Saturday 01.10.09: DRAGSTRIP 66 RETURNS TO THE ECHOPLEX!

DRAGSTRIP 66 will be celebrating its 16th ANNIVERSARY, on Saturday January 10th, 2009.

This will also serve an Obama Victory Party, 10 days before his historic inauguration.

ALSO – IT MARKS OUR RETURN TO THE ECHOPLEX, IN ECHO PARK

We’ll be at The Echoplex quarterly, as always on the 2nd Saturday with each event.

So mark your calendar, and figure out how YOU wanna glam it up for our “Super Sweet 16″ celebration! Calling all prissy princesses & delicious debutantes!

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

FMI: http://www.dragstrip66.com/

9pm / $15 / 21+

Thursday 01.29.09: RESPECT with KLUTE / JO-S / DRONE / MC XYZ @ echo

with:
Klute
JO-S
Drone
MC XYZ

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $5 before 11pm – $10 After / 21+

Thursday 01.22.09: RESPECT @ echoplex

B.TRAITS: Digital Soundboy
w/ MC Julz
SCOOBA
DEVOE
MC XYZ

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10:30pm / $5 b4 11pm-$10 After / 21+

Thursday 01.15.09: RESPECT with DEACON / OSCAR DA GROUCH / CLUTCH + SENSE / MC KEMST @ echo

with:
Deacon
Oscar Da Grouch
Clutch + Sense
MC Kemst

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 21+

Thursday 01.08.09: RESPECT with MIXMASTER DOC / NOFACE / CLAY STEELE b2b NATURE / DECO COMPREHENSION @ echo

with:
Mixmaster Doc
Noface
Clay Steele b2b Nature
Deco Comprehension

>MC XYZ

FMI: Respect on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 21+

Friday 01.02.09: RESPECT with HIVE / GASLAMP KILLER / MACHETE / 12TH PLANET / PAWN & EMU / MCS XYZ & DECO @ echoplex

HIVE [d&b]
GASLAMP KILLER [breaks/hiphop]
MACHETE [d&b]
12TH PLANET [dubstep]
PAWN + EMU [dubstep]
MC(s) XYZ & DECO

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

FMI: Respect on Myspace

9pm / $10 before 10:30pm / 18+

Friday 01.23.09: Echo & Club Underground Present – JAPANESE MOTORS / THE GROWLERS @ echo

Japanese Motors || Watch

With a pro surfer as their lead singer and a drummer who used to be a designer for the surf gear brand Hurley, it’s no surprise that Japanese Motors’ music is all about surfing, drinking, parties, and girls (not necessarily in that order). At its best, Japanese Motors embodies that lifestyle so completely that it transports listeners into the band’s laid-back, sun-drenched world. The album kicks off with “Single Fins & Safety Pins,” the perfect distillation of the band’s sound world: over lapping waves and keening seagulls, Alex Knost’s vocals are half Richard Hell’s deadpan cool and half surfer boy drawl, while the rest of the band’s handclaps, hooks, and backing vocals pay homage to the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, and all the other California surf rock bands that came before them. “Single Fins & Safety Pins” is so undeniably charming that the rest of Japanese Motors doesn’t quite live up to that high standard. Japanese Motors are a party band and this is definitely a party album — in fact, it often sounds more like a rowdy live album than something recorded in a studio. This off the cuff, have-another-beer feel helps lanky rockers like the Strokesy “Coors Lite” and “Spendin’ Days,” which features the great line “Too hippie to be a punk/Too punk to be a hippie,” and the drunken lament “Regrets a Paradise” captures the romantic confusion that Japanese Motors’ easygoing lifestyle isn’t immune to. – Allmusic

with:
The Growlers

Followed by UNDERGROUND DJs spinning the best in Brit / Indie / Soul / Twee / Madchester / Punk / Glam

8:30pm / $8 til 10:30pm, $5 after / 18+

Thursday 01.01.09: CLOSED

Saturday 01.03.09: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

From Indie 103.1′s “Neon Noise”
DJ PAUL V.

From San Francisco, Bootie creators and DJs:
ADRIAN & the MYSTERIOUS D

Midnight Mashup Show:
ADRIAN sings a live mashup!

FREE giveaways of the annual year-end “Best of Bootie 2008″ mix CD, featuring 20 of the best mashups from the past year!

Launched in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup — and is now the biggest mashup event in the world, with monthly parties in six cities on two continents. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation — with free mashup CDs given away like candy!
Resident DJs Adrian, Mysterious D, and Paul V. keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. The infamous Midnight Mashup Show this month will feature Adrian singing a live mashup. Bootie showcases the best in mashup productions from around the globe and delivers them on the dance floor … because one song at a time just isn’t enough!

FREE Bootie CDs to the first 75 people through the door!

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

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

Friday 01.09.09: TORMENTA TROPICAL with PAUL DEVRO (Mad Decent) / STAR EYES / LOS RAKAS / ORO11 / DISCO SHAWN @ echoplex

TORMENTA TROPICAL

with:
Paul Devro (Mad Decent)
Star Eyes (Trouble & Bass, NYC)
Los Rakas (Panama/Oakland)
Oro11 (Bersa Discos)
Disco Shawn (Bersa Discos)

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

9pm / $10 for 21+, $12 for under 21 / 18+

Wednesday 12.31.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND NEW YEARS EVE with THE BLOOD ARM / WE ARE THE WORLD @ echo

with:
The Blood Arm || Listen
We Are The World

plus DJs:
Eddie Argos (Art Brut)
Larry G
Diana
Shane
Mark
Scarlett Casanova
Marina Velocity
Jasepi

8:30pm / $10 presale / 18+

Saturday 12.27.08: THE BASEMENT BLOCK STARS @ echoplex

with performances by:
Pacific Division || Listen
Hollywood Holt || Listen
Million $ Mano
U-N-I
87 Stick up Kids || Listen
Dom Kennedy

DJ sets by:
Them Jeans
Mike Posner & The Braintrust
Diz Gibran
Chris Young

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

9pm / $10 for 21+, $12 for under 21 / 18+

Tuesday 12.23.08: CLOSED

Tuesday 01.27.09: Indie 103.1 & Echo present CHECK ONE TWOSDAY with IO ECHO / ZAZA / JJAMZ @ echoplex

Io Echo || Listen || Watch

“IO IS A TRUE ROCKSTAR WHO IN TIME COULD TAKE HER PLACE NEXT TO SIOUXIE, JOEY RAMONE AND PATTY SMITH” -103.1 press release, Mr. Shovel

“IO ECHO SURE CAN PUT ON A HELL OF A PERFORMANCE”- Filter Magazine

“HAILED AS SOME OF THE BEST STUFF OF THE YEAR IN ROCK…YOU WILL FIND THE VOCALISTS’ PERFORMANCES SLIGHTLY CREEPY YET SATISFYING” – Deli Magazine

“EXPLOSIVE IN THE MOST ADDICTIVE WAY POSSIBLE” – LA City Zine

“IO ECHO IS BECOMING A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH” – Amateur Chemist

with:
Zaza || Listen
Jjamz

8:30pm / Free until 10:30pm, $ 5 after / 18+

Tuesday 01.20.09: Indie 103.1 & Echo present CHECK ONE TWOSDAYS with CASTLEDOOR / EARL GREYHOUND / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER @ echoplex

Castledoor || Listen || Watch

From the swinging, rubberband rhythms of “Dumpster Diving”’s melodic surge to the swaying “We Will” to the slow motion, twinkling sweetness of “Nightlight”’s autumnal, leaf-drift grace, Castledoor’s ‘Til We Sink EP is nearly as frustrating as it is gorgeous—so addictive are the record’s three soul-swept and buoyant tracks that, as “Nightlight”’s final vinyl groovespun harmonies fade into the ether, you can’t help but demand an additional seven songs of smoldering rock ‘n blues. Which isn’t bad for marketing—between this and 2006’s Follow the Dove EP, expectations and demand for a full-length probably can’t get any higher. The fact that this EP is a sliver of an LP-length recording session of music yet to be released (the band: “[We] guess the record labels are having a hard time these days, or something…”) mingles a bit of nervousness and disquiet to that sense of excited expectation. Lucky us then, that if only for it’s brief running time, ‘Til We Sink generates such a lovely sense of ease and enjoyment in the listener as to render any reservations muted and the expectations at full-blast. – Web In Front

with:
Earl Greyhound || Listen
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

8:30pm / Free until 10:30pm, $ 5 after / 18+

Tuesday 01.13.09: Indie 103.1 and Echo present CHECK ONE TWOSDAYS with WARPAINT / BROTHER READE / CROOKED COWBOY @ echoplex

Warpaint

Fucking gorgeous. That was overheard while Warpaint opened with a bold and utterly beautiful set of post-rock ethereality. Physically, yes, but that’s too obvious. Musically, however, it’s a bit unexpected. While probably well-studied in the art of Blonde Redhead, Jawbox, and Sonic Youth these ladies have a rhythmic feel and style all their own. And although the band may get some heat for the celebrity factor surrounding them (which we’ll avoid mentioning), we can safely say they don’t sound like a “Hollywood” band at all. Thank goodness. – LA-Underground.net

with:
Brother Reade || Listen
Crooked Cowboy

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

8:30pm / Free until 10:30pm, $ 5 after / 18+

Wednesday 01.28.09: NO CULTURE @ echo

resident DJs:
Guns N Bombs
Goddollars

FMI: No Culture on Myspace

10pm / FREE for 21+ before 11pm & $5 after, $5 for under 21 / 18+

Wednesday 01.21.09: CURUMIN with Special Guest MONEY MARK @ echo

Curumin

Named after a Brazilian word for “indigenous children,” hailing from Spanish and Japanese ancestry, and rhyming and scheming in Portuguese, Luciano Nakata Albuquerque has dazzled since his 2005 hybrid-funk debut “Achados e Perdidos” dropped with the help of Blackalicious’ Chief Xcel. That DJ evidently liked what he heard, and bankrolled this sophomore effort, which is easily one of hip-hop’s finest releases of 2008. That is, if you consider a mash of samba, funk, soul, rap, jazz and bossa nova to be hip-hop. “Japan Pop Show” displays skill on every level. The dance-floor grind of “Magrela Fever” might be the best club banger of the year. The title track is a psychedelic recombination of David Axelrod and Os Mutantes’ funky genes, and the subtle spacetracking of “Mistério Stereo” is as accessible for indie heads as it is for soul old-schoolers. Curumin’s classical training on percussion and keyboards has paid off heavily, especially on the instrumental groove of “Fu Manchu” and jazz and dub explorations of “Salto No Vácuo Com Joelhada” and “Saída Bangú.” It is, literally, all good. – Metromix LA

With Special Guest:

Money Mark

8pm / $10 / 18+

Wednesday 01.14.09: No Culture with DAM-FUNK / GODDOLLARS @ echo

with
Dam-Funk (Stones Throw)
Classixx
Goddollars
Ferverss

FMI: No Culture on Myspace

10pm / FREE for 21+ before 11pm & $5 after, $5 for under 21 / 18+

Wednesday 01.07.09: No Culture with GUNS N BOMBS / COSMIC KIDS / ACID GIRLS / FREE BLOOD @ echo

Guns N Bombs
Cosmic Kids
Acid Girls
Free Blood (DJ set)

FMI: No Culture on Myspace

10pm / FREE for 21+ before 11pm & $5 after, $5 for under 21 / 18+

Monday 01.26.09: Monday Night Residency – ROBERT FRANCIS / MAGIC BULLETS / PETER & THE WOLF / ANNI ROSSI @ echo

Robert Francis || Watch

It would be an understatement to say that Francis’ musicianship belies his young age, as some of One’s best songs already harbor the rustic, world-weary quality that many artists spend their careers cultivating. Whether or not Francis has actually experienced the pastoral blues that color his lyrics is beyond the point; his dusty baritone and heartland imagery make the potential fib worthwhile. From the right-handed piano twinkles of opener “Mama Don’t Come” to the gorgeously hypnotic, looping closer, there’s an airy sense of space to these ten songs. Even the album’s most ornate material — the seven-minute title track, perhaps, with its climax of co-ed vocals and sweeping violin — is allotted enough room to breathe. When the orchestration becomes lush, Francis usually swoops in with a musical reprieve, be it a momentary break in a riff’s rhythm or a touch of reverb to widen the sound. Even more interesting is his love for subtle, esoteric flourishes: a dog barking in the middle of “The Devil’s Mountains,” right before the bluesy pedal steel gives way to mariachi horns; delayed violin in verse two of “Little Girl”; the church-like harmonies in “Dakota.” It’s impressive proof that Francis’ self-appointment as producer isn’t the result of some youthful ego trip, but rather the most logical choice for a penny-pinched teenager — or, for that matter, anyone whose music mirrors these rustic folk-pop strains. – All Music

with:
Magic Bullets || Listen
Peter & The Wolf
Anni Rossi

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 01.19.09: Monday Night Residency – ROBERT FRANCIS / AMATEURS / LEX LAND / AVI BUFFALO @ echo

Robert Francis || Watch

It would be an understatement to say that Francis’ musicianship belies his young age, as some of One’s best songs already harbor the rustic, world-weary quality that many artists spend their careers cultivating. Whether or not Francis has actually experienced the pastoral blues that color his lyrics is beyond the point; his dusty baritone and heartland imagery make the potential fib worthwhile. From the right-handed piano twinkles of opener “Mama Don’t Come” to the gorgeously hypnotic, looping closer, there’s an airy sense of space to these ten songs. Even the album’s most ornate material — the seven-minute title track, perhaps, with its climax of co-ed vocals and sweeping violin — is allotted enough room to breathe. When the orchestration becomes lush, Francis usually swoops in with a musical reprieve, be it a momentary break in a riff’s rhythm or a touch of reverb to widen the sound. Even more interesting is his love for subtle, esoteric flourishes: a dog barking in the middle of “The Devil’s Mountains,” right before the bluesy pedal steel gives way to mariachi horns; delayed violin in verse two of “Little Girl”; the church-like harmonies in “Dakota.” It’s impressive proof that Francis’ self-appointment as producer isn’t the result of some youthful ego trip, but rather the most logical choice for a penny-pinched teenager — or, for that matter, anyone whose music mirrors these rustic folk-pop strains. – All Music

with:
Lex Land || Listen
Amateurs || Listen
Avi Buffalo

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 01.12.09: Monday Night Residency – ROBERT FRANCIS / THE HORSETHIEVES / RED CORTEZ / EVAN (from Parason Red Heads)@ echo

Robert Francis || Watch

It would be an understatement to say that Francis’ musicianship belies his young age, as some of One’s best songs already harbor the rustic, world-weary quality that many artists spend their careers cultivating. Whether or not Francis has actually experienced the pastoral blues that color his lyrics is beyond the point; his dusty baritone and heartland imagery make the potential fib worthwhile. From the right-handed piano twinkles of opener “Mama Don’t Come” to the gorgeously hypnotic, looping closer, there’s an airy sense of space to these ten songs. Even the album’s most ornate material — the seven-minute title track, perhaps, with its climax of co-ed vocals and sweeping violin — is allotted enough room to breathe. When the orchestration becomes lush, Francis usually swoops in with a musical reprieve, be it a momentary break in a riff’s rhythm or a touch of reverb to widen the sound. Even more interesting is his love for subtle, esoteric flourishes: a dog barking in the middle of “The Devil’s Mountains,” right before the bluesy pedal steel gives way to mariachi horns; delayed violin in verse two of “Little Girl”; the church-like harmonies in “Dakota.” It’s impressive proof that Francis’ self-appointment as producer isn’t the result of some youthful ego trip, but rather the most logical choice for a penny-pinched teenager — or, for that matter, anyone whose music mirrors these rustic folk-pop strains. – All Music

with:
The Horsethieves
Red Cortez (formerly The Weather Underground)
Evan (from the Parson Red Heads)

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 01.05.09: Monday Night Residency – ROBERT FRANCIS / ANDREW FROM RADARS TO THE SKY / SEASONS / BOLLWEEVIL @ echo

Robert Francis || Watch

It would be an understatement to say that Francis’ musicianship belies his young age, as some of One’s best songs already harbor the rustic, world-weary quality that many artists spend their careers cultivating. Whether or not Francis has actually experienced the pastoral blues that color his lyrics is beyond the point; his dusty baritone and heartland imagery make the potential fib worthwhile. From the right-handed piano twinkles of opener “Mama Don’t Come” to the gorgeously hypnotic, looping closer, there’s an airy sense of space to these ten songs. Even the album’s most ornate material — the seven-minute title track, perhaps, with its climax of co-ed vocals and sweeping violin — is allotted enough room to breathe. When the orchestration becomes lush, Francis usually swoops in with a musical reprieve, be it a momentary break in a riff’s rhythm or a touch of reverb to widen the sound. Even more interesting is his love for subtle, esoteric flourishes: a dog barking in the middle of “The Devil’s Mountains,” right before the bluesy pedal steel gives way to mariachi horns; delayed violin in verse two of “Little Girl”; the church-like harmonies in “Dakota.” It’s impressive proof that Francis’ self-appointment as producer isn’t the result of some youthful ego trip, but rather the most logical choice for a penny-pinched teenager — or, for that matter, anyone whose music mirrors these rustic folk-pop strains. – All Music

with:
Andrew from Radars To The Sky
Seasons
Bollweevil

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Sunday 01.25.09: PART TIME PUNKS with ANAVAN @ echo

with:
Anavan || Listen

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 01.18.09: PART TIME PUNKS – Factory Records Tribute Nite @ echo

This Sunday is PART TIME PUNKS first-ever “Factory Records Nite” — our tribute to the greatest of all Post-Punk labels out of Manchester, England. Responsible for the discovery & release of JOY DIVISION, NEW ORDER, A CERTAIN RATIO, ESG, SECTION 25, CRISPY AMBULANCE, CRAWLING CHAOS, THE DURUTTI COLUMN… (and eventually, JAMES, HAPPY MONDAYS, THE WAKE & QUANDO QUANGO). What that means: a four-hour Freaky Dance party of all Factory Records–from the post-punk era to Madchester. (and NO live bands.)

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 01.11.09: PART TIME PUNKS with THEE MIGHTY ANGELS / GOLDEN YEARS / DJ TIM BURGESS @ echo

with:
THEE MIGHTY ANGELS (Dave Newton from MIGHTY LEMON DROPS]
GOLDEN YEARS [Drew from THE ADORED]
Guest DJ Tim Burgess [from THE CHARLATANS]

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 01.04.09: PART TIME PUNKS vs COBAIN IN A COMA with THE BRIDEZ @ echo

with:
The Bridez

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 12.20.08: HANG THE DJS moves to echoplex!

with:
Hottub
The Keyishe
Icy Lytes

DJ sets by:
Bobby Evans
Mid City West
DJ Never Forget
Bianca O’Blivion

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

FMI:
Hang The DJs on Myspace

9pm / $8 / 18+

Thursday 12.25.08: GOOD FOR THE JEWS – Comedy show @ echoplex

Good For The Jews || Listen

Though musical comedic duos aren’t exactly rare these days, we certainly appreciate the good ones. After hunting online for tracks by Good for the Jews, we’re pleased to say “They Tried to Kill Us. We Survived. Let’s Eat” has made its way as a sonic loop in our subconscious—You Tube it and you’ll see what we mean. Spend Christmas night at the Echoplex running up a bar tab as Rob Tannenbaum and David Fagin turn holiday and/or recession frowns upside down with their show on December 25. – Metromix

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

7pm / $20 / all ages

Wednesday 01.28.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 01.21.09: DUB CLUB with YAMI BOLO @ echoplex

Yami Bolo || Listen

Bolo remains true to the spirit of reggae when, in speaking of his work, he states “the singer is but the instrument. It’s the Almighty at work.” Bolo’s commitment to conscious lyrics is evident throughout his music, he is determined to spread the love and happiness of his spiritual strength through exploring his multiple roles as singer, songwriter and musician.

This is exemplified on Yami Bolo’s over nineteen albums. Yami Bolo recently appeared in the movie “Life and Debt” and his single “Worldwide Corruption” is featured on the soundtrack released by Tuff Gong/Universal.

Yami Bolo’s talent has been long recognized by fellow artists, recent collaborations with Ghetto Youths Damian and Stephen Marley include the No 1 Jamaica-hit single “Still Searchin;” “She Needs My Love;” and “Stand A Chance” for the Motown-released Grammy Award-winning “Halfway Tree” album. Collaborations with Capelton “Put Down the Weapons”; Jack Radics “The Puppet Master”; Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin “Do Good” exemplify Bolo’s militant commitment to the youths whose “coming of age” under current economic and social conditions require the love of their fellowman and a redefined reverence for the highest moral standards, have lead to popular radio hits in Jamaica. “Freedom” co-written by Yami Bolo and Snow was produced by Dave Kelly for Atlantic Records.

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

9pm / $12 / 21+

Wednesday 01.14.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 01.07.09: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Friday 01.30.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Friday 01.16.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND with VICTIM VISION / RED CORTEZ @ echo

Victim Vision

Hard hitting rock and atmospheric reverb provide the foundation for comic tales of psychological terror, heroic morality and cosmic sexual fantasy. Victim Vision live shows feature a special blend of psychadelic lights and plenty of fog.

with:
Red Cortez (formerly The Weather Underground)

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+

Friday 01.09.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND with BART DAVENPORT (From Honeycut) @ echo

with:
Bart Davenport || Listen

Coming off of his stint with the electronic dance-pop band Honeycut, you might have figured Bart Davenport to weave some electronics into his soft-rocking sound on his fourth album Palaces. You’d be wrong though. The same basic template of acoustic guitars and restrained instrumentation makes up the bulk of his sound. The mellow influence of ’70s groups like Bread and America still casts a long shadow and he still sings the same kind of intimate lyrics with the same heartbreaking tenderness. What Davenport adds this time is a soul influence to go with the classic rock and soft rock. Not the kind of Ronson-retro sound that threatened to take over the late 2000s, instead he looks to the lush ’70s soul of groups like the Stylistics with their layered harmonies, gentle horns, and tinkling glockenspiels. Check the beginning of the entrancing “A Young One” if you doubt it. It truly comes off as mash-up of Bread and the Stylistics, and ends up sounding way better than you might expect. Amazing, even. – All Music Guide

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 01.02.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Saturday 01.31.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 01.24.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 01.17.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.10.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 01.03.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 12.27.08: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 01.08.09: NORTEC COLLECTIVE featuring BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE / MEXICAN DUBWISER @ Echoplex

Bostich + Fussible || Watch

“‘Tijuana Sound Machine’ is both folk music friendly and alien/outer space driven, as electronic freaky as anything by Bjork, Radiohead, or Aphex Twin. If anything, the album is wildly innovative, the first salvo in what may become a global electronic revolution… The music is simply irresistible. Never mind hip-hop, ‘Tijuana Sound Machine’ will truly take a nation of millions to hold it back.”
- Yahoo! Music

“The best dance music of all time. It’s sexy, suave and has real instruments.”
- SF Weekly

“A hayride on speed… this is one party you don’t want to miss.”
- Billboard

with:
Mexican Dubwiser

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

8pm / $13 advance, $15 Day of Show / 18+

Wednesday 12.17.08: JAIL WEDDINGS / THE GROWLERS / SOME DAYS @ echo

Jail Weddings || Listen || Watch

Way more fun/relevant/interesting was the opening act, Jail Weddings, the swampy homage-to-American-music nine man assemblage fronted by Gabe Hart, who was the deep throated creative force behind L.A.’s much missed garage rock band The Starvations. Flanked on each side like busty bookends by vocalists Tina “Tornado Jane” Brugnoletti and Katya Nadia Hubiak (Katya being especially generous with sharing her, umm, assets), Hart displayed once again his amazing capability to write and perform great songs. “I’m My Own Doctor” carried the pounding sweaty malevolence that The Starvations basically patented with their 2003 Gold Standard Labs album Get Well Soon, and “Mutual Fools,” is a memorable love song worthy of placement in the closing credits of some sweet-sad Jim Jarmusch-type movie. The combination of the singing trio with the six musicians at their rear, including guitar player Brian Waters of L.A.’s own white-boy soul machine Flash Express, lovely violinist Hannah Blumenfeld, and mustachioed saxophonist Brad Caulkins, calls for comparison to circa 1979 James White and the Blacks: The Blacks were basically a punk band playing jazz the way Jail Weddings is a garage band playing doo-wop. Jail Weddings, though, is way catchier. – LA Weekly

with:
The Growlers
Some Days

8:30pm / $7 / 18+

Tuesday 12.16.08: NATIVE FAUNA / GODS GANG / SPIRIT VINE / VUM @ Echo

Native Fauna || Watch

with:
Gods Gang
Spirit Vine || Listen
Vum

8:30pm // FREE 21+, $5 under 21 // 18+

Thursday 01.08.09: SPACELAND ON ICE with WAIT.THINK.FAST @ Pershing Square

Spaceland Productions Presents:

Wait.Think.Fast.

@ Pershing Square
532 South Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90013

FMI: Downtown On Ice

7pm / FREE / all ages

Thursday 12.11.08: SPACELAND ON ICE with DOGWEED / BOLLWEEVIL @ Pershing Square

Spaceland Productions Presents:

Dogweed
Bollweevil

@ Pershing Square
532 South Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90013

FMI: Downtown On Ice

7pm / FREE / all ages

Thursday 12.11.08: SPACELAND ON ICE with THE HOLLOYS / RUMSPRINGA @ Pershing Square

Spaceland Productions Presents:

Holloys
Rumspringa || Listen

@ Pershing Square
532 South Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90013

FMI: Downtown On Ice

7pm / FREE / all ages

Sunday 12.21.08: Snow In LA with DAEDELUS / BUSDRIVER / THE MAE SHI / RUMSPRINGA / THE ENTRANCE BAND / FOOLS GOLD / HAIM @ echoplex

with:
Daedelus || Listen
Busdriver || Listen
The Mae Shi || Listen
Rumspringa || Listen
The Entrance Band
Fools Gold
Haim

5pm / $10 / All Ages

Thursday 01.22.08: FMLY Presents HIGH PLACES / HECUBA / INFINITE BODY @ echo

High Places || Listen

Pearson’s saccharine vocals add an elegant grace to the High Places sound as they drift in and out of the mix, occasionally fading into nothingness. Often her vocals resemble those of Margaret Fielder from Laika, with whom High Places share more than a few joint musical fascinations.

Two of the first three tracks, “The Storm” and “The Tree with the Lights in It,” are the kind of wispy slices of cherubic electronica that have become the band’s trademark. The jittery rhythms encompass sounds that resemble treated steel drums, feet clumping through muddy water, and fizzy bursts of broken-down electronics. Barber’s sparse percussion and Pearson’s treacly vocals are the two constants throughout, occasionally lending a samey feel to the record. But it’s hard to resist their charms when they hit their stride, such as on standout track “Vision’s the First…,” which is the perfect distillation of the High Places sound. – Prefix Mag

with:
Hecuba || Listen
Infinite Body

8pm / $8 advance, $10 day of show / All Ages

Saturday 01.24.09: Echo & TILT present FUTURECOP / THUNDERHEIST / FRANKI CHAN / WE ARE THE WORLD @ echoplex

Futurecop

This may be the catchiest, most enjoyable collection of music that’s ever appeared here on Video Pop. That’s saying a lot.

Manzur and Peter (aka Futurecop!) sent me another fantastic mixtape, and this one is absolutely jam-packed with moments of pop bliss!

They’ve incorporated some of the highest quality baltimore club and nu-disco/electro pop in this one, as well as some Futurecop! originals (“Eyes Like the Ocean” and “Space Thieves.”) All around solid stuff.

At only 26 minutes, Euromixtape October 2008 is also very concise. I really like mixes that are under half an hour because the DJ is forced to make good decisions, get rid of any filler, and make something special happen from the start. If that was the goal with this mix, they definitely succeeded. – Video Pop

with:
Franki Chan
Thunderheist || Listen
We Are The World

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

9pm / $12 / 18+

Friday 01.23.09: F Yeah and Filter present JAY REATARD / EARTHMEN AND STRANGERS / SLANG CHICKENS @ echoplex

Jay Reatard || Watch

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:
Earthmen and Strangers
Slang Chickens

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

8pm / $12 advance, $14 Day of Show / All ages

Monday 12.15.08: Process Media, Grand Ole Echo & Echo present A Celebration of the book PURE COUNTRY with RONI STONEMAN / MIKE STINSON / DAVE SERBY / DAVE GLEASON / WEST OF TEXAS @ echoplex

Roni Stoneman || Watch

Veronica Loretta “Roni” Stoneman is the youngest daughter and probably the best-known member of the Stoneman Family, the pioneering country music family headed by her father, Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, one of the first recorded country artists. The Stoneman Family won the Country Music Academy’s “Vocal Group of the Year Award” in 1967. After Pop’s death a year later, Roni Stoneman, known as a virtuoso banjo player in both country music and bluegrass, pursued a musical career on her own. Roni earned the distinction of being the first female banjo player to record a bluegrass tune
when she appeared on the 1956 album “American Banjo Scruggs Style” and she achieved national fame in the 1970s as a cast member of “Hee Haw,” one of the most successful variety shows in television history. Last year, the University of Illinois Press published Stoneman’s memoir, Pressing On: The Roni Stoneman Story. The story, told through a series of interviews with Northwestern University writing professor Ellen Wright, includes tales from a lifetime in country music, chronicles Stoneman’s problems with abusive husbands and examines her relationships with her children. Roni celebrated her 70th birthday this year and shows no signs of slowing with regard to her performing schedule or her lightning-fast three-finger picking.

with:
Mike Stinson || Listen
David Serby || Listen
Dave Gleason || Listen

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

7:30pm / $10 / all ages

Thursday 12.04.08: Screening of CHEAP TRICK’S “LIVE AT BUDOKHAN” @ echoplex

The Live at Budokan album impact first sparked America, then engulfed the world– and is now celebrated three decades later with a Theatrical Campaign that brings the sight and sound together for the first time.

Three decades later, LIVE AT BUDOKAN proves how immortal some albums can be. The LP is ranked on Rolling Stone’s list of “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time,” “Surrender” appears on the magazine’s “500 Greatest Singles Of All Time” list, and their single “Hello There” is the Title track for best-selling video game Rockband 2, familiarizing a new generation to Cheap Trick’s music.

This is the original landmark concert, never previously aired in the US.

PLUS:
Q&A with Legendary producer JACK DOUGLAS (Cheap Trick, John Lennon, Miles Davis, James Gang, Mountain)

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

7pm /all ages

Saturday 12.06.08: BUST MAGAZINE’S HOLIDAY CRAFTACULAR @ echoplex

BUST Magazine’s Holiday Craftacular is a massive holiday shopping bonanza running from 11am until 6pm at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, featuring over 50 crafters, DJs, drinks, and dancing. Get jiggy with “Jingle Bells” as you browse through hundreds of the best in handmade gifts and winter wares, from handbags and ornaments to jewelry and cards.

FMI: http://www.bust.com/Craftacular/BUST-Holiday-Craftacular-2008-LA.html

10am / All Ages

Friday 12.12.08: KEISTAR PRODUCTIONS & FOOTLONG DEVELOPMENT present FLAVORS with DJ SPINNA / J.ROCC / J-HEART @ echoplex

KEISTAR PRODUCTIONS & FOOTLONG DEVELOPMENT PRESENT FLAVORS DJ SPINNA(WONDERWAX/BBE) & J.ROCC(BEAT JUNKIES/STONES THROW) 1990′S PARTY- HIP HOP REGGAE R&B HOUSE OPENING SET BY J-HEART

FLAVORS (Recapping The Music Of The 90′s Era…The Golden Years), is an event conceptualized by the innovative minds of KeiStar Productions. The first installment of FLAVORS dates back to 2002 and was celebrated with none other than the incomparable DJ SPINNA. With his extensive record collection and music knowledge DJ SPINNA creates havoc on the dance floor by spinning the unforgotten hits of 90′s Hip Hop, R&B andDancehall.

DJ Spinna (NYC)
DJ Spinna is something of an anomaly in music. A humbling example of what it takes to truly succeed within the framework of multiple fields. A steadfast work ethic, an obsessively extensive vinyl library and the willingness to pursue the full extents of his roots (Funk, Soul and Jazz), foundation (Hip-Hop) and future (Electronic/Dance music) with no restraints.
Regarded as one of the most versatile and talented producers/remixers/DJs in today’s musical arena. he has produced numerous tracks and remixes for notable artists such as Michael Jackson, De La Soul, Mary J. Blige, Mos Def, Eminem, George Michael & Stevie Wonder.

J.ROCC (BEAT JUNKIES/STONES THROW)
Hailed as the world’s best club DJ, J.ROCC continues to capture music enthusiasts around the globe. In 1992, Jason Jackson, internationally known as J.Rocc, launched his vision of forming a DJ crew comprised of talented musicians, by introducing to the world Southern California’s first turntable band – the Beat Junkies. A prized accomplishment enthusiastically received by worldwide audiences, J.Rocc continues to invent musical styles that display his creative expertise. Highly recognized for his funky showcases and original arrangements, J.Rocc has clearly distinguished his place in music history.

Buy Presale tickets at WWW.GOING.COM/FLAVORS08

9pm / $10 advance, $15 day of show / 21+

Friday 12.05.08: THE BRONX / CRYSTAL ANTLERS @ echo

The Bronx || Listen || Watch

“I am an addict, an animal/I am my father’s son” goes ‘Spanish Handshake’’s mantra, but it isn’t an apology. It’s a statement both of fact and of intent; hell, crank ‘Past Lives’ or ‘Ship High In Transit’ up and a billion clichés flood into your brain, primarily the desire to slam some booze down your throat and grab a perfect stranger before screaming all manner of obscenities in their face. This is what The Bronx do, so anyone who wants anything deeper will be left unsatisfied. Despite passing references to a changing industry led by demographics and marketing, there’s little attempt to coherently engage a world beyond the bottle – broken shards of stories and characters colourfully populate their songs but in terms of a thread, a concept? LA is a bit screwed up, let’s rock. Yet they’ve got the nous and the balls to pull this blunt assault off with verve.

It’s more a continuation of The Bronx than a reinvention, but so proficient are they at whipping up chaos on record (live, they’re more a barely controlled riot than a band) the fact it isn’t the coruscating blast of their debut doesn’t matter. It’s still a brilliantly sleazy punk rock’n’roll album that feels, sounds and smells just like you want The Bronx to be, and the fact it’s so pure and elemental works strongly in its favour. Play it loud; for 33 thrilling minutes it’ll make you feel like you can walk through walls. – NME

with:
Crystal Antlers

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Tuesday 12.09.08: WILDERNESS / SAN SERAC / MOONRATS @ echo

Wilderness || Listen || Watch

For a band named Wilderness, the Baltimore quartet make dissonant art-rock that’s distinctly urban, full of throat in a way that develops when you’re shouting to be heard in cities that never break or breathe. They specialize in a kind of crescendo minimalism: Through two albums of often shapeless cacophony (featuring thick, intertwined guitars and tom-and-kick drumming), they’ve crafted long-form songs that, though patient and deep-lunged, rely on the anthemic bursts to which they lead. At the fore but not the center, then, there’s lead singer James Johnson, whose slurred vocal style’s been compared to figures like John Lydon and David Byrne. But within such minor tempests, he’s not a frontman per se: His warbling disconnects from the words issued and becomes just another instrument, his lyrics broken down into simple repeated cries and chants that rise above the band’s shapely chaos, a further element of their dim but aspirant atmospheres. – Village Voice

with:
San Serac || Listen
Moonrats

8:30pm / $10 Advance, $12 Day Of Show / 18+

Wednesday 12.24.08: CLOSED

Saturday 12.13.08: THE SWEATER FESTIVAL with THE DEADLY SYNDROME / HAPPY HOLLOWS / THE PITY PARTY / CASTLEDOOR / AMNION / EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS @ echoplex

with:
The Deadly Syndrome || Listen
The Happy Hollows || Listen
The Pity Party
Castledoor
Amnion || Listen
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Join your favorite Los Angeles bands for another wonderful Christmas Sweater Festival. Playing this year are Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Happy Hollows, The Deadly Syndrome, The Pity Party, Castledoor and Amnion. All the proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders, and we’re leaving the ticket price up to you (but we say the $15 ticket will get you a lot more holiday love). Be sure to wear an ugly christmas sweater, for there will be a family photo booth, and a sweater contest. See you at the Sweater Fest.

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

FMI: Christmas Sweater Festival on Myspace

8pm / Tickets start at $5 / 18+

Sunday 12.14.08: Echo, Otik Records and Confessions of a Would Be Hipster present A Charitable Night Of Music with AARON ESPINOZA / PIERRE DE REEDER / TANDEMORO / DAMSELLES AND THE TC4 / THE VOYEURS / DAVEY INGERSOLL @ echoplex

A charitable night of music to benefit Midnight Mission and lower-income families

with:
Aaron Espinoza (from Earlimart)
Pierre De Reeder
Tandemoro
Damselles & The TC4
The Voyeurs
Davey Ingersoll (from Gosling)

Bring a new, unwrapped toy for $4 of admission!

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

7pm / $3 with toy, $7 without toy / All Ages

Saturday 12.20.08: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

The Kick Off Of FUNKY SOLE

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 12.11.08: CSS / NATALIE PORTMAN’S SHAVED HEAD @ echoplex

CSS || Listen || Watch || MP3

Donkey, the Brazilian art-house brat pack’s sophomore album, is a startlingly fresh and well-paced collection of songs that feel like the perfect progression from their debut. To say the band has matured would be to do them a disservice; their roughneck aesthetic to making music (only one of six members is an experienced musician) and gleefully absurd, pop-culture referential lyrics are key elements to what make CSS so thrilling. In album opener “Jager Yoga,” they manage to name-check Brazilian soap star Claudia Ohana, Brit comedy Absolutely Fabulous, and even the Pope of Trash himself, John Waters (“Desperate Living, Hairspray/Baltimore with Tanqueray/Live your life John Waters’ way”), all with equal doses of panache and sass. And when not immersing their audience in seemingly random shreds of pop-culture ephemera, they’re aces at making the arbitrary seem meaningful (“If you are my friend, we can raise the Jamaican flag so we can reggae all night, yeah”).

Musically, these eleven tracks rely more on a post-punk aesthetic than their electro-inclined predecessor. Produced by CSS’s drummer/songwriter Adriano Cintra and mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent (whose own resume includes Madonna, MIA, and Arcade Fire), Donkey feels more guitar-happy and rock oriented than Cansei de Ser Sexy while still maintaining the boisterous frenzy of synths and programmed drums the sextet has become known for. – Prefix Mag

with:
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head

8pm / $20 advance, $23 day of show / 18+

Saturday 12.06.08. SMOG SESSIONS @ echo

SMOG SESSIONS
los angeles dubstep event

SMOG003 RELEASE PARTY

with:
BREAKAGE (DIGITAL SOUNDBOY, SMOG, LONDON UK)
INCYDE (HOTFLUSH, SUB FM, BOSTON/NYC/UK)
DLX (SMOG, STEPS IN TIME, LA)
UNIT (SMOG, LA)
MC KEMST (SMOG, LA)

turbosound by:
MOBIUS

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

Tuesday 12.02.08: Indie 103.1 and Echo present CHECK ONE TWOSDAY with THE GRAY KID, LOVE GRENADES, KARIN TATOYAN, LIGHT @ echoplex

The Gray Kid || Listen

The Gray Kid‘s “trunk-wobbling anthems and ballads of love and lust” have established him as one of independent music’s most dynamic and entertaining performers. Having spent 2008 developing SPIRIT ANIMAL, a five-piece made up of top-call musicians who have recorded and toured with Ben Harper, The Pharcyde and Oliver Future, Gray is poised to enter a new realm of soul and dance music that recalls the grit, intensity and tenderness of bands like The Doors, Stevie Wonder and LCD Soundsystem.

First though, he’ll deal a cross-genre blow in the form of this fall’s “FREE MUSIC,” a rap and soul EP rich in musicality, hooks and wit. The record, mixed by Danny Kalb (Beck, Neon Neon, They Might Be Giants, Rilo Kiley) and produced by Gray and L.A. analog guru Computer Jay, features 18 musicians and six songs, including fan favorites “Eh Man,” “Oh My,” and “Soothsayer,” for which there is a racy, film noir music video.

with:
Love Grenades
Karin Tatoyan
Light

8:30pm / Free until 10:30pm, $5 after / 18+

Tuesday 12.30.08: Indie 103.1 and Echo presents CHECK ONE TWOSDAYS with DAWES / RICHIE FROM THE WILLOWS / ROSES KINGS CASTLES (ADAM FICEK FROM BABYSHAMBLES) @ echoplex

Dawes || Watch
Richie James Follin (from The Willowz) || Listen
Roses Kings Castles (Adam Ficek from the Babyshambles) || Listen

8:30pm / FREE before 10:30pm, $5 after / 18+

Tuesday 12.09.08: Indie 103.1 and Echo present CHECK ONE TWOSDAY with LITTLE RED RADIO / THE POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR / LIGHT @ echoplex

Little Red Radio

with:
The Polyamorous Affair || Listen
Light

8:30pm / FREE / 18+

Monday 12.29.08: Manimal Vinyl Residency with RIO EN MEDIO / THE LICKETS / AMANDA JO WILLIAMS / BLACK HOLE OSCILLATORS @ echo

Rio En Medio || Watch

Danielle Stech Homsy (aka Rio en Medio), offers her music to the whims of chance. Citing influences such as John Cage and a childhood in which “peculiar circumstance and mysterious blessings were the norm,” she nearly overshadows her meticulously honed songcraft. While erratic electronics and found sounds dapple last year’s The Bride of Dynamite, Stech Homsy’s crisp, breezy voice and baritone ukulele give the flighty idiosyncrasies ground to stand on, should they choose to float back to earth. – Flavorpill

with:
The Lickets || Listen
Amanda Jo Williams || Listen
Black Hole Oscillators

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 12.22.08: Manimal Vinyl Residency with THE POLYAMOUROUS AFFAIR / VAGINALS / HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM @ echo

The Polyamorous Affair || Listen || Watch

Simply put, the duo known as The Polyamorous Affair is a band on a mission. It is as if they are determined to achieve a past success but with a deeper appreciation for what it will feel like this time. Driven in the background by dueling dj’s lacing the beat that would move an AARP convention, The Polyamorous Affair is trying to build a sound, a movement all its own. Driven by an organic approach to music that lets them create, produce, and deliver their own, unique brand of pop-infused, pulsating dance music, the duo, headed by Eddie and Sissy are cultivating a sound that moves people to actually put their drinks down and dance. They stand behind their music, asking people to come along with them for a little part of their night as they take you on a music journey that just makes you feel good. – Loudvine

with:
Vaginals
Halloween Swim Team || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 12.15.08: Manimal Vinyl Residency with GANGI / BLACKBLACK / LACO$TE / VOICES VOICES @ echo

Gangi

When onetime folky Matt Gangi hit Manimal Vinyl’s showcase at the Cake Shop Tuesday with his band, aptly called Gangi, the fluttery shirts, shoestring headband, and acoustic strums I expected were nowhere to be found. Framed by shimmery curtains and Christmas lights, Matt and his mallet-wielding drummer Lyle Nesse occupied the stage with self-assurance and opened each song with a sound sample that segued into pre-recorded dance floor beats, synth, and rhythm guitar to form a backdrop for Gangi’s reedy vocals. At times the band’s sound recalled the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s psych-pop, and at others — particularly during “Animals” — Massachusetts duo the Books. But when Gangi ventured into the crowd, hand raised fervently above his head, comparisons seemed petty next to the charming enthusiasm of a musician putting aside freak folk archetypes and finding his own voice. – Spin.com

with:
BlackBlack || Listen
Laco$te || Listen
Voices Voices

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 12.08.08: Manimal Vinyl Residency with XU XU FANG / WINTER FLOWERS / CORRIDOR / EXITMUSIC @ echo

Xu Xu Fang || Listen

With slow waves of hushed sounds and swirling psychedelia, Xu Xu Fang’s new CD, The Mourning Son, rolls in like a fog and wraps your head in clouds. “Things are just okay,” a disembodied, world-weary voice intones amid the squalling guitars, spectral synths and formally decisive piano chords of “These Days.” It’s grand and dreamy stuff, followed by the similarly otherworldly title track, which chimes with a Velvety gloom. Band leader and producer Bobby Tamkin used to drum in the Warlocks, but Xu Xu Fang is a much more intriguing project. Unlike the Bore-locks, Xu Xu Fang are able to transform their funereal tempos into something truly mysterious and uniquely memorable. The pace picks up just a little on “Good Times,” whose shadowy groove and breathy singing belie its sunny title. – LA Weekly

with:
Winter Flowers || Listen
Exitmusic
Corridor

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 12.19.08: DARKER MY LOVE / LUMERIANS / THE MUSLIMS / CHRISTMAS ISLAND @ echoplex

Darker My Love || Listen

On Darker My Love’s second full length album, rightfully named 2, the band amps up their blend of psychedelic Brit rock and delivers a batch of heavily distorted scuzzed out rock gems. The album as a whole delivers a densely layered musical soundscape of feedback drenched guitars and pulsating drums that at some points are reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s shoegaze rock and at other times spacey psychedelic Brit Rock. What makes Darker My Love’s sophomore release unique is the progression of the album from pretty straightforward psychedelic rock songs to the last five songs which are epic heavily orchestrated prog rock influenced numbers that build into one another.

The stand out songs include “Two Ways Out,” which bumps up the vocals and turns down the feedback to deliver one of the most accessible pop gems of the album. This is a song that the Dandy Warhols wish they had written and will most definitely be a hit on the radio. “Blue Day” is a perfect blend of psychedlic and shoegaze, equipped with epic spiraling guitars, drums and maracas which envelope the dreamy vocals of the lead singer creating an all encompassing tripped out atmospheric feel of the song. “All the Hurry and Wait” is a grandiose Psychedelic prog rock epic that definitely showcases the musicianship of the band complete with a symphony in the background as well swirling guitars that build and transition in to the next song, “Waves.” Darker My Love has successfully avoided the sophomore slump with this phenomenal album, which shows a band that is crafting a unique sound that is only going to get better over time. – The Tripwire

with:
Lumerians || Listen
The Muslims
Christmas Island

8pm / $12 / 18+

Friday 12.05.08: THE SUBMARINES / PATRICK PARK @ echoplex

The Submarines || Listen || Watch

Husband-wife duo John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard wrote their first (and still highly recommended!) first album while broken up and the album only became a reality after they got back together (and then married). So, Honeysuckle Weeks is their first album written together, but that doesn’t change the formula too much. What we still have is ten tracks of beautifully arranged boy-girl pop heaven. The band doesn’t knock down any walls, they just make really good songs perfect for the upcoming summer months and driving with the windows down and the breeze in your face. The first single, “You, Me and the Bourgeoisie,” gives a nice sampler of what the album has to offer with its great melody and rich sound. A few tracks mix in some interesting new sounds, like “1940,” which has a dub beat with strings that sound like they come from, well, 1940. The simpler tracks almost have a Mirah-like feeling, with Blake adding a hushed but powerful edge to her voice, while the more exuberant tracks are everything you want in an indie pop song. – The Yellow Stereo

with:
Patrick Park || Listen

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

8pm / $12 / 18+

Friday 12.12.08: Club Underground presents RUN RUN RUN / VON IVA @ echo

Run Run Run || Listen || Watch

Run Run Run seems to be edging slowly away from the shoegazer stylings that put the quartet on the L.A. map a few years ago. Oh, on cue from front man Xander Smith’s lyrics, the guitars will still ache and rustle and rumble, but on the band’s forthcoming new EP, “Good Company,” the approach is more straight-ahead. The new material was conceived in small town upstate New York and marked the first time the band had written songs as a group. – LA Times

with:
Von Iva || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 18+

Saturday 12.06.08: BOOTIE LA HOLIDAY MASHUP PARTY @ echoplex

BOOTIE Holiday Mashup Party
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

From Chicago, indie mashup duo ABX and STV SLV:
THE HOOD INTERNET

Wear a Santa hat, get a FREE 10-track holiday mashup CD: “A Very Bootie Christmas”

Official Santacon after-party

Spinning a “very special” all-Christmas mashup set from 10-11 PM:
ADRIAN

Resident Bootie mashup DJs:
MYSTERIOUS D
DJ PAUL V.

Holiday Midnight Mashup Show:
R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance)

It’s the Bootie Holiday Mashup Party! From 10-11 PM, Adrian will be spinning a “very special” all-Christmas mashup set that is guaranteed to have you dancing! Renegade dance troupe R.A.I.D. will perform a special holiday-themed number for the Midnight Mashup Show, and anyone wearing a Santa hat will receive “A Very Bootie Christmas” CD! Plus, club photographers Drunkrockers.com will be hosting a toy drive, and it’s the official Santacon LA after-party! Expect lots of drunk Santas in the house!

From Chicago, indie mashup duo ABX and STV SLV — better known as The Hood Internet — take the stage for a special showcase set. This infamous pair have quickly made a name for themselves in the music blogosphere as the go-to indie-hop mashup guys. Marauding the pop, rap and R&B landscapes to mash up Dirty South rap to Canadian indie rock to “French Touch” electro, these Pitchfork-approved mashup boys have played CMJ showcases to South by Southwest, and have enjoyed sets alongside Diplo, The Cool Kids, Z-Trip and The Go! Team.

Launched in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup — and is now the biggest mashup event in the world, with monthly parties in six cities on two continents. Mixing and matching every conceivable musical genre, era, and style into one big dance party where everyone feels welcome, Bootie provides the soundtrack for the A.D.D. generation.

Resident DJs Adrian, the Mysterious D, and Paul V. keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. And free mashup CDs will be given away like candy!

Drunkrockers.com Toy Drive to benefit Ettie Lee Youth & Family Services
http://www.drunkrockers.com
http://www.ettielee.org

FREE Bootie CDs to the first 75 people through the door!

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Friday 12.26.08: CLOSED

Friday 12.19.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Friday 12.05.08: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Thursday 12.18.08: RESPECT with T-POWER / NOFACE / CLUTCH / MC RIDDA / MC XYZ @ echoplex

T-POWER (Digital Soundboy, UK)
NOFACE
CLUTCH
MC RIDDA
MC XYZ

FMI: Respect on Myspace

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

Thursday 12.11.08: RESPECT with TOTAL SCIENCE / ATLANTIC CONNECTION WITH MC KAY / MACHETE / SENSE / MC ZEZO ONE / MC XYZ @ echo

TOTAL SCIENCE (Advanced,CIA Recs,UK)
ATLANTIC CONNECTION w/MC KAY (WestBay Music)
MACHETE
SENSE
MC ZEZO ONE
MC XYZ

FMI: Respect on Myspace

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

Thursday 12.04.08: RESPECT with ADAM F. WITH MCMC / SCOOBA / DRONE / MC XYZ @ echoplex

ADAM F. w/ MCMC (breakbeat kaos, UK)
SCOOBA
DRONE
MC XYZ

FMI: Respect on Myspace

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

Wednesday 12.03.08: HANSON BROTHERS (with members of No Means No) / TRICLOPS / MOUNT SAINT HELENS VIETNAM @ echo

Hanson Brothers || Listen

Hockey Punk isn’t really something I am aware of… I mean, I like to think I have a pretty varied taste in music and that I know a fair bit about most genres, but every now and then something comes along that I really have no idea about. You know, something that you have never ever heard of before, not really heard anything similar to it and just have no clue about. This release is one of those kind of things, and I really am not sure what I am supposed to be picking out and hearing.

Though for a start I can tell you that this is a hell of a lot of fun that’s for sure. Yeah, I mean screw the usual band introduction and back story… I don’t know it, although I could copy out the promo blurb that is probably quite easily available on the internet. Whatever, It’s A Living is 27 (yes kids that’s 27 tracks) tracks of full on live mayhem that never seems to stop at all. Pummelling riffs and intensely funny provocative/random lyrics make up the bulk of this release with a couple of slightly odd radio interview pieces thrown in too for good measure. It’s mental… – Nothingatall.net

with:
Triclops! || Listen
Mount Saint Helens Vietnam

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Monday 12.01.08: THE HERBALISER / J BOOGIE @ echoplex

The Herbaliser || Listen || Watch

Jake Wherry formed Herbaliser when he met young deejay Ollie Teeba in their hometown of South London back in the early ‘90s. They hooked up with Ninja Tune early in its history, with their cut-and-paste 1995 debut Remedies being just the 18th record catalogued as Zen. Blow Your Headphones followed with more of a sampled jazz and trip-hop feel. The three records after that followed a similar path. While the duo’s production value improved, and the touring band began to take a larger role in the studio, their output seemed to become more formulaic as hip-hop albums. But something has changed, besides their contract. Same as It Never Was, their seventh studio album, is not just a clever name.

Ralph Lamb (trumpet) and Andy Ross (flute, saxophone) from the touring band have now become official, permanent members, as well as smoky voiced chanteuse Jessica Darling. The fresh meat and change of scenery must have done wonders in the studio ‘cause this record sounds completely re-inspired. There are only a couple of real hip-hop tracks on the listing. Instead, Same as It Never Was joins the ranks of Jamie Lidell, Quantic Soul Orchestra, and the Dap Kings as a work of vigorous throwback funk. This is Herbaliser putting something back for the ages.

I’ve been a great fan of Herbaliser’s for years, and though I’d like to think Blow Your Headphones is their finest work on account of my experience with it, there’s no getting around the potent punch packed in their latest bomb. “Game, Set and Match” with More Or Les is the only track that doesn’t fit in. With a typical beat, accordion, and hard rhymes, it sounds like a leftover from 2005’s Take London. Other than that, Same as It Never Was is their undisputed best record start to finish. They’ve totally outdone themselves. My hat is off to you, fine sirs and Madame. – Popmatters

with:
J Boogie || Listen

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

8pm / $13 / 18+

Wednesday 12.31.08: DUB CLUB NEW YEARS with RANKING JOE backed by ECHODELIC SOUNDSYSTEM @ echoplex

Ranking Joe
Backed by Echodelic Soundsystem

Joseph Jackson in Kingston on 1st June 1959, Joe got his start on record with the founding father of Jamaican music, producer Coxsone Dodd (Studio 1), cutting “Gun Court” in 1975 as Little Joe. He then recorded for a variety of producers including Bunny Lee, Watty Burnett and former African Brother Derrick Howard. By 1976 he was deejaying on the legendary sound system of Daddy U-Roy, Stur-Gav Hi-Fi, and recording for producer Prince Tony Robinson. His first album for that producer was released in 1977 and included hits like “John Saw Them Coming” and “Queen Majesty Chapter 3″. He continued to deejay with U-Roy’s set, building up a formidable reputation as a live deejay. He began recording hits for Sonia Pottinger (“Shine Eye Gal” 1978) and was the first deejay to record for Sly & Robbie’s Taxi label when he versioned Gregory Isaacs’ hit “Soon Forward” (“Stop Your Coming & Come” in 1978).

He recorded for Joe Gibbs (“Leave Fi Mi Girl Arleen”), and Dennis Brown (the excellent “Around The World” album) and moved to another sound system, the newly-reconstructed Ray Symbolic Hi-Fi with Jah Screw as selector. The combination proved unbeatable in the dance and the sound was Champion of 1980. The same year the set became the first to tour outside Jamaica, completing a sell-out tour of the UK.

Joe became one of the most influential pupils of the great U-Roy, introducing the so-called ‘fast style’ to rapturous dancehall audiences.

Come check out a master on the microphone!

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

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

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

9pm / $10 / 21+

Wednesday 12.17.08: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 12.10.08: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 12.03.08: 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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 12.28.08: PART TIME PUNKS – LOTO BALL SHOW / FANCY SPACE PEOPLE / THE SIXTEENS @ echo

with:
LOTO BALL SHOW [members of NEW COLLAPSE, THE CENTIMETERS & PHANTOM LIMBS]
FANCY SPACE PEOPLE [Don Bolles from THE GERMS + Nora from THE CENTIMETERS
THE SIXTEENS [from San Francisco]

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 12.21.08: PART TIME PUNKS – SMITHS / MORRISSEY NITE @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 12.14.08: PART TIME PUNKS with SLANG CHICKENS / THE FRANKS @ echo

The Franks

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 12.07.08: PART TIME PUNKS with FREE MORAL AGENTS / JESUS MAKES THE SHOTGUN SOUND @ echo

with:
Free Moral Agents
Jesus Makes the Shotgun Sound

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Monday 12.01.08: Monday Night Residency – WEAVE! / FOOLS GOLD / WE ARE THE WORLD / RAINBOW ARABIA @ echo

Weave!

Weave! is composed of Ivory Lee Carlson, Nicole Turley, Phillip Haut, and Bryan Lasley, all Los Angeles natives that have formed quite a unique sound. Something bordering the Moving Units and Blonde Redhead, this group manages to take bits and pieces of bands like that then mold them into their own tune. Gracing bars such as The Echo, The Smell, Mountain Bar and La Cita, this group obviously knows the hot come-up spots for LA indie bands and plans on continuing that path with their full length debut coming out summer of 2009. Big things for Weave!, so be on the look out. Check out their song “Bravery”. I dare you to try not to dance. – URB

with:
Fool’s Gold
We Are The World
Rainbow Arabia

8:30pm / FREE / 21+