Friday, March 12, 2010
Some highlights for the week were a quick look-see at Three Clubs for Taylor Locke & the Roughs (pictured above). They were also selling their new record Grain & Grape for the first time since its February release and we were curious what Mr. Locke and Señorita Froom have been up to since splitting from Rooney and The Like, respectively. We stopped going to Rooney and Like shows probably back when they were both still teenagers so it was good to see them take the small Three Clubs stage like seasoned veterans. Still, it might be too early to do a proper review of the band before they've got more shows under their belt, but the songs are pretty catchy 70's rock that are actually more contemplative and somber than the hooky choruses might indicate. Check out their record release show on 3/23 at The Bordello. We should probably also note that The Whale Fall (featuring Matt Greenberg of Charles Atlas) opened the show to one of the more packed crowds we've ever seen at the club. Keep your eye on them... We also had to stop by the Radar Bros. warm-up for SXSW and preview of their record release show on 3/26 at Spaceland and, oh goodness, this might be the best work they've ever done. These new songs are fantastic.
We got a little message from a longtime la-underground friend that we should doubly mention the BRMC show at Amoeba tonight but then it got canceled. However, you can still head over to the Echo Park side of Sunset and see Ben Harper do an in-store at Origami and pick up any last-minute freed up tickets for the BRMC show at Echoplex, which is still happening. We all know Harper likes to keeps it realsies and has been secretly and no-so-secretly playing small shows in between stints at the Greek for years. But playing a free in-store at a space the size of his walk-in closet might be a first. Even if you don't get inside you can still grab a slice at Two Boots and enjoy the mobscene this show will undoubtedly create.
The Happy Hollows are headlining the Troubadour for the first time tonight. Ms. Negahdari cranked out quite a few promo vids for this show just like the mad genius slash wacky weirdo chick who-will-one-day-be-our-wife she is. We don't take to 500-capacity venues very well but we're tempted to make an exception given the importance of the show for the band. The Veils and Twilight Sleep (whose recent shows have been the best we've seen by them) open the evening.
Elsewhere, those who did not attend the premiere of "The Runaways" last night at the Arclight (Joan Jett, by the way, is still a friggin' goddess) might perhaps be inclined to go to Space 15 Twenty tonight to meet the film's director Floria Sigismondi and purchase limited edition stills from the movie to benefit Stand Up For Kids.
Also tonight, everyone's favorite nerd blogger Ben McShane of Classical Geek Theatre celebrates his sweet sixteen at pehrspace tonight. Word on the streetz is that this party will be bigger and better than Justin Dior Combs, Chris Brown, and Soulja Boy's parties combined. Stoned At Heart (featuring members of The Underground Railroad to Candyland), Jack Wilson Jr., and Downtown/Union help blow out the candles.
On Saturday, Crystal Antlers celebrate the release of their new "Little Sister" 7" at Origami Vinyl at around 4pm. Again, "if you don't get inside you can still grab a slice at Two Boots..." And maybe stick the area for The Franks' in-store later that evening at 7pm.
On Sunday, there's a couple of good shows at McCabe's with Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang doing an early kids show and The Swell Season doing a show to benefit the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. Also playing an early afternoon kids show are The Watson Twins and The One AM Radio over at The Echo. Bring your kids or your neighbors' kids to get in.
We'll be losing an hour of sleep on Sunday but for most of us that doesn't matter since we haven't participated in such a time-wasting event like that since infancy. Still, that one hour of lost time only brings us closer to Monday than we want to be so enjoy the weekend while you have it. And we love you.
Monday, March 08, 2010
We thoroughly enjoyed your company on Saturday at pehrspace. Thank you to Black Church and The Nocturnes for their beautiful opening sets. And thanks to Sister Crayon (pictured above) for making hearts a flutter with their fantastic showcase slot. They were the first band we booked for this night and showed all the promise of a band that won't be playing 50-capacity art spaces for too long. Not only that but they were super nice, which as you know, is really the only thing that matters. They're in town for the next week or so, playing a few more shows in town including tonight at The Echo. The last two bands of the night were TEARIST and special guests from Brooklyn Light Asylum who combined for quite a one-two knockout to end the night. Light Asylum's Shannon Furchess has a stage and vocal presence that commands your attention much like Grace Jones, Siouxsie Sioux, or Annie Lennox. They've been making a lot of noise in NY's underground electronic dance scene and we don't doubt things will be spreading quickly in the coming months. We thank them so much for their special performance on their brief L.A. visit. And we thank those who stopped by Saturday for checking out five great bands. By the way, we also webcasted the show live, something we started doing a few years back and something we should be doing all the time. Anyway, if you want to check out some archive clips of the show go here.
Tonight, the Monday residencies are on. Elsewhere, David Scott Stone, The Urxed, and Mirror to Mirror and Echo Curio. Renee Stahl and others at Room 5. So Many Wizards and Lil' Whup at Tribal. Rj Chesney celebrates a new record at at the Hotel Cafe. Thee Vicars, Night Beats, Cobalt Cranes, and others at Redwood. Kissing Cousins opens for David Bazan at Alex's Bar. Kyoka returns to town for Carnage's night at pehrspace. Year Long Disaster and others at the Troob... Tuesday, Pocahaunted, Infinite Body, Tracy Trance, and Taterbug Echo Curio. Superhumanoids, Random Patterns, Red Tide, and His Orchestra at the Bootleg. Sheila Nicholls and others at the Hotel Cafe. The Rescues and HoneyHoney at Saint Rocke. Brandon McCulloch & The Deadbirds, Meredith Meyer, Haroula Rose, and others at Viper. Jamie Drake at Crane's. Planets, Totally Serious, LA Fog, and Secondary at The Smell. Wildlife Refugees, Finn Riggins, and Boy Eats Drum Machine at The Prospector... Cary Brothers, Meiko, Shane Walsh, Mighty Kate, and Girl Problem at the Hotel Cafe. Delta Spirit, We Barbarians, Jonny Corndawg at the Bootleg. Darker My Love opens for The Temper Trap at the Music Box. Travis x A-Trak at the Roxy. Abe Vigoda and Lovvers at The Echo. Agent Ribbons, Kissing Cousins, Wet & Reckless, and Esquire at the Silverlake Lounge. Free Moral Agents, The Soft Hands, Bella Novela, and L'Orchidee at Alex's Bar. Learning Music, Cassorla, Boy Eats Drum Machine, and Dylan Trees at Echo Curio... Thursday, check out Downtown Art Walk. Then maybe check out Dawes, Cory Chisel, and Jason Boesel at the Troob. Felix Cartal, Classixx, and Paparazzi at V20. Melissa Ferrick, Jim Bianco, Joey Ryan, and Jay Nash at the Hotel Cafe. The Watson Twins at g'net. Amanda Jo Williams, Ora Cogan, Fort King, and Beliss at Echo Curio. Big Whup, VOICEsVOICEs, and Lola Loshkey raise funds for SXSW at Show Cave. BRMC at Echoplex. Cue the Moon, Marjorie Fair, NOPAL, Seswoo, and It's Gonna Crash at T's. "I Am a Laser" at Club Nokia. On Blast, Jail Weddings, and Johnny Odonnell at Alex's Bar. So Cow, Battlehooch, Christmas Island, and Judgement Day at The Smell. Son Ark, Franklin Music School, and The Dust Bowl Cavaliers at Hyperion Tavern. Spider Problem, NASA Space Universe, Narwhal Party, and Peg Leg Love at L'KEG. Spindrift and The Stevenson Ranch Davidians at The Prospector.
Happy birthdays this week go out to Jim Merson (Captain Ahab), Stewart Cole, Ashley Jex (Rock Insider), Ben McShane (Classical Geek Theatre), and Marko Shafer (Hotel Cafe).
Friday, March 05, 2010
Thanks to all who were able to stop by Synchronicity Space on Wednesday as we not only celebrated the release of one fine new record by Tenlons Fort (pictured above) but also sadly bid him farewell as the ever-wandering Jack Gibson left a few hours after the show back to his other home of Austin, TX. For those not lucky enough to be cozy'd up with such a beautiful crowd that night, you can still get the record on CD Baby and iTunes. We hear he'll be back in June and will likely be hanging with a few L.A. bands at SXSW again this year. As always, we wish him all the best on his travels. See you soon, T-Fort.
Oh, and so nice to see Leno back making the Tonight Show horrible again this week. however we thought of an interesting idea to give us hope of his early retirement. Since network television sometimes has a habit of canceling shows we all like ("Freaks and Geeks," "Arrested Development," "Undeclared" to name a few), we can all really try hard and make believe that Leno is actually funny and doesn't just deliver jokes like a tree stump thereby forcing us to, dare we say it, enjoy his show. Then with enough collectively manufactured approval ratings he will inevitably get the pink slip... Ok, horrible idea, but mostly the Leno being funny part. And since we're really not on the subject, most every episode after the pilot on NBC's "Community" has been actually really good despite poor response. The debate episode was fantastic and every ep since then has been increasingly sharper than the last. The show is likely up on the chopping block so we thought we'd say a little something like we did when "The Office" was threatened to be canceled after its first six episodes. Where else could you have seen the occasional cameos from Erik Charles Nielsen and a nice usage of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zero's "Home"? Also, it helps that Ken Jeong is straight up genius and the fact we just saw the Donald Glover do an amazing stand-up recently and perfectly put "Two and a Half Men" (second only to Leno in horribly unfunniness) in its place. Conversely, Aziz Ansari also did a great performance that night (that included a ridiculously funny bit about racial slurs, which for some reason made us think why haven't we seen a Timberlake/Danger Mouse collab project called Racial Slurs), but we still don't think "Parks and Recreation" will last too long. Perhaps because it's not very good and Amy Poehler looks bored. Anyway, no one watches TV anymore. We're all too busy at indie rock clubs, right?...
Goodness, this Friday update thing went totally in a different direction than our normal Friday update thing where we essentially repost the same calendar of events that every other blog in Los Angeles posts. Redundancy is reason #219 why terrorists hate America so for this week, we're not posting a calendar. If you're smart however, you might want to see any one of these fine locals playing this weekend: The Bird and the Bee, Shadow Shadow Shade, WEAVE!, Big Whup, Missincinatti, Moses Campbell, The Submarines, The Happy Hollows, Summer Darling, Meho Plaza, SISU, Orenda Fink, Odd Modern, Familiar Trees, It's Casual, The Like, VOICEsVOICEs, Jail Weddings, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Audacity, and I Read Her Journal.
Happy birthdays this weekend to Chris Hernandez (The Happy Hollows) and our ex-wife Jenna Fischer.
Oh, and we're presenting a show on Saturday but it's more of like a secret show because this promo is like placed so far below the fold that no one really knows about it. So, shhhhhhut it. Love you!
So night one at pehrspace last week was certainly a thing of beauty. So how else could we top ourselves than to invite five of the most beautiful bands around for a night of beauteous beauteousness?
TEARIST, Sister Crayon, The Nocturnes, and Black Church are four of the best new bands seen in 2009 (the fifth, by the way, must be kept a secret). Recently added to the ever-impressive Manimal Vinyl roster are TEARIST and Sister Crayon, both of whom have been blowing minds in their respective corners of California for the last year or so. Each are led by two of the most evocative new voices to the avant-garde electro scene (the lovely Yasmine Kittles of TEARIST and Terra Lopez of Sister Crayon) and, along with their fellow labelmates We Are the World, VOICEsVOICEs, and Warpaint, are poised to make Manimal Vinyl the cornerstone of the West Coast future sound. While TEARIST and Sister Crayon are already on the radar of many a tastemaker, The Nocturnes and Black Church have been relatively off any such radars. However, we can tell you first hand that you should not wait for too long to see these two. The Nocturnes not only released one of the best records of 2008 with A Year Of Spring but they also played one of the best shows we saw last year with their absolutely stunning performance at Synchronicity Space back in October (which was also drummer Daniel Yasmin's going away show). Mark our words, lead singer/guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle (who will be heading out on a North American tour as Red Sparowes' new guitarist in a few weeks, which in itself should tell you something about her talent) is destined for greatness. Black Church is the goddess that is Kim Humphreys, whose last few performances at Echo Curio and 2HeadedHorse completely had us mesmerized. After picking up her "Less You" cassette release last year, we've been trying to put together the appropriate night to showcase her one-woman artistry (looping bass guitar, virtuoso violin and haunting vocals) and we finally did it. Wait until you see this lady. Bring a box of tissues.
Speaking of a box of tissues, when we finished putting together this lineup, we actually started tearing up a little. Gosh knows if we'll be able to contain ourselves when the night actually happens...
March 6, 2010
Los Angeles Loves...
TEARIST
SISTER CRAYON
THE NOCTURNES
BLACK CHURCH
plus special guest
pehrspace
325 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026 | Map
All Ages / $5 / 9pm
Facebook Event
TEARIST - "Headless (Rough)" (MP3)
Sister Crayon - "Souls Of Gold" (MP3)
The Nocturnes - "Paper Hands" (MP3)
Black Church - "Collect Yourself Start Praying" (MP3)
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Humble Jack Gibson, aka Tenlons Fort, is leaving Los Angeles again in a few days and he's going out the only way he knows how. With a
Tenlons Fort is releasing a new album entitled the Shelters LP, the follow-up to 2009's hugely overlooked "Forever is a Long Time" EP. It's long been said (mostly by us) that the man simply cannot write a bad tune and this album epitomizes that notion. All of his signature autobiographical daggers still cut to the bone with his usual clever narrative, perfectly packaged in ten beautifully melodic songs. Yet "perfectly packaged" might be the understatement of the year since if you listen and study these songs closely you'll realize how brilliant one must be to turn an epic gut-wrenching novel into a page-turner. Most songs on the album are barely three minutes and yet after every single one of them you feel as though you've gone through Bon Iver's entire discography ten times -- except you thankfully won't have to look up words like Kumran anytime soon. The sad thing is that when all is said and done, humble Jack Gibson might once again release one of the best records of the year that no one will ever hear. Let's hope this Wednesday is the beginning of better things to come.
On Wednesday, Tenlons Fort celebrates the release of this fine new record (rumored to be his last) at Synchronicity Space with friends Will Courtney from Brothers and Sisters and Shelters producer, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Downtown/Union. He'll also be joined on stage by members of The Monolators, Le Switch, Divisadero, Castledoor, the aforementioned Will Courtney, and maybe some other surprises. 50% of the proceeds of this record will go to the Shelters Fund to benefit a number of charities that Jack has been working with for several years. Also, tonight, be sure to head out to Silver Factory Studios for the premiere of Jack's short film The Shortest Month of the Year featuring live performances by Eli Monolator and Downtown/Union.
Los Angeles Loves... Shelters
March 2, 2010
Shortest Month of the Year screening
Silver Factory Studios
4310 Jefferson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016 | Map
8pm
March 3, 2010
Synchronicity Space, la-underground, and Gibson Bros. Record Co. present:
TENLONS FORT record release
MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY
DOWNTOWN/UNION
WILL COURTNEY
Synchronicity
4306 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029 | Map
$5 / All Ages / 9pm
Facebook Event
In lieu of free downloads off this charity album, which you can probably download somewhere else anyway, we're posting some live MP3s and video from the show last Sunday at pehrspace. See them live though. These don't come close to doing them justice...
Tenlons Fort - "Followed By Bad Luck" (Live at pehrspace, 2/28/10) (MP3)
Tenlons Fort - "Read It and Weep" (Live at pehrspace, 2/28/10) (MP3)
Monday, March 01, 2010
Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday at pehrspace. If you weren't there, you missed two brilliant performances by locals Timonium and Summer Darling as well as two stunning L.A. debuts from Silian Rail and powerdove. If you follow us on Twitter (and you shouldn't), we totally stopped updating after powerdove's set because of all the extended conversation we had about the bands. And, we have to admit, the talk of the night was about this new band from oaktown, Silian Rail. Fans of From Monument to Masses, Tristeza, and all the other intricately complex post-rock bands you might like will want to pick up this band's debut album And I You, To Pieces and keep an eye out for their upcoming follow-up due out soon.
Well, February sure was fun but March ain't look too bad either...
Residencies and multi-night performances this month include: Moonrats, Seaspin, The Delta Mirror, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, She & Him, Bad Religion, Heather Woodbury's "As the Globe Warms," BLOK, Tod Mcleod, Magnolia Memoir...
Record release shows: Radar Brothers, Tenlons Fort, Deadly Syndrome, Free the Robots, The Capshuns, Early Dolphin, Mishka, Moonshine and The Drugs (download their previous album here), Miles Kurosky, Vanaprasta, Eugene & The 1914, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Holloys, It's Casual, Von Cotton, Gregory Page, Mark Growden, Elevaters, Skyler Stonestreet, Steve Carlson, The Lincoln Bedroom...
Other big events and shows: 826LA's Chicken in Love Mini Music Festival, Classical Geek Theatre's Ben McShane birthday show at pehrspace, Downtown Art Walk, Donovan & Friends at the El Rey, Beyond Wonderland, Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka at the Masonic Lodge, FMLY Ride, Metric at the Palladium, Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary Party, Manifest Equality, "Storm Drain to Paradise" at the Geffen, Heather Woodbury: "As the Globe Warms" at Echo Curio, Threat Fest III, Paul McCartney at the Bowl, "A Night with Ira Glass: Radio Stories and Other Stories," and Bamboozle West 2010...
And, of course, it's SXSW month so many of us will be out of town but there also will be lots of hot, young flavors of the month stopping by too so get excited.
Finally, we're presenting two shows this month. One 3/3 for Tenlons Fort's "Shelters LP" record release at Synchronicity with Manhattan Murder Mystery, Downtown/Union, and Will Courtney of Brothers and Sisters (who recently moved to Los Angeles). The second is 3/6 at pehrspace with TEARIST, Sister Crayon, The Nocturnes, Black Church, and a special guest. You'll feel real bad some day if you miss these and that's all we'll say about that.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Well, this week was more of an emotional roller coaster then we anticipated: Two Castledoor members said goodbye, Club Ding-a-ling celebrated 3 years of being the best Tuesday weekly of the last 3 years (pictured above), Mary Lynn Rajskub performed one of the most unconformable comedy routines we've ever seen, and Ferraby Lionheart capped off his month-long residency at the Bootleg by pre-releasing his new record The Jack of Hearts ("Pocketknife" is a hit). And, last night, apparently 2.3 katrillion people wept at the sight of young ladies skating on ice. So, yeah, emotional week. And why not keep this roller coaster going with this weekend's shows...
Listen to KXLU for a 5pm performance by Silian Rail and then check them out tonight at pehrspace with Timonium, Summer Darling, and powerdove. Later on KXLU, The Mystery Lights go live on Demolisten. Pepi Ginsberg, Pepper Rabbit, and Jacuzzis at Viper. Paul F. Tompkins Show at g'net. When You Awake celebrates two years with a show at the Bootleg featuring Eric Johnson, Breathe Owl Breathe, Leslie and the Badgers, Shakey Graves and others. Let Go of the Rail, Mikki & the Mauses, Things, and The DeepSea Goes at McWorld. NGUZUNGUZU, Cosmic Kids, Dirty Dave, Louisahhh, and others at Stone Bar. The Damselles finish off their residency at Casey's with HoneyHoney and Common Rotation. Elephant Micah, Jennifer Furches, Ben and Bruno, Aaron Beckum at Music Castle. The Downtown Train, Tricky Sizzler, Ralpheene, and Spring Queen at Echo Curio. The Haters, Sissy Spacek, Gerritt Wittmer and Paul Knowles, and others at The Smell. Nevever opens for The Strange Boys and Chain and the Gang at The Echo. Celeste Prince and others at Room 5.
Saturday, Corridor and Estelle Raskina at Origami Vinyl. Emily Wells and Money Mark at the Getty. "The Shit Show" at UCBT. Patton Oswalt at g'net. Astra Heights celebrates the release of Ship of Theseus at the Bootleg. powerdove and Elephant Micah do an early show at Echo Curio. Bipolar Bear, Residual Echoes, Neverever, and Twisted Stars at The Smell. Mike Watt and The Missing Men, Abby Travis, and others at the Redwood. Pangea celebrates a new tape release at Echo Curio with God Equals Genocide, Moses Campbell, and others. Dirt Dress opens for Scout Niblett at Spaceland. "Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders" screens at the Silent Movie Theatre. Sin City Massive at the The Olympic Collection. The Cute Lepers, The Stitches, The Clorox Girls, and The Choke at Alex's Bar. Infocus Resurrection at 425. And The Shivers and Black Jesus at Dinner House M.
Sunday, Aztlan Underground, Subsistenzia, Guerrilla Queenz, and others at The Smell. Black Apples, Blood Bath, and The Like at Alex's Bar. Only Me, Daniel Brummel, Rama C. Bauer, Brittain Ashford, and others at the Mandrake. 60-Watt Kid, Speculator, Dirt Dress, Tan Dollar, and others at McWorld. Tenlons Fort, Elephant Micah, Miniature Soap, and Ben and Bruno at pehrspace. Neil Hamburger, Brody Stevens, Natasha Leggero, and Two Brothers at Spaceland. And Hightower, Green & Wood, and Space Vacation at 2HeadedHorse.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Yep. We, the honored and privileged souls of la-underground, were quite graciously given two nights to present at pehrspace in the next week. The first happens this Friday with two longtime favorite locals and two new favorites from up the coast.
Timonium and Summer Darling need no introduction. Timonium has roamed this scene longer than most of us even knew what indie rock was and by the time we figured it out Summer Darling had just settled in alongside them as two of the city's best and most under-appreciated bands in town. Timonium was co-founded in 1994 by Adam Hervey, who of course is the genius behind the pehr label (Languis, Grimble Grumble, Empress) and, oh yeah, might also have had something to do with this little awesome venue called pehrspace. We pathetically haven't seen Timonium since the glory days of Timbrespace and even though Friday's show will apparently be a minimal configuration as Adam Garcia is now drumming for Best Coast, we still cannot wait to see them in any shape or form. Summer Darling is one of our favorite bands of all time. We've made this declaration in many a post/tweet/repost/retweet for a little while now and with the release of their new record this summer on Origami Vinyl, we're bound by law/love/lust to declare it again. Deal with it.
Finally, Bay Area bands Silian Rail and powerdove (Annie Lewandowski formerly of The Curtains) will be making the trek southward for the show so we trust you will give them a warm L.A. welcome. Also, listen up to KXLU on Friday at 5pm to hear a live performance from Silian Rail.
We hope to see you there.
February 26, 2010
Los Angeles Loves...
TIMONIUM
SUMMER DARLING
SILIAN RAIL
POWERDOVE
pehrspace
325 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026 | Map
$5 / 9pm / All Ages
Facebook Invite
Timonium - "Self Evidence" (MP3)
Summer Darling - "Open Grave" (MP3)
Silian Rail - "... Or the Northern Lights" (MP3)
