Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Some random notes today...
First, thanks to those who made it out for these past few shows we've helped out with. Photos from our last two nights are here and here. We've got a few more coming in December and then if you behave and eat your vegetables there could be some in late January.
YouTube's Underground contest is over and as usual with these type of things that allow for spam/hack voting, some underwhelming bands got the nod. Big props to the bands that got our vote though (Halou, The Monolators, The Happy Hollows, and Polus to name a few)...
Speaking of the tube, as noted by Ms. RI, many of LA's best are getting some time on late night television recently. Matt Costa, Giant Drag, Los Abandoned, Joshua Radin, Tenacious D, and Rocco Deluca all have gotten some face time with Conan, Craig, Carson and the rest. And in the coming weeks Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins (Kimmel, 11/30), Gnarls Barkley (with their usual L.A. cohorts) (Kimmel, 12/11), Silversun Pickups (Letterman, 12/1), Cold War Kids (Letterman, 12/21), and Shiny Toy Guns (Letterman, 11/30) and will do the same. By the way, two of the most desperate ways to get on certain shows are: 1). Hang out near Johnny Rockets on Melrose or Third St. Promenade where Leno does his Jaywalking bit or 2). Play the Viper Room where Ferguson regularly hangs out and if you're good will book you himself on his show (eg. The Daylights). In related news, we've created a countdown to Conan's Tonight Show takeover since no else has done it yet. Assuming the show stays in Los Angeles (and according to insiders it will), it should start sometime in 2009. No offense to Leno fans, but he hasn't been funny since like '87 or something when he was a guest on Letterman and all he did was eat a steak sandwich. His monologue is one of the most painful things to watch in television history. Ferguson has also gone downward since his first show. He's gotten cockier over the past two years and that sound effects box routine is idiotic. Anyway, no matter, because in 2009-1-1 00:00:00 GMT-08:00 C.O. will save Los Angeles from the late night slumber we've been in since Carson left us.
Los Abandoned perform at the Echo on 11/30.
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins perform at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach on 12/4.
Silversun Pickups perform at the Troubadour on 12/16 and 12/17.
Cold War Kids perform at the Silverlake Lounge on 1/12 and 1/19 and at Spaceland on 1/26.
Shiny Toy Guns perform at the Wiltern on 12/2.
Matt Costa performs at the House of Blues 2/2 and 2/3.
Finally, there's been talk about us shutting down the sites. While we'd love to do so, we're contractually obligated to keep these things going until 2008, when we officially become free agents. Some of you have been with us since the very beginning in 1997 when we were a pitiful zine/listserv and then an even more pitiful private blog/forum and for that we thank you. But we predict there won't much use for us in the near future. However, wait until you see what we have in store for you. Until then, we will remain ad-free, content free, and awesome free. Thank you and Los Angeles loves you.
We're quite pleased to present this evening a few of the loveliest female-led bands in Los Angeles. If you're free, please come on by.
November 28, 2006
Los Angeles Loves...
@ Tangier
2138 Hillhurst Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
18+ / $8 / 7:30pm
Los Angeles Loves... AMY COOPER
We think Amy Cooper has been under the radar for far too long. Last year, she released a fine album entitled Water/Fire, produced by the one and only John Vanderslice. She's played with Juliana Hatfield, Rachael Yamagata, Martha Wainwright, and many other of her contemporaries. Perhaps with the release of her new EP entitled Mirrors in early 2007 this will all change? We're betting on it.
Amy Cooper - "Tonight We Fly" (MP3)
Amy Cooper - "25"
Los Angeles Loves... BOXVIOLET
While still a relatively a new band, boxViolet's potential for hugeness is evident in any one of the ten gems on their debut album Cut and Come Again. Fans of Poe, Curve, and Garbage should be eating this album up. And, yes, that's Amy Cooper in their recent video for "Had I Known" shot a few months back (full details on their MySpace blog).
boxViolet - "Had I Known" (MP3)
boxViolet - "Punding"
Los Angeles Loves... COLORFORMS
We've been anxious to hook up with Colorforms since stumbling across one of their shows last year. They're just a fantastic band that will remind you of all the things you love about Swede pop, 60's grooves, and Minty Fresh records. Plus their video for "Nothing Can Come Between Us" just kills.
Colorforms - "Nothing Can Come Between Us" (MP3)
Colorforms - "Nothing Can Come Between Us"
Los Angeles Loves... VENUS INFERS
The band left a comment on our MySpace asking about a show and so we delivered. We're easy to please, especially when you put together such an enchanting collection of tunes like their new EP Share Venus Infers.
Venus Infers - "Vanilla Is (the absence of chocolate)" (MP3)
Los Angeles Loves... ILA
To be honest, we've never heard of Ila before this show. She was already booked before we ended up taking over the entire night. Still, we'd hate to leave out such a fine young talent whose music has such likeable folk pop leanings. Plus, if you put a heart somewhere in her name you get one of the best catch phrases ever created.
Ila - "I Am Lost Here"
Monday, November 27, 2006
So we're back from a little week-long break. No need to go into details of the trip, but we'd like to thank Muse, Man U and Chelsea, and the fine people of London and Edinburgh for helping us dumb American tourists around town. We hope to be back soon to mind the gap.
In other news, we're putting on a show tomorrow at Tangier. Please come by if you're around the area and have an extra 4£, er... $8. Details tomorrow.
Until then, here are some videos we enjoyed while abroad:
The Maccabees - "First Love"
M. Craft - "Sweets"
Monday, November 13, 2006
We first heard about design battles or Photoshop Wars or Graphic Tennis in 2000. As novice designers, we entered our first one-on-one in 2001 and lost to a Canadian kid back then known as "The Divine Line". Today, these battles have moved from underground forums to live public audiences with some designers being repped by agents and big name sponsors. Cut&Paste's Los Angeles tournament hit RecCenter on Saturday and of course we had to be there to support.
Contestants included some artists we knew such as Dennis Gomez, Jim Darling, Elvis Segarich, and PJ Richardson and others we didn't like April Carter Grant, Manhi Park, Michael Coleman, and Sasha Welland. The great thing about battles is the ability to watch a designer's technique, workflow, and ingenuity, all of which these designers showed off with great style. Each round, contestants were given a theme and in a 15-minute timespan had to design something based on it with the help of a G5, Adobewarez, and a Wacom pen. Even if you're good designer, it's harder than you think with the time crunch, a panel of judges, and a roomful of spectators criticizing your every move. Still, it's all in good fun. And fun we had.
Congrats to Jim Darling who we've admired from afar for awhile -- fantastic Illustrator skills and fast as hell. We bow to you.
Blockhead provided the beats behind the decks for the most of the night before Sir Chris Holmes took over to finish it off.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
We had a good time this past week with shows. Thanks to all the great new bands we met and all the others we won't soon forget (that totally just rhymed). Photos up on Flickr, Imeem, etc... The Wrens are playing tonight with Asobi Seksu. We haven't missed a Wrens show in years, but sadly we must this time although you should not. And, no, we won't even be able to attend Petra's show at the Getty either although it pains us to even write that. And, yes, we do really want to get all our Gliss merch signed at their in-store at Amoeba tonight but dammit we just cannot. Also, the one and only Joni Mitchell will be exhibiting her new paintings over at Lev Maross Gallery (you should be RSVPing right about now). Anyway, we're sure you'll be bragging about these shows come Saturday morning... Come Saturday evening, however, 400 Blows returns from a month on tour to play the Echo. Expect severe bruising of the tympanic membrane. Also returning from their trips out east are Everybody Else (11/15 at the Troubadour), Irving (11/16 at Spaceland), Hello Stranger (11/16 at the Troubadour), and the Hotel Cafe tour (11/16-18 at the Hotel Cafe). Let's all welcome them home... The Hear Gallery opens its doors for the final time at the old locale with a performance by The Airborne Toxic Event... Best local lineups of the week are 11/13 at the Knit with The Parson Red Heads, Stevenson Ranch Davidians, Castledoor and others and 11/13 with The Mae Shi, The Pope, Health and others at Il Corral... Tickets for The Flaming Lips and Gnarls Barkley new year's show go on sale Sunday at noon.... We'll be off the following week, but we'll be presenting a show on 11/28 and one of our special holiday shows is 12/10 (you can't have just one) so keep those in mind. Ok, off your computers. It's like summer outside.
Petra Haden - "God Only Knows" (MP3)
Gliss - "Blue Sky" (MP3)
400 Blows - "The Beauty of Internal Darkness" (MP3)
The Airborne Toxic Event - "Does This Mean You're Moving On" (MP3)
The Parson Red Heads - "Punctual As Usual" (MP3)
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
While Chan's "Check Yo Ponytail" and Aoki's "Cinespace Tuesdays" continue to battle it out to see which of their clubs is more hip every Tuesday, for the last year we've been more inclined to be more local for Pousch's "Pull Your Pants Up, It's Tuesday Night" down in Long Beach. Hence, an easy 20-minute drive down the 710 (10 minutes if you know what you're doing) to the good ol' Prospector has been one of our favorite things to do every occassional Tuesday since it began earlier this year. Kevin Pousch from the wonderful band Fielding books the nights and does so like a champ. It's not very often where you see the likes of Richard Swift, Everybody Else, Hello Stranger, Ferraby Lionheart, and Division Day in a room where most people have no idea how good these bands are (or how big they're going to be). So if you're up for a little drive down the way, hit up the Prospector. It may be less hip than Hollywood, but at least you won't see Lindsay Lohan or Benji Madden behind turntables.
Pull Your Pants Up, It's Tuesday Night occurs every first and last Tuesday of the month.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
In truth, we don't read music blogs too much. But we do take notice of those who are making a difference in the scene and that's certainly what Ms. Ashley does with the lovely Rock Insider. It took her a bit to figure out the scene is more east than west (read the first line of her first post), but we all have to start somewhere. And, of course, all those MP3s and other goodies for the kids. We've been told she works for a major record label, but we won't hold that against her especially after she was able to showcase Ferraby and Jaymay a few weeks ago, something we've been meaning to do for quite awhile. For your added pleasure, you'll also find her DJing on Little Radio on Mondays at noon or catch her behind the deckz for realz on her Hell Ya! nights at the Echo. So if you want to see how music blogging is supposed to be done, delete your bookmark for us and make your homepage Rock Insider.
www.rockinsider.com
Friday, November 03, 2006
Mini-Swede invasion with Love Is All playing tonight at The Echo. And there's no question, everyone has been waiting for The Knife's Los Angeles debut tomorrow. However, if you weren't able to get tickets and are still wanting some Saturday satisfaction, Giant Drag and Bloodcat Love plays a ridiculously free show at Little Radio also NY's buzzmakers Pistolera performs with LA's buzzworthy Upground (the heir apparent to Ozomatli) at Spaceland... November residencies begin next week with Great Northern at the Echo, Let's Go Sailing at Spaceland (long-awaited album The Chaos in Order is finally available), Sierra Swan at the Viper Room, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band at the Key Club, and Gliss at Moscow (who come home after a month in the UK/Europe to celebrate the U.S. release of Love the Virgins)... There you go, short and sweet. Have a good weekend, everyone.
Let's Go Sailing - "All I Want From You Is Love" (MP3)
Gliss - "Blue Sky" (MP3)
Great Northern - "Babies" (MP3)
Bloodcat Love - "Viva Modula" (MP3)
Love Is All - "Talk Talk Talk Talk" (MP3)
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
In August, The Like Young announced that their late summer tour would be their final one and it almost brought us to tears. We saw this band at one of their first L.A. shows at The Smell a few years back and were in love with them instantly. We proceeded to follow them like the typical rabid fans up and down the coast whenever they would tour this way. This final tour ended with a midnight set at the Silverlake Lounge back in September with about the same amount of people that showed up for their first, a few dozen, some driving in from the band's hometown of Chicago.
To be perfectly honest, this was the best performance we've seen by any band this year. Ten years of hard work, sweat, and frustration poured out into an hour and a half set of music (delayed a bit with technical problems). It's taken until now just to write about it, we were so emotionally drained. While band breakups are usually a sad thing, we think there are only good things to come from the Ziembas in the future, away from the spotlight or maybe back in it one day.
The Like Young on MySpace.
The Like Young's new and final album, Last Secrets, is out now on Polyvinyl.
The Like Young - "For Money Or Love" (MP3)
The Like Young - "Dead Eyes" (MP3)
THE LIKE YOUNG - "For Money or Love" video
More photos are posted here.
