Thursday 11.05.09: NORTEC COLLECTIVE FEATURING BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE @ echoplex

Bostich + Fussible || Watch || Mp3

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

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

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

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

8:30pm / $15 advance, $17 Day of Show / 18+

Thursday 11.12.09: F*CK BUTTONS / GROWING @ echo

Fuck Buttons || Listen || Watch

Listening to the 7″ version of the opening track from Fuck Buttons upcoming Tarot Sport, I’m tempted to say that the UK noise-rockers learned something in all the time they spent on the road following their excellent 2008 album Street Horrsing. Having caught them a couple of times during that stretch, an image that stays with me is of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power jerking back and forth violently over a table full of gear, trying desperately to shape the music into something that would resonate with people out to have a good time. While there was much to admire at those shows, there was also a sense that something more was lurking on the horizon for Fuck Buttons, like music that that kept the same brutal edge but translated in a more physical way. “Surf Solar” hints at what that might be. With production assistance from versatile dance producer Andrew Weatherall, “Surf Solar” finds Fuck Buttons sounding even more propulsive, the steady 4/4 kick and careening samples forming a prickly counterpoint to the shimmering drone at the track’s center. It’s not as nasty, perhaps, but nothing is lost in terms of catharsis. And while the edit works well on its own and is more than just a sampler, it also gets you stoked for what else the album might have in store. – Pitchfork

with:
Growing || Listen

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 11.05.09: KXLU presents AVI BUFFALO / BOBB BRUNO / WILDBUNCH @ echo

Avi Buffalo || Watch || Mp3

Buffalo, whose real name “is really long, with a hyphen,” he says, is a preternaturally gifted guitarist who crafts swoon-worthy folk-rock full of nooks and crannies, exposed nerves and shimmering soundscapes — think an incipient Neil Young, or a low-fi Mercury Rev, or a lovingly shambolic Wilco. Joined by bandmates Sheridan Riley and Rebecca Coleman (who also attend Millikan High) and Arin Fazio, Buffalo has a growing cadre of Eastside fans and, to no one’s surprise, some interest from record labels. – Buzz Bands

with:
Bobb Bruno
Wildbunch

8pm / $8 advance, $10 day of show / all ages

Sunday 11.01.09: PART TIME PUNKS with TIMES NEW VIKING / SIC ALPS / AXEMEN @ echo

with:
Times New Viking
Sic Alps
Axemen

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

9pm / $12 advance, $15 day of show / 18+

Sunday 11.15.09: Part Time Punks Presents MISSION OF BURMA / THE HENRY CLAY PEOPLE @ echo

Mission of Burma || Listen || Watch

In their first go-round in the early 1980s, Mission of Burma were equal parts innovation and perspiration. Their muscular post-punk was groundbreaking, but it also had a workman-like quality. Maybe that’s what made them unique– Roger Miller, Clint Conley, and Peter Prescott always had their noses to the grindstone even when they were being visionary. Since reforming in 2002, Burma haven’t been nearly as pioneering. But their hard-toiling side has not only persisted, it has expanded to fill in the gap.

Of their three post-reunion albums so far, The Sound the Speed the Light sounds the most industrious, the most like another day at the office. There’s nothing surprising here, and some songs are so signature-styled you might wonder if you’ve heard them before. But when it comes to office work, Burma’s day beats most bands’ years. So the lack of surprise also means a lack of flaws, and a lot of energy and power. When these guys punch the clock, they take the phrase literally.

So yet another Burma album hits the ground running, this time with “1,2,3 Partyy!”, a seriously fun song about how funny it is that someone would take partying seriously. That energy spills into “Possession”, which swings between weight-lifting pound and a wistful chorus, with lots of Miller guitar grit in between. Later, Conley’s bass melodies and half-spoken lyrics turn “Forget Yourself” into a thoughtful semi-ballad. By time the anthemic “SSL 83″ carries the record to its halfway point, it’s been six straight unimpeachable tunes, forming an album side that rivals any Burma album side. – Pitchfork

with:
The Henry Clay People || Listen || Watch

SHOW HAS MOVED TO ECHO
Tickets purchased for the Mission of Burma & Henry Clay People at Echoplex will still be honored at the door

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

Monday 11.09.09: JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT / CHUCK PROPHET @ echo

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit || Listen || Watch

The 400 Unit sounds a lot more cohesive; even more so it sounds relaxed. Isbell co-produced the record with Centro-matic’s Matt Pence in between road dates. In listening to the eleven tracks, there is no question that this is a Muscle Shoals record. While the debut may have been tainted by the dark days of the A Blessing And A Curse-era DBT, The 400 Unit finds Isbell rejuvenated and eager to move on. A number of the songs seem to address his personal and professional splits with his old band, whether it be the wistful “Cigarettes and Wine” or the more acidic “Sunstroke”. Both moods are handled with a practiced ease. As happens in the Muscle Shoals tradition, The 400 Unit features keys, in this case in the form of Derry deBorga (ex-Son Volt), and that steamy Southern vibe really makes The 400 Unit shine. The sultry organ and soulful vocals set Isbell and band apart from the current gang of reverb-obsessed Americana folkers. Isbell and company have released one hell of a record. If there is any justice in this world, 2009 should see The 400 Unit making waves on the level of tour titans DBT and Lucero. – Tripwire

with:
Chuck Prophet || Listen

MOVED TO ECHO
all tickets purchased for the Echoplex show will still be valid

8pm / $13 Advance, $15 day of show / 18+

Friday 11.06.09: Echo & Club Underground present FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS / SWEATERS @ echo

Fitz and The Tantrums || Watch

“I like this a lot for very obvious reasons…it’s Dope! It might be song of the week, actually.” Mark Ronson

“A supercool Motown-style combo in the Mark Ronson/Sharon Jones/mid-period-ABC vein…imagine if Amy Winehouse was blonde, male, and sane, and that’s Fitz” Yahoo! Music

“You can practically hear the record needle drop on the scratchy 45 when listening to Fitz and The Tantrums, a stylish retro-styled 60’s pop/soul combo” NBC Los Angeles

“Bringing back all the smooth feel of the Motown golden age with some new bounce. Fitz and his Tantrums are sure to install some smooth soul with a little extra.” IndieRockReviews.com

with:
Sweaters

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Tuesday 11.03.09: PORT O’BRIEN / THE PARSON RED HEADS / EVANGELICALS @ echo

Port O’Brien || Listen || Watch || Mp3

The nautical Bay Area rockers most recently stopped the gap between LPs with a series of seasonally themed 7″s (we sampled Winter), but now they’re returning with a proper album to followup 2007’s praised All We Could Do Was Sing. Its songs were recorded in two locations: a bedroom in San Fran with Papercuts’ Jason Quever, then in a honest to goodness studio Los Angeles with Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza. Up first from the set is “Sour Milk/Salt Water,” a steady and tuneful jangle-pop tune which hints at a slightly refined take on their windswept melodrama, ending with some studio guitar trickery that suggests it’s from the L.A. session. – Stereogum

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen
Evangelicals

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

Monday 11.02.09: SHONEN KNIFE / TY SEGALL / MIKE WATT @ echo

Shonen Knife || Listen || Watch

Few bands that have been around since 1981 can honestly declare that they still rock, but Shonen Knife can. Who knows, maybe there’s something in Osaka’s water supply. Regardless of why they remain awesome, let’s just be thankful for that and get psyched for the release of their new album entitled Super Group, which comes out August 15th, according to Tiny Mix Tapes. Good Charamel Records, the label the band just signed with, will be including a bonus track called “Evil Birds” on North American editions of the album.

Super Group is the first album with Shonen Knife’s newly full-time bassist Ritsuko, previously the occasional fill-in for Atsuko, who departed in 2006. Be sure to catch the trio on their huge upcoming tour of Europe, Australia, and North America so you can repeat a famous Kurt Cobain quotation on the power of the Shonen Knife live show: “When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old at a Beatles concert.” – Consequence of Sound

with:
Ty Segall || Listen
Mike Watt

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

Monday 11.02.09: Bad Time Charlie presents Dia De Los Muertos Debauchery with REZUREX / VIERNES 13 / LOS CREEPERS / THE HOWLERS / GAMBLERS MARK / HOT ROD FUNERAL / LA CHOLITA’S DEAD GIRL BURLESQUE TROOP & MORE @ echoplex

with:
Los Creepers
Rezurex
Viernes 13
Gamblers Mark
The Howlers
Hot Rod Funeral

Plus:
La Cholita’s Dead Girl Burlesque Troop
D.J Brando Von Badsville

and more!

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

8pm / $10 /  18+

Thursday 10.29.09: ALELA DIANE / MARISSA NADLER @ echo

Alela Diane || Listen || Watch

Diane demonstrated her broad range and flexibility, interpreting songs by artists as disparate as Vashti Bunyan, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Daniel Johnston on 2008’s The Silence of Love, which she recorded with some musician friends as Headless Heroes. To Be Still will never fire up any parties, but its emotional range is as wide as that covers project’s– from “Age Old Blue”, a wistful duet with craggy-voiced troubadour Michael Hurley about Diane’s sharecropping Scottish ancestors, to the flushed-cheek, string-surging “My Brambles”. Lead track “Dry Grass and Shadows” sets a playful tone, the sigh of steel pedal underlining her languid, country-twangy come-on: “I like to look at your teeth lined up in perfect rows… Where the flatlands stretch inside your mouth/ And when you laugh all the star thistles tumble out.” A little hippie-dippy, but also utterly enchanting.

The album’s first single, “White as Diamonds”, best showcases her expanded musical ambitions and the record’s pristine sound (coproduced with her bluegrass musician father in his studio). Two years ago, accompanied by acoustic guitar, Diane previewed the newly hatched song for Daytrotter (second station of the cross for up-and-comers after Blogotheque) and claimed “Diamonds” is about silence and uh, snow. Disingenuous-sounding, for sure, but it’s not like she’s the first artist who’d prefer not to parse lyrics. She’s also absolutely right: Simplicity is key to the song’s stark power, and its uncluttered vocabulary of fiddle, cello, guitar and drawn-out, warbled “wooooahs” are as head-clearing as a cold February morning. Fill its white spaces with what you will. – Pitchfork

with:
Marissa Nadler

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Sunday 10.25.09: PART TIME PUNKS – SMITHS / MORRISSET NITE with Guest DJ JOSE MALDONADO (The Sweet And Tender Hooligans) @ echo

Guest DJ:
Jose Maldonado (from The Sweet And Tender Hooligans)

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Wednesday 10.28.09: LE LOUP / RANDOM PATTERNS @ echo

Le Loup || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Having released the impressive The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly in 2007, Le Loup have thankfully followed it up with both a shorter titled and even more impressive album in Family; a perfect blend of AC’s Sung Tongs and Panda Bear’s Person Pitch. That Le Loup have taken inspiration from Baltimore’s finest is unquestionable, but what they have also done is taken that influence and inspiration and created something that warrant’s its place alongside its stimulus.

If you take the term folk music and the German expression ‘Volk’ (“the people as a whole”) from which it is derived then it is more likely in this day and age that you would be describing the kind of dreadful pop music that pollutes the charts of most nations that record them. However if you use the expression as it is classically applied, then it is still a genre in which Family rather snugly fits. It uses simple ingredients to create something honest and memorable. There is no pretention, no agenda other than to communicate thoughts or feelings through music. From the cheering tones of one of the world’s most underrated instruments, the banjo, to the warming monk choir-like vocals that permeate throughout, Family is the sound of pure contentment and is almost impossible not to fall in love with. – Altsounds

with:
Random Patterns

Nurses Canceled due to Illness

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 10.23.09: TRANNYSHACK @ echoplex

Halloween arrives early in Los Angeles! Trannyshack LA returns, this time at Echoplex, our new home, and our biggest and best venue yet. With a line-up of the most scarily talented trannies on the West Coast, this will be the party not to miss this Halloween season. Featuring performances by Kim Burly, Raya Light, Peggy L’eggs, Lady Bear, Syphilis Diller, Mercy Fuque, Ambrosia Salad, Fade Dra, Tammie Brown, Squeaky Blonde, and more. Hostess-or, Ghostess- Heklina keeps a tight rein on the chills and thrills, and DJ Dave Rape supplies the spine tingling beats before and after the show. Drop dead diva’s Barbie Q and Phyllis Navidad will greet you at the door….

Trannyshack, San Francisco’s infamous drag performance night club, shocked and delighted packed audiences every Tuesday night at midnight for over twelve years. Defying all expectations, Trannyshack incorporated everything from low brow trash to high brow performance art, and became famous (or, infamous) worldwide as the quintessential San Francisco experience. No visit to the City was complete without a stop at Trannyshack. The club has been featured in Out (which named it one of the top 10 reasons to move to San Francisco), Genre, Instinct, and Paper magazines and won numerous Best of the Bay awards, and was filmed for an independent feature length documentary , titled “Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story” . Trannyshack is now branching out it’s empire, with shows in LA, London, Waikiki, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, and Reno enjoying great success.

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

9pm / $8 before 10pm, $12 after / 21+

Saturday 10.31.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.24.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.17.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.10.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.31.09: DOWN AND DERBY HALLOWEEN ROLLER DISCO with PINK DOLLAZ @ echoplex

Down and Derby, the premier roller skating organization that has quickly garnered a loyal following in cities such as Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Pomona and New York City, will host a special Halloween event at The Echoplex on Saturday, October 31. Dublab DJs Greenleaf, SFV Acid and Suzanne Kraft will control the roller disco rink’s turntables, broadcasting amplified sounds for the eight-wheeled revelers.

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 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.

with:
Pink Dollaz

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

RSVP at www.downandderby.org

9pm / $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door / 18+

Saturday 10.31.09: DIRTY PROJECTORS / LITTLE WINGS @ rec center studio

Dirty Projectors || Watch

Mr. Longstreth, a lanky guy who makes the strangest rooster-like neck movements when he plays, started the show with an odd pronouncement: “Nothing bad can happen because we are in the house of Robert Nesta Marley.” Then the new six-piece lineup of the band — the bassist Nat Baldwin and singer Haley Dekle have been added to the core quartet –launched into music that wasn’t reggae but seemed to envelop everything else imaginable.

The scratchy, African-influenced guitars Dirty Projectors fans are used to were there, but with a new kaleidoscopic complexity, and the addition of Mr. Baldwin on bass gave it all a sense of rhythmic solidity. The band’s three female members — Angel Deradoorian, Amber Coffman and Ms. Dekle — sang in harmonies so odd and precise they seemed to come from outer space; at one point they traded quick staccato notes as if singing Steve Reich on fast-forward. (If my music education is worth anything, I believe that technique is called hocketing. I’ll bet Dave Longstreth, who dropped out of Yale to make music full-time, knows if that’s right.)

Most impressive, though, is that it’s high-concept music that has real visceral power, and the crowd erupted into big belly roars at the end of every song. Like me, I think a lot of fans may have given up halfway through trying to give it all a zinger name and just let themselves be amazed. – New York Times

with:
Little Wings

@ Rec Center Studio
1161 Logan Street
Echo Park, CA 90026

9:30pm / $20.00 / all ages

Saturday 10.03.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 10.20.09: THE SUBJECTS / BAD VEINS / COBRA LILIES @ echo

The Subjects || Listen || Watch

The origins of The Subjects goes like this: Guitarist Joe Smith and singer/bassist Dave Sheinkopf were teachers at a Manhattan school with clichéd rock star dreams. Enter their students, drummer Matt Iwanusa and guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti. Take a few rehearsals and you have a rising band with a poppy, minimalist sound. Makes you wish you paid attention in school, doesn’t it?

The band first hit the scene with 2007’s With the Ease Grace Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings. Now they’re back with the a new EP entitled New Soft Shoe that reflects the growth spurt of a band who has seen some things. Whether it’s touring with White Rabbits and Tapes n’ Tapes or jamming through SXSW, the band’s sound has morphed into a four headed beast who pulls from a collective pool of interests and works to create a sound that emphasizes four unique yet wholly similar voices.

While the new EP has songs that stylistically draw from a group like Animal Collective, the band worked to make a more varied sound. Whether it’s the goliath of old church organs, the rhythm of honky-tonk strings and piano or even Iwanusa’s mom on the sax, the album brings together the structuring of some classical work (Sheinkopf was classically trained in harmony) with eccentric pop work that is light and fresh with just enough thud and kick to it. – Consequence of Sound

with:

Bad Veins || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Bad Veins live show is a very interesting thing. The two person band from Cincinnati, Ohio manage to recreate the lush, orchestrated sound from their album on stage. Captivating and energetic, it’s hard to know who to look at as an audience member of a Bad Veins show as both drummer Sebastien Schultz and singer/guitarist Benjamin Davis demand your attention, albeit in very different ways. Schultz drums with the energy of at least three enthused punk drummers while Davis’s mannerisms imply that he truly does believe the words he’s singing as his guitar cuts and his voice remains lackadaisically seductive, no matter the amount of energy he seems to be expelling on stage. The fact that Bad Veins brand of sexy, hip indie pop is easy to digest and very appealing makes not only their just-released self titled debut a must to pick up but it also makes the Bad Veins fellows (and their reel to reel, lovingly named Irene, which produces all the wonderful sounds you hear that aren’t made by Benjamin and Sebastien) a worthwhile show to check out. – Radio Free Chicago

plus:
Cobra Lilies || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Wednesday 10.14.09: HARPER SIMON / PETRA HADEN AND JIM BIANCO / INARA GEORGE AND ELENI MANDELL @ echo

Harper Simon || Listen || Watch

At 36, Paul Simon’s son (from his first marriage) is finally ready for his solo debut after years as a singer or guitarist in indie bands (Menlo Park and, with Simon’s current wife Edie Brickell, the Heavy Circles). “It took me a while to find my voice and be in a place in my life where I was ready to take that on,” says Simon, whose dulcet voice and pensive, thoughtful songs (“Wishes and Stars,” “All to God”) recall his father’s work. To help flesh what the calls “a homage to the LPs of the ’60s (“I’m not interested in making 10 separate songs sold on iTunes for 99 cents — I’m interested in the album”), Simon turned to a wide array of musical peers and friends, from veteran producer Bob Johnson (Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel) and Attractions pianist Steve Nieve to peers like Sean Lennon and Joan Wasser. His father even pitched in, writing the lyrics to what his son calls the “mock-autobiographical” country tune “Tennessee.” “He enjoyed the challenge of taking on a very traditional country structure,” says Simon. “He’d never done that before.” – Rolling Stone

with:
Petra Haden & Jim Bianco
The Living Sisters Lite (Inara George & Eleni Mandell)

8pm / $10 / 18+

Wednesday 10.07.09: TOTIMOSHI / SUBARACHNOID SPACE / OVO / PETER KOLOVOS @ echo

Totimoshi || Listen || Watch || Mp3

I’ve been a fan of Bay-area trio Totimoshi for awhile now, and the group has always struck me as incredibly underrated. If you do a little reading about the band you’ll find every similarity possible to any of their metal, hard rock, or stoner rock peers out on the road today. But the trio’s Latin heritage, Tony Aguilar’s unique voice, and their all-around desert-scorching sound add dimensions to Totimoshi’s essence that are so very lacking elsewhere. The trio has been referred to as a stoner rock or jam band way too many times to count. I’m not sure either label actually applies. Tuned-down and sludgy? Yes, but there is so much more going on here on Milagrosa. Totimoshi isn’t a party band, but they will shake your soul. – Adequacy

with:
SubArachnoid Space
OvO
Peter Kolovos

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

Sunday 10.04.09: KIDROCKERS presents THE DAMSELLES / QUAZAR AND THE BAMBOOZLED @ echo (day show)

The Damselles || Watch
Quazar & The Bamboozled

KiDROCKERS is a concert series that began in January 2007. These All Ages shows are designed to bring families together to experience some of the most engaging and vital artists in indie music and comedy. Artists perform original (not specifically made for children) songs in a manner that is both authentic and kid-friendly. Past artists include Tad Kubler (and members of the Hold Steady), Matthew and Ira of Nada Surf, Ra Ra Riot, Langhorne Slim, The Jealous Girlfriends, Harlem Shakes, Rogue Wave, The Subjects, Looker, Bishop Allen, The Spinto Band, Locksley, Phonograph, Palomar, Pela, Los Campesinos!, Chris Baron and LEVY.

Hosted by Seth Herzog & Matt Dwyer

Ages 3-13 recommended. Adults must be accompanied by a kid and vice versa.

1pm- 2:30pm / $9 in advance $12 at the door / All Ages

Tuesday 11.24.09: Performer Magazine presents MAX TUNDRA / DEASTRO / HEALAMONSTER AND TARSIER @ echo

Max Tundra || Listen || Watch || Mp3

On the contrary, Tundra’s show was everything a true fan could have hoped for. He smartly played around his catalog and tore through old gems like “Lysine,” from his 2002 album “Mastered by Guy at the Exchange,” as well as tunes from his latest release, like the infectiously-catchy “Which Song.” Tundra gave an audience not entirely savvy to his music a varied taste of his limited but impressive body of work. Skittering beats and MIDI horn bits piled out of the PA at rapid fire.

But the best part about seeing him live was watching what he did with these computer-generated themes. Bolting between keyboard solos, various percussion instruments, a Stratocaster guitar, his diva-inspired vocals on the mic and little 5-yard-radial laps around the stage, his spectacle radiated the essence of sheer joy. These antics, coupled with his clever and polite banter in that charming British accent and a couple of covers, tongue squarely in cheek (try Rogers and Hemmerstein’s “So Long, Farewell”), made the whole thing seem like a cartoon. – The Denver Post

with:
Deastro || Listen || Watch
Healamonster and Tarsier

8:30pm / $10 advance, $12 Day of Show / 18+

Tuesday 10.27.09: Otik Records Presents THE VOYEURS / THE FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / THE MONOLATORS / @ echo

The Voyeurs || Listen || Watch
(As Creedence Clearwater Revival)

The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
(As Fleetwood Mac)

The Monolators || Listen
(as ABBA)

The Karabal Nightlife || Listen
(As T-Rex)

8:30pm / FREE with Costume, $5 without / 18+

Friday 10.30.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Friday 10.09.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND with NORTHERN SKY / CANNONEERS OF THE NEW COMMAND @ echo

Northern Sky
Cannoneers of the New Command

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 10.02.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Monday 10.26.09: OLIN AND THE MOON / MICHAEL RUNION @ echoplex

Olin & The Moon || Watch

Three Idaho boys bring their rural charm to the Los Angeles scene with a little help from a pretty face along the way. Olin and the Moon’s self-titled album is a promising start for these old friends as they attempt to stand out from the crowd they’ve chosen to surround themselves with.

Drummer Marshall Vore allows the band to reside confidently in between the overtly fast and the unconsciously mellow, while singer David LaBrel shines with storytelling skills that stand up to the likes of Bright Eye’s Conor Oberst. Invoking images of a rock star retiring to the moon, “Moon Man” is like a monotone ballad version of “Ziggy Stardust.” In “Home,” the band conjures up fond memories of simple farm life protecting innocent love: “I wanna take you to the trees / Where the forest and the farm lands meet … Where you can lay out on the grass all day / Where it is safe.” Songs like these benefit from acoustic guitar strums, heavenly bells and sweet piano undertones.

Tracks like “Oh Bells” and “Song of the Summer” are focused more around the band’s own experiences on the road as musicians, referencing sound guys and getting drunk while singing. Olin and the Moon’s adolescent drive comes via David LaBrel’s brother Travis and his powerful lead guitar. His chord formations draw in ears to his trickling melodies — most notably on “Changin’“ and “Take It To Hell” — but they often overtake the songs, drowning out Erica Wheeler’s bass and David LaBrel’s vocals.

Olin and the Moon desperately strive to engage listeners in music that expresses their love for the art form; with an album like this, they just might succeed. – Performer Mag

with:
Michael Runion

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

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 09.26.09: Dub Frequency & Echo present PAC DIV / ROB ROY / THEE MIKE B / 87 STICK UP KIDS / AUDIBLE AGENT / ADAM TENSTA / THE CATARACS / SHAWN CHRYSTOPHER / CHRIS YOUNG @ echoplex

with:
Pac Div
Rob Roy
Thee Mike B
87 Stick Up Kids
The Cataracs
Adam Tensta
Audible Agent
Shawn Chrystopher
Chris Young

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

9pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / 18+

Saturday 10.24.09: KID SISTER / FLOSSTRADAMUS / TOTALLY MICHAEL @echoplex

Kid Sister || Watch

The head of Kid Sister’s long-awaited album is finally reaching the end of the birth canal: It’s a girl, her name is Ultraviolet and she’s finally coming out October 6 on Downtown Records.
Months of rapid anticipation, encouraged by Kid Sis’s adorable Twitter-ing (“Ew my nails look crazy. I look like I raze barns for a living…”) and ridiculous live performances, have crested to make this one of the year’s most exciting album drops. The buzz from her 2007 single, “Pro Nails,” feat. Kanye West has only grown as Kid Sister keeps on her performing grind and stays real with her fans, delaying her own album release just to get every detail perfect. I smell a classic in the oven.

In addition to Kid Sister’s already infectious flow, I personally can’t wait to check out the production on the album, coming from hard-hitters like Rusko, XXXChange, Herve, and DJ Gant-Man. Don’t sleep on Chicago’s most fully-fitted female rapper this fall! – The Tripwire

with:
Flosstradamus
Totally Michael

The Very Best Had to Cancel Due to Passport Problems

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

8:30pm / $16 adv; $18 dos / 18+

Thursday 10.15.09: DAN DEACON / NUCLEAR POWER PANTS @ echo

Dan Deacon || Listen

With Bromst, Deacon not only shucks the “wacky” thing, he replaces it (and those gadgets) with virtuosity of composition and an array of instruments. This album represents his transformation from Baltimore club freak to overstimulated kin of Brian Eno and Cornelius. These are thick songs built around left-field ideas, positively fat with melodic content—physically shake the record, and sheets of notes would probably spray out like a colorful rain of tonal Skittles. Much of this is due to the use of a digitally rigged player piano capable of generating acoustic notes faster than any pair of human hands, but Deacon doesn’t lean on this. Rather, he writes extra-dense for the odd instrument, then spends as much (or more) effort shaping the atmosphere it inhabits. With most songs breaking six minutes, it’s challenging to digest individual pieces—“Red F” has those skittering percussive rolls, “Snookered” recalls Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, “Surprise Stefani” feels like Steve Reich—but it’s surprisingly easy to “get” Bromst as an album. Deacon has always said that he writes within his physical means (then: homemade equipment, sweltering clubs; now: actual studios, actual venues). A word of advice for anyone who crosses Dan’s path: Give this man anything he asks for. – The Onion (A.V. Club)

with:
Nuclear Power Pants

8pm / $10 / all ages

Saturday 11.07.09: CITIZEN FISH / STAR F*CKING HIPSTERS / MOLOTOV COMPROMISE @ echo

Citizen Fish || Listen

I don’t know if “ska” is the best term to describe the music that UK band Citizen Fish throws down. While the band has the horns and bouncing beats inherent to the style, they are so much more as a whole. To me, the band sounds like a weird cross breed of The Brian Setzer Orchestra and the educated Sex Pistols. Their singer, simply listed in the liner notes as “Dick,” adds what I’d call a little Irish accent to the mix that gives the band the feel of something you might run across in a dirty London pub.

Their new CD Deadline, a “split” album with New York hardcore purveyors Leftover Crack, is a powerhouse collection of songs proving, despite the frequent whining of mainstream music fans, there are still some great politically charged bands out there, if you know where to look. Fat Wreck Chord Records obviously does. – Blogcritics

Star F*cking Hipsters || Listen

S.F.H. was conceived as an alternate musical project for Sturgeon (aka Stza Crack, the singer/guitarist and primary song-writer for Choking Victim/Leftover Crack) and X-Possibles/L.O.C. drummer Brandon Chevalier-Kolling which was planned to commence in 2005 with the song eventually titled “look who’s talking now!” (a version was recorded by Leftover Crack with Brandon on drums for the U.K.’s Radio 1 “lock-up” punk show in the B.B.C.s Mada Vale studios at the end of their 2004 European tour) as their first collaboration and S.F.H.’s jumping-off point. During the final days of an L.O.C. tour that took the band from Florida through Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and scheduled to end in Louisiana the band was devastated by the untimely death of the Brandon on December 17th, 2004 in Dallas, Texas. After the funeral no plans were made to continue the band and the future of Leftover Crack was unclear and unspokenly non-existent. After a long break and 3 months of aimless travel through central America and Mexico, Sturgeon returned to start the punk band imagined by himself and Brandon: political-punk with a female vocalist and a rotating group of collaborating musicians.

with:
Molotov Compromise

5pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / all ages

Wednesday 10.21.09: THE HEAVY / SWEATERS / SHIRLEY ROLLS @ echo

The Heavy || Watch

If anyone is curious as to where Howlin’ Wolf, James Brown or even Elvis Presley resurrected and blessed their talents to then you should look no further then to the indie rock band The Heavy. The English indie rock band is taking music to new heights with their sound that consists of heavy hip hop soul funk.

When listening to their album “The House That Dirt Built” be prepared to take a few trips back in time to the 1940s and the 1950s. Not to sound extreme but it is almost like this band was reincarnated from another lifetime and brought into our generation to keep soul funk alive. When listening to “Sixteen” lead vocalist Kelvin Swaby tells a story of a girl who seemingly dances with the devil. Now she looked just like heaven but her mind reeked of hell now I know I shouldn’t be telling but I guess if you know her well she’s the kind of girl she cant hold on she’s already there, sixteen. “Oh No! Not You Again!” and “What You Want Me To Do” has a more upbeat tempo and gives us the reminder that this rock band has the ability to make you move. “Love Like That” has a funky melody while “Stuck” is more of a mellow groove.

The Heavy does not disappoint when it comes to their delivery and style as a band, they are definitely unique and refreshing to ones ears and gives their listeners the ability to discover what an indie soul rock band can really do. – URB

with:
Sweaters
Shirley Rolls || Listen

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 10.22.09: LIAM FINN + ELIZA JANE / JASON LYTLE / THE 88 @ echoplex

Liam Finn + Eliza Jane || Listen

Liam Finn calls his beard “well-traveled” for a good reason. Over the past year alone, the troubadour performed over 180 times at venues far from his New Zealand abode, opening for The Black Keys, Pearl Jam and Wilco. Yet Finn’s most impressive venture to date has not been to any geographical location, but past the barriers of a comfort zone. Although he considered his former Betchadupa bandmates his closest friends, Finn kept to himself the songs he had written of heartbreak and evictions, ultimately the reason why 2008’s I’ll Be Lightning became a solo record. But Finn has since opened up to a born-again collaborator, with his involvement in father Neil’s 7 Worlds Collide project and an EP he created with fellow folk vocalist Eliza-Jane Barnes. What they created, recently released on Sept. 1, was Champagne in Seashells. Fresh from working on 7 Worlds Collide in April, Finn called forth new anxieties that coalesce in the EP’s first track, “Plane Crash.” A self-created nightmare in slow motion, the song spends more than half of its time building up tension through a rumble of broken chords, before exploding into a storm cloud of guitar noise. – Paste Magazine

with:

Jason Lytle || Listen

“Hold my hand while everything blows away, and we will run to a brand new sun,” Jason Lytle sings in his high, scratchy voice. That sense of willed optimism rising out of catastrophe could be about the end of a band, a romance, a friendship, an economic boom or all of them at once, and it runs through the songs on “Yours Truly, the Commuter” (Anti-), Mr. Lytle’s first solo album after 15 years of leading Grandaddy. Mr. Lytle moved to Bozeman, Mont., and recorded the album by himself, playing all the instruments. It’s a fragile recollection of California rock from more auspicious times, with stately melodies and vocal chorales over jerry-built foundations: elegies for vanished certainties. – NY Times

plus:
The 88 || Listen || Watch

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

8:30pm / $14 advance, $16 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 10.13.09: Binary Presents LA LIGHTS – RECORD RELEASE PARTY with KEENHOUSE / LEXICONDON / SHORT CIRCUIT / ALFA / THE KIDS ARE RADIOACTIVE @ echoplex

To celebrate the release of our debut record, Binary Presents: LA Lights…….. we’re having a party!

We’re taking over The Echoplex on Tuesday, October 13th (which is also the day the record will come out digitally!) for a night of fun, music, and celebration!

First off, its FREEEEEEE (you just need to RSVP to rsvp@binaryentertainmentgroup.com), so come out and have a great time, and please come support! This record is really the fruition of a couple years of work for Binary, and the songs are the heart and soul of our 7 artists. Come celebrate with us and come for some amazing performances!

Live performances by:
Keenhouse
LexiconDon
Short Circuit

DJ sets by:
Alfa
The Kids Are Radioactive

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

RSVP to rsvp@binaryentertainmentgroup.com

9pm / FREE with RSVP / 18+

Monday 10.12.09: FISHTANK ENSEMBLE / BRASS MENAZERI / THE SHPIL @ echoplex

Balkan Brass, Gypsy Gaga, Klezmatic Kaos, Eastern European Ecstacy!!

Fishtank Ensemble || Listen

The LA Weekly calls them “cross pollinated gypsy music….one of the most thrilling young acts on the planet.” Formed in 2005 and playing everywhere from the hippest LA clubs to festivals, cultural centers, museums, parades, and even on the street, the band includes two explosive violins, the world’s best slap bass player, musical saw, flamenco and gypsy jazz guitar, trombone, opera, jazz and gypsy vocals, accordion and one little banjolele. Tackling everything from French hot jazz to wild Serbian and Transylvanian gypsy anthems, Flamenco, and oddball originals, the band is a not to be missed event for world music lovers…and everyone will love this intoxicating mix of music!

with:
Brass Menazeri || Listen
The Shpil || Listen

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

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

Saturday 10.10.09: DRAGSTRIP 66 @ echoplex

Dragstrip 66 (now quarterly at The Echoplex) returns to officially kick off the Halloween season, with a decadent theme celebrating all fallen idols – dead, alive, famous, infamous – or in between. They’re not all evil, but this party will be wicked!

DJ PAUL V. (from Bootie LA & ex-Indie 103.1FM) spins hot electro, indie rock, mashups & synthpop to keep the ghouls dancing, and GINA LOTRIMAN hosts our fabulous stage show!

* Special Midnight Performances By *
GINA LOTRIMAN (Dragstrip 66 hostess & co-creator)
JER BER JONES (Teen goth supermodel star of ‘Telekinesis’)
JOHN “CONNIE” CANTWELL (of The Nellie Olesons)

+ SPECIAL SURPRISE GUESTS +

* Special CD Giveaways *

Patrons who walk onstage during our Promenade will WIN:
LA ROUX - self-titled debut CD + “Bulletproof” remix singles
NOISETTES - “Wild Young Hearts” CD

AND DON’T FORGET:
Cover is always only $5 if you arrive in full drag or cross-dress!

More info:
http://www.Dragstrip66.com
Dragstrip 66 on Facebook

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

9pm / $15 / 21+

Tuesday 10.06.09: THE MOTH GRANDSLAM @ echoplex

10 stories, 3 teams of judges, 1 winner

Ten champion Moth StorySLAM storytellers will tell five-minute true tales on the theme “Transformation”. A forensic psychologist, a voice over artist, a mom who makes a mean chicken spaghetti sauce, a former UN tour guide, the reigning three time champion and five others will battle it out – with only words as weapons – for the “LA GrandSLAM Champion” title. No notes, no scripts – just pure, old-fashioned, unadulterated storytelling. Fun, fast, furious.

The Moth is dedicated to finding intriguing people to tell inspired stories. At The Moth StorySLAM, those people find us. On this night, using words as swords, they battle it out to determine The Moth’s GrandSLAM Story Champion.

Stories told by: Peter Basch, Christine Blackburn, Josh Cereghino, Sabrina Cognata, Megan Grano, Vikki Kelleher, Lisa McKay, Katie Nahnsen, Bill Ratner, Meg Swertlow

Hosted by: Brain Finkelstein

Musician: Alexander Burke (Vibraphone)

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

FMI: www.themoth.org

7pm / $15 / 18+

Wednesday 10.28.09: DUB CLUB with ASHER SELECTOR / DUBITERIAN @ echoplex

Special guests from europe in town this week: from switzerland guest DJ Asher Selector and from Germany a live dub performance from Dubiterian. Both of these artists play big festivals all over the world and this should be a heavy night of riddim , roots , and culture.

check out Dubiterian
check out Asher Selector

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 / free before 10pm and $5 after 10pm / 21+

Wednesday 10.21.09: DUB CLUB presents MICHIGAN AND SMILEY @ echoplex

MICHIGAN AND SMILEY
backed by the Kingston 13 band

Papa Michigan (born Anthony Fairclough) and General Smiley (born Erroll Bennett) were among the first dual-toasters on the Jamaican scene. Beginning in the late ’70s while still in school, the humorous duo (Smiley got his name because he never smiles) scored immediately with “Rub a Dub Style” and “Nice up the Dance,” two ubiquitous songs on the dancehall circuit. “One Love Jam Down” became a popular anthem, and 1982’s “Diseases” established them as major stars, especially at the annual Sunsplash festivals.

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

9pm / $10 / 21+

Wednesday 10.14.09: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Wednesday 10.07.09: DUB CLUB @ echoplex

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

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

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

9pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 10.01.09: Comedy Is The New Black presents STARS AND STRIPES OF COMEDY 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO @ echoplex

Comedy is the New Black presents:

Stars and Stripes of Comedy 2: Electric Boogaloo

with:
SHANG from COMEDY CENTRAL, BET’s DEF COMEDY JAM and COMIC VIEW,as well as guest starring on televisions hits HEROES,and CSI.

ILIZA SHLESINGER :The WINNER of the last season of NBC’s LAST COMIC STANDING.

CHRISTINA PAZSITSKY from COMEDY CENTRAL, THE LATE LATE SHOW and MTV

IAN EDWARDS from COMEDY CENTRAL, and P.DIDDYS BAD BOYS of COMEDY on HBO

PLUS a SURPRISE SPECIAL GUEST,
as well as 4 more of the funniest up and coming comics in L.A.!

10 GREAT COMEDIANS FOR 10 DOLLARS

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

7:30pm / $10 / All Ages

Saturday 10.03.09: BOOTIE LA with THE ILLUMINOIDS @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

LA’s very own electro-punk mashup DJs HOWIE PYRO and JELLS MAYHEM, a.k.a.:
THE ILLUMINOIDS

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

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

Free Bootie mashup CDs for the first 75 people!

This month, Bootie LA is proud to present punk legends Howie Pyro and Jells Mayhem, a.k.a. The Illuminoids. This LA-based mashup production duo specializes in taking punk, electro, and indie songs and putting them in a sonic blender, producing tracks that veer sharply away from the typical pop and rap mashups of other DJs.

Also, back from Burning Man, it’s the return of San Francisco-based resident DJs Adrian & the Mysterious D, who will be joining DJ Paul V. on the decks. And for the Midnight Mashup Show, after taking a month off, resident dance crew R.A.I.D. (Random Acts of Irreverent Dance) is back with another gold-suited, choreographed, show-stopping performance!

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. 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!

FMI: http://www.BootieLA.com

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

Sunday 09.27.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with TONY GILKYSON / DAVE GLEASON @ echo

Tony Gilkyson
Dave Gleason || Listen

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 09.20.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with GRANT LANGSTON / ANNY CELSI AND NELSON BRAGG / SARAH STANLEY @ echo

Grant Langston || Listen
Anny Celsi & Nelson Bragg
Sarah Stanley

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Saturday 09.19.09: CLOCKWISE SCAVENGER HUNT AFTER PARTY @ echo

The creative team that brought you Astronauts Vs. Lumberjacks, The Holiday Party, and The Egyptian Theater’s Midnight Madness Game are back with a brand new adventure! And fabulous prizes from Masa, Haute Olive, Downbeat Cafe and more!

Get ready to leap through time and race around Echo Park, searching for clues to scan with a high-tech cell phone app that deliver puzzles and games right to your fingertips. Meet fellow time-travelers and complete their challenges for huge bonuses. Compete against other teams in Face-Offs to determine for whom the bell tolls. The after-party at the Echo will feature a side-splitting slideshow of photos and videos from the game itself that you won’t want to miss.

Time is going to fly in this 4-hour event, and you’re going to be the pilot. All you need is comfortable shoes and one team-member with a web-enabled camera phone (iphone, blackberry curve, etc.). If you don’t have the phone, no worries, we’ll make sure you’re on a team with someone who does. Sign up now, as space is limited!

More details available at http://tinyurl.com/sept19clockwise

Scavenger hunt at Noon, Party at 4pm / All Ages

Tuesday 11.03.09: LUCERO “RAMBLIN’ ROADSHOW AND MEMPHIS REVUE” with JACK OBLIVIAN / JOHN PAUL KEITH & THE ONE FOUR FIVES @ echoplex

Lucero || Listen || Watch

Back when Lucero played warehouses and released scrappy attic recordings on hand-packaged LPs, the Memphis band felt like an epiphany. Granted, Lucero wasn’t the first group to smash punk zeal into country-rock tradition, but it was the best at the time, and did so on wholly punk-rock terms. Ten years on, the group has released 1372 Overton Park, its major-label debut. Not only is it a sonic leap for Lucero, it’s another epiphany: Having long outgrown the warehouse, leader Ben Nichols and crew have embraced their legendary Memphis forebears by adding a robust horn section (courtesy of Memphis soul legend Jim Spake) and an epic sweep on par with Lucero’s closest cousin, Drive-By Truckers. Overton’s tracks cover Nichols’ typically gravely domain—anthemic barnburners like “Sounds Of The City” to twang-laden weepers like “Can’t Feel A Thing”—but there’s also stomping Southern boogie on “The Devil And Maggie Chascarillo,” a raucous homage to Los Bros Hernandez’s Love And Rockets comics, and a newfound brassy punch that recalls everything from Stax classics to The Replacements’ Pleased To Meet Me. – AV Club

with:
Jack Oblivian
John Paul Keith & the One Four Fives

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

8pm / $15 advance, $17 day of show /18+

Wednesday 09.30.09: BUZZBANDS.LA ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY with EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS / VOXHAUL BRODCAST / SAMUEL STEWART / RADIO FREQ @ echo

Eastern Conference Champions || Listen || Watch (EP Release Party)

with:
Voxhaul Broadcast (EP Release Party)
Samuel Stewart
Radio Freq

RSVP to any of the bands on the bill or to buzzbands@gmail.com

8:30pm / $8, $5 with RSVP / 18+

Wednesday 09.30.09: DUB CLUB presents RANKING JOE @ echoplex

Ranking Joe
Backed by Echodelic Soundsystem

So, Who Is Ranking Joe? Born Joseph Jackson, in Kingston, Jamaica , July 1, 1959, he was introduced in the music business at Tarrant Junior Secondary School in Kingston. Joe performed at school concerts and won local talent contest in the mid-70’s. At age 15, he went to the legendary “Studio One” to audition and what resulted was his first big hit “GUN COURT”, produced by Clement”Coxsone” Dodd under the name “Little Joe”.
“This recording lead to more producers becoming interested in My work and as a result I performed more records for different producers such as Bunny Lee,to name a few.” Some of these records are “OLD TRADITION” done by Bunny Lee, “HONDA 750″ done by Pete Weston. “PSALM 54″ and “JACKET” with Watty Burnett, “STOP YOUR COMING AND COME”, done by Sly and Robbie , “NATTY BMW” with Bunny Diamond, and “SHINE EYE GIRL” and “NATTY NEVER GET WEARY” done on Sonia Pottinger’s famous “HIGH NOTE” label. As he grew older, still into a young man, he changed his name on the advice of Prince Tony Robinson to “Ranking Joe”. Joe worked alongside Robinson and had hit records such as”A YOU Mr. FINNIGAN”,with an album of the same name. He was then was then introduced to the King of DJ’s “U-Roy”, after which he worked on U-Roy’s “KING STUR-GAV HI-FI”, the most popular sound system in Jamaica at that time.
“I later developed my original style of fast rapping. , tongue twisting and that became the most popular thing to hit the airways.The style was (Bang-didlly), also used by “Heavy D”, an American Rapper”. Joe’s string of successes kept rolling. “After an introduction to the producer Joe Gibbs,I did several singles for his label, such as”LEAVE FE ME Girl Arlene” and “Bald Head Bridge” done by the group “CULTURE” and Myself.” The latter was released as a disco 12″ 45 record-one of the wicked extended mixes of the “rockers” period of the late 70’s. “In 1977, I was voted the most popular DJ of that year, for my records that were on the charts and my performance of “KING STUR-GAV” sound system.In 1978-79 I was approached by “Henry ‘Junjo” laws for the “Volcano Label”, the top producer during that time. I recorded an album titled “Saturday Night Jamdown Style” , which was released by Greensleeves in France and VP Records in New York and as a result were successful”.
After moving to New York ,Joe released many records on his own label “Ranking Joe International” and continued to perform all over the world ,traveling to Israel, New Zealand and Brazil as well as Europe. He is one of the few DJs from his era who has continued to release strong new recordings, and has worked with many talented musicians. He was featured on the popular “Dub Side of the Moon” album by the Easy Star All Stars, as well as recordings by The Slackers and Mungo’s Hi-Fi.
Check out his recent track “Fyah Bun Dem” cut with some young producers in Brazil : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3NZvyzOIL8

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

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

Friday 10.30.09: BUILT TO SPILL / DISCO DOOM @ echoplex

Built To Spill || Listen || Watch

When Built To Spill wanted to find out what their music sounded like they locked themselves in Doug Martsch’s garage. Without a tentative conclusion or even a hypothesis the four members began to experiment. Their collaborative efforts lasted seasons and yielded dozens of hours of ADAT tape. The album You In Reverse documents the newest branch of Built To Spill’s chaotic, yet elegant evolution. Rather than Doug’s former reliance on extensive overdubs, the group tried to capture loose and live moments, letting each individual musician’s talents be more accurately represented. Instead of a broad, atmospheric sweep, this record sounds natural. It resonates with relationships, the way the band as a whole responds to music and to each other.

with:
Disco Doom || Listen

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

8pm / $22 advance, $24 day of show / 18+

Thursday 10.29.09: BUILT TO SPILL / DISCO DOOM @ echoplex

Built To Spill || Listen || Watch

When Built To Spill wanted to find out what their music sounded like they locked themselves in Doug Martsch’s garage. Without a tentative conclusion or even a hypothesis the four members began to experiment. Their collaborative efforts lasted seasons and yielded dozens of hours of ADAT tape. The album You In Reverse documents the newest branch of Built To Spill’s chaotic, yet elegant evolution. Rather than Doug’s former reliance on extensive overdubs, the group tried to capture loose and live moments, letting each individual musician’s talents be more accurately represented. Instead of a broad, atmospheric sweep, this record sounds natural. It resonates with relationships, the way the band as a whole responds to music and to each other.

with:
Disco Doom || Listen

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

8pm / $22 advance, $24 day of show / 18+

Wednesday 09.16.09: Shake The Hand & The Q Side Project present THROWING MY MONEY Video Release Party with TIRON / BLU / PAC DIV @ echo

with:
TiRon
Blu
Pac Div

DJ Sets by:
DJ Sean G
DJ Sourmilk

Screening is invite only
Party is open to the public

8pm / Screening- Invite only, Party- $5 / 18+

Thursday 10.08.09: MR. GREEN ALL STARS with HR (Bad Brains), ROCKY GEORGE (Suicidal Tendencies), NORWOOD FISHER (Fishbone) / THE SCIENTIST / OPUS DAI / CAGE 9 / AMBROSE / PAIN / LICENSE TO KILL / THE OTHER SIDE OF MORNING / THE FABULOUS MISS WENDY @ echoplex

Mr. Green All Stars || Watch

with
Hawaiian Lyon
Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies)
Norwood Fisher (Fishbone)
DH Peligro (Dead Kennedys)

Mr. Green All-Stars Spread Their Brand of Anarchy and Stellar Musicianship Across the Globe Hardcore/Punk Rock/Reggae super group launches world tour this fall in California Los Angeles, CA, October 2009—Are you ready for the ferocious punk/ metal lines of bass guitarist Norwood Fisher of Fishbone? For the snarling blasts of thrash metal and virtuoso guitar leads provided by Rocky George of Suicidal Tendencies? Pounding tribal drum/ metal rhythms from D.H. Peligro of the Dead Kennedy’s? Last but certainly not least, the jaw-dropping stage performance and vocal range of Lyon Rowland of Hawaiian Lyon Human Rights? These talented musicians come together to form the super group Mr. Green All-Stars, who are launching their world tour across seven continents this October, beginning in their home state of California. Mr. Green All-Stars describes themselves as “misfits of the world who believe in freedom of expression—no matter what the cost.” The super group is known for their unique, energetic hybrid of punk rock and reggae, with lyrics that address political and human rights issues, as well as their incredibly skilled musicianship. Their powerful, high-speed music evokes the world of action sports, as well as a sense of anarchy and freedom, and their blend of shout-along melodies and driving hooks forces the crowd to join in on the performance.

Plus special guests
H.R. (Bad Brains)
The Scientist

plus
Opus Dai
Cage 9
Ambrose
Pain
License to Kill
The Other Side Of Morning
The Fabulous Miss Wendy
Bad Vic

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

6:30pm / $15 / 21+

Sunday 09.13.09: GRAND OLE ECHO with OLD CALIFORNIO / EAGLE WINGED PALACE / WHISPERING PINES @ echo

Old Californio
Eagle Winged Palace
Whispering Pines

5:00pm / FREE / All Ages

Sunday 10.18.09: BLACK HEART PROCESSION / THE MUMLERS / VOICES VOICES @ echoplex

The Black Heart Procession || Listen

More than just a return to numerical album titles, Six is The Black Heart Procession’s first album to be written and recorded simultaneously with a new Three Mile Pilot album. As both bands now coexist for the first time ever, coconspirators Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel have steered The Black Heart Procession into a darker, more adventurous direction. Produced and recorded by the band over the past couple years, Six is without a doubt the group’s most emotionally resonant album since Three. Brimming with pitch-black ballads of discarded loves and forgotten souls, the album paints a bleak yet strangely comforting portrait of heartbreak, self-destruction and religious allegory over some of their most inspired songs to date, drawing a clear line from here to soulstirring visionaries such as Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits.

with:
The Mumlers || Listen
Voices Voices

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

8pm / $14 Advance, $16 Day of show / 18+

Friday 09.25.09: Echo & Club Underground present RAIN MACHINE @ echo

Rain Machine || Listen

Kyp Malone has always been a grand provocateur, singing, “I wanna love you all the way / I wanna break your back,” on last year’s “Lover’s Day” (from TV on the Radio’s Dear Science). So to hear Malone, with his new solo project, moaning that “it’s no burnt-cork affair” on the six-and-half-minute “Smiling Black Faces” is to hear him at his most comfortable. Rain Machine doesn’t have TVOTR’s Berlin Wall of Sound might, but it’s still an accomplished work. Quadruple-tracked vocals on the quavering “Hold You Holy” and the bone-shaking pop jangle of “Give Blood” make this the best side gig since Jack White rediscovered the drums. – Spin

8:30pm / $16 advance; $18 doors / 18+

Saturday 09.12.09: VAUD AND THE VILLAINS @ echoplex

Vaud & The Villains || Listen || Watch

Vaud & his ragtag band of villains are on the run from the long arm again. This time, they’ve landed just up river from the Creseent City. They come there to find Big Daddy’s…a speako disguised as a church. They are more at home in a dark, back room rollin’ dice and making music than in the schoolhouse or in the stockyards. They’re a bit on the wild side but they won’t hurt you none. The boys play with dynamite and the girls like to buck and bite. But you don’t have to worry. They like new folks. They got a reputation for being mean as a snake, and as sweet as an apple on Christmas day. They got scruples but they often misplace ‘em. They are everything your mama and papa warned you about and they are every bad thing that feels so good to do. If you got a secret, if you’re someone good who’s ever done something bad, if you got the man standing over you every day squeezin’ every ounce of spirit out of you…you have some villain in you. See what they do is they rock you 1930s style. They got a smokin’ hot horn section, leggy dames to match, rock steady rhythm, and soaring gospel harmonies. They are not your grandma’s depression era revival show, they are a big, bad, bawdy, good time band. They are gonna fill up the speako with music and spirit and noise…and you gonna bring the noise. And at the end of the night, when you are burning with the fever they’ve left you with…you’re gonna go out in the world and villainize it. You’re never gonna be the same.

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

8:30pm / $16 Advance, $18 Day of Show / 18+

Thursday 09.17.09: DOWN AND DERBY ROLLER DISCO / Skate Lessons with BLADE @ 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

Sign Up for Skate Lessons with Blade at Justin@downandderby.org

9pm / $5 with RSVP, $10 at the door / 18+

Wednesday 09.23.09: SLAVIC SOUL PARTY! (CD release show) / KILLSONIC @ echo

Slavic Soul Party! || Listen || Watch || MP3

Throbbing funk grooves, fiery Balkan brass, Gypsy accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! NYC’s official #1 brass band for BalkanSoul GypsyFunk. SSP! has created an acoustic mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds with North American music, weaving the gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz, and Latin influences of New York’s neighborhoods seamlessly into a Balkan brass setting. Their original sound has never been clearer than on their new cd Taketron, a surprising re-imagining of brass band dance music that includes only two traditional songs (a blazing Moldovan oompah and a soulful Gospel journey). SSP!’s music has won the ear of fans and musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, and their tunes have been learned by Serbian brass stars Boban Markovic Orkestar and New Orleans funk sensations Galactic, among others. In addition to touring throughout the US and Europe, SSP! holds down a residency every Tuesday in Brooklyn which has become a destination for music fans from around the world.

with:
Killsonic

8:00pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 09.18.09: Keistar Productions & Footlong Development Present SOUL SLAM V – PRINCE & MICHAEL JACKSON @ echoplex

Keistar Productions & Footlong Development Present

SOUL SLAM: PRINCE & MICHAEL JACKSON

Celebrating The Life & Legacy Of Our Greatest Icon!
THE KING OF POP!
MICHAEL JACKSON (1958-2009 R.I.P)

&

Honoring Our Most Prolific & Influential Artist
PRINCE

with:
DJ Spinna || Listen (HIGHWATER MUSIC/BBE)

This event centers around the honoring of two of the most eclectic and innovative artists to date, Michael Jackson and Prince! From the inception of this concept back in 1999 the response for SOUL SLAM has been enormous.

DJ Spinna sets the tone of this event as he lays down track after track from both MJ’s and Princes extensive music catalogues along with tracks of their cohorts, i.e.; Jermaine Jackson, Vanity, Janet, Sheila E., J5, The Time etc. Soul Slam returns to LA in September!

Last years visit to LA brought out 1100+ people….That night’s event filled with LA’s top taste makers, fashionistas and music fans hit capacity in an hour and a half of the doors opening.

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

9pm / $11 advance, $15 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 09.08.09: SUMMER DARLING / SING ORPHEUS / YIKES! A LION / MOLINO @ echo

Summer Darling || Listen || Watch

I went back inside and was simply floored by what I heard. Summer Darling were catching full steam and plowing through a hyper tense set of amazing music full of tension and emotion. To say I am not easily impressed would be an understatement, but I was enthralled with what I heard coming off the stage.

The double Fender guitar attack really let the intricate guitar interplay shine over a thumping but precise rhythm section. At times they conjured up images of early Fugazi. Maybe not so much in the actual songwriting style, but in the tome of the music. They were above all earnest in they intentions.

When next they play do yourself a favor and catch Summer Darling. I think you will pleased. – Radio Free Silver Lake

With:
Sing Orpheus || Listen
Yikes! A Lion
Molino

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 09.04.09: SUICIDEGIRLS presents CLUB SUICIDE’S CASUAL FRIDAY @ echoplex

SuicideGirls Presents…
Club Suicide’s Casual Friday @ The Echoplex

Set off your Labor Day Weekend!

Come comfortable. Smoking jackets, robes, pajamas, slips, lingerie, kimonos, shorts, wife beaters, underwear, bathing suits…Anything silky, satiny, luxurious, or comfy….;)
(Theme not required. Anyone welcome.)

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

With DJs…

Johnny Jewel (Clockwork Orange, Blue Mondays)
Los (Ultraluxx)
Neil In The Coffin (From War Tapes)

Sexy SuicideGirl Go-Go Dancers
SuicideGirls Merchandise Give-Aways

Photo Booth & Roaming Photo

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

FMI: www.clubsuicide.net

10pm / $10 / 18+

Tuesday 09.15.09: VIEUX FARKA TOURE / WEAVE @ echoplex

Vieux Farka Toure || Listen || Watch || MP3

Word to the wise: get on board the Vieux Farka Touré bandwagon now. Not so you can be hip or prepared to drop his name at a cocktail party (for one thing, no one would listen to this music at a cocktail party, and more importantly, who goes to cocktail parties?) or for any reason that would behoove Starbucks to put this disc in their stores. No, the best reason to acquaint yourself with Vieux Farka Touré is because he is a surpassingly brilliant young musician who, if we are fortunate, has a long and productive career ahead of him.

It has only taken a few years, and two albums, for Vieux Farka Touré to distance himself from what could (and should) have been an overwhelming impression made by his father, Ali Farka Touré. The elder Touré, who passed on in 2006, was a living legend from Mali whose music delineated the natural but often overlooked link between traditional African music and American blues.

Fondo finds Vieux treading the natural bridge his father built between Malian music and Delta blues. Where Ali’s work, particularly his earlier albums, ceaselessly caused the listener to marvel at the common ground between the two continents, Vieux invokes and recalls the connection, but often strains to do more with both sound and tempo.

Fondo is the unequivocal announcement of a major talent, and the well-earned accolades are easy to predict. This constitutes the second consecutive triumph for Vieux Farka Touré: this is not world music so much as music from the world, and certain parts of the world we don’t hear or see as often as we should. Mostly, Fondo is the sound of a son escaping his father’s shadow, even as he shrewdly embraces many of the best elements that made his old man so memorable. – Popmatters

with:
Weave

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

8:30pm / $14 advance, $16 day of show / 18+

Friday 09.11.09: NIGHTLIFE – BEAT JUNKIE SOUND MEETS DA BEATMINERZ @ echoplex

with resident DJs THE BEAT JUNKIES:
J.ROCC
BABU
RHETTMATIC
MR. CHOC

plus special guest:
DA BEATMINERZ:
DJ EVIL DEE
MR. WALT

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

10pm / $5 before 11pm, $10 after / 21+

Monday 09.28.09: When You Awake & LA Record present LESLIE AND THE BADGERS / SIAN ALICE GROUP / BEST COAST / PAPERPLANES @ echo

Leslie & the Badgers || Watch

Leslie & the Badgers are quietly turning into one of the city’s best quiet bands. There’s a gently glowing country-rock intimacy to the songs from their self-titled 2007 debut CD and 2008 iTunes EP, Greetings From Leslie & the Badgers, but they’re not some corny, cornpone revival outfit. Instead, tunes like “Old Timers” and “Air Force One” have intelligently heartfelt, evocative lyrics and are adorned with dreamy embellishments, such as Glenn Oyabe’s lap-steel guitar, which playfully quotes Santo & Johnny’s classic instrumental “Sleep Walk.” Singer-guitarist Leslie Stevens coos with a Neko Case–style passion on the relatively epic six-minute idyll “Black Rose Window,” where she declares, “Now the road is what takes you to brand-new places/and I’m taking myself and the radio station.” Such countrified ballads place them roughly in the same universe as fellow locals the Whispertown 2000, but the Badgers also reveal a jazzy side on “The Torture,” and they rock convincingly on uptempo barn-burners like “That’d Be Fine.” – LA Weekly

With:
Sian Alice Group
Best Coast || Listen
Paperplanes || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 09.21.09: When You Awake & Arthur Magazine present LESLIE AND THE BADGERS / DOUG PAISLEY / THE STREET AND BABE SHADOW / AMANDA JO WILLIAMS @ echo

Leslie & the Badgers || Watch

Leslie & the Badgers are quietly turning into one of the city’s best quiet bands. There’s a gently glowing country-rock intimacy to the songs from their self-titled 2007 debut CD and 2008 iTunes EP, Greetings From Leslie & the Badgers, but they’re not some corny, cornpone revival outfit. Instead, tunes like “Old Timers” and “Air Force One” have intelligently heartfelt, evocative lyrics and are adorned with dreamy embellishments, such as Glenn Oyabe’s lap-steel guitar, which playfully quotes Santo & Johnny’s classic instrumental “Sleep Walk.” Singer-guitarist Leslie Stevens coos with a Neko Case–style passion on the relatively epic six-minute idyll “Black Rose Window,” where she declares, “Now the road is what takes you to brand-new places/and I’m taking myself and the radio station.” Such countrified ballads place them roughly in the same universe as fellow locals the Whispertown 2000, but the Badgers also reveal a jazzy side on “The Torture,” and they rock convincingly on uptempo barn-burners like “That’d Be Fine.” – LA Weekly

with:
Doug Paisley
The Street and Babe Shadow
Amanda Jo Williams

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 09.14.09: When You Awake & Buzz Bands present LESLIE AND THE BADGERS / RUDY FREIDMAN / CORREATOWN / OLIN AND THE MOON @ echo

Leslie & the Badgers || Watch

Leslie & the Badgers are quietly turning into one of the city’s best quiet bands. There’s a gently glowing country-rock intimacy to the songs from their self-titled 2007 debut CD and 2008 iTunes EP, Greetings From Leslie & the Badgers, but they’re not some corny, cornpone revival outfit. Instead, tunes like “Old Timers” and “Air Force One” have intelligently heartfelt, evocative lyrics and are adorned with dreamy embellishments, such as Glenn Oyabe’s lap-steel guitar, which playfully quotes Santo & Johnny’s classic instrumental “Sleep Walk.” Singer-guitarist Leslie Stevens coos with a Neko Case–style passion on the relatively epic six-minute idyll “Black Rose Window,” where she declares, “Now the road is what takes you to brand-new places/and I’m taking myself and the radio station.” Such countrified ballads place them roughly in the same universe as fellow locals the Whispertown 2000, but the Badgers also reveal a jazzy side on “The Torture,” and they rock convincingly on uptempo barn-burners like “That’d Be Fine.” – LA Weekly

with:
Ruby Friedman || Listen
Correatown || Listen
Olin and The Moon

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Thursday 09.03.09: LILY & THE LADIES / SECRET FYF FEST BAND / RAW POWER RANGERS / WOOLY BANDITS / BOLLWEEVIL @ echo

Lily & The Ladies

Lily Marlene (Lily and the Ladies) debuted a new backing band, which lived up to its description—in her words “reallllly heavvvy”. Lily always has an amazing ability to translate her stark blues into practically any form and still have it work and tonight was no exception. Her set ran from strait renditions of material from her solo repertoire to full out rock songs to a sweeping ballad that would put Journey to shame—all with out batting an eye. – LA Record

With:
“Secret F YEAH Festival band to perform”
Raw Power Rangers
Wooly Bandits || Listen
Bollweevil

7pm / $7 / 18+

Wednesday 09.02.09: NEW RADIANT STORM KING / FUNERAL PARTY / LOWLIGHTS / THE WALSH BROTHERS @ echo

New Radiant Storm King || Listen

It’s a shame that New Radiant Storm King aren’t better known. The New York/Northampton, MA quartet has been kicking out dependably roiling, twin-guitar-ignited indie rock for almost two decades. Yes, they’re that band: amassers of a deep, decorated catalog of releases on six different labels, and grabbers of cult appeal wherever they can find it. Like, say, Sloan or any one of an entire host of terrific rock crews both North American and British dating back to the late 80s, they don’t hit any one rock touchpoint in a particularly unique way—you wouldn’t find ‘em too easily without an accident or a recommendation. But that’s not the same thing as “formula done right,” or worse, being called derivative; NRSK is far too exciting a band for those lazy dismissals.

The thirteen songs on Moonlight make for a leaner, cleaner package than 2006’s blistering The Steady Hand, for better and for worse. The paint-stripping distortion that earns them plenty of comparisons to Swervedriver and other inspired noisemakers—and the jagged poetics that would invite Silver Jews suggestions even if guitarist Peyton Pinkerton weren’t a Jews alumnus—aren’t so much here. But the band’s deft attention to songcraft and lovingly burnished hooks are given more room to breathe, and some songs, like album closer “Fall Prey” and the la-la-la-punctuated “Midnight Comes” are downright pretty. – Popmatters

With:
Funeral Party
Lowlights
The Walsh Brothers

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Friday 09.04.09: WHISPERTOWN 2000 / THE BELLE BRIGADE @ echo

Whispertown 2000 || Listen || Watch

Fast forward to early 2008 and Whispertown 2000, now a four-piece, had opened for Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes across the US, self-released a decent-selling debut LP and impressed Gillian Welch so much they became the first signings to her Acony label. Lewis calls Nagler her favourite songwriter and Conor Oberst, another uber-fan, has likened her angular, country-leaning songs to “old Chinese proverbs”.

A cursory listen to this second album is enough to realise it’s not just mere hype. Swim is the kind of record you wish people made more often: rural music played by suburban kids with an intuitive feel for the unruly punk heart of old-time country. Nagler’s expressive voice has a baleful twang that shunts these songs – some with the most minimal of arrangements, some like ragged revivalist hoedowns – into the same lugubrious territory as Bonnie Billy or Oberst himself. It’s a ploy that cleverly subverts itself on “Lock And Key” and “From The Start Jamboree”, where their own communal folk shanty is appended by a foggy mountain breakdown that’s part Bill Monroe, part Silver Jews. They’re experimental too, prone to sudden squalls of guitar, weird electronic bits and even weirder whistling noises that sound like some spectral tribe hooting an advance across the Virginia hills. In the case of “Erase The Lines”, all within the same song. – Uncut

with:
The Belle Brigade

8pm / $10 / All Ages

Thursdau 09.03.09: Bust Magazine & Comedy is the New Black present ELLE O ELLE 3 with WHITNEY CUMMINGS / NATISHA ANDERSON / SARDIA MARLEY / HANNAH GANSEN / CHARLYNE YI & MORE @ echoplex

BUST Magazine and Comedy is the New Black present

Elle O Elle 3 :The Funniest Females in Los Angeles

With:
Whitney Cummings
Natisha Anderson
Sardia Marley
Hannah Gansen
Jackie Jones
Kristen Dolemescth
Emily Jo Oehler
Charlyne Yi

Free t-shirts,gift bags and more!

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

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

7:30PM / $10 / All Ages

Saturday 09.19.09: SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS / TRIPLE CHICKEN FOOT / SPEEDBUGGY / 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE / FRANK FAIRFIELD @ Echoplex

Southern Culture on the Skids || Listen || Watch

Friday night’s Southern Culture on the Skids show at the Gothic Theatre left a mark on Denver, as they used down-home country pickin’, grinnin’ (and just the right amount of fried chicken) to lead a packed house to hillbilly stomping glee. The venue became a back woods hoe-down as frontman Rick Miller and his cohorts strung together a set of pure white-trash-in-a-blue-collar fun, with silver tongue deftly planted in cheek.

From the first strums of the opening number, Miller mixed surf, punk and country guitar wizardry with slack-jaw wit as he sang his half of the songs. Bassist (and heartbreaking truck stop beauty queen) Mary Huff belted out her share of the set in strong, sultry vocals from beneath a nearly Marge Simpson-sized, red bouffant wig, forming a no-nonsense rhythm section, and the core of funk behind the band’s shimmy-groove, with drummer Dave Hartman and touring rhythm guitarist Tim Barnes.

The quartet successfully mixed humor and sexual innuendo with the perfect amount of schtick, and ended up sounding anything but camp. Huff, decked out in white go-go boots, shining gold nylons, a miniskirt and what looked like a 7-11 clerk’s zippered uniform shirt, adjusted her makeup between almost every song. As she introduced the Wanda Jackson classic “Funnel of Love,” she also drew down the zipper on her blouse and adjusted her bra, preparing both herself and the audience for its saucy sensuality. – Denver Post

With:
Triple Chicken Foot || Listen
Speedbuggy || Listen
5 O’Clock Somewhere
Frank Fairfield

plus Vendors: Classic Hardware

Just Added! El Clasico Tattoo & Art Studio

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

7:30pm / $12 / 18+

Friday 09.04.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND @ echo

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

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

Saturday 09.05.09: BOOTIE LA @ echoplex

BOOTIE LA
LA’s monthly mashup bootleg party

Special guest:
DJ AXEL

Resident mashup mixer:
DJ PAUL V.

Midnight Mashup Show:
ANNA KONDA as LADY GAGA

Free Bootie mashup CDs for the first 75 people!

This month, Bootie is proud to present the return of LA’s own DJ Axel, creator of the infamous bootleg CD “Breakin’ The Law,” and most recently, producer of the track “Push It Fergasonic,” from the soundtrack for the movie “17 Again,” notable for being one of the first-ever, legally-cleared, multi-label mashups.

Resident mashup mixer DJ Paul V. will be joining him on the decks, and for the Midnight Mashup Show, Anna Konda will be performing as Lady Gaga … exactly 15 months after the REAL Lady Gaga graced the stage at Bootie LA back in June of last year!

Launched in 2003, Bootie was the first club night in the United States dedicated solely to the burgeoning artform of the bootleg mashup — and is now the biggest mashup event in the world, with monthly parties in 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. 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+

Saturday 09.26.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 09.19.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Saturday 09.12.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

saturday 09.05.09: FUNKY SOLE @ echo

with DJs:
Music Man Miles
Clifton AKA Soft Touch

FMI: Funky Sole on Myspace

10pm / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 09.23.09: 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 09.16.09: 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 09.09.09: DUB CLUB presents TWILIGHT CIRCUS DUB SOUND SYSTEM (DJ Set) @ echoplex

Twilight Circus Sound System || Listen || Watch

Many were taken aback when longtime Legendary Pink Dot Ryan Moore entered the yawning chasm of dub music. But they were far from disappointed with the results. Moore seized upon the analog implements of Caribbean technology and created mammoth, concave exercises in the echo chamber. His unique, thunderous sounds avoid the two fatal mistakes of contemporary dub practitioners-attempting to mimic King Tubby’s lo-fi aesthetic, and using racks of digital gear that result in dub “lite” (is there anything worse?). If you want your contacts blown out of your eyes, go straight to the “Lowell & Nine-Dub Plate.” It’s underground nuclear testing without the poison. – Tim Hasle (xlr8r.com)

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

Wednesday 09.02.09: DUB CLUB presents RICHIE SPICE / SPANNER BANNER @ echoplex

RICHIE SPICE

Armed with just a microphone, one-drop rhythms and purifying lyrical flames, singer Richie Spice is the Gideon of contemporary reggae. The publicly declared “prince of fire” uses culturally uplifting, spiritually fortified words to defeat the negative content that informs much of popular (Jamaican) music. Fittingly, Gideon Boot is the title track of Spice’s brilliant fourth album. Recorded over the timeless Johnny Too Bad rhythm (taken from The Slickers 1970s hit of the same name, popularized in the film The Harder They Come) the song details Spice’s strategic plan for delivering his musical sermon to an awaiting global audience. “I need a Gideon boot and a khaki suit to stand out inna Babylon and defend the truth/ I got a strong reggae beat with a mic in my hand fe lead out de youth dem outta destruction and let de people know right from wrong.”

Just like the singer’s previous albums “Universal”, “Spice In Your Life” and “In The
Streets to Africa”, “Gideon Boot” contains inspiring messages specifically aimed at empowering vulnerable youth.

The traditional Rastafarian Nyabinghi drumming that dominates the opening cut “Babylon Falling” heralds the seriousness of Spice’s musical mission. “World Is A Cycle”, sung over producer Arif Cooper’s haunting “Guardian Angel” rhythm, is, as Spice explains, “a song for the children and for the parents saying be careful because what you do can fall right back on you and your kids.”

Also included is the current Jamaican hit “The Plane Land” which display’s Spice’s superb story telling skills. The song’s lyrics detail the frustration that oftentimes accompanies post 9/11travel. “Saddle up myself fe take interrogation…tek off mi shoes, tek off mi tam, if they ever find you with a spliff yu gone another land.” “It is a song everyone can relate to if they travel,” notes Spice, “and if they don’t travel, they will learn this is what we go through as entertainers as we go to other countries.”

Since 2004, when his apocalyptic single “Earth A Run Red” became the year’s most popular reggae song, Richie Spice has performed throughout the world, insuring that cultural roots reggae isn’t relegated to a bygone era but continues as a thriving, evolving musical genre.

with special guest:
Spanner Banner

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

Spinning the best in classic reggae, dub and dancehall

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

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

9pm / $10 advance, $10 at the door before 10pm, $15 at the door after 10pm / 21+

Sunday 09.27.09: PART TIME PUNKS – FACTORY RECORDS NITE @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 09.20.09: PART TIME PUNKS with THE AVENGERS / PANSY DIVISION / PAUL COLLINS BEAT (members of THE NERVES) @ echo

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

With:
The Avengers || Listen
Pansy Division || Listen
Paul Collin’s Beat || Listen

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $12 advance, $15 day of show / 18+

Sunday 09.13.09: PART TIME PUNKS with BLUE JUNGLE / THE WIDOW BABIES @ echo

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

With:
Blue Jungle || Listen
The Widow Babies (LP Release Party) || Listen

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Sunday 09.06.09: PART TIME PUNKS – THE SMITHS/MORRISSEY NITE @ echo

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

FMI:
Part Time Punks on Myspace

10pm / $5 / 18+

Thursday 09.24.09: TITUS ANDRONICUS / THE SO SO GLOS / RADARS TO THE SKY @ echo

Titus Andronicus || Listen || Watch

From the muted, muffled acoustic melancholy of the opener “Fear And Loathing In Mahwah, NJ”—which erupts naturally into a fireworks display of bile and itchy impatience—Titus Andronicus’ The Airing Of Grievances brooks no bullshit. The disc is the sound of lusty youth ripping a gaping hole in the fabric of reality: Throughout The Airing’s nine sawed-off anthems, the Jersey collective comes off like a clunky, blood-knuckled Arcade Fire that just doesn’t have time for all that respectable crap. Because, you know, the world is falling apart around their heads, and they only have this one shot at eating, fighting, and fucking the entire universe. The album is being reissued by the band’s new label, XL—yes, the home of Vampire Weekend—soon, so expect The Airing to be much more visible throughout 2009. But don’t let that overshadow the fact that, with its brash and boiling-over debut, Titus Andronicus has done its small part to draw indie-rock out of the genre’s recent navel-obsessed slump. – The Onion A.V. Club

with:
The So So Glos
Radars to the Sky

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8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Thursday 09.10.09: Friends of Friends, Flavorpill and Filter Present: LAZER SWORD / RAINBOW ARABIA / HECUBA / GHOSTS ON TAPE @ echo

Lazer Sword || Listen || Watch

Of all the acts currently pushing that future-bass-lazer-blap (whatever you prefer to call it) sound into the far reaches of today’s dancefloors, none is nearer and dearer to the heart of XLR8R than the Lazer Sword boys. Okay, that might have a little something to do with the fact that both Bryant Rutledge and Antaeus Roy are former employees of the magazine, but their time spent plugging away at subscriber emails and MP3s is hardly the reason these guys are blowing up club scenes from San Francisco to Scotland. With that in mind, we commissioned the duo to make us this hour-long mix to show off just exactly what Lazer Sword is about when it comes to music.

In true form, the boys didn’t hold back, delivering a 36-track set that features hip-hop, future-bass, electro, and more. Many of the tracks are remixes Rutledge and Roy have made themselves, and, in true Lazer Sword fashion, names like Dr. Dre and Keak Da Sneak crop up on the tracklisting.

We know Lazer Sword for its ability to bring a party with unbridled enthusiasm and a healthy sense of humor, whether that means DJing to a crowd dressed as a Jesus medallion and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air or taking one for the team and playing strange festivals populated by scary neo-hippies. – XLR8R

With:
Rainbow Arabia || Listen
Hecuba || Listen
Ghosts On Tape

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8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Wednesday 09.09.09: Myspace Presents EMILY WELLS / JOEY RYAN / ANGIE MATTSON / KARI KIMMEL / LEAH ANDREONE @ echo

Emily Wells || Watch

Emily Wells is an amazingly talented violinist and singer. Once headhunted by major record labels but striking out on her own to keep her artistic integrity, she made the right choice here: given the freedom to create the music she wants to, she’s made one damn good album. LASTFM calls her music Symphonic Folktronica Fantasy, and though Wells dislikes genre titles (as do I), those words do give a great sense of what to expect on Symphonies.

Her music has so many ways to describe it. It’s beautiful, mixing her gothic-but-not-exactly-dark-sounding voice with violin. It’s a little dark and creepy, but also shiny and happy. It’s extremely well written, but it also flows as stream-of-consciousness thoughts. It even contains elements of rap, with a one off appearance by Count Bass D actually working extremely well. It’s like simultaneously floating along a ray of sunshine and wandering, lost and worried, in a dark labyrinth. Take a little Emilie Autumn without Autumn’s morbid streak, with a dash of the theatricality and instrumental skill of The Dresden Dolls and a sprinkling of the playful darkness and the harmonising vocals of The Pierces, and you’re halfway there. – The Bringer of Song

With:
Joey Ryan || Listen
Angie Mattson || Listen
Kari Kimmel || >Listen
Leah Andreone || Listen

8pm / FREE / All ages

Monday 09.07.09: When You Awake & Grand Ole Echo present LESLIE & THE BADGERS / WELLDIGGERS BANQUET / OLD CALIFORNIO / PAINTED HILLS @ echo

Leslie & the Badgers || Watch

Leslie & the Badgers are quietly turning into one of the city’s best quiet bands. There’s a gently glowing country-rock intimacy to the songs from their self-titled 2007 debut CD and 2008 iTunes EP, Greetings From Leslie & the Badgers, but they’re not some corny, cornpone revival outfit. Instead, tunes like “Old Timers” and “Air Force One” have intelligently heartfelt, evocative lyrics and are adorned with dreamy embellishments, such as Glenn Oyabe’s lap-steel guitar, which playfully quotes Santo & Johnny’s classic instrumental “Sleep Walk.” Singer-guitarist Leslie Stevens coos with a Neko Case–style passion on the relatively epic six-minute idyll “Black Rose Window,” where she declares, “Now the road is what takes you to brand-new places/and I’m taking myself and the radio station.” Such countrified ballads place them roughly in the same universe as fellow locals the Whispertown 2000, but the Badgers also reveal a jazzy side on “The Torture,” and they rock convincingly on uptempo barn-burners like “That’d Be Fine.” – LA Weekly

with:
Welldiggers Banquet
Old Californio
Painted Hills

8:30pm / FREE / 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

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8:30pm / $10 / 18+

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

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9pm / $8 advance; $10 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::::

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8pm / $8 adv, $10 doors / 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

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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

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8pm / $10 / 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

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8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Tuesday 09.22.09: PINK MOUNTAINTOPS / THE PACK A.D. / XU XU FANG @ echo

Pink Mountaintops || Listen || Watch

A valentine “for the hunters and the hunted / and the wild and the hoods and the thieves,” Outside Love—in its portrayal of a world where the honesty of lust is as beautiful as the purest of hearts—feels like gospel music for non-believers. A bit more raucous and a hell of a lot more cohesive than 2006’s Axis of Evol, Outside Love finds frontman Stephen McBean (who also leads Black Mountain) continuing to rewrite the 1960s, with much improved results. The Phil Spector-meets-Pink Floyd vibe remains, though the hippie-esque feel of such songs as “The Gayest Of Sunbeams” is matched by the fuzzed-out bliss of album opener “Axis: Thrones Of Love” and the follow-up track “Execution.” It’s as if McBean realized that the worlds that he inhabits in both Pink Mountaintops and the more hard-rocking Black Mountain—his primary songwriting outlet—are not mutually exclusive (and watch for the sly Sabbath reference in the album’s title track). It’s a realization to be thankful for. – The Onion AV Club

with:
The Pack A.D. || Listen
Xu Xu Fang || Listen

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