[Friend-of-Buzz-Bands Frank Farrar picks up a spare ...]
When is Chris Robley going to catch a break? Maybe he really does need to fire his booking agent, as he threatened to do at Wednesday night’s show. OK, so Robley actually is his own agent, and his band didn’t really drive all the way from Portland, Ore., just for the show at Mr. T’s Bowl (it was part of a short swing up and down the coast). Still, the singer-songwriter-guitarist deserves better.
Accompanied by a five-piece version of his band the Fear of Heights, Robley transformed the always potentially depressing former bowling lounge in Highland Park with a somewhat magical Tijuana dive bar/living room vibe and pulled off a weirdly enthralling show. Fearless in his programming, Robley led a six-piece entourage -- drums, keyboards, bass, flugelhorn, electric viola and himself on acoustic guitar -- through a set that went from Sgt. Pepper-style orchestration to hippie-folk, Mr. Natural rock to accordion-accented arrangements (e.g., on “Centaurea”) where you could hear a pin drop (thank you, Mr. T’s). By the time he ended, with the album-closer “Archipelago No. 12” from his most recent CD, “The Drunken Dance of Modern Man in Love,” Robley had the place shaking as much as anyone could with a crowd of 30 people and a catchy chorus like “I’ve been residing / in the low-fi Falkland Islands of my mind.”
Actually, it was quite cool -- and obvious that many in the crowd had never taking this trip to the southern hemisphere of Mr. Robley’s soul. But it’s time that he broaden his horizons to Silver Lake, downtown or West Hollywood.
Blues-channelers the Entrance Band heads up a big lineup at the Knitting Factory. ... Classic rocky Norwegians Big Bang hit the Viper Room tonight. ... Stacy Clark and Johnnie Newman have gigs at the Hotel Cafe. ... And at the Derby, it's the fourth anniversary installment of "Don't Call Us Tori," featuring a lineup of keyboard-wielding women that includes Katrina Parker and Marina V.
"The first pressing of the recent "Odelay" Deluxe Reissue was found to have gone out with unproofed lyrics that were taken from a lyrics website as place holders for layout purposes. Beck apologizes for this unfortunate oversight and is making arrangements for the corrected lyrics to be available gratis via Beck.com. Subsequent pressings of the "Odelay" Deluxe will also include the corrected lyrics."
The past three Airborne Toxic Event shows at Spaceland have been quite the rousing affairs -- great performances by the resident band and strong efforts by the supporting bands too. It was a little bit more intoxicating last week with the news that KROQ-FM had added TATE's "Sometime Around Midnight" (now up on the band's MySpace page) into regular rotation.
Quite a feat for an unsigned band, though not unprecedented. KROQ's music director Lisa Worden says it's happened a handful of times over the years -- most recently with the Sick Puppies. Among the most memorable was back in the '90s when KROQ helped Weezer explode onto the scene.
Last October, when I wrote my annual local-music cover piece for The Times' Thursday section, The Guide, the main story focused on the Airborne Toxic Event and two other bands -- Castledoor and the Deadly Syndrome -- whose music seemed undeniable and whose passion for what they are doing seemed emblematic of what is going on in the vibrant Los Angeles scene.
Turns out Castledoor and the Deadly Syndrome are the other two bands playing Thursday at Spaceland, and both are well-deserved big local draws.
Suffice to say early arrival is encouraged.
Photo of Airborne bassist Noah Harmon by Kevin Bronson / LAT
Other highlights for Thursday, Jan. 31
Dengue Fever's album-release show for its lovely "Venus on Earth" goes off at the Echoplex. ... Upstairs at the Echo, it figures to be a crazy dance party -- with Pittsburgh Slim, Shwayze and Lisa D'Amato performing along with rockers Hazelden. ... The sublime Mary Gauthier joins Mark Olson (Jayhawks) at the Troubadour. ... And Love Lies Sleeping shows off its new video at the Silverlake Lounge.
I think I found the cure for the common TV. Of course, it's right here on your very own Internet.
It's My Damn Channel, a portal that is home to offerings from musician extraordinaire Don Was, along with the likes of Harry Shearer, David Wain and others.
Was, a bassist, music supervisor, documentary director, Grammy-winning producer and a driving force behind the cutting-edge funk outfit Was (Not Was), has seldom been more sublimely entertaining than as the cool-cat host of the "Wasmopolitan Dance Party" -- a webisode filmed in the showroom of the Furniture Outlet, a budget joint in North Hollywood. [Pardon the ads, but the installment above is well worth their intrusion.]
There is singer-songwriter Jill Sobule, gamely playing her beautiful songs from behind a dining-room set as shoppers mill about looking at recliners.
"I can't compete with the setup on Letterman" Was says with a laugh. "But doing something like this, we asked, 'What could we offer that's different?' The answer is, the stripped-down and personal stuff."
Local trio Nico Vega headlines the Troubadour tonight, and through today the band (signed to MySpace Records) is offering its "No Child Left Behind Behind" EP for free download -- on its MySpace page, naturally. Saint Motel is among the openers, as is a local outfit named Carlotta, a big chorus-packing quartet that just finished recording its debut album.
◊ ◊ ◊
Eastern Conference Champions swings back through town for shows Thursday at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana and Friday at the Knitting Factory. Don't think I ever posted the band's video for "The Box," so here it is:
◊ ◊ ◊
I see that Face to Face -- a staple of the SoCal punk-rock scene in the 1990s before disbanding in 2003 -- are reuniting to play the two-day emotastic Bamboozle Left event April 5-6 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. The quartet will be joined by Saturday headliners Paramore, Jimmy Eat World and the All-American Rejects. My Chemical Romance, Anti-Flag, Chiodos and Armor for Sleep headline Sunday. There are six stages, and two-day passes (which go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday) are $75.
◊ ◊ ◊
How sold out is the Mika show (with Mandy Moore and Shwayze) on Feb. 11 at the Wiltern? Employees over at Live Nation have been asked to stop hitting up the higher-ups for tickets. There ain't any. All I remember about Mika is how, er, rich he was on the main stage last year at Coachella. He does have great hair.
◊ ◊ ◊
I still hear buzz about how good MGMT was last weekend at the Echoplex. But critical darlings Yeasayer apparently did little to endear themselves to the crowd. Passion of the Weiss likened them to the Spin Doctors, and You Set the Scene thought the Brooklyners were a mite ungrateful. Now I really wish I were there.
Louis XIV, "Slick Dogs and Ponies" (out today, Atlantic): Clever boys, these Louis XIV lads. You wanted to write them off as one-note eyeliner rock after "Finding Out True Love Is Blind," but their sophomore album won't let you. It's every bit as gleefully indulgent -- nicking T. Rex, Bowie and a handful of other glammy bands that actually were British and didn't just adopt the accent from, er, the San Diego district of London -- but it covers much more sonic geography, and with witty lyrics to boot.
||| Live: Louis IV play Feb. 9 at the Wiltern and Feb. 10 at the House of Blues Anaheim.
||| Watch the slightly creepy video for "Guilt by Association." Hey, is that the Playboy Mansion?
Dengue Fever, "Venus on Earth" (Jan. 22, M80): It's never about getting your brain around the groundbreaking Cambodian psych-pop band's music -- most of songwriter Zac Holtzman's numbers feature Chhom Nimol singing in her native Khmer. It's about opening your ears to exotic (and exotic combinations of) sounds; on this more English-heavy third album, the vibe is at turns seductive, celebratory, cinematic and wistful, and never lost in the translation.
||| Live: Dengue Fever celebrates its album release with a show Thursday at the Echoplex.
Chris Walla, "Field Manual" (today, Barsuk): Much respect for Walla as a force behind Death Cab for Cutie, and as a producer, but I found little on the pallid "Field Manual" to guide me.
Mighty Six Ninety is one of innumerable bands on the L.A. scene that look to the 1980s for inspiration -- in this case, think the Cure fronted by the Smithereens' Pat DiNizio. The quartet last year released "Cheers to the Bitter End," an album that would fit in well on the shelf of any black-clad fan who's so consumed by trenchant romanticism that the urge to dance is irresistible. It's music that pulls the same strings as bands such as She Wants Revenge, only less overwrought.
The foursome finishes off a free residency tonight at the Key Club (also upcoming: Feb. 20 at Bordello and March 5 at Club Moscow at Boardner's).
They also have a remix EP on the way via Invisible DJ. You might have heard "Mistakes Like These" on Indie 103.1; the rump-shaking track gets a little TLC on this EP, including a ... well, mightier take courtesy of ex-Smashing Pumpkin James Iha. Stream tracks from the album on MySpace, remixes on Invisible DJ and check out the video for "Mistakes Like These" on We Took Sides.
Happy triumphed over sad on a wintry Monday night at the Echo, but not by much. The final night of the Radar Bros.' residency had the feel of a plot point in which an epic movie loses a beloved character, only to have fortune smile on another.
The occasion was the record release show for the Radar Bros.' new "Auditorium" -- and at the same time, bizarrely, a farewell show (at least for a while) for the veteran band in its current incarnation. With many of his players moving on to other projects, frontman Jim Putnam, a father figure to many in the Silver Lake/Echo Park music vortex, gave a stoic and sublimely beautiful performance to a crowd dotted with indie rockers old and young. Among them, even, was a promoter who remembered doing a flyer for a Radar Bros. show before Spaceland opened.
Yes, kids, there was a such a time.
A sing-along with friends, girlfriends and guest musicians capped the set, before the crowd graciously demanded and received two encores. You'd think somebody might have gotten a little misty-eyed, but, no, 15 minutes later there was Putnam back onstage, standing in with post-headliner band Adeline.
Earlier, the crowd got a good-natured acoustic set from Silversun Pickups frontman Brian Aubert (joined briefly by bandmate Nikki Monninger) that included covers of songs by the Movies, Joy Division and Bjork.
But the room was almost full for the night's opener, Everest, and with good reason. The fivesome of local players with distinguished indie resumes played a powerul and poignant set of rock-Americana as they continue to work toward their album release on Neil Young's Vapor Records in April.
This past week did nothing to slow their momentum. En route to a gig at the Sundance Film Festival, guitarist Joel Graves won enough money at a Mesquite, Nev., casino to pay for the band's rooms. Then, at the festival, Young himself took in a show.
Not that playing in front of his idol fazed frontman Russell Pollard. "Before the show, somebody told us he was in the audience and my face turned white," Pollard says. "So I went out and said hello and thanked him for coming. Two songs into the show I spotted him bobbing his head ... It was the most epic moment of my life."
Young liked what Everest was doing, his manager Elliot Roberts later reported. So did the folks Monday at the Echo.
I suggest catching them before they outgrow venues this size. [Next gig: Feb. 19 at a Radio Free Silver Lake showcase at Boardner's in Hollywood.]
Photos, from top: Friends join Jim Putnam (left) for a sing-along during the Radar Bros.' finale; Nikki Monninger and Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups cover the Movies' "Creation Lake"; and Everest's Russell Pollard performs. By Kevin Bronson / LAT
No sooner had David Quon, Derek Van Heule and Nathan Warkentin taken inventory from the disintegration of their last band — the Colour, which disbanded last summer — than they got a shot in the arm from their housemates.
“We had been jamming, and things clicked — it was refreshing and nice,” singer-guitarist Quon says of the evolution of fledgling Long Beach trio We Barbarians. Then-roomies Nathan Willett and Matt Maust of ascendant indie-rock quartet Cold War Kids offered to help the Barbarians release their first EP.
“They are the most selfless people I know,” Quon says. “The encouragement was amazing.” The EP is titled “In the Doldrums,” but its raw, bluesy rock (think: the Walkmen) feels more like three guys using the lessons from a couple years of hard knocks to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Betrayal gets rooted out in “Yesmen and Bumsuckers”; resilience is celebrated on the broad shoulders of “War Clouds.”
For Quon, anyway, it’s a tentative step forward. “It’s a stretch for me, because I’d never been much of a lyricist, and I’d never done lead vocals,” he says. “I remember asking the guys, ‘What would you think about me trying to step up and sing?’ It was definitely a memorable moment.”
||| Live: We Barbarians finish their January residency tonight at the Silverlake Lounge, with support from In Waves and Canon Blue. They also play a Monday residency in February at the Detroit Bar.
Indie supergroup Everest supports Radar Bros. for the last night of their residency at the Echo; Silversun Pickups' Brian Aubert is playing solo too. ... The Parson Redheads finish off their residency at Spaceland. ... Idyllists play their pentultimate dates of a residency at the Viper Room's Indie 103.1-sponsored shows, with support from Bloodcat Love, among others. ... Funny dude Fred Armisen performs at the Troubadour. ... And if you need a little taste of punkabilly, the Rocketz are at the Kniting Factory.
Dim Mak Records, the Steve Aoki-founded indie imprint, and Downtown Music, home to Gnarls Barkley and the Cold War Kids, will announce a joint venture Monday. My story is in Monday's Calendar section.
◊ ◊ ◊
On Saturday night, the set times at the Echoplex were switched to make MGMT the headliner. Talk about a breakout band. I missed it, but one tastemaker whose opinion I trust tells me, "That band could go on after Roger Waters [at Coachella]."
The Brooklyn band's debut "Oracular Spectacular" came out last week on Columbia, and "Time to Pretend" is getting radio play. I find the video kind of hit-and-miss, but here it is:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played to a second consecutive sold-out club on Friday night (the band filled the Key Club on Thursday) and delivered some hazy-great psychedelia to an adoring crowd at Safari Sam's. The trio mixed full-on shoegazer stylings with solo turns by Robert Levon Been and Peter Hayes, but just about when they hit the 90-minute mark, the Los Angeles Fire Dept. arrived and cleared the venue.
I've seen much more congested clubs in recent months -- some, I thought, that at moments were about one idiot shy of a tragedy. Sam's security, at least, kept clear walkways around the perimeter of the crowd, and to the bar and restrooms. But the LAFD has a job to do.
The set was just two songs away from its conclusion, and in the crowd outside the club afterwards I didn't hear anybody griping they didn't get their money's worth.
Oh, and the early arrivals were rewarded with another great set by Spindrift.
Highlights for tonight, Jan. 26
The Echoplex ought to be filled tonight for the Yeasayer / MGMT show; big buzz on both acts. ... And there's a nice charity show at Pehrspace that is serving as the EP release party for Angela Correa's Correatown.
It's been a year and a half, give or take, that Ross Golan and Tommy Walter have been playing as Glacier Hiking, and the duo's wise-guy, electro-charged anthems sound better every show. The duo would no doubt pack more punch as a full band -- currently Golan sings while Walter plays guitar and triggers myriad samples and beats -- but there's no denying Golan's shout-along choruses.
They were particularly celebratory on Thursday night at the Roxy, having reached a publishing deal with Lionsgate Music earlier in the day. Arms were waved, fists pumped, ironic F-bombs were dropped, lyrics were crooned -- and that was just the audience. Some sort of album release -- digitial maybe? -- would certainly be welcome.
Earlier in the evening, with two-thirds of the band under the weather, glammy trio A.i. played its synthed-up rock to a modest crowd of folks who like that sort of thing, including model types with positively mystifyingly long hair. Front man Nick Young, taking advantage of his wireless mic and guitar, shimmied in front of the stage with an admirer. A fitting scene for a band whose album is titled "Sex & Robots."
Later, down rain-soaked Sunset Boulevard, ex-Catherine Wheel front man Rob Dickinson gave his solo songs -- and some choice numbers by his old band -- an acoustic workout at a packed Viper Room. It's a bit surreal to see a man who, as he said, "was once surrounded by a wall of Marshall amplification" play balladeer. "That's all gone now," he said matter-of-factly. But he does make a convincing troubadour. Plus, the '90s anthem "Black Metallic" never grows old, and it took on a slightly new life when rendered with acoustic guitars and cello.
Quite a night. Scouts told me that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club delivered a powerful wall-of-sound show at the sold-out Key Club, that the debut of indie-rock at the Orange County Performing Artcenter's Samueli Theatre was great (more fans for Sea Wolf than Peter Bjorn and John, though) and that the Airborne Toxic Event residency at Spaceland was at capacity for the third straight week. Oh, to be in three places at once ...
Highlights for Friday, Jan. 25
Tough choice for show-goers tonight too: Jason Isbell plays an Aquarium Drunkard-sponsored show at Spaceland. ... BRMC follows up its Key Club show with one at Safari Sam's. ... Au Revoir Simone, with Karin Tatoyan supporting, headlines the Troubadour, while Jim Ward (Sparta/At the Drive-In) and Nico Stai play 7 and 10 p.m. shows at the Paul Gleason Theatre (6520 Hollywood Blvd.). ... Pigeon John, backed by a full band, holds forth at El Cid. ... Lemon Sun and Astra Heights bring their catchy pop-rock to Club Underground at the Echo. ... Seneca Hawk plays the Derby. ... And Steve Poltz celebrates the release of his latest, "Traveling," at the Mint.
Photos: Ross Golan of Glacier Hiking (top) and Nick Young of A.i. (inset)
Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson, whose solo album "Fresh Wine for the Horses" got buried in the implosion of Sanctuary Records, will get another chance with it in 2008. Dickinson says Universal will release the album "with some new songs plus some re-recorded Catherine Wheel nuggets in a freshened package." Good news for Dickinson's faithful, and any new fans his former band might have won by its appearance on Rhino's "Brit Box" boxed set.
Dickinson [pictured during his appearance at Coachella in 2006] plays tonight at the Viper Room on a busy night for concert-going. See below ...
Highlights for Thursday, Jan. 24
MySpace sensation Ingrid Michaelson plays to a sold-out room at the Troubadour. ... The indie music series at the Orange County Performing Artscenter's Samueli Theatre kicks off tonight with double-barreled sweetness: Peter Bjorn and John, along with Sea Wolf. ... Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's show at the Key Club is sold out too. ... Taleb Kweli starts a string of local shows at the Grove, while at the Silverlake Lounge, it's Dead Ponies and Savages. ... The Airborne Toxic Event continues its residency at Spaceland, where it's been packed the last couple Thursdays. ... And at a KROQ-FM Locals Only show at the Roxy, Glacier Hiking is among the openers for hard rockers A.I. Speaking of A.I., I don't think I ever posted the band's cool video for the song "Hey Now!" Vintage Sunset Strip rock ...
Tickets are $35 through the festival websites Thursday and Friday, then $40 through Ticketmaster starting Saturday morning.
◊ ◊ ◊
Midweek music
Cassettes Won't Listen won't hit L.A. for a while, but its EP "Small-Time Machine" has hit my player -- nice electro-pop (made by Def Jux director of marketing Jason Drake) that is getting compared to the Postal Service.
Then there's this electro number from L.A. native Eric Elbogen, now making music as Say Hi (formerly Say Hi to Your Mom). Elbogen, who fled L.A. for Brooklyn in 2002, has now relocated to Seattle.
And this material, from Album Leaf collaborators, is simply for people like me, who like some cool instrumental background music whilst editing. Stream: From the Shade Tour
◊ ◊ ◊
Benefit for Tony Carbone
Mark Feb. 2 on your calendar -- that's the date of a benefit show for Tony Carbone, the frontman of the O.C./Long Beach band Bikeride. Carbone, who has released five albums of infectious West coast pop since 1997, is undergoing treatment for cancer and faces mounting health-care costs. The Press-Telegram in Long Beach details the 34-year-old's travails here.
The benefit concert will feature the Aquabats and will kick off at 7 p.m. at the Glass House in Pomona. There's another fund-raiser scheduled for Feb. 23 at DiPiazza's in Long Beach.
The Kooks were pretty hard to resist when they first swooped into the U.S. from Brighton, England, a strummier, more Everyman-friendly version of Arctic Monkeys who dispensed Britpop in radio-ready three-minute dollops and made the girls swoon with the choruses to "Naive" and "She Moves in Her Own Way."
They backed the songs on their debut, "Inside In/Inside Out," with memorable shows at Safari Sam's and then Coachella 2007. Now they return to try to drum up interest in their sophomore album, "Konk" (due April 15 on Astralwerks). Judging from a sneak preview of five tracks, "Konk" figures to be both more muscular and anthemic -- the quartet seems to have its sights set on the airwaves with new numbers such as "Always Where I Need to Be" and "Sway" (sorry, they're not up on MySpace yet).
The Kooks' date Feb. 7 at the Troubadour reportedly sold out in minutes, but expect an announcement sometime today that a second show will be added, Feb. 8 at the Anglophile-leaning Club Underground at the Echo. Stay tuned.
The Teenagers, a trio of smirky Parisians whose ranks swelled to five to tour behind their clever dance-pop, arrived at the Echo on Tuesday night riding a wave of Internet buzz and perhaps a bit of an endorphine rush, this being their first Los Angeles show and all.
The party never quite materialized, despite a Cinespace-like atmosphere that seemed at times earlier in the evening about two energy drinks short of bedlam. The young crowd, many versed in the band's MySpace offerings, got its share of wry lyrics, jaunty stage moves and cute accents but was never quite won over -- owing either 1) to the Teenagers' sense of golly-gee-whiz (frontman Quentin Delafon confessed that seeing the Hollywood sign earlier in the day, er, affected his manhood), or 2) their rhythm section seemed to be running from a different playbook.
Maybe they will step it up before tonight's show at Club NME at Spaceland (and they'd certainly better before their gig at Coachella in April), but on Tuesday the night belonged to Funeral Party, a quintet of electro-charged youngsters from East L.A./Whittier. At moments recalling the dance-punk revivalism of early Moving Units and the Rapture and at others bouncing along to a skittish cowbell like LCD Soundsystem, Funeral Party and singer Chad Elliott worked hard to charm the early arrivals, and did.
They didn't even need the cute accents.
Photos: The Teenagers (top) by Leah Hennessy; Funeral Party's Chad Eliott by Kevin Bronson
For a guy who harpoons shallow American girls in one single (“Homecoming”) and engages in fizzy celebrity worship in another (“Starlett Johansson”), Quentin Delafon sounds fairly terrified as his band, sassy Parisian three-piece the Teenagers, prepares for its first U.S. tour.
“I think I’m starting to freak out,” the singer says from London. “What if somebody shoots us onstage? ... We didn’t realize it was so litigious to say ‘America’ and '----' in the same sentence.” You’re not sure, long-distance, whether Delafon is truly fearful or merely playing his band’s satirical edge to the hilt, but suffice to say U.S. crowds are likely to be too busy dancing to engage in any Franco-American hostilities.
The Teenagers’ debut, “Reality Check” (released digitally today), mixes fuzzy soundscapes, spritely synths and potty-mouthed lyrics — “Johansson,” in particular, is a cowlick of a tune that leaves little lost in translation. “It’s our restraining-order song,” Delafon says. “It’s about unconditional love for someone you’ve never met ... kind of pathetic, actually.”
Not really teenagers — Delafon and mates Dorian Dumont and Michael Szpiner are in their mid-20s — the band combine disparate influences (electro, American rock and hard-core, respectively) to arrive at its sound. “There are a lot of things going on in our music,” Delafon says, “though we’ve yet to define how hard-core comes through.”
Their view of America, however skewed by pop culture, remains unified, though. Now, if only Johansson has tonight (when they play the Echo) or Wednesday (Spaceland) free. “She’s not in town,” Delafon says. “We’ve checked her schedule.”
Maybe she'll be free for Coachella (after all, she was last year); the Teenagers are scheduled to play Saturday, April 26 in Indio.
While the roster for the ninth edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival feels a little light on straight-ahead guitar music, there's enough heavy-hitting dance talent -- starting with imports M.I.A. and Justice -- to light the night skies over Indio.
M.I.A., the London-born singer whose album "Kala" earned critics' plaudits worldwide in 2007, earned kudos as a festival performer with energetic performances at last year's Lollapalooza and Siren festivals. The French duo Justice played two recent DJ sets in Los Angeles, a middling show at the Detour Festival and a wildly received performance at the Hard NYE festival in downtown L.A.
Here's a partial roster as it is being announced in Mexico City this afternoon:
A crazy morning from the airwaves to the Internet:
Prince, rumored to be one of the headliners at Coachella, will not play the festival, a source says.
Roger Waters will, reprising his "Dark Side of the Moon" show.
And I'm pretty sure that Yvonne Velasquez, the DJ at Star 98.7 (KYSR-FM) in Los Angeles, just "announced" a Coachella lineup from one of the fake posters. For her sake, I hope I'm wrong. But she sounded serious, and she said Radiohead and Muse were playing. Which ain't true.
Yes, there will be a couple bigger names (see Geoff Boucher's story in today's Times here, and please watch this space later today), but some of the focus at today's news conference in Mexico City will revolve around a planned three-day festival in Jersey City, N.J., in August. Tollett's Goldenvoice and partners AEG Live are behind that one too, and Radiohead and Johnson have been reported as headliners for that.
But barring surprises (and there have been some in the past), Radiohead and the likes of My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie -- the latter two of which were hot names on the rumor mill -- will not be making the trek to Indio for the April 25-27 festival.
Besides MMJ -- admittedly a dynamic force live -- the lineup will include one veteran act, and perhaps another marquee name or two. No Doubt's name is still hot on the rumor mill (can't confirm that as of now, sorry), and so is Portishead's. And last week I posted a list of several smaller bands (two or three of which I got erroneous information on) who will play the festival.
More later.
Photos: My Morning Jacket by Danny Clinch; Rilo Kiley by Allen J. Schaben / LAT
If the Adored's energetic late set at Spaceland on Thursday wasn't quite as explosive as many in the garage-rockers' memorable past, you could understand. These dudes had a lousy 2007: V2, the label for which they released "A New Language" in July 2006, folded; and he band parted ways with lead singer Ryan George.
On Thursday, playing as a three-piece, they certainly looked as if they were off to a happier new year, with guitarist Drew Seventeen having taken over lead vocal duties as well. But the trio clearly seems to be a band at a crossroads. Rumor is that Seventeen and mates Max Humphrey and Nat Keefer have a side project in the works, but in an email today Seventeen says the band is too uncertain about its musical future right now "to go on the record about anything."
Stay tuned.
Highlights for the weekend, Jan. 18-19-20
First, two book events of note: Authors Suzy Shaw and Mick Farren will sign copies of "BOMP! Saving the World One Record at a Time," which chronicles Greg Shaw's legendary fanzine and label "BOMP!" Joe and Mike Nolte of the Last will perform at the signing, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. ... And at 2 p.m. Sunday, Orange County-based John Borack will sign "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide" (a compendium of the best power-pop albums of all time, with interviews, photos and other artifacts), at Freakbeat Records in Sherman Oaks.
Now for the shows: Chromeo's gig tonight at the El Rey is sold out; over at Safari Sam's, there's a deep lineup that begins at 8 p.m. with a set from New York City kid band (they're 12, 12 and 13, respectively) Care Bears on Fire. ... Psychedelia in two places: Xu Xu Fang and others play Bordello, and the Quarter After and the Stevenson Ranch Davidians head up a nice lineup at Spaceland. ... On Saturday, while the Cool Kids are entertaining at the Echoplex, Oliver Future and Casxio. ... And on Sunday, it's Om at the Echoplex, Jeremy Enigk at the Troubadour and Benji Hughes at Tangier.
With the exception of folks like Fountains of Wayne, Nada Surf and a fewotherpeople who will forever remain near and dear to our ears, power pop went out of fashion when the Posies lost a secret arm-wrestling match with Nirvana in the early 1990s. Oh, purveyors of those '60s and '70s sounds crop up now and again, especially locally, but they never gain much traction.
If a similar fate awaits the Procession, you'd never know it from Wednesday night's set in front of a small but appeciative crowd at Spaceland. There was a quartet, helmed by two guys named John and Paul, who told the sound guy, "just mix us old-school, like the Beatles."
The mix was pretty perfect, like the vocals from Procession principals J. Paul Zawacki and John Schreffler. The Detroit expats, now residing in Atwater Village, proved they could not only sing, but harmonize too, and the smiles on their faces were as contagious as their big melodies. Their tightly played tunes had a joie-de-pop that needed none of the accouterments bands often bring along with their three-chord splendor -- forced theatricality, or band "uniforms."
"We do what we do," Zawacki said afterward.
I will admit to having overlooked the band's album, the crunchy-sweet "Musique Magnifique," when it arrived last year. A couple spins this morning have made me glad I got a second chance.
||| Stream "Don't Le Go" and "Major and Minor" here.
And one of those assembly-line electro acts that has me convinced technology has made it far too easy to put out an album, the U.K.'s Does It Offend You Yeah?, will be playing too.
The spasmodic sagacity of the Henry Clay People can be a little like watching somebody karaoke the encyclopedia, and the L.A. quartet's spate of shows in late 2007 seemed to augur their rise to bigger stages. The prolific foursome is getting ready for a February residency at the Echo (batten down the fixtures) by putting the finishing touches on a new EP.
With last year's album "Blacklist the Kid With the Red Moustache" just making it into many local music collections, TCHP will have the five-song "Working Part Time" EP ready for the residency. The title track ought to be the anthem for every indie rocker who juggles a day job with being in a band. And, front man Joey Siara says, the band is writing and recording more new material.
Here's something from the new EP -- "We just made up the song titles last night," Siara confessed on Tuesday -- featuring a rare lead vocal from Joey's brother, guitarist Andy:
||| Live: The Henry Clay People play Jan. 24 at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, and every Monday in February at the Echo.
Photo of Joey Siara getting in the spirit at the Little Radio holiday party by Timothy Norris.
Highlights for Wednesday, Jan. 16
Model K celebrates the release of its new EP with a show tonight at the Hotel Cafe (where Buddy is playing a string of Wednesdays, and Ian Ball [of Gomez] is also playing). ... Fans of good, solid prog and classic rock, take note: Anaheim six-piece Dusty Rhodes and the River Band headline the Echo tonight. ... Army Navy plays Club NME at Spaceland. ... Kim Kline plays the Viper Room (where Switchfoot's Jonathan Foreman was scheduled to play; he has postponed). ... And it's Hello Dragon and the High Wires among the bands rocking the Silverlake Lounge.
Matthew Kelly, Frankie Koroshec and their bandmates in L.A. rock quintet the Autumns have announced plans to release their long-awaited sixth album, "Fake Noise From a Box of Toys," on April 15 in the U.S. When the band played a run of dates last May at Spaceland, its new material proved very challenging -- having moved beyond by-the-playbook dreampop and shoegaze, the Autumns' furious rhythms and interwoven guitars demanded more than casual attention. I haven't heard the whole record, but here's a taste (no live dates scheduled as of now):
The Harry Nilsson Tribute goes off tonight at Bordello, with the likes of Frankel, Le Switch, Ferraby Lionheart and Sara Melson (new album coming Feb. 26) among the 15 artists slated to perform the late singer-songwriter's material. Dan Crane of Nous Non Plus will be there too, and word is that Crane's alter ego -- air guitarist supreme Bjorn Turoque -- will also make an appearance.
◊ ◊ ◊
Experiemental electro guru Daedelus has a new album, "Live at Low End Theory," coming on Jan. 22. (An he's playing Low End Theory on Wednesday night). Here's one track:
With a new album, "Alopecia," on the way March 11, Bay Area indie-hoppers Why? play Tangier tonight. The trio throws a lot of sonic stuff against the wall, and what sticks is pretty fun.
Jesca Hoop has had to postpone her show at the Hotel Cafe tonight because of illness. ... Dan Deacon, Health and Abe Vigoda party at the El Rey Theatre, and as of early this afternoon the show was not sold out. ... Death to Anders' album-release show for "Fictitious Business" goes off tonight at Boardner's as part of Radio Free Silver Lake's shindig. ... Jupiter Rising brings the dance to the Viper Room. ... And Shiloe and Nightfur rock the Echo.
The Photoshop geniuses have been at work again, crafting those nifty faux Coachella posters (yeah, that's one of the fakes below). And the website hasn't even started the countdown yet.
Next week, you can expect an announcement of the roster, which I was told cryptically might include a surprising veteran act or two (not David Bowie) -- and will not include the rumored set by the reunited My Bloody Valentine. Meanwhile, message boards and blogs are bursting with names of the acts heading to Indio for the April 25-27 festival, but precious little information has leaked regarding headliners. Among the bands expected below are hotshot locals Cold War Kids and Autolux. That's a nice start. Here you go, in no particular order -- comment away ...
Death to Anders isn't the first band to tip-toe in the wide footprints of Sonic Youth, and the L.A. quartet won't be the last. But judging from the guitar squalor and dissonant edge on its new album, "Fictitious Business," frontman Rob Danson and his bandmates mean business.
"With all of today's technology, everything is getting so crystal-clear and overproduced," Danson says. "I think we need some of that gritty noise to bring things back down to earth."
As noisy as Death to Anders' sophomore album is, it's cleaner than 2006's "Punctuate the Calamities," which was home-recorded and self-produced. This time around, Danson, Pete DiBiasio, Nick Ceglio and John Troeckel spent eight days in the studio with producer Dave Newton (the Little Ones). Among the guests on the album are Sara Negahdari of L.A. trio the Happy Hollows.
||| See Death to Anders' album-release show on Tuesday night at Boardner's as part of a Radio Free Silver Lake bill that includes the Monolators and Wait Think Fast.
Tonight's Troubadour show featuring British songstress Kate Nash is sold out, but she will be playing an in-store at Amoeba Music at 6:30 p.m. ... Everest and the Mezzanine Owls are the support for tonight's installment of the Parson Red Heads' residency at Spaceland. ... Miss Derringer brings her art-pop noir to the Viper Room for the Indie 103.1 "Check One...Two" show. ... Radar Bros. continue their residency at the Echo, with Correatown among the support. ... And the Henry Clay People bring their barbed-wire pop to the Silverlake Lounge for the We Barbarians residency.
The Happy Hollows are putting the final touches on their full-length debut -- final mixing this weekend, says management -- but before that, the Pixies/Sonic Youth-channeling trio bring their pretty paroxysms to the Echo tonight for a stint at Club Underground. No release plans for the record yet, but word is that a couple of labels are circling.
They are joined on the bill by the Gray Kid, performing for just the second time (New Year's Eve was the maiden voyage) with a backing band he's calling Spirit Animal. Many who have seen the Gray Kid perform around L.A. the past year and a half (counting me) have eagerly anticipated the rapper/crooner graduating from his one-man, mic-and-backing tracks routine. He's got people with chops behind him -- three-fifths of the band Oliver Future (Jordan Richardson, Josh Lit and Jesse Ingalls) as well as beatmaker Computer Jay.
When is Chris Robley going to catch a break? Maybe he really does need to fire his booking agent, as he threatened to do at Wednesday night’s show. OK, so Robley actually is his own agent, and his band didn’t really drive all the way from Portland, Ore., just for the show at Mr. T’s Bowl (it was part of a short swing up and down the coast). Still, the singer-songwriter-guitarist deserves better. 
