LANGHORNE SLIM
SAMANTHA CRAIN
THE 1921A / SAM LOWRY
Spaceland
An unconventional folk and blues singer from Brooklyn (by way of Pennsylvania), Langhorne Slim skillfully infuses his rootsy songs with elements of bluegrass, rock, and country music.
Once known as Sean Scolnick, Slim has got his start touring as a popular opener for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. A handful of independent releases followed, but Slim’s ascent has begun in earnest with the release of a new, self-titled CD. The disc nicely blends simplicity and eccentricity, reflecting his live-wire stage act. - NPR
"If I ever make a sound that seems nervous or unfound, take it as a child skippin' town," Samantha Crain sings on the title track of her new CD, Songs in the Night (Ramseur). Indeed, there is a childlike delight and wonder to the 22-year-old Oklahoman's breezy folk-pop songs, which are given added jangle and sparkle by her indie-rocking backup band, the Midnight Shivers. Crain's melodies have a Feist-y buoyancy, even as she confides on "Bananafish Revolution" such evocatively strange lyrics as "The trees were my audience applauding . . . That piano, it's the angels/Calling me home." There's a similarly charming folkie intimacy on the acoustic-guitar ballad "Scissor Tales," where she admits to her lover, "I've been standing out in the rain/So you'll come dry me off again." The Shivers open tonight for the Brooklyn folk-pop crooner Langhorne Slim, whose rootsy rambles sometimes venture into pleasingly soulful territory. - Falling James, LA WeeklyWith:
Samantha Crain || Listen
Sam Lowry
The 1921A
8:30pm / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+
KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES
Echo
King Khan & The Shrines || Watch
Most people didn’t hear about King Khan and the Shrines until last year, when What Is?!, their most recent LP for German label Hazelwood, seared the band’s combustible combo– Stax plus Nuggets plus hiss-covered indie-rock screwiness– onto listeners’ collective noggins. It was as if they were the Dirtbombs on simultaneous James Brown and Sun Ra kicks, or Black Lips with less of the Vice-ready comedy and more underlying pathos. Now signed to Vice, King Khan and the Shrines present a few of the best tracks from What Is?!, along with some of their earlier cuts, on label debut The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines. Despite the appropriately over-the-top title, it’s not so much a Greatest Hits– What Is?! has slightly better songs overall– as a chronicle of how Khan became King.
The strongest tracks, where the band’s unhinged nostalgia meets not only squealing discord but also Khan’s stupefying jester/soul-man antics, appeared previously on What Is?!. Take nourishment from the Hammond-drenched soul food-stamps of “Welfare Bread”. Hear Khan go howling mad and a step past girl-crazy amid the sitar-like guitar and wah-wah pedals of “I Wanna Be a Girl”. The string-tying absurdity of “69 Faces of Love”, or the prickly dick jokes and “Venus in Furs” string drone of “The Ballad of Lady Godiva” are sadly absent, but the deafness-repping James Brown of “Land of the Freak”, the Stooge-ian assault of “No Regrets”, and the relatively sane red-line retro of “Outta Harm’s Way” are all present and accounted for, as they should be. - Pitchfork
With:
Mark Sultan || Listen
Wounded Lion
Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Shrines to 467467
Watch the video!!!
EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS
Live Performance on KCRW
Grizzly Bear
An In-Studio Performance
Recorded Live At WNYC
The Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear releases one of the year's most hotly anticipated albums next week, but fans can hear some of its songs sooner than that: On Thursday, May 21, the group performed a special acoustic set, including material from Veckatimest, when it opened WNYC's American Music Festival with a live in-studio broadcast and webcast. Grizzly Bear performed new songs in the studio, with host David Garland welcoming the band and asking its members about their new music. LISTEN TO THE SET AFTER THE JUMP.
Last night's show was great. Pilar does an excellent job of allowing the venue space she plays complement her delivery. This evening's host was La Cita, and the crowd was definitely in the mood to dance. With a performance that was as high energy as I've ever seen her give, she hammered out each song with a contagious fervor that had people fighting to carve out a personal dance floor while still keeping her in their sightline. Arms in the air, contorting bodies, and a bevy of whistling applause eruptions were easily conjured by Miss Diaz who was notably backed by members of fellow L.A. acts Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Ima Robot, and La Santa Cecilia. If you didn't catch it last night, you've got another change on June 3rd. Attendance is highly recommended.
So yeah, helluva weekend... anyway, one of the bigger shows we've ever done. And finally someone from the balcony posted video of the event!
Drake Best I Ever Had, Every Girl LIVE & Exclusive Interview
URB magazine interviews DRAKE for their 15 annual next 100 issue:
"yes he was wheelchair jimmy on canada's saved by the bell-ish melodrama"
Read the article HERE
Check out what our friend Randy has put together for his group project ONE TRICK PONY! Oh, hell yeah! Simon too!
Exclusive First Listen: Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse Team Up With David Lynch
Hear The Year's Most Mysterious Album In Its Entirety, Weeks Before Its Release
When the first cryptic bits of news about Dark Night of the Soul began trickling in earlier this year, it all sounded too good to be true. Though the whole project was shrouded in mystery, it appeared that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, two of the most inspired artists making music today, were collaborating on a new album. That alone was enough to get our geek gears spinning with excitement. But there was an unusual twist that few of us at NPR Music could make sense of: Director David Lynch was somehow involved. MORE AFTER THE JUMP
A Song That Gives You Chills, Dinosaur Jr., Black Moth Super Rainbow, More
All Songs Considered, May 12, 2009 - Has there ever been a song that gives you chills down your spine every time you hear it? For Bob Boilen, it's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" written by Sandy Denny and performed by Fairport Convention. You can hear it on this edition of All Songs Considered and tell us the song that gives you chills — no matter what — on the blog. Also on the program: the sharp guitar playing of Sarah Siskind, adventures in sound with Black Moth Super Rainbow, the 12-string guitar explorations of James Blackshaw, the heavy emotions of Dinosaur Jr. and the electronic pop music of Passion Pit.
Hey! It's our friend Ashley!
Meet Ashley Jex: Founder of JAXART Records
If Wonder Woman had hung up her cape and chosen to give up her life of fighting crime and instead wanted to get into the local music scene, she may have asked some pointers from Ashley Jex. At the tender age of twenty five, Jex has created a local music empire. Not only has she launched a very influential record label, JAXART out of her living room, she still makes time for her music blog,Rock Insider, and her band The Monolators, and somehow her day job. She can do it all. LAist caught up with Jex in her industrial epicenter (aka living room) to ask her how the heck she manages to stay awake. Here is some of what was said...MORE AFTER THE JUMP
The video of the first single from NYLON Records' Plastiscines
It's just so, so, NYLON Records-y...
Ida Maria:
Neurosis Meets Sass In 'Naked'
By Christian Hoard
NPR.org, May 6, 2009 - Long before the U.S. release of Fortress Round My Heart, Ida Maria Sivertsen was an indie-rock It Girl overseas and on music blogs here. By the end of 2009, "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" may well be overexposed. But until then, it's best to enjoy it as a likable slab of garage-pop that's both confessional and bloody-good fun — a song where the singer wears her heart on her sleeve, but prefers to wear nothing at all. MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Exclusive First Listen:
Grandaddy's Jason Lytle
Hear His Entire Solo Debut Two Weeks Before Its Official Release
Few songwriters possess Jason Lytle's gift for telling stories. In a 15-year run as the frontman and creative force behind the Modesto, Calif., rock band Grandaddy, Lytle penned an inspired catalog of neo-psychedelic pop songs, with gut-punch tales of destitute drunks, failed suburban dreams and at least one robot that died from a broken heart. They're songs that unfold with the plainspoken elegance of a Raymond Carver short story, striking a curious and utterly affecting balance between the cosmic and the comic...more after you click on the image above.
Sonic Youth Sneak Preview,
The Year's Best Jazz Record (So Far), More
The New York-based group Sonic Youth has been making some of the most inspired and influential rock music of the past quarter century. The band is about to release its 16th studio album and its first for the Matador record label. The Eternal won't be out until June 9, but you can hear an early cut on this edition of All Songs Considered. Also on the program: Pakistan-born singer Natasha Khan and her Bat For Lashes project; music from the grasslands of China and Mamer; French singer Marianne Dissard; Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astatke and the Londo-based jazz group Heliocentrics; and the Atlanta-based rock group Manchester Orchestra. Listen to the entire story! Just click on the image above!
Download this show in the All Songs Considered podcast.
Cool Kid's Gone Fishing mixtape is finally finished. Free download after the jump. The artist themselves are the ones who are giving out the mixtape download for free!
download here
From one my favorites, ROCK INSIDER:
Los Angeles by way of Oregon psychedelic pop outfit The Parson Red Heads have something to celebrate! Their new EP “Orangufang” is available on Rock Insider's very own little vinyl label JAXART Records!! Be sure to download to "Raymond" from the release above and order the 7 inch now to get the exclusive digital EP with two more amazing tracks.
The record is also available at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park. Read a great article about Origami Vinyl in the LA Times. It was featured on the front page of the paper! [READ MORE]
Exclusive First Listen:
Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band's
'Outer South'
NPR.org - When Conor Oberst hit the road last year in support of his eponymous solo debut, he took with him a group of close, longtime friends he dubbed The Mystic Valley Band. The group of half a dozen musicians had helped Oberst record his country-flavored album in Tepoztlan, Mexico's Valle Mistico in early 2008. While on tour, Oberst and members of the band continued to write and share songs with one another, eager to capture the energy of their live performances. By the end of 2008, Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band had enough material for a second album, and entered a studio in Tornillo, Texas, to lay down 16 new tracks. The album they came up with, Outer South, won't be released until May 5, but you can hear it in its entirety on NPR Music as an Exclusive First Listen. CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE.
meet the charm known as WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS
Watercolor Paintings - Telephone Wires from If You Make It on Vimeo.
some more really fun kids we met a few days ago...they go by name PANGEA
DENGUE FEVER
Sleepwalking Through the Mekong follows Los Angeles based band Dengue Fever on their recent journey to Cambodia to perform 60s and 70s Cambodian rock n' roll in the country where it was created and very nearly destroyed. The odyssey is a homecoming for singer Chhom Nimol and a transformation for the rest of the band as they perform with master musicians and record new songs along the way.
yeah, as many of you know from seeing them live, they're really THAT good! check out this footage from their current tour.
Here's some video of Soko's last and only known L.A. performance:
Echo Park Named One of Top 10 Great Neighborhoods
And when you hear that, you might find yourself asking which Realtor came up with that ranking. Luckily, this time there is some creditability behind the designation: the American Planning Association. They "singled out Echo Park because of its breathtaking topography set in the hills above downtown, historic architecture, pedestrian-oriented streets and stairways, and engaged residents who, over the years, have gone to great lengths to protect and preserve their community," according to an APA release (add: their website has more info and history on why EP was chosen) .... more after you click on the image!
SUBMIT YOUR PICTURES!!!
THE MAE-SHI @ Spaceland
THE MOVIES @ Spaceland
DENGUE FEVER @ Viper Room
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