Thursday, May 31, 2007
So the bands from last week's show finally have all their videos up for those who couldn't make it. They're all pretty great. So microwave some popcorn, grab some Junior Mints and enjoy.
SUMMER DARLING - "One Drop in the Water" from the forthcoming record Gnostic Gospel. Summer Darling performs 6/6 at Koo's in Long Beach.
CASTLEDOOR - "Zaika" from their forthcoming EP. Castledoor performs tonight at the Prospector in Long Beach and has the Thursday residency at the Silverlake Lounge in June.
THE MONOLATORS - "Strawberry Roan" from their recent album Our Tears Have Wings. The Monolators perform 6/1 at Mr. T's Bowl.
8-BIT - "Krumpets" from their new album We Sold Our Souls for Nothing. 8-bit performs 6/9 at Mr. T's Bowl and 6/13 at the Troubadour opening for Datarock.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
After some convincing, we've decided to do what we said we would never do and that is celebrate our existence. July 12th marks the 10th year of la-underground, something that was started just to convince people that Los Angeles did have a music scene, albeit segregated and at the time still reeling from the Silver Lake burnout of the mid-90's.
We have to say how great it is to see such a wealth of great bands these days that not only work hard at what they do but also support each other. In our very small way, we're very proud to have been a part of it and so to 'celebrate' we're helping out with some shows around town for the next few weeks beginning with one this Friday at our old favorite, Mr. T's Bowl. Ah, the place where Beck, Rilo Kiley and many of our favorite bands first started and where the greatest and nicest soundman that ever lived Arlo has played Mingus in between bands for as long as we can remember. It's also where The Monolators have the first Friday of every month residency so we're jumping on their night to kick things off. The show is free so you're all on the guestlist plus one.
We love you.
June 1, 2007
Chapter One: Los Angeles Loves...
AMY COOPER
KISSING COUSINS
THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE
THE MONOLATORS
Mr. T's Bowl
5621 1/2 Figueroa Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
21+ / FREE / 9pm
Amy Cooper - "Hurried Steps" (MP3) Limited time download
Kissing Cousins - "Take From Me" (MP3) Limited time download
The Henry Clay People - "The Bandage on the Bloodclot" (MP3) Limited time download
The Monolators - "14 Degrees" (MP3)
Friday, May 25, 2007
As we wind down the month let us reflect on the May that was... Gliss, Bodies of Water, and Amateurs residencies were excellent. We did tend to pitch a tent at Spaceland (in every sense of that phrase) for Gliss since the band is like watching porn on stage -- the sound of sex. We absolutely love this band... Our secret crush HT Heartache opened for BRMC at the Wiltern. That lady's voice reaching all the way up to our mezzanine seats was worth the price of our nose bleed section tickets. That girl is a star... Standing in line waiting to get in to the Great Northern CD release at the Echo just to buy a few copies of an album we've had for months. The band has come a looong way for this moment. Let's make it count... The Monolators host their third successful video release show and boy was it a good one. Some photos here... Locals shed a collective tear for Sea Level Records which officially unofficially announced its end. Where will we go for our lunch breaks now?
So if you haven't seen the May residencies, this is it. They're all fantastic and mostly free... Other happenings this coming week: Topanga Days Country Fair is this weekend with performances from Sin City All Stars, Veruca Salt, John Doe, Carina Round, Mike Stinson, Dead Rock West, Minibar, Gwendolyn, The Tender Box, and many others... Amateurs and Cary Brothers celebrate CD release shows... Redcar plays Spaceland on 5/29... The return of Arcade Fire and Electrelane 5/29 and 5/30 with an Electrelane headline show on 5/31.. And a few shows with Electric Soft Parade.
May was fun. But just wait until June. We may have outdone ourselves this time...
Carina Round - "Come to You" (MP3)
Amateurs - "Hearts on a Wheel" (MP3)
Electrelane - "Cut and Run" (MP3)
Friday, May 18, 2007
Can't even begin to tell you how excited we are for the coming week. Not only are there amazing lineups all around Los Angeles (including our little show 5/23), but the last two weeks in May are generally the best weeks of the year for us.
The hipster calendar is leaning toward Silverlake this weekend beginning tonight with Eskimohunter, Mezzanine Owls, and LoveLikeFire at El Cid; The Autumns and The Sugarplastic at Spaceland; The Germs at Safari Sam's; and The Section Quartet, The Submarines, and The Poor Excuses at The Echo. Not to mention that traveling party caravan Wildogs parking its madness down at The Echoplex... All-Girls Hang the DJ's party at The Echo on Saturday with Mika Miko, Hearts of Palm UK, and Traeh... Huge phenomenal lineup at The Smell on Sunday with xbxrx, Dos, The Pope and others. Also on Sunday, another Syd Barrett Tribute with some true scene veterans Third Grade Teacher, Backbiter, The Wondermints, and of course the goddess so named Petra Haden. And to make Sunday even more hectic our old friend Mary Lynn Rajskub continues her residency at the Steve Allen Theater. We're probably the only people in the Western Hemisphere who has never seen an episode of "24" since we still can't get over the fact Girls Guitar Club is over. Not sure what this show (entitled "The Complications of Purchasing a Poodle Pillow") is about exactly but you know she's got loads to say after a few seasons with Keifer (we think everyone in the L.A. music scene has their own Keifer story, most of which involves his buddy Jack).
For more la-underground events this week click here.
Hearts of Palm UK - "Portugal 1" (MP3)
xbxrx - "Center Where Sight" (MP3)
Backbiter - "Time Again" (MP3)
The Girls Guitar Club
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
For the third installment of The Monolators' Video Premiere Extravaganza they've gathered an elite collection of Los Angeles' best underground bands. Any casual reader of this silly blog knows the extent of our love for 8-bit, Castledoor, and Summer Darling. So seeing them all in one night premiering new music and new music videos should be a feast for our senses. The Monolators debut the new video for "Strawberry Roan". Castledoor premieres the new song and video for "Zaika". 8-bit screens "Krumpets". And Summer Darling... well, we'll just have to wait and see what our darling summer unveils.
And, look, we're teaming up with the magnificent MusicGlob.com and lovely LATaco.com to co-present the show. So it's going to be a veritable LA blog orgy at the Echo that night, especially with media sponsor KXLU in the mix. 8-bit also performs on KXLU "Live at 5" on 5/21 (5PM) to promote the event. So for those who caught them the last time on KXLU that should be another riot listening to them change their lyrics from NC-17 to PG. And like omg the show is an LA Weekly pick of the week -- written by the Falling James no less.
May 23, 2007, 9PM
THE MONOLATORS | MySpace
8-BIT | MySpace
CASTLEDOOR | MySpace
SUMMER DARLING | MySpace
The Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
18+ / $7 or $5 with flyer
The Monolators - "Strawberry Roan" (MP3) Limited time download
8-bit - "Krumpets" (MP3) Limited time download
Castledoor - "Fall Apart" (MP3)
Summer Darling - "Math Is Everywhere" (MP3)
Friday, May 11, 2007
Yes, it's hot and there's fire and brimstone all around us but that won't stop the love we have coming this week...
The Shys and Delta Spirit perform tonight at The Echo. We were asked to catch a last-minute show with The Shys last night at The Roxy, which normally we would normally respectfully decline but a certain MySpace friend was playing upstairs so what the hey. The Shys still sound great and we didn't expect them to pull that big of a crowd (Bruce Willis who we just saw minutes before on that "Live Free or Die Hard" digital billboard on Santa Monica Blvd., Aaron Paul who probably kept "moshing" into us just so we'd blurb about him, and an unusual amount of models doing "Girls Gone Wild" type dancing were in attendance). Look for a new album from them soon. We should also note that The Roxy seems to be trying to make West Sunset appealing again to the kids by putting on periodic free nights as well as luring east side scensters with some interesting blogger bait (Rooney, Golden State, and Phantom Planet residencies, MSTRKRFT's URB Magazine showcase (5/16), etc.). This, along with Indie 103's Mondays at Viper and Ruby Tuesdays at the Key Club, could help in reviving the area. Still, it will be an uphill battle given that expensive parking lots, 24-hour meters, and the Hollywood asshole factor won't be changing anytime soon... The Ditty Bops kick off "Bike to Work Week" on 5/14 with a free performance at City Hall at 2pm. It's been ages since we've seen the Bops (actually four years) so this would be the perfect lunch break for us except we'd have to drive there... Great Northern celebrates the release of their debut album on 5/15 at The Echo. Seems we've been waiting for this album for decades but it's only been since we learned that Latter joined the band and we've been watching closely ever since. Great article on Latter in the current LA Weekly by the way... FYI, a few shows at the Greek have been moved to the Gibson due to the incidents in Griffith Park.
Happy Mother's Day, Mommy. Happy bday.org, OC Underground...
The Shys - "Never Gonna Die" (MP3)
The Ditty Bops - "Bye Bye Love" (MP3)
Great Northern - "Home" (MP3)
Delta Spirit - "Motivation"
Monday, May 07, 2007
Excuse us while we continue to help with some things with this week's SLFF as well as all the exciting stuff we have planned for June and July...
Get yourselves out to May's wonderful residencies including Gliss at Spaceland (Mondays), The Autumns and The Sugarplastic at Spaceland (Fridays), Bodies of Water at the Echo (Mondays), The Watkins Family Hour at Largo (Thursdays), LoveLikeFire at El Cid (Fridays), The Amateurs at the Scene (Tuesdays), Low Stars at the Hotel Cafe (Tuesdays), and The High Society at the Silverlake Lounge (Mondays).
Other highlights this month include CD release shows for Lavender Diamond, Great Northern, Ozma, and Cary Brothers; The Monolators' 3rd Annual Video Release show on 5/23; and Cole Porter receives a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 5/21 (it's about time). May also marks the beginning of the summer concert season. However, we promise to regulate our wearing of muscle T's and hotpants at any of the shows we attend as long as you keep the beach ball and water bottle tossing to your side of the pool.
The Autumns - "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" (MP3)
Gliss - "Blue Sky" (MP3)
LoveLikeFire - "A Million Pieces" (MP3)
The Sugarplastic - "Autumn All the Time"
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Captain Ahab is quite possibly the greatest thing you could imagine involving two half-naked men singing dance metal. The duo has quickly risen to the top of the ever growing strip-rock scene of Los Angeles (by way of Deathbomb Arc) thanks to a legion of adoring fans so we thought it was that time again we shed some layers and shake some ass with the boys at pehrspace.
Normally, bands of this sort (and there are many) might be able to grab your attention with a few canned loops and stock synth tracks while they either scream or rap very poorly on top of it and then of course go 'hardcore' and start punching people or throwing shit around the room. Ahab knows better. Equal parts Daft Punk, Magic Mike, and Iron Maiden, the group expertly finesses each track with 80s-90s musical memorabilia that never feels gimmicky or hackneyed. And Snipes and Merson are a joy to watch take over a crowd. How they manage to make anyone feel completely at ease rubbing up against sweaty, bear-chested (yes, we do mean "bear") men and dancing to some gritty happy hardcore is a testament to the sheer bliss they manifest.
Captain Ahab we salute you.
Captain Ahab performs 5/18 at Mr. T's Bowl and quite a lot at The Smell. Clothing optional. "After the Rain My Heart Still Dreams" and "Snakes on the Brain" are available now. Buy them.
Captain Ahab on MySpace.
More photos here.
Captain Ahab - "Girls Gone Wild" (MP3)
Captain Ahab - "Snakes on the Brain" (MP3)
Captain Ahab - "U Want Me"
