Saturday 08.09.08: MONKEY SHOES (CD release Show) Featuring DOMINIC BAKEWELL @ echo

Dominic Bakewell

Dominic Bakewell, a stay-at-home dad, has been playing music and writing songs for over 30 years and recently turned to writing children’s songs after the birth of his son. His alternative rock pop style has been carried into his children’s music. The multi-instrumentalist began playing at house parties as a teenager with his friends and then played the Los Angeles club scene in various bands. At the age of 50 he finally released his first album, Monkey Shoes, which many say is sure to be a classic. The CD has catchy, melodic and smart songs with great beats that kids and parents will love.

Come see Dominic, backed by a great band, perform his children’s music of catchy, melodic and smart songs with great beats that kids and parents love. No cover charge.

3pm / FREE / All ages

Thursday 08.07.08: ROCK FOR RENTER’S RIGHTS with HOLLOYS / MAYAZTEK / WE ARE GOOD FRIENDS / WEBA GARRETSON & RALPH GORODETSKY & MORE @ echo

Rock for Renter’s Rights
Eviction Defense Network’s 5th Anniversary Benefit

with:
Holloys
Mayaztek
We Are Good Friends
Weba Garretson & Ralph Gorodetsky
& Special Guests

Pre-sale Tickets available by phone!

For more info, call 213.385.8112 or email info@evictiondefensenetwork.org

FMI: www.evictiondefensenetwork.com

7:30pm / $15 / 21+

Saturday 08.30.08: F YEAH FEST 5 with NO AGE / NEGATIVE APPROACH / MATT & KIM & MORE @ echo and echoplex

Echo: 1822 Sunset Blvd.
3:15pm – Witch Hats
3:55pm – Nodzzz
4:35pm – Underground Railroad / Off With Their Heads
5:45pm – Paint it Black
6:25pm – Trash Talk
7:05pm – Abe Vigoda
7:55pm – The Strange Boys
8:35pm – David Vandervelde
9:20pm – Two Gallants
10:15pm – Ladyhawk
11:00pm – Crystal Antlers
11:45pm – Monotonix

Dennis Owens from Good Foot will be djing all night in the Echo.

EchoPlex: 1154 Glendale Blvd.
3:15pm – Graham Forest
3:55pm – Mannequin Men
4:35pm – The Mae Shi
5:15pm – Past Lives (ex Blood Brothers)
5:50pm – Brother Reade
6:25pm – Mika Miko
7:05pm – Japanther
7:45pm – Fucked Up
8:30pm – Negative Approach
9:20pm – High Places
10:05pm – Glass Candy
11:00pm – Matt & Kim
11:50pm – No Age

Dublab Soundsystem will be DJing in the EchoPlex

Rec Center: The corner of Logan & Sunset- 1161 Logan. 2 blocks from the Echo.
4:30pm – Dimitri Coates
5:10pm – Tod Adrian Wisenbaker
5:50pm – David Dondero
6:30pm – Comedy show featuring Matt Besser, Matt Braunger, Natasha Leggero, Jarrett Grode, Kyle Kinane and hosted by Brody Stevens
7:45pm – Michael Runion
8:30pm – Frank Fairfield
9:00pm – Comedy show featuring Bob Odenkirk, Jeff Garlin, Josh Fadem, Matt Dwyer, Jonah Ray and hosted by Andy Daly

Also with:
Triumph of Lethargy
Best Fwends
Rumspringa
Anavan
Preacher and The Knife
Silverghost
War Tapes
60 Watt Kid
Halloween Swim Team

WILL CALL, TICKETWEB AND GUEST LIST IS LOCATED AT THE ECHOPLEX
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Fyeah5 to 467467

2:30pm / $18 / All ages

Thursday 10.02.08: Echo & Grand Ol Echo present – JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE / SARAH GAYLE MEECH / WHISPERING PINES @ echo

Justin Townes Earle

Justin Townes Earle has some pretty big shoes to fill, considering that he shares his name with two of American music’s best songwriters: Townes Van Zandt, and his father, Steve Earle. However, the younger Earle shies away from the musical styles of these two men, creating his own sound that is an amalgam of Depression-Era folk, classic country, pre-War blues, and early rock ‘n’ roll. On his first full length record, The Good Life, Justin Townes Earle delivers the best debut roots music has seen since Old Crow Medicine Show hit the big time with OCMS in 2004. The album somehow manages to sound like Earle looks on the cover: street urchin skinny and rocker tattooed, fixing you with both an all-knowing stare and smartass smirk.

The album opens with “Hard Livin’”, an uptempo, Paul Burch meets Langhorne Slim number that features the old standby of country music: pain in the ass womenfolk. Catchy, clever, and highly danceable for those who do that sort of thing, it sets the stage for the rest of the record, an amazing collection of songs that flow from one to the other, something that is sadly lacking in many of the albums released in the age of iPod shuffling. – Popmatters

with:
Sarah Gayle Meech
Whispering Pines

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

Sunday 08.31.08: Echo & F Yeah present POLVO / TRANS AM / THE DRONES @ echoplex

Polvo

One of the most popular and accomplished bands in the arty, noisy indie rock offshoot dubbed math rock, Polvo touched on many of the style’s hallmarks: dissonant, intricately layered guitars that often employed alternate tunings; odd, off-kilter rhythms; an emphasis on dense sonic texture; and unorthodox song structures that, nonetheless, were often unconventionally melodic. Additionally, their music had a pronounced Eastern feel that came not only from the Indian and Middle Eastern-style drones in their compositions, but actual Asian instruments as well; that helped set them apart from other post-Sonic Youth/Slint guitar experimentalists. – VH1

with: Trans Am
The Drones

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

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

8pm / $15 adv, $17 dos / all ages

Friday 09.26.08: SILVER JEWS / JAMES JACKSON TOTH @ echoplex

Silver Jews || Listen

Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is the sixth, and best, full-length release by Silver Jews, Berman’s two-decade-long project, which he’s gradually transformed from a Pavement-infused guitar band (Stephen Malkmus was an early member) to a crystal-clear country-rock concern, with twang and torch, piano flourishes, the occasional church organ and an ever-present drive. It was produced in Nashville, Berman’s home, by Mark Nevers, who himself has carved out a secret little corner of the country-music capital by overseeing beautiful albums by Lambchop, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Calexico — as well as engineering everyone from Marie Osmond and Etta James to George Jones and Johnny Cash.

And it’s Cash’s voice that Berman’s most closely resembles. Except Berman’s is flatter, and any extended rave on his lyrical expertise must contain this proverbial asterisk: His is a punctured tire of a voice, with a sad-sack style that suggests an insurance salesman with a stuffy nose more than it does the Man in Black. It’s droll and it’s rough, but it pushes, it moves, it travels where Berman wants it to, or nearly. It’s singing as necessity, and God bless him for putting it out there. The good thing is that Berman’s wife, Cassie Berman, is the perfect foil, and her harmonies on “Open Field” and “Suffering Jukebox” help balance the tones. – LA Weekly

with:
James Jackson Toth

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

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

8pm / $20 / 18+

Saturday 08.09.08: FLOSSTRADAMUS / N.A.S.A / TROUBLEMAKER / DJ KID LIGHTNING @ echoplex

Flosstradamus || Listen

Chicago’s Flosstradamus are the perfect DJs for impatient Web surfers accustomed to having the entire history of recorded music at their cursor-tips. “We’re like MP3 bloggers, but with skills,” says twenty-six year-old Curt Cameruchi (a.k.a. Autobot). Armed with four turntables, two laptops, two mixers, two sequencer/samplers, a Serato MP3 “scratcher” and more than 5,000 tracks, Cameruchi and twenty-four-year-old Josh “J2K” Young craft brain-frying live sets that fuse jiggly Windy City club music, gritty crunk, cheesed-out R&B and the occasional indie-rock remix: a Flosstradamus gig features blends of Michael Jackson and Justice, Full Force and Bloc Party, Daft Punk and Jay-Z.

Flosstradamus distinguish themselves not just with track selection, but with the way they tweak, fiddle,and freak every cut — it sounds like the songs are being ripped up and sewn back together again in real time. “In the blog era of DJing, everyone has everything,” says Young, whose older sister is underground rapper Kid Sister. “Now, you have to set yourself apart with your performance, and by creating your own stuff.” – Rolling Stone

with:
N.A.S.A || Listen (Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon)
Troublemaker
DJ Kid Lightning
Plus More TBA!

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

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

9pm / $15 / 18+

Tuesday 08.19.08: LE SWITCH / NICO STAI / LES BLANKS / THE WORLD RECORD @ echo

Le Switch || Listen

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.” – LA Times

with:
Nico Stai
Les blanks
The World Record

8:30 pm / $5 / 18+

Monday 08.18.08: GIL MANTERA’S PARTY DREAM / ANAVAN / SWORDS OF FATIMA @ echo

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream || Listen

This is one of those left of center records that you might start off scratching your head over, but then find yourself completely in love with. Here we have another duo inspired by early ’80s synth-pop and danceable new wave. I might be dating myself here, but do you remember Q-Feel’s “Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop)” from 1982? Well, take that track, throw in some squiggly vocoder effects a la Daft Punk, spritz it with some angular guitar solos, and you’ll arrive with a plus one for this Party Dream…All of this smile-inducing, Casio disco-punk brings to mind Devo meets Kraftwerk — on uppers. Wrapping this package with a nice bow is singer Ultimate Donny’s strong pipes, and he’s got one of those voices that reminds you of other people you can’t quite place. Apparently, their live shows feature over-the-top antics like burning their pubic hair, wrestling in spandex and donning fake moustaches. Somehow, that makes perfect sense. – IN Los Angeles Magazine

with:
Anavan || Listen
The Swords of Fatima

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 08.22.08: BEACHWOOD SPARKS / THE TYDE / WINTER FLOWERS / MIA DOI TODD / THE MOVIES / BLANK BLUE / DJ NOBODY & SPECIAL GUESTS @ echoplex

Beachwood Sparks || Listen

Beachwood Sparks have come to represent a certain part of California–they are the music of the trees, the hills, the valleys, the canyons and the streams that were all part of this great state before any of us were here. Embodying all that we know now as canyon music, their light, ethereal and sometimes morose psychedelic California-country rock picks up where the Notorious Byrd Brothers left off, and is crafted to convey an appreciation for all that natural beauty cast away from our urban enclaves. – LA Record

with:
Winter Flowers || Listen
Mia Doi Todd || Listen
The Movies
Blank Blue || Listen
DJ Nobody

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

8pm / $14 / 18+

Saturday 08.23.08: CLUB SUICIDE – OFFICIAL SUNSET JUNCTION AFTERPARTY @ echoplex

OFFICIAL SUNSET JUNCTION AFTERPARTY

with:
DJ Amanda Jones (Das Bunker, Perversion, Malediction Society)
DJ Robert Lockerby (Clockwork Orange)

spinning the best in Electro, Indie, and ’80s.

The last Saturday of every month!

Come and check out our SUICIDE GIRL GO-GO DANCERS!

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

10pm / $5 all night with Sunset Junction Wristband / 18+

Tuesday 08.05.08: Echo & Human Ear Music present – GARY WILSON / JASON GRIER / JULIA HOLTER / CROOKED COWBOY & THE FRESHWATER INDIANS @ ECHO

Gary Wilson || Listen

In 1977, a 24-year-old musician from Endicott, N.Y., released a wonderful, odd album called “You Think You Really Know Me.” Combining elements of pop, proto new wave, jazz, avant-garde composition and electronic music, Gary Wilson delivered sincere lyrics, alternately sweet and angst ridden, about the women in his life and his fantasies, most notably in the pleading, quixotically titled “6.4 = Make-Out.”

The album, which he released himself, quickly found a cult following, which over the years included the punk band Husker Du, the avant-garde group the Residents and the “Simpsons” cartoonist Matt Groening. It earned the status of a favored vanity-label obscurity among record collectors, and Beck, in his single “Where It’s At,” even sang about how Mr. Wilson “rocks the most.” – NY Times

with:
Jason Grier || Listen
Julia Holter
Crooked Cowboy & The Freshwater Indians

8:30 pm / $7 / 18+

Tuesday 08.12.08: OR, THE WHALE / IDAHO FALLS / LESLIE & THE BADGERS @ ECHO

Or, the Whale || Listen

A reference to Moby Dick and a testament to the roots of what making music is all about, San Francisco seven-piece Or, the Whale, is kicking up dust along the West Coast and spreading the gospel of honest music. Writing songs with a country heart and a scope that encompasses the entire country, Or, the Whale’s sound embodies a friendly front-porch gathering, a rollicking jubilee, and a painful lament. From gospel to roots, Or, the Whale’s songs preserve a warm, organic feeling that transcends age and musical disposition. – Performer Mag

with:
Idaho Falls
Leslie & the Badgers

8 pm / $7 / all ages

Wednesday 09.24.08: THE NEW YEAR / A WEATHER / MODERN MEMORY @ echo

The New Year || Listen || Watch

The New Year has emerged from the studio with 10 songs that will comprise their upcoming self-titled album, to be released September 9, 2008.

The Brothers Kadane, along w/ the rest of the group, have been making music for the last 17 years – in the 1990s with Bedhead and for the last decade with The New Year. They take their time making records, and this is only their third, and the first since 2004’s The End is Near.

Lyrically, these ten songs address the interlocked themes of lost time, frustrated desire, and the need for others. Although musically these may be the band’s most varied songs — for a band that made innovative use of three guitars, almost half the songs here are built around the piano — it is the careful sequence of these songs that brings the story the lyrics tell together.

With:
A Weather || Listen
Modern Memory || Listen

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

8:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Thursday 09.25.08: Oh My Rockness presents RA RA RIOT / TUSSLE / WALTER MEEGO / LEMONADE @ ECHO

Ra Ra Riot || Listen

The band played and sang with completely unself-conscious abandon. I know that this is what we expect of all bands, especially bands that project Ra Ra Riot’s brand of catchy rockness, but here genuine excitement and genuine gratefulness shined through the players’ faces. They rampaged around the stage, knocking into each, dancing around, hugging, singing. They looked like an amoeba stuck under glass, constantly pushing out and reshaping itself at its periphery but always remaining stuck together. Or a less ridiculous metaphor: it was a living room dance party with really close friends and family. They presented themselves as a model for the kind of life we’d all like to have: togetherness, happiness, and boundless energy. – Loose Record

with:
Tussle || Listen
Walter Meego || Listen
Lemonade

8pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Wednesday 09.10.08: BODIES OF WATER / THROW ME THE STATUE / PRINCETON @ echo

Bodies of Water || Listen

Bodies of Water may have waited barely a year to release a follow-up to their hand-clapping, head-nodding, heaven-looking debut, but musically, they take their time. “Under the Pines”, a mostly instrumental track from their upcoming A Certain Feeling, takes a while to get to its verse, instead carefully establishing a theatrical organ-and-power-chords overture with all the rock-opera oomph of a homespun Jim Steinman. They project toward the rafters, but build the song carefully, bringing in David Metcalf’s snaky guitar line and letting their wordless harmonies comment on the earthly action of music. The first verse doesn’t kick in until after the two-minute mark, but the chorus sets the song loose: “Under and under and under and under the pines!” they shout in unison, alluding to Leadbelly or Nirvana or those 40 days in the wilderness. Here’s hoping they never make just a three-minute pop song. – Pitchfork

with:
Throw Me The Statue
Princeton || Listen

7:30pm / $10 / All ages

Friday 08.29.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with THE PACIFIC / MY MACHETE @ echo

The Pacific

4-piece, rock n rollin’, city-livin’, 5-9 workin’, trend-killin’ original. no frantic, fancy-pant, flash-era throwbacks in this camp. the pacific bring you gritty, vocals of passion and crushing guitars of conviction in it’s purest, most unpolluted-by-industry form. i would love to see these lads carry the torch into the new musical evolution as we enter into another phase of what t.wilson quoted as the 13 year revolution of a change in pop-culture. sit back or aggressively fly out of your seat hurling, unexpectedly into some innocent bystander and enjoy the classically nurtured, new sound of THE PACIFIC. – Xavier Zero

with:
My Machete

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+

Friday 08.22.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

11pm / $5 if 21+, $7 under 21 / 18+

Saturday 08.09.08: DESCARGA presents LUCKY 7 @ echo

¡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, 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+

Friday 08.15.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with POP LEVI / THE PARSON RED HEADS @ echo

Pop Levi

Nobody is putting out music like Pop Levi’s right now. Levi calls his sound astral rock ‘n’ roll-much catchier than the more descriptive psych-glam-garage-blues-rock fusion. If you need an artistic point of reference, think Prince meets Marc Bolan mixed with probably a bit too much Syd Barrett for his own good. It’s not the most unusual group of influences, but Levi works them into a sound all his own.

Infectious up-tempo numbers like “Sugar Assault Me Now” and “Pick-Me-Up Uppercut” show that Levi has some ready-for-primetime swish in his step, especially the latter, with its overt sexuality. He seems equally comfortable with his acoustic, strumming some contemplative tearjerkers like “Skip Ghetto” and “From the Day That You Were Born,” and he has enough soul to pull off blues-funk tracks like “Blue Honey” and “Hades’ Lady.” This is to say that Pop Levi can do it all, and do it all well. – Prefix Mag

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen

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

9pm / $5 / 18+

Friday 08.08.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with POP LEVI / THE FILTHY SOULS @ echo

Pop Levi

Nobody is putting out music like Pop Levi’s right now. Levi calls his sound astral rock ‘n’ roll-much catchier than the more descriptive psych-glam-garage-blues-rock fusion. If you need an artistic point of reference, think Prince meets Marc Bolan mixed with probably a bit too much Syd Barrett for his own good. It’s not the most unusual group of influences, but Levi works them into a sound all his own.

Infectious up-tempo numbers like “Sugar Assault Me Now” and “Pick-Me-Up Uppercut” show that Levi has some ready-for-primetime swish in his step, especially the latter, with its overt sexuality. He seems equally comfortable with his acoustic, strumming some contemplative tearjerkers like “Skip Ghetto” and “From the Day That You Were Born,” and he has enough soul to pull off blues-funk tracks like “Blue Honey” and “Hades’ Lady.” This is to say that Pop Levi can do it all, and do it all well. – Prefix Mag

with:
The Filthy Souls || Listen

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

9pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 08.14.08: XIU XIU / CARLA BOZULICH @ 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

Carla Bozulich || Listen

7:30pm / $12 / ALL AGES

Wednesday 08.27.08: SHEARWATER / WYE OAK / NEIL MORGAN @ echo

Shearwater || Listen
“Shearwater evokes washed-out swimming holes full of corroded batteries and bad dreams. The group’s haunting Palo Santo lopes around guitar, piano, banjo, and the voice of a singer who sounds unduly poised even when he’s on the brink of losing it. Portentous atmospheres and patient pacing recall the ornate movements of late-period Talk Talk, but flashes of fuzz and brusque indie-rock urgency make the rarified moods bristlingly real. It’s the kind of album that can steal a breath and pay it back, with interest, after the debt is long forgotten…Grade: A” – The Onion AV Club

with:
Wye Oak || Listen
Neil Morgan

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

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Wednesday 08.06.08: L TRAIN vs. GET YER ROCKS OFF! with THE MUSLIMS / THE BLOOD ARM / THE WALLBURDS / THE FRANKS @ echo

The Muslims

Assured-beyond-their-years San Diego quartet the Muslims will definitely get a lot of attention for their name, but we’re much more interested in the band’s catchy, sorta sloppy and stark post-punk-infused rock ‘n’ roll. They mix a kind of Strokes-y, and therefore VU, detachment and something that bumps in the night like Hell and his Voidoids (or, better yet, Hell and the Heartbreakers doing “Love Comes In Spurts”). You can also hear a bit of the Stooges — not just because the band cites ‘em, along with the Replacements, as an inspiration — and early Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers (see “Future Rock,” “On My Time,” etc). Whatever the mix of forerunners, the Muslims find a way to make it their own — it’s kinda uncanny. – Stereogum

with:
The Blood Arm || Listen
The Wallburds
The Franks

and DJs:
Paulie (L Train/Coup D’etat)
Christopher (Get Yer Rocks Off!)

8:30pm / $7 / 18+

Tuesday 09.02.08: THE WOMBATS / AFTERNOONS / POP NOIR @ echoplex

The Wombats || Listen

Let’s be honest, how could an album that contains Let’s Dance To Joy Division possibly fail? It just can’t, can it? Singles like this come along about once every five years, if not once a decade. This one song alone would have ensured The Wombats a glowing review.

That’s not all the lads from 2008’s European City of Culture have to offer, though. From the opening acapella harmonising of Tales Of Girls, Boys and Marsupials, which also kicks off their near-perfect live performances, A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation is a wonderful musical experience, easily one of the albums of the year and one of those irritating debuts that are so good they should be illegal.

The Wombats are a rare gem. Catchy enough for the charts, indie enough for the music press, sarcastic enough for the miserable sods who moan that music was better when it came on slabs of black plastic, fresh enough for the kids who are getting a bit fed up with Arctic Monkeys and, best of all, clever enough to get Joy Division fans onto the dancefloor in a more original way than Bernard Sumner ever thought of. And with better tunes. – Music OMH

with:
Afternoons
Pop Noir || Listen

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

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

7 pm / $15 advance; $17 day of show / All Ages

Wednesday 09.03.08: THE NIGHT MARCHERS / COLOUR REVOLT / SLANG CHICKENS @ echo

The Night Marchers

John “Speedo” Reis is, without a doubt, one of underground music’s finest showmen, and it could also be argued that he’s the most underappreciated frontman from the alt-rock ’90s. Not to dismiss his work with Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Sultans, etc., but Reis always seemed to put his best foot forward with Rocket From The Crypt, and he’s injected The Night Marchers with a similarly ecstatic mix of ferocious garage-rock and populist pop. As always, this stuff is better suited for the stage, and it would be foolish not to assume that horns could make The Night Marchers even better, but with the assistance of a band that includes a couple of fellow ex-Snakes, Reis has made his best record since Rocket’s Scream, Dracula, Scream! heyday. Simple certainly doesn’t equal thin on See You In Magic, a 47-minute blitzkrieg bop that balances punky stompers with perfectly subdued moments like “Panther In Crime” and “We’re Goin’ Down.” The latter even finds Reis’ rough croon somehow making Armageddon sound truly wonderful. – The Onion AV Club

with:
Colour Revolt || Listen
Slang Chickens

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

8:30pm / $12 adv, $14 dos / 18+

Tuesday 09.30.08: DAN LE SAC VS. SCROOBIUS PIP / B DOLAN / DJ PAUL V. @ echo

Dan Le Sac v. Scroobius Pip

Pip, the man with the densest, most imposing beard in UK rap, has a similarly formidable set of rhymes that delight throughout Angles. On Development, Scroobius praises Mos Def for rhyming the alphabet, before a mid-song switching of beat sees him rap the periodic table to hilarious and exhilarating effect.

This smart spitting, redolent of a suburban Skinny Man or more long-in-the-tooth Mike Skinner, is used to effectively elicit poignancy on Tommy and most notably on Magician’s Assistant. While a moody soundscape sounds like a scary stagger away from consciousness, Pip chats about self-harm. The result is a better anti-suicide ode than REM’s Everybody Hurts.

Le Sac’s production highlights include cutting Dizzee Rascal grime beats into Fixed, meaty trance throbs on the malevolent shoplifting tale of the title track and his inspired use of a sample from Radiohead’s Planet Telex on Letter From God To Man. It’s to his credit there’s as much deft imagination in the music as there is in the lyrics. – BBC

with:
B Dolan
DJ Paul V.

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

9pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 09.04.08: WHY? / RAFTER / Dub Lab DJs @ echoplex

Why? || Listen

Answering the question, nay, even making an attempt at answering “So, what do they sound like?” is deserving of a gold star. WHY? is a three-piece from Oakland, composed of beat- and word-smith Yoni Wolf, his brother Josiah, and Doug McDiarmid, joined on Alopecia by bassist Mark Erickson and Fog’s Andrew Broder. They’re really less of a black hole and more of a modified vacuum cleaner. They suck up everything along with the dirt: experimental hip-hop, indie rock, sugar-loaded pop, minimalist balladry, etc. And then, once the components are all bundled together, they flip the switch and send it all tumbling back out again and into the recording studio. More plainly, WHY? is the alphabet soup of independent music. Clever, biting, creative, intense, storied, and lurid. There’s really nothing else like it.

Alopecia, their third full-length release and second as a full band, is a darkly tinged juggernaut. 2005’s supremely wonderful but admittedly melancholic Elephant Eyelash is downright cheery in relation. The songs of Alopecia find a renewed interest from Yoni Wolf in delivering straight-up beats and rhymes alongside his more sing-songy efforts. Unsurprisingly, his styles of old and new fit together like it ain’t no joke. – Tiny Mix Tapes

with:
Rafter || Listen
Dub Lab DJs

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

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

7pm / $13 adv, $15 dos / All Ages

Thursday 08.28.08: MATTHEW SWEET / GREG LASWELL @ echo

Matthew Sweet || Listen

His popularity heyday may have been in the early ’90s, but alterna-rocker Matthew Sweet is still around and kicking out the jams. A whole new batch of those will arrive on Sunshine Lies, Sweet’s new album, which is slated for a July 22 release via Shout! Factory. Sunshine Lies was recorded in that city so known for its sunshine and its lies, Los Angeles. Sweet’s long-time pal Susanna Hoffs (of Bangles fame), who Sweet was last heard with on the 2006 covers collection Under the Covers Vol. 1, provides backing vocals for the title track. Sweet calls the album “very direct, but seen through the eyes of nature, or rather modeled on its beauty, chaos and freedom, something like a stab at sonic art nouveau.” – Prefix Mag

with:
Greg Laswell

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

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

Friday 08.08.08: Echo & ArtDontSleep present – PLATINUM PIED PIPERS / MUHSINAH / THE GASLAMP KILLER / KUTMAH @ echoplex

Platinum Pied Pipers

Slowly but surely carving out the sounds and styles they’ll unveil on their sophomore LP, Abundance, coming this fall on Ubiquity, Platinum Pied Pipers and their ultra-nouveau eclectica will reconnect well with the modern hipster/electro rock/new wave/ R&B concoctions that are escaping people’s private studios these days. Usual suspects Waajeed and Saadiq (not Raphael) continue conducting the soothing sonic assault, but we can also expect to see ever-dependable producers like DJ Spinna, Kev Brown, Oddisee and Geology alongside new-bians like MonicaBlaire and Nico Redd. Added to the group between their ?uestlove-loved 2005 debut, Triple P, is Coultrain from St. Louis, chanteuses Jamila Raegan from NYC and Karma from Texas. – Now Magazine

with:
Musinah

Plus DJ sets by:
The Gaslamp Killer || Listen
Kutmah

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

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

9pm / $14adv. $16dos / 18+

Monday 08.04.08: SCION Presents TODAY IS THE DAY / WITHERED @ echo

Today is the Day || Listen

Are they a doom, sludge, or noise metal band? That is a question that has been foisted upon Today is the Day for much of their career thus far. However, as evidenced by their 2007 release, ‘Axis of Eden’ (and first for the Supernova label), the group — which has long been led by singer, guitarist, songwriter, and producer, Steve Austin — the group is getting increasingly more melodic. But rest assured longtime fans, there is still plenty of noise and molasses-murky riffage to go around. Things kick off with the sluggish and Sabbath-y “Free at Last,” which is a sonic approach that appears throughout the album, as evidenced by such other standouts as the powerful Kyuss-like “Circus Maximus.” But if it’s noise you want, it’s noise you still get from Today is the Day — especially on “If You Want Peace Prepare for War” (which halfway through, transforms into a nifty Beatles-esque middle eastern tune) and the mysteriously-titled “Black Steyr Aug,” among others. Unlike the majority of doom metal bands that are sonically one-dimensional, Today is the Day are not afraid to go off exploring, as evidenced by ‘Axis of Eden.’ – All Music

with:
Withered || Listen

RSVP to get in for free!

8pm / FREE with RSVP / All Ages

Friday 08.01.08: Echo & Underground present – FRIENDLY FIRES / POP LEVI @ echo

Friendly Fires

Ghetto-dwelling, dank-smelling, P’fork-reading pop naysayers beware: you are going to hate this. It doesn’t reinvent anything. It doesn’t challenge anyone. It won’t win you any indie point wars, for they have already been on Channel 4, the first unsigned band in fact to be featured on Transmission. This song will refuse to be a cult classic and much like ‘Oh My God’, ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’ and ‘Darts of Pleasure’ it’ll haunt you in steakhouses, office parties and within festival fences for years to come. You’ll find the lyrics overly simplistic and ever so saccharine, the hugely sentimental story of escapist boyhood romance will frustrate you but that’s fine because you’ve got documentaries about bands no-one’s ever heard of to watch and limited-edition vinyl to carefully brush the dust off of. You’ll deal with it, but it won’t give you the dumb smile I can’t currently wipe off.

Pop predictors, ready? Hey ho! Let’s go… “One day, we’re gonna live, in Paris, I promise, I’m on it!” And so begins the whirl of one of the most exciting singles of the year. It’s a post-p’funk dreamscape of slithering shoegaze guitars and cowbells. These are St. Albans kids who’ve swallowed the party pills of LCD, embraced the geeky-lilt of Hot Chip and tied it together with some won’t-leave-you-for-weeks sweaty hooks as instantly infectious as the clap, The Kooks or Kylie. All of which is conjured together as both an open invitation to dance and an assault upon your neurons. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Pop Levi

Plus Underground DJs spinning Britpop / Indie / Garage / 60’s / Soul all night

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

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

Sunday 08.17.08: GRAND OLE ECHO @ echo

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 08.10.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with DAVE INSLEY / CLIFF WAGNER AND THE OLD 7′S / THE BURLINGTON FAMILY / HOMESICK ELEPHANT @ echo

with:
Dave Insley || Listen
Dead Rock West || Listen
The Burlington Family
Homesick Elephant

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 08.03.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with MIKE STINSON / DAVE GLEASON WITH OLD CALIFORNIO / LISA AND HER KIN @ echo

with:
Mike Stinson
Dave Gleason with Old Californio
Lisa & Her Kin || Listen

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Thursday 08.28.08: RESPECT & SOUNDLAAB present MARCUS VISIONARY / RAW / JAHWY / MC RIDDA @ echoplex

with:

MARCUS VISIONARY (Digital Sound Boy,TORONTO)

with:
RAW (Bboy3000, N20)
JAHWY
MC RIDDA

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $5 before 11pm, $10 after / 18+

Thursday 08.21.08: RESPECT with DEMO / FRISKE / NOFACE / MC DRE @ echoplex

with:

DEMO (Human Imprint, SEATTLE)

plus:
FRISKE (Human Imprint, Renegade Hardware, UK)
NOFACE
MC DRE

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 08.14.08: RESPECT with OPTICAL / MACHETE b2b THE SERUM / INDENTATION / DRONE / MC DINO @ echoplex

with:

OPTICAL (Virus Recordings, UK)

plus:
MACHETE b2b THE SERUM
INDENTATION
DRONE (B-DAY SET)
MC DINO

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $5 before 11pm, $10 after / 18+

Thursday 08.07.08: RESPECT with MYSTICAL INFLUENCE / SCOOBA b2b AMC / WORLD RENOWNED / MC DECO COMPREHENSION @ echoplex

with:

MYSTICAL INFLUENCE (Syrous, Vinyl Syndicate,TORONTO)

Plus:
SCOOBA b2b AMC
WORLD RENOWNED
MC DECO COMPREHENSION

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 08.27.08: 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+

Wednesday 08.20.08: 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+

Wednesday 08.13.08: 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+

Wednesday 08.06.08: 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+

Sunday 08.31.08: PART TIME PUNKS – SMITHS / MORRISSEY NITE @ echo

all dancing to all Smiths all nite long!

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 08.24.08: PART TIME PUNKS Sunset Junction After Party with Guest DJS !!! @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $8, $5 with Sunset Junction wristband / 18+

Sunday 08.17.08: PART TIME PUNKS with THE TELESCOPES / FUXA / SUKI EWERS @ echo

with:
The Telescopes
Fuxa
Suki Ewers

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 08.10.08: PART TIME PUNKS with INDIAN JEWELRY / WEAVE! @ echo

with:
Indian Jewelry || Listen
Weave!

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 08.03.08: PART TIME PUNKS with WIRES ON FIRE / RUMSPRINGA @ echo

with:
Wire on Fire
Rumspringa

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 08.02.08: SMOG SESSIONS with YOUNGSTA / SEVEN / DLX / RICKY DEF / AUDIO ANGEL / KEMST @ echo

with:
Youngsta (Tempa, Fwd, Rinse FM, SM Soho, London UK)
Seven (Tempa, Smog, London UK)
DLX (Smog, Steps in Time, LA)
Ricky Def (Holy Ghost Sound, LA)
Audio Angel (Celebrity Junglist, Argin, Surefire, SF)
Kemst (Smog Pure Filth, LA)

tubrosound by: Mobius

Art Installations by: Spectr

FMI: www.smogla.com

9pm / $7 presale, $10 before 11pm, $15 after / 21+

Saturday 07.26.08: CLUB SUICIDE @ Echoplex

with:
DJ Amanda Jones (Das Bunker, Perversion, Malediction Society)
DJ Robert Lockerby (Clockwork Orange)

spinning the best in Electro, Indie, and ’80s.

The last Saturday of every month!

Come and check out our SUICIDE GIRL GO-GO DANCERS!

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

10pm / $12 / 18+

Friday 08.01.08: A FUNDRAISER PARTY for OBAMA with Z-TRIP / DJ DIABETIC (SHEPARD FAIREY) / TROUBLEMAKER + SPECIAL GUESTS @ ECHOPLEX

A Fundraiser Party for Obama

First 100 arrivals will receive Obey’s Obama “HOPE” poster
All proceeds go to the Obama Campaign

with:
Z-Trip || Listen
DJ Diabetic (Shepard Fairey)
Troublemaker
+ Special Guests

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Enter through alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Vote4change to 467467

8pm / $20 / 18+

Friday 08.29.08: Urban Underground Presents THE WESTERN CONFERENCE with ZIONI / ABSTRACT RUDE / MYKA9 / RAW vs D-STYLES / DADDY KEV / LEVIATHAN / WOES @ echoplex

with:
Zion-i
Abstract Rude || Listen
Myka9 || Listen
Raw vs. D-Styles
Daddy Kev || Listen
Leviathan
Woes

@ Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
(Enter through alley)
Los Angeles, CA 90026

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

8pm / $20adv, $25dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.22.08: Echo and Dub Lab present PETER WALKER / BIG SEARCH @ ECHOPLEX

Peter Walker || Listen

Walker once directed music for Timothy Leary’s infamous “Celebrations”, in which Leary would rant to an acid-drenched audience of thousands. He also played with Sandy Bull, the legendary Indian-folk fusionist, and hung around with people like Joan Baez who, by the end of the decade, would be far more famous than him. As a fixture of both the Cambridge and NYC Village scenes, Walker was, like Bull, an early devotee of Eastern musical traditions; during and especially after Rainy Day Raga, Walker studied and experimented with the sitar and other then-exotic instruments. After fading from the limelight and settling in Woodstock, he apparently studied flamenco in Spain and kept up with his craft. Here on Raga, it sounds as if he’d never left.

His…playing is a marvel, halting and propulsive at once. “Day at the Fair” moves awkwardly but inexorably forward with a slow but insistent push, looping usually linear progressions around on themselves. On “Hot Fusion”, his cross-eyed phrasings sound like reluctant play, strands gradually being woven together into an intricate whole. Walker has the ability to distort time with his compositions, to move forward or back as if there was no real difference. – Pitchfork

with:
Big Search

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

7:00 pm / $12 / all ages

Saturday 08.02.08: BOOTIE LA with ECLECTIC METHOD @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

From the UK: Live on stage, a video mashup set from DVJ mixing pioneers:
ECLECTIC METHOD || Watch

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

Midnight mashup show:
JOHNNY 2.0

Bootie LA is proud to present a special audiovisual VJ mashup set from UK video mashup pioneers ECLECTIC METHOD. Dubbed “the future of nightclub entertainment,” they’ve created video remixes for The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Dizzee Rascal, The White Stripes, M.I.A., and U2, amongst others.

Eclectic Method don’t just mix videos like DJs mix records — it goes a step beyond. Take a healthy dollop of post-modern irony, a Britney sample here, an indie-rock riff there, an electronic dance anthem or two, and a peppering of pop classics, and you’re on your way to understanding the Eclectic Method style. Top that off with some rare hip-hop and film action mania and you’ve got an all-encompassing audiovisual show shuffling together mainstream and underground to create a live visual improvised remix experience.

2005’s “We’re Not VJs” was the world’s first DVJ video-mixtape and was phenomenally received. Their second mix album, “Lock Up Your Videos,” was released earlier this year, and with their ongoing remix projects and video podcasts, they continue to push the boundaries of mashup culture.

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 75 people through the door!

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Wednesday 07.16.08: HELL YA! NIGHT with THE MONOLATORS / THE ROLLING BLACKOUTS / THE GROWLERS / SPIDER PROBLEM @ echo

The Monolators || Listen

The ultracharming husband-&-wife duo the Monolators have expanded into a full quartet, with singer-guitarist Eli Chartkoff and singer-drummer Mary Chartkoff now joined by bassist Andrew Bollas and lead guitarist Tom Bogdon. Their new 10-inch EP, You Look Good on the Train, which is available only on vinyl or as a digital download (www.ninjastarrecords.com), fleshes out Eli’s lo-fi tunes with keyboards, saxophones and other instruments to wonderful effect. Eli croons the offbeat love songs “At the Top of the Stairs” (where he collects sea shells and rhapsodizes about a gal “in pink jeans and tambourines”) and “My Weaker Self” with his distinctly unusual, rubber-throated yowl, whereas Mary spits out the jangly title track and the loopy punk rock ditty “Eagle Fighting Zebra” (which is apparently about crazy women brawling at Mr. T’s Bowl) like a more melodic Exene Cervenka. – LA Weekly

with:
Rolling Blackouts
The Growlers
Spider Problem

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 07.31.08: GRAND OLE PARTY / THE PARSON REDHEADS / WHAT’S UP @ echo

Grand Ole Party || Listen

In just two years, Grand Ole Party has already secured a place in history with its punchy guitar swagger and singer/drummer Kristin Gundred’s brazenly soulful pipes and ability to wreck a drum set. It’s earned the band opening slots for the likes of Rilo Kiley, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Vampire Weekend, music awards at home and the attention of notable peers – all before releasing an album. But this month, the San Diego three-piece will officially go on record with the national release of Humanimals, an incredibly confident debut that smacks of accomplishment and lasting appeal. The first release from DH Records, a new Venice Beach-based upstart founded by 3D Management owner Dave Holmes (who manages Coldplay, Interpol and Scissor Sisters), as well as the first production project from Blake Sennett (Rilo Kiley lead guitarist and frontman of The Elected), the album sees Grand Ole Party connecting with respected individuals in the industry and making great strides. – Performer Magazine

with:
The Parson Redheads || Listen
What’s Up

8:30pm / $8 advance – $10 door / 18+

Tuesday 07.08.08: URB Magazine pres: “The Beauty in Distortion/Land of the Lost” EP release from J*DAVEY plus special guests @ ECHOPLEX

J*Davey || Listen

With a diverse array of influences, eclectic twosome J*Davey — female vocalist Jack Davey (b. Brianna Cartwright) and producer Brook D’Leau — deliberately evade the narrow categories of what urban music should sound like, not to mention that they defy normal conventions of pop music. Drawing equally from neo-soul, new wave, funk, and hip-hop, their melting pot of electronic soul and dance have made music-goers try to classify them somewhere between neo-soulstress Erykah Badu and new wave punks Talking Heads.
- Artist Direct

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

9pm / FREE! / 18+

Saturday 08.16.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents JAMES JACKSON TOTH (from Wooden Wand) / THE DUTCHESS AND THE DUKE @ echo

James Jackson Toth

Now with what could technically be called his first “solo” album, the Tennessee-based singer and songwriter takes that more structured writing challenge to the next level with a mercurial and unpredictable album that veers between mesmerizing, 70’s retro-rock and edgy modern musings. Produced by Pacific Northwest indie-rock figure Steve Fisk (Screaming Trees, Nirvana), “Waiting” masterfully hits all the right touchpoints of haunting, spacious country/blues rock of mid-career Stones and the bourbon-soaked troubador drawl of a dustbowl Tom Waits (but without the gruff rumble). His vocals often married in a lovely duet harmony with wife Jexie, Toth and his loose-limbed but nimble songs have a disarming, straightforward charm that goes down easier as the album moves, sometimes gliding, sometimes in fits and starts, through its twelve engaging, often dreamy songs. – Direct Current

with:
The Dutchess & the Duke

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

8 PM / $8 advance; $10 at the door / all ages

Saturday 07.05.08: SMOG SESSIONS with HATCHA / ROOMMATE & ANTISERUM / SAM XL & PABLO HASSAN / DJ STEADY / MC KEMST @ echo

with:
Hatcha (Kiss FM, Big Apple, Tempa, London UK)
Roommate & Antiserum (OSC) (Argon, Hollow Point, Steps in Time, Mode, SF)
Sam XL & Pablo Hassan (Pure Filth, Smog, LA)
DJ Steady (Drumz, LA)
Kemst (Smog Pure Filth, LA)

Sound Reinforcement by: Pure Filth

Art Installations by: Spectr

BIRTHDAY BASH FOR PAWN!!

FMI: www.smogla.com

9pm / $10 / 21+

Tuesday 07.29.08: THE WATSON TWINS / TIM FITE / ROBERT FRANCIS @ echo

The Watson Twins || Listen

With echoing acoustic guitars and gorgeous harmonies, it’s understandable that Los Angeles, CA’s the Watson Twins are occasionally tagged as a country act. However, identical twin sisters Chandra and Leigh Watson prove that genres are only skin deep on their debut LP, Fire Songs, out this week on Vanguard. The vocal melody on “How Am I to Be” sways and swaggers like a Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac gem, while “Sky Open Up” recalls Neil Young’s stark heartbreak as much as it does the Carter Family’s strumming meat and potatoes country.

Born and raised in Louisville, KY, the Watsons moved to California in the ’90s, where they began writing their own music and performing with local musicians. The Twins collaborated with Rilo Kiley siren Jenny Lewis on her 2006 solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat, while also self-releasing their first EP, Southern Manners. Fire Songs was recorded in September of 2007 in L.A. – Spin

with:

Tim Fite || Listen || Watch || Download

This noisy iconoclast, who backed up the anticonsumerist hip-hop folk of last year’s Over the Counter Culture by giving it away on the Internet, takes a more introspective, equally fierce approach here. Alternating between woozy crooning and angry outbursts, Fite echoes the bent intensity of Tom Waits and Eels’ Mark Oliver Everett, fitting his warped, oddly captivating melodies to everything from drunken waltzes (“The Barber”) to funky social commentary (“More Clothes”) to gorgeous ballads (“Harriet Tubman”). At his most relaxed, however, Fite still sounds like his head could explode. – Spin

Plus:
Robert Francis

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

8:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.22.08: SUMMER DARLING / CHIKITA VIOLENTA / WRITER / AMATEURS @ 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:
Chikita Violenta || Listen
Writer || Listen
Amateurs || Listen

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 07.19.08: DEVON WILLIAMS / RESIDUAL ECHOES / SILVER DAGGERS / THE MONA REELS / OF AIRES @ echo

Devon Williams

I was elated when Williams played a cover of “Alex Chilton” towards the end of his set, not just because it’s a killer song, but specifically because one of the notes I scribbled down in the first few minutes of Williams’ playing was “Waiting for Somebody.” The same feeling of whimsical mischief felt when listening to Westerberg’s love song from the 1992 Singles soundtrack is aroused when hearing Williams’ innocent pop guitar and string arrangements. Just as The Replacements sound like the lighthearted black sheep of the early 90s (compositionally, not lyrically) when occasionally/awkwardly lumped into the same category as grunge superpowers Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Williams’ work stands out as effervescent defiance in the face of the indulgent psychadelia that is getting much of the local attention. Spindrift, Entrance, and Devendra Banhart are all acts that I have written about and very much appreciate, but Williams is unique in that he refuses to be another psych-folk-blues musician in Los Angeles. He’s just not having it. Instead, Williams writes refreshingly light tunes tinged with Westerberg-like self deprecation that could have been fitting on the soundtrack of any My So Called Life episode: songs for being distraught, but laughing about it. – LA Weekly

with:
Residual Echoes
Silver Daggers
The Mona Reels
Of Aires

5pm / $8 / All Ages

Thursday 07.17.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents BODIES OF WATER / THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / SEASONS @ echo

Bodies of Water || Listen

Bodies of Water may have waited barely a year to release a follow-up to their hand-clapping, head-nodding, heaven-looking debut, but musically, they take their time. “Under the Pines”, a mostly instrumental track from their upcoming A Certain Feeling, takes a while to get to its verse, instead carefully establishing a theatrical organ-and-power-chords overture with all the rock-opera oomph of a homespun Jim Steinman. They project toward the rafters, but build the song carefully, bringing in David Metcalf’s snaky guitar line and letting their wordless harmonies comment on the earthly action of music. The first verse doesn’t kick in until after the two-minute mark, but the chorus sets the song loose: “Under and under and under and under the pines!” they shout in unison, alluding to Leadbelly or Nirvana or those 40 days in the wilderness. Here’s hoping they never make just a three-minute pop song. – Pitchfork

with:
The Henry Clay People || Listen
Seasons

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

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

Tuesday 07.15.08: MUCCA PAZZA / THE HOLLOYS @ echo

Mucca Pazza || Listen

Well, this should be interesting! It’s not every day a traveling marching band rolls (marches?) through town. Mucca Pazza was conceived by composer Mark Messing and the band has been performing in and around the Chicago area, in bars, parks, parades and theaters for over three years. The lineup includes St. Louis expatriate Jeff Thomas, aka Jeffrey Positive, of The Honkeys, on guitar. The following is from their press kit:

30 people in a band? No problem. At every rehearsal, BBQ, and party, everyone loves one another like one big family. Until a gig comes along, and then… The trombones rumble with team saxophone, who fight for stage space with the clarinet and the fiddle, who don’t notice because they are busy vying for the attentions of the accordions, who could care less because the drum corps are a bunch of bullies, who are constantly melting at the sight of the glockenspiel, who has an eye for the cymbals, who keeps falling over the sousaphone, who is busy avoiding flying pom poms, who are chasing after the trombones, who are rumbling… Mucca Pazza are marching misfits. They play everything from Gainesbourg to Le Tigre, Bar-Kays to Ali Hassan Kuban and lotsa original compositions (including one commissioned by a queen from a distant planet – long story). One would think that only in Dr. Seuss’ imagination could a marching band perform in 10 canoes going down the Chicago River, but Mucca Pazza was there! They play everywhere: from punk venues to orchestral halls, from public parks to private extravaganzas, from diva palaces to dive bars, from TV shows (did you see them on Conan O’Brien?) to Lollapalooza. Your town is next! Watch out! – Trouble in River City

with:
Holloys || Listen

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

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Wednesday 07.09.08: HEARTS OF PALM UK / HAPPY STARS / BROKEN REMOTES @ echo

Hearts Of Palm UK || Listen

LA’s own Hearts of Palm U.K. are Erica Elektra (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Ambi-D (glockenspiel, guitar, keyboard, percussion). They are two friends who’ve known each other since junior high; two friends whose lives have led them to join together and make a new kind of music. The duo draws their influence from bands like Camera Obscura, Kings of Convenience, Fischerspooner, Ratatat, The Notwist, The Blow and Azure Ray.

Erica Elektra has been electric ever since she was electrocuted playing bass in her New York City basement apartment. The basement flooded, but she didn’t notice until it was too late. Now she’s a superconductor! Ambi D. gets her name because of the ambidextrous way she plays all those instruments at once. Hearts of Palm U.K. are developing their own electro-indie-pop style and couldn’t be happier about it. They are ready to dance, rock out and have fun…just don’t ask about the U.K. – Andy & Otis

with:
Happy Stars
The Broken Remotes

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 07.05.08: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

From Seattle, special guest:
DJ FREDDY, KING OF PANTS

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

Midnight mashup show:
FOXY COTTON

BOOTIE LA is now at the Echoplex, with more room to dance, two bars, great sound and lights, and mashup videos on three giant screens!

This month, Bootie welcomes back DJ Freddy, King of Pants, creator of Seattle’s original, long-running monthly mashup night, FrankenBoot. He’ll be dropping the bootleg classics, as well as the newest mashups fresh off the digital press. Resident Bootie DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D and DJ Paul V. will keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. And returning to the stage for the midnight mashup show — with a special political Independence Day-inspired number — is Foxy Cotton!

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 Š because one song at a time just isn’t enough.

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

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Thursday 07.31.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 07.24.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 07.17.08: RESPECT with THE INSIDERS / ROXANNE / MACHETE / MC XYZ @ echoplex

with:
THE INSIDERS [METALHEADZ, RUFIGE RECORDS, UK]

ROXANNE [GROUNDSCORE]
MACHETE [RESPECT]
MC XYZ [RESPECT

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $5 before 11pm – $10 after 11pm / 18+

Thursday 07.10.08: RESPECT with ASIDES / SCOOBA / MC QUESTIONMARK / MC XYZ @ echoplex (11pm)

With:
ASIDES [METALHEADZ, EASTSIDE RECORDINGS, UK]

SCOOBA [RESPECT]
MC QUESTIONMARK [CONTAGIOUS MUSIQ]
MC XYZ [RESPECT]

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

11pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 07.03.08: RESPECT @ echoplex

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:00pm / $10 before 11pm – $15 after 11pm / 18+

Wednesday 07.30.08: DUB CLUB presents TAPPA ZUKIE @ echoplex

Tappa Zukie

Backed by the Echodelic Soundsystem

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 / $12 / 21+

Wednesday 07.23.08: 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+

Wednesday 07.16.08: 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+

Wednesday 07.09.08: 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+

Wednesday 07.02.08: 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+

Monday 07.28.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / DEVON WILLIAMS / THE STARLITE DESPERATION / ARROW DAN @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Devon Williams
The Starlite Desperation
Arrow Dan

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 07.11.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND with MAGIC MIRROR / LOWER HEAVEN @ echo

with:
Magic Mirror
Lower Heaven

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+

Sunday 07.27.08: PART TIME PUNKS @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 07.20.08: PART TIME PUNKS with THE MUSLIMS / CHRISTMAS ISLAND @ echo

with:
The Muslims
Christmas Island

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 07.13.08: 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+

Sunday 07.06.08: 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+

Sunday 07.27.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with PSYCHEDELIC COWBOYS / THE BOWMANS / PAUL INMAN’S DELIVERY / SAUSAGE GRINDER @ echo

with:
Psychedelic Cowboys || Listen
The Bowmans || Listen
Paul Inman’s Delivery || Listen
Sausage Grinder

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.20.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with GRANT LANGSTON & THE SUPERMODELS / NICOLE GORDON / CLAIRE HOLLEY / SMITH AND WESSON @ echo

with:
Grant Langston & The Supermodels || Listen
Nicole Gordon
Claire Holley || Listen
Smith and Wesson

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.13.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with JAMES WILSEY / DAVID SERBY / LISA DEROSIA / AUSTIN HARTLEY – LEONARD / Squaredance with TRIPLE CHICKEN FOOT @ echo

with:
James Wilsey
David Serby || Listen
Lisa DeRosia || Listen
Austin Hartley- Leonard

Plus Squaredancing from 3pm-5pm with
Triple Chicken Foot || Listen

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

3pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 07.06.08: GRAND OLE ECHO with MIKE STINSON / THE CHEATIN’ KIND / WELLDIGGERS BANQUET / BRET JENSEN’S DEATH VALLEY JUBILEE @ echo

with:
Mike Stinson
The Cheatin’ Kind
Welldiggers Banquet
Brett Jensen’s Death Valley Jubilee

hosted by Chris Morris and DJ Cuz’n Roy

5pm / FREE / all ages

Wednesday 07.23.08: HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR / GUNS N BOMBS @ ECHO

Hercules and Love Affair || Listen

Forget disco for a second. The most significant thing about the debut album from New York’s Hercules and Love Affair has less to do with revival than arrival– that of a compelling new voice in American dance music. Not Antony Hegarty’s, of Antony and the Johnsons, even though his pipes are an integral part of Hercules’ aesthetic, but Andrew Butler, a twentysomething resident of New York who has made one of 2008’s great albums, and one of the best longplayers from DFA. (DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy surely deserves some of the credit as well, as the album’s co-producer and the programmer behind most of the record’s beats.) Butler got his start writing music for art projects in college– “like a remake of Gino Soccio’s ‘Runaway’ done in the style of Kraftwerk,” he told Fact magazine– but Hercules and Love Affair’s music doesn’t require Fischerspooner-type theatrics. This debut album is a self-contained, self-assured, 10-song set that runs vintage styles through a restless compositional imagination to create something joyfully, startlingly unique. – Pitchfork

with:
Guns N Bombs (All Disco Set)

8:30 pm / $15 adv, $18 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.08.08: VON IVA / ASTRA HEIGHTS / LITTLE PIECES @ echo

Von Iva || Listen

Oh, it’s just plain nasty, you know it is — the moment that molar-chattering low end comes quaking out of your speakers, only to be stroked up by a nag-nagging synth sneer straight out of your most secret Missy Elliott–Wire tag-team fantasies. Bite your lip, lean back, and shake it deeper, ’cause it gets better, just as you knew it would. Twenty seconds onward, our diva steps in — and what a diva! Two sets of lungs, most likely. Her intro is inevitable: “She came / To party!” The full-throated bellow hurls over the bucking and bumping of the futuro–new wave rhythm. Everything elasticizes from there. Three minutes later, you light a cigarette.

And so we have “LALA,” the lead-off single from Our Own Island (Ruby Tower), the new album by local electrofunk swaggerers Von Iva. The fashion-forward trio, composed of soulful vocal powerhouse Jillian Iva and hip-loosening instrumentalists Bex and Lay Lay, straddle the border between skuzzy and sultry with sweat-inducing plunges into the intersections of gossip spit and spunk, Devo-Wire post-punk, and Timbaland gadung-a-dung-dunk. Go on now, boys and girls: surrender to the nasty. – San Francisco Bay Guardian

with:
Astra Heights || Listen
Little Pieces || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Monday 07.21.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / THE MOON UPSTAIRS / THEE MAKEOUT PARTY / WEAVE @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
The Moon Upstairs || Listen
Thee Makeout Party || Listen
Weave

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.14.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / MORIS TEPPER / SOME DAYS / LISTING SHIP @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Moris Tepper || Listen
Some Days
Listing Ship || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.07.08: Monday Night Residency – JAIL WEDDINGS / WOUNDED LION / VICTIM VISION / GUILTY HEARTS @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen

Jail Weddings is a force to be reckoned with. Like that bad taste you have in your mouth after a full night of intoxication and things worth regretting but never forgotten, always staying fondly close at hand. Gabriel Hart’s voice perfectly encompasses feelings of love, lust and sorrow. Wonderfully accompanied by the uniquely different, yet harmonizing voices of Tornado Jane and Katya Nadia Hubiak. This band will have you dancing on your feet in no time and wanting to go home with the random stranger next to you for fear of feeling lonely yet another night. This is desperation at its finest, brought straight from the heart and right through the veins. – Swampland

with:
Wounded Lion
Victim Vision
The Guilty Hearts

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 07.04.08: ECHO & CLUB UNDERGROUND PRES: SPINDRIFT / FLASH EXPRESS @ echo

Spindrift || Listen

Truly out-of-sight, the seven-piece band celebrates the outlaw spirit with spooky, tripped-out variations on Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Western tradition. Live, they swirl and tremble like a lucid dream, banging a gong and shaking their tambourines for rattlesnake effect, jamming until the audience feels engulfed by a sandstorm (of course, it helps if it’s an outdoor concert and the wind is already fierce). Spindrift founder Kirpatrick Thomas (who holds together portions of the band’s East and West Coast factions) recently recorded a soundtrack to Mike Bruce’s bizarre concept film Legend of God’s Gun, which is like the original Ocean’s 11 with psychedelic rockers replacing tony rat packers. Visually schizophrenic, Gun follows a preacher turned gunslinger who travels to Playa Diablo to avenge his true love’s death. Trippy shoot-’em-ups ensue. Go west! – Salt Lake City Weekly

with:
The Flash Express || Listen

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

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Tuesday 07.01.08: GRAVY TRAIN!!! / BRidEZ / DRAGON SUEDE BOY @ ECHO (Late Show)

Gravy Train!!!! || Listen

Gravy Train!!!! is a John Waters wet dream come to life, with openly gay boys and super-snarky girls singing hilarious lyrics about ghost boobs, 40-ouncers, and cottonmouth blow jobs, all the while playing a giddy form of bubblegum garage-pop that screams Hairspray (if not “holy crap!”). So it’s kind of a shock to hear the Oakland quartet’s third full-length, All the Sweet Stuff, because the disc sounds almost mature.

Ewww.

No need to worry, though. There’s still plenty of the salacious lyrics and exuberant melodies that’ve made Gravy Train!!!! so fun. But for the first time, the band members sound like, well, musicians. By adding glam, disco, and even ’60s French pop to their euphoric garage-rock, Chunx, Funx, Hunx, and Junx have created one of the most thoroughly entertaining records in ages, joining the upper echelon of local bands in the process. – SF Weekly

with:
BRidEZ
Dragon Boy Suede

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

LATE SHOW: 10pm / $12 / 18+

Monday 07.07.08: THE GITS MOVIE PREMIERE SCREENING @ ECHOPLEX

THE GITS MOVIE documents the influential Seattle band whose fable was unfairly abridged by the tragic rape and murder of singer Mia Zapata. July 7th is the fifteenth memorial anniversary, and THE GITS will appear alongside friends, family and the filmmakers at screenings in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles -with additional screenings in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, New York and Portland.

In the early 1990s, Seattle was the focal point of an emerging musical underground. The Gits helped spearhead this new scene. Their sound was proto-grunge and all-out punk aggression. The earnest, blues wail of front woman Mia Zapata was its center. Mia was the very embodiment of riot grrrl intensity, talent, and humanity. Her uncompromised integrity epitomized a way of life that influenced an entire generation of female artists to follow.
Upon returning from a successful European tour -and at the height of The Gits’ popularity- singer Mia Zapata was found raped and murdered, unfairly abbreviating the band’s fable. Incredibly, more than a decade later, new evidence would surface, Mia’s case file would be reopened, and a suspect would be brought to justice –as cameras rolled. The Gits is an account of overcoming adversity, addiction, love, loss and pain. It’s a punk rock mystery, but not merely a tale of tragedy. It’s the mythic story of a great American Rock N Roll band.

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

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

7:30 pm / $10 / ALL AGES

Seated and standing; seats available first come first serve / bands & djs to follow

Saturday 07.12.08: DESCARGA with MENTIRITAS @ echo

Mentiritas

Mentiritas is a musical project lead by Grammy® Award Winning Musician, Wil-Dog Abers of Ozomatli, that combines cohorts (who happen to be some of L.A.‘s top session musicians) from bands such as Ozomatli, Beastie Boys, Cava and Plastilina Mosh, among many other noteworthy acts. In 2007, Abers (Bass), Walter Miranda (Keys), Fredo Ortiz (Timbales), Ulises Bella (Saxophone) and Anton Morales (Drums) combined their love for Latin music with humor and satire and thus, the Mentiritas project was born. Mentiritas keeps the crowd on its feet from start to finish and pokes fun at 80‘s and 90‘s hits, the “boy band” experience and gaudy Mexican Regional fashions and sometimes over-the-top banda music. In January 2008, ¡Descarga! featured the band at its sold out 5th Anniversary Party at Echoplex. The band now includes the powerful vocals of Claudia “Cava” Tenorio and on July 12, 2008, the show will include special appearances by Herbert Siguenza and Ric Salinas of Culture Clash theatre group.

¡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, 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+

Thursday 07.03.08: Radio Free Silverlake, Web In Front & LA Underground present FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / THE STEVENSON RANCH DAVIDIANS / SUMMER DARLING / FOL CHEN

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra

A languorous desert landscape of fractured pop punctuated with the rumbling crackle of spinning art-rock, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra’s new EP, Escapements, swings from dream-lathered reveries of hazy beauty to propulsive, churning nightscapes—songs that sound as if they are the heat-twisted, shimmering and sky-fallen debris after Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker led a kamikaze nosedive into the 4AD records building.

As a teaser for the EP’s July 3rd release, Web in Front is offering a stream of two tracks after the jump: the sleepfever swirl of “In a Dream”’s hypnotic sway and nightmare visions as well as the shapeshifted, epic buildup of “Audry (love keeps moving)”’s schizoid dynamics. You can pick the EP up at the Orchestra’s Escapements release party concert at the Echo on July 3rd (also featuring the Stevenson Branch Davidians and Fol Chen. – Web In Front

with:
The Stevenson Ranch Davidians || Listen
Summer Darling || Listen
Fol Chen || Listen

Presented by:
Radio Free Silverlake
Web In Front
LA Underground

8:30pm / Free for 21+, $5 Under / 18+

Wednesday 07.02.08: MODEY LEMON / THE MUSLIMS @ echo

Modey Lemon || Listen

Somewhere around Curious City, the Modey Lemon made a shift in direction, smoothing its rackety, blues-drunk grooves into a Krautish, hallucinogenic trip. You could pin it all on Jason Kirker, who joined after Thunder + Lightning, but the shift is equally evident in Phil Boyd’s vocals, no longer abrasive, and mixed substantially lower in the fuzz. And since Boyd has kindly created a muxtape of songs from artists that influenced him on Season of Sweets (mondoboydo.muxtape.com), we can see that it goes deeper than production values. Alongside oddities, like a track from Jesus Christ Superstar, he’s included lysergic, drum-happy drone-merchants like the Boredoms, Oneida, Apes and Kraftwerk – not a scruffy blues-rocker in the bunch. About the only thing that hasn’t changed on Sweets is Paul Quattrone’s ferocious drumming – and that’s a good thing, because the Modey Lemon just wouldn’t be the Modey Lemon without it. – Dusted Magazine

with:

The Muslims

Assured-beyond-their-years San Diego quartet the Muslims will definitely get a lot of attention for their name, but we’re much more interested in the band’s catchy, sorta sloppy and stark post-punk-infused rock ‘n’ roll. They mix a kind of Strokes-y, and therefore VU, detachment and something that bumps in the night like Hell and his Voidoids (or, better yet, Hell and the Heartbreakers doing “Love Comes In Spurts”). You can also hear a bit of the Stooges — not just because the band cites ‘em, along with the Replacements, as an inspiration — and early Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers (see “Future Rock,” “On My Time,” etc). Whatever the mix of forerunners, the Muslims find a way to make it their own — it’s kinda uncanny. – Stereogum

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

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

Thursday 07.24.08: LUCERO / JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD / GLOSSARY @ ECHO

Lucero || Listen

If the Pogues embody the Jameson-addled anthems of Ireland, Lucero turns the whiskey into bourbon aged in Tennessee oak and chased by a Bud. Their sound is a roll-up-the-sleeves-and-take-a-deep-sniff kind of pure angst. It’s like rain on the windshield as you drive through a cold November morning after a particularly regrettable evening. Raspy-voiced lead man Ben Nichols sings about themes associated with good loving and good drinking—thieves, love, getting drunk, and losing control—in a world where getting into trouble with a lady makes things turn thirsty fast. – Popmatters

with:
Glossary || Listen
Jessica Lea Mayfield || Listen

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

8:00pm / $15 / all ages

Friday 06.11.08: MARIA TAYLOR / JOHNATHAN RICE / NIK FREITAS @ echoplex

Maria Taylor || Listen

In ten songs (the eleventh is more a late-coming interlude than a song — it unspools a child’s sing-songy tribute to “Lynn Flower”), Taylor lays out tales of sadness, self-doubt and elusive love that seem hand-dunked in humanity — see “My Own Fault” and “Smile and Wave” for the best examples. Throughout, a cutback on shimmery electronic effects results in a lived-in sound; there’s a shabby chic-ness to these songs, and also a believability. Taylor’s voice is part Elizabeth Mitchell and part Sarah McLachlan, minus the syrup. Like the name “Lynn Teeter Flower,” it issues from somewhere plain and true and captivates fully. – Allmusic

with:
Johnathan Rice || Listen
Nik Freitas || Listen

Maria Taylor’s van was broken into in San Francisco the other night and almost everything was stolen.
Guitars, basses, equipment, suitcases full of clothes and merchandise are all gone.
Tonight’s show at the Echoplex is the last night of her six-week tour of the U.S. with Johnathan Rice and Nik Freitas.
Johnathan and Nik have decided that tonight’s show should be a benefit to help Maria and her band recoup some of the many thousands of dollars that they lost in this tragedy.
Please, come out and show your support for Maria in her new adopted hometown of LA.
All donations will be given to Maria.
It’s been a rough summer for bands out there with gas prices being what they are, and these kids could really use your help.

Not to mention the show is gonna be fuckin’ sweet.

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

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

7:30pm / $13 / all ages

Wednesday 07.30.08: JAY REATARD / CHEAP TIME @ echo (late show)

Jay Reatard
Solo debuts aren’t supposed to be this good. Jay Reatard has been kicking around Memphis since a teen, starting in the 1990s with the dirty-word punk of The Reatards, and lately in the thrashy synth-centered Lost Sounds. The brilliant Blood Visions falls somewhere in between – rambunctious and roaring, jerking nervously all the way. Tons of highlights here – tons of them – hitting on just about every style that’s had the word “punk” thrown at it as an epithet. It adds up sounding closest to the not-quite-new-wave rock that bounced between ambitious indies and majors around 1980; it resembles the twisted naiveté of the era, before bands realized that building a hook around “I will kill you” was going to keep them off the airwaves.
- Dusted Magazine

with:
Cheap Time || Listen

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

9:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Wednesday 07.30.08: WHITE LIES @ echo (early show)

White Lies

Until earlier this month, these three 19/20-year-olds were the UK’s hottest unsigned band. Now, following an A&R scrum at their debut gig in February, the west Londoners have signed to Universal’s Fiction imprint. White Lies’ gloom-pop influences are obvious – the Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division – but it takes some talent to channel them into music as striking, accomplished and downright catchy as this. The leap in quality from the trio’s previous band is astonishing. – Guardian

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7:30pm / $10 adv, $12 dos / 18+

Tuesday 07.01.08: GRAVY TRAIN!!! / BRidEZ / FRISCO DYKES @ ECHO (Early Show)

Gravy Train!!!! || Listen

Gravy Train!!!! is a John Waters wet dream come to life, with openly gay boys and super-snarky girls singing hilarious lyrics about ghost boobs, 40-ouncers, and cottonmouth blow jobs, all the while playing a giddy form of bubblegum garage-pop that screams Hairspray (if not “holy crap!”). So it’s kind of a shock to hear the Oakland quartet’s third full-length, All the Sweet Stuff, because the disc sounds almost mature.

Ewww.

No need to worry, though. There’s still plenty of the salacious lyrics and exuberant melodies that’ve made Gravy Train!!!! so fun. But for the first time, the band members sound like, well, musicians. By adding glam, disco, and even ’60s French pop to their euphoric garage-rock, Chunx, Funx, Hunx, and Junx have created one of the most thoroughly entertaining records in ages, joining the upper echelon of local bands in the process. – SF Weekly

with:
BRidEZ
Frisco Dykes

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EARLY SHOW: 7pm / $12 / all ages

Sunday 07.13.08: MATMOS featuring WOBBLY & DUB LAB DJs @ ECHOPLEX

MATMOS

Legions of Kraftwerk wannabes miss the band’s secret weapon: From their man-machine fashion to their preference for dinky beats, the self-described showroom dummies could always tease out a good joke. And although they’re purely instrumentalists, Matmos can too, with a charm that sets the laptop duo apart from lesser lights for whom chilly beats and icy synths are ends in themselves. “Rainbow Flag” is a Jetsons-esque symphony for telephone touch pad and synthesized trombone, “Exciter Lamp” sounds like a computerized toy xylophone, and the title track juxtaposes Space Invaders bleeps against progrock noodling—a gag Matmos stretches across 24 minutes and change. Conchords, time to step up your game. – Spin.com

with:
Wobbly
Dub Lab DJs

9 pm / $17 / ALL AGES

Thursday 07.24.08: Echo & Respect present – DIZZEE RASCAL / HOLLYWOOD HOLT / THE 87 STICK UP KIDS / KENAN BELL / DJ AARON LA CARTE @ ECHOPLEX

Dizzee Rascal

Onstage, Dizzee shows a really serious young-lion charisma, and he knows how to put on a show; he and his never-introduced hypeman hit all their marks hard enough that they’d clearly spent a whole lot of time rehearsing. On a technical level, Dizzee is a monster of an MC, capable of belting out serious double-time lines without losing his breath or letting the beat swallow his words. All night, he stuck tenaciously to his beats, never leaving the pocket; it’d be nice if El-P learned something from that during their forthcoming coheadlining tour. Better still, Dizzee managed to keep an industry-heavy Park Slope crowd from losing energy, some kind of Herculean feat. “This place is known for its stiffness,” he said as he took the stage, before letting us know that fuck all that and launching directly into “I Luv U,” the single that made his name. Last night’s show was a serious breath of fresh air: a young but seasoned rapper with effortless stage-control barely letting up over the course of an hour. More rap shows need to be like that one. – Village Voice

with:
Hollywood Holt || Listen
The 87 Stick Up Kids || Listen
Kenan Bell
DJ Aaron La Carte

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

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8:30 pm / $20 adv, $22 dos / 18+

Saturday 07.26.2008 – DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? & THE BLACK GHOSTS @ Echo

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

As its name suggests, opening act Does It Offend You, Yeah? doesn’t take itself terribly seriously: The British electro-rock band infuses its ambitious and chaotic music with bass slaps, cowbells, and signifiers of ’80s pop, not to mention healthy doses of electronic screeching. A go-to remixer for the likes of Muse and Bloc Party, the band makes music suitable for ravers and rockers alike. – NPR

and

The Black Ghosts

Some of you may have caught their sick single “Any Way You Choose to Give It” with Playgroup’s nasty Baltimore breaks mix on Norman Cook’s Southern Fried imprint. One thing’s for sure–Black Ghosts’s Simon Lord and Theo Keating (formerly of Simian and The Wiseguys, respectively) can rock the funky beats and sing. They have a knack for combining dance-punk, indie-pop, and electro-breaks, and somehow do it without sounding lame.
XLR8R

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8:00pm / $16 adv, $18 dos / 18+

Sunday 7.20.08: A HAWK AND A HACKSAW / FRANK FAIRFIELD / BENJAMIN WETHERILL @ echoplex

A Hawk and A Hacksaw || Listen

There’s a twinkle of lore in A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangár Ensemble, the limited edition, eight-track EP that follows A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s best album to date, last year’s The Way the Wind Blows. As the band puts it, they “walked into a music store in Budapest, Hungary and walked out with a score of four collaborators versed not only in Hungarian folk, but also…jazz and minimalism.” Béla Ágoston, Zsolt Kürtösi, Ferenc Kovács, and Balázs Unger became the ad hoc Hun Hangár Ensemble, sharing their ancestral repertoire with Hacksaw’s Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost and allowing the two younger musicians to add their own arrangements and ideas. Such obvious cultural immersion may sound disingenuous or self-serving, but it works here and on the accompanying tour diary DVD, finally allowing A Hawk and a Hacksaw the chance to bloom amid a parcel of the folk heritage from which they’ve long drawn. – Pitchfork

with:
Frank Fairfield
Benjamin Wetherill || Listen

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

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7pm / $12 adv, $14 dos / All ages

Saturday 07.12.08: RATATAT @ Echoplex

Ratatat || Listen || Watch

Tucked away in a private studio named Old Soul, in Catskill, NY the two musical forces behind Ratatat, Evan and Mike, have collaborated yet again to redefine the current state of instrumental music. This time, the album is called LP3 and though it doesn’t use much in the way of hi-tech recording equipment it’s still laced with a unique balance of penetrating beats and ethereal riffs. However they broaden their palette of sounds this time around by relying more on keyboard instruments than guitars. Don’t worry, Mike’s characteristic guitar style is still present on this record but there are also an abundance of new textures emanating from the likes of a harpsichord, a wurlitzer, a mellotron and even a grand piano. – www.brooklynvegan.com

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

9pm / $20 / 18+

Friday 07.25.08: Echo, Dangerbird & Club Underground present – DARKER MY LOVE w/ Special Guests FOOL’S GOLD @ echo FREE!

Darker My Love || Listen

You turn it on. Turn it up. And the feedback-filled guitars of “Northern Soul” instantly wash over you like an old friend. The pounding rhythms get down into your bones, making it impossible to sit still. And those melodies…they stick with you for days. “Baby, you’ve got me talking words…” There’s a new sheen at play here, courtesy of studio guru, Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups, J Dilla), allowing the sunburnt harmonies to part through the sonic squall like an indie rock Moses. A sophomore record in every sense of the word, 2, will be released August 5, 2008.

with:
Fool’s Gold

8:30pm / FREE until 10:30pm, then $5 for 21+, $7 under / 18+

Friday 07.18.08: Echo, Dangerbird & Club Underground present DARKER MY LOVE w/ Special Guests CRYSTAL ANTLERS @ echo FREE!

Darker My Love || Listen

You turn it on. Turn it up. And the feedback-filled guitars of “Northern Soul” instantly wash over you like an old friend. The pounding rhythms get down into your bones, making it impossible to sit still. And those melodies…they stick with you for days. “Baby, you’ve got me talking words…” There’s a new sheen at play here, courtesy of studio guru, Dave Cooley (Silversun Pickups, J Dilla), allowing the sunburnt harmonies to part through the sonic squall like an indie rock Moses. A sophomore record in every sense of the word, 2, will be released August 5, 2008.

with:
Crystal Antlers

8:30pm / FREE until 10:30pm, then $5 for 21+, $7 under / 18+

Thursday 07.10.08: KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES / THE JACUZZI BOYS @ echo

King Khan and the Shrines

King Khan & the Shrines are a groovy bunch of guys who turn out some righteously partylicious grooves and butt-bobbing collisions of goodfoot R&B and fuzz-faced ’60s-style garage rock. A 12-piece band featuring a full-on horn section and the manic James Brown-meets-Kid Creole stylings of the good sire Khan, they moved to Berlin to purvey their get-down magic under Teutonic skies in 1999. They released their first album in 2002, and now they’re set to shake out a new slab of soulful goodness on June 17th, the modestly titled The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines, on Vice Records. It’s a wonderful thing that their supercharged, dance-demon sound will be reaching a wider audience now that they’ve made the Vice move. – Prefix Magazine

with:
The Jacuzzi Boys

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8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Thursday 07.10.08: TILLY AND THE WALL / CASTLEDOOR @ echoplex

Tilly & The Wall || Listen

Tilly and the Wall’s music is childlike in the sense that it celebrates the tactile and emotional world with the verve of unjaded perception; organs of pure sense probe the enticing recesses of the night. Their music is a prism that refracts the wonder of the human pageant from various angles, making familiar colors bend fantastically. It doesn’t deny harsh realties– Tilly’s world of teenage knife fights and drunken bra-clasp fumblings doesn’t elide homeless women walking the snow; a prostitute with “money spilling out of her hands;” “the newly born crying, realizing what life is” or a grandfather’s weathered eyes. Tilly blurs them all into a giddy compendium of humanity, at once acknowledging and renouncing the possibility of despair: “The world is big and it’s got a loose heart/ So you either start screaming or start singing.” – Pitchfork

with:
Castledoor

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

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text Tilly to 467467

7:30pm / $16 adv, $18 dos / All Ages