Directors dig into Beat era
New films tackle Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs
By STEVE CHAGOLLAN
If a handful of filmmakers get their way, they'll soon convince audiences the real Birth of the Cool predated punk music, the Summer of Love or even Elvis. Yes, the Beats are making a comeback in a spate of movies that summon the spirits of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs.
These writers and other key figures of the Beat Generation play prominent roles in three upcoming movies: "Howl," a narrative film from documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ("The Times of Harvey Milk"); "Kill Your Darlings" from Christine Vachon's Killer Films; and what could turn out to be the ultimate road movie: the long-awaited adaptation of Kerouac's "On the Road," by Walter Salles and Jose Rivera, the director and screenwriter behind "The Motorcycle Diaries." - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
THE NOSAJ THING
The Airliner
from Jason Bentley to Kevin Bronson to Ashley Jex...this band is getting the 'thumbs up', so it's no surprise that I share the sentiment. I first heard them on KCRW and immediately insisted on seeing them play a late show...well, pitchers of margaritas, a Lakers victory, a mexican village dance party, and a lost phone dressed the twarted attempt to catch them properly... so I'm left with only a sigh when I think about what we might have missed...
BAND OF SKULLS
Music Video for:
I Know What I Am
hell yeah! I love this duo! They're grind your teeth good, a live must-see rock out good time.
MR. GNOME
Silverlake Lounge
VLA 9p
MR. GNOME 10p
CHASING KINGS 11p
MR. GNOME
"Breathy femme vocals waft airily through ethereal soundscapes. Surges of jagged hard-rock guitars come out of nowhere, shake things up and disappear again. Boxy rhythms trip and hop, connecting disparate pieces of sound. Something weird and wonderful is going on in Cleveland." -LA Weekly
"Deliver This Creature pulls a heckuva lot of noise out of a small hat, pretty much just Sam Meister's tribal drums and the reverberating vocals and sludgily atmospheric guitar fills of Nicole Barille." -Pitchfork
"The finesse of merging sharp and smooth sounds seems almost effortless. Nicole Barille's bellowing voice rips through each song with audacious intensity. Her thundering guitar and Sam Meister's pounding drums are equally as acerbic and loud." -Amplifier Magazine
Rainbow Arabia || Listen || Watch
With feral vocals, shattering guitar riffs, and a collection of microtonal keyboards ordered off of a Lebanese Web site, Rainbow Arabia combines Middle Eastern beats and modes with the vibrant energy of Los Angeles’ experimental punk/dance scene. The result is a hypnotic neo-tribal, hipster-dub sound that falls somewhere in the vicinity of post-punk spiritualists Gang Gang Dance and These Are Powers. The band is composed of Danny and Tiffany Preston, both 36. The husband and wife duo were married for more than three years before they started playing music together and recording in their basement in early 2008. Before Rainbow Arabia, Danny played in punk-dub outfit Future Pigeon and Tiffany in Licorice Piglet. - SFBG
With:
Spirit Vine || Listen
Voices Voices
8:30pm / $8 / 21+
Constantines || Listen || Watch
Former chimney sweeps Crystal Antlers are a wickedly undefinable bunch whose recent long-player, Tentacles (Touch and Go), has earned major huzzas for its punky prog noize of highly ambitious sprawl. All well and good, yet the buzzing swarms of organ/guitar interscratch and tricky drum polybeats tend to make the band's soaring squawk — refracting Harmonia via the Velvets and the entire Nuggets catalog — cloud over pealing melodies embedded in the songwriting, a beautiful lyricism that will lift them far above the rutting psych-rock herds below. Constantines' latest, Kensington Heights, and its companion-piece EP, Too Slow for Love (both Arts & Crafts), find the Canadian band pummeling their reliably passionate, post-punk indie-rock with a seasoned confidence and an intriguing, compressed rage. Kensington was named Rock Album of the Year for 2008 by the Associated Press. Fuzz-toned Norwegian power-pop band I Was a King open in support of their eponymous debut (The Control Group), a '60s/'90s psych-drenched beauty that features Sufjan Stevens, Danielson, Ladybug Transistor and Serena Maneesh - John Payne, LA Weekly
Though The Constantines have no doubt streamlined some of the abrasive punk rock edges of their sound, Kensington Heights proves that they can still erupt with the same ferocity that has long been a hallmark of their sound. Before getting into the savory nooks and crannies deep within their epic songcraft, The Cons kick off with some good old-fashioned rock stomp with the bombastic single “Hard Feelings.” Over wailing guitars and blazing organ, vocalist Bry Webb bellows “you can tell by the way we walk/ We’ve got hard feelings,” as if to introduce their ragged posse’s entrance, and it’s an impressive entrance at that. Slower, but bearing just as much weight is “Million Dollar Hotel,” a gut-puncher of a song that reaches “When The Levee Breaks” levels of heavy-as-fuck blues. The verses tease, slinking along slowly and slyly, but when the chorus kicks in, the group comes firing on all pistons, powerful but composed. - Treble
With:
Crystal Antlers
I was A King || Listen
Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text heights to 467467
I'm really digging these mid-week celebrations Mucho is hosting!
From their MySpace: L@s Cafeter@s is a collective of diverse people from the Eastside Café seeking to learn, share and practice the beauty, culture and energy of son jarocho music from southern Veracruz for the purpose of building autonomous communities.
First look:
Mickey Rourke suits up as Whiplash for 'Iron Man 2'
By Mike Snider
In Iron Man 2, the scarlet and golden-metaled hero must face an adversary with some amazing gadgets of his own. Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) sports a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) uses. "The technologies are definitely related," says director Jon Favreau. "That's part of the core theme of the film." The villain's alter ego, Ivan Vanko, is a Russian who "has constructed his own version of a suit," Favreau says. Among the creative innovations: a pair of whips, powered by the suit's glowing chest piece, that are expected to keep Iron Man cracking. Whiplash "is going to light them up," Rourke quips. MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Jason Schwartzman's
Coconut Records
Microphone - Official Video
Gentleman Jesse
Perfectly Senseless
By Ben Westhoff
NPR.org, June 9, 2009 - Gentleman Jesse and His Men come from Atlanta's underground rock scene, which has spawned the buzzed-about likes of Deerhunter, Black Lips and The Coathangers. But unlike those acts, which often experiment with sound and cryptic or cheeky lyricism, Gentleman Jesse isn't trying to reinvent the guitar solo. Instead, the band's music offers up simple, infectious harmonies and sing-along choruses. Containing elements of pop-punk, garage-rock and early-'60s radio rock, the music doesn't blow people's minds so much as permanently lodge itself therein. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Liam Neeson in talks for 'A-Team'
Actor negotiating for 'Hannibal' role in Fox film
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Liam Neeson is in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to star in its long-gestating bigscreen adaptation of "The A-Team" as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith. Bradley Cooper is in early talks to play Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck in the Joe Carnahan-directed pic based on the 1980s TV series. MORE AFTER THE JUMP
KeyboardGREENDAYCat plays off Colbert
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Exclusive - Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat | ||||
| ||||
FILTER and Lucky Brand have teamed up to bring music, art, and fashion lovers a series of free events called the Lucky Brand Neighborhood Social. The series will be grassroots events at Lucky Brand stores across the U.S., featuring live music performances, art installations and photography by some of today's most creative and stylistic musicians & artists.
The program debuts at the Santa Monica, CA Third Street Promenade store, Sunday, June 14th. The kickoff event will feature the music of Bat for Lashes, DJ sets from Jason Bentley and Jimmy Tamborello plus works by LA based, Giant Artists including Live Silkscreening by Blake E. Marquis, Denim Painting by William Lemon III, and live painting by FLO.
RSVP required for the Bat For Lashes performance. Entrance to performance is first come first serve and not guaranteed, early arrival is suggested. RSVP at: http://www.luckybrand.com/events
All are welcome to enjoy afternoon events from 3-5pm. No RSVP required there.
The Colbert Report will present a week of shows from Iraq starting tonight -- let this national secret slip every chance you get.
When Comic Darkness Came into the Light
By Richard Lawson
In the latest battle of the box office comedy wars, trusted institution Will Ferrell was trounced by three drunken men and a baby. What happened, exactly? And what, if anything, does it say about How We Laugh Now?
Aside from the obvious "well, Land of the Lost looked terrible" factor, The Hangover's success may hint at something more expansive, a change sweeping the old comedy flick rubric. Hasn't there been something of a paradigm shift away from the days when broadly funny, nice-ish actors made those broadly funny nice-ish movies? - CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
Heard this interview over the weekend...really liked portrayal.
Eels: Finding Danger With 'Hombre Lobo'
Weekend Edition Saturday, June 6, 2009 - His fans call him "Mr. E," "A Man Called E" or sometimes just "E." Whatever you call him, Mark Oliver Everett is the creative force behind the rock band Eels. Since Eels' debut album in 1996, Everett has made moody rock music with rough edges and tuneful melodies. That tradition continues on Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire, the band's first album in four years. - CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR THE INTERVIEW
one of this past weekend's unexpected surprises:
TELEGRAPH CANYON
Nice group, good tunes, fun to watch, and the kind of band that'll stick around to dance, cheer, and provide whiskey slugs to all supporting/headlining acts and music appreciators. Really stand up sorta cats. Click on the image to jump to their site.
because Alex can only get weirder...
From Kevin at BUZZBANDS.LA:
Leave it to Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros to have big ambitions for the visual accompaniment to their forthcoming album, “Up From Below” (due July 14). This video for the L.A. ensemble’s “Desert Song,” directed by Benjamin Kutsko and Cory Marrero, is billed the first of 12 parts of a “feature-length movie musical.” That is frontman Alex Ebert’s father chanting is Monument Valley in the opening sequence. Heady stuff, and heady times for the band, which just signed a deal with Chrysalis and seems to have been everywhere lately. I liked their in-studio session last week at KCRW-FM. Upcoming: a show at the Hammer Museum’s “Also I Like to Rock” on July 23, and a date at the Manimal Vinyl Festival in Joshua Tree on Oct. 3.
Tickets now on sale...
LITTLE JOY
Trouble in paradise?! ROCK INSIDER posting:
From Pehrspace:
Hi Everyone,
Pehrspace has been receiving noise complaints from neighbors these past few weeks and Officer Ford (via Eric Garcetti's office) visited us last Friday to give us a very polite, but stern, warning about controlling our sound levels for our shows. With the addition of L'Keg to the neighborhood (we welcome the company!), our neighbors are experiencing a new wave of sound intrusion into their homes and extra people in the streets so their patience is probably wearing as thin as it did when we first opened three years ago.
pehrspace experienced our first police shutdown this past weekend (sorry Officer Ford) and, a few weeks back, one of our promoters received a complaint directly from a neighbor during one of our weekday shows. As a result, we will be relocating all of our weekday shows to other spaces with the same DIY mindset and outside promoters will no longer be able to host events at the space unless one of us directly associated with pehrspace is present that particular night. This will take effect immediately and last until our neighborhood status is in good standing once again. Sean Carnage has received several offers to relocate his Monday night show. He will be at Women (1852 Crenshaw Blvd.) tonight.
We will continue to host shows and events on Fridays and Saturdays with heightened awareness for noise levels in the parking lot and within the space. Recently, both L'Keg and pehrspace have been working with Eric Garcetti's office to obtain permits for future (and sorta exciting) big events so we are asking our contacts at the office how to ameliorate our neighbors' view of the spaces. Just ONE more noise complaint can shut us down.
Officer Ford has noted and appreciated our efforts to soundproof pehrspace and it works really well, but absolute soundproofing isn't effective when our doors are left open or if the music is unusually loud during a performance. We have also been pretty laidback about parking lot/outside noise and this may have added to our neighbors' annoyance.
Please, if you or your friends attend any shows at both venues, be aware of your noise levels when walking through the neighborhood and when you're outside of our spaces. It's simple, respect our neighbors. If you notice any wild behavior, let us know and we'll take care of the situation. We really enjoy the spirit of our events and the community that we've built together throughout the years--it would be a shame to have to stop because of those few who lack awareness and respect for others.
Thanks,
Pehrspace
p.s. please spread the word. thank you.
Grizzly Bear:
Painstaking Pop Craft
All Things Considered - Singer-songwriter Brian Wilson called his compositions for the Beach Boys' album Smile "a teenage symphony to God."
Rolling Stone reviewer Christian Hoard had a similar feeling about Grizzly Bear's new song "Two Weeks": "The gorgeous choral harmonies sound like a teenage symphony to God, as conceived by Radiohead-loving postgrads."
The song is on Grizzly Bear's new album Veckatimest, named for an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Band members Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen discussed the album with host Jacki Lyden. - LISTEN TO THE STORY AFTER THE JUMP
Riki "Garfunkel" Lindhome and Kate "Oates" Micucci sing a pro-gay marriage song in response to a Pat Robertson quote that legalizing gay marriage would lead to legalizing sex with ducks.
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.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment