Monday, November 24, 2008
Last chance for November weeklies this week. We've been able to do quick hit and runs to all of them and we must say we've been impressed with the turnouts. So even while the economy is hitting new lows, people still find comfort in going to free shows. That rhymed.
Also tonight, Pop Levi presents the U.S. premiere of his new film You Don't Gotta Run at the Silent Movie Theatre. And Robedoor and others open for Icy Demons at Echo Curio... On Tuesday, David Lynch makes a rare in-store appearance at Amoeba Music. Ditto for Rivers Cuomo at Fingerprints. Gary Jules begins his residency at the Hotel Cafe, celebrating the release of his new album Bird. Lemon Sun, Dazzler, and Jonah Ray open up for The Rosebuds for another "Check One Twosday". Also listen up on Tuesday morning for a few songs by Tom Jones on MBE. Killsonic, Red Maids, Dorian Wood, and others at Mr. T's Bowl. And Danger Bees, So Many Wizards, and others at the Silverlake Lounge... Listen up for the reunion of Azure Ray on "Morning Becomes Eclectic" on Wednesday. Later, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, Obi Best, I Make This Sound, and Princeton at The Echo for a special pre-Thanksgiving Day show. The Entrance Band and Free the Robots at Low End Theory. Matthew Sweet at the El Rey. Circus Minor at Club NME. Guns N Bombs, Don Rimini and others at the Roxy. weyou. at Mr. T's Bowl. And Louise Goffin (still probably tired of being referred to as that famous couple's daughter) returns to the Hotel Cafe opening for My Brightest Diamond.
In other news: Check out video from Charlie Haden's appearance on the Late Late Show with David Letterman with Josh Haden on vocals... Finally read through that KCRW press release announcing Bentley as host of MBE. Yikes... Art Daily has the scoop on the highly anticipated ART LA 2009 in January where you might find some la-underground stuff on display... A memorial benefit show for Marilyn Manson bassist Gidget Gein, who passed away in October from an accidental heroine overdose, will be held 12/3 at Dragonfly. Bands TBA... After an extensive search, MySpace Music "settles" for Courtney Holt as CEO. Interesting... We're listening to a rough mix of last week's show at Mr. T's Bowl right now. Did that night really happen?
Friday, November 21, 2008
We were thinking about taking this weekend off to recuperate from the blitzkrieg of shows the last couple of days but then we remembered we don't do that.
Boys and girls, if there was a show to take your significant other to it would be to see the goddess that is Aretha Franklin at the House of Blues tonight (and tomorrow). We expect a baby boom nine months from tonight. Elsewhere, Lucinda Williams at The Wiltern. Sarah Silverman at Club Nokia. OO Soul celebrates the release of their new album Till the Lights Come Up at Alex's Bar. Anya Marina, Molly Jenson, and others at the Hotel Cafe. War Tapes, Black Kites, Shiloe, and The Human Value at Spaceland. The Starlite Desperation and Golden Animals at the Redwood. The Underground Railroad to Candyland and The Amazements open for Japanther at The Smell. Daniel Ahearn and others at Echo Curio. Cordero has their L.A. release show for their new record De donde eres at On the Rox (normally, we wouldn't promote a NY band's release show but we're trying to get this particular one to move here, so you know...). Foot Foot, Little Teeth and others at pehrspace. Downtown/Union, Jack Wilson, Jr., Young Animals, and others at Mr. T's Bowl. boxViolet, The Terrapin, and The New Room at The Que Sera. Kid Inifinity and others at Mountain Bar. Jon Brion/Heather Porcaro at their respective rooms at g'net. Also, L.A. Auto Show is open to the public today through 11/30.
Saturday, there's a benefit for Killsonic/Cat Hair Ensemble's Mike Ibarra who recently had his contra-bass stolen downtown. Those things are probably expensive. It's being held at Edgar Varela Fine Arts and starts at 8pm. HEALTH opens for Of Montreal at the Palladium. The Gears, Mike Watt and the Secondmen, and others at Mr. T's bowl. Happy Hollows, A.M., Dirt Dress, The Primos, Traps, PS, and The Widow Babies at pehrspace. Le Switch and Death to Anders open for O'Death at Spaceland. The Shore, The Meadows and others at Molly Malone's. The Antarcticans, Duhkha, Not the Government, and others at The Smell. Rhett Miller at g'net. And the 2nd Annual Electronic Music Festival has been moved from the Shrine to the Hudson Theater out in San Bernadino. This year's festival features Bad Boy Bill, Richard Vission, Dirty Vegas, VHS or Beta (DJ set), Concord Dawn, Acid Girls, and many others.
On Sunday, the triumphant return of Ferdinand at Spaceland as they celebrate the release of their new album Memorial Interchange. That whole lineup makes us think we've time-warped to 1997. Also, Hecuba and Gangi at PTP. Charlie Wadhams at Tangier. Spirit Vine, Idyllists, and others at the Hotel Cafe. And Dead Rock West opens for Donna The Buffalo at the House of Blues. Also, expect parking within a 10-mile radius of the Grove to be limited on Sunday since the annual Christmas tree lighting thing with Natalie Cole, Teri Hatcher, and lots of other famous people will make that area quite the place to avoid. Also, avoid downtown (American Music Awards at the Nokia) unless you enjoy staring at the bumper of parked limousines.
Be safe, Los Angeles.
Anya Marina - "Move You" (MP3)
HEALTH - "Triceratops (Acid Girls Remix)" (MP3)
Ferdinand - "Lively as the Day we Met Them" (MP3)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Last night... hmm, well more on that later.
No, don't skip ahead.
Monday, we of course had to attend another Monolators residency night at pehrspace. Andy Bollas was the night's special guest on bass and as usual with a Bollas-injected show, chaos ensued and blood was shed. Next week, the theme for their last residency night is Winter Prom in honor of their recent album Don't Dance and perhaps for the first time ever we're coming dressed up for the party. This night also takes the place of the "Rock with a Twist" show we normally would have had this month so ready your intestines for free pretzels. The band has all the details of next week's show and a recounting of every week thus far on their blog.
Too many choices on Tuesday. We tried to make it to the last "Let's Independent" but one of our oldest friends Emm Gryner was in town at the Hotel Cafe. She lived in Los Angeles for all of one year just prior to the Hotel Cafe launching, a time when good singer-songwriter venues were few and far between, and she hasn't returned too many times since then. We met her back in 1996 at a house concert. A few years later she got signed to Mercury Records, got dropped during the "label restructuring" years, yet still found indie success releasing several critically-acclaimed records on her Dead Daisy label. It still amazes us she isn't just a gigantic star by now given her talent and how much recognition she's received. In any case, we unfortunately only had time for one song but it was good to catch up with her. Here's her cover of Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's "Straight To You", which we would have requested if we didn't have to make a mad rush for...
Wait Think Fast. We had been looking forward to the release show of Vuelve Al Mar since we saw them earlier this year and were completely blown away by their transformation. It's actually really hard to explain but if you saw WTF even a year ago or were an old fan of Central City Transmission, you know the musicians in this band have blossomed into something much more than we ever could have imagined. It's not just Ms. Jacqueline's vocals, which has reached the kind of depth and feel that will make music writers struggle to find synonyms for "haunting" for years to come. It's everything from the complexity and restraint of their song arrangements to the composure and confidence they now have when they take the stage. They finished up with the undeniably beautiful "Pájaros de Papel", after which we picked our jaw off the ground and bought a copy of the new record. And so should you. Get it on iTunes or at shows. Their next show is 12/14 at All Star Lanes.
This brings us to our little show last night. It was a special one and you're going to thank us that it was all captured, backed up, and mirrored to four different hard drives. First of all, we apologize if anybody tried to login to the Internet broadcast but, as predicted, the WiFi was intermittent. Second, you should have been there instead. The five-band lineup was increased last-minute by a one Trick Tracy (aka Brandon Schwartzel of Castledoor) who started the evening right with a little rhyming and two-timing. Friends have been telling us that this little project wasn't a joke and it isn't. It's actually pretty amazing. So amazing we want Brando back for more. And soon... Next up, we were given the gift of Tenlons Fort, the supergroup. Somehow we think T-Fort was always meant to sound that full and lush. It was the best Tenlons Fort show we've ever witnessed, not just because of his friends on stage but because we've never seen humble Jack so at ease, so happy to sing songs. It was perfection... We hear Jenny O. impressed a lot of people last night and we knew she would. Her voice is pretty and her songs are even prettier. A year or two from now when she's on Conan O'Brien she'll all but forget this night. We won't... We think Angela Correa got a little sick on purpose to make her voice all sexy slash whispery, just how we like it. She sang "Saint Dinan" like the old days when it was just us and the bartender keeping her sad, lonely songs company. We could barely look at the stage when she performed and she knows why... When Rachael Cantu takes the stage she owns it. You can't have it. It's hers. When she's done she'll let you know. Until then, look out for those pop hooks she throws out, they're all hits... Daniel Ahearn is just the kind of blue collar everyday guy we all need to have more of in Los Angeles. He's as down-to-earth and sweet as anybody we've ever met and it just so happens he's also a singer-songwriter that writes some of our favorite songs. That combination makes for more than just a good eHarmony profile, it makes for a lovely close to a wonderful evening. Thanks to everyone who came out and thanks to Koga for taking pics so we really didn't have to (although we did). We love you all.
Some vids from shows we did and didn't go to...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Our inaugural "Live at Mr. T's Bowl" was a very intimate affair. We kept it low-key (yes, even more low-key than usual) so that we could get a feel for what what kind of an undertaking it would be to do a fairly high quality recording at our beloved T's. So we invited a few of our most favorite artists, set up nine microphones and some video cameras around the room, and lo and behold, it sounded pretty good (for a rough mix)...
This was all in effort to maybe do a series of "Live at Mr. T's Bowl" shows where we not only record the show but also broadcast it live over the Internet like they used to do a few years ago at T's, Spaceland, Al's Bar, etc. This brings us to tomorrow's show where we are very lucky to have Angela Correa, Rachael Cantu, Daniel Ahearn, Jenny O., and Tenlons Fort play on this special evening. Angela, Rachael, and Jenny are three lovely and talented young ladies that probably wouldn't trust us to be alone with them so we asked Daniel Ahearn and Tenlons Fort to be our wingmen. In all seriousness, these are some truly amazing artists.
And given the amazingness of all these artists, it is highly recommended that you arrive early should you make the wise choice in attending this event. We understand that no one really listens to us when we make these recommendations but let it be noted that we did try to warn you.
Also, we will have a few copies of the poster available. We designed it as apart of a Photoshop blank canvas battle over the weekend in which we were asked to visually depict The Sayre Fire in less than five minutes. For some reason, a dandelion with its seeds being pulled away by little thrushes immediately came to mind. Needless to say, we lost the battle but we got a nice little poster out of it. Come get one. They're free but if you're feeling generous donate to the Redd Cross of Los Angeles.
November 19, 2008
la-underground presents
Live at Mr. T's Bowl
RACHAEL CANTU
DANIEL AHEARN
ANGELA CORREA
JENNY O.
TENLONS FORT
Mr T's Bowl
5621 1/2 Figueroa
Los Angeles, CA 90042 | Map
21+ / FREE / 9PM
Broadcasting live through Stickam although the last time we tested our Wi-Fi connection from T's it kind of sucked.
Rachael Cantu - "Saturday" (MP3)
Angela Correa - "Saint Dinan" (MP3)
Daniel Ahearn - "San Vicente" (MP3)
Tenlons Fort - "Forever Is a Long Time" (MP3)
Monday, November 17, 2008
Many laughs, hugs, and other beautiful moments were shared this past weekend. On Friday, we watched/listened to Tenlons Fort's appearance on "Demolisten" while driving down to Long Beach for The Parson Red Heads, Castledoor, and Slings at Alex's Bar. We specifically remember crying at least three times during the show and then by some strange coincidence we turn up at Alex's to find T-Fort and Elaine Layabout by the bar. So we all hung out and watched a great night of music in the LBC... Saturday, we stopped by LACMA to see members of Listing Ship, Divisadero, and many musicians we've seen at various CalArts performances take part in a 10-hour marathon of interpretative sound/art/science pieces all over the museum grounds. We were beyond impressed by the organization and the scope of the event, coordinated masterfully by Machine Project. We stayed for eight of the ten hours, didn't rest at all, and we still missed so much. Some of the many highlights were: The always-entertaining Douglas Lee's Glass Harmonica was made all the more interesting while he did so within the glass gallery with pieces of 15th century stained glass work (about the time glass harmonica was perhaps invented) above him; Emily Lacy's beautiful sacred oratorio with electronic loops in the Ahmanson lobby at the foot of Tony Smith's wondrous sculpture "Smoke" (she was also joined Ozma's Daniel Brummel for some folk songs in another part of the gallery); and "Machine Musical Elevator" (a rotating ensemble of musicians performing inside the Ahmanson building elevators) and "Gothic Arch Speed Metal" (every hour on the hour on top of the Art of the Americas building, a guitarist appeared under a replica of the the Doorway with Arms of the Counts of Chazay to perform one minute of speed metal) was something you just had to see to appreciate. And for those who didn't go, you can still go to LACMA's Hammer gift shop and pick up Fol Chen's limited edition CD interpreting Wiener Werkstätte's textile... From Machine to Animal, we left for Goldbear Academy for a night of getting in touch with our inner animal. We normally don't go to stuff like this. Getting dressed up in animal apparel is one thing, but we should really never be at a party with cool people like Jeremy Scott, Cobrasnake, Franki Chan, or members of Warpaint, BlackBlack, Lion of Panjshir, and so on. We did chat with Fred from "Demolisten" for a bit about about how great Friday's show with Tenlons Fort was but we were all just killing time waiting for the bands to start. Sadly, we only caught a full set from The Pharmacy and barely a song from Rainbow^Arabia before the party was shut down by L.A.'s finest. We're guessing PETA had something to do with it... On Sunday, we headed to Hermosa for our semi-regular hangout with Otik Records. Thanks to Elaine Layabout and Rob from Death to Anders for making the trek. The next Otik Records evening will be sometime in February or so.
Pictures from all the weekend fun are up.
This week: Residencies. Do it. Also, Whispertown 2000 opens for The Breeders and The Muslims at The Wiltern. The Shys and Army Navy at the Troubadour. And Free Moral Agens, Blank Blue and others at the Regent... Tuesday, Wait Think Fast celebrates the release of their new album Vuelve Al Mar at The Echo. Spindrift at Amoeba. Everest, The Henry Clay People, Nico Stai, and Dazzler at the Echoplex. The Broken Remotes, Pizza!, and Automatic Drawing for "Let's Independent" at Boardner's. Abe Vigoda and others at The Smell. Meiko opens for Rachael Yamagata at the Music Box. Voxhaul Broadcast, Union Line, Local Natives, and The Monthlies at the Silverlake Lounge. Emm Gryner returns to town at the Hotel Cafe. And Palms, Jeremy Drake and others at Hyperion Tavern... Wednesday, we're presenting a show at Mr. T's Bowl with five very talented singer-songwriters and maybe a surprise guest or two. Kárin Tatoyan, Seasons, Kissing Cousins, and The Californian at The Scene. Miranda Lee Richards and others at Tangier. Foot Village opens for AIDS Wolf at The Smell. Night Horse and others at The Echo. K-The-I??? celebrates the release of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow at The Airliner. He's My Brother She's My Sister, Samantha Shelton, and Crooked Cowboy at Three Clubs. And The Gray Kid at the Redwood... Thursday, Monte Negro, Pilar Díaz, and others at the Roxy. The Henry Clay People, Little Teeth, and Paper Planes at The Prospector. Ima Robot at Detroit. Terra Naomi, Molly Marlette and others at the Hotel Cafe. Meho Plaza, PROTECTME and others at The Smell. Billygoat and others at the Silverlake Lounge. And West Indian Girl continues their residency at Spaceland.
Also, happy belated birthdays to Sarah Ellquist (The Robotanists) and Samantha Shelton.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Funny thing happened after our little spiel on Spaceland the other day. We got invited to cover David Garza at Largo at the Coronet, the mother of all venues that don't allow photos/videos of any kind. It was something we couldn't pass up since 1). We think David Garza is a genius B). Calling David Garza a genius is the understatement of the century and III). As rabid geek fans of David Garza we were going to be there anyway. The show was one of the best we've ever seen him do and we've seen a few -- although there is no record of this since we have never been allowed to take pictures inside the only venue he ever plays in Los Angeles until last night. Unfortunately, however, it's darker than a mothereffer in there -- possibly darker than the old Largo and way darker than Darker My Love and even BlackBlack (that was stupid) -- so the evidence is pretty iffy. In any case, congratulations to Mr. Garza on the release of his new album Dream Delay, which was available for free to all attendees and is available now through CD Baby, select indie music retailers around country, and soon iTunes. We should also mention that the night was catered by our favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, Auntie Em's, which of course is owned by the goddess that is Terri Wahl (formerly of Red Aunts, one of our favorite bands of all time).
Listen up for Tenlons Fort on "Demolisten" tonight. Moonrats, Slang Chickens, and Night Horse open for The International Noise Conspiracy at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. The Parson Red Heads, Castledoor, and Slings at Alex's Bar. Eagle Winged Palace, John Thill, and Billygoat at pehrspace. Dave Palmer/Jon Brion at g'net. Lemon Sun, The Cheat and others at the Hotel Cafe. Alexi Murdoch opens for Alanis Morissette at the Orpheum. The Voyeurs, Bright Light Fever and others at Comic Bug. Uh Huh Her at the Avalon. War Tapes, Tijuana Panthers, and others at the Redwood. Mötley Crüe at the Hollywood Palladium. And Deerhoof with friends at Echoplex.
We heard ticket prices for the Marnie Stern show tomorrow at the El Rey shot up 233.3% since her kissing booth announcement. Let's hope she gargles after each $100 participant, otherwise the last dude/dudette is getting a taste of the carnitas certain fans will be having beforehand. Lucky Dragons open. Elsewhere, Sound Downtown Music & Arts Festival looks good. Aaron Beaumont celebrates the re-release of last year's self-release Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye) at the Hotel Cafe. Spirit Animal party at Goldenbear Academy. Machine Project at LACMA. Melissa Ferrick at g'net. Pop Noir opens for Adult. at Echoplex. Lightning Swords of Death and others at Mountain Bar. Robedoor, Wavves, and others at Echo Curio. Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Health Club, Secret Alphabet and others at American Legion Hall. And Annabella Lwin at Viper.
We're helping with a show down in Hermosa on Sunday but in the afternoon we'll be stopping by the Part Time Punks Festival at Echoplex (please let us know how many faces Pylon rocks off) as well as the always fun Felt Club at the Shrine. Meanwhile, Charlie Wadhams continues his Tangier residency. The 88 opens for The B-52's at Club Nokia. The Savages, Tigers Can Bite You, and others at the Knitting Factory. And The Antarcticans, Jesus Makes the Shotgun Sound, and Hallween Swim Team down at $ucka Free $undays.
War Tapes - "Dreaming Of You" (MP3)
Aaron Beaumont - "The Park Bench Song" (MP3)
Pylon - "Stop It" (MP3)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Almost every weekend for the last twelve years we've jogged or biked The Strand, about a 20-mile path from the Santa Monica Pier to the Hermosa Beach pier. Yet for all the countless times we've showed off our tight package through spandex athletic wear during the day, we've never had the notion to do so at night. That is until Otik Records asked us to help with a few of their shows recently at Saint Rocke and now we're all over Hermosa like Lohan on Ronson.
Each month, Otik Records tries to couple two bands from south of the 10 with two bands north of it, making a holy matrimony of music that hopefully a few savvy South Bay kids will appreciate. It's an effort to bring bands from both sides of the Rosa Parks Freeway together and we're quite sure Ms. Parks would have liked that. We certainly do.
This month we've got In Sepia and The Terrapin representing the South and The Hectors and Divisadero repping the North. We hope you can make it. Spandex encouraged.
November 16, 2008
Otik Records/la-underground present:
THE HECTORS
DIVISADERO
THE TERRAPIN
IN SEPIA
Saint Rocke
142 S. Pacific Coast Highway
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 | Map
21+ / 8pm / $5
The Hectors - "Cold Star" (MP3)
Divisadero - "Boxer's Daughter" (MP3)
The Terrapin - "Kill" (MP3)
Another amazing night at pehrspace on Monday (pictured above). Other pictures are posted here but we apologize in advance for the poor photo representation of the show. We've been experimenting with the new XSI and Canon tech support has been extremely unhelpful in finding the Koga-ize button.
In other news...
For those not going out this week, check out some late night talk shows with locals Beck on the Tonight Show (11/12), Sia (whose band features Gus Seyffert aka Willoughby on bass) on the Late Show (11/13), Cold War Kids on the Late Late Show (11/13), and Joshua Radin on Conan O'Brien (11/13). Also, a special mention for Charlie Haden who performs with the entire Haden musical family on Letterman tonight (11/12). Yes, that includes Ruth, Petra, Rachel, Tanya, and Josh and they'll all be singing Josh's contribution to the recently released album Rambling Boy, which incidentally is our favorite album of the year...
Also making the talk show circuit is our old friend Dido who recorded her new album in Los Angeles while attending music classes at UCLA. Her first show in Los Angeles was at Largo like in 1998. There were five or so people in the room including us and Jon Brion. Jon asked us who she was and all we knew at the time was that we were given a demo of Rollo's little sister six months prior and we liked it enough to see her live. Fast forward ten years later to her new album Safe Trip Home, due 11/18, and co-produced by none other than Jon Brion. It's by far the most mature record she's done and you can definitely hear the Brion influence in her phrasing on songs like "Let's Do the Things We Normally Do", our favorite track. The lead single "Don't Believe in Love" is probably the weakest of the bunch but we don't exactly hear a lot of radio hits on it anyway -- which might be the reason why the album was delayed for so long. Label people are probably begging Eminem to throw her another bone right now. Oh, and "The Day Before the Day" is particularly very pretty.
Speaking of Dido, in response to Nic Harcourt (who a lot of people say "discovered" her) leaving KCRW, we feel it's probably time. His predecessors Tom Schnabel and Chris Douridas both hosted the show for about ten years themselves and that's about the right amount of time to keep the show fresh for listeners. That said, we know Nic and worked with him during the Douridas handoff. He was a nervous wreck those first few shows but eventually came into his own bringing a variety of good music both internationally and homegrown while occassionally adding a bit of Brit humor to an otherwise formulaic industry-driven program. Years later, we caught up with him at the Hotel Cafe and we couldn't help but praise him for being one of the few supporters of our mutual friend Lisa Germano who we were both there to see that night. In any case, our vote is for Chris Checkman to take over as host although he'd probably shoot himself in the face if he had to be around Ruth Seymour for longer than five seconds.
Gary Jules returns with a new-old album Birds on 11/25. It was recorded prior to 2006's self-titled album and only recently he has decided to put it out. He'll be at his old stomping grounds the Hotel Cafe every Tuesday through the month of December and appears on "Morning Becomes Eclectic" on 11/21.
Greg Behrendt is following us... on Twitter.
The divine miss Inger Lorre has had to cancel tomorrow's appearance at the Knitting Factory due to serious illness. We were very much looking forward to this rare appearance by the former Nymphs goddess. Let's hope she makes a speedy recovery.
The Deadly Syndrome will announce the lineup and details of their 12/13 holiday benefit show at Echoplex on Monday although most might be able to guess it will include bands in their Top 8.
Happy birthdays this week to brothers from another Mother, Tenlons Fort and Aaron Embry, who we hear might be recording together again very soon. Like today even.
Finally, in response to Elaine Layabout's cease and desist from Spaceland Productions... It's unfortunate when anything becomes corporatized but especially when it's a well-respected promoter like Spaceland Productions. We understand the reasoning now but what's going to happen when mobiles... wristwatches... eyeglasses are able to record 1080p which we aren't too far from? So it really doesn't make any sense... But more importantly, we really think it's a bad idea to not allow fans be fans. A good example is from a recent trip we took in Europe. From London to Stockholm to Paris, kids were asking us about The Smell. They had seen videos of No Age, HEALTH, and Mika Miko play there and to them it seemed like some mythical fantasyland. Intentional or not, the club has single-handedly reinvigorated L.A.'s punk scene to the masses while branding The Smell as its epicenter. Stick that in your business model restructuring, Live Nation. Another case in point, of course, is blog coverage. We really don't cover any shows that require photo passes or any type of credential that separates us from just beings music fans. And one quick Technorati search for coverage of this month's residencies indicates we're not the only ones. Moreover, we feel this hurts the whole prospect of being a fan in today's world of Web 3.0, of which Ms. Elaine is of the highest calibre. So in support of "Yes on Prop Layabout" we're going to be marching in Silver Lake. We don't where yet, but probably somewhere we won't get arrested for possession of an illegal point-and-shoot.
Speaking of videos, here's a new feature we're going to call "Videos from Shows at Venues Currently Allowing Point-and-Shoot Video Recording":
Monday, November 10, 2008
We tried to make up for missing some shows recently by seeing a few friends play over the weekend. First of all, we never miss an Audrey Kawasaki opening so we stopped by thinkspace on Friday to see the biggest crowd we've seen since her last show at the gallery. We double parked for five minutes just so we could get a quick look-see and became instant fans of Travis Louie and Laura Laine's graphite work and would have bought something if everything wasn't already sold slash within our five dollar price range. Then we left for pehrspace for No Little Kindness, The Sleeping Bags (featuring members of Princeton), and The Dandelion Council. We love NLK. Seriously, how good is this band? And so humble. Like, they haven't a clue how good they are. How good? They're working on a new record for next year and it's already on our Best of 2009 list... Saturday, we stopped by The Smell to see the great lineup of Moses Campbell, The Widow Babies, Watercolor Paintings, and Voice on Tape. Four bands that many are saying are among the next wave of hitmakers to come out of the so-called "Smell" scene. And having seen them all a few times now we do think the future is bright for this latest collective -- although we still think it's depressing that most of them were like six years old when The Smell first opened... On Sunday, we changed it up a bit and went to Mountain Bar for the heck of it. The heck of it being Bonnie McKee. We all know the story by now. Huge buzz leads to bidding war leads to record deal leads to differences in artistic direction leads to unsuccessful sales leads to being dropped from record label. We met her many moons ago and we're glad she's still doing her thing although singing to a backing track is really not her thing. She's still got that star quality though and she'll apparently be showcasing it on an upcoming episode of CSI:NY. But just a piano and that voice is all this girl really needs. We were also very impressed with Falsetto Teeth, fronted by guitar madman Alex Noice who obviously has been holding back playing in Alex & Sam. Wonderfully playful and chaotic, like a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon if Nels Cline and Melt Banana were doing the chasing... Photos up.
The Monolators continue their residency at pehrspace tonight and we must say that it was such a great blast from the past to hear those old songs the first week with original guitarist Mike Dennis. This week, they're playing with another fantastic lineup of friends and the almighty 60-Watt Kid. Check out a video of 60WK we took last year below to get a taste of how utterly brilliant they are. Web in Front has an outstanding interview with the Monos here with live tracks from the first residency night. CGT has a review of the first week. And Elaine Layabout has vids from the first week posted.
Other stuff this week: Steve Reynolds opens for Tom McRae at the Hotel Cafe. Beck at Club Nokia. And the other great residencies for His Orchestra, The Western States Motel, and Francisco The Man... Tomorrow, Earlimart, Afternoons, Red Cortez, and Dazzler at Echoplex. Rickie Lee Jones at g'net. Spindrift, Restaurant, and The Sky Parade at the Roxy. 60-Watt Kid, Featherbeard, VOICEsVOICEs, and others at Ding a Ling. Lucky Dragons, Hecuba, and Palms open for Pit Er Pat at The Smell. Dusty Rhodes and the River Band and others at The Prospector... Evan Way opens for Adam Stephens at Tangier. The Entrance Band, Golden Animals, and The Growlers at Spaceland. Love Grenades and Little Red Radio at The Bordello. The Health Club, boxViolet, Cobra Lilies, and others at Mr. T's Bowl. Restaurant and Line and Circle at Marathon Live. Night Horse opens for The International Noise Conspiracy at El Cid. Blank Blue and Damon Aaron at Low End Theory. And, of course, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen sign their new book at Borders Westwood... On Thursday, David Garza celebrates the self-release of his new album Dream Delay at g'net (official release is in January). John Doe and Kathleen Edwards at the El Rey. Useless Keys open for ...Trail of Dead at The Echo. Jesca Hoop, Lelia Broussard, and Emi Meyer open for Alice Russell at the Hotel Cafe. Look Daggers at Amoeba. Thailand, Death to Anders and others at the Silverlake Lounge. The Airlines celebrate the release of a new EP at the Viper Room. Meho Plaza, PROTECTME, and others at The Smell. And West Indian Girl continues their Thursday residency.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Congratulations to Madonna for making quite a mess of Echo Park last night. By the amount of luxury vehicles taking wrong turns, u-turns-into-q-turns, and stopping traffic asking pedestrians how to get to the 101, wethinks Madge has quite a few fans that have never been to this part of Los Angeles before. We wish a fraction of that audience could have gotten lost enough to wander into The Echo to see Happy Hollows celebrate the release of their new "Imaginary" EP. They would have seen a woman who handles a Gibson much better than this. But oh well... We also caught The Health Club and Avi Buffalo at The Scene earlier in the evening. And Correatown played a midnight slot at the Silverlake Lounge with new bassist Mike Corwin. Angela Correa heads out to NY for a couple of solo shows and we hear there might be a reunion with Amy Cooper on one of those nights. Someone better YouTube that shit.
Lots of things to get to tonight... Daedelus, The Entrance Band, The Chapin Sisters, and others play at Paper Magazine's 24-Hour Department Store sale beginning at 6pm tonight and going until 6pm tomorrow. Audrey Kawasaki & Friends "Drawing Show" opening reception at thinkspace tonight. Castledoor, Xu Xu Fang, and The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra at the USC Fisher Art Museum. Death to Anders, Seasons, Shiloe, The Transmissions, and Vaudeville do "First Fridays" at Mr. T's Bowl to benefit Isgoodmusic.com. Brainfeeder features Daedelus, Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer, and many others at Echoplex. Firecracker celebrates their 10th year anniversary with Biz Markie and others at The Grand Star. No Little Kindness, The Sleeping Bags, and The Dandelion Council at pehrspace. The Broken West at Spaceland. Dave Palmer and Lissie at The Little Room at g'net while Jon Brion does the big room. Emma Ejwertz celebrates the release of her new album Dizzy Arms at El Cid.
Be sure to check out the wonderful Silverlake Art Crawl on Saturday and Sunday. Also Saturday, Castaneda celebrates the release of their new EP "So This Is What We're Gonna Do" at On the Rox. The Mormons, The Health Club, Bastidas and others at American Legion Hall. Letters To Cleo reunite for an anniversary with local gal Kay Hanley back at the helm. Blank Blue at The Prospector. Downtown/Union, Dirt Dress, and others at Echo Curio. And Dead Meadow at the Troubadour.
On Sunday, Beck and Jenny Lewis help launch the new Club Nokia. Charlie Wadhams continues his Sunday residency at Tangier. 60 Watt Kid, Bobb Bruno, Halloween Swim Team, Laco$te, and others at The Smell. Nora Keyes, Featherbeard and others at Show Cave. Rocking Horse People, Spirit Vine, and others at Spaceland. My Pet Saddle, Dietra Kruschev, and others at The Que Sera. And The Strange Boys play an all-day free show at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre.
Flying Lotus - "Tea Leaf Dancers" (MP3)
Biz Markie - "Just a Friend" (MP3)
Dead Meadow - "Let It All Pass" (MP3)
The Strange Boys - "Nothing" (MP3)
Thursday, November 06, 2008
We totally forgot to vote and we really wish someone would have reminded us with a bulletin, a Tweet, an IM, or something. A simple change of your profile icon to a political figure or a status update indicating that it was time rock the vote would have sufficed. Instead we'll forever be relegated to the lowly 35.9% of eligible voting citizens who didn't vote in this historical election. Thanks Web 3.0.
We spent election evening in Long Beach with our friends Summer Darling (as seen above) and a surprise visit from Joanie Mendenhall who filled in on keyboards for the San Diego band Years Around the Sun. An added bonus was the temporary return of Loop Haro on drums while Summer D-lite looks for a worthy replacement (contact them if you are awesome). Let it be known, although it's fairly obvious now, that we're totally and utterly obsessed with Summer Darling. Vote No on Prop 8 so we can marry them. Oh and happy birthday to DJ Velvet Touch.
We also went to that house party in Long Beach earlier in the night but Avi Buffalo doubleyouteeeffed us and went on on too early.
Congratulations to HoneyHoney on the release of their new album First Rodeo. We heard the sold-out show went great. This band's arrival to the scene couldn't have come at a better time since the folk-blues duo niche has been left vacant upon the dissolution of Eastmountainsouth and their subsequent move to Nashville (hi Kat!). The moment we saw Ms. Santo at the Air Conditioned Lounge a few years ago, we knew her Susan Tedeschi-meets-Patty Griffin croon would be a hit. She's a star.
Speaking of stars, look out for this lady Jenny O. She's been playing shows quite off the radar for awhile including last night at Sabor y Cultura. A girl with that much talent is destined for bigger and better things. Before that, though, she's playing our much smaller and humbler "Live at Mr. T's" night on 11/19. Yes, that's five of our most beloved singer-songwriters (potentially six) on one night. For Free. Ridiculous.
Later on last night, we were set to stop by Ms. Farris' birthday show at Bordello but apparently they changed the photo policy at the club. No biggie. We detoured to Jeremy Jay at Three Clubs and then to The Airliner for another birthday show. Happy birthday to William Bensussen aka The (Mother Fucking) Gaslamp Killer. He layed down a blitzkrieg breakcore set before surprise guest Flying Lotus threw down some ambient breaks of his own, slightly thrown off a bit by how aggressively everyone came with it. And we rank Nosaj Thing's set as one of the top five manipulator mindfucks of the year. Seriously, that man is a genius.
So on to tonight where we most likely will see all three of you at The Echo for Happy Hollows' long-awaited release show of their "Imaginary" EP. It's very much the best thing they've recorded thus far and one step closer to capturing all the energy they exert on stage. You can get the EP for free/donation here but we highly suggest you get the real deal tonight where you can properly be Negahdari'd in person.
Also tonight, we're getting Lykke'd up and down as Ms. Lykke Li and Bjorn (from PB&J) make dual appearances at the temp opening of 55DSL down in Costa Mesa and then guest DJing at La Cita later on in the evening.
Now for another edition of "Videos of Shows We Didn't Go To"...
Monday, November 03, 2008
We broke our own rule #183 and committed the cardinal sin of going out on Halloween. For the most part, we survived... Spaceland was quiet. We love non-crowded shows, but goodness, does anyone else not think The Entrance Band is of the highest caliber of pure rock music? Props to DJ Sylvia dressed in prison stripes doing her best to keep things lively over there but we had to leave early. Quickly headed over to Cahuenga corridor, sighing at all the party-goers who actually thought the 101 was faster than taking side streets, and made an effort to find street parking. Even our super secret parking spot was taken (by a cop car). Guessing we missed
Fully rested, things went much better on Saturday night. Thanks to everyone who came out to pehrspace for all the great music and friendly atmosphere. Thanks to the bands, DJ Boy Without Orange and especially to Pauline, D'vina, and everyone at pehrspace for being such lovely hosts and making things run so smoothly. We love pehrspace. And by the looks of their November schedule we'll probably be there a lot in the next few weeks.
Speaking of November, residencies this month include West Indian Girl, The Monolators, Charlie Wadhams, The Western States Motel, Francisco The Man/Sweet Sweet Things, Jon Brion, Dave Palmer, WEAVE!, His Orchestra, Meghan Smith, and Terra Naomi...
Release shows include David Garza, Happy Hollows, Wait Think Fast, Spindrift, Charlie Wadhams, Shiny Toy Guns, Ferdinand, HoneyHoney, WEAVE!, Castaneda, The Airlines, Aaron Beaumont, Oren Lavie, Cordero, FeelGood, Kristina Pupo, Ript, and Keren Deberg...
In other news: Yma Sumac died Saturday in Silver Lake after a long bout with cancer. If you've never heard this woman sing then you probably haven't heard a real singer. Coincidentally, we were just in a conversation about her recently after spinning her version of "Bablau" at one of our listening parties. The woman was bad ass... Speaking of bad ass, local blog Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster just released a new holiday compilation of local bands including Earlimart ("I'll Be Home For Christmas"), Sara Lov & Dustin O'Halloran ("Silent Night"), Great Northern ("This King"), and Carmen Rizzo ("As The Day Breaks"). All proceeds of the recording go to Midnight Mission. Click here for details!... Good write-up with Dulli including mentions of a new Twilight Singers album in 2009... Stone Temple Pilots are scheduled to play New Year's Eve at Club Nokia... The Vacation's newest album Get Used is available for free, appropriately sponsored by Playboy.
