This is going to be available on DVD in the next week. Definitely keep this on your radar.
George Washington Winsterhammerman lives an ordinary life. He has a wife, a kid, a house, and a boat. Every day George gets in his minivan and goes to work as a Level Three Tunt at the Jeffers Corporation, the largest and most profitable corporation in the history of mankind. It is an utterly comfortable life, but when people around George begin exploding, he fears he might be next. George visits his doctor and learns that the dreams he's been having are a symptom of impending explosion. Unfortunately, George can't stop dreaming, and as the explosion epidemic worsens, he is forced to question the life he's been living.
Yeah, yeah, it's far, but definitely worth the mention.
ALSO I LIKE TO ROCK:
Foreign Born
Warpaint
Hammer Museum
Foregin Born
Grizzley Bear's Ed Droste called Foreign Born his "favorite new band" in a recent Pitchfork feature.
"The band [has a] feel for anthemic '80s rock shaded by complex arrangements and cathartic moments that make the likes of Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire so appealing." ---Los Angeles Times
Warpaint
“This is some hip, sultry, stimulating stuff. Warpaint is making a musical sculpture with pinches of psychedelic, post-punk, and dreampop clay in a very non-blatant and interesting way.” ---Classical Geek Theatre
ALSO I LIKE TO ROCK
Rock returns to the Hammer courtyard this July for a series of free concerts hand-picked by online radio powerhouse Indie. Each night features back-to-back sets by some of today’s best breakthrough bands. Galleries open until 9pm.
ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.
Parking is available under the museum for $3 after 6:00p.m.
Hey, if they've got Kevin Bronson's thumbs up...
SPIRES
FRENCH SEMESTER, TALL TALES
Echo Curio
Another spectacular night of songwriting by folks from our northern neighbors. SPIRES revel in the strange realm between sad and not-so-sad, wringing every last melancholy note out of their electric guitars. TALL TALES on the other hand takes the Americana past, present and future and blends them together into an unforgettable sound, timeless as well as simple. FRENCH SEMESTER rule in a completely different way and you should just come and check it out for yourselves.
Ventura three-piece the Spires have been spreading their Anglophile wings in SoCal for a about five years, their sweet indie-pop recalling the days of C86 and earning deserved comparisons to the likes of Luna, Belle & Sebastian and Robyn Hitchock. The effortlessly melodic “TAM” — available from iTunes with a remix version and another great song, “Teapot” — teases the band’s second full-length album, “A Way of Seeing,” due in March. Based on this, it can’t come soon enough. Kevin Bronson, Buzzbands.la
www.myspace.com/thespires
www.myspace.com/thefrenchsemester
www.myspace.com/talltalesmusic.com
www.beehouserecords.com
Orisha
Silverlake Lounge
‘The way her (vocalist Emah Fox) lush, emotive voice works within the dense and tricky tech-beat soundscapes here is nothing short of joyous… a rich sense of melody and drama.’ - Rolling Stone
Pretty fun little video, guys. I really dig it.
DIRTY SWEET
Spaceland
Dirty Sweet - Marionette from Dirty Sweet on Vimeo.
It’s easy to be cynical about this process of easing Western listeners into Esau Mwamwaya’s music– RIYL Vampire Weekend, Ruby Suns, other English-language artists cribbing from African music– until you hear the music itself, and in particular the whole of he and Radioclit’s free mixtape, Are the Very Best. Once you get through the indie-guarded gates, Mwamwaya and Radioclit are open here to everything from South Africa’s marabi and kwaito music to Hans Zimmer scores to French and American hip-hop to Michael Jackson– and in most cases, it’s the tracks that lean furthest away from the familiar that work best. The regal “Sister Betina”, BLK JKS collaboration “Salota”, and Radioclit productions “Funa Funa” and “Kada Manja” are as immediately likable as the rest of the mix. And, frankly, much of the best-known source material here– “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, the AiH backdrop on “Kamphopo”, the True Romance via Badlands theme on “Chikandi”, the loathsome Beatles song “Birthday”– is either simply a blueprint or sketch for other ideas, or is vastly improved by Mwamwaya’s treatments.
Mwamwaya’s cultural cross-section is no accident. Although he sings in his native Chichewa, he met Radioclit’s Etienne Tron when he sold the producer a used bike in a London junkshop. Despite that, Mwamwaya and Radioclit’s talents lie far beyond cultural fusion and curatorial skills: In short, they’ve created just about the most listenable and flat-out enjoyable record of the year– and one that happens to dovetail nicely with the urgency for and overdue embrace of morally guided globalism. - Pitchfork
With:
Rainbow Arabia || Listen
Bersa Discos
@ Echoplex
enter at
1154 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Good people. Really looking forward to seeing Aaron tonight!
"..they've gotten really goddamn good live... I couldn't stop smiling and I found myself looking forward to hearing them play tonight even before they were done with their set. And the EP? Also great." - Joe Feilder - Radio Free Silver Lake
There's no doubt about the collectively exuberant indie music scene shared by the Bay Area and Los Angeles. The folks at LA-based music blog Radio Free Silverlake and San Francisco-based blog/indie label New and Used Records have decided to join forces to capture that love between CA's big cities, by curating a series featuring bands from both, at venues in both hoods. The second show in the series — and the first in LA — features SF-based rawkers French Miami, as well as LA's beautifully fierce Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, and local favorites the Monolators and Kissing Cousins. – Jorge Barriere, Flavorpill
French Miami
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra || Listen
Kissing Cousins
Presented by Flavorpill / Radio Free Silver Lake / Indie Online Radio
8:30pm / $5Alison Mosshart
A New Venture with Jack White and The Dead Weather
Ten Minutes with Alison Mosshart
Fans of indie rock have long admired Alison Mosshart for her work as singer/guitarist in the hugely successful band, The Kills.
Her newest venture, with Jack White (of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes) is a band called The Dead Weather and their first album, Horehound, debuts on Tueaday, July 14.
Despite Mosshart’s breakneck schedule, we caught a few minutes with the hard-rocking and extremely hard-working singer.
Sundancechannel.com: When did you first work with Jack White?
Alison Mosshart: Hmm… I first ever worked with him on the day after The Raconteurs and The Kills tour. I think it was October 2008. Yeah, we did a tour together and then I ended up jumping on their bus going back to Nashville and recording with Jack and Dean and LJ, um, for the first time ever, just kind of jammed some stuff and wrote some songs in a 10 hour period.
Teaser Trailer:
'Brief Interviews With Hideous Men'
Is The Krasinski-Directed Film A Hard Sell?
This could be a just scene that's musical or a teaser trailer, it's hard to tell, but the L.A. Times seemingly has the first video of John Krasinski's adaptation of David Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," which is playing Sundance this week. The music in the background, btw is the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B," or at the very least a decent-sounding facsimile. - The Playlist
Umm, yeah, okay, so what is it again that we're supposed to be anticipating?
The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother
Sonic Youth In Concert
NPR.org, - After spending nearly 20 years delivering crunchy, underground guitar rock for a major label, Sonic Youth has returned to its indie roots for its 16th studio album, The Eternal. Out now on Matador Records, Sonic Youth's latest effort is among the band's finest, with a fuzzy, tightly orchestrated mix of psych-punk rock and noisy jams. The band showcased the album in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club July 7. - LISTEN TO THE SHOW AFTER THE JUMP
The following read is whole heartedly dedicated to Mat Ward!
Does The Music You Listen To Reflect Your Intelligence?
By Carrie Brownstein
Have you heard of or read the book Spent, by evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller? In it, Miller posits that "each of us is born with our own individual level of six big traits: intelligence, openness to new things, conscientiousness, agreeability, emotional stability and extroversion. These modules are built into humans and other animals (apparently squid can be shy)..."
According to Miller, "Driving an Acura, Infiniti, Subaru or Volkswagen is a sign of high intelligence. Driving a Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford or Hummer is a sign of low intelligence. Listening to Bjork is a sign of high intelligence, while listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd is a sign of low intelligence."
Naturally, it was that last tidbit that caught my eye.
Sure, most of us are music snobs, whether we want to admit it or not. And we are guilty of making snap judgments based on a Phish or Korn bumper sticker, an Evanescence or Fall Out Boy T-shirt, or, even worse, someone's glaring lack of musical knowledge (as in, "You've never heard of Black Flag?!"). But do we really think that country or Southern music fans are dumb, and that listeners of wackadoo Scandinavian music are smart? That seems like a stretch. - READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP
What?! It's an excuse to post a little ES&TMZ! I watched the 'Home' video done here as well, and yeah, it'll always be good, but my god, remember how they used to do it? Anyway, here's 40 Day Dream...
I was listening to this story over the weekend, really great perspective on the man's style and the times. Then, I looked up the page and found some additional footage that's a great compliment to the profile...
Johnny Cash's 'Big River'
By Mark O'Connor
Johnny Cash was a boyhood hero of mine. When I was 9 and 10 years old I would spend hours singing his songs and imitating the way he played the guitar. I even enlisted my mother to help me transcribe all the lyrics off of his albums. He sang about prisons, trains, about love lost and love found. One of my favorite songs of his is "Big River."
The rhythmic phrasing and vocal performance by Cash in "Big River" is remarkable; its energy and drive replaces any need for drums or percussion. Cash's own guitar strumming riff was quite memorable as well. He strummed up the neck with a dynamic crescendo. - LISTEN AFTER THE JUMP
La Santa Cecilia is a Los Angles based Latin group with a distinctly unique sound. Using traditional instruments in a non-traditional way, the band is able to create a sound that extends beyond the boundaries of the Latin genre. Each band member infuses his and her own musical influences into the group, making the music fun, danceable and romantic.
So yeah, just spent my lunch break listening to what I could find on this guy...out loud...people are avoiding my office...
All Things Considered - We recently launched a brand-new music series to kick off summer, called You Must Hear This. We've invited musicians from all genres — rock, country, jazz, hip-hop, classical, bluegrass — to share a piece of music that they love, that inspires them, that they listen to again and again. And we've asked them to tell us why.
BJORK: The first time I heard Omar Souleyman was on YouTube. He's from Syria. Some people call what he plays Syrian techno.
I think what's refreshing about Omar Souleyman is the party — it's fun. It's really alive and very urgent. And he's not above using synths, electronics, drum machines and YouTube. He's really eager to make something that's vibrant today.
I always heard interesting stories that he has one man called Mahmoud Harbi who is a longtime collaborator — he writes poems for Souleyman. When they are really warmed up and going for it at a good-times party, Harbi stands next to him on stage and chain-smokes. Then he will whisper poetry in his ear that he's writing at the moment. Omar will sing it immediately in the microphone and run around the room, exciting people there. I thought it was quite exciting for a poet and an emcee to work together.
Proposal Seeks to have Sunset Junction Festival Free for 3 Zip Codes
From LAist:
Unless Sunset Junction Festival organizers address local resident concerns and businesses, the festival is unlikely to be permitted by the city. So far, the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, who represents the area at a grassroots neighborhood level, has voted against the festival in its entirety. For their meeting tomorrow, the agenda (.pdf) lists has a motion for consideration that seeks to alleviate some of those concerns:
The SLNC has voted against the Sunset Junction Street Festival in its present form. This was done on behalf of the Silver Lake residents and businesses that endure hardships & extreme distress regarding parking, traffic, poor safety control and financial demands. I, Patricia McGrath therefore move that the SLNC ask that the following conditions be applied for 2009, if this festival is to be held this year: (1) All Silver Lake residents and their families in zip codes 90039, 90029 and 90026 be allowed entry for free; and (2) Separate beer gardens be designated for alcohol, so attending individuals and families can find and walk in alcohol-free environs.
Safe to say, that's a lot of people. Even if passed, it doesn't mean it becomes law, nor does it mean festival organizers have to make it so. Neighborhood Councils are only advisory to the City Council. But Councilmember Eric Garcetti has made it clear that the neighborhood council is playing an important and strong role in this case. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Diane Birch
In Concert
WXPN - Singer, songwriter and pianist Diane Birch sounds like a seasoned veteran, due in no small part to her extensive world travels as a child. But she's only just released her first album, Bible Belt, which skillfully blends soul, rock, jazz and pop. Hear Birch perform live in concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. LISTEN AFTER THE JUMP
Get some jobs you yippieyipsters!
New Jason Schwartzman
Music Video for Coconut Records
So Adele was the music selector for a brief moment on KCRW, and I'll be goddamned if she didn't play a little Wanda!
Dirty Projectors: Balancing Head And Heart
By Will Hermes
It's been around 30 years — since the CBGB's era — since New York City has had a really vital rock scene. But they've sure got one now. Albums by Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear have already been flagged as two of this year's best. And I think another adventurous young band with Brooklyn roots, Dirty Projectors, has made a third.
An experimental rock group with a shifting lineup, led by recent Yale graduate David Longstreth, Dirty Projectors can be playfully high-concept; the band has made a song cycle whose storyline somehow involves Eagles singer Don Henley and a highly abstracted remake of the LP Rise Above by the '80s punk rockers in Black Flag. But Bitte Orca — the band's latest release, so named because Dirty Projectors liked the sound of it — is more straightforward. It focuses on the mixed male and female voices of the band members. While parts are influenced by modern R&B, the arrangements are far different. The single "Stillness Is the Move," for example, strikes me as a bit like Destiny's Child teaming up with Talking Heads.
Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.
so awesomely weird! gotta watch it all the way 'til the end!
Worth A Look:
UK Street Artist Banksy’s New Exhibition
by Paul Larn
Whether you love or hate his creations, it can’t be denied that UK-born artist Banksy is etching his name into a modern pop culture anti-hero.
His street art and graffiti creations have been seen all over the world, he has a highly successful alternative portfolio book, and he has made a considerable amount of money from his more consumable pieces - Brad Pitt reportedly has spent more than $2 million on his work in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and some of the early original pieces he bought are now thought to have doubled or even trebled in estimated value.
Banksy hit national headlines again today when a super-secret exhibition with brand new creations was unveiled at the City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol. Check out some of the photos below for a look at the kind of work he has on display, and then head on over to the BBC for much more information and a video of some of the most elaborate work featured. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Theresa Andersson
One-Woman Wall Of Sound
By Rita Houston
Theresa Andersson is a one-woman band, and this was never more apparent than when she strolled into the WFUV studios with no band members, but two engineers — most solo artists don't travel with any. When I booked the interview back in the early part of this year, it was because I had seen her on YouTube where she had recorded a live version of her song "Na, Na, Na" in her kitchen. The video went viral and her kitchen became famous.
Andersson's new album, Hummingbird, Go! seemed to go back to the "wall of sound" era with a full band and all the trimmings, and yet here she was by herself, surrounded by drums, tons of floor pedals, slide steel guitar and a guitar on her back, and playing them all while singing. I thought I was good at multi-tasking, but this was a whole other level. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
Taco Trucks: 2, Government: 0
The County tried to regulate the time a taco trucks could operate in one place and lost. On Friday, a similar, but lesser known Los Angeles city ordinance from 2006 was struck down by a judge. - MORE AFTER THE JUMP
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
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
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.
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
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.
Exclusive 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 - 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...
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
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 on of Soko's few L.A. performances:
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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