Tuesday 04.01.08: THE POOR EXCUSES / SWORDS OF FATIMA / TALL HANDS / LIFE UNDER WATER @ echo

The Poor Excuses

The Poor Excuses play wordy, rambunctious, groove-heavy indie punk with a freaky edge. – Flavorpill

with:
The Swords of Fatima
Tall Hands || Listen
Life Under Water

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 04.02.08: GLACEAU presents – Charlemagne’s Birthday Show w/ THE OUTLINE / ROBOT LOVE / P.S. NEVERMIND / DREAM KIDS / THE FRANKS @ echo

The Outline || Listen
Robot Love
P.S. Nevermind
Dream Kids
The Franks

7:30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 04.02.08: DUB CLUB presents DON CARLOS @ Echoplex

Don Carlos

Don Carlos (born Euvin Spencer) Legendary Reggae Artist – Born and raised in one of the most deprived regions of Western Kingston, Jamaica, in a district notoriously known as Waterhouse, which incidentally is also a musical spawning ground for many of Reggae’s greatest ever talents, such as King Tubby, original member of Black Uhuru, The Jays, Junior Reid and King Jammy to name but a few, Don Carlos started his singing career back in 1973, as one of the original members of the aforementioned roots vocal group Black Uhuru. Alongside other founding members, Garth Dennis who later went on to joining the Wailing Souls and Derrick Ducky Simpson Uhuru’s central figure, as part of the trio, Don played a prominent role in the recordings of the highly acclaimed Love Crisis album, for producer Prince Jammy in 1977. The said album was later re-released and re-titled as Black Sounds of Freedom. A year after the trio’s ground breaking debut, Don Carlos surprisingly decided to part company in pursuit of a solo career. Having needed at least three years to get the grips of being a soloist, plus developing a knack for song writing and grooming that distinctive, vocal styling it wasn’t until May 1981 that Carlos really took the fraternity by storm, courtesy of a heavy, roots and culture flavored show case album titled Suffering for Negus Roots.

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $15 / 21+

Thursday 04.03.08: SLEEPINGBOY / SUMO / DANIEL BRUMMEL (from Ozma) @ echo

Sleepingboy

with:
Sumo
Daniel Brummel

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 04.04.08: FIRST FRIDAYS with THE WATSON TWINS / CASTLEDOOR @ Natural History Museum

First Fridays – Dinner, Discussion, Music & More

with:
The Watson Twins || Listen
Castledoor

@ Natural History Museum
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007

FMI: http://www.nhm.org/firstfridays/

5:30pm – Tour
6:30pm – Discussion
8:00pm – Music

5pm / Adult $9, students (w. ID) $6.50, Members FREE / All Ages

Friday 04.04.08: AUTCHRE / ROB HALL / MASSONIX @ Echoplex

Autechre || Listen

It would be deathlessly simplistic to say that Autechre make dance music, like saying that Vivendi sells compact discs. While it’s true that the English duo’s sound is coincidentally rhythmic, it’d be more appropriate to hail them as the true Sound of the City. Just as 1995′s Tri Repetae perfectly and pristinely captured the paranoid spirit of rapidly gentrifying urban areas—the soundtrack of homeless people pushed east, sodium streetlights casting an aura over rain-slick streets, and a deserted series of districts devoted part-time to factory-made toys, candy, and machine parts—their ninth and latest album, Quaristice, finely etches a glass metropolis with acid both nitric and hallucinogenic. – The Village Voice

with:
Rob Hall
Massonix

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

9pm / $18 adv, $22 dos / 18+

Friday 04.04.08: UNDERGROUND with ASHBURY / BULLET FOR DALI @ echo

with:
Ashbury
Bullet for Dali

Plus resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 04.05.08: Benefit for Garden School with GWENDOLYN & THE GOOD TIME GANG / A Magic show with RYAN MAJESTIC @ Echoplex

Gwendolyn & The Good Time Gang

It is very much to Gwendolyn’s credit that her second album for kids, Get Up and Dance!, released late last month, is entirely irony-free. Somehow, though, the songs are eager without turning off the parents. For example, kids will enjoy her exhortation to “bounce and bounce and bounce” (ad nauseam) “around” on the leadoff title track, while parents will smile wanly at the recognition of the fact that this, yes, is exactly how their child moves. But somewhere in the course of the song, the music opens up, adding handclaps and becoming sonically interesting (without losing the kids). The rest of the album is like that, too — the super funky “Eensy Weensy Spider,” the disco freeze-dance of “Red Means Stop,” and the best song never recorded for Grammar Rock!, “I Can Read.” The listing of vegetables “Out in My Garden” is reminiscent — in a good way — of their debut album’s “My Anatomy.” I also appreciate the fact that the album doesn’t end with a typical kids-album-closer slow song, but instead with the peppy “Sunny Day.” It fits perfectly here. – ZooGlobble.com

And:
Ryan Majestic (Magic Show)

@ Echoplex
Enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

10am / $10 for kids and $12 for adults / All Ages

Saturday 04.05.08: LE LOUP / THE RUBY SUNS / PRINCETON @ echo

Le Loup || Listen

Don’t be jealous of Sam Simkoff’s seven-piece D.C. collective just because they were snapped up by Sub Pop offshoot Hardly Art after only playing a few live dates. Simkoff’s compositions are shockingly ripe for someone so green. And though Le Loup is now practically Broken Social Scene-sized (thanks to Craigslist), all of the wily, weird and wonderful tracks on this debut are basically Simkoff’s solo bedroom recordings. Many tracks on their loquaciously titled debut explore richly textured, almost pastoral, Animal Collective-like experiments, but “We Are Gods! We Are Wolves!” finds Simkoff at his ethereal best. Starting out with spare, staccato synthesizer bleeps and bloops, the song blossoms with each added layer of sound—spooky/sensitive multi-tracked vocals, which split the difference between Devendra Banhart and Spencer Krug, shine when layered on top of the electronic padding, recalling Nancy Wilson’s percolating score for Almost Famous. – Paperthinwalls

with:
The Ruby Suns || Listen
Princeton || Listen

8:30pm / $8adv, $10dos / 18+

Saturday 04.05.08: BOOTIE LA @ Echoplex

LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party moves to the Echoplex!

Resident mashup DJs:
ADRIAN & the MYSTERIOUS D
DJ PAUL V.

From club Blender, special guest DJ:
RAW-BURT

Midnight mashup show, from Salt Lake City:
PRINCESS KENNEDY

This month, Bootie moves downstairs to the Echoplex — so now there will be more room to dance! Resident DJs Paul V., Adrian, and the Mysterious D keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating – and satirizing – the many different forms of music. This month, guest DJ Raw-Burt from club Blender joins them.

Launched in San Francisco in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, it’s a place where all sounds, cultures, and sexualities can unite on the dance floor. Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation – with free mashup CDs given away like candy! Bootie… because one song at a time just isn’t enough.

FREE Bootie CDs to the first 50 people through the door!

FMI: www.BootieLA.com

9pm / $5 before 10:30pm, $10 after / 21+

Sunday 04.06.08: GRAND OLE ECHO w/ DAVE GLEASON WITH OLD CALIFORNIO, JAIMI SHUEY, WEST OF TEXAS @ echo

with:
Dave Gleason with Old Californio
Jaimi Shuey
West of Texas

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 04.06.08: PART TIME PUNKS with ANAVAN / KUATO @ echo

With:
Anavan || Listen
Kuato

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Monday 04.07.08: Monday Night Residency – RADARS TO THE SKY / THE PARSON RED HEADS / AUSHUA / THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND @ echo

Radars To The Sky

As scores of aspiring bands around Los Angeles find, life can get in the way of music. Take a year in the life of Radars to the Sky frontman Andrew Spitser: “You graduate from law school, you take the bar exam, you get a job, you’re having a baby, and you think, ‘When the hell am I going to get this done?’ ” he says of his quintet’s “Big Bang” EP, its second release of 2007.

The singer-guitarist and his bandmates — guitarist Seamus Simpson, bassist Martin Avelar, drummer Kenny Kupers and singer-keyboardist Kate Post Spitser, his wife — got it done, all right, five intense volleys of indie rock with arcs back to a time when indie rock was less self-conscious. It’s no surprise that Spitser’s heroes are Built to Spill; the gnarly interplay between guitarists and the time signatures might bring Pavement or Sebadoh to mind. Even allowing for its self-production, “Big Bang” can be big and bold (and tender, when Kate Spitser’s vocals enter the mix), rock whose working-class trappings disguise an essayist’s soul. – LA Times

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen
Aushua || Listen
The Weather Underground || Listen

Presented by KROQ & Metromix

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 04.08.08.: NOBODY / THE GASLAMP KILLER / CAROLINE / JACK TUNG @ echo

Nobody || Listen

Nobody (Elvin Estela), has been a fixture in the Los Angeles music scene since the early 1990s, first as a producer for many of the premier emcees at the Good Life Cafe/Project Blowed, and then as a remixer, producer, and important member of the global electronic and indie-rock communities. He has worked with, remixed, and toured in support of the Postal Service, Prefuse 73, The Mars Volta, Aceyalone, Mia Doi Todd, and many others. His releases for Ubiquity and Plug Research have garnered him not only critical praise, but the clout to define and redefine his sound as he sees fit. His productions effortlessly flow from the hip-hop themes of his early career to the psychadelia and rock motifs of his most recent work, and his vast musical vocabulary allows him to deliver with each and every mix. – Mush Records

with:
The Gaslamp Killer || Listen
Caroline || Listen
Jack Tung || Listen

8pm / $8 / 18+

Tuesday 04.08.08: BOTTOMS UP DANCE PARTY @ echoplex

With:
DJ Lance Rock
DJ LL Cool G
Damien Decottle – Live Dance show with Dhari
DJ NGA Dave
Skare Tactic
Ten G Bob
Nic Cohn

@ echoplex
enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

9pm / FREE / 18+

Wednesday 04.09.08: SUMMER DARLING / WAIT.THINK.FAST / ARMY NAVY / KISSING TIGERS @ echo

Summer Darling || Listen

I’d never seen Summer Darling before. It only took me about three bars of the first song to fall in love with the foursome. For large portions of their set I felt like I was transplanted to the year 1994, nearly sure my track jacket had transformed itself to an old flannel shirt found at Goodwill. One or two songs reminded me of something like The Promise Ring or early Jimmy Eat World. That’s not to say that Summer Darling is playing in the past because there was something very contemporary about what they were doing. I think ten years younger and played twice as fast, and Summer Darling might be at The Smell instead of The Scene.

There was a lot of band interaction as they played, turning to face each other and look each other in the eyes. What I really loved were the lyrics. They were honest, if not venomous, but still endearing. The words to the songs were sung above, not beneath, the instrumentation and that made for a very intimate set despite the deafening buzz and fuzz. – Classical Geek Theatre

with:
Wait.Think.Fast.
Army Navy
Kissing Tigers

Plus Djs Kevin Bronson + Squaregirls

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 04.09.08: DUB CLUB @ Echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 04.10.08: MIA DOI TODD / WINTER FLOWERS / KARIN TATOYAN @ echo

Mia Doi Todd || Listen || Watch

Mia Doi Todd is one of those artists that seem to function not just as creators in their own rite, but as connecting links between other musicians. Through collaborations, she brings together the psychedelic electro of Nobody, the lysergic country pop of Beachwood Sparks survivors, the raga-rock textures of Shankar and the sophisticated jass phrasings of Joni Mitchell. As good as La Ninja is on its own terms, it may be even more important in the way it reinforces the ties between disparate musicians within her orbit. She’s the center of one of the more interesting pop electronic scenes around these days – and this album demonstrates, through the strength of her songs and her willingness to let them out into the world, why this should be. – Dusted Magazine

with:
Karin Tatoyan || Listen
Winter Flowers || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Friday 04.11.08: XIU XIU / THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN @ echo

Xiu Xiu || Listen || Watch

The San Francisco outfit, led by Jamie Stewart, are one of the most unique musical acts currently making music. Their brand of challenging and extremely personal music is distinctive and something that only Stewart and co. can do. And with Women as Lovers they have created one of their more accessible and cohesive albums to date.

In many ways, Xiu Xiu has been able to maintain its steady stance as being part of the indie-rock/pop genre and the avant-garde stylists. While this line is often blurred, even by Xiu Xiu themselves, their songs are carefully crafted pop songs with beautiful intimate touches all around. – Delusions of Adequacy

with:
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down || Listen

8pm / $10adv, $12 dos / all ages

Friday 04.11.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND (following Xiu Xiu) @ echo

With resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 04.12.08: DIRTY PROJECTORS / NO KIDS @ echo

Dirty Projectors || Listen

While Longstreth’s initial albums were mostly string-backed folk, he’s now given himself up to rhythm– in his words, his compositions have become more “horizontal” than “vertical.” The horizontal’s great for dancing– an opportunity that arises a few times here– but verticality is still the source of the songs’ tensions. Coffman and Waiche’s coos stack harmonies with Longstreth’s bleat like little car wrecks, and even though the guitars move like a West African dance band or math rock, the songs seem propelled by the constant resolutions of notes rather than the beats themselves. – Pitchfork

with:
No Kids

8pm / $10adv, $12dos / all ages

Saturday 04.12.08: DESCARGA presents CAVA @ echoplex

Cava

with:
Buyepongo

CAVA is back! This sultry Singer-Songwriter and Musician will headline the next ¡Descarga! with her all-star group on April 12th at Echoplex. Tickets are available at the door—$7 before 11pm or $10 after. CAVA’s sound is an eclectic mix of up-tempo world music that seamlessly fuses son, cumbia, salsa, ska and even Japanese Taiko drumming. Her Voice communicates a strong-willed feminine energy that is simultaneously sultry and maternal. She is a charismatic and commanding performer, backed by an all-star band that boasts residencies with Beastie Boys, Ozomatli, Mentiritas, among other musical affiliations. The ensemble features Walter Miranda on Piano, electric- keyboards and bass; Alfredo Ortiz on Drums and Timbales; Franchot Tone on Guitar and Maceo on Japanese Taiko drums. Opening the evening is an up-and-coming five-piece vallenato group, Buyepongo, that hails from East Los Angeles.

Plus Resident DJs Sloe Poke, Mando Fever, Bobby Soul, Loslito, Azul & Mexican Dubwiser spin classic salsa, cumbia, merengue, Latin hip hop, reggaeton, mashups, Brazilian and deep house grooves all night

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027

¡Descarga! is a monthly Afro-Latin music gathering for the people. This event is an alternative to the commercial salsa nights that have dominated the LA scene for years. Resident DJs Sloe Poke, Mando, Bobby Soul, Loslito, Azul and Mexican Dubwiser spin classic salsa and cumbia; plus merengue, punta and reggaeton. With live bands gracing the stage at midnight at nearly every show, it has become the taste-making New York to L.A. soiree, running over 5 years strong.

FMI:
www.descargaclub.com
Descarga on Myspace

9pm / $7 before 11pm, $10 after / 21+

Sunday 04.13.08: ALL IN ’08 – Poker Tournament to benefit THE BRIDGE PROGRAM with KILLSONIC / CECI BASTIDA / TRANSFATAL EXPRESS / CANNONBALL FUN @ echoplex

a Charity Poker Tournament and Benefit Concert for the Bridge Program. Cool prizes for all the top winners, a benefit concert with special guest performances after the tournament (8 pm), dancing, drinks, and surprises . . . all in a very happening club environment.

With performances by:
Ceci Bastida || Listen
Killsonic
Transfatal Express
Cannonball Fun

Register to play at: http://bridge.kintera.org/poker

FMI: The Bridge Program

2pm register; poker playing starts at 3pm, Music at 7:30pm / $200 to play, $12 to watch / 18+

Sunday 04.13.08: GRAND OLE ECHO w/ TONY GILKYSON / PATTY BLEE @ echo

with:
Tony Gilkyson
Patty Blee

Plus Squaredancing from 3pm-5pm

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

3pm / $5, FREE after 5pm / all ages

Sunday 04.13.08: PART TIME PUNKS with GARY WAR / WEAVE @ echo

with:
Gary War
Weave

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Monday 04.14.08: STARS OF THE LID / CHRISTOPHER WILLITS / NUDGE @ Echoplex

Stars Of The Lid || Listen

Kranky Records has often made subtle reiteration and variation an art form via the careful, restrained, frequently ambient drones of the likes of Keith Fullerton Whitman, Growing, and Tim Hecker, but some of the finest work in their catalogue is arguably that of Stars of the Lid, the long-running project of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie (formerly of Austin, Texas, currently relocated to Los Angeles, California, and Brussels, Belgium). The duo’s earlier work focused on manipulated guitar and field recordings, creating deep, often sparely-inhabited soundscapes, but by 2001’s sprawling two-hour The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid they’d moved on to glacially evolving orchestral arrangements incorporating other musicians and live horns and strings. The shift was accompanied by an increasing focus on melody, albeit on melody as an exercise in restraint, muted and melancholic, for a resulting album drifting out of pure drone and into to a sort of deeply textured classical minimalism. Finally, six years of slow intercontinental collaboration later, continued exploration into the latent melodic potential of their work has yielded McBride and Wiltzie’s masterpiece, And Their Refinement of the Decline. This expansive symphony, refined, decisive, and beautifully-realized, is a unique work, an impressive work, and ultimately, an important work. – Popmatters

with:
Christopher Willits || Listen
Nudge

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

8pm / $13adv, $15dos / all ages

Monday 04.14.08: Monday Night Residency – RADARS TO THE SKY / THE TRANSMISSIONS / THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / DEATH TO ANDERS @ echo

Radars To The Sky

As scores of aspiring bands around Los Angeles find, life can get in the way of music. Take a year in the life of Radars to the Sky frontman Andrew Spitser: “You graduate from law school, you take the bar exam, you get a job, you’re having a baby, and you think, ‘When the hell am I going to get this done?’ ” he says of his quintet’s “Big Bang” EP, its second release of 2007.

The singer-guitarist and his bandmates — guitarist Seamus Simpson, bassist Martin Avelar, drummer Kenny Kupers and singer-keyboardist Kate Post Spitser, his wife — got it done, all right, five intense volleys of indie rock with arcs back to a time when indie rock was less self-conscious. It’s no surprise that Spitser’s heroes are Built to Spill; the gnarly interplay between guitarists and the time signatures might bring Pavement or Sebadoh to mind. Even allowing for its self-production, “Big Bang” can be big and bold (and tender, when Kate Spitser’s vocals enter the mix), rock whose working-class trappings disguise an essayist’s soul. – LA Times

with:
The Transmissions || Listen
The Henry Clay People || Listen
Death To Anders || Listen

Presented by KROQ & Metromix

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 04.15.08: SUBHUMANS / CIRIL / HIT ME BACK @ echo

Subhumans || Listen

Mixing anger, wit and analysis with their trademark dynamic punk ethos this is the Subhumans at their most crushing and intense. You realize that they didn’t decide to make a new album, but had to. There’s a message front and center- they’re fed up with war and politics, and they’ve got something to say about it. Just as they always have been, the Subhumans are the voice of the common man. This is an album that can stand proudly next to over 25 years of Subhumans history without feeling out of place. – Interpunk

with:
Ciril
Hit Me Back

7pm / $12 / all ages

Tuesday 04.15.08: BOOZE CLUES Pub Quiz @ echoplex lounge (enter at 1822 Sunset Blvd

Booze Clues is a bimonthly pub quiz that tests your knowledge of music, current events, and pop culture. Come with a team of up to six players, or form one at the bar. Prizes are awarded for the highest score, most entertaining wrong answers, and best team name.

“The competition is as fierce as it is fun, and the questions are no walk around the Trivial Pursuit board game. You have to read the newspaper, be somewhat literate, know about art and, of course, be a pop-culture junkie.” Linda Immediato, LA Weekly

@ Echoplex Lounge
enter at 1822 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 04.16.08: THE PITY PARTY / AFTERNOONS / THE FRANKS / KARIN TATOYAN @ echo

With:
The Pity Party
Afternoons
Karin Tatoyan || Listen
The Franks

Want to go to a concert and meet your monthly quota of good deeds?
FILTER’s got you covered with a benefit event featuring The Pity Party, Afternoons, The Franks and Karin Tatoyan at the Echo Wednesday, April 16 in Los Angeles.

The benefit show will also feature art gang collective Bagavagabonds silkscreening tees, The Good Neighbor Comedy Troop Mc-ing, and DJ Hatbox spinning all through the night. Tickets are $7 and all proceeds will be donated to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund which aims to financially assist career musicians who are facing illness or disability.

8pm / $7 / 18+

Wednesday 04.16.08: DUB CLUB with HALF PINT @ echoplex

with:
Half Pint || Listen

A classic singer known for his huge hit Greetings, Half Pint continues reeling out the hits. As a veteran singer Half Pint sticks to what he knows best, the tried and true formula of classic reggae. On the 16-track album, Half Pint explores various subject matters from liking his best friend’s girl to being on the ‘no stress express.’ Half Pint’s lyrics are all clean and not overly sexual or violent like most songs of today.

The album has a relaxing, mellow feel throughout that washes over the listener. Inviting listeners to come onboard to a musical journey, the album begins with Unity as Half Pint and Jack Maness chants that “we’re all in it together”. My Best Friend’s Girl has an old-time rocksteady/ska feel that makes one want to get up and do a lively jive. – The Jamaica Star

plus Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $15 / 21+

Thursday 04.17.08: ELI “PAPERBOY” REED / JAIL WEDDINGS / THE SHAKELTONS / DON CAVALLI @ echo

Eli “Paperboy” Reed || Listen

So far, soul and funk of the throwback variety have been dominated by the ladies, but Eli “Paperboy” Reed could buck that trend. The blue-eyed soul sensation and his sevenpiece True Loves delivered a monster set of set of old-school R&B to a foot-loose crowd Thursday night at Club de Ville. The 24-year-old Allston, Mass., native opened with horn-driven burner “Stake Your Claim” from the forthcoming Roll With You, due out in late April on Q Division Records. At his best, the bourbon-sipping, guitar-strumming soul shouter sounds like Wilson Pickett reincarnate, down to the signature punctuating howl. Even the bravado of Pickett’s “A Man and a Half” is rivaled by “The Satisfier,” a scorching burst of R&B bravado. It’s not all high-energy shouting, though, as Reed, sporting a stuffy brown suit and Beaver Cleaver hairdo, deftly cooled the crowd with sweet soul ballad “She Walks.” – The Austin Chronicle

with:
Jail Weddings
The Shackeltons || Listen
Don Cavalli

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Friday 04.18.08: UNDERGROUND with QUARTER AFTER @ echo

with:
The Quarter After || Listen

plus resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 04.19.08: HANG THE DJS with BLOODCAT LOVE / ACID GIRLS / THE COCAINE KIDS / MID CITY WEST @ echo

With:
Bloodcat Love
Acid Girls
The Cocaine Kids
Mid City West

spinning the best in: indie, international pop, britpop, electro, disco, post-punk, new wave, no wave, hiphop and more..

FMI:
Hang The DJs on Myspace

10pm / $7 / 18+

Sunday 04.20.08: GRAND OLE ECHO w/ DAN JANISCH / RICH MAHAN (FROM SHURMAN) / LAST CAMPFIRE @ echo

with:
Dan Janisch
Rich Mahan (from Shurman)
Last Campfire

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 04.20.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 21+

Monday 04.21.08: Monday Night Residency – RADARS TO THE SKY / YOU ME AND IOWA / RADEMACHER @ echo

Radars To The Sky

As scores of aspiring bands around Los Angeles find, life can get in the way of music. Take a year in the life of Radars to the Sky frontman Andrew Spitser: “You graduate from law school, you take the bar exam, you get a job, you’re having a baby, and you think, ‘When the hell am I going to get this done?’ ” he says of his quintet’s “Big Bang” EP, its second release of 2007.

The singer-guitarist and his bandmates — guitarist Seamus Simpson, bassist Martin Avelar, drummer Kenny Kupers and singer-keyboardist Kate Post Spitser, his wife — got it done, all right, five intense volleys of indie rock with arcs back to a time when indie rock was less self-conscious. It’s no surprise that Spitser’s heroes are Built to Spill; the gnarly interplay between guitarists and the time signatures might bring Pavement or Sebadoh to mind. Even allowing for its self-production, “Big Bang” can be big and bold (and tender, when Kate Spitser’s vocals enter the mix), rock whose working-class trappings disguise an essayist’s soul. – LA Times

with:
You Me & Iowa || Listen
Rademacher || Listen
plus special guests

Presented by KROQ & Metromix

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 04.22.08: INDIAN JEWELRY / GENEVA JACUZZI / THE MUSLIMS / IMAAD WASIF with TWO PART BEAST @ echo

Indian Jewelry || Listen

It feels like we’ve been talking about Indian Jewelry’s sweaty noise-psych forever, probably because their songs are so epic that we feel like they took us on a really intense quest or like, gave us heatstroke. But that’s the best thing about IJ, they make us want to leave the city and drive around, our backs stuck to the car seat and a really smelly dog hanging out next to us. – Fader

With:
Geneva Jacuzzi
The Muslims
Imaad Wasif With Two Part Beast || Listen

8:30pm / $8adv, $10dos / 18+

Wednesday 04.23.08: THE RUBY SUNS / THE HAPPY HOLLOWS plus Special Guests @ Echo

The Ruby Suns

The cover art for the Ruby Suns’ sophomore disc, Sea Lion, is a fitting allegory for head Sun Ryan McPhun: A boy on an island takes pains to try to costume himself, tangling himself in lights and string, and wearing a feather in his hair and a crown on his head. McPhun’s work as the Ruby Suns functions in much the same way: Stationed on New Zealand’s North Island, the California native dresses his work in global music, nibbling at the edges of unfamiliar sounds but, ultimately, skillfully creating sunny psych-pop.

The result is an album of environments, both natural and imagined, hinted at by the cover art’s pastel Candyland, the collage of African wildlife on the CD insert, and McPhun’s tributes to his home state’s Mojave desert and Joshua Trees (“Oh, Mojave”). The album’s title refers to the colony of animals that sun in the ocean off of California’s Highway 1, and on “There Are Birds”, co-vocalist Amee Robinson pines for a world where “there are birds and it is calm.” A host of animal references doesn’t equate to an environmentally conscious album, but Sea Lion takes to heart quaint state park signage: take only pictures, leave only footprints. The Ruby Suns visit the world via an array of global signifiers– pinging conga drums, field recordings of animals, slight, sunny harmonies– but as they do, the band sounds genuinely curious and respectfully adoptive rather than calculating or opportunistic. – Pitchfork

with:
The Happy Hollows || Listen

Plus Special Guests

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text HAPPY to 467467

8pm / $15 / all ages

Wednesday 04.23.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

plus Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 04.24.08: HELL YA! presents BIRDS OF AVALON / TWILIGHT SLEEP / VENUS INFERS @ echo

with:
Birds of Avalon || Listen
Twilight Sleep || Listen
Venus Infers

Plus The HELL YA! DJS

8pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 04.24.08: RESPECT DRUM & BASS presents – BARON / R.A.W. / BREAKAGE / CLUTCH DRONE @ Echoplex

with:
Baron [Contagious, Breakbeat Kaos, UK]
R.A.W. [Tribe Records, N20]
Breakage [The Professionals, Pure Filth!]
Clutch [Rid'em Records, Respect]
Drone [Junglist Platoon, Respect]

Hosted By- MC XYZ [Respect]

@ Echoplex
Enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

10pm / $15 for 18+, $10 for 21+ / 18+

Friday 04.25.08: URBAN UNDERGROUND @ echoplex

with:
Defari (Likwit crew / ABB Records)
2Mex (of the Visionaries)

plus Resident DJs:
Leviathan
Soul Life
DJ Lord Ron
AC The PD

Hosted by: Pow Shadowz

@ Echoplex
enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI: Urban Underground on Myspace

8pm / $10adv, $15 dos / 18+

Friday 04.25.08: UNDEGROUND with AAnchors AAweigh @ echo

with:
AAnchors AAweigh || Listen

plus resident DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

9pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 04.26.08: Echo, J.ROCC & ArtDontSleep present SAY IT LOUD – A Special Celebration for The Godfather of Soul JAMES BROWN @ Echoplex

Special Tribute DJ Sets by:
J.ROCC & Friends
James Gadson featuring The Breakestra

Plus:
Official Release for J.ROCC’s “James Brown Tribute P.2″ mix CD and Nelson George and Alan Leeds’ “James Brown The Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the God Father of Soul.”

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

9pm / $15 limited presale, $18 adv, $20 dos / 21+

Saturday 04.26.08: EXCEPTER @ echo

Excepter || Listen

The fourth record (and Paw Tracks debut) from Brooklyn’s Excepter is by far the creepiest offering from the experimental performance troupe, and finds the six-piece conditioning its decayed jams of electronic scree and industrial hiss into a scary, yet sexy-sounding beast. Abundant in nihilistic/surrealistic overtones all at once, tracks like “Burgers” and “Any and Every” insert dub and pop sensibilities into the mix, usually centered on a programmed, Whitehouse-style groove mashed with dilating synth bass and choppy beats. Ditto for “Kill People,” a bone-chilling romp of shouting, echoing vocals and pulsating clatter that sounds like an out-pop dance hit from the darkest corner of the universe. – XLR8R

RSVP TO CONTEST@ATTHEEECHO.COM TO GET IN FOR $5

9pm / $8 / 18+

Sunday 04.27.08: BENEFIT CONCERT FOR RICHIE HASS @ Echoplex

Proceeds will be contributed to the International Myeloma Foundation

with, in order of appearance:
The Probe
ChromoSphere with Marc Mylar
Bag: Theory
With fellow improviser Tony Fate
The Amadans
Nels Cline
Poets Jack Brewer, S.A. Griffin and
The Lofty Canaanites
Freehead
Jim Smith, M. Segal, George Radai
Dos with Mike Watt and Kira Roessler
Sacchrine Trust
Fatso Jetson

The evening will end with a stage-filled improv session in celebration of our talented & unforgettable friend.

@Echoplex
Enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

INFO: (213) 413-8200

4pm / $7 / all ages

Sunday 04.27.08: GRAND OLE ECHO w/ DEAD ROCK WEST / JEREMIAH & THE RED EYES / BOB WOODRUFF @ echo

with:
Dead Rock West
Jeremiah & The Red Eyes
Bob Woodruff

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 04.27.08: PART TIME PUNKS with Guest DJs THE TEENAGERS / THE OLD HAUNTS / LILY MARLENE plus Secret Special Guests @ echo

Guest DJs THE TEENAGERS! plus

* * * SPECIAL SECRET GUESTS who we can’t announce until Saturday nite! (stay tuned to www.parttimepunks.com for the announcement) * * *

And THE OLD HAUNTS + LILY MARLENE!

Come early and avoid the line…

plus resident djs Michael Stock and Benny Shambles spinning mutant disco * Postpunk * indiepop

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 18+

Monday 04.28.08: SHE & HIM featuring ZOOEY DESCHANEL & M. WARD / LAVENDER DIAMOND @ Vista Theatre

She & Him featuring Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward || Listen

She & Him is a story of musical serendipity: Two artists, each renowned in their own creative fields, meet and recognize a certain shared nostalgia. The result is destined to be one of the musical highlights of the year.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first met to record a version of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “When I Get To The Border” for a movie soundtrack. Immediately struck by one another’s talents and finding an instant rapport, Zooey let slip that she wrote her own songs which she recorded alone at home on her computer. Somewhat shy about anyone hearing these musical morsels she eventually sent the demos to Matt who was instantly impressed. They soon reconvened at his Portland studio to begin work.

Embracing the warm sound of early analog recordings, Volume 1 is more than just a showcase for Zooey’s rich and endearing voice; it’s a distinctive and endlessly charming album. The songs themselves give a respectful nod to the likes of Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and The Zombies while Matt’s production gives them just the right amount of golden era sheen. Whether Zooey’s channeling Ronnie Spector as on “I Was Made For You” or joining Matt in turning The Beatles “I Should Have Known Better” into a seductive hula guitar duet, the results are always captivating.

with:
Lavender Diamond || Listen

@ Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027

7pm / All Ages

Monday 04.28.08: Monday Night Residency – RADARS TO THE SKY / THE FLYING TOURBILLION ORCHESTRA / THE WESTERN STATES MOTEL / I MAKE THIS SOUND @ echo

Radars To The Sky

As scores of aspiring bands around Los Angeles find, life can get in the way of music. Take a year in the life of Radars to the Sky frontman Andrew Spitser: “You graduate from law school, you take the bar exam, you get a job, you’re having a baby, and you think, ‘When the hell am I going to get this done?’ ” he says of his quintet’s “Big Bang” EP, its second release of 2007.

The singer-guitarist and his bandmates — guitarist Seamus Simpson, bassist Martin Avelar, drummer Kenny Kupers and singer-keyboardist Kate Post Spitser, his wife — got it done, all right, five intense volleys of indie rock with arcs back to a time when indie rock was less self-conscious. It’s no surprise that Spitser’s heroes are Built to Spill; the gnarly interplay between guitarists and the time signatures might bring Pavement or Sebadoh to mind. Even allowing for its self-production, “Big Bang” can be big and bold (and tender, when Kate Spitser’s vocals enter the mix), rock whose working-class trappings disguise an essayist’s soul. – LA Times

With:
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra
The Western States Motel || Listen
I Make This Sound || Listen

Presented by KROQ & Metromix

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 04.29.08: SHE & HIM featuring ZOOEY DESCHANEL & M. WARD / LAVENDER DIAMOND @ Vista Theatre

She & Him featuring Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward || Listen

She & Him is a story of musical serendipity: Two artists, each renowned in their own creative fields, meet and recognize a certain shared nostalgia. The result is destined to be one of the musical highlights of the year.

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward first met to record a version of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “When I Get To The Border” for a movie soundtrack. Immediately struck by one another’s talents and finding an instant rapport, Zooey let slip that she wrote her own songs which she recorded alone at home on her computer. Somewhat shy about anyone hearing these musical morsels she eventually sent the demos to Matt who was instantly impressed. They soon reconvened at his Portland studio to begin work.

Embracing the warm sound of early analog recordings, Volume 1 is more than just a showcase for Zooey’s rich and endearing voice; it’s a distinctive and endlessly charming album. The songs themselves give a respectful nod to the likes of Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and The Zombies while Matt’s production gives them just the right amount of golden era sheen. Whether Zooey’s channeling Ronnie Spector as on “I Was Made For You” or joining Matt in turning The Beatles “I Should Have Known Better” into a seductive hula guitar duet, the results are always captivating.

with:
Lavender Diamond || Listen

@ Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027

7pm / All Ages

Tuesday 04.29.08: iheartcomix, the echo, viva la rock, scion, monster & metromix present THE LAST CHECK YO’ PONYTAIL EVER @ Echoplex

iheartcomix, the echo, viva la rock, scion, monster & metromix present:
THE LAST CHECK YO’ PONYTAIL EVER!

with:
EROL ALKAN
DAN DEACON
LE CASTLE VANIA
HOLLYWOOD HOLT
TOTALLY MICHAEL
ACID GIRLS
WALLPAPER
FRANKI CHAN
PAPARAZZI

plus:
PHOTOS by REDSLURPEEE
VIDEO by DEMONBABIES
HEARTSCHALLENGER ICE CREAM TRUCK

@ THE ECHOPLEX
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

RSVP at rsvp@iheartcomix.com

8pm / FREE with RSVP / 18+

Tuesday 04.29.08: NOT IN THE HOUSE / LOS TRENDY / BRIAN GRILLO @ echo

Los Trendy

with:
Not In The House
Brian Grillo

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 04.30.08: THE ENTRANCE BAND / FOOL’S GOLD / GLASSER @ echo

The Entrance Band || Listen

Guy Blakeslee is not the first musician to feel the cold chill of the grave on his neck, nor the first to evoke said shiver with eerie slides of blues guitar. His fourth full-length (the first on Tee Pee) may, however, be the happiest album ever written about death or at least the one you’re most likely to dance to, whirling gypsy style around the room. That’s because his contemplation of memento mori is unusually euphoric, full of ecstatic sweeps and jubiliant yelps. He may be staring death right in the eyes, but he’s happy about it—he can hardly contain himself.

Consider the opening sally of “Grim Reaper Blues”, a buzz of feedback exploding into great circling blues guitar riffs, the whole enterprise so enveloped in pitch-black echo that you feel you’re listening in a cave (or perhaps a sepulcher). Still there’s a party going on down here. Pass the flask, grim reaper, because Entrance is downright exultant in his howls and bends and slides. – Popmatters

with:
Fool’s Gold
Glasser

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Wednesday 04.30.08: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

with Resident DJs:
Tom Chasteen
Roy Corderoy
The Dungeonmaster
Boss Harmony

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Main Entrance is through Alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

FMI:
Dub Club on MySpace

9pm / $5 / 21+