Friday 08.07.09: IRREGULAR WINE TASTING- 4 SUICIDES FROM SUICIDE CLUB @ echoplex

Get thee to the Echoplex, aka the Julius Shulman Memorial Hall, this night for the forty-third edition of Irregular Wine Tasting, an adult-beverage haiku about which Lt. Cheryl MacWillie of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office never said: “I’ve got nothing against her personally, but Flo, the fictional cashier in the regressive insurance TV commercials, was an a–hole as far as the A-bomb was concerned.” This evening we pair five wines from Planet Vagina with four suicides from Suicide Club, then segue seamlessly into SuicideGirls presents Summer Suicide, featuring “beautiful naked punk rock, goth & emo girls with tattoos & piercings.”

Hosted by:
Julian Davies (The Cheese Store)
DJ Cuz’n Roy

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

RSVP at:
irregularwinetasting@yahoo.com
Irregular Wine Tasting on Myspace

Purchase Tickets at:
Stories
1716 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7:30pm / $20 / 21+

Saturday 08.15.09: Vtech & Mochilla present QUANTIC AND HIS COMBO BARBARO / J.ROCC / NU-MARK / SAKE ONE / GANAS @ echoplex

Quantic & His Combo Barbaro || Listen || Watch
Featuring Alfredito Linares, Freddy Colorado, Malcolm Catto, Nidia Gongora on vocals and very special guests!

‘Tradition In Transition’ – recorded in Cali, Colombia – is the upcoming album from Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro, which sees Will ‘Quantic’ Holland mining the lesser-tapped musical sources from the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa and fusing those rediscovered psychedelic, experimental and rhythmically rich sounds of the past with deep funk and soul elements and folkloric vocal styles. This exceptional longplayer gives life to an explosive sonic snapshot of an ever-evolving musical landscape, played out by a carefully assembled international cast of musical creators.

with DJ sets from:
J.Rocc
Nu-Mark
Sake One (SF)
Ganas

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

9pm / $15.00 advance, $20.00 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 09.01.09: DAVILA 666 / MANNEQUIN MEN / MIKA MIKO / LE FACE @ echo

Davila 666 || Watch

Davila 666 is Puerto Rico’s answer to the Black Lips and my answer to the question: When will a new band seriously brainwash me on its music? Since picking up Davila’s debut disc, I’ve refused to put it back down. These delirious rockers possess their Atlanta brethren’s ability to come off like crazy little shits who’d ace rock history quizzes. On their U.S. debut, these triple-sixers filter three decades of scuffed-up leather jackets through the Spanish-language translator. Disparate patches of Radio Birdman, the Dead Boys, and rudimentary jangle pop are all threaded onto the album, the charms of which are multiplied by the fact that Davila 666 sounds like it was recorded live at a basement birthday party.

“El Lobo” kicks off the dance pit with band-wide hootin’ and howlin’, pushing the energy level immediately into the red. Unless you speak Spanish, the meanings behind the gang-chorus vocals to this and every other song get lost, but the universal language spoken here is that of hook-gouged, wild-eyed garage rock ‘n’ roll. “Bla Bla Bla” gets pop good and sloshed, dragging out sloppy “La la la” lines until they collide with so many “Wuh-hoo!”s. But these guys know better than to blow their wattage every time. “Tu” starts with plinking xylophone melodies, the vocals calming into a hush befitting a young punk grown smitten. But lest that makeout session last too long, the band offers its next rave up four minutes later with the sexy, bass-heavy “Oh Baby.” It all goes to show that these Puerto Ricans are your best bet to get the party shakin’, stirred, and – particularly on the excellent “Callejon” — ready to explode. – SF Weekly

With:
Mannequin Men
Mika Miko || Listen
Le Face

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text 666 to 467467

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 10.15.09: When You Awake presents THE DEVIL MAKES THREE / OLD MAN MARKLEY / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER @ echoplex

The Devil Makes Three || Listen || Watch

The Devil Makes Three has just released the latest chapter of their gypsy-punk-hillbilly-bluegrass-blues gospel in an album called Do Wrong Right. That description is a mouthful, but DM3 is far from ordinary. The drummer-less trio consists of guitarist/frontman Pete Bernhard, stand-up bassist Lucia Turino and guitarist Cooper McBean. Their sound is driven by rhythm and three-part harmonies that beg you to boogie down, even if you aren’t the boogie down type.

Do Wrong Right might change your opinion about what can be done with an acoustic album. Traditional country songs like “Car Wreck” are offset by up-tempo banjo propelled songs like the album’s title track and then followed by brutally honest blues numbers like “Working Man’s Blues.” I haven’t had a chance to see a live show, but the word-of-mouth about their performances is the stuff of legends. From what I hear, hippies, young kids, college students, yuppies and people of all races and religions are dancing and singing along in blissful coexistence. They are on a monstrous cross-country tour this summer, so we’ll all have a chance to find out for ourselves.

While this ragtag band might be a bit loose and rough around the edges, those same qualities are what bring character to their music. The Devil Makes Three have a lively spirit and are bound to win over audiences all over the country, one drinking hole at a time. – HearYa

with:
Old Man Markley
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

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

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

8pm / $13.00 advance; $15.00 day of show / 18+

Thursday 08.13.09: MySpace Records presents Online [Offline] at The Echo with BURNING BRIDES/ JONNEINE ZAPATA / MARY MAGDALAN / SABROSA PURR @ echo

Burning Brides || Listen || Watch

It was pleasing to see a full house congregate at the El Mocambo for Philly rock trio Burning Brides. Critically-acclaimed but commercially underrated, they displayed no signs of rust from a layoff from playing live (Bassist Melanie Campbell and singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats recently had a baby). The band’s take on hard guitar rock is more varied than most, with their songs mixing melody and muscle to winning effect. The harmonies suggested X on steroids. Older favourites like “Glass Slipper” and “Arctic Snow” (their first ever single) still sound great, while such new songs as “Lovesick” also showed promise. As refreshing as their vibrant sound is an onstage demeanour reflecting the fact that they clearly love playing together in front of an appreciative crowd. – Exclaim!

With:
Jonneine Zapata || Listen
Mary Magdalan
Sabrosa Purr || Listen

8pm / FREE / all ages

Monday 08.24.09: SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE / HORSE THIEVES / MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE @ echo

Six Organs of Admittance || Listen || Watch || MP3

Six Organs Of Admittance’s forthcoming Luminous Night was recorded and produced by Randall Dunn, who’s manned the boards for Earth, Wolves In The Throne Room, and most recently Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions, to name a few. It makes perfect sense to pair Dunn’s knack for layering dark, deep soundscapes with Ben Chasny’s ability to transform his psychedelic, folky, and finger-picked guitars and distinctive somnambulant vocals in otherworldly excursions. Add guest spots by Eyvind Kang (on viola), Hans Tueber, Tor Dietrichson (tabla), Matt Chamberlin (drums, percussion), etc., and you have yourself one of Six Organs’ most gorgeous collections in a line of gorgeous collections. (Full disclosure: Ben and I are friends, though this stuff would be just as beautiful if we were enemies.) See, for instance, “The Ballad Of Charley Harper,” a smeary 5-minute acoustic-and-distorted trek in honor of the Cincinnati wildlife artist that perfectly matches (and echoes) Luminous Night’s tree-lined album art. – Stereogum

With:
Horse Thieves
Master Musicians of Bukkake

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

8pm / $10 / All Ages

Tuesday 09.29.09: TIM EXILE / WE ARE THE WORLD / DJ TRAVIS @ echo

Tim Exile || Listen || Watch

Tim Exile (né Tim Shaw) was made for the stage, but maybe not the stage you’d expect. Most of Exile’s affectations– billowy low tenor, showy buildups, rugged everyman looks, the glitzy stage name– all point towards showbiz. The result is that Shaw’s third album, and first for Warp, Listening Tree, sometimes sounds like Electronica: The Musical with Shaw playing the sashaying lead. It’s occasionally a bit hokey, but Listening Tree trades on Shaw’s genre-hopping to build aggressive, kinetic dramas.

Any of you crossover kids carrying your new Field record in a Smalltown Supersound tote and accustomed to your electronic music pattering on blissfully, beware: Listening Tree is an album where things properly happen– lyrically, sure, but also musically. Shaw takes many of his cues from non-linear boom-bappers like Aphex Twin or, if you’re looking for someone more theatrical and obscure, Plaid. His compositions spatter and pluck and tumble outwards, each indelicate sound unfurling from another. Listening Tree’s songs are so motion-oriented, in fact, that Shaw’s Scott-Walker-fronting-the-Human-League vocals often serve as the calming influence. – Pitchfork

With:
We Are The World
DJ Travis

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

9pm / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 18+

Thursday 10.22.09: THE OH SEES / FRESH & ONLYS / DAN MELCHIOR @ echo

The Oh Sees || Watch

When bands progress at a dizzying rate, there’s no assurance their loyalists will stick with them. Sudden shifts in dynamic can be frustrating if they don’t feel organic, as can follow-ups that have little to do with what preceded them.

John Dwyer, nee the man behind Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, and close to a dozen other lesser known entities, is one of those artists who makes drastic changes from album-to-album and somehow keeps the returns high, if not higher, with each subsequent release. Thee Oh Sees alone have already cycled through a few monikers — including OCS — and seven, count ’em, seven records since 2004 (including an m-f’n double-album and a 6-inch lathe-cut run of exactly 51 copies).

The quality control has remained high; while I fell in love with the echo-folk of 2 and 3 & 4, Dwyer has held my attention as his Oh Sees slowly wade into rock ‘n’ roll waters, beginning with slight traces on Cool Death of Island Raiders, bluesy belting on Thee Oh Sees Sucks Blood, and, now, all-out 1950s greaser rock with The Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending the Night In, a superior specimen to Sucks Blood and another reason to join Dwyer’s cult.

Sung almost entirely duet-style — Brigid Dawson being the second layer — The Master’s Bedroom corrals 14 versions of the same song. Luckily it’s a fucking sweet song, well worth revisiting over and over for nuance. A noise flutter here, an ascension there, a clickity-clack of some sort to break up the monotony; we’re talking about an A-and-B conversation between musician and listener — any distractions can oh-C their way out of it. – Tiny Mix Tapes

With:
The Fresh & Onlys || Listen
Dan Melchior || Listen

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

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Thursday 10.01.09: THE CAVE SINGERS / LIGHTNING DUST / BIG SEARCH @ echo

The Cave Singers || Listen || Watch

Two years pass, and we find The Cave Singers to be much more comfortable in the studio. The group’s newly-perfected acoustic sound is warm and inviting, and you can just tell from the sound of it that these guys always play sitting down. They are always careful and deliberate. Whatever rushed, hurried, methods they might have previously used on earlier recordings is now gone. True to their acoustic mantra, they maintain an earthy, naturistic, rootsy feel. Not as in a “twangy country,” but as in, “if Fleet Foxes had more facial hair then they might sound like this.” They even throw in washboards and harmonicas and give a nod to the oft-neglected blues music of the Mississippi River Delta. From even the first listen, it is evident that The Cave Singers has perfected the ghostly, resonating qualities of minimalism that separate it from a hoard of meditative, chai-sipping imitators.

Welcome Joy is somber and sweet enough to be enjoyed on calm evenings, but yet packs enough punch that you won’t be embarrassed if you leave it in your car when you pick up your best buds from lacrosse practice. It is a treasure trove anthology of styles, all led by the powerful, wailing voice of Pete Quirk. His unique vocal blend is perfectly complimented by gentle, throbbing drum pulses and Derek Fudesco’s masterfully rationed guitar work. Each pluck is gentle and deliberate. There are no wasted notes and none of that awful, mindless strumming that saturates contemporary indie music. Each hit of the string is left to resonate, creating a gentle, almost haunting atmosphere.

And the thing is, that The Cave Singers seem to have risen to these levels of greatness overnight. How did they get this good? Washes of warm pigments and wistful, breezy sounds abound. Impressionistic lyrics and smooth guitar interplay float by. This is the perfect album for shooting the breeze or enjoying the outdoors. Songs are warm and inviting, and they maintain that sort of “Sticky Sweet Honey Goodness” that scientists have recently found to be the primary ingredient in the soundtrack to your best summer memories. Welcome Joy is the perfect, earthy balance of the grittiest and the sweetest splendors that the Pacific has to offer. I feel like I would enjoy this record even better if I were a more frequent participator in No Shave November. But regardless, it’s still damn good. – Adequacy

With:
Lightning Dust || Listen || MP3
Amber Webber’s broken-warbled vibrato is thick and sour-sweet like buttermilk, wobbly as a warped record, bumpy as the soft-hard ridges of a curved spine. The Vancouver singer/multi-instrumentalist who sidelines as Lightning Dust with fellow Black Mountaineer Joshua Wells, lends single-slug words “hand” and “sea” a dozen extra syllables and a line like “this city is in a panic” a waving-or-drowning inscrutability. Throughout Lightning Dust’s second LP, Infinite Light, Webber’s on the verge of tears– or laughter, depending on how her voice finds you– and her raw emotion makes for one of the fiercest, most stirring vocal performances of any release this year. – Pitchfork

Big Search

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

8:30pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 09.15.09: THROW ME THE STATUE / THE BRUNETTES / DEVON WILLIAMS @ echo

Throw Me The Statue || Listen || Watch

Indie rock doesn’t cut it anymore. Let’s try indielectric. Seattle’s Throw Me the Statue, Scott Reitherman and his live band, laces straight-ahead indie pop with liberal doses of drum machine and loops. Between the fully addictive “Lolita” and its much less jolly album bookend, “The Happiest Man on This Plane,” Moonbeams employs all manner of structure, from hook-happy choruses to echoing melodica. “This Is How We Kiss” is bop-arific 1990s nostalgia knocked up by the horn-laden intensity of “Groundswell.” Reitherman pinched elements of his beloved forebears (Built to Spill, Guided by Voices, Beck), stretched them, twisted them, and crammed them into his tasty debut. We hear there will be glockenspiel. – The Austin Chronicle

With:
The Brunettes || Listen
Devon Williams

::::NURSES HAD TO CANCEL DUE TO VAN TROUBLES::::

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

8pm / $8 adv, $10 doors / All ages

Tuesday 10.06.09: STARFUCKER / DEELAY CEELAY / STRENGTH @ echo

Starfucker || Watch

Coming less than a year after the quartet’s self-titled debut (and on a label usually more closely associated with poet-songwriters and gentle folk songs), Jupiter is 26 minutes of thoroughly road-tested, crowd-approved, indie-electro gems by folks who know how to do it right.

The record starts off with the one-two punch of “Medicine” and “Boy Toy,” two warm, super hook-filled numbers — the latter of which repeats “in my lungs” over and over again as (according to main man Josh Hodges) a “metaphor for the lung cancer that is romance.” Starfucker’s sound immediately strikes the ears as a far less icy Ladytron mixed with The Teenagers — both the French electro-outfit and, as evidenced by Mr. Hodges hyperbolic, yet sweetly morbid love metaphor, people of that age group. The band’s treatment of ’80s classic “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” has all the elements that made Fun Boy Three’s 1983 version of “Our Lips Are Sealed” a pop gem. It’s true to the original, but the male vocals add a ramped up, irresistibly campy quality.

Each track on Jupiter would fit well on a mix tape alongside electro-classics like Air’s “Sexy Boy.” Considering how quickly the computer has become the common man’s instrument of choice, Starfucker prove that, in the right hands, it can still be irresistible. – Tiny Mix Tapes

With:
Deelay Ceelay || Listen
Strength || Listen

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

8pm / $10 / All Ages

Friday 09.25.09: OM / LICHENS / TWEAK BIRD @ echoplex

Om || Listen || Watch || MP3

You’ve got to be pretty heavy to get away with an album title like God Is Good. Lucky for them, psych-droners Om are about as heavy as it gets. The band is set to release their new album this fall, and rest assured the sound will be just as grand as that titular declaration. God Is Good will be the first release for the band on Drag City, and will follow after the excellent Pilgrimage, released in 2007 on Southern Lord. The new album also marks the first studio recording with the band’s new drummer Emil Amos. And that is not the only change coming on this record, apparently. While they won’t be giving up their bottomless heft and relentless riffs, the band promises new and more varied instrumentation on the new record, as they push to expand their huge sound even further. – Prefix Mag

With:
Lichens
Tweak Bird || Listen

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

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

8:30pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show / 18+

Friday 09.11.09: Echo & Club Underground present: VIVIAN GIRLS / THE BEETS / THE BLACK & WHITE YEARS @ echo

Vivian Girls || Listen || Watch

In a year when Brooklyn buzz travels around the world at lightspeed, you can probably count on one hand the number of new bands that, when the hype settles, are more than inconsequential collections of postures and exhausted second-hand styles. Vivian Girls, an all-female trio who’ve become overnight sensations among critics and underground rock fans, are seemingly candidates for one of those emperor’s new clothes-type reveals– after all, they hail from said borough and perform lo-fi garage rock that taps a number of fashionable historical, ideological, and aesthetic wellsprings (C86! Slumberland! Olympia! Nuggets! Spector!). They deflect the knee-jerk criticism the most effective way possible, though: with an armful of kick-ass songs.

Without risking pastiche, the band gets plenty of mileage from its sonic references. “Tell the World”s frantic beat recalls the jittery, chaotic rhythm of Black Tambourine’s “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge”, while the Girls’ flawless, calmly executed three-part harmony counters with the satin-shoed professionalism of the Crystals. The lyrics– this is one of Vivian Girls’ few completely legible songs– are as ambivalent: “I’ll tell the world about the love that I’ve found,” they enthuse, giving public voice to teenage infatuation (an evergreen girl-group subject), while at the same time raising the Spector of out-of-whack control issues: “He sees what I see/ He feels what I feel.” (Not convinced? Switch out the gender of the pronoun and singers.) The end result is phenomenal, one of 2008’s best songs. The sweet jangled “Where Do You Run To” is almost as great, making pining at home seem not so bad, all things considered. – Pitchfork

With:
The Beets || Listen
The Black & White Years || Listen

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

8pm / $10 / 18+

Tuesday 08.18.09: CORREATOWN / MARVELOUS TOY / THE BREAK UPS / KILLSONIC @ echo

Correatown || Listen

There’s an inescapably seductive quality to Angela Correa’s songs; despite the fact that every song she writes is downtempo and melancholy, she has produced forty-five minutes of mellowness rather than full sedation. Correatown is ten beautiful, earthy tunes, stripped bare musically and emotionally, that trudge along at the pace of a wounded deer. Only Correa’s endlessly soothing voice and the strength of her bittersweet songs allows her to avoid the pitfalls of a “downer” album.

Correa hails from San Diego, a town that boasts an impressive collection of singer-songwriters: Liz Janes, J Turtle, Castanets (Ray Raposa) and that Jason Mraz fellow all compete with her for coffee shop stage time. Maybe it’s the fact that San Diego’s weather is exactly the same every day, but all of these artists, Correa included, attack their music as if they’re on the tail end of a vicodin bender. When you hear the droning organ on “Hardship to Be You”, you’ll realize that time simply isn’t an issue for Correa. Similarly, “Mercurial Heart”’s sparse guitars and “Night Light”’s wispy vocals suggest a world where the seasons never change, the hours don’t pass and the only causes for concern are heartache and depression — two things Correa understands well. - Splendid Magazine

With:
Marvelous Toy || Listen
The Breakups
Killsonic

8;30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 08.12.09: DUB CLUB presents PABLO MOSES with THE REVOLUTIONARY DREAM BAND @ echoplex

Pablo Moses || Watch

Pablo Moses, born in Jamaica as Pableto Henry, released his first album in 1975, Revolutionary Dream, issued in the United States by UA Records as, I love I Bring “ A university trained poet,” according to the Village Voices Carol Cooper, Moses articulated his Rastafarian ideology with unprecedented political frankness in a high pitched, horn-like voice over rhythms and harmonies laid down by keyboardist/ producer Geoffrey Chung. Signing with Mango Records, Moses collaborated with Chung five years later to produce his follow up, 1980’s A Song, a subtle answer to the fire of his debut release. In 1981, Pablo Moses issued his third album, entitled Pave The Way.

Tunes such as “I Man a Grasshopper” , “Dubbing is a Must” , and many others became reggae classics.
By then, Moses had amassed a strong following in Jamaica, Europe, North America and Japan. Moses’ Rastafarian themes, the crusade against injustice, inequality, greed, racism, war, and the pillage of nature were and are universal in their scope.

In 1983, Moses signed with Alligator Records to release In The Future. amplifying his political and social message with rock stylistics and the use of electronic instrumentation like the synthesizer and vocader. Moses expanded and deepened his sound and rhetoric with 1985’s Tension and 1987’s Live to Love. We Refuse, released in 1990, was a lyrical response to the political climate of the eighty’s seen as “good times”: by those who’ve closed their eyes to the underlying realities of poverty and racism, now unraveling in the ’90s. “In this album” says Moses,” I say what I ‘ve said all along, only in a modified mood, more straightforward. I refuse the Babylonian ways of society, the bully-istic attitudes. Jah made everyone with different cultures and colors just as he made different types of birds and plants for beautification.”

To this date, Pablo Moses remains one of the most original, out- spoken roots reggae artists to be found. After more than 30 years, he is still throwing out lyrics that are sociologically, political and culturally connected. Pablo Moses has toured extensively in Canada, U.S.A. South America, Central America, Europe, Scandinavia and the Caribbean. Pablo is currently almost finished with a brand new, highly anticipated upcoming album. Pablo Moses is a teacher, father and a revolutionary who has never, and will never, strayed from his path as a spokesman for the poor, oppressed and underprivileged people in the world.

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 / $10 advance, $10 at the door before 10pm, $15 after / 21+

Friday 08.07.09: SuicideGirls presents SUMMER SUICIDE @ echoplex

SuicideGirls Presents…
Summer Suicide @ The Echoplex

Wear a bikini top and get in free all night!

18+ to dance/21+ to drink
2 Full Bars
ID Required

Electro, remixes, mash-ups, indie, pop, rock, 80s, 90s, and more…

With DJs…
Los (Ultraluxx)
Xian (Malediction Society, Ruin, Wumpskate)
Eddy Nightmare

Sexy SuicideGirl Go-Go Dancers
Free Glowsticks for the first 50 people
Ticket Give-Aways from Goldenvoice
SuicideGirls Merchandise Give-Aways

Photo Booth by Lisa Talbot Photography
Roaming Photo

@ The Echoplex
Through the alley at…
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(Valet on Glendale Blvd)

Sign up for our email list for special discounts at clubsuicide.net

10pm / $10 / 18+

Wednesday 07.29.09: Spaceland Under The Stars – CLUB UNDERGROUND NIGHT @ Pershing Square

Club Underground Night

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Tuesday 08.11.09: THE VOYEURS (Video Release) / KISSING COUSINS / BOX VIOLET / POLYGRAPH @ echo

The Voyeurs || Listen || Watch

Thoroughly Kinked and corner-turning rock-pop, The Voyeurs’ stately debut, Well Known Drag, rages and swoons with a kind of laser-honed songwriting precision not usually heard outside of a lavish, Rhino-released box containing the best of ‘60s powerpop. From the whiplashed and seasick dynamics of the gnashing, near-perfect “Thing People Say” to the ominous and piano-crashed menace of “The Trouble with Jerry” to the lazy, front porch acoustic haze of “New Beginnings,” Drag does anything but as it explores ringing vocal pop and percussive, sneering rock with a dedicated and knowing edge. By the time the beerhaul jaunt of “You’re a Wreck” closes the record with a playful, Merseybeat swing, the Voyeurs have not only issued a clever and catchy catalog of powerpop’s history, but they offer it a promising future as well. – Web in Front

with:
Kissing Cousins
Box Violet
Polygraph

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 08.05.09: DAWES / SLANG CHICKENS / BIG ECHO @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Slang Chickens || Listen
Big Echo

8:30pm / FREE for 21+; $7 if under 21 / All ages

Wednesday 08.12.09: DAWES / PAPA / PAIGE STARK @ echo

Dawes || Listen

The first album from the new quartet featuring three-quarters of Simon Dawes sneaks up on you like a moment of deja vu. Twenty-three-year-old Taylor Goldsmith crafts elegant folk-pop gems that reveal a remarkably centered songwriter who feels the currents surrounding him but won’t get swept away by any of them. Gentle twang and genteel harmonies give “North Hills” a fireside intimacy that illuminates every word of Goldsmith’s confessionals. In “When My Time Comes,” a tacit admission that he has a lot of life yet to live, he sings “The only piece of advice that continues to help / is anyone that’s making anything new breaks something else.” “Love Is All I Am” might be cringeworthy in other hands, but Goldsmith keeps it plaintive: “I’ve locked up these words / in fear that I’d say them wrong.” Unlike the foursome’s live show, “North Hills” gets a bit strummy at times, but you won’t regret shuffling along. (Expect the album to get a wider release soon, after Dawes signs a deal with a prominent independent label, reported to be ATO.) Recommended. – Buzzbands LA

With:
Papa
Paige Stark

8:30pm / FREE for 21+; $7 if under 21 / All ages

Wednesday 07.22.09: THE HOWLIES / THE BLACK HOLLIES / SWORDS OF FATIMA @ echo

The Howlies || Listen || Watch

Following the release of the EP Sea Level, Howlies full-length, Trippin’ with Howlies, hits the streets this January. These 12 tracks crackle with an electrified intensity that seems even more urgent when considering the album was apparently completed in just three days. Filled with garage rock gems and sinister surf rock, Trippin’ with Howlies is a non-stop assault of retro done right. Every track is a keeper, whether it’s the boastful swagger and Motown beat of “Howlies Sound,” the militaristic march through the sirens of songs past on “Angeline” (“Michelle my belle / I feel you may have run away / Maybelline could Chuck ever believe the things you’d say?”), the descending, “Paint it Black” riff on “Adaptation” or the humorous, but still reverent, ode to the ‘50s teen love ballad “Aluminum Baseball Bat”. Howlies’ faultless proficiency and obvious love of rock and roll with a vintage vibe is matched only by the band’s refusal to take anything too seriously (listen close for a last laugh!). But seriously, everyone needs to go Trippin’ with Howlies. – Popmatters

With:
The Black Hollies
The Swords of Fatima

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 07.30.09: Comedy is The New Black presents STARS & STRIPES OF COMEDY @ echoplex

Comedy Is The New Black Presents THE STARS and STRIPES SHOW :Freedom is Funny!

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

7:00pm / $10 / all ages

Friday 10.16.09: Echo & Club Underground present A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS / DARKER MY LOVE / ALL THE SAINTS @ echoplex

A Place To Bury Strangers || Listen || Watch

Never underestimate the power of the perfect guitar effects unit. The Jesus and Mary Chain’s landmark Psychocandy would have sounded vastly less godlike without its use of a discontinued (and allegedly broken) Japanese fuzz pedal. Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis dredged his mythic decibel levels from road-worn Marshall amps, but his stoner racket wouldn’t have been the same if he hadn’t funneled it through the grinding fury of a Big Muff. In the right hands, one little black box can mean the difference between pummeling and decimating.

Few people understand this better than Oliver Ackermann, frontman for thunderous Brooklyn three-piece A Place to Bury Strangers: Under his catch-all company name Death by Audio (it’s also a music venue, recording studio, and collective), he custom-builds and designs his own hand-wired pedals, which are used by everyone from Lightning Bolt and Serena Maneesh to Wilco, Spoon, and TV on the Radio. Not coincidentally, anyone looking for a quick description of his own band can look to the names he gives these things: Interstellar Overdriver, Supersonic Fuzz Gun, Total Sonic Annihilation. – Pitchfork

With:
Darker My Love || Listen
All The Saints

MOVED TO ECHOPLEX
enter at 1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

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

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Thursday 09.17.09: Aquarium Drunkard presents THE DRONES / MODEL/ACTRESS / BRIDEZILLA @ echo

The Drones || Listen || Watch

I suppose The Drones aren’t the most cuddly bear in the cave. But they bring something special to rock ‘n’ roll. It’s music that’s deadly serious and somewhat topical (see: world’s gone to shit and getting goner) but never preachy or overblown (just blown-out). It’s brutishly confrontational and classically infectious in equal measure. Their up-tempo songs are big, brash bluesy hard rock burners that bore right into you like all the best ones do. And the intermittent slower tunes are devastating in a fashion somewhere between sick solace and gnashed stoicism. As the lyrics become increasingly discernible and Gareth’s voice more vulnerable, you find yourself helplessly entwined with their enraged omniscient narrator in weary repose. Although the words are consistently resolve-sappingly bleak (“Stage fright is proof that nothing’s right”), the music never loses its woozy, elemental pull. Singing the most wretched kind of poetry, even at the core of diaper mountain, there is a dependably relaxed sort of grace to Liddiard’s choked delivery.

Havilah is more humblingly good music at a time when rock music is more about being it’s-all-been-done humble. I guess the “me decade” is no time for heroes. Instead, I’ll flash my indulgent critic’s badge and appraise this band in defiance of their self-deprecating name: essential. I know this is a groan-inducing, sound-bite-style reduction; that’s exactly what they are. They’ve been laboring in obscurity, busting their asses to produce stultifying peals of simmering/careening brilliance for years now. Maybe they’re justifiably content enough with their accomplishments as is, but I can’t help but think that it’s time for y’all to get wise. This is the sound you need to get for right now, and it’s built to last well past that. – Tiny Mixtapes

With:
Model/Actress
Bridezilla || Listen

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

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Sunday 08.30.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with TED RUSSELL KAMP / GINA VILLALOBOS / PAPERPLANES @ echo

Ted Russell Kamp || Listen

With:
Gina Villalobos || Listen
Paperplanes || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Thursday 08.20.09: Echo & Folk Yeah present- J TILLMAN (Fleet Foxes) / EVAN WAY (Parson Redheads) / BIG SEARCH @ echo

J. Tillman || Watch || Listen

Carving out a darkly brooding persona with roots in Neil Young’s early ’70s output, Richard Buckner’s elliptical Americana, Nick Drake balladry, and assorted, harder-to-pinpoint gospel, country, blues, and folk idioms, Tillman’s two most recent solo long-players—Cancer and Delirium (2007) and Minor Works (2006)—are packed with memorable songs. Often built upon the simplest, ingratiating musical maneuvers–like the little stair-step acoustic guitar on Minor Works’ “Crooked Roof”–Tillman’s songs rarely hew to the literal, instead deftly navigating allegory and alienation, the occasional revelation stacked against heaps of melancholy.

On Vacilando (so named from the Spanish term, indicating a wanderer for whom the experience of travel is more important than the reaching of a destination), though, he strips away his tendency for over-production, resulting in a more focused, refined approach. Tillman’s cavernous vocal range, all texture and nuance, is front and center; meanwhile, a wise-beyond-his-years lyrical depth that, one fathoms, springs from (or, more accurately, is a reaction to) his restrictive religious upbringing, results in pithy imagery, i.e., “Suffering doesn’t know God’s name (from “New Imperial Grand Blues”) or, from the album’s opening salvo, “All that you see, you have dominion/All you don’t know, you are forbidden.”

The record’s insistently bleak tone threatens to tilt into claustrophobia at times, but Tillman winningly subverts expectations. The striking full-band cut, “Steel on Steel,” with delicious French horn/pedal steel interplay and Fleet Fox Casey Wescott on keyboards, melds agonizing romantic heartbreak to an epiphany on life’s ephemeral nature. It’s a leftfield instant pop classic, Tillman winding his silkiest vocal around the song’s glistening melody. “New Imperial Grand Blues,” in contrast, is a pulsating rocker, a jarring peek into the Crazy Horse side of Tillman’s brain. It’s a bone-rattling blues called “Master’s House”, however, that best embodies Tillman’s talent: “How easily the heart of man is tamed” he surmises, over the music, his quivering, floating tenor gaining a steady, stoic determination. It’s an explosive assessment, with implications reverberating into personal, spiritual, even geopolitical realms. Tillman’s own spirit, meanwhile, you suspect will be tough to quell. – Uncut

With:
Evan Way (Parson Red Heads)
Big Search (Foreign Born, Fool’s Gold, Glasser)

8:30pm / $10 adv, $12 at the door / All Ages

Sunday 08.16.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with DEAD ROCK WEST / RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA / THE LONESOME HEROES @ echo

Dead Rock West || Listen

With:
Ruby Friedman
The Lonesome Heroes || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Friday 07.24.09: Honoring The Legacy of Sky Sunlight Saxon of The Seeds with SPIRITS IN THE SKY / THE SEEDS / MIKE RANDLE & more @ echoplex

Sky Sunlight Saxon left a huge legacy of music but more than that he left a legacy of touching so many people in positive ways and that is the best legacy any of us could hope for …..

Sky Sunlight Saxon was fearless and he met every day with a newfound hope that peace and love could someday rule this world – that someday all wolves and dogs would be taken care of and loved and that all people would cease to eat God’s precious animals. He very deeply believed in YaHoWha and the teachings he learned from his spiritual Father and he spread that word to everyone he met. Many people began their own spiritual path after being witness to Sky’s determination that everyone understand that they are indeed spiritual beings trying on this human body and human ways but that one day we all will shed this body and move into our etheric body of light where we then will be unfettered and can continue our work to help mankind and the universe from the other side. Sky Sunlight Saxon now fully Sunlight Arelich Aquarian is free from the restraints of this world and his human vehicle and remains with us in spirit and in his music. ~Sabrina Sincerity Enchantment Saxon~

with:
SPIRITS IN THE SKY
feat. Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Mark Tulin (Electric Prunes)

THE SEEDS
Rik Collins (Woolly Bandits) former Seed and manager is heading up the line up and will handle the Bass duties for the evening. The Seeds will be made up with former Seed members including original members Daryl Hooper (Keyboards) and Jan Savage (guitar). this will be the first time in many years that they will play Seeds music. Line up for the Seeds band is as follows Justin Polimeni (Drums), Atomic (Guitar), Mark Bellgraph (guitar), Gary Stern (drums), Mike Oak (Keys) John Langdon of the Woolly Bandits (Keys), Carl Belkamp Seed member in the summer of 1968 (drums). Guest singers will include Don Bolles (The Germs), Leighton Koizumi (the Morlocks), and Christa Collins (Woolly Bandits) performing a wide range of Seed songs including the all the favorites.

MIKE RANDLE
of Baby Lemonade / Love

DJIN AQUARIAN
(spiritual brother in YaHoWha and also master guitarist for YaHoWha13)

SIMON STOKES BAND

SOFIZEL
+ The EnChaNTeD ChilD Of Rock + (member of Sky’s band in England: The People’s Republic Party)

GEORGE BUNNELL, RANDY SEOL, MARK WEITZ, AND GENE GUNNELS
“original members” of the Strawberry Alarm Clock

plus:
***Various people will talk about Sky throughout the program
***Source Family Members will be part of the program as well
***Projection of photos and video of Sky Sunlight Saxon

We encourage people to come dressed in flower children garb and/or source family style bearing flowers of any kind that we will set up on the stage

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

8pm / $15 advance, Donations accepted to offset costs & Expenses / 18+

Monday 08.31.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / MY PET SADDLE / GRAND ELEGANCE / DOGWEED @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

With:
My Pet Saddle
Grand Elegance
Dogweed

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+

Monday 08.17.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / XU XU FANG / THELONIOUS MONSTER @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
Xu Xu Fang || Listen
Thelonious Monster

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+

Monday 08.10.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / TIJUANA PANTHERS / SOME DAYS @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
Tijuana Panthers
Some Days

8:30pm / FREE for 21+, $7 for under 21 / 18+

Monday 08.03.09: MONDAY NIGHT RESIDENCY with THE GROWLERS / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER / THE ZINFANDALS / VUM @ echo

The Growlers || Listen || Watch

The Growlers play party music that’s shot through with an undertone of melancholy. It’s as if their sepia-tinted rock songs come equipped with both the drunken cheeriness and the nauseating hangover.

They know how to rollick like champs, but they can also creep along with a vaguely Eastern European worldweariness that’s endearing. They may claim Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Lee “Scratch” Perry as influences on their MySpace page (wigga, please), but the Growlers actually sound more like Man Man if they were fixated on pre-psych rock that’s too sophisticated to be considered “garage.” This nebulous quality makes the Growlers one of the most interesting bands working in the region.

The Growlers sent us a CD called The Greatest Hits, but at 25 tracks and 78 minutes, it sounds more like an archival clearinghouse of ideas. Most of these songs exude a casual, understated cool, marked by winding, mesmerizing, spangly guitars and Brooks Nielsen’s riveting, woebegone vocals. Even 38-second scraps such as “My Forehead’s Dripping Ocean” bear close listening.

They’re not very blues-rooted, but they do project an un-hokey sadness that consoles rather than brings you down (could be the band’s recessive folk genes). As I wrote in my live review on our Heard Mentality blog, “Their music possesses an insidious infectiousness that sneaks up on you like inebriation after a few sweet libations” (see “The Wildbirds and the Growlers, Detroit Bar,” Aug. 7, 2007). I bet you become besotted, too – OC Weekly

with:
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister
The Zinfandals
VUM

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 07.30.09: DOWN AND DERBY ROLLER DISCO @ echoplex

Down and Derby, the premier roller skating organization that has quickly garnered a loyal following in cities like Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and New York City will host its second Los Angeles event at The Echoplex, Thursday, July 30. Resident skate guard DJs Thee Mike B and Steve 1Der will control the roller disco rink’s turntables, broadcasting amplified sounds for the eight-wheeled revelers.

The Los Angeles event is set apart from Down and Derby parties in other cities by its authentic 70s feel. The resident DJs don’t just spin popular tunes for which the era has become known—they reach into the depths of 70s music to bring partiers the obscure hits that may not be recognizable by most, but are truly indicative of the culture and lifestyle of the era.

Down and Derby, is a retro-inspired roller-skating party created and designed to give attendees a unique nightlife experience. The interactive throwback events combine décor reminiscent of a 70s roller disco with attendees participating through wearing fashion attire evocative of the era. DJs known for pushing the limits of mixing and music production are procured, adding vibrant energy to the event with both underground and popular mixes.

The entry fee is $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door and quad skates of every size will be available to rent for another $5. Guests are welcome to bring their own roller skates to the event.

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

RSVP at www.downandderby.org

9pm / $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door / 21+

Wednesday 07.15.09: BLACKBIRD AND THE FEATHERED PEOPLE / SHARON TEMPLE @ echo

Blackbird and the Feathered People || Watch

“The Feathered People began as a poem. Essentially it was about these mystical magical people who are all on journeys from all throughout the universe. Some of them stopped off on earth to have a human experience, run in the sun, fall love, feel pain, swim in the ocean…one day, though, they will leave this plane and go home again…wherever that is.” This is the explanation given to me by Blackbird on his current project ‘The Feathered People’.

In 2007, still searching to define his sound and looking to start playing more live shows, he ran into some longtime friends (who also just happen to be named after birds) Sparrow (bass) and Dove (drums). Sparrow and Blackbird have been friends since their teens and have crossed paths many times over the years…each time they meet talking about working together but busy with other projects. Dove has worked with Sparrow on and off for years. The three of them have had individual paths and journeys and have finally come together to form The Feathered People. Their sheer power as a rock trio shines through most at live shows, where the hard thump-thump of the driving bass lines and virtuosity of Sparrow, the drums’ pounding beats and machine-like precision, accentuated by the concentrated look on Doves’ face, and then Blackbird smoothly slinking around (delivering his message, looking you in the eye, challenging you to feel the music), can be felt throughout the room. – CitizenLA

with:
Sharon Temple

8:30pm / $7 / 18+

Sunday 10.04.09: JACK PENATE / MIIKE SNOW @ echoplex

Jack Penate || Listen || Watch

Jack Penate has responded by junking his previous incarnation, finding a sympathetic producer in Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park) and re-emerging with an album of good-natured, more-ish dance-pop, its multi-layered sound so unexpected that Matinee now seems like the work of someone else entirely. Once noted for his strange knock-kneed dance moves, Peñate has suddenly found a sense of rhythm; recent single Today’s Tonight merges Afrobeat and house music, while Give Yourself Away piles on the samba drums and squalling guitars, suggesting recent discovery of the Santana back catalogue.

There are trumpets, strings, a barrage of percussion and all manner of instrumental flourishes that might have left Peñate, in his eagerness to reinvent himself, mired in self-indulgence. Despite the broader palette, there’s no sign of bloating and the album comes in at just nine tracks, all of them punchy, and in their lyrical and sonic optimism, defiantly pop. The title track is both hymn to the joy of seeing the world through less jaundiced eyes and faintly autobiographical, given its chorus of “everything is new now/dance away defeat”, and the overarching mood is of facing down your fears. That includes the biggest one of all, as Let’s All Die celebrates the arrival of the grim reaper by breaking out the party hats, its mariachi brass and rattling drums equal parts Mexican Day of the Dead and New Orleans funeral march.

After a few listens to Everything is New, it’s clear the title is no plea to be forgiven for past sins. Skins have been shed, batteries recharged and the traditionally difficult second album dashed out with apparent ease. Of all the young artists that might have managed that feat, who’d have thought it would be this one? – The Guardian UK

With:
Miike Snow

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

8:30pm / $12 / 18+

Sunday 08.30.09: PART TIME PUNKS with MARK BURGESS (THE CHAMELEONS UK) / WAR TAPES / THE NEW ROOM @ echo

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

With:
Mark Burgess (of The Chameleons UK) (playing a set of all Chameleons songs with a full band.)
War Tapes || Listen
The New Room || Listen

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 18+

Sunday 08.23.09: PART TIME PUNKS – BRITPOP NIGHT guest DJs from TRANSISTOR Dorian & Maurice DFL @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 08.29.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 08.22.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 08.15.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 08.08.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 08.01.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 07.25.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 07.18.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 08.19.09: 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 08.26.09: 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 08.05.09: 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+

Thursday 08.06.09: QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT / STATIC STATIC / ALL LEATHER @ echo

Quintron & Miss Pussycat || Listen

Released on Memphis-based Goner Records, Too Thirsty 4 Love is the latest from New Orleans mad scientist, underground icon, and organ aficionado Quintron. One look at the cover gives the would-be listener some indication of what they’re in for: Quintron, dressed like a thrift-store game show host, relaxing in bed with a remarkable lady, both wearing plastic fangs, entwined in an enormous snake and enjoying a novelty ice cream drink.

In addition to posing for such swell album photos, Quintron has spent the last number years performing with puppet shows put on by his wife and partner-in-crime Miss Pussycat (whose inimitable lyrical prowess is present on most of the tracks,) and invented a drum machine that runs on spit along with countless other weird musical innovations.

Appropriately, his album contains plenty of sleazy, drum-machine fueled soul numbers including stand-outs “Waterfall” and “Final Conflict.” On tracks like “Reborn,” atmospheric, Esquivel-like lounge bizarreness abounds. – Alarm Press

with:
Static Static
All Leather || Listen (Members of The Locust, Some Girls)

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

Friday 08.14.09: Rock N Roll Summer Circus with THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE / FOL CHEN / FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / MARVELOUS TOY & MUCH MORE @ echoplex

The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch
Fol Chen || Listen
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
Marvelous Toy || Listen

“Side Show Acoustic Performers”:
Damselles & The TC4
Roadside Graves || Listen
Les Blanks || Listen
Downtown Union
Balloon Bass
Banjo-Vi
Oof Aarted

MC’d by ELI MONOLATOR

FREE Cotton Candy and Sno-Cones

Skeeball and Prizes!!

Balloon hats–Mimes–and MORE

***Wear a moustache, come in clown or mime face, or come wearing some other type of circus attire and you get a free little mix cd with a song from each band performing***

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

8pm / $10 / 18+

Saturday 08.01.09: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

Special show-stopping performances every half-hour from Bootie LA’s resident dance crew:
R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance)

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

Free Bootie mashup CDs for the first 75 people!

This month, it’s Mega R.A.I.D. at Bootie! Every half-hour, Bootie LA’s resident 15-person dance crew, R.A.I.D. (that stands for “Random Acts of Irreverent Dance”) will come out unannounced with a special choreographed mashup dance number. Gold suits will take over the Echoplex stage with several show-stopping performances! Resident DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D return from doing Bootie Brazil last month, and DJ Paul V. joins them on the decks for some hot summertime mashups.

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 eight cities on three 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!

Bootie’s resident DJs keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. Resident dance crew R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance) performs a mashed-up dance number nearly every month. 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!

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

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Friday 08.14.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND vs GO COMMANDO with LITTLE RED RADIO / ON BLAST / DARWIN DEEZ @ echo

Little Red Radio
On Blast
Darwin Deez

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 08.07.09: 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 07.24.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND with THE BLACK WATCH @ echo

The Black Watch || Listen

“the black watch remains, after nearly 20 years of making music, both intriguing and exhilarating. The group’s sound continues to be both provocative and just out of reach. From the woozy title track that sounds more than slightly off-kilter to the cosmic clutter of “The Lost Colony of Roanoke” to the wistful “Covers the Bummers” and lilting “Never Know”–songs that reinforce the band’s more melodic sensibilities–one can only hope that, after eight albums and half as many EPs, the black watch’s time has finally come.”–AMPLIFIER

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Saturday 07.18.09: TILT & Binary present MEN / HEY WILLPOWER / DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS

MEN

MEN is a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and radical potential of dance music. MEN speaks to issues such as wartime economies, sexual compromise, and demanding liberties through lyrical content and an exciting stage show. The group began in 2007 as the DJ/production/remix team of LE TIGRE members JD Samson and Johanna Fateman. When the duo began to write new songs, it made sense to merge their efforts with JD’s other new project HIRSUTE. JD and Hirsute members Michael O’Neill (Princess, Ladybug Transistor) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (LTTR, The Ballet) now comprise the core of MEN, with Johanna and artist Emily Roysdon contributing as writers, consultants, and producers.

with:
Dances with White Girls
Lexicondon
Hey Willpower
Flashmen
Killed By Synth
Short Circuit

9pm / $10 / 18+

Wednesday 08.19.09: GREAT NORTHERN @ pershing square

Great Northern || Listen || Watch

On the cover of Great Northern’s debut album, Trading Twilight for Daylight, sits a barren tree backed by an arctic landscape. Such a dormant image is ironic considering the band’s lively and articulately layered sound, with traditional instrumentation being complemented by the likes of strings, brass, and other orchestral elements that are often considered too complex or overbearing to even visit the usually simplistic world of indie pop. Demonstrating the ability to take risks, Great Northern are one of the more capable bands of their element I have heard lately. Based out of Los Angeles, Great Northern was formed due to the strong friendship of pianist Rachel Stolte and guitarist Solon Bixler, both proficient songwriters and lead vocalists. – Obscure Sound

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Wednesday 08.12.09: OLIN & THE MOON / HORSE THIEVES @ pershing square

Olin & The Moon || Listen

With:
Horse Thieves

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Wednesday 08.05.09: LUKE TOP / MY PET SADDLE @ pershing square

Luke Top || Listen || Watch

Do you love your friends “more than lightning?” Are they “much more than a passing storm?” If so, perhaps they are also Friends with Luke Top and you can all connect for brunch, or form another band. It seems that everything Luke Top does seats a party of at least ten, be it with Fool’s Gold or this project, which also involves Fool’s Lewis Pesacov, Giant Drag’s Micah Calabrese, Cass McCombs, and Matt Popieluch and Ariel Rechtshaid of Foreign Born, to name a few—almost like a disease, each of these guys spreads his germs around town in different bands and projects. But rather than bring us any closer to swine flu, Luke Top’s music wants to make happy. It’s the sound of driving nowhere on a sunny afternoon. Opener “Lord, Save Me From This Valley” starts the car, then “Infant Rose” pulls the top down, shaking off a few leaves and dried berries before we hit the coastal highway. We arrive at title track, “Friends,” in third gear, jangling tambourine, handclaps, and vocal harmonies. While instruments pile up over the course of the album, adding horns and strings and even some nature sounds to the blend, every note fits in a streamline design: the road is clear, the car is clean, and the passengers smile behind their sunglasses. – LA Record

with:
My Pet Saddle

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Friday 07.17.09: The Echo & Club Underground present THE HAPPY HOLLOWS / THE VALLEY ARENA @ echo

The Happy Hollows || Listen || Watch

“The Happy Hollows is, put simply, transformative. That is, the young Los Angeles trio’s infectious and amorphous sound is one that immediately sticks upon first listen, evoking hints of bands that listeners remember not for the scene that launched them nor the trends of the era, but for the moment at which they first heard its music. Vocalist/guitarist Sarah Negahdari wields ominous riffs and finger-tapped arpeggios with skill reminiscent of Mary Timony of Helium while simultaneously singing and wailing like a hyper hybrid of Debbie Harry, Kim Deal and Karen O. Meanwhile, the agile rhythm section of Charles Mahoney (bass/vocals) and Chris Hernandez (drums) vault and lunge with precision.

The Happy Hollows’ raucous and irreverent noisy-pop sound is influenced by genres as disparate as 90’s college rock, Broadway show-tunes, garage punk, and 80’s pop. The band combines innovative song structures, surreal lyrics, and fiercely adept instrumentation to recreate reality into a jagged panorama of vibrant, kaleidoscopic collage. Listening to their music, one cannot help but see visions of a place oddly askew from the world we experience everyday, a parallel universe that is at once whimsical, demented, and ferocious. Among other things, the subjects of their tunes include labyrinths, counterfactual history, palindromes, the colors of the rainbow, time travel, mythical animals, and Tarot cards. On the group’s 2008 EP, Imaginary, Negahdari’s cherubic propensity for quizzical, playful lyrics and signature finger-tapping/finger picking guitar technique are readily apparent as the band quirkily straddles the fence between dissonant rock and art-pop. – Radio Exile

With:
The Valley Arena || Listen

8:30pm / $5 if 21 or over, $7 if under / 18+

Friday 07.10.09: SPACE ISLAND @ echoplex

Space Island || Myspace || More Info

With:
VibeSquaD
Knowa Knowone
Henry Strange

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

9pm / 21+

Monday 07.27.09: Monday Night Residency – JAPANESE MOTORS / THEE MAKEOUT PARTY / THE BLANK TAPES / GOLDIGGERS! @ echoplex

Japanese Motors || Watch

Japanese Motors are the most exciting band to emerge from Orange County since the heyday of Social Distortion and TSOL. Hailing from Costa Mesa, the Japanese Motors are made up by main vocalist Alex Knost, guitarist Nolan Hall, bassist Daniel Michicoff, and drummer Andrew Atkinson, the band is known around Southern California for the insane, all-night blowouts they put on as much as for the driving, raucous garage pop they set the partying to.

Rather than fight the influence of their surroundings like so many of their So Cal contemporaries, Japanese Motors have channeled it into their music, making tunes every bit as sun-baked and laid-back as their coastal environs and rife with positive imagery. “Most bands from here are trying to sound like they’re from London or New York,” Nolan says. “We embrace where we’re from.”

With:
Thee Makeout Party
Sweaters || Listen
Goldiggers!

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

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.20.09: Monday Night Residency – JAPANESE MOTORS / THE GROWLERS / SWEATERS / GRAND ELEGANCE @ echoplex

Japanese Motors || Watch

Japanese Motors are the most exciting band to emerge from Orange County since the heyday of Social Distortion and TSOL. Hailing from Costa Mesa, the Japanese Motors are made up by main vocalist Alex Knost, guitarist Nolan Hall, bassist Daniel Michicoff, and drummer Andrew Atkinson, the band is known around Southern California for the insane, all-night blowouts they put on as much as for the driving, raucous garage pop they set the partying to.

Rather than fight the influence of their surroundings like so many of their So Cal contemporaries, Japanese Motors have channeled it into their music, making tunes every bit as sun-baked and laid-back as their coastal environs and rife with positive imagery. “Most bands from here are trying to sound like they’re from London or New York,” Nolan says. “We embrace where we’re from.”

With:
The Growlers || Listen
Sweaters
Grand Elegance

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

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 07.13.09: Monday Night Residency – JAPANESE MOTORS / DIRT DRESS / UV LIGHTS / CORREATOWN @ echo

Japanese Motors || Watch

Japanese Motors are the most exciting band to emerge from Orange County since the heyday of Social Distortion and TSOL. Hailing from Costa Mesa, the Japanese Motors are made up by main vocalist Alex Knost, guitarist Nolan Hall, bassist Daniel Michicoff, and drummer Andrew Atkinson, the band is known around Southern California for the insane, all-night blowouts they put on as much as for the driving, raucous garage pop they set the partying to.

Rather than fight the influence of their surroundings like so many of their So Cal contemporaries, Japanese Motors have channeled it into their music, making tunes every bit as sun-baked and laid-back as their coastal environs and rife with positive imagery. “Most bands from here are trying to sound like they’re from London or New York,” Nolan says. “We embrace where we’re from.”

With:
Dirt Dress || Listen
UV Lights
Correatown || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 07.11.09: DRAGSTRIP 66 @ echoplex

Drag is never required – but it’s gets you $5 Admission all night!
___________________________________________________

Dragstrip 66 is LA’s longest running, underground dance club.
January 2009 marked its 16th Anniversary, and the club now
happens on the 2nd Saturday of the month, quarterly at The Echoplex.

Each Dragstrip has a different theme as a touchstone to inspire
its patrons to dress in any form of drag, masquerade, or self-expression.
The crowd is a totally fun, friendly mix of gay, straight, bi, and in-between!

So come on – get your kicks, at Dragstrip 66!

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

FMI:
http://www.dragstrip66.com/
Dragstrip 66 on Myspace
Dragstrip 66 on Facebook

9pm / $15 / 21+

Monday 07.06.09: Monday night Residency – JAPANESE MOTORS / MY PET SADDLE / AUDACITY / GESTAPO KHAZI @ echo

Japanese Motors || Watch

Japanese Motors are the most exciting band to emerge from Orange County since the heyday of Social Distortion and TSOL. Hailing from Costa Mesa, the Japanese Motors are made up by main vocalist Alex Knost, guitarist Nolan Hall, bassist Daniel Michicoff, and drummer Andrew Atkinson, the band is known around Southern California for the insane, all-night blowouts they put on as much as for the driving, raucous garage pop they set the partying to.

Rather than fight the influence of their surroundings like so many of their So Cal contemporaries, Japanese Motors have channeled it into their music, making tunes every bit as sun-baked and laid-back as their coastal environs and rife with positive imagery. “Most bands from here are trying to sound like they’re from London or New York,” Nolan says. “We embrace where we’re from.”

With:
Audacity || Listen
My Pet Saddle
Gestapo Khazi

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 07.03.09: Club Underground, Hang The DJs, Transistor & Cafe Bleu present COME TOGETHER @ echoplex & echo

4 of your favorite indie clubs come together for 1 massive event!

with all the original DJs from all the clubs:
Chris B
Dia
Larry G
Mark
Clifton
Dorian
Alex
Scarlett
Maurice De La Falaise

spinning Indie * UK Pop * 60s * Soul * Mod * Shoegaze

enter at Echo
1822 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

9pm / $10 before 10:30pm with flyer, $15 after / 18+

Friday 07.31.09: Filter & Loudvine present DEERHOOF / BUSDRIVER / AVOCET @ echoplex

Deerhoof || Listen || Watch || MP3

And sure enough, within the first three songs Offend Maggie revels in its playful, welcoming nature. Leaping from urgent, almost foreboding intro chords in ‘The Tears’ and ‘Music Of Love’ to the hopscotch melodies of ‘Chandelier Searchlight’ would be a fantastic feat for any other band, but we’ve come to accept this sort of thing as the Deerhoof norm.

How, though, can a band so rhythmically and melodically skewed envelop you so wholly? The answer can be found on the title track where Satomi Matsuzaki’s spindly, delicately fey voice winds its way around touching, finger-picked guitar refrains: it resonates by retaining a punch even when bursts of violence punctuate the music. More than ever, their tenth album continues to place emphasis on this intertwining of chiming vocals and elaborate, delicate musical orienteering.

Deerhoof’s world, then, remains something of a mystery as they end the fourteenth year of their recorded career. It’s still overflowing with all kinds of aural fauna and sonic life; incomparable and often hard to describe. The best way to approach this band is to stop comparing them to the usual reference points – instead, it’s far more rewarding to accept Offend Maggie as a land of its own making, something to be indulged, explored and, finally, cherished. – Drowned in Sound

With:
Busdriver || Listen
Avocet

8pm / $12.00 advance, $14 day of show / all ages

Thursday 07.02.09: KROQ LOCALS ONLY presents “Kick Out The Clots” – Benefit for Jennifer Tefft with SHE WANTS REVENGE / LADIES CHOIR / GREAT NOTHERN AND MORE @ echoplex

with:
She Wants Revenge || Listen || Watch
Moving Units || Listen (DJ SET)
Dead Meadow || Listen
LA Ladies Choir (with Becky Stark, Eleni Mandell & more)
Great Northern || Listen
The Honorary Title (solo set)
Rocco DeLuca || Listen
Nico Stai
Useless Keys || Listen

DJ sets from Kevin Bronson, Dia and Sylvia

Enter at Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

7pm / $25 / 18+

Saturday 07.25.09: STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS / THE FRESH & ONLYS / RED CORTEZ @ echoplex

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks || Listen || Watch

Stephen Malkmus fans divide into Pig Lib fans or Face the Truth fans, the same way Pavement fans split into Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or Wowee Zowee partisans: Either you like the guy best when he zones out on the guitar for hours at a time, mumbling and rambling and diddling around, or you prefer his brief, quirky song fragments. Last time, on 2005’s Face the Truth, he offered a bunch of cute freak-folk ditties — a timely career move yet not such a memorable album. But Real Emotional Trash is a fantastic psychedelic feast, full of cosmic guitar crackle and electric piano and batshit poetry. It’s the album Malkmus has been driving at ever since he learned how to rip off the Velvet Underground and Quicksilver Messenger Service at the same time — a full-body baptism in John Cipollina’s bong water.

Guitar reveries like “Baltimore,” “Dragonfly Pie” and the road-tripping title jam ramble on for six or seven or even ten minutes; the only one that drags, “Gardenia,” is the only one under three minutes. The Jicks add the flesh-and-blood band interaction that was so key to Pig Lib, including ex-Sleater-Kinney drum goddess Janet Weiss. “Out of Reaches” revamps early Pavement’s elegiac hum; “We Can’t Help You” is a Basement Tapes-style ballad with perfect femme harmonies; “Elmo Delmo” fuses the Grateful Dead’s “Cryptical Envelopment” with Sonic Youth’s “Karen Koltrane.”

In “Dragonfly Pie,” when Malkmus sings, “Of all my stoned digressions/Some have mutated into the truth,” it’s notable as (1) the opening couplet on the album and (2) the last halfway coherent thing he says for the next hour or so. But that’s for the best, as Malkmus hasn’t taken the lyrics too seriously since Pavement broke up, and any statement heavier than the throwaway jokes here (“Made it back to Frisco in the vanity chest/To the painted ladies on house arrest”) would just get in the way. All he wants to do is surrender to the lightheaded rush of the music, and the results are downright glorious. – Rolling Stone

With:
The Fresh & Onlys || Listen
Red Cortez

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

8pm / $19adv, $22dos / All ages

Wednesday 07.29.09: ADAM MARSLAND’S CHAOS BAND / THE JANKS / FAT CITY REPRISE / GOLDEN YEARS / J.P. CREGAN / COCA-COLA @ echo

Adam Marsland and his Chaos Band || Listen || Watch

Adam Marsland has been active in the Los Angeles – and national – music scene for well over a decade now, bringing his own brand of passionate, punky, soulful rock and roll to the masses. From the critically acclaimed years with his band Cockeyed Ghost, to the heady sophistication of the current Adam Marsland’s Chaos Band, to the dozens of DIY tours across North America , Marsland has continued to evolve as a musician, vocalist and songwriter, all the while maintaining his unique musical persona. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, Marsland also lends his musical talents to such acts as The Negro Problem/Stew and Jeff Merchant, as well as remaining a tireless, enthusiastic supporter of the LA music scene.

Marsland’s most recent project has been an ambitious undertaking: recreating the oft-overlooked music of the Beach Boys’ Carl and Dennis Wilson. Overshadowed by older brother – and acknowledged genius – Brian, brothers Carl and Dennis set out to regain control of the Beach Boys after Brian began suffering severe bouts of depression and mental instability in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Although the results were often mixed, the lesser-known Wilson brothers created an amazingly deep body of work, displaying an astonishing stylistic breadth that proves musical talent in the Wilson family wasn’t limited to Brian.

With the Chaos Band at his side – Evie Sands (lead guitar/vocals); Teresa Cowles (bass/vocals), John Perry (keyboards/vocals), and Kurt Medlin (drums) and guest, Beach Boys archivist Alan Boyd (keyboards/vocals)– Marsland set out on yet another self-promoted, self-organized tour in support of this heartfelt tribute to the “forgotten” Wilson brothers, recording a fine document of the event on his album “Long Promised Road (the Songs of Carl and Dennis Wilson Live)”; the band also played the recent dedication of the Beach Boys Historical Landmark (the childhood home of the Wilson brothers in Hawthorne, California), as well as performing with original Beach Boy Al Jardine. – Ear Candy Mag

The Janks
Fat City Reprise || Listen
Golden Years
J.P. Cregan
Coca-Cola

7pm / $8 / 18+

Friday 07.31.09: Club Underground presents ANAVAN / DAZZLER @ echo

Anavan || Listen || Watch

“Equally in debt to their noise-rock contemporaries and mid-80’s synth-electro, Anavan throw pop music into a big noisy blender and deliver the results with a ferocity rarely seen in an electronic music trio. After breaking through with their 2006 debut on GSL, the band’s three-piece synth-punk attack was honed via relentless touring and further exploration of their three-person dynamic. Anchored by Aaron Buckley’s drums, the bass and synth attack of Bret Berg and Molly Williams lock in with a sound that defies their less-is-more lineup.” – CJAM

With:
Dazzler

9pm / $8 / 18+

Thursday 07.30.09: BARRIO TIGER / ANGUS KHAN / JESSIE DELUXE / THUNDERDIKK @ echo

Barrio Tiger || Watch

Barrio Tiger is an LA 4 piece whose gimmick is Rock and Roll. Their lineup on any given night may include former or current members of Qui, The Hangmen, The Starvations, or even Guzzard and Helmet. Formerly known as Thee L.A. Gentlemen Callers, Barrio Tiger recalls the song craft of Paul Weller, Robert Pollard, and Uncle Tupelo and filters it through the bombast of bands like Dead Boys, Jawbreaker, and Dinosaur Jr. – Hum City Blogger

With:
Angus Khan || Listen
Jessie Deluxe || Listen
Thunderdikk || Listen

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Saturday 07.25.09: SATURDAYS OFF THE 405 with CUT CHEMIST / WE ARE THE WORLD @ getty center

Cut Chemist || Listen

Fridays Off the 405 are now Saturdays Off the 405! The free outdoor performance series is back on Saturday nights this summer with a lively mix of today’s most exciting emerging bands and DJ sets to open and close the night. And starting this summer, parking is free at the Getty Center on Saturdays after 5pm.

Fans of DJ Shadow, RJD2, Jurassic 5, and masterful recent instrumental opuses from J-Dilla and Madlib would be wise to check out The Audience’s Listening (Warner Brothers), the major-label solo debut from longtime J5 mainstay Cut Chemist. Chemist takes audiences on an invigorating sonic journey that skips deliriously from genre to genre and is animated throughout by an infectious sense of rhythm and a prankish sense of humor. Strap on some headphones and enjoy the ride… – AV Club

With:
We Are The World

Getty Center Courtyard
1200 Getty Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049

6pm / FREE / all ages

Wednesday 07.22.09: Spaceland Under The Stars with VOXHAUL BROADCAST / THE FRENCH SEMESTER @ pershing square

Voxhaul Broadcast || Watch

Outta the OC, Voxhaul Broadcast, flavored a whole lot like Cold War Kids and Kings of Leon, already moves with the poise of a well-embraced band, apparently settled comfortably in a working groove and enjoying their gig of life as successful rockers. Maybe they’ve had a look in a crystal ball. Let’s hope that forecast is accurate. The band’s general sound is psychedelic haze, heavy on sedative properties of dope or Robitussin, pavement inside your shoes when the wind’s gusting, or suspension in a vat of sticky warm molasses with your very special someone. I personally vote for the last of the three…an interesting dilemma that would take time to navigate. But I digress. Voxhaul Broadcast comes across wavy. Listening is satisfying at all levels of effort. From a nonchalant low-scale effort, the vibe is fuzzy with enough variation and effects to maintain the awareness of an interesting flow of appeasing music in the background. At a more engaged level, the song construction is far from lazy – each tune is spackled with hooks from great to small and doused with memorable, effective repetition. Lyrically, Voxhaul Broadcast’s songs call for an active stretch of the imagination: rather than feeding you the story, they ask you to make the story your own by connecting the dots and coloring in the background. – Luxury Wafers

With:
The French Semester || Listen

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Saturday 07.11.09: SATURDAYS OFF THE 405 with MAS EXITOS / DOMINGO SIETE @ the getty center

Mas Exitos (DJ Collective)

Fridays Off the 405 are now Saturdays Off the 405! The free outdoor performance series is back on Saturday nights this summer with a lively mix of today’s most exciting emerging bands and DJ sets to open and close the night. And starting this summer, parking is free at the Getty Center on Saturdays after 5pm.

Mas Exitos, the legendary twice-a-month event held at the Verdugo Bar in Highland Park, comes to the Getty! The DJ collective—featuring Lengua, Hoseh, Ganas, and Enorbito—unfold their international music selections and transform the Museum Courtyard into a hot spot south of the border.

Think of it as a National Geographic documentary on sound that takes you from the Andes of Peru to the streets of Mexico City to the East Side of L.A.—cumbias, low-rider music, tropicalia, funky jazz oddities, y más. Listen as the crew plays their heritage on turntables.

With:
DJ Hoseh
DJ Lengua
DJ Exorbito
DJ Ganas
Domingo Siete || Listen

Getty Center Courtyard
1200 Getty Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049

6pm / FREE / all ages

Wednesday 07.15.09: FOL CHEN / 60 WATT KID @ pershing square

Fol Chen || Listen || Watch

“We are cryptic and joyful and we would like you to dance,” claim the enigmatic Fol Chen, likening themselves to the mysterious black monolith on the cover of Zep’s Presence – a complete red herring as regards the group’s musical approach, which favours synths and strings rather than rock and riffs.

One aspect they do share with the former rock gods is a careless attitude to personal responsibility, with the protagonist of “Cable TV” trying to lure the object of her affections to some dubious motel, while the singer of “You and Your Sister in Jericho” offers her temptations more bluntly: “Fuck your friends, they don’t care/ Smoke too much, and dye your hair,” she murmurs enticingly, while guitar, pedal steel and horns perform a slow, slurred waltz over an enervated drum-machine pulse, before it all dissolves into a blur of drums and thunderous distortion. It’s impossible to pin the sextet down to a specific area of the musical map: one moment they create a kind of quirky electro-pop, as on the funky “No Wedding Cake”, but elsewhere, disparate elements – lumbering, brusque drums; lap steel; prepared-piano; calliope-textured synth lines; various horns – are mingled in intriguing combinations that avoid definition. – The Independent UK

With:
60 Watt Kid || Listen

Pershing Square
532 South Olive Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

7pm / FREE / All ages

Thursday 07.02.09: AMAZING BABY / BAND OF SKULLS / DAZZLER @ Hammer Museum

Amazing Baby || Listen
Band of Skulls || Listen
Dazzler || Listen

Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024

8pm / FREE / all ages

Saturday 07.04.09: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE on the 4th OF JULY!
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

Mashup fireworks with DJs:
DJ PAUL V.
DJ SHYBOY

Bootie LA’s resident dance crew:
R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance)

Free Bootie mashup CDs for the first 75 people!

Bootie celebrates the 4th of July, bootleg-style! This month, resident DJ Paul V., along with special guest DJ Shyboy, bring the mashup fireworks to the dance floor. Bootie’s 15-person dance crew R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance) will hit the Echoplex stage around midnight in their trademark gold suits, ready to do a special Independence Day performance! Don’t miss it!

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 eight cities on three 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!

Bootie’s resident DJs keep your brain guessing and body dancing with creative song combinations, celebrating — and satirizing — the many different forms of music. Resident dance crew R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance) performs a mashed-up dance number nearly every month. 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!

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

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Wednesday 07.08.09: Myspace Records presents ROOTBEER / U-N-I / BOOMBOX NINJAS @ echo

Rootbeer || Watch

The simple shortcut to that Rootbeer descriptive word puzzle could be something like “MGMT injected with some N.E.R.D and A Tribe Called Quest”. As clearly evident in their lyrics and style, Flynn Adam and Pigeon John are unapologetic purveyors of popular culture. Rather than making an escape attempt on this debut to something that was some subtle artistic departure from the Lost Angels-flavored West Coast underground laid back rap that raised them, the duo has grown more apt to fully open their arms and embrace a vast array of what is relative to their own contemporary culture consumption today.

With an even more upped-tempo vocal cadence dancing on top of beatscapes that awaken even the hippest of skeptics, the music will make you jump up like a chimpanzee. An unbelievably charismatic live show, mixed with the most infectious hooks you’ve wrapped your ears around in quite some time, Rootbeer slaps a smile on your face that you simply can’t contain. Like some of the lyrics remind you: “It feels so good, feels so great, feels so wonderful,” so tune in and dig it!

with:
U-N-I || Listen
Boombox Ninjas

8pm / FREE / all ages

Thursday 07.09.09: DUSTY RHODES AND THE RIVER BAND / THESE UNITED STATES / OLIN AND THE MOON @ echoplex

Dusty Rhodes and The River Band || Listen || Watch

Difficult to classify, but easy to like, Dusty Rhodes and his merry clan are a refreshing antidote to the world of easy-to-label pop, rock and indie groups. This, their second full-length album, brings songs steeped in multiple influences from jazz and blues, to country and classic rock‘n’roll. Thanks to three distinct vocalists, a classically trained fiddler, and a hyperactive keyboard frontman, it really works. High-energy, experimental fun. – Daily Express

with:
These United States || Listen
Olin & The Moon

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

8pm / $10 / 18+

Saturday 07.11.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 07.04.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 07.29.09: 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 07.22.09: DUB CLUB presents THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS Backed by YELLOW WALL DUB SQUAD Horn Section Mixed by SCIENTIST @ echoplex

The Mighty Diamonds

The Mighty Diamonds, Donald “Tabby” Shaw, Fitzroy ”Bunny” Simpson and Lloyd “ Judge” Ferguson formed in 1969 in the Trenchtown area of Kingston, Jamaica and for the past 39 years have been entertaining and educating the world with their sweet harmonies and conscious lyrics.

They quickly became known as the young group with the Motown sound with their soulful harmonies and polished performances. They first hit singles “ Country Living” and “ Hey Girl” were recorded on the Channel One label. Their debut album “ Right Time”, released on the Virgin has become a classic. This is an album that belongs in every serious reggae collection. “ Right Time’ is probably their most requested song when they perform.

“ Pass the Kouchie” also became an international hit when first released and then again when it was covered by the “ Musical Youth” and released as “Pass the Dutchie”

Tabby, Bunny and Judge have produced over 45 albums in their long career and it would be hard to select just one album as a favorite but if I were asked to pick the definite Mighty Diamonds album I would have to say “ Deeper Roots”. This album proves that the Mighty Diamonds are truly the best in the business.

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

Wednesday 07.15.09: DUB CLUB presents TRINITY / TIPPA LEE + screening of the new Documentary Film RETURN OF THE RUB-A-DUB STYLE @ echoplex

TRINITY
with special guest Tippa Irie || Listen

backed by Echodelic Sound

plus a screening of the new documentary film
Return of the Rub-A-Dub Style
film starts at 9pm

check out the trailer for the film:

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

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

Wednesday 07.08.09: 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 07.01.09: 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+

Thursday 07.16.09: LA (heart) SF with THE MONOLATORS / FRENCH MIAMI / THE FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / KISSING COUSINS @ echo

The Monolators || Listen
French Miami
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
Kissing Cousins

Presented by Flavorpill / Radio Free Silver Lake / Indie Online Radio

8:30pm / $5 / 18+

Friday 07.10.09: Echo & Club Underground present THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE / JONNY TAYLOR @ echo

The Rural Alberta Advantage || Listen

The next band up, The Rural Alberta Advantage, were a complete surprise. I had never come across the name, and didn’t bother tracking down any songs beforehand; the eMusic honcho who introduced them said we were “in for a treat,” and it turns out he was right. The Canadian trio (“rural Alberta” isn’t just a clever name, apparently) makes a sort of rustic, scorched-earth Americana not unlike Centro-Matic, though far heavier on the percussion—and way livelier, thanks to the antics of Manic Pixie Indie Girl Amy Cole, who spent most of the set bouncing from place to place, banging on tambourines, whipping out the occasional glockenspiel solo, and adding the cooling undercurrents to singer Paul Banwatt’s ragged ruminations. Things started a bit slow with more run-of-the-mill country-ish numbers, but they won me over the minute Banwatt ended a song by beating on his acoustic guitar, then sheepishly pronouncing that it now had “a big SXSW crack in it.” (I feel like I’ve been on SXSW crack for a couple days now.) At set’s end, the three of them filed off stage into the middle of the aisle to play “Good Night” acoustically, which they said they’d always wanted to perform in a church. The sparse, mournful number was ridiculously quiet and intimate but still filled up the chapel—really, you could have heard a proverbial pin drop—and you could even see faces starting to mist; it was one of those “special” concert moments that are far too rare these days, and it’s safe to say RAA won quite a few new fans in that moment. – The Onion AV Club

with:
Jonny Taylor

8:30pm / $8 Advance, $10 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 07.28.09: Aquarium Drunkard presents MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO / THE DONKEYS / DAVE GLEASON & OLD CALIFORNIO @ echo

Magnolia Electric Co || Listen || MP3

Record Store Day brought a welcome treat in the form of a new Magnolia Electric Co. 7″, but that was just a tiny tributary to the relative flood of awesomeness that Jason Molina has cooked up with Josephine, his band’s first album in three years. It’s out this July. Which is such good news. This morning Pitchfork posted a lengthy Q&A with the Songs: Ohia/Magnolia great, discussing details and touch points for the forthcoming Secretly Canadian release: inspired by the tragic Oakland-fire death of touring bassist Evan Farrell, recorded once again by Steve Albini, “sonically more on the minimalist side,” although “heavier” in that there’s a “gravity to the playing.” Read it. As for the listens, today we get a snatch at “Josephine,” the set’s title track. It sounds like a Jason Molina song, which is to say it sounds great. There’s Jason’s reedy, bleeding quaver delivering a heart-aching confessional, cathartically castigating himself “a fool” while the chords pull him up. It’s spare, dense, and to the point — try not to love it. And it’s just the start with this album. – Stereogum

with:
The Donkeys || Listen
Dave Gleason & Old Californio

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 07.07.09: KITTY, DAISY, & LEWIS / LE SWITCH / TANDEMORO @ echo

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis || Watch

Multi-instrumentalists Kitty Daisy & Lewis play guitar, piano, banjo, lap steel guitar, harmonica, double bass, ukulele, trombone and accordion between them. Their debut album was recorded in glorious, utterly digital-free analogue by Lewis and his father Graeme in their home studio in Kentish Town. A stickler for living and breathing the music they play and talk so passionately about, Lewis DJs, collects and even cuts his own 78rpm records himself when he isn’t recording with his sisters. This obsessive passion for the vintage music that inspires their performances led to their compilation ‘A – Z of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – The Roots Of Rock n Roll’ being named one of The Guardian’s 2007 ‘Albums Of The Year – 5/5′.

No dry exercise in musical luddism, their 2008 debut album swings with the passion, intensity and sheer exuberant joie de vivre that makes their live shows one of the UK gig circuit’s greatest and most innocent pleasures. The album is a mixture of the covers their dad used to sing to them when they were children, like ‘Going Up The Country’ – a perfectly rounded summer holiday feel-good jam, full of harmonica solos, handclaps and lyrics about leaving the city smog for fairer country hills – together with new material like the heart torn ‘Buggin’ Blues’, written by Lewis and inspired by the great late Otis Spann (Chess Records) and latest single ‘(Baby) Hold Me Tight’, written by Kitty and featuring Skatalites contemporary Eddy ‘Tan Tan’ Thornton. Kitty Daisy & Lewis’ second artist album is due in 2010. – Sunday Best

with:
Le Switch || Listen
Tandemoro || Listen

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

Wednesday 07.01.09: A Benefit for The Pablove Foundation- EULOGIES / BAD VEINS / AVI BUFFALO / A DECENT ANIMAL @ echo

Eulogies || Listen || Watch

Can a band that names its debut album Eulogies be taken at face value? The group must be playing their self-reflexive card out of the gate, starting at the end and working their way backwards, or otherwise signaling the poetic finish of something large, with a fresh start to boot, right? Not necessarily, especially if the band itself is named Eulogies. Bandleader Peter Walker’s songs draw inspiration from the literal meaning of the term, dealing variously with despair and regret, and were crafted during a 2006 tour on which he opened for Starsailor; to his credit, Walker plays his songs much closer to the vest than his former tourmates. Eulogies simmers with emotion and brims with understated hooks, registering nearest the sensible introspection of Wheat’s Hope and Adams, Nada Surf’s The Weight is a Gift, or Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism.

Not so much clenched teeth as effectively restrained power-pop passion, Eulogies’ most expressive moments– the chugging chorus of “Running in the Rain”, the opening guitar fanfare from “Useless Amends”, the temporarily wanky solo from “Life Boat”– are quickly subsumed to calmer tones, most often in the form of shadowy electric guitar and Walker’s whispery pleas. Matters are occasionally expanded, but at the lyrical level: “Under the Knife” elevates denial to universal proportions, questioning the impact of “Those who died for us to live/ On false foundations,” before reaching a fulfilling, yet discreet, refrain. “Can’t Relate” overcomes the occasional overwrought lyric (“We’re all swimming in the bottles of our own accord”) with one of the record’s most effective productions, an organ-laced acoustic brood. Opener “One Man” has a muted, Ric Ocasek-style guitar line weaving throughout, and expands into a satisfying, but self-possessed chorus. – Pitchfork

With:
Bad Veins || Listen
Avi Buffalo
A Decent Animal || Listen

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

Monday 07.27.09: THE MEKONS / THE PULSARS / BOLLWEEVIL @ echo

The Mekons || Listen || Watch

Thirty years after they formed in Leeds, and fifteen or so after most of them relocated to America, the Mekons return to England for their quietest and weirdest album since 1982’s The Mekons Story. Replete with chants, harmonicas, found percussion and an extra helping of haunted London holdout Tom Greenhalgh, Natural eschews the comforting competence of unplugged á la MTV. Instead it delivers the ramshackle, ritualistic, druids-at-Stonehenge mood that campfire crusties at U.K. festivals like Glastonbury aspire to. Convinced Armageddon is upon us, the Mekons are determined to get in some mournful Earth worship first, and for fans who feel the spirit, songs will emerge. Try the beyond-thematic “Dark Dark Dark,” the Iraq-meets-Palm Springs “Burning in the Desert Burning” or the reggaefied “Cockermouth,” in which Jon Langford’s distracted “I ramble” sinks into Sally Timms’ gentle “You have to believe this is the end.” Maybe it’s not the end. But it’s a taste. – Rolling Stone

with:
The Pulsars
Bollweevil

8:30pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 07.21.09: MICACHU & THE SHAPES / TUNE YARDS / RACHEL GOODRICH @ echo

Micachu & The Shapes || Listen || Watch

Micachu and the Shapes can rest easy for now, however, since Jewellery turns out to be a thrilling pick ‘n’ mix of puckish pop nonsense that will absolutely charm your kecks off, hoovers and all. Winking broadly at myriad styles from grime to playground skiffle and corrosive noise with nary a bum note bared, in some ways it’s capricious and not exactly fully-formed, but you can’t help but admire how much of this record flat-out works. ‘Golden Phone’’s a blinding tune showcasing Levi’s gruff cockney diction, pleasingly pitched midway between a leer and a rictus grin. And ‘Curly Teeth’’s a moderately deranging racket that recalls Damon Albarn at his most stridently experimental.

Performed on a specially tuned guitar with a host of electronic glitches and gloops and seemingly held together with elastic bands and spit, Jewellery’s wonky pop architecture finds joy in sheer surrealist musical abstraction, as with ‘Golden Phone’’s lip-smacking lines: “love’s all around, yeah, but I don’t want none / time’s everywhere, yeah, but I don’t want none / gold in my hair, yeah, but I don’t want none / give me that nonsense sound and I’ll be back”.

Call that punk or even Dada if you like, it matters not. Micachu’s a rare talent seemingly heaven-sent to snatch bedroom pop from the ‘pit-sniffing dullards once more, and for that we have only to be thankful. – The Quietus

With:
Tune Yards || Listen
Rachel Goodrich

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

Tuesday 07.14.09: THE DATSUNS / SPIRIT VINE / SEASONS @ echo

The Datsuns || Listen || Watch

On the one hand, this is simply rock ‘n’ roll at its primal best: lots of loud guitars, tons of “whoa whoa” and “hey hey” choruses and new drummer Ben Cole bashing out a beat that’s all fury and speed. But there’s an underlying complexity here as well. “Your Bones” is epic, meshing the guitar lines of classic Zeppelin with the moody, psychedelic tinge of Jane’s Addiction. And the keyboard-slanted “Hey! Paranoid People” aligns itself closer to the post-punk goofiness of Devo. Nothing startlingly new here, but proof that using boisterous, three-chord rock as your foundation can still bring about some surprising results. – Metromix

With:
Spirit Vine || Listen
Seasons || Listen

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

Sunday 07.12.09: ONEIDA / AMPS FOR CHRIST / CLIP’D BEAKS @ echo

Oneida || Listen || Watch

Oneida are sneaky. Without most people realizing it, they somehow crept into being one of the best bands out there around the time of 2004’s Secret Wars, an album so rich and eventful and simultaneously weird and rocking that even the band which made it sometimes feels recently like they’ve been playing catch-up. The Wedding and Happy New Year both took their eternally wandering muse in a more overtly psychedelic direction, and found the band in fine form. Now they’re going back. But to what? The flippant answer might be to the light light light light light light, at least if you’ve heard their exquisitely punishing 2002 album Each One Teach One and more specifically the opening fourteen-minute pummel, “Sheets of Easter” (the first song to really build on what Spacemen 3 did with “Suicide”). Preteen Weaponry is one 39-minute composition in three parts, not as unrelenting as “Sheets of Easter” or its companion “Antidotes” were, but certainly largely akin to them. The relative mellowness of the band’s last few albums appears to have rubbed off onto this one, although the howling feedback as part one of “Preteen Weaponry” opens might throw you off a bit. As the music toys around with Indian modalities and vaguely “tribal”-sounding drum thump, even as it remains almost fiercely repetitive, you might start thinking of Amon Duul II or Ash Ra Tempel, which is fair. Another good point of comparison might be the sui generis Australian trio The Necks.

The result goes all over the place as much as any ruthlessly focused track can; the second part is certainly much less busy, and the third movement with its odd tones and gnashing drums begins to sound a bit like Two Lone Swordsmen’s memorably gonzo remix of Spiritualized’s “Come Together,” but if you’re not paying attention, you’re almost certain not to notice when the track index changes. This is one long journey, but it’s a remarkably consistent one (it’s interesting to note they’re apparently playing the album live, as you wonder how strictly they follow the text when replicating it), for better and for worse. It makes Preteen Weaponry a very hate-it-or-love-it effort, although Krautrock/comische music/whatever exactly you want to try calling this thing is rare and outré enough that it shouldn’t be very hard to know if you’re going to like it. If you’re into this particular form of mind expansion, Oneida can be trusted; if not, it doesn’t really matter how good they are. - Popmatters

With:
Amps for Christ || Listen
Clip’d Beaks

1pm / $8adv; $10dos / all ages

Thursday 07.09.09: STEVE WYNN & THE MIRACLE THREE / THE URINALS @ echo

Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three || Listen || Watch

For fans of the seminal LA post-punk band, Medicine Show is a pretty polarizing record. Coming off the overwhelming enthusiasm for the band’s debut album, Days of Wine & Roses, the follow-up was a departure, to say the least. Wynn’s voice was put way out front by Medicine Show producer Sandy Pearlman (best known for his work with Blue Oyster Cult, and ruining the Clash’s sophomore record, Give ‘Em Enough Rope). Gone was bassist/future Opal ingenue Kendra Smith. And unlike Chris D’s hands-off approach on Wine & Roses, Pearlman pushed Wynn further to the center — and baffled at least one adolescent Midwesterner eager to hear a follow-up to “Halloween” and “Too Little, Too Late” instead of a different, more in-your-face brand of guitar jamming.
Does Medicine Show hold up after a quarter-century? We don’t know; we admittedly haven’t listened to it in 24 years and 11 months. But West Coast Sound is nothing if not open-minded, and is very curious to find out. (It’s worth noting that Wynn performed The Days of Wine and Roses in its entirety in LA in 2001. This is a natural follow-up.)

“”Medicine Show’ is the weirdest, most idiosyncratic, nastiest, funniest and most revealing record the Dream Syndicate ever made,” wrote Wynn in the liner notes from Medicine Show’s 1991 reissue — and reprinted in the press release. “It’s also my favorite.”

Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 perform Medicine Show at the Echo on July 9. – LA Weekly

With:
The Urinals

8pm / $10 / 18+

Sunday 07.26.09: PART TIME PUNKS – SMITH / 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 07.19.09: PART TIME PUNKS with PSYCHIC ILLS / INDIAN JEWELRY @ echo

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

With:
Psychic Ills || Listen
Indian Jewelry

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $10 / 18+

Sunday 07.12.09: PART TIME PUNKS with MAGIC BULLETS / THE SUMMER CATS / THE TARTANS @ echo

All-Indiepop/Twee Nite!

With:
Magic Bullets || Listen
The Summer Cats
The Tartans

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 07.05.09: PART TIME PUNKS with TALL HANDS / TIJUANA PANTHERS @ echo

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

With:
Tall Hands || Listen
Tijuana Panthers

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 07.16.09: Dub Frequency presents THE VERY BEST / RAINBOW ARABIA / BERSA DISCOS @ echoplex

The Very Best || Watch

It’s easy to be cynical about this process of easing Western listeners into Esau Mwamwaya’s music– RIYL Vampire Weekend, Ruby Suns, other English-language artists cribbing from African music– until you hear the music itself, and in particular the whole of he and Radioclit’s free mixtape, Are the Very Best. Once you get through the indie-guarded gates, Mwamwaya and Radioclit are open here to everything from South Africa’s marabi and kwaito music to Hans Zimmer scores to French and American hip-hop to Michael Jackson– and in most cases, it’s the tracks that lean furthest away from the familiar that work best. The regal “Sister Betina”, BLK JKS collaboration “Salota”, and Radioclit productions “Funa Funa” and “Kada Manja” are as immediately likable as the rest of the mix. And, frankly, much of the best-known source material here– “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, the AiH backdrop on “Kamphopo”, the True Romance via Badlands theme on “Chikandi”, the loathsome Beatles song “Birthday”– is either simply a blueprint or sketch for other ideas, or is vastly improved by Mwamwaya’s treatments.

Mwamwaya’s cultural cross-section is no accident. Although he sings in his native Chichewa, he met Radioclit’s Etienne Tron when he sold the producer a used bike in a London junkshop. Despite that, Mwamwaya and Radioclit’s talents lie far beyond cultural fusion and curatorial skills: In short, they’ve created just about the most listenable and flat-out enjoyable record of the year– and one that happens to dovetail nicely with the urgency for and overdue embrace of morally guided globalism. – Pitchfork

With:
Rainbow Arabia || Listen
Bersa Discos

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

8:30pm / $13 Advance, $15 Day of Show / 18+

Sunday 07.26.09: Grand Ole Echo with DAVID SERBY / JAIMI SHUEY / THE LINCOLN BEDROOM @ echo

David Serby || Listen
Jaimi Shuey || Listen
The Lincoln Bedroom

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 07.19.09: Grand Ole Echo with SYD STRAW / RICH MAHAN / THE UNLAWFUL KINGS / THE PREACHERS SON @ echo

Syd Straw
Rich Mahan
The Unlawful Kings

Back porch:
The Preachers Son

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 07.12.09: Grand Ole Echo with GINA VILLALOBOS (CD RELEASE PARTY) @ echo

Gina Villalobos || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Friday 07.17.09: THREE MILE PILOT / OPTIGANALLY YOURS @ echoplex

Three Mile Pilot || Listen

TMP was one of the most engaging and influential left-field bands in SD rock-roll; their progeny looks like Slint’s family tree, with the top branches occupied by international indie darlings Pinback and Black Heart Procession. Not bad for a bass, drum, and piano band. Of high school kids! Pall, Zack, and Tobias have grown up, and grown, and will share a stage for the first time in ten years. – San Diego Reader

with:
Optiganally Yours || Listen

@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90291

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

8pm / $14 advance, $16 day of show / 18+

Monday 07.20.09: THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART / GIRLS / CHAMPAGNE SOCIALISTS @ echo

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart || Listen || MP3

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are irrepressibly light, a band at ease with melody and softness. On its excellent self-titled debut album, which was released last month on Slumberland, the band — which includes Mr. Berman, Mr. Feldman, the singer and keyboardist Peggy Wang and the bass player Alex Naidus — neatly processes a whole range of styles. There’s a mild hauteur drawn from new wave, a thickness derived from shoegaze-pop and a pulse passed down from dance-punk. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart might paint within the lines, but they do so with panache. – The NY Times

With:
Girls
Champagne Socialists

8:30pm / $12adv, $14 dos / All Ages

Thursday 07.23.09: CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE / CONCERN / FORMER GHOSTS / SECOND TO SECOND @ echo

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone || Listen || Watch

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone succeeds in representing a sad, kindly eye watching over the tableau of the quotidienne, lending a poetic importance to the unwitnessed sadnesses of small lives lived in small towns. It’s telling that he’s recently covered Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’ and ‘Philadelphia’, for although the interpretation is different, Ashworth clearly draws from the same sources of inspiration. Sometime you can see yourself in it, or someone you know. Or maybe it’s an album about strangers – the overly factual song titles suggest stories plucked from the pages of mid-American town newspapers. Miserablist alt-pop socio-musical anthropology, then? Maybe. But however you choose to analyse it, Casiotone Vs. Children is an evocative and involving listen, and a fittingly accomplished fifth album from Mr. Ashworth. – The Quietus

With:
Concern || Listen
Former Ghosts
Second to Second (Evan Slamka)

7:30pm / $8.00 / All Ages