfaction, El Ten Eleven, and Acute on 10/3... The Shys do Club NME on 10/4... And on 10/5, Shoot Out the Lights and The Distants perform at the SLL... So there you go. And no excuses. 95% of the shows we just mentioned are free, you poor ass bitches.
Lavender Diamond - "You Broke My Heart" (MP3)
Mezzanine Owls - "Lightbulb" (MP3)
Monsters Are Waiting - "Nobody" (MP3)
Ozma - "Eponine" (MP3)
The Shys - "Never Gonna Die" (MP3)
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
What kind of band completely disappears after releasing one of the best records of 2004? The Maimou kind of band, that's who. Actually, they didn't really disappear per se, they just kind of wandered off. Zac Baird momentarily played keys for Daniel Powter and currently tickles ivories for KoRn. Juliana Sheffield moved back to Austin and then to NYC (how dare she) and somehow wound up in Cirque du Soleil's new rock circus "Delirium."
Their one and only album, Persephonics, is simply a beautiful collection of wonderous trip-hop and ambient pop. It's a hard album to find outside of iTunes and don't bother going to Amoeba because we bought them all long ago. But lucky for you, Sheffield and Baird made time for a one-night only reunion of sorts. So here's your chance L.A. to make up for all the brilliant shows you missed prior to their slow dissolve. Don't blow it.
Maimou performs at the Temple Bar on 9/26.
Maimou on MySpace.
Maimou - "Crush" (MP3)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Ok, so here some pics from Banksy's show in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend. We went on opening day Friday, but some people bragged that they got in the night before. Whatever. It was a great exhibit of work that we've been wanting to see for a long time and we're glad he or she decided to have it here. Thank you. More photos will be posted on our Flickr/Imeem/blahblahblah accounts.
Friday, September 15, 2006
So we just got back from Banksy's show. Probably won't need to post pics since the entire L.A. blogosphere was there but it was nice seeing all the infamous work in person. The Paris Hilton piece was there. That was hot. Mila Kunis was there too. She was hot. Anyway, shows, yes?... Breakestra perform at the Temple Bar on 9/16. Hit the Floor was one of the best records of 2005 in our pointless opinion. But the songs are even better en vivo... Carina Round continues her month-long stay at the Viper Room with Motorcycle Boy on 9/18. Her new album Slow Motion Addict is out now and even more raw than her debut The Disconnect... Ms. Haines returns to L.A. (the city where she really belongs) as a solo artist on 9/21 at the Viper Room. Her new album Knives Don't Have Your Back (due 9/26) is sweet... And next Friday, the CD release party for Quetzal's new album Die Cowboy Die at the Echo should be amazing. We were able to catch their Amoeba in-store last week and these new songs are something fierce.
Breakestra on MySpace.
Emily Haines on Myspace.
Carina Round on MySpace.
Quetzal on MySpace.
Breakestra - "Family Rap" (MP3)
Emily Haines - "Our Hell" (MP3)
Carina Round - "Come to You" (MP3)
Quetzal - "Migra" (MP3)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
It may seem we don't cover the arts community too much, but we actually go to more art shows than rock shows, especially when they involve a one Audrey Kawasaki. For just over a year, she's risen to the top of L.A.'s art scene and recently unveiled her stunning "The Karakuri Sisters" as the featured exhibit for the third showing of "Picks of the Harvest." We've raved about her before, so we think we'll just let her work do the blurbing. But be sure to hit up this exhibit if you get a chance. Some of the best local artists are showing recent work and several well-known pieces are on display.
"Picks of the Harvest: Batch III" continues until 10/8 at Thinkspace featuring over 300 works from 115 artists.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Greetings, Angelenos (and one jailbound NYer). We write to you from arctic Las Vegas where we'll be quickly doing some work at Photoshop World, feasting on a buffet or two, and taking a few pulls of Wheel of Fortune before heading back later on tonight for some things...
It will be crazy sold out for Cold War Kids tonight at the Troubadour, but apparently some tickets might be available prior to the show. Amazing how big this band has gotten so quickly. That's what happens when you're good. And if you haven't heard, bidding war over. Downtown Records (EODM, Gnarls, Brut) wins... Our good buddy from KXLU Mr. Nobody and those Mystic Chords of Memory open for the lovely Vashti Bunyon on Saturday. Prepare to be transported... While some tastemakers are thinking Las Vegas is the new Seattle, others have turned their attention to several UK singer-songwriters, one of them being this kid Paolo Nutini from Scotland. He's certainly got the package (voice, songs, looks) so it should be quite crowded with curious insiders for his U.S. debut at the Hotel Cafe on 9/13 (L.A.'s very own curious insider AM also performs)... Longtime favorites from good ol' Santa Cruz, Halou, come down for a show at the Temple Bar on 9/14. After half a decade in production, their new album Wholeness & Separation is out now... and quite tasty.
Cold War Kids - "In Harmony in Silver" (MP3)
Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - "Broaden a New Sound" (MP3)
Paolo Nutini - "Autumn" (MP3)
Halou - "Stonefruit" (MP3)
