Tuesday 08.24.10: GZA / FREDDIE GIBBS / KENDRICK LAMAR / TOKS / ABCNT @ echoplex

GZA

As the members of the Wu-Tang Clan enter their 40s, that old line about old(er) dogs and new tricks seems less and less relevant. Take GZA, who got his start rapping at Brooklyn block parties in the mid-’80s. The crucial Wu Clansman released a bona fide classic in 1995, Liquid Swords, and followed it up with a series of solid albums and guest spots that consistently qualified his title within the crew as “The Genius,” a lyricist whose every couplet displays a serious mastery of street smarts and poetic device — exactly the kind of thing that makes for great crossover appeal. GZA has been smart enough not to change up his winning style, but he’s also proved his savvy in reaching out to his more rock-oriented fans — hipsters, specifically — not only performing Liquid Swords from beginning to end at Pitchfork’s 2007 festival, but collaborating with garage punks Black Lips last year. But the Genius in Echo Park? That’s both a surprise and a New Year’s gift. – LA Weekly

With:
Freddie Gibbs || Watch || MP3
Kendrick Lamar || MP3

DJs:
Toks
Abcnt

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

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

Thursday 09.30.10: Spaceland Productions presents JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE / JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD / HE’S MY BROTHER, SHE’S MY SISTER @ The Autry

Justin Townes Earle || Watch || MP3

“Between pure talent and a winning stage presence, there’s little more acclaim I can throw Justin Townes Earle’s way other than to repeat that his was the best performance I’ve seen in well over a year, hands-down.” —Minneapolis City Pages

“I have a feeling that in a few years we’ll need backstage passes at the Ryman auditorium to get anywhere near him. He’s just THAT good.” —Chattanooga Free Press

“It seems every time we encounter Justin Townes Earle live, the guy has peeled another layer off himself revealing another astounding bit of his promise. Barely three years into his career, Earle is seemingly moving at an accelerated rate, even if the casual listener or viewer can’t quite discern what it is that shaping up.”—Houston Press

with:
Jessica Lea Mayfield || Listen
He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister

at The Autry Museum
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, California, 90027

6pm / $13 advance, $15 day of show /All Ages

Tuesday 08.17.10: Aquarium Drunkard Presents COTTON JONES / THE PARSON RED HEADS / ROADSIDE GRAVES @ echo

Cotton Jones || MP3

“Glorylight And Christie” is the first single off Cotton Jones upcoming LP, Tall Hours In The Glowstream. While always a commendable tunesmith, under the Cotton Jones moniker Michael Nau has truly grown into his craft. Aesthetically, he’s found himself. Nau’s brand of dreamy Americana, while firmly rooted in the 21st century, is surrounding by ghosts, fever dreams…past lives. Look for it August 24th via Suicide Squeeze. – Aquarium Drunkard

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen
Roadside Graves || Listen

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

Friday 08.20.10: CLUB UNDERGROUND with MNDR / CHAIN GANG OF 1974 / KISSES (DJ set) @ echo

MNDR || Listen || MP3

Brooklyn’s Amanda Warner makes dynamic electro-pop under the moniker MNDR, and she’s been building buzz with her project while also working with folks like Mark Ronson. “I Go Away”, a major highlight from the her debut EP, E.P.E., is filled with distinctive synths that melt all over a spare, echoing drum beat like a candy house left out in the hot sun. It’s a serious slow-dance pop confection, but Warner keeps a clear head lyrically. “I Go Away” initially sounds like a post-relationship-fallout slow burner, as she asks, “How did I get here/ Without feeling anything”. Soon, though, you realize that she isn’t calming down– she’s getting pumped up. “This is my anthem/ I know it like I know everything”, Warner softly declares, as if she’s getting ready to step out in front of the curtain, before letting out titular squeaks during a chorus that favorably evokes Santigold as the track builds to its cathartic peak. – Pitchfork

with:
CHAIN GANG OF 1974 || Listen
KISSES (DJ SET)

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

FMI: Club Underground on Facebook

9pm / $8 Advance, $10 day of show / 18+

Saturday 07.10.10: Manimal Vinyl Presents SWAHILI BLONDE / WE ARE THE WORLD / WEAVE! @ echoplex

SWAHILI BLONDE || MP3

Swahili Blonde began with Nicole Turley (ex-WEAVE! drummer & vocalist) sitting in a little room amidst a bunch of instruments and recording equipment she didn’t know how to use. After many long nights, she still didn’t completely understand how everything worked, but was happy with the unconventional sounds and compositions she was able to make. She ended up being so happy with the result of her efforts, that she decided to record and release a collection of songs for a full-length album, humorously called Man Meat. The album consists of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Turley giving a recorded voice to paralleled realities, vibrant visuals, and mismatched rhythms and patterns, musical and otherwise. Woven throughout the 7 songs are lucid and eloquent performances by violinist Laena Myers-Ionita, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist John Taylor, and multi-instrumentalists Stella Mozgawa & Michael Quinn. An 8 member live version of Swahili Blonde will be playing shows in Los Angeles during summer 2010.

with:
WE ARE THE WORLD || Listen
WEAVE!

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

8:30pm / $10.00 / 18+

Tuesday 07.20.10: GRAND ARCHIVES/ S / KAISER CARTEL @ echo

Grand Archives || Listen || Watch || MP3

While recording their new studio album Keep In Mind Frankenstein, frontman Mat Brooke of Seattle folkies Grand Archives couldn’t seem to find the lyrics for what would eventually become “Oslo Novelist,” one of the album’s best tracks. But the group didn’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike. Sans lyrics, Grand Archives began recording the track’s instrumental parts, fudging the words in the process.

Later, the words came. “The lyrics are an imagination of an author who spends a lifetime with writer’s block and finally finishes his first book on his deathbed. So I guess the song is written about not being able to write,” Brooke tells SPIN.com.

The band recruited friend Jason Kardong to provide the sweeping pedal steel on this country lament, and, indeed, it’s easy to picture the tune drifting out of the jukebox in a desolate saloon, providing a moment of serenity for the regulars crying in their beers.

It sounds straight out of Nashville — so how did “Oslo” enter the picture?

“Beats me,” Brooke says. “We’re just making this stuff up as we go along.” – Spin.com

with:
S
Kaiser Cartel || Listen

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

Wednesday 07.28.10: Buddyhead Presents OBITS / NIGHT MARCHERS / AM / DJ TRAVIS KELLER @ echo

OBITS || Listen || Watch || MP3

Obits, like Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes before them, rock. With the demise of Hot Snakes due to Mr. Reis and Mr. Rubalcaba leaving to start families, followed by the break up of the Sultans and of the world’s greatest band, Rocket From the Crypt, and Beehive and the Barracudas going on a long hiatus, I’ve been in need of some real, pure San Diego punk rock. This past year, the rock’n’roll gods have given us Mr. Reis’s (and the rest of the Hot Snakes’ first line up), Night Marchers, a band whose sound draws dramatically from 1950s and early 60s rock’n’roll. The gods have also given us Mr. Froberg’s Obits, a band that continues in line with the duo’s early projects.

They, Obits, are a pure, solid blues-punk rock band. Think Jon Spencer Blues Explosion plus, well, Rick Froberg. The band’s defining characteristic is as you would expect — the vocals of Mr. Froberg. I have long felt that his voice is, without exception, the best in rock’n’roll. Its tonality is perfect for the music. His yelps match up to guitars better than anyone else’s. Not even Greg Sage can hold a candle to the voice of Mr. Froberg, and Obits is built around those vocals. The guitars scream with a treble on par with D. Boon. It’s a ringing endorsement of what works in the genre, and done in a way like no one else. Just listen to “Fake Kinkade.”

Obits are part of a border movement of people to reclaim the good name of rock’n’roll. They, as so many bands here in Chicago, have taken an old, used up style, and with the greatest of joy, breathed new life into it. No one is fucking around here, this ain’t some ironic hipster bullshit, this is real punk rock music. – Buddyhead

with:
Nightmarchers || Listen
AM
DJ Travis Keller

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

Friday 07.09.10: Club Underground and Echo present HARLEM / BLACK APPLES / AUDACITY @ echo

Harlem || Watch || MP3

Harlem are an Austin three-piece that opt out of messing with fuzz pedals and wear their grime on their sleeve instead. You might say they rub some people the wrong way. Their first record’s title, Free Drugs, was punctuated with the following, ironically placed emoticon: ; – ) Their band name doesn’t do them any favors with the more politically correct. Their current press bio reads as though it came to its author on PCP, nonsense slapped together solely to give hapless music journalists migraines. : – ( Their live set is comprised of as much on-stage, intra-band ribbing as their jukebox rock’n'roll. But they do seem to care deeply about one thing, and that’s their songwriting.

A garage band studied in the ways of Nuggets but clearly enamored with Pixies, they are committed to crafting bubblegum choruses flavored with booze and cigarettes. Hippies, their Matador debut, showcases just how strong that commitment is from the opening bell. On “Someday Soon”, sometime-frontman Michael Coomer runs us through an exchange in which his friend catches fire and asks for a little help being extinguished. The pleas are ultimately declined for kicks. It’s sick but singable, the Nirvana-nodding “Torture Me” one other deliciously dark example. Coomer shares time playing guitar and drums with co-founder Curtis O’Mara, the two halving songwriting/guitar/lead vocal duties. The split provides a duality in tenor that does the record some serious good. When Curtis is in charge, as he is during the psychotropic shimmy of “Faces” or Casper tribute “Friendly Ghost”, the bent is relatively hopeful. If the strep-throated Coomer has the reins, expect thunderstorms. – Pitchfork

with:
The Black Apples
Audacity

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Friday 06.25.10: JOE PUG / JIM HANFT / SONNY PETE @ echo (Early Show)

Joe Pug || MP3

“While most singer/songwriters are content to warble out a few semi-clever turns of phrase, Pug’s scorching poetry and soulful, ‘every phrase could be my last’ voice will stop you cold. If you want to read the actual endorsement, touch the braille stretching up my arms. Twenty years from now, lazy journalists will compare every halfway decent songwriter to Joe Pug. Mark my words.” – Jason Killingsworth, Deputy Editor, Paste Magazine

“One of the most surprising facts about singer-songwriter Joe Pug is that he’s only 23 years old. Not only does Chicago-based singer have a beautifully mature voice, but the lyrics on Pug’s debut EP, Nation of Heat, possess wisdom seemingly beyond his age.” – NPR

“Even if the words singer-songwriter make you groan and cringe, I dare you to come to the Hideout to see Joe Pug and not develop goosebumps…His star is rising so catch him while you can.” – Time Out Chicago

“Fans of quality songwriting need to hunt down a copy of Nation of Heat.” – My Old Kentucky Blog

with:
Jim Hanft || Listen
Sonny Pete || Listen

7pm / $10 advance, $12 day of show / 18+

Friday 05.28.10: Echo & Club Underground present FROG EYES / MOUNT ST HELEN’S VIETNAM BAND @ echo

Frog Eyes || Mp3

Frog Eyes definitely exist within that definition, the music resembling Wolf Parade but with a greater awareness of space. Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph is less frantic than previous record Tears Of The Valedictorian. It sees them revel in the journey. It also puts the vocals at the core of their sound. Without lyric sheets it’s hard to say exactly what is going on here with the words, strangled as they are in guttural yelps and off beat accenting. It ends up naturally distorting the words. Carey Mercer’s voice is the fulcrum around which everything else happens. The guitars and drums and keys are built around the echoes and the layers, the whoops and stutters. These songs aren’t sung. They’re performed. Mercer lives his vocals, and brings what could be flat indie into vivid, vibrant Technicolor. It might be pretentious to say it, but the performance is almost operatic. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

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

Wednesday 05.12.10: EVAN VOYTAS / BELL GARDENS / SUPERHUMANOIDS @ echo

Evan Voytas || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Los Angeles-via-Pennsylvania multi-instrumental singer and home recordist Evan Voytas — sort of a more clean-cut Ariel Pink — creates strange synth-pop/space-disco outings that feel danceable but private and insular. The idea’s explored in the video for his most recent single “I Run With You, Spirit Animal.” The clip was directed by Carlos Charlie Perez, who recently finished the upcoming Vampire Weekend video and shot those tongue-in-cheek promos that showed up on ithinkuracontra.com. You’ll find that playfulness, here as well, after Voytas locates a place to rest his plank of wood while he tries on sunglasses and animal masks. – Stereogum

With:
Bell Gardens
Superhumanoids

8:30pm / $7 / 18+

Monday 04.26.10: Monday Night Residency – WALKING SLEEP / RADAR BROS / OBI BEST @ echo

Walking Sleep (Formerly The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra) || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Web in Front favorites the Flying Tourbillon Orchestra have trimmed down their name, while doing nothing to scale back the Lee and Nancy-meets-Scott Walker pristine indie pop for which they are known–the band is now Walking Sleep, and their sound thankfully remains the same. Further, their upcoming debut, Measures, is stunning, and you can hear a few tracks here. – Web In Front

Six-member indie rock outfit Walking Sleep, from LA, are set to release their debut full-length album, Measures, on May 25. I hadn’t heard a thing about them until we received an email with an accompanying mp3 today, and well, I lapped it up. The song, “Final Chapter”, shows tremendous promise for the album as a whole, mixing precious guy girl vocals with hand claps and an upbeat guitar driven background alongside subtle hints of psychedelia. (The female vocalist is Sara Radle, formerly of The Rentals.) The album was produced by Aaron Espinoza, who has previously worked with a KR favorite, Earlimart, among others. – Knox Road

with:
Radar Bros || Listen
Obi Best

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.19.10: Monday Night Residency – WALKING SLEEP / THE PARSON RED HEADS / FRANKLIN FOR SHORT / REPEATER @ echo

Walking Sleep (Formerly The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra) || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Web in Front favorites the Flying Tourbillon Orchestra have trimmed down their name, while doing nothing to scale back the Lee and Nancy-meets-Scott Walker pristine indie pop for which they are known–the band is now Walking Sleep, and their sound thankfully remains the same. Further, their upcoming debut, Measures, is stunning, and you can hear a few tracks here. – Web In Front

Six-member indie rock outfit Walking Sleep, from LA, are set to release their debut full-length album, Measures, on May 25. I hadn’t heard a thing about them until we received an email with an accompanying mp3 today, and well, I lapped it up. The song, “Final Chapter”, shows tremendous promise for the album as a whole, mixing precious guy girl vocals with hand claps and an upbeat guitar driven background alongside subtle hints of psychedelia. (The female vocalist is Sara Radle, formerly of The Rentals.) The album was produced by Aaron Espinoza, who has previously worked with a KR favorite, Earlimart, among others. – Knox Road

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen
Franklin for Short || Listen
Repeater || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.12.10: Monday Night Residency – WALKING SLEEP / UNION LINE / GOLDENBOY / BIG WHUP @ echo

Walking Sleep (Formerly The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra) || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Web in Front favorites the Flying Tourbillon Orchestra have trimmed down their name, while doing nothing to scale back the Lee and Nancy-meets-Scott Walker pristine indie pop for which they are known–the band is now Walking Sleep, and their sound thankfully remains the same. Further, their upcoming debut, Measures, is stunning, and you can hear a few tracks here. – Web In Front

Six-member indie rock outfit Walking Sleep, from LA, are set to release their debut full-length album, Measures, on May 25. I hadn’t heard a thing about them until we received an email with an accompanying mp3 today, and well, I lapped it up. The song, “Final Chapter”, shows tremendous promise for the album as a whole, mixing precious guy girl vocals with hand claps and an upbeat guitar driven background alongside subtle hints of psychedelia. (The female vocalist is Sara Radle, formerly of The Rentals.) The album was produced by Aaron Espinoza, who has previously worked with a KR favorite, Earlimart, among others. – Knox Road

with:
Union Line || Listen
Goldenboy
Big Whup || Listen

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 04.05.10: Monday Night Residency – WALKING SLEEP / STEVENSON RANCH DAVIDIANS / SONS OF AUGUST / CARSICK CARS @ echo

Walking Sleep (Formerly The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra) || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Web in Front favorites the Flying Tourbillon Orchestra have trimmed down their name, while doing nothing to scale back the Lee and Nancy-meets-Scott Walker pristine indie pop for which they are known–the band is now Walking Sleep, and their sound thankfully remains the same. Further, their upcoming debut, Measures, is stunning, and you can hear a few tracks here. – Web In Front

Six-member indie rock outfit Walking Sleep, from LA, are set to release their debut full-length album, Measures, on May 25. I hadn’t heard a thing about them until we received an email with an accompanying mp3 today, and well, I lapped it up. The song, “Final Chapter”, shows tremendous promise for the album as a whole, mixing precious guy girl vocals with hand claps and an upbeat guitar driven background alongside subtle hints of psychedelia. (The female vocalist is Sara Radle, formerly of The Rentals.) The album was produced by Aaron Espinoza, who has previously worked with a KR favorite, Earlimart, among others. – Knox Road

with:
Stevenson Ranch Davidians || Listen
Sons of August
Carsick Cars

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Tuesday 04.20.10: FYF Fest Presents EARTH / WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM / LORI GOLDSTEN @ echoplex

Earth || Listen || Watch || MP3

Earth, the older of the two, has refined itself over almost 20 years. Formed by Dylan Carlson, still its leader, it once favored aggression and chord changes that felt like rock, even at a ritual crawl and without singing. But recently its music sounds more like a film background, with a scent of Miles Davis’s “In a Silent Way.” On Tuesday Mr. Carlson played a Fender Stratocaster with a clean tone; Adrienne Davies played drums, applying each slow beat carefully; Don McGreevy’s bass notes, reverberating in the hall, massaged the soles of your feet; and Steve Moore warmed up the chords with electric piano. Earth doesn’t really do peaks and valleys; it makes its case without a fuss and leaves you wanting more. – NY Times

with:
Wolves in the Throne Room || Listen
Lori Goldsten

@ the Echoplex
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

8PM / $10 advance, $12 day of show / All Ages

Wednesday 04.14.10: THE RUBY SUNS / TORO Y MOI / PEPPER RABBIT @ echo

The Ruby Suns || Listen || Watch || MP3

On March 2, sunny New Zealand psych-pop outfit the Ruby Suns will release Fight Softly, the follow-up to the BNM’ed 2008 LP Sea Lion, on Sub Pop. (It’s out March 8 in the UK on Memphis Industries.) That’s the space-bar-averse cover art above.

Talking to Pitchfork back in October, frontman Ryan McPhun described Fight Softly as “probably the opposite” of Sea Lion: “I used a lot more synths. And there’s a shitload of effected guitar on it. But I didn’t use a lot of live drums. Going into it, I wanted to use organic sounds but I didn’t want them to sound organic, which is the opposite of what a lot of people do. It’s safe to say the new stuff is more bass-y.”

Right now, we’re getting our first taste of how the more bass-y Ruby Suns sound. Click below to stream or download “Cranberry” from Fight Softly. (UPDATE: The album version has been replaced with the radio edit.)

Shortly after the album hits, the Ruby Suns will tour North America, bringing glo-fi youngster Toro Y Moi along for the ride. – Pitchfork

with:
Toro Y Moi || Listen
Pepper Rabbit

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

Thursday 04.08.10: WE ARE THE WORLD vs WE ARE THE WOLVES / SIR HEFFINGTON’S FINGERED @ echo

We Are The World || Watch || MP3

Yeah, it’s bold and a little silly calling yourself We Are The World when there’s that other “We Are The Word” in its various forms. The song and the phrase claim a cartoonish “It’s A Small World” unity + Manifest Destiny-esque spirit, but true, it’s also a culturally resonant title to give your Los Angeles electro dance band/troupe. To their credit, WATW’s intriguing enough visually (the Bruised Man Group?) and musically to own it. We showed you the video for Clay Stones‘ title track with its burnt forest, bodysuits, and the aggro nature worship these things inspired. You get to create your own visuals for “Fight Song,” the collection’s next single. – Stereogum

featuring:
Sir Heffington’s Fingered

with:
We are The Wolves || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Thursday 04.01.10: WE ARE THE WORLD – Record Release Residency AND SIR HEFFINGTON’S FINGERED @ echo

We Are The World || Watch || MP3

Yeah, it’s bold and a little silly calling yourself We Are The World when there’s that other “We Are The Word” in its various forms. The song and the phrase claim a cartoonish “It’s A Small World” unity + Manifest Destiny-esque spirit, but true, it’s also a culturally resonant title to give your Los Angeles electro dance band/troupe. To their credit, WATW’s intriguing enough visually (the Bruised Man Group?) and musically to own it. We showed you the video for Clay Stones‘ title track with its burnt forest, bodysuits, and the aggro nature worship these things inspired. You get to create your own visuals for “Fight Song,” the collection’s next single. – Stereogum

featuring:
Sir Heffington’s Fingered

8:30pm / $8 / 18+

Wednesday 05.05.10: DOSH / WHITE HINTERLAND / BATHS @ echo

Dosh || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Minneapolis-based electronic/ambient electronic musician Martin Dosh returns with his fifth album, which will feature a guest vocal by collaborator Andrew Bird (who used a track from Dosh’s last CD as a rhythm track on his Noble Beast CD). The CD is the follow up to 2008’s Wolves & Wishes and is touted as being more improvisational and instrumentally full than that effort. Along with sampled sounds, 15 musicians were employed, chiming in on everything from acoustic bass to pedal steel to Mini Korg. The album’s title isn’t a reference to the Who’s rock opera; instead it’s a tribute to Dosh’s longtime soundman and friend, Tom Cesario, who died two years ago. – Prefix Mag

with:
White Hinterland || Listen
Baths

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

Monday 03.29.10: Monday Night Residency – THE DELTA MIRROR / PITY PARTY / SPIRIT VINE / BORNEO @ echo

The Delta Mirror || Listen || Watch || MP3

A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers’ Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror’s upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.
This slow, layered ballad “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter– I’m still not sure I know exactly what it’s about– but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink’s electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. “I’ve got too much time on my hands,” goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why– and the guy responsible won’t fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done. – Pitchfork

with:
The Pity Party
Spirit Vine || Listen
Borneo

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.22.10: THE FREQUENCY / C-HORSE / THOUSAND DOZEN GLOVES @ echo

The Frequency || Listen || Watch || MP3

Haven’t posted a 15 minute plus track on here in ages – actually, come to think of it I’m not sure I ever have, which is a travesty as most of the best songs stretch to a good quarter of an hour.

LA’s The Frequency aren’t afraid to take you on a pyschedelic meander and this opus clocks in at 17’34″, rinsing your ears with woozy slide guitar for a quick four minutes before taking you off to planet pachouli for an epic trip that’s by turns Jonestowny, Floydy and Spiritualizedy.

So slow down, stop, turn off Twitter and shut out the outside world for a bit. Or play Battleships. – NME

with:
C-Horse
Thousand Dozen Gloves

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.15.10: Monday Night Residency – THE DELTA MIRROR / POP NOIR / CANNONEERS / TIGERS CAN BITE YOU @ echo

The Delta Mirror || Listen || Watch || MP3

A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers’ Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror’s upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.
This slow, layered ballad “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter– I’m still not sure I know exactly what it’s about– but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink’s electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. “I’ve got too much time on my hands,” goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why– and the guy responsible won’t fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done. – Pitchfork

with:
Pop Noir || Listen
The Cannoneers
Tigers Can Bite You

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.08.10: Monday Night Residency – THE DELTA MIRROR / ALEXANDRA HOPE / CORRIDOR / SISTER CRAYON @ echo

The Delta Mirror || Listen || Watch || MP3

A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers’ Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror’s upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.
This slow, layered ballad “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter– I’m still not sure I know exactly what it’s about– but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink’s electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. “I’ve got too much time on my hands,” goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why– and the guy responsible won’t fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done. – Pitchfork

With:
Alexandra Hope
Sister Crayon
Corridor

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Monday 03.01.10: Monday Night Residency – THE DELTA MIRROR / NALEPA / HEALAMONSTER & TARSIER / FULL FRONTAL @ echo

The Delta Mirror || Listen || Watch || MP3

A certain strain of recent indie rock seems to be taking an unusual interest in illness and death. You could blame Arcade Fire, the sad loss of whose family members only happened to lead to one of the most universally acclaimed independent releases of the past decade. Last year, the Antlers’ Hospice focused an entire album on the subject of a man with terminal bone cancer. Now L.A. trio the Delta Mirror’s upcoming Lefse debut, Machines That Listen, sets each of its nine songs in a different room of the hospital.
This slow, layered ballad “He Was Worse Than the Needle He Gave You” stands out not for its pathos-ridden subject matter– I’m still not sure I know exactly what it’s about– but rather its restrained emotional gutpunch, which it achieves with a simple but catchy tune and dramatically expansive production. Imagine the Big Pink’s electro-shoegaze explosions sounding vulnerable. “I’ve got too much time on my hands,” goes a gothy male vocal, and before long we find out the reason why– and the guy responsible won’t fucking be held responsible. The next time the Delta Mirror sing those words, at the end of the song, their meaning has changed. Damage done. – Pitchfork

With:
Napela || Listen
Healamonster and Tarsier
Full Frontal

8:30pm / FREE / 21+

Friday 04.30.10: CLUB UNDERGROUND with NITE JEWEL / SUGAR & GOLD / LUXXURY @ echo

Nite Jewel || Listen || Watch || MP3

When the news came last week that Nite Jewel was releasing a 7-inch through Stones Thr–err, “1984 Records,” it seemed surprising that a historically hip-hop (+ funk/soul) label would drop a waxy gem from one of this city’s leading ladies of lo-fi. But upon further inspection, it makes perfect sense: Ramona Gonzales’ synth-heavy tracks are stoney, catchy, rhythmic and full of funk — thrift store funk, at least. Both of these tracks appeared on her excellent and out-of-print Good Evening LP, but they’re given new warbly, warmth on this release. “Weak For Me” sports a strange brand of ’80s pop refracted through a dingy lens and colored with the beat-oriented eccentricities of Gary Wilson. Gonzales’ high keen lords over reverberating drum rolls here, while “Suburbia” finds her spacing out over a subdued but driving soundscape. Neither was meant for the crispness of digital audio. Download the MP3 below, but do your turntable a favor and pick up the 45. – LA Weekly

with:
Sugar and Gold
Luxxury

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

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

Tuesday 03.02.10: NICE NICE / WE BREAK CAMERAS / BULLIED BY STRINGS @ echo

Nice Nice || Listen || Watch || MP3

Portland duo Nice Nice have been playing their brand of hard-to-categorize post-punk for nearly a decade. And while they’ve built a solid fan-base with that slow-building career, they’ll be reaching a whole new audience when their upcoming LP is released by Warp Records.

Titled Extra Wow, the album is expected from Warp this spring on April 6. As a press release explains, “Extra Wow is an extremely apt title for an album that presents itself as a constantly unfolding collection of kaleidoscopic musical sediments. Each song effectively builds on the one before it to create the effect of an album-length crescendo that encompasses everything from forward-reaching psychedelia and neo-primitive electronic experiments to dub rhythms and learned lessons from the pillars of krautrock.” – Exclaim.ca

with:
We Break Cameras || Listen
Bullied By Strings || Listen

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

Wednesday 03.17.10: St Patrick’s Day with OLLIN (Performing the Pogues ‘Rum, Sodomy and The Lash’) / BRANT BJORK @ echo

Ollin || Listen || Mp3

On St. Patrick’s Day, Ollin, the world-folk-punk fusion outfit from East L.A. will perform Rum, Sodomy and the Lash by The Pogues as well as many other traditional Irish tunes. This yearly tradition has a following unto its own. Ollin themselves have opened for The Pogues, in San Diego, LA and in New York on St. Patrick’s Day at The Roseland Ballroom 2008. Opening for this years show is singer songwriter Brant Bjork, a true artist of Mexican and Irish descent.

with:
Brant Bjork
DJ Tumors
DJ Jake

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

Tuesday 02.16.10: Fat Tuesday Party with OLLIN / LAS CAFETERAS / MENTIRITAS / UPGROUND @ echoplex

Ollin || Listen || Mp3

For over 300 years, Mardi Gras has been a tradition in New Orleans that defines a city rich in music and culture. So what does that have to do with bands from LA (most of which hail from East LA)? OLLIN, Mentiritas, Las Cafeteras and Upground are bands that love to party and live to share their music with the masses, that’s what. Several years back party host, Ollin, began to use Fat Tuesday as a means to learn a different style of music and to pay tribute to one of America’s coolest traditions, the music of Mardi Gras. Known for fusing Mexican folk music with rock, Irish, Klezmer and punk, Ollin adds yet another feather to its musical hat by playing some traditional music from the Bayou. Las Cafeteras are pure entertainers. Playing traditional music from Veracruz, Mexico, this female heavy band sings, dances and rocks any stage they come in contact with. Mentiritas is more than a band. Mentiritas (which translates to “little lies”), is a hilarious musical show fronted by the boys from Ozomatli. Their infectious dance grooves are riddled with comedy, insight and mayhem. With members from the Beastie Boys, Cava and Ozo this rare appearance is a perfect addition to the night. Upground has a vibe all its own. From hard grooving Latin soul to high voltage Ska, hips WILL be moving when these East L.A. natives take the stage. This line up is hotter than the sun. Attendees are encouraged to go all out and dress in Mardi Gras colors and costumes; after all, this is fucking Mardi Gras ya’ll.

with:
Las Cafeteras
Mentiritas
Upground

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

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

Saturday 04.17.10: JJ / DELOREAN / BACHELORETTE @ echoplex

jj || Watch || MP3

Where did jj come from? The Swedish duo, unknown and perhaps nonexistent until recently, put out two albums in the past eight months; both are very good and very cryptic. jj n° 2, last year’s concise (and counterintuitively titled) debut, offered poppy Balearic beats, guitars and keyboards that shimmered, and smoky female vocals, all finessed with R&B flourishes. The songs sounded familiar—long-forgotten MTV jams, maybe—but the whole enterprise came off as elusive, a bit like the singers’ hard-to-place accents. What were listeners to make of a dubbed-out version of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”? What about that giant pot leaf on the album cover?

On the whole, jj n° 3 is more straightforward, more welcoming. The band still adores spacey pastiche: The opener, “My Life,” commences with a bluesy, solo piano rendition of The Game’s “My Life,” which morphs abruptly into the foam-party chestnut “Around The World.” But rather than piling on congas, woodblocks, and knowing winks, jj n° 3 is restrained, sometimes favoring just cymbal and snare. The best songs, like the standout “Voi Parlate, Lo Gioco,” play in contrasts, summoning synthetic swells that teeter toward cheesy but end up transcendent. They could’ve fallen out of a high-school locker in a John Hughes movie. They’re the best Lou Pearlman demos you’ve never heard. – The AV Club

with:
Delorean
Bachelorette

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

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

Thursday 04.22.10: Echo & FYF present JAPANDROIDS / NOBUNNY / ALL LEATHER @ echoplex

click to purchase poster

Japandroids || Listen || MP3

what makes Post-Nothing such a thrill is the manner in which Japandroids hold absolutely nothing back. As contagious as any of the lyrics, melodies, riffs, or drum fills are, their energy and lack of self-consciousness is every bit as equally lovable. Opening mission statement “The Boys Are Leaving Town” could be seen as a goof on Thin Lizzy, but the response, “Will we find our way back home?”, is delivered with such conviction that between those two lines, “Boys” displays a palpable desperation. Six tracks later, the question is still unresolved– amidst the cyclical thrum of “Sovereignty”, they observe: “It’s raining, OH-OH! in Vancouver/ But I don’t give a fuck/ ‘Cause I’m far from home tonight.”

Where it all comes together best is “Young Hearts Spark Fire”. Almost a flipside to LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends”, it’s thematically similar, trading wistful reminiscence for drunken defiance and pulsing electro for chaotic garage rock. The five minutes go by in a blur, and amidst the guitar heroics and cymbal-bashing, King lets his guard down on Post-Nothing’s key line– “We used to dream/ Now we worry about dying/ I don’t want to worry about dying.” It would be so easy to view this sort of musical and lyrical directness with suspicion, but “Young Hearts” is life-affirming stuff– if only it affirms that, even in these times, life doesn’t need to be as complicated as we tend to make it. – Pitchfork

with:
No Bunny
All Leather

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

8pm / $12 advance, $14 day of show / all ages

Tuesday 02.16.10: Aquarium Drunkard Presents MAGIC KIDS / PEARL HARBOR / DUNES @ echo

Magic Kids || MP3

without doubt rough trade shop’s single of the year so far. the magic kids are a mysterious band of pop pranksters from memphis featuring members of the barbaras and girls of the gravitron. langley school x the beach boys x spector = the magic kids. it’s a joyous vocal-centric song with impressive harmony and old-fashioned instrumentation – one listen and you will fall in love with this baby. total pop perfection. song of the summer? more like song of the year. – Rough Trade

with:
Pearl Harbor || Listen
Dunes

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

Saturday 02.27.09: KXLU presents FOUR TET / NATHAN FAKE / ACTIVE CHILD @ echoplex

Four Tet || Listen || Watch || MP3

Over the course of a truly inspired career, London’s Four Tet, a.k.a. Kieran Hebden, has remained ahead of the curve, sidestepping obsolescence by folding new strains of sound into his already rich jazz/hip-hop/folk base. Last year’s Ringer EP found Hebden reveling in the hypnotic, developing 10-minute songs that ditched the dissonance of 2005’s Everything Ecstatic in favor of calmer waters and subtler effects. There Is Love In You, his first proper album in five years, is smoother still, and to great effect—if this isn’t the best Four Tet record yet, it’s certainly a fresh face for Hebden.

These songs make no bones about their rhythmic inspiration. Most are four-on-the-floor, built atop recurring samples, but only the single, “Love Cry,” outwardly indulges in Ibiza-flavored house. (Even then, it’s under a dark cloud of dubstep digitalia.) Instead, Hebden does his contemporaries in The Field one better by using repetition as the beginning of the experiment, rather than its final resting place, as if thinking, “The music’s going to move in circles; now, how to interrupt those perfect curves?”

Each song is an exercise in craftsmanship, with the crystalline opener “Angel Echoes” patiently coming into focus, “Circling” starting over halfway through to rebuild with a new set of sounds, and “Sing” finding its pulse in a curious mix of Nintendo glitch and tined instruments—African thumb piano, an open Rhodes organ. Each unfolds into the next gracefully, until “She Just Likes To Fight,” one of the album’s shorter songs at five minutes, closes There Is Love In You. Sleepy as this final song is, it’s the record’s most surprising, beginning with a club beat, then morphing into live post-rock punctuated by hand-smacked percussion. It’s further proof that Hebden is incapable of phoning it in, and that he has plenty more tricks up his sleeve for the coming years. – The AV Club

with:
Nathan Fake || Listen
Active Child || Listen

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

9pm /$15 advance, $17 day of show / 18+

Tuesday 12.01.09: Filter presents THE VIC CHESNUTT BAND with GUY PICCIOTTO (FUGAZI) and MEMBERS OF THEE SILVER MT. ZION, GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR and WITCHIES / WARPAINT / LIZ DURRETT @ echoplex

Vic Chesnutt Band || Listen || MP3
featuring Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion

As on 2007′s North Star Deserter, Chesnutt is here joined by members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra, as well as Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto. Together they build a sound that walks a line between country-folk, Southern soul, and post-rock, which works because the music’s uncertainty about its identity often mirrors Chesnutt’s own doubt. Opener “Coward” deals in dread and aggression with its crawling tempo and doom-laden, harmonized guitar outbursts.

There are a couple of welcome leavening moments– the bright organ and Leslie cabinet guitar of “Concord Country Jubilee” chief among them– but At the Cut is foremost a dark album, and about as far tonally and sonically as Chesnutt has been from 2003′s highly polished Silver Lake. The restraint of the musicians involved leaves Chesnutt’s fragility at the center of the music and lends the album an air of refinement and wisdom that could have easily been drowned out by guitarists more eager to call attention to themselves. – Pitchfork

with:
Warpaint
Liz Durrett || Listen

7:30pm / $13adv; $15dos / all ages

Wednesday 11.11.09: Ninja Tune Presents BLOCKHEAD with DJ SIGNIFY / AMPLIVE of ZION / YPPAH / DERU @ echo

Blockhead || Listen || Watch || MP3 (promo code= ninja20)

Blockhead grew up in downtown New York City. The son of an artist, early on he found his passion was for music. A fan of a whole range of sounds, especially hip-hop, Blockhead steadily built a tremendous collection of tapes and later CDs from innumerable artists. After a brief stint as a rapper, he realized his calling was behind the boards and not on the mic, and from there he began to produce beats.

Since making that decision, he’s been kept pretty busy. Blockhead produced 9 tracks on Aesop Rock’s critically acclaimed album Labor Days. Additionally he produced half the tracks on Aesop’s follow up EP, Daylight. Blockhead has also been working with other indie giants such as Slug of Atmosphere, Murs, Mike Ladd and SA Smash. He also found time to complete a break beat album entitled Blockhead’s Broke Beats, with 10 hard hitting instrumental tracks, which was released on Mush Records, the US home of cLOUDDEAD. And just to prove that he ain’t all about art-rap, Blockhead produced 2 tracks on the newly crowned Skribble Jam Battle Champ, MacLethal’s full-length album. Oh, and the guy does comedy, too. He’s a member of the Party Fun Action Committee who’s hip-hop/comedy debut album was recently released on the legendary Def Jux. And what was the other thing? Oh yeah, exquisite, emotional instrumental hip hop on the one and only Ninja Tune…

with:
DJ Signify
Amplive of Zion
Yppah
Deru

8:30pm / $10 / 18+

Saturday 11.14.09: RUSSIAN CIRCLES / YOUNG WIDOWS / HELMS ALEE @ echoplex

Russian Circles || Listen || Watch || Mp3

It may share its name with another second city, but the third LP from the Russian Circles calls to mind a fairly famous quote from one of their hometown’s favorite sons. “Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring,” Nelson Algren wrote, and Geneva’s an October sort of album no matter when you put it on. Geneva feels very much like the city its members hang their hats: rusty and steely and shifty, overcast and a little cold, and– Algren again– “battle-colored.” It evokes a long early morning’s drive down the length of any one of Chicago’s city-spanning north-south thoroughfares, blowing through both industrial grit and beatific parkways, eyes peeled for crumbling facades and flashes of chrome and the not-so-occasional pothole.

There were signposts to Geneva all over the spiny, immediate Enter and last year’s prettier, driftier Station, but on their third go, the Circles are clearing a path all for themselves. Debts are still due to genre godheads like Mogwai and Slint, for certain, but like the best work of their obvious forebears, on Geneva the Circles have found a way to make three guys in a room sound like a lot more than three guys in a room. Credit where credit’s due: a great deal of Geneva’s success lies in the string work of cellist Allison Chesley and violinist Susan Voelz, who add a resonant depth to many of the record’s best moments, filling in the gaps around these insistent compositions with a kind of sweeping gothic grime. But even without the hired hands, Russian Circles are penning limber, purpose-driven tunes, then playing the hell out of them. And, in their structure and execution both, this is doubtless their finest work yet. – Pitchfork

with:
Young Widows || Listen
Helms Alee

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

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

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+

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+

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+

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 10.07.09: 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+

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 10.20.09: WHY? / AU / SERENGETI & POLYPHONIC @ echoplex

Why? || Listen || Watch || Mp3

“This record is really the least hip-hop out of anything I’ve ever been involved with.” That quote from Yoni Wolf about the follow-up to Why?’s Alopecia gave some fans of the art-rap act reason to pause. Such uneasiness is unwarranted though. Alopecia was also more rock-oriented and was the Anticon. crew’s best. During the Alopecia sessions, Wolf and Co. recorded more songs, ten of which compromise Eskimo Snow. Though both albums were recorded during the February 2007 Minneapolis sessions, the Eskimo tracks avoid the segmented recording of Alopecia, for a more “resigned” and “open” sound. Wolf also noted that Eskimo Snow is a “bit more wild, and the drums have more room mics.” – Prefix Magazine

with:
AU
Serengeti & Polyphonic

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

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

8pm / $15 / All Ages

Friday 10.16.09: THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN / PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT / DAVID SCHULTZ @ echo

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down || Listen || Watch || Mp3

Until Hollywood gives us a good portrayal of the adolescent-leaning female, we have Portland-based Thao Nguyen and her backing band the Get Down Stay Down, who specialize in galloping indie pop with sugar-coated hooks, a frosting of horns, and a considerable dark streak. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter, whose expressive voice suggests an earthbound Beth Orton, sings about such youthful concerns as ice cream cones and cannonballs off diving boards, but with unexpected maturity, dignity, and charm. These qualities make her second full-length, We Brave Bee Stings and All, sound so immediately distinguished and spirited. Even that title makes a child’s fear sound as epic as 300.

“Feet Asleep”, which appeared on last year’s Kill Rock Stars comp The Sound the Hare Heard, begins unassumingly, with Nguyen singing against a folksy acoustic guitar theme, then the band launches into a brassy Dixieland-style chorus– one of the album’s fullest and most joyful moments– as Nguyen turns bad circulation into a metaphor for romantic complacency. Those horns pop up again more quietly on “Violet”, drawing frowns across the song as she bids farewell to a friend. Throughout Bee Stings, the Get Down Stay Down keep the music light and fast-paced, revealing a broad range of styles but never boasting about it, and Tucker Martine’s suitably slack production emphasizes the sharpness of her voice and the playfulness of her melodies. On “Fear and Convenience”, she asks, “Did he hurt you in a new way?” Nguyen sounds generally curious, even as the darker implications of her question loom over the song. Bee Stings is, in a sense, a coming-of-age album, as serious themes underscore her jaunty melodies and adult concerns encroach on her summery youthfulness. Nguyen strikes a fine balance between the two, but here’s hoping she doesn’t grow up too much. – Pitchfork

with:
Portland Cello Project || Listen
David Schultz

MOVED TO ECHO
Enter at 1822 West Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

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

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

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

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

With:
Horse Thieves
Master Musicians of Bukkake

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

8pm / $10 / All Ages

Friday 09.25.09: OM / LICHENS / TWEAK BIRD @ echoplex

Om || Listen || Watch || MP3

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

With:
Lichens
Tweak Bird || Listen

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

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

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

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

Deerhoof || Listen || Watch || MP3

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

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

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

With:
Busdriver || Listen
Avocet

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

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

Magnolia Electric Co || Listen || MP3

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

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

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

Friday 06.26.09: CLUB UNDERGROUND & Echo present PAPERCUTS / PORT O’BRIEN / SEAN BONES @ echo

Papercuts || Listen || MP3

Jason Quever’s one-man (plus guests) band makes blurred-edge music with damp organs, milky guitars, reverbed vocals, and sticky, half-familiar melodies seemingly snatched from some collective unconscious. And the album’s opening couplet, “Once we walked in the sunlight/ Three years ago this July 4th”, sums up Papercuts’ temperamental pitch with tweet-like brevity. Their 2007 LP was titled Can’t Go Back, but as a songwriter Quever can’t help but indulge nostalgia, including its bitter constituents, regret and remorse.

Papercuts, however, aren’t agoraphobic shut-ins exorcising romantic demons and venting life’s inequities. A backward– and inward—looking predilection actually serves the band artistically. Quever crafts his aesthetic from the raw materials of Zombies, Velvet Underground, and Galaxie 500 appreciation, Phil Spector worship, and an indie rock gospel that equates modest ambitions with really, really meaning it. And the Bay Area singer-songwriter has buffed this sound to a rose-colored finish playing in and touring with 60s-rock fetishists Vetiver and pop deconstructionists Beach House and Grizzly Bear– folks who consider musicological context. – Pitchfork

with:
Port O’Brien || Listen
Sean Bones

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

FMI: ClubUnderground.net

7pm / $10 / 18+

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

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

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

With:
Girls
Champagne Socialists

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